this morning’s lecture is that there is but One Existence, and that
One Existence seen through different constitutions appears either as
the earth, or heaven, or hell, or God, or ghosts, or men or demons,
or world, or all these things. But among these many “He who sees that
One in this ocean of death, he who sees that One Life in this floating
universe, who realizes that One who never changes, unto him belongs
eternal peace; unto none else, unto none else.” This One Existence has
to be realized. How, is the next question. How is it to be realized?
How is this dream to be broken, how shall we wake up from this dream
that we are little men and women, and all such things? We are the
Infinite Being of the universe, and have become materialized into these
little beings, men and women, depending upon the sweet word of one
man, or the angry word of another man and so forth. What a terrible
dependence, what a terrible slavery! I who am beyond all pleasure and
pain, whose reflection is the whole universe, little bits of whose life
are the suns and moons and stars,--I am held down as a terrible slave.
If you pinch my body I feel pain. If one says a kind word I begin
to rejoice. See my condition,--slave of the body, slave of the mind,
slave of the world, slave of a good word, slave of a bad word, slave
of passion, slave of happiness, slave of life, slave of death, slave
of everything. This slavery has to be broken. How? “This _Âtman_ has
first to be heard, then reasoned upon and then meditated upon.” This
is the method of the Advaita _Jnâni_. The truth has to be heard, then
reflected upon and then to be constantly asserted. Think always--“I am
_Brahman_”; every other thought must be cast aside as weakening. Cast
aside every thought that says that you are men or women. Let body go,
and mind go, and gods go, and ghosts go. Let everything go but that
One Existence. “Where one hears another, where one sees another, that
is but small; where one does not hear another, where one does not see
another, that is infinite.” That is the highest, when the subject and
the object become one. When I am the listener and I am the speaker,
when I am the teacher and I am the taught, when I am the creator and I
am the created,--then alone fear ceases; there is not another to make
us afraid. There is nothing but myself, what can frighten me? This is
to be heard day after day. Get rid of all other thoughts. Everything
else must be thrown aside, and this is to be repeated continually,
poured through the ears until it reaches the heart, until every nerve
and muscle, every drop of blood tingles with the idea that I am He,
I am He. Even at the gate of death say “I am He.” There was a man in
India, a _Sannyâsin_, who used to repeat “_Shivoham_” (“I am Bliss
Eternal”), and a tiger jumped on him one day and dragged him away and
killed him, and as long as he was living the sound came “_Shivoham,
Shivoham_.” Even at the gate of death, in the greatest danger, in the
thick of the battle-field, at the bottom of the ocean, on the tops of
the highest mountains, in the thickest of the forest, tell yourself
“I am He, I am He.” Day and night say “I am He.” It is the greatest
strength; it is religion. “The weak will never reach the _Âtman_.”
Never say: “O Lord, I am a miserable sinner.” Who shall help you? You
are the help of the universe. What in this universe can help you? Where
is the man, or the god, or the demon to help you? What can prevail over
you? You are the god of the universe; where can you seek for help?
Never help came from anywhere but from yourself. In your ignorance,
every prayer that you made and that was answered, you thought was
answered by some Being, but you answered the prayer yourself,
unknowingly. The help came from yourself, and you fondly imagined that
some one was sending help to you. There is no help for you outside of
yourself; you are the creator of the universe. Like the silkworm you
have built a cocoon around yourself. Who will save you? Cut your own
cocoon and come out as the beautiful butterfly, as the free soul.
Then alone you will see Truth. Ever tell yourself “I am He.” These
are words that will burn up the dross that is in the mind, words that
will bring out the tremendous energy which is within you already, the
infinite power which is sleeping in your heart. This is to be brought
out by constantly hearing the truth and nothing else. Wherever there is
thought of weakness, approach not the place. Avoid all weakness if you
want to be _Jnâni_.
