ideal of service in which there is no enslavement, either of him who receives service or of him who renders it. The aspirant can speedily realise the ideal of true service if he has before him the example of the Master; but the spiritual preparation of the aspirant can never be termed complete unless he has learned the art of rendering service which gives not boredom but joy, which brings not enslavement but freedom, which does not set claims and counter-claims but springs from the spontaneity of free give and take, which is free from the burden of personal want, and which is sustained by the sense of ever-renewed fulfillment.
Part IV
FAITH
ONE of the most important qualifications for the aspirant is faith. There are three kinds of faith: (i) faith in oneself, (ii) faith in the Master and (iii) faith in life. Faith and its forms Faith is so indispensable to life that unless it is present in some degree, life itself would be impossible. It is because of faith that cooperative and social life becomes possible. It is faith in each other that facilitates a free give and take of love, a free sharing of work and its results. When life is burdened with unjustified fear of one another it becomes cramped and restricted.
Children have a natural faith in their elders. They instinctively look to them for protection and help without requiring any letters of introduction. Faith and its counterpart This quality of trusting others persists in later life unless a person is rudely shocked by others who, through self-interest, deceive and exploit them. So, though faith is natural to man, it grows and nourishes in a society where people are reliable, honest and worthy of faith, and it fades in a hostile environment. Faith in one another becomes complete and steady
