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work soever any mortal doth Of body, mind, or speech, evil or good,
By these five doth he that. Whic being thus, Whoso, for lack
of knowledge seeth himself As the sole actor, knoweth nought
at all And seeth nought. Therefore, I say, if one- Holding aloof
from self- with unstained mind Should slay all yonder host, being
bid to slay, He doth not slay; he is not bound thereby!
Knowledge, the thing known, and the mind
which knows, These make the threefold starting-ground of act. The
act, the actor, and the instrument, These make the threefold total
of the deed. But knowledge, agent, act, are differenced By three
dividing qualities. Hear now Which be the qualities dividing them.
There is "true" Knowledge.
Learn thou it is this: To see one changeless Life in all the Lives,
And in the Separate, One Inseparable. There is imperfect Knowledge:
that which sees The separate existences apart, And, being separated,
holds them real. There is
false Knowledge: that which blindly clings To one as if 'there all,
seeking no Cause, Deprived of light, narrow, and dull, and
"dark."
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