Before you begin to practise, clear your mind of all doubts. Fight and
reason and argue, and when you have established it in your mind that
this and this alone can be the truth and nothing else, do not argue any
more; close your mouth. Hear not argumentation, neither argue yourself.
What is the use of any more arguments? You have satisfied yourself,
you have decided the question. What remains? The truth has now to be
realized, therefore why waste valuable time in vain arguments? The
truth has now to be meditated upon and every idea that strengthens you
must be taken up and every thought that weakens you must be rejected.
The _Bhakta_ meditates upon forms and images and all such things and
upon God. This is the natural process, but a slower one. The _Yogi_
meditates upon various centres in his body and manipulates powers in
his mind. The _Jnâni_ says the mind does not exist, neither the body.
This idea of the body and of the mind must go, must be driven off;
therefore it is foolish to think of them. It would be like trying to
cure one ailment by bringing in another. His meditation therefore is
the most difficult one, the negative; he denies everything, and what is
left is the Self. This is the most analytical way. The _Jnâni_ wants to
tear away the universe from the Self by the sheer force of analysis.
It is very easy to say, “I am a _Jnâni_,” but very hard to really be
one. “The way is long; it is, as it were, walking on the sharp edge of
a razor, yet despair not. Awake, arise, and stop not until the goal is
reached,” say the Vedas.
So what is the meditation of the _Jnâni_? He wants to rise above every
idea of body or mind, to drive away the idea that he is the body. For
instance, when I say “I, Swâmi,” immediately the idea of the body
comes. What must I do then? I must give the mind a hard blow and say,
“No, I am not the body, I am the Self.” Who cares if disease comes or
death in the most horrible form? I am not the body. Why make the body
nice? To enjoy the illusion once more? To continue the slavery? Let it
go, I am not the body. That is the way of the _Jnâni_. The _Bhakta_
says: “The Lord has given me this body that I may safely cross the
ocean of life and I must cherish it until the journey is accomplished.”
The _Yogi_ says: “I must be careful of the body so that I may go on
steadily and finally attain liberation.” The _Jnâni_ feels that he
cannot wait, he must reach the goal this very moment. He says: “I am
free through eternity, I am never bound; I am the God of the universe
through all eternity. Who shall make me perfect? I am perfect already.”
When a man is perfect he sees perfection in others. When he sees
imperfection, it is his own mind projecting itself. How can he see
imperfection if he has not got it in himself? So the _Jnâni_ does not
care for perfection or imperfection. None exists for him. As soon as
he is free, he does not see good and evil. Who sees evil and good? He
who has it in himself. Who sees the body? He who thinks he is the body.
The moment you get rid of the idea that you are the body, you do not
see the world at all. It vanishes forever. The _Jnâni_ seeks to tear
himself away from this bondage of matter by the force of intellectual
conviction. This is the negative way,--the “_neti, neti_” (“not this,
not this”).
VI
UNITY OF THE SELF
To illustrate the conclusion arrived at in our last lesson, I will read
to you from one of the Upanishads, showing how these ideas were taught
in India from the most ancient times.
_Yajnavalkya_ was a great sage. You know the rule in India was that
every man must give up the world when he became old. So _Yajnavalkya_
said to his wife: “My beloved, here is all my money and my possessions,
and I am going away.” She replied: “Sir, if I had this whole earth
full of wealth would that give me immortality?” _Yajnavalkya_ said:
“No, that cannot be. Your life will be that of the rich, and that will
be all, but wealth cannot give you immortality.” She replied: “That
through which I shall become immortal, what shall I do to gain that?
