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far-distant ruin. Salvation lies only in the reunion of the
severed parts, and the healing of the whole.”
“If such a union between the spiritual and the physical, the
so-called ‘intelligent’ and ‘working classes’ is possible,” I
said, “why has it never existed, generally speaking, and why
does it exist nowhere at the present day? Differences of caste
and class have always been the rule among all peoples and in
all times.
“That is true, but what has become of all those peoples with
whom caste has flourished? They have perished with their entire
civilisation, or been vanquished by other races. The Indian,
the Egyptian, the Greek, the Roman, the Spanish and Moorish
civilisations have all perished in this manner; the French is in
the act of perishing, and the same fate will overtake the
English and German civilisations. What remains of the
thraldom under the yoke of tyrants during those long
centuries? The Egyptian pyramids, the Roman Coliseum, the
stones of which are cemented with the sweat and blood of slaves.
The lasting inheritance which these peoples have left behind
them in the shape of useful knowledge and fruitful thought is
not the result of caste; it rather came into being in spite of it.
There will remain of European civilisation mere ruins of huge
fortresses, temples and palaces, monuments of the intolerable
dominion of militarism, priestcraft, and Mammon-worship, of
the calamitous severance of “upper” and “lower” classes, of
schism between intellect and brute force. Shall we follow the
disastrous example of these peoples?”
“What do you suggest, then, as a means of remoulding
your social life, and radically changing its direction?” I
asked.
“Just what is done with soil that has become barren and
covered with weeds. You plough it again, plough deep, and
turn up the clods so thoroughly that the upper becomes the
lower, and all is reversed, so that what is at present sustaining
the burden and pressure may come to the top and inhale fresh
air, life, and strength. The whole social order must be
reorganised, human life must be reconstructed—we must begin
to live afresh. Only in such a regeneration of society is
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