XX111 as being a manifestation of the Self-the one spirit in which all the little selves lose their individuality—the God the Absolute by Whom all things exist, who is in all, Who is all.” The Vedanta philosophy is optimistic and universalistic in character. The universe, being but the expression of the Absolute spirit, is essentially good and united by common interest. The feeling of Unity or Solidarity is strong in the Vedanta philosophy, as all men are viewed as but the expression of the same Universal Spirit or Brahman. Our love of humanity is the legitimate out come of our consciousness of unity with our fellows; it is the prac. tical expression of our regard for the true or Divine Self in us. Christianity, like all the other great religions of the world, states correctly the moral law in the famous precept, ‘‘Love thy neighbour as thyself.' But why should I do so? My neighbour is different from myself; and his pleasures and pains are not mine, nor mine his. Dr. Dessen assures us that f‘the answer is not in the Bible (this venerable book being not yet quite free from Semitic realism), but it is in the Vadis in the great formula yat ta& ¢s, which gives us in three words metaphysics and morals together. And again :~The highest and purest morality is the immediate consequence of the Vedanta . According to the Vedanta morality is restricted to the sphere of the relative and the phenomenal . अविद्यावद्विषयाण्येव प्रत्यक्षादीनि प्रमाणानि शास्त्राणि च । ब्र. . भाष्ये १.१.१ As the essence of morality lies in the conflict between reason and sensibility (गुणा गुणेषु वर्तन्ते), there is left no room for moral restraint, because there is no necessity for it, when sense is transcended. बुद्धाद्वैतसतत्त्वस्य यथेष्टाचरणं यदि । शुनां तत्वदृशां चैव को भेदोऽचिभक्षणे । नैं. सेि. ४.६२ From the Vedantic standpoint, an individual may thus be liberated even during this mortal life of his (Jivan-mukti). In the Vedanta ethics, religion, and metaphysics are inseparably blended ); ५)
