there are two things in Nature, one of which they call _Âkâsa_, which
is substance, or matter, infinitely fine, and the other they call
_Prâna_. Whatever you see, or feel, or hear, as air or earth, or
anything, is material. And everything is a form of this _âkâsa_. It
becomes finer and finer, or grosser and grosser, and it changes under
the action of _Prâna_ (universal Energy). Like _âkâsa_, _prâna_ is
omnipresent, interpenetrating everything. _Âkâsa_ is like the water,
and everything else in the universe like blocks of ice, made out of
that water and floating in it, and _prâna_ is the power that changes
the _âkâsa_ into all these various forms. This body is the instrument
made out of _âkâsa_ for the manifestation of _prâna_ in gross forms,
as muscular motion, or walking, sitting, talking, and so on. The fine
body also is made of _âkâsa_, a much finer form of _âkâsa_, for the
manifestation of the same _prâna_ in the finer form of thought. So,
first there is this gross body, beyond that is the fine body, and
beyond that is the _jiva_ (soul), the real man. Just as these finger
nails can be pared off a hundred times a year, and yet are still a
part of our bodies, not different, so we have not two bodies. It is not
that man has a fine and also a gross body; it is the one body, only it
remains longer when it is a fine body, and the grosser it is the sooner
it dissolves. Just as I can cut this nail a hundred times a year, so
millions of times I can shed this body in one æon, but the fine body
will remain. According to the dualists this _jiva_, or the real man, is
very fine, minute.
So far we have seen that man is a being who has first a gross body
which dissolves very quickly, then a fine body which remains through
æons, and lastly a _jiva_. This _jiva_, according to the Vedânta
philosophy, is eternal, just as God is eternal, and Nature is also
eternal, but changefully eternal. The material of Nature, the _prâna_
and the _âkâsa_, are eternal, but are changing into different forms
eternally. Matter and force are eternal, but their combinations vary
continually. The _jiva_ is not manufactured, either of _âkâsa_, or of
_prâna_; it is immaterial, and therefore will remain for ever. It is
not the result of any combination of _prâna_ and _âkâsa_, and whatever
is not the result of combination will never be destroyed, because
destruction is decomposition. That which is not a compound cannot
be destroyed. The gross body is a compound of _âkâsa_ and _prâna_
in various forms and will be decomposed. The fine body will also be
decomposed after a long time, but the _jiva_ is a simple, and will
never be destroyed. For the same reason, we cannot say it ever was
born. Nothing simple can be born; the same argument applies. Only that
which is a compound can be born. The whole of this nature combined in
these millions of forms is under the will of God. God is all pervading,
omniscient, formless, everywhere, and He is directing this nature
day and night. The whole of it is under His control. There is no
independence of any being. It cannot be. He is the Ruler. This is the
teaching of dualistic Vedânta.
Then the question comes, if God be the Ruler of this universe, why
did He create such a wicked universe, why must we suffer so much? The
answer is made that it is not God’s fault. It is our own fault that
we suffer. Whatever we sow that we reap. God does not do anything to
punish us. If a man is born poor, or blind, or lame, he did something
before he was born in that way, something that produced these results.
The _jiva_ has been existing for all time, was never created. It has
been doing all sorts of things all the time. Whatever we do we suffer
for. If we do good we shall have happiness, and if bad, unhappiness.
This _jiva_ is by its own nature pure, but ignorance covers its
nature, says the dualist. As by evil deeds it has covered itself with
ignorance, so by good deeds it can become conscious of its own nature
again. Just as it is eternal, so its nature is pure. The nature of
every being is pure. When through good deeds all its sins and misdeeds
have been washed away, then the _jiva_ becomes pure again, and when
he becomes pure he goes after death by what is called _Devayana_ (the
path of the gods), to heaven, or the abode of the gods. If he has been
only an ordinarily good man he goes to what is called the “Abode of the
Fathers.”
