Transcription
The Pathway of Life iThe Pathway of Life
The Pathway of Life iiThe Pathway of LifeTeaching Love and WisdomLeo TolstoyTranslated by Archibald J. WolfeYogeBooks: Hollister, Mo 65672
The Pathway of Life iiiYogeBooks by Roger L. Cole, Hollister, MO 65672 2016 YogeBooks by Roger L. ColeAll rights reserved. Electronic edition published 2016isbn: comThe text of this ebook is in the public domain, but this ebook is not.Please do not distribute it without authorization.
The Pathway of Life ivTo Woodrow Wilson—the PeacemakerRespectfully Dedicated by the Publishers1-3
The Pathway of Life vPublisher’s PrefaceT“he Pathway of Life” is Tolstoy’s posthumousmessage to an erring and suffering world.Never since the days when Christ’s messagefrom Heaven brought life and comfort to a wartorn, sinful and suffering world, has mankindbeen so eager and ripe for a gospel of rightliving and right thinking as it is to-day, emergingfrom the titanic struggle which has so deeplystirred its passions and emotions.Communing with the minds of the greatthinkers and teachers of all ages, Tolstoy in thecourse of his epic career gathered the pearlsof wisdom from the spiritual treasuries ofmany races and many periods in the history ofmankind. These lofty thoughts relating to the1-5
The Pathway of Life vispiritual aspirations, the temporal requirementsand the moral conduct of man, Tolstoy retoldin his own language, arranging them undersuitable captions, and interspersing themwith the expressions of his own attitude to theproblems of life. The resulting monumentalwork is for the first time presented to mankindin these two volumes. Any new presentationof Tolstoy’s work commands the respectfulattention of the world. But there is healing ofwounds and divine inspiration in “The Pathwayof Life” that lend it the added preciousness ofsignificant timeliness.Filled with the yearning to help his fellowman struggling against sin, error, superstitionand temptation, the sage labored on thiscompilation down to his last days, revertingto this labor of love even after the distressingfainting spells that preceded his decease, until,very shortly before his death, in “The Pathwayof Life” he succeeded in collating the consensusof human wisdom and genius of all lands and all1-6
The Pathway of Life viiages into a modern gospel that bears the selfevident impress of divine truth and immortality.The publishers reverently offer this work ofTolstoy to thinking humanity.
The Pathway of Life viiiTranslator’s NoteNot by way of apology, but by way ofexplanation, and for the reader’s betterunderstanding, the translator feels justifiedin forsaking for a moment the position ofinobtrusive retirement which is characteristicof good translating and supplementing thepublisher’s preface with a note of his own.The collection of thoughts on the spiritualproblems of life offered in these volumescontains much material that was obviously notintended by the author for publication in itspresent form. The general arrangement, thesub-headings and all unsigned paragraphs andessays are Tolstoy’s own. Many extracts appearto be credited to philosophers and sages of1-7
The Pathway of Life ixvarious tongues and periods, but in renderingthese into the Russian language Tolstoy followedthe original somewhat vaguely, interpreting theidea rather than translating word for word sothat in retranslation the wording frequentlydoes not accurately coincide with the original,and the names following these extracts maybe taken to indicate their source merely ratherthan their literal authorship in every instance.Here and there the reader will find cruditiesin expression and even in phrasing. These maybe intentional, for Tolstoy loved to use roughhewn speech in conveying plain ideas, just ashe was plain in personal attire and mode of life;or the crudities may be due to the fragmentarynature of some of the material, the editorshaving included many memoranda and jottingsthat the author had no opportunity to go overand revise. The translator feels content to haveresisted the temptation of retouching with aprofane brush these slight imperfections that1-8
The Pathway of Life xcan not mar the grandeur of a temple to himwho views it as a whole.In conclusion a grateful acknowledgmentis made of the helpful suggestions offeredby Dorothy Brewster, Ph. D., who read themanuscript in the translation.Archibald J. Wolfe.