If you know that, tell me.” _Yajnavalkya_ replied: “You have always
been my beloved; you are more beloved now by this question. Come, take
your seat, and I will tell you, and when you have heard, meditate upon
it.” He continued: “It is not for the sake of the husband that the wife
loves the husband, but for the sake of the _Âtman_ (the Self) that she
loves the husband, because she loves the Self. None loves the wife
for the sake of the wife, but it is because he loves the Self that he
loves the wife. None loves the children for the sake of the children,
but because he loves the Self, therefore he loves the children. None
loves wealth on account of the wealth, but because he loves the Self,
therefore he loves wealth. None loves the Brahmin for the sake of the
Brahmin, but because he loves the Self, he loves the Brahmin. So none
loves the _Kshatriya_ for the sake of the _Kshatriya_, but because he
loves the Self. Neither does anyone love the world on account of the
world, but because he loves the Self. None similarly loves the gods on
account of the gods, but because he loves the Self. None loves anything
for that thing’s sake, but it is for the Self of that thing that he
loves it. This Self therefore, is to be heard, is to be reasoned, and
is to be meditated upon. Oh my _Maitreyi_, when that Self has been
heard, when that Self has been seen, when that Self has been realized,
then all these things become known.”
What does this mean? Before us we find a curious philosophy. That
the Self shines through all these various things which we call the
world. The statement has been made that every love is selfishness in
the lowest sense of the word; because I love myself, therefore I love
another; it cannot be. There have been philosophers in modern times
who have said that self is the only motive power in the world. That is
true, and yet it is wrong. This self is but the shadow of that real
Self which is behind. It appears wrong and evil because it is limited.
That very love we have for the Self, which is the universe, appears to
be evil, because it is seen through limitation. Even when a wife loves
a husband, whether she knows it or not, she loves the husband for that
Self. It is selfishness as it is manifested in the world, but that
selfishness is really but a small part of that “Self-ness.” Whenever
one loves, one has to love in and through the Self.
This Self has to be known. Those that love the Self without knowing
what It is, their love is selfishness. Those that love knowing what
that Self is, their love is free, they are sages. None loves the
Brahmin for the Brahmin, but because he loves the Self, which is
appearing through the Brahmin. “Him the Brahmin gives up who sees the
Brahmin as separate from the Self. Him the _Kshatriya_ gives up who
sees the _Kshatriya_ as separate from the Self. The world gives him up
who sees this world as separate from the Self. The gods give him up
who believes the gods to be separate from the Self. All things give
him up who knows them as separate from the Self. These Brahmins, these
_Kshatriyas_, this world, these gods, whatever exists, everything is
that Self.” Thus _Yajnavalkya_ explains what he means by that love.
The difficulty comes when we particularize this love. Suppose I love a
woman; as soon as that woman is particularized, is separated, from that
_Âtman_ (the Self), my love will not be eternal; it has become selfish
and is likely to end in grief, but as soon as I see that woman as the
_Âtman_, that Love becomes perfect, and will never suffer. So, as soon
as you are attached to anything in the universe detaching it from the
universe as a whole--from the _Âtman_--then comes a reaction. With
everything that we love outside the Self, grief and misery will be the
result. If we enjoy everything in the Self, and as the Self, no misery
or reaction will come. This is perfect bliss.
How to come to this ideal? _Yajnavalkya_ goes on to tell us the process
by which to reach that state. The universe is infinite; how can we take
every particular thing and look at it as the _Âtman_, without knowing
the _Âtman_? “With a drum, when we are at a distance, we cannot conquer
the sound by trying to control the sound waves, but as soon as we come
to the drum, and put our hand on it, the sound is conquered. When the
conch shell is being blown, we cannot conquer the sound, until we come
near and get hold of the shell, and then it is conquered. When the
vina is being played, as soon as we come to the vina, we can control
the centre of the sound, whence the sound is proceeding. As when some
one is burning damp fuel, all sorts of smoke and sparks of various
kinds rise, even so from this great One has been breathed out history
and knowledge; everything has come out of Him. He breathed out, as it
were, all knowledge. As to all water the one goal is the ocean, as to
all touch the hand is the one centre, as to all smell the nose is the
one centre, as of all taste the tongue is the one centre, as of all
form the eyes are the one centre, as of all sounds the ears are the
one centre, as of all thought the mind is the one centre, as of all
knowledge the heart is the one centre, as of all work the hands are the
one centre, as of all speech the organ of speech is the one centre,
as the concentrated salt is through and through the waters of the
sea, yet not to be seen by the eyes; even so, oh _Maitreyi_, is this
_Âtman_ not to be seen by the eyes, yet He permeates this universe. He
is everything. He is concentrated knowledge. The whole universe rises
from Him, and again goes down unto Him. Reaching Him, we go beyond
knowledge.” We here get the idea that we have all come just like sparks
from Him, and that when we know Him then we go back, and become one
with Him again.
