The Way of the Universe
There is but one proper code of ethics for both man and the universe, and that is predictable character. The rest of the universe is strictly observing that code. For a man to succeed, he must follow the same universal laws.
Man is an imperfect being in a perfect world. The stars and the planets, wind and water, trees, and animals, are all just as they should be. They do not deviate from the path prescribed for them in nature. Man, on the other hand, deviates from his natural path. The actions he performs, and the person he develops into, are a contradiction of nature. He follows a path far removed from what has been laid down for him.
While this paradox poses some questions for man, it also provides the answer to him. It shows that man’s problems in this world stem from the fact that he has deviated from the path of nature; only by re-adopting that path can he find a solution. We can see that the path which the other objects in the universe follow is one of harmony and perfection. If man were to follow the same path, human society would surely acquire the same ideal qualities.
Our imperfect human world lies amid a much larger, perfect natural world that shows us our aim in life. Therefore, we must first try to understand the world around us and then strive to base our lives on the principles that function in the rest of the universe.
Observing the universe, one thing emerges with absolute clarity: everything is inextricably bound together in one specific law of nature. Nothing ever strays from the path that has been laid down for it. For instance, hydrogen and oxygen molecules can always be depended on to make water in the same way. One can consistently predict the chemical compounds which will form from mixing certain elements, for these elements invariably act according to definite laws. When metals dissolve and water turn into steam, they do not do it erratically; they do so precisely as the law of nature prescribes.
Man is required to act in the same manner. His character should be moulded according to nature’s natural and specific laws to acquire a predictable personality. One should be able to depend upon him to act in specific ways in certain situations. Rather than following impulses, which sometimes lead him in one direction, sometimes in another, he should faithfully adhere to the path that the whole of the natural world follows so successfully.
There is but one proper code of ethics for both man and the universe. The rest of the universe is observing that code. The only way that man can succeed is by following suit.