The Pathway of Life xiAuthor’s ForewordThe sayings in these volumes are of variedauthorship, having been gathered fromBrahminical, Confucian and Buddhist sources,from the Gospels and the Epistles, and fromthe works of numerous, thinkers both ancientand modern. The greater part of these sayingshave suffered some alteration in form eitheras translated or as re-stated by me, and it istherefore hardly convenient to print them overthe signatures of their original authors. The bestof these unsigned sayings have their source inthe minds of the foremost sages of the worldand are not my authorship.Tolstoy.1-9
The Pathway of Life xiiContentsThe Pathway of Life iThe Pathway of Life iiPublisher’s Preface vTranslator’s Note viiiAuthor’s Foreword xiThe Pathway of Life I 1Faith 2I. What is the True Faith? 2II. The Doctrine of True Faith is Always Clear andSimple 4III. True Faith is to Love God and Your Neighbor 5IV. Faith Guides the Life of Man 6V. False Faith 9VI. External Worship 12
The Pathway of Life xiiiVII. The Idea of a Reward for a Good Life is Foreignto True Faith VIII. Reason Verifies the Principles of Faith 1518IX. The Religious Consciousness of People StrivesConstantly After Perfection 19God 22I. God is Known of Man From Within 22II. A Rational Man is Bound to Acknowledge God 29III. The Will of God 34IV. God Can Not Be Known By Reason 37V. Unbelief in God 41VI. Loving God 45The Soul 47I. What is the Soul? 47II. The “I” is Spiritual 48III. The Soul and the Material World 50IV. The Spiritual and the Material Principles in Man 54V. Conscience is the Voice of the Soul 57VI. The Divinity of the Soul 59VII. The Life of Man is Not in the Body But in theSoul, Not in the Body and in the Soul, But in theSoul Alone 67
The Pathway of Life xivVIII. The True Blessedness of Man is SpiritualBlessedness 70There is One Soul in All 73I. The Consciousness of the Divinity of the SoulUnites All Men 73II. One and the Same Spiritual Principle Lives NotOnly in All Men, But in All Living Creatures 80III. The Better a Man’s Life the More Clearly HeRealizes the Oneness of the Divine Principlethat Dwells Within Him 84IV. Effects of Realizing the Oneness of the Soul inAll Human Beings 90Love 94I. Love Unites Men with God and with OtherCreatures 94II. Just as the Human Body Craves Food and SuffersWhen Deprived of It, so Does the Soul of ManCrave Love and Suffers When Deprived of It 100III. Love is Only then Genuine When It Embraces All 103IV. Only the Soul May Be Truly Loved 108V. Love is a Natural Characteristic of Man 111VI. Love Alone Brings True Blessing 116
The Pathway of Life xvSins, Errors and Superstitions 126I. True Life is Not in the Body, But in the Spirit 126II. What are Sins? 131III. Errors and Superstitions 133IV. The Principal Task of a Man’s Life is to RidHimself of Sins, Errors and Superstitions 139V. The Significance of Sins, Errors, Superstitionsand False Doctrines for the Manifestation ofSpiritual Life 146Surfeit 149I. All that is Superfluous is Harmful to the Bodyand to the Soul 149II. The Whims of the Body are Insatiable 154III. The Sin of Gluttony 156IV. The Sin of Eating Meat 158V. The Sin of Drugging Oneself with Wine,Tobacco, Opium, etc. VI. Serving the Flesh is Injurious to the Soul 161164VII. He Alone is Free, Who is Master of the Desiresof His Body Sexual Lusts I. The Need of Striving After Absolute Chastity 168171171
The Pathway of Life xviII. The Sin of Adultery 176III. Misery Caused by Sexual Dissoluteness 177IV. Criminal Attitude of Our Leading Men to theSin of Lust 178V. Fighting the Sin of Lustfulness 179VI. Matrimony 183VII. Children are the Ransom of Sexual Sin 190Sloth 196I. If a Man Avails Himself of the Labors of Others,without Laboring Himself, He Sins Grievously 196II. It is Not a Hardship, But a Joy, to Obey theCommand to Labor III. The Best Toil is Tilling the Soil 201205IV. What is Known as Division of Labor is Merelya Brief for Idleness 207V. The Activities of Men Who Do Not Obey theLaw of Laboring are Always Futile and Fruitless VI. The Harm of Idleness 212215Covetousness 223I. Wherein is the Sin of Wealth? 223II. Man and the Land 226III. Harmful Effects of Wealth 228