When the gross body falls, the organs of speech enter the mind. You
cannot think without words; wherever there are words there must be
thought. The mind is resolved into the _prâna_, and the _prâna_
resolves into the _jiva_. Then the _jiva_ leaves the body and goes
to that condition of reward or punishment which he has earned by his
past life. _Devaloka_ is the “place (or abode) of the gods.” The word
_deva_ (god) means bright or shining one, and corresponds to what the
Christians and Mohammedans call “angels.” According to this teaching
there are various heavenly spheres somewhat analogous to the various
heavens described by Dante in the _Divine Comedy_. There are the
heaven of the fathers (or _pitris_), _devaloka_, the lunar sphere,
the electric sphere and highest of all the _Brahmaloka_, the heaven
of _Brahma_. From all the lower heavens the _jiva_ returns again to
human birth, but he who attains to _Brahmaloka_ lives there through
all eternity. These are the highest men who have become perfectly
unselfish, perfectly purified, who have given up all desires, do not
want to do anything except to worship and love God. There is a second
class, who do good works, but want some reward, want to go to heaven
in return. When they die the _jiva_ goes to the lunar sphere, where it
enjoys and becomes a _deva_ (god or angel). The gods, the _devas_, are
not eternal, they have to die. In heaven they will all die. The only
deathless place is _Brahmaloka_, where alone there is no birth and
no death. In our mythology it is said there are also the demons, who
sometimes give the gods chase. In all mythologies you read of these
fights between the demons, or wicked angels, and the gods and sometimes
the demons conquer the gods. In all mythologies also, you find that
the _devas_ were fond of the beautiful daughters of men. As a _deva_,
the _jiva_ only reaps results of past actions, but makes no new Karma.
Only man makes Karma. Karma means actions that will produce effects,
also those effects, or results of action. When a man dies and becomes a
_deva_ he has a period of pleasure, and during that time makes no fresh
Karma; he simply enjoys the reward of his past good works. But when the
good Karma is worked out then the other Karma begins to take effect.
In the Vedas there is no mention of hell. But afterwards the _Purânas_,
the later books in our Scriptures, thought that no religion could
become complete without a proper attachment of hells, and so they
invented all sorts of hells, with as many, if not more, varieties of
punishment than Dante saw in his _Inferno_, but our books are merciful
enough to say that it is only for a period. Bad Karma is worked out
in that state and then the souls come back to earth and get another
chance. This human form is the great chance. It is called the _karmic_
body, in which we decide our fate. We are running in a huge circle, and
this is the point in the circle which determines the future. So a human
body is considered the greatest body there is; man is greater than the
gods. Even they return to human birth. So far with dualistic Vedânta.
Next comes a higher conception of Vedânta philosophy, which says that
these ideas are crude. If you say there is a God who is an infinite
Being, and a soul which is also infinite, and Nature which is also
infinite, you can go on multiplying infinites indefinitely, but that
is illogical, because each would limit the other and there would be
no real infinite. God is both the material and the efficient cause of
the universe; He projects this universe out of Himself. Does that
mean that God has become these walls, and this table, that God has
become the animal, the murderer and all the evils in the world? God is
pure, how can He become all these degenerate things? He has not. God
is unchangeable, all these changes are in Nature; just as I am a soul
and have a body, this body is not different from me in a sense, yet I,
the real “I,” in fact am not this body. For instance, I am a child, I
become a young man, an old man, but my soul has not changed. It remains
the same soul. Similarly the whole universe comprises all Nature, and
an infinite number of souls, or, as it were, the infinite body of God.