_Maitreyi_ became frightened, just as everywhere people become
frightened. She said: “Sir, here is exactly where you have thrown a
confusion over me. You have frightened me by saying there will be no
more gods; all individuality will be lost. When I reach that stage
shall I know that _Âtman_, shall I reach the unconscious state and lose
my individuality, or will the knowledge remain with me that I know Him?
Will there be no one to recognize, no one to feel, no one to love,
no one to hate? What will become of me?” “O _Maitreyi_!” replied her
husband, “think not that I am speaking of an unconscious state, neither
be frightened. This _Âtman_ is indestructible, eternal in His essence;
the stage where there are two is a lower one. Where there are two there
one smells another, one sees another, one hears another, one welcomes
another, one thinks of another, one knows another. But when the whole
has become that _Âtman_, who is to be smelled by whom, who is to be
seen by whom, who is to be heard by whom, who is to be welcomed by
whom, who is to be known by whom? Who can know Him by whom everything
is known? This _Âtman_ can only be described as “_neti, neti_” (not
this, not this). Incomprehensible, He cannot be comprehended by the
intellect. Unchangeable, He never fades. Unattached, He never gets
mixed up with Nature. Perfect, He is beyond all pleasure and pain.
Who can know the Knower? By what means can we know Him? By no means;
this is the conclusion of the sages, O _Maitreyi_! Going beyond all
knowledge, is to attain Him and to attain immortality.”
So far the idea is, that it is all One Infinite Being, that is the
Real Individuality, when there is no more division, no more parts and
parcels, no more such low and illusory ideas. And yet, in and through
every part of this little individuality is shining that Infinite, the
Real Individuality. Everything is a manifestation of the _Âtman_. How
to reach to that? _Yajnavalkya_ told us in the beginning that--“This
_Âtman_ is first to be heard, then to be reasoned, then to be meditated
upon.” Thus far he has spoken about the Self, the _Âtman_, as being
the essence of everything in this universe. Then reasoning on the
Infinite nature of that Self and the finite nature of the human mind
he comes to the conclusion that it is impossible for the finite mind
to know the Knower of all--the Self. What is to be done then if we
cannot know the Self? _Yajnavalkya_ tells _Maitreyi_ that It can be
realized, although It cannot be known, and he enters upon a discourse
as to how It is to be meditated upon. This universe is helpful to every
being and every being is also helping this universe, for they are both
part and parcel of each other, the development of the one helps the
development of the other; but to the _Âtman_, the self-effulgent One,
nothing can be helpful because It is perfect and infinite. All that is
bliss, even in the lowest sense, is but the reflection of It. All that
is good is the reflection of that _Âtman_, and when that reflection is
less clear it is called evil. When the _Âtman_ is less manifested it
is called darkness--evil, and when it is more manifested it is called
light--goodness. That is all. This good and evil are only a question of
degree, the _Âtman_ more manifested or less manifested. Just take the
example of our own lives. How many things we see in our childhood which
we think to be good, but which really are evil, and how many things
seem to be evil which are good? How our ideas change! How an idea
becomes higher and higher! What we thought very good at one time, we do
not think so good now. Thus good and evil depend on the development of
our minds, and do not exist objectively. The difference is only in the
degree. All is a manifestation of that _Âtman_; It is being manifested
in everything, only when the manifestation is very poor we call it
evil, and when it is clearer we call it good. That _Âtman_ Itself is
beyond both good and evil. So everything that is in the universe is
first to be meditated upon as all good, because it is a manifestation
of that perfect One. He is neither evil nor good; He is perfect and
the perfect can be only one. The good can be many, and the evil many,
there will be degrees of variation between the good and the evil; but
the perfect is only one, and that perfect One when seen through certain
covering we call different degrees of good, and when seen through other
covering we call evil. Our ideas of good and evil as two distinct
things are mere superstition. There is only more good and less good and
the less good we call evil. These mistaken ideas of good and evil have
produced all sorts of dualistic delusions. They have gone deep into the
hearts of human beings, terrorizing men and women in all ages. All the
hatred with which we hate others is caused by these foolish ideas which
we have imbibed since our childhood. Our judgment of humanity becomes
entirely false; we make this beautiful earth a hell, but as soon as we
can give up these false ideas of good and evil, it will become a heaven.