The Pathway of Life xviiIV. Riches are Not to Be Envied, But to Be Ashamedof 231V. Excuses for Wealth 232VI. In Order to Be Blest, Man Should Pay HeedNot to the Increase of His Possessions, But ofthe Love Within Himself VII. Combating the Sin of Covetousness 237240Anger 246I. Wherein is the Sin of Uncharitableness 246II. The Senselessness of Anger 248III. Anger Against Fellow Men is Irrational Becausethe Same God Dwells in All Men 250IV. The Less Man Thinks of Himself, the Kinder He Is 252V. The Need of Love for Association with People 257VI. Combating the Sin of Uncharitableness 262VII. Uncharitableness Harms Most of All Him WhoHarbors It 264Pride 270I. The Senseless Folly of Pride 270II. National Pride 274
The Pathway of Life xviiiIII. Man Has No Rational Grounds for ExaltingHimself Above Others, as the Same Spirit ofGod Dwells in All People 276IV. Effects of the Error of Pride 278V. Combating the Error of Pride 281Inequality 285I. The Substance of the Error of Inequality 285II. Excuses for Inequality 288III. All Men are Brethren 289IV. All Men are Equal 292V. Why are All Men Equal? 296VI. The Recognition of the Equality of All MenisPracticable,andHumanityGraduallyApproaches this Goal 297VII. He Who Lives the Life of the Spirit Counts AllMen Equal 300Force 304I. Coercing Others 304II. The Use of Force in Combating Evil isInadmissible, Because the Conception of EvilVaries with Different People III. The Inefficiency of Force 309311
The Pathway of Life xixIV. The Delusion of an Order of Life Based on Force 315V. Ruinous Effects of the Superstition of Force 320VI. Only Through Non-Resistance to Evil WillHumanity Be Led to Substitute the Law of Lovefor the Law of Force 324VII. The Corruption of Christ’s CommandmentRegarding Non-Resistance to Evil by the Use ofForce 334Punishment 338I. Punishment Never Achieves Its Object 339II. The Superstitious Belief in the Reasonablenessof Punishment 340III. Retribution in Personal Relations of People 344IV. Retribution in Social Relations 347V. Brotherly Love and Non-Resistance to Evil MustBe Substituted for Retribution in the PersonalRelations Between Men 349VI. Non-Resistance to Evil by Force is as Essentialin Social as in Personal Relations 360VII. The True View of the Effects of the Doctrineof Non-Resistance to Evil by Force is Beginningto Sink into the Conscience of Humanity 363
The Pathway of Life xxVanity 365I. Wherein Consists the Error of Vanity 365II. The Fact that Many People are of One OpinionDoes Not Prove that this Opinion is Correct 369III. Ruinous Effects of Vanity 371IV. Combating the Error of Vanity 373V. Take Heed of Your Soul, and Not of YourReputation 379VI. He Who Lives the True Life Does Not Requirethe Praise of the People False Religions 384387I. Wherein Consists the Delusion of False Religions? 387III. Outward Worship 393V. Some Effects of Professing False Religions 398VI. Wherein Consists the True Religion? 401VII. True Religion Unites Men More and More 406False Science I. Wherein is the Superstition of Science? 410410II. Science Serves as an Excuse of the PresentSocial Order III. Harmful Effects of the Superstition of Science 414417
The Pathway of Life xxiIV. There is no Limit to the Number of Studies, ButMan’s Capacity of Comprehension is Limited 421V. Of Varieties of Knowledge there is no End. TheBusiness of True Science is to Select the MostImportant and Necessary Among Them 428VI. Wherein is the Substance and the Aim of TrueScience? 434VII. On Reading Books 441VIII. Of Independent Thinking 444The Pathway of Life II 450Effort 451I. Deliverance From Sins, Errors and Superstition isin Effort II. It Requires Effort to Live for the Soul 451455III. The Striving After Perfection Requires MentalEffort 458IV. In Striving After Perfection Man Must Rely onHis Own Strength Alone 462V. There is Only One Way to Improve the Life ofHuman Society—by the Individual Efforts ofMen Striving After a Righteous and Moral Life 465