He is interpenetrating the whole of it. He alone is unchangeable, but
Nature changes and soul changes. In what way does Nature change? In its
forms; it takes fresh forms. But the soul cannot change that way. The
soul contracts and expands in knowledge. It contracts by evil deeds;
those deeds which contract the natural knowledge and purity of the
soul are called evil deeds. Those deeds, again, which bring out the
natural glory of the soul, are called good deeds. All these souls were
pure, but they have become contracted by their own acts. Still, through
the mercy of God, and by doing good deeds, they will expand and become
pure again. Every soul has the same chance, and, in the long run, must
become pure and free itself from Nature. But this universe will not
cease, because it is infinite. This is the second theory. The first
is called dualistic Vedânta; the second teaches that there is God,
soul, and Nature, that soul and Nature form the body of God, and that
these three form one unit. Believers in this second theory are called
qualified non-dualists (_Visishtadvaitins_).
The last and highest theory is pure monism, or as it is known in
India, _Advaita_. It also teaches that God must be both the material
and the efficient cause of this universe. As such, God has become the
whole of this universe. This theory denies that God is the soul, and
the universe is the body, and the body is changing. In that case what
is the use of calling God the material cause of this universe? The
material cause is the cause become effect; the effect is nothing but
the cause in another form. Wherever you see effect, it is the cause
reproduced. If the universe is the effect, and God the cause, this
must be the reproduction of God. If it be claimed that the universe
is the body of God and that that body becomes contracted and fine and
becomes the cause, and out of that the universe is evolved, then the
_advaitist_ says it is God Himself who has become this universe. Now
comes a very fine question. If God has become this universe, then
everything is God. Certainly; everything is God. My body is God, and my
mind is God, and my soul is God. Then why are there so many _jivas_?
Has God become divided into millions and millions of _jivas_? How can
that infinite power and substance, the one Being of the universe
become divided? It is impossible to divide infinity. How can the pure
Being become this universe? If He has become the universe, He is
changeful, and if He is changeful, He is in Nature, and whatever is in
Nature is born and dies. If God is changeful, He must die some day.
Remember that. Again, how much of God has become this universe? If you
say “X,” the algebraical unknown quantity, then God is God minus “X”
now, and therefore not the same God as before this creation, because
so much of Him has become this universe. The answer of the non-dualist
is that this universe has no real existence, it exists in appearance
only. These _devas_ and gods and angels and being born and dying, and
all this infinite number of souls coming up and going down, all these
things are mere dreams. All is the one Infinite. The one sun reflected
on various drops of water appears to be many, millions of globules of
water reflect so many millions of suns and in each globule will be
a perfect image of the sun, yet there is only one sun, and so it is
with all these _jivas_, they are but reflections of the one infinite
Being. A dream cannot be without a reality, and that reality is the one
infinite Existence. You, as body, mind, or soul, are a dream, but what
you really are is Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. Thus says the
_Advaitist_. All these births and rebirths, this coming and going are
but parts of the dream. You are infinite. Where can you go? The sun,
moon, and the whole universe are but a drop in your nature. How can you
be born or die? The Self was never born, never will be born, never had
father or mother, friends or foes, for it is Existence-Knowledge-Bliss
Absolute.
What is the goal, according to this philosophy? That those who receive
this knowledge are one with the universe; for them all heavens, even
_Brahmaloka_, are destroyed, the whole dream vanishes, and they find
themselves the eternal God of the universe. They attain their real
individuality, infinitely beyond these little selves which we now think
of so much importance. No individuality will be lost; an infinite and
eternal Individuality will be realized. Pleasures in little things will
cease. We are finding pleasure in this little body, in this little
individuality. How much greater the pleasure when this whole universe
is in our one body? If there be pleasure in these separate bodies, how
much more when all bodies are one? The man who has realized this has
attained to freedom, has gone beyond the dream and known himself in his
real nature. This is the teaching of Advaita, the non-dualistic Vedânta.
These are the three steps which Vedânta philosophy has taken, and we
cannot go beyond, because we cannot go beyond unity. When any science
reaches a unity it cannot possibly go any farther. You cannot go beyond
this idea of the Absolute, the One Idea of the universe, out of which
everything else has evolved. All people cannot take up this _Advaita_
philosophy; it is too hard. First of all, it is very difficult to
understand it intellectually. It requires the sharpest of intellects,
a bold understanding. Secondly, it does not suit the vast majority of
people.