“This earth is blissful (‘sweet’ is the literal translation) to all
beings, and all beings are sweet to this earth; they all help each
other. And all this sweetness is the _Âtman_, that effulgent, immortal
One.” That one sweetness is manifesting itself in various ways.
Wherever there is any love, any sweetness in any human being, either
in a saint or a sinner, either in an angel or a murderer, either in
the body or the mind or the senses, it is all He. How can there be
anything but the One? Whatever is the lowest physical enjoyment is He,
and the highest spiritual enjoyment is also He. There is no sweetness
but He. Thus says _Yajnavalkya_. When you come to that state, and look
upon all things with the same eyes; when you see in the drunkard’s
pleasure in drink only that sweetness, or in the saints’ meditation
only that sweetness, then you have got the truth, and then alone you
will know what happiness means, what peace means, what love means. But
as long as you make these vain distinctions, silly, childish, foolish
superstitions, all sorts of misery will come. But that immortal One,
the effulgent One, He is the background of the whole universe, it is
all His sweetness. This body is a miniature universe, as it were; and
through all the powers of the body, all the enjoyments of the mind,
shines that effulgent One. That self-effulgent One who is in the body,
He is the _Âtman_. “This world is so sweet to all beings, and every
being is so sweet to it!” But the self-effulgent One, the Immortal
is the bliss in this world. In us also, He is that bliss. He is the
_Brahman_. “This air is so sweet to all beings, and all beings are so
sweet to this air.” But He who is that self-effulgent immortal Being
in the air, He is also in this body. He is expressing Himself as the
life of all beings. “This sun is so sweet to all beings, and all beings
are so sweet to this sun.” He who is the self-effulgent Being in
the sun, Him we reflect as smaller lights. What can there be but His
reflection? He is in the body, and it is His reflection which makes us
see the light. “This moon is so sweet to all beings, and all beings
are so sweet to this moon.” But that self-effulgent and immortal One
who is the soul of that moon, He is in us expressing himself as mind.
“This lightning is so sweet to all beings and all beings are sweet to
this lightning,” but the self-effulgent and immortal One is the soul of
this lightning, and is also in us, because all is that _Brahman_. This
_Brahman_, this _Âtman_, this Self, is the King of all beings. These
ideas are very helpful to men; they are for meditation. For instance,
meditate on the earth, think of the earth, at the same time knowing
that we have in us that which is in the earth, that both are the same.
Identify the body with the earth, and identify the soul with the Soul
behind. Identify the air with the soul that is in the air and that is
in you and so on. All these are one, manifested in different forms. To
realize this unity is the end and aim of all meditation, and this is
what _Yajnavalkya_ was trying to explain to _Maitreyi_.