The Pathway of Life xxiiVI. The Effort of Striving After Perfection YieldsTrue Happiness to Man Living in the Present I. The True Life is in the Present 469473473II. The Spiritual Life of Man is Beyond Time andSpace 475III. True Life is Only in the Present 477IV. Love is Manifested in the Present Only 481V. The Error of Preparing for Life Instead of Living It 485VI. The Consequences of Our Acts are God’sBusiness, Not Ours 490VII. Men Realizing the Meaning of Life in thePresent Do Not Concern Themselves with theProblem of Life After Death Doing Good and Kindness 492495I. 495II. In Order to Believe in That Which is Good, It isNecessary to Commence to Do Good 497III. 500IV. Goodness Overcomes All Things, But isInsuperable Itself 505
The Pathway of Life xxiiiV. Kindness in Relations Between Men isObligatory. If You are Not Good to a Man, Youare Evil and Provoke Ill Will in Him 508VI. Goodness is to the Soul What Health is to theBody; If You Possess It You Do Not Notice It,and It Gives You Success in Every Undertaking 509VII. Goodness is Not Only Virtue and Joy, But isAlso a Weapon of Combat 513VIII. Without Truthfulness No Good Deed Can BePerformed, No Truth Can Be Uttered 515IX. What a Necessary Condiment to Everything isKindness. The Best of Qualities are WorthlessWithout Kindness, and the Greatest Vices MayBe Forgiven Because of It On Refraining 518522I. A Good Life Requires Restraint Above All Else 522II. Consequences of Unrestraint 525III. Not All Activity is Worthy of Respect 526IV. Man Can Only Then Restrain Himself From EvilHabits When He Realizes That He is a Spiritualand Not a Physical Being 527
The Pathway of Life xxivV. The More You Combat Unrestraint the Easierthe Struggle Becomes 529VI. The Value of Restraint to Individuals and to theHuman Race 531The Spoken Word 538I. Great is the Word 538II. When You are Angry, Be Silent 542III. Do Not Quarrel 544IV. Thou Shalt Not Judge 545V. Harmful Effects of Unrestraint in Words 548VI. The Value of Silence 551VII. The Value of Restraint in Words 554Thought 556I. The Purpose of Thought 556II. The Life of Man is Determined by His Thoughts 561III. The Chief Source of Human Ills is Not in Men’sActs But in Their Thoughts IV. Man Has Power Over His Thoughts 566568V. Live the Life of the Spirit in Order to HaveStrength to Rule Your Thoughts 570
The Pathway of Life xxvVI. The Opportunity of Communing in Thoughtwith the Living and the Dead is One of theChoicest Blessings of Man 572VII. Good Life is Impossible Without Effort ofThought 575VIII. Man is Distinguished from an Animal Only byHaving the Capacity of Thinking 577Self-Renunciation 582I. The Law of Life Is In the Renunciation of the Flesh 582II. The Inevitableness of Death Necessarily LeadsMan to the Consciousness of Spiritual LifeWhich is Not Subject to Death 586III. The Renunciation of the Animal “I” RevealsGod in the Soul of Man 593IV. Renunciation of Self Alone Makes It Possible toLove Others 597V. He Who Employs All His Strength in theGratification of His Animal Desires ExclusivelyDestroys His True Life 602VI. Deliverance from Sins is Possible Only ThroughSelf-Renunciation 606
The Pathway of Life xxviVII. The Renunciation of the Animal PersonalityGives Man a True and Inalienable SpiritualBlessedness 612Humility 618I. A Man Can Not Be Proud of His Deeds BecauseAll the Good that He Does is Not Done byHimself But by the Divine Principle WhichDwells in Him 618II. All Errors Come From Pride 621III. Humility Unites Men in Love 625IV. Humility Unites Man With God 627V. How to Combat Pride 629VI. Effects of Pride 632Truthfulness 640I. What Must Be Our Attitude to EstablishedConvictions and Customs? 640II. Falsehoods, Its Causes and Effects 644III. On What Rests Superstition? 649IV. Religious Superstitions 651V. The Rational Principle in Man 655VI. Reason—The Censor of Creeds 663