It is better to begin with the first of these three steps. Then by
thinking of that and understanding it, the second one will open of
itself. Just as a race travels, so individuals have to travel. The
steps which the human race has taken to come to the highest pinnacle of
religious thought, every individual will have to take. Only, while the
human race took millions of years to reach from one step to another,
individuals may live the whole life of the human race in a few years,
or they may be able to do it more quickly, perhaps in six months.
But each one of us will have to go through these steps. Those of you
who are non-dualists can, no doubt, look back to the period of your
lives when you were strong dualists. As soon as you think you are a
body and a mind, you will have to accept the whole of this dream. If
you have one piece you must take the whole. The man who says, here is
this world but there is no God, is a fool, because if there be a world
there will have to be a cause of the world, and that is what is called
God. You cannot have an effect without knowing that there is a cause.
God will only vanish when this world vanishes. When you have realized
your one-ness with God, this world will no longer be for you. As long
as this dream exists, however, we are bound to see ourselves as being
born and dying, but as soon as the dream that we are bodies vanishes,
so will vanish this dream that we are being born and dying, and so
will vanish the other dream that there is a universe. That very thing
which we now see as this universe will appear to us as God, and that
very God who was so long external, will appear as the very Self of our
own selves. The last word of _Advaita_ is, _Tat tvam asi_,--“That thou
art.”
_ADVERTISEMENTS_
Publications of The Vedânta Society
BY SWÂMI VIVEKÂNANDA
Jnâna Yoga.--Part I.
12mo. 356 pages. Cloth, $1.50. Postage, 11 cents.
“One of the great thought challengers of the day is this work by the
Swâmi Vivekânanda. The book goes deep and treats of startling things,
but when analyzed and viewed from the author’s standpoint, they are
found to be links in the great chain of truth. He alone will deny who
is out of sympathy or limited in vision.”--_Transcript_, Boston, Sept.
24, 1902.
“Students of religion will find much of interest in it; those who care
for India in any way will be glad to receive an indication of high
Hindu thought in one of the most striking religious movements of the
day; while the orthodox Christian will derive some information from the
work regarding the attitude of cultured Hindus toward Christianity and
its Founder. After reading the book one is inexcusable if his ideas
concerning Vedânta are hazy.”--_New York Saturday Review of Books_,
July 12, 1902.
“The lectures show a wonderful insight into great truths which underlie
all religious aspiration.”--_Courier Journal_, Louisville, July 5, 1902.
“The altruism with which his preaching is permeated attracts and
inspires. The love of humanity which he inculcates harmonizes with
the spirit of the age, His English is good, his style easy to read,
his sincerity unquestionable. Merely as an intelligent presentation
of what is best in the ancient Hindu Scriptures, the Swâmi
Vivekânanda’s book is deserving of attention at the hands of religious
students.”--_Record-Herald_, Chicago, Aug. 19, 1902.
“The lectures are all extremely interesting, the style brilliant, the
reasoning often subtle. Whether the philosophy advanced is satisfactory
or not to those whose theories are the outgrowth of a different system
of thought, his method of presenting it affords an intellectual
pleasure.”--_Journal_, Indianapolis, Oct. 13, 1902.
“It is a book which appeals to the intellectual, and no one could be
the worse for reading it, since it contains much of truth even as
Christians measure truth.”--_Milwaukee Sentinel_, Aug, 15, 1902.
“The Vedânta Philosophy as explained by Vivekânanda is interesting....
As given by him and his followers, no more lofty teachings can
be found. The work is a valuable addition to the literature of
religions.”--_Toledo Blade_ Oct. 11, 1902.
VEDÂNTA PUBLICATION COMMITTEE
135 West 80th St., New York.
Râja Yoga
376 pages. Cloth, $1.50