From Passion to Peace/Beatitude
Beatitude
When divine good is practised, life is bliss. Bliss is the normal condition of the good man; and those outer assaults, harassments, and persecutions which bring such sufferings to others, only serve to heighten his happiness, for they cause the deep fountain of good within him to well up in greater abundance.
To have transcendent virtue is to enjoy transcendent felicity. The beatific blessedness which Jesus holds out is promised to those having the beatific virtues—to the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and so on. The higher virtue does not merely and only lead to happiness, it is happiness. It is impossible for a man of transcendent virtue to be unhappy. The cause of unhappiness must be sought and found in the self-loving elements, and not in the self-sacrificing qualities. A man may have virtue, and be unhappy, but not so if he have divine virtue. Human virtue is mingled with self, and therefore with sorrow; but from divine virtue every taint of self has been purged away, and with it every vestige of misery. One comparison will suffice to illustrate this: a man may have the courage of a lion in attack and self-defence (such courage being a human virtue), but he will not thereby be rendered supremely happy; but he whose courage is of that divine kind which enables him to transcend both attack and defence, and to remain mild, serene, and lovable under attack, such a man will thereby be rendered supremely happy. Moreover, his assailant will be rendered more happy, in that his more powerful good will overcome and cast out the fierce and unhappy evil of the other.
The acquisition of human virtue is a great step towards truth; but the divine way transcends it,—truth lies upward and beyond.
Doing good in order to gain a personal heaven or personal immortality is human virtue, but it is not unmixed with self, and not emancipated from sorrow. In the transcendent virtues all is good, and good is all, and there is no personal or ulterior aim. Human virtue is imperfect; it is mixed with the baser, selfish elements, and needs to be transmuted. Divine virtue is unblemished, pure; it is complete and perfect in itself.
And what are the transcendent virtues that embody all felicity? They are:
Impartiality; the seeing so deeply into the human heart, and into human actions, that it becomes impossible to take sides with one man or one party against another, and therefore the power to be perfectly just.
Unlimited Kindness towards all men and all creatures, whether enemies or friends.
Perfect Patience at all times, in all circumstances, and under the severest trials.
Profound Humility; the total abnegation of self; the judging of one’s own actions as though they were the actions of another.
Stainless Purity of mind and deed. Freedom from all evil thoughts and impure imaginings.
Unbroken Calmness of mind, even in the midst of outward strife, or surrounded by the turmoil of many vicissitudes.
Abiding Goodness of heart; imperviousness to evil; returning good for evil.
Compassion; deep pity for all creatures and beings in their sufferings. Shielding the weak and helpless; and protecting, out of pity, even one’s enemies from injury and slander.
Abounding Love toward all living things; rejoicing with the happy and successful, and sympathizing with the sorrowing and defeated.
Perfect Peace toward all things. Being at peace with all the world. A profound reconciliation to the Divine Order of the universe.
Such are the virtues that transcend both vice and virtue. They include all that virtue embodies, while going beyond it into divine truth. They are the fruits of innumerable efforts to achieve; the glorious gifts of him that overcomes; they constitute the ten-jewelled crown prepared for the calm brow of him who has conquered himself. With these majestic virtues is the mind of the sage adorned. By them he is eternally shielded from sin and sorrow, from harm and hurt, from trouble and turmoil. In them he abides in a happiness, a blessedness, a bliss, so pure and tranquil, so deep and high, so far transcending all the fleeting excitements of self, as to be unknown and incomprehensible to the self-seeking consciousness.
The sage has conquered passion, and has come to lasting peace. As the mighty mountain remains unmoved by the turbulent ocean that beats round its base, so the mind of the sage, towering in lofty virtue, remains unshaken by the tempests of passion which beat unceasingly upon the shores of life. Good and wise, he is evermore happy and serene; transcendently virtuous, he lives in beatific bliss.