The Pathway of Life xxviiThe Ills of Life 667I. That Which We Call Suffering is a NecessaryCondition of Life II. Sufferings Stimulate Man’s Spiritual Life 667671III. Sufferings Teach Man to Maintain a RationalAttitude to Life 676IV. Sicknesses are Not a Hindrance But a Help toTrue Life V. So-called Ills are Only Our Own Errors 680683VI. The Recognition of the Beneficial Nature ofSufferings Destroys Their Oppressiveness 686VII. Sufferings Cannot Hinder the Fulfilment ofthe Will of God 694Death 696I. The Life of Man Does Not Cease With the Deathof His Body 696II. True Life is Apart From Time, and ThereforeTrue Life Has No Future 700III. Death Cannot Terrify a Man Who Lives theLife of the Spirit 702IV. Man Must Live by that Which is ImmortalWithin Him 708
The Pathway of Life xxviiiV. Being Mindful of Death is a Help to Spiritual Life 720VI. Dying 725After Death 729I. The Death of the Flesh is Not the Termination ofLife, But Only a Transformation 729II. The Nature of the Change in ExistenceWhich Occurs with the Death of the Body isUnfathomable to the Mind of Man III. Death—A Release 737740IV. Birth and Death are the Boundaries BeyondWhich Our Life is Unknown to Us 747V. Death Frees the Soul from the Confines ofPersonality 750VI. Death Reveals that Which Had BeenUnfathomable 754Life is Blessedness I. Life is the Highest Blessing Attainable to Man 757758II. True Blessedness is in the Present Life and Notin the Life Beyond the Tomb 760III. True Blessedness You Can Find Only WithinYourself 763IV. The True Life is the Spiritual Life 764
The Pathway of Life xxixV. Wherein is True Blessedness? 769VI. In Love is Blessedness 771VII. The More a Man Lives for His Body, the MoreSurely He Misses True Blessedness 774VIII. Man is Only then Unconscious of theBlessedness of Life if He Fails to Fulfil the Lawof Life 778IX. Only the Fulfilment of the Law of Life YieldsBlessing to Man Doing His Will The Teachings of Jesus 786789809The Teachings Of Jesus 810Christ’s Teaching 810I. 811II. 812III. 815IV. 817V. 818VI. 820VII. 823VIII. 825IX. 828
The Pathway of Life xxxX. 830XI. 832XII. 834XIII. 836XIV. 838XV. 840XVI. 842XVII. 844XVIII. 846XIX. 850XX. 851XXI. 852XXII. 854XXIII. 855XXIV. 857XXV. 859XXVI. 860XXVII. 862XXVIII. 865XXIX. 866XXX. 869XXXI. 873
The Pathway of Life xxxiXXXII. 875XXXIII. 877XXXIV. 878XXXV. 880XXXVI. 883XXXVII. 886XXXVIII. 887XXXIX. 889XL. 892XLI. 894XLII. 898XLIII. 903XLIV. 905XLV. 907XLVI. 909XLVII. 911XLVIII. 914XLIX. 916L. 918LI. 921LII. 923Bibliography 926
The Pathway of Life 1The Pathway of Life I
The Pathway of Life 2FaithIn order to live right, man must know whathe ought to do, and what he ought not to do.In order to know this, he needs faith. Faith isthe knowledge of what man is, and for whatpurpose he lives with the world. And such is thefaith which has been and is held by all rationalpeople.I. What is the True Faith?1. In order to live right, it is needful tounderstand what life is, as well as what to doand what not to do in this life. These thingshave been taught at all times by the wisest andbest living men of all races. The teachings of allthese wise men, in the main, agree as one. This1-15
The Pathway of Life 3one doctrine common to all people as to whatis the life of man, and how to live it, is the truefaith.2. What is this world which has no limits inany direction, the beginning and the end ofwhich are alike unknown to me, and what is mylife in this infinite world, and how must I live it?Faith alone can answer these questions.3. True religion is to know that law which isabove all human laws, and which is the one lawfor all the people in the world.4. There may be many false faiths, but thereis only one true faith.Kant.5. If you doubt your faith, it is no longer faith.Faith is only then a true faith, when you do noteven harbor a thought that what you believecould be untrue.6. There are two faiths: one being confidencein what is said by people—this is faith in a manor in people; such faiths are many and varied.
The Pathway of Life 4And there is the faith in my dependence onHim who sent me into this world. This is faith inGod, and such faith is one for all people.II. The Doctrine of True Faith is AlwaysClear and Simple1. To have faith is to trust in what is beingrevealed to us, without asking why it is so, andwhat will come out of it. Such is the true faith.It shows us what we are, and what we ought todo because of it, but it does not tell us what willbe the outcome if we do that which our faithcommands us to do.If I have faith in God, I need not ask whatwill be the outcome of my obedience to God,because I know that God is love, and nothingcan come from love but what is good.2. The true law of life is so simple, clear andintelligible that men cannot seek to excuse theirevil life by pleading ignorance of the law. Ifpeople live contrary to the law of true life, there1-16
The Pathway of Life 5is only one thing left for them to do: to abjuretheir reason. And this is exactly what they do.3. Some say that the fulfilment of the law ofGod is difficult. This is not true. The law of lifeasks nothing of us but to love our neighbor.And to love is not difficult, but pleasant.Scovoroda.4. When a man comes to know the truefaith, he is like unto a man lighting a lamp in adark chamber. All things become clear, and joyenters his soul.III. True Faith is to Love God and YourNeighbor1. “Love one another, even as I have lovedyou, thus shall all men know that you are Mydisciples, if you have love one to another,” saidChrist. He did not say: “If you believe this orthat,” but “if you have love.” Faith with differentpeople, and in different times, may differ, but1-17
The Pathway of Life 6love is one and the same at all times and withall people.2. The true faith is one—to love all that isliving.Ibrahim of Cordova.3. Love bestows blessedness on peoplebecause it unites man with God.4. Christ revealed to men that the eternalis not identical with the future, but that theeternal, the unseen, dwells within us right now,in this life, and that we attain eternal life whenwe become one with God, the Spirit in whomall things move and have their being.We can attain this eternal life through lovealone.IV. Faith Guides the Life of Man1. Only he truly knows the law of life whodoes that which he regards as the law of life.
The Pathway of Life 72. All faith is merely a reply to this question:how must I live in the world not before men,but before Him who sent me into the world?3. In the true faith it is not important to beable to talk interestingly about God, aboutthe soul, about the past or the future, but onething alone is essential: to know firmly what youought to do and what you ought not to do inthis life.Kant.4. If a man does not live happily, it is onlybecause such a man has no faith. This may bethe case with entire nations. If a nation does notlive happily, it is only because the nation haslost its faith.5. The life of man is good or evil only as heunderstands the true law of life. The more clearlyman understands the true law of life, the betteris his life; the more hazy is his understanding ofthat law, the worse is his life.1-18
The Pathway of Life 86. In order to escape from that mire of sin,vice and misery wherein they live, people haveneed of one thing alone: they need a faith inwhich they would live, not as now—each forhimself—but a common life, all acknowledgingone law and one purpose. Only then mightpeople repeating the words of the Lord’s Prayer:“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth,as it is in Heaven,” hope that the Kingdom ofGod will indeed descend upon earth.Mazzini.7. If any faith teaches that we must give upthis life for life everlasting, it is a false faith. Togive up this life for life everlasting is impossible,because eternal life is already in this life.Hindu Philosophy.8. The stronger the faith of man, the firmerhis life. The life of man without faith is the life ofa beast.