VII
THE HIGHEST IDEAL OF JNÂNA YOGA
As this is the last of these classes it is better that I give a brief
_resumé_ of all that I have been trying to tell you. In the Vedas and
Upanishads we find records of some of the very earliest religious ideas
of the Hindus, ideas that long antedated the time of Kapila, ancient as
this great sage is. He did not propound the _Sânkhya_ philosophy as a
new theory of his own. His task was to throw the light of his genius on
the vast mass of religious theories that were existing in his time and
bring out a rational and coherent system. He succeeded in giving India
a psychology that is accepted to the present day by all the diverse
and seemingly opposing philosophical systems to be found among the
Hindus. His masterly analysis and his comprehensive statement of the
processes of the human mind have not yet been surpassed by any later
philosopher and he undoubtedly laid the foundation for the Advaita
philosophy, which accepted his conclusions as far as they went and then
pushed them a step farther, thus reaching a final unity beyond the
duality that was the last word of the _Sânkhyas_.
Among the religious ideas that preceded the time of Kapila the first
groups that we see coming up,--I mean among recognized religious
ideas, and not the very low ones, which do not deserve the name of
religion,--all include the idea of inspiration, and revealed book and
so forth. In the earliest step, the idea of creation is very peculiar;
it is that the whole universe is created out of zero, at the will of
God; that all this universe did not exist, and out of nothingness
all this has come. In the next stage we find this conclusion is
questioned. The first step in Vedânta asks this question: How can
existence be produced out of non-existence? If this universe is
existent it must have come out of something, because it was easy for
them to see that there is nothing coming out of nothing anywhere. All
work that is going on by human hands requires materials. Naturally,
therefore, the ancient Hindus rejected the first idea that this world
was created out of nothing, and sought some material out of which this
world was created. The whole history of religion, in fact, is this
search for material. Out of what has all this been produced? Apart from
the question of the efficient cause, or God, apart from the question
whether God created the universe, the great question of all questions
has been, out of what did God create it? All the philosophies are
turning, as it were, on this question.
One solution is that nature and God and soul are eternal existences,
as if three parallel lines are running eternally, of which nature and
soul comprise what they call the dependent, and God the independent
Being. Every soul, like every particle of matter, is perfectly
dependent on the will of God. These and many other ideas we find
already existing when the _Sânkhya_ psychology was brought forward by
Kapila. According to it, perception comes by the transmission of the
suggestion, which causes perception first to the eyes, from the eyes
to the organs, from the organs to the mind, the mind to the _buddhi_
and from the _buddhi_ to something which is a unit, which they call
the _Âtman_. Coming to modern physiology we know that they have found
centres for all the different sensations. First are found the lower
centres, then a higher grade of centres, and these two will exactly
correspond with the actions of the _buddhi_ and the _manas_ (mind), but
not one centre has been found which controls all the other centres, so
philosophy cannot answer what unifies all these centres. Where and how
do the centres get unified? The centres in the brain are all different,
and there is not one centre which controls all the others; therefore,
so far as it goes, the _Sânkhya_ psychology stands unchallenged upon
this point. We must have this unification, something upon which the
sensations will be reflected to form a complete whole. Until there
is that something I cannot have any idea of you, or the picture, or
anything else. If we had not that unifying something we would only
see, then after a while hear, and then feel, and while we heard a man
talking we should not see him at all, because all the centres are
different.
This body is made of particles which we call matter, and it is dull
and insentient. So is what is called the fine body. The fine body,
according to the _Sânkhyas_ is a little body, made of very fine
particles, so fine that no microscope can see them. What is the use
of it? It is the receptacle of what we call mind. Just as this gross
body is the receptacle of the grosser forces, so the fine body is the
receptacle of the finer forces, that which we call thought, in its
various modifications. First is the body, which is gross matter, with
gross force. Force cannot exist without matter. It can only manifest
itself through matter, so the grosser forces work through the body and
those very forces become finer; the very force which is working in a
gross form works in a fine form and becomes thought. There is no real
difference between them, simply one is the gross and the other the fine
manifestation of the same thing. Neither is there any difference in
substance between the fine body and the gross body. The fine body is
also material, only very fine material.