The most striking fact in the history of Nature is the upward movement; after the mineral the plant, after the plant the animal, and after the animal the human being. The evolution of Nature is followed by the progress of Humanity.

The human race has not always and everywhere progressed. In the Eighteenth Century Turkestan was less civilized than it had been in the Twelfth, and Greece less civilized than it had been two thousand years before. The region watered by the Lower Euphrates is less civilized today than it was five thousand years ago. All human progress whether individual or collective has been achieved by effort, and all effort has been inspired by aspiration. Aspiration is the manifestation in the human heart of the same impulse towards enlargement and beautification that has been the mainspring of all evolution and progress, the fundamental law and force of all human and natural history. Wherever among men aspiration dies out and effort relaxes, progress slackens and is followed by retrogression.

As it is in the race, so it is in the individual. Aspiration and the resulting action are the essential conditions of attainment. And to the highest, most real, most worthy, and most satisfying attainment, it is necessary that the aspiration and action be right and rightly directed. Therefore what every individual needs above all else to know is in what manner and towards what objects they should aspire, and what kind and degree of effort and action are requisite for the attainment of those objects.

There are certain objects of aspiration appropriate to certain persons and conditions and times and places, but there are other ends towards which all men must aspire, and for the attainment of which they must labor, under pain of making their lives barren and useless. If some of these universal ends are pursued to the exclusion of others, then the life is one-sided and more or less completely unsatisfactory according to the dignity of the aims that have been lost sight of or ignored. In such a case the life may be a success in certain respects, on certain planes, or under certain aspects, but in other  respects or planes or aspects it is a failure.

There is no human life so hedged in, so lowly, so overshadowed by the clouds of ill-fortune, that there is no place in it for right and hopeful aspiration and no opportunity for a real manifold success. On the other hand there is no human life so rich in content, so abounding in opportunities and facilities, so full of cherished duties and noble pleasures, that there is no need for considering whether or not the most is being made of it that it is possible to make of it, whether or not all its objects, without exception, are fully perceived and being steadfastly aspired towards and labored for.

• Am I making of myself all that I can and should make of myself?
• Am I gaining all that I should gain on every plane?
• Am I really and fully happy or on the road to real and perfect
  happiness?
• Am I obtaining from the world all that it is capable of giving me?
• And am I giving to it all that I am capable of giving to it or that it has a right to expect of me?
• Am I doing my full share towards the uplifting and beautifying and blessing of the earth and its inhabitants?
• Do I know all that it is necessary for me to know in order to determine what are the highest objects of aspiration and endeavor, or those to which I personally, in view of all the circumstances and conditions of my existence, can rightly and reasonably aspire, and how most surely and abundantly to obtain them?

Such are the questions which every human being should ask himself, and which he should ask those who know the answer, should he be so happy as to find his way to them.

He who imagines that too little is known regarding the system of the universe, or its fundamental realities, or its origin, or its cause, or its reason, or its destiny, or the part which man is called upon to play in its history, for anyone to be able to ascertain with certainty what objects of right aspiration exist, or what are most worthy of aspiration and effort of the race at large or of any of its individual members in particular, is grievously deceived. In the field of that which it is most necessary to human happiness and attainment to know and do there are no problems that are unsolvable or unsolved, no riddles that cannot be, and are, rightly read, no difficulties that are insurmountable or unsurmounted.

The darker life looks to any man the more eagerly should he turn towards the window through which the Light Ineffable that bathes the universe can be seen. The more filled with misery it appears to him the more ready an ear should he lend to the voice that proclaims the Reign of Joy.

And the brighter and more filled with happiness life appears to any man, the more keenly should he realize that in so glorious a universe there must be heights of possible illumination and bliss, of knowledge and wisdom and goodness and power and beauty that he has never yet glimpsed and that are worthy of his most zealous aspiration, his most tireless effort and his patient endeavor.

He who seems to himself to be and to possess least should feel that the degree in which he falls behind others is the measure of the unrealized possibilities of his own life, and should long to learn how both to become and gain more in and for himself to assist others with whom he can fully sympathize because he has shared in their disabilities, to rise with him to a larger life, a larger possession.

He who seems to himself to be and to possess most should realize that what he is and has makes possible to him, in a peculiar degree, the attainments of the very highest things for himself, including the joy and greatness and glory of having been an important factor in the progress of humanity, an integer and not a cipher in human history. Alexander the Great wept because there were no more worlds to conquer, but this was only because, with all his greatness he was too little either to control his appetites or to realize that there is always, in some sense, more beyond. He who, either in youth or on maturity, feels that there are no more worlds for him to conquer is always self-deceived. The worlds are there, it rests with him and him alone, whether he is to conquer them like a hero or sit down and weep before them like a drunken fool.

All cannot be universal monarchs or possess vast power of any kind, but they can be rulers of themselves and in some sense of the world, and can take part in the building up of the Planetary Commonwealth.

All cannot be money kings, but they can assist in exemplifying and propagating the principles that govern the right acquisition and use of wealth.

All cannot be world-renowned physicians, but they can increase and preserve the mental, spiritual and bodily soundness and efficiency of others and themselves.

All cannot be famous philosophers or scholars or scientists, but they can know and make known the great fundamental truths, a knowledge of which is essential to human welfare.

All cannot dazzle the continents with their beauty, or that of the masterpieces of their art, but they can successfully cultivate beauty of body and soul and spirit, and give beauty to their surroundings.

All cannot leave to future generations a memory honored for heroic deeds, unique self-sacrifices or radiant virtues, but they can make their lives shining jewels of goodness in the diadem of human experience.

All cannot be famous statesmen or inventors, but they can wisely administer their whole lives and all the functions that are entrusted to them by their fellowmen.

All cannot be wonderful benefactors, ministers of joy to millions or to successive ages, but they can be happy and give happiness to all who come in contact with them.

All cannot gain the affectionate devotion of whole armies of people, but they can experience the full blessing of unselfish loving and can make themselves beloved by those around them.
And he who achieved most on any plane or in any sphere would have achieved more had his aspiration been more enlightened, his effort more sagacious and his action more intelligent.
—–

If you read these words and truly aspire, if you wish to be assisted in finding your way to those who can enable you to ascertain with certainty the right objects of aspiration and to learn how to effectively direct your effort and mold your action, you are invited to communicate with the person from whom you received this Instruction.