The Pathway of Life 9V. False Faith1. The law of life, namely to love God andyour neighbor, is simple and clear. Every manon attaining reason recognizes it in his heart.Therefore, if it were not for false teachings, allmen would adhere to this law, and the Kingdomof Heaven would reign upon earth.But false teachers, at all times and in all places,taught men to acknowledge as God that whichwas not God, and as God’s law that which wasnot God’s law. And men believed in these falseteachings and departed from the true law oflife and from the fulfilment of His true law, andthis made their life harder to bear and moreunhappy.Therefore one must not believe any teachingsthat do not agree with love of God and of yourneighbor.2. It must not be thought that because a faith isancient, it is therefore true. On the contrary, thelonger people live, the more clearly they graspthe true law of life. To think that in our times1-19
The Pathway of Life 10we must believe in the same things in which ourgrandfathers and our great-grandfathers hadbelieved is to think that when you are grown toman’s estate, the garments of your children stillmight fit you.3. We are perturbed because we can nolonger believe in that in which our fathers usedto believe. We must not let this perturb us, buttry instead to establish within us such a faith inwhich we can believe as firmly as our fathersbelieved in their faith.Martineau.4. In order to know the true faith, man mustfirst for a season give up that faith in which hehad blindly believed, and then examine in thelight of his reason all that which he had beentaught since childhood.5. A laborer who dwelt in the city wasproceeding homeward one day after hiswork was done. As he was leaving his placeof employment he met a stranger, and the
The Pathway of Life 11stranger said: “Let us go together, we are boundfor the same place, and I know the road well.”The laborer believed him, and they departedtogether.They had walked for an hour or more, whenthe laborer noticed that the road was differentfrom the one he was in the habit of taking intothe city. And he said: “I think this is not the rightroad.” And the stranger replied: “This is theonly true and the shortest road. Believe me, forI know it well.” The laborer believed him andcontinued to follow him. But the further he went,the worse the road proved to be, and the moredifficult the walking. And he was compelled tospend all his earnings to sustain himself, and stillfailed to reach home. Yet the further he walked,the more firmly he believed that he was on theright road, and finally he was convinced himselfthat it was so. And the reason why he becameso convinced was because he did not like toturn back, and always hoped that the roadwould finally take him to his destination. And1-20
The Pathway of Life 12he strayed a long, long way from home, andwas wretched for a long time.Thus it is with people who do not listen tothe voice of the spirit within themselves, butlisten to the voice of strangers regarding Godand His law.6. It is bad not to know God, but it is worseto acknowledge as God that which is not God.VI. External Worship1. True faith is to believe in that one law whichbefits all the people in the world.2. True faith enters the heart in stillness andsolitude only.3. True faith consists in living always a goodlife, loving all men, doing unto others as youwould have others do unto you.This, indeed, is the true faith. And this is thefaith that all truly wise men and men of saintlylife have always taught among all nations.4. Jesus did not say to the Samaritans: Leaveyour beliefs for those of the Jews. He did not
The Pathway of Life 13say to the Jews: Join the Samaritans. But he saidto the Jews and to the Samaritans: You are alikein error. Not Garisim, nor yet Jerusalem availsanything. The time will come, nay, has alreadycome, when men will worship the Fatherneither in Garisim nor yet in Jerusalem, but trueworshippers will worship the Father in spiritand in the truth, for such are the worshipperswhom the Father seeketh.Jesus was seeking such worshippers in thedays of Jerusalem. He is seeking them still inthese days.5. A master had a laborer. The same livedin his master’s house and saw the master faceto face many times each day. The laborer littleby little neglected his labors, and finally grewso lazy that he would do nothing at all. Themaster noticed this but said nothing andmerely turned his face from him whenever hemet him. The laborer saw that his master wasnot satisfied with him, and planned to regainhis master’s favor without laboring. He sought1-21
The Pathway of Life 14out his master’s friends and acquaintances andbegged them to intercede with the masterso that he should no longer be angry withhim. The Master learned of this, and callingthe laborer said: “Why do you ask people tointercede for you? You have me always withyou and you can tell me face to face whateveris needful.” But the laborer did not know whatto say and departed. And he conceived a newplan: he gathered eggs belonging to his master,caught one of his master’s fowls, and took themto him as a present to avert his wrath. And themaster said: “First you ask my friends to pleadfor you, although you can freely speak to me foryourself. Then you mean to propitiate me withpresents. But all that you have is mine already.Even if you brought me what is truly yours, Irequire no presents.” Thereupon the laboreradopted a new scheme: he composed versesin his master’s honor an
Leo Tolstoy Translated by Archibald J. Wolfe YogeBooks: Hollister, Mo 65672. The Pathway of Life iii . Tolstoy. 1-9. The Pathway of Life xii Contents The Pathway of Life i The Pathway of Life ii Publishe
