India and Tibet : vol.1 / Page 512 (Color Image)

0512	India and Tibet : vol.1

438 A FINAL REFLECTION

onward by a forceful impulse. If, then, we find that the

direction in which we are thus being impelled is towards

what is, in itself, obviously good and desirable, should we

not be wiser, instead of standing stubbornly athwart the

impulse, to throw our whole selves in with it, to immerse

ourselves in it, to let it permeate us through and through,

and to utilize our intellects to give this general impetus

practical, definite effect ?

Instead of fostering isolation, acquiescing in seclusion,

and encouraging unneighbourliness in Tibet, in Afghanis-

tan, and all along our frontier, would it not be better

to work whole-heartedly with the great World-Impulse

towards more and more intimate union combined with

ever-increasing freedom ? Independence, indeed, we may

respect, but surely not isolation. To individuality we

may allow the fullest play, but hardly to unsociality.

Further, recognizing that forceful impulses mean flux

and movement, and that therefore we can never expect

finality, should we not place less and less faith in settle-

ments and treaties, and repose increasing trust in personal

contact, flexible and adaptable, ever ready for change in

details, but ever deepening and tightening the essential

attachment of man for man ? It is through personalities

that individuality is brought out, association fostered, and

harmony attained. It is through living human beings

that suspicions are dispelled, jealousies melted, prejudices

dissolved, and peoples united. The Tibet Treaty was

good ; would not an agent at Lhasa have been better ?

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