Very welcome, very welcome!
Man has two lives. He is possessed of a physical life and also a spiritual life. The physical life of man is that of the animal. Consider and you will find that the physical life of man comprises the following actions: eating, drinking, sleeping, and the other exigencies of the animal state, walking, visualizing tangible objects, like other beings, the stars, the sun, the springs and the woods. This life is the animal life. It is evident and manifest that therein man is a partner of the animal.
The animal in its physical life is very comfortable, and it is most convenient for it to live; whereas for man to obtain a livelihood, it is more arduous and difficult. Consider all the animals which graze in the prairies, which live in the mountains and in the seas obtain their livelihood with the greatest ease, without difficulty and hardship. The birds do not have a profession, no arts, no business, no agriculture, and no farming. They are without any trouble whatever. They sense the utmost delicate fresh air, building their nests on the highest or loftiest branches of the trees and partaking of the grains which they find in the fields. All the harvest of the fields is their wealth. As soon as they become hungry, the grain is ready. After picking up some grain, they perch on the loftiest branches, resting in their nests in the utmost state of comfort and ease. It is likewise with the other animals.
But man, for his physical livelihood, must bear great hardships. Day and night he is restless, either farming or practicing his profession or business, or toiling and laboring in the mines beneath the earth. Or with the greatest difficulties and hardships he traverses long distances. In short, he works on the surface of the earth or beneath the surface of the earth to earn his physical livelihood. But the animal has none of these hardships and he shares his physical life in common with man.
Notwithstanding all this, there is no result forthcoming from the physical livelihood. If a man should live for one hundred years, his material life eventually would yield no result whatever. Ponder over this and see if there is any result forthcoming from the material life of man.
