32 | CR Book X, Chapter 3

live both in society and reality at the same time. This is the highest
state we can reach while alive.

Nobody who had reached this state would probably bother to
write down these traditionally well-established ideas which derive their
whole value from being practised. Yet they may help to guide imperfect
practice to a certain extent. It would be false intellectual pride and
conceit to say that Being can be comprehended only and exclusively by
thought.* But thought can thin down reality. Its clarity can help to dispel
confusion. Thoughtful meditation goes a long way towards counter-
acting the process of I-making, by which we appropriate so much to our
deceptive selves. Ontological studies may provide us with suitable
subjects. Thoughts is a prop, but feebler than others. Yet it contains
dangers of its own. One may wrap oneself into thoughts, as a shelter, or
as a defensive armour. One may rely on thought. Thought may become
a habit-forming drug. One may become attached to one's theories, and
infatuated with the beauty and solidity of one's own thoughts. Too easily
also, speculation acts as a substitute for practical efforts. If we are on our
guard against these dangers, it may do no harm to re-state long-
established and frequently reiterated truths.

*Book I, Chapter 2 & Book VIII, Chapter 2