who enjoin the highest morality
('self-restraint, generosity, and mercy' are God's commandments in
_Brihad [=A]ran_. 5. 2) refuse to be satisfied with virtue's reward,
and, being able to obtain heaven, 'seek for something beyond.' And
this they do not from mere pessimism, but from a conviction that they
will find a joy greater than that of heaven, and more enduring, in
that world where is "the light beyond the darkness" (_Cvet_. 3. 8);
"where shines neither sun, moon, stars, lightning, nor fire, but all
shines after Him that shines alone, and through His light the universe
is lighted" (_Mund_. 2. 2. 10). This, moreover, is not a future joy.
It is one that frees from perturbation in this life, and gives relief
from sorrow. In the Ch[=a]ndogya (7. 1. 3) a man in grief comes
seeking this new knowledge of the universal Spirit; "For," says he, "I
have heard it said that he who knows the Spirit passes beyond grief."
So in the [=I]c[=a], though this is a late sectarian work, it is
asked, "What sorrow can there be for him to whom Spirit alone has
become all things?' (7). Again, "He that knows the joy of _brahma_,
whence speech with mind turns away without apprehending it, fears not"
(_T[=a]itt_. 2. 4); for "fear comes only from a second" (_Brihad
[=A]ran. Up_. 1. 4. 2), and when one recognizes that all is one he no
longer fears death (_ib_. 4. 4. 15).

Such is the religion of these teachers. In the quiet assumption that
life is not worth living, they are as pessimistic as was Buddha. But
if, as seems to be the case, the Buddhist believed in the eventual
extinction of his individuality, their pessimism is of a different
sort. For the teacher of the Upanishads believes that he will attain
to unending joy; not the rude happiness of 'heaven-seekers,' but the
unchanging bliss of immortal peace. For him that wished it, there was
heaven and the gods. These were not denied; they were as real as the
"fool" that desired them. But for him that conquered passion, and knew
the truth, there was existence without the pain of desire, life
without end, freedom from rebirth. The spirit of the sage becomes one
with the Eternal; man becomes God.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: Compare _Cal. Br._ ii. 4. 2. 1-6, where the
Father-god gives laws of conduct; and Kaush[=i]taki Brahmana
Upanishad, 3. 8: "This spirit (breath) is guardian of the
world, the lord of the world; he is my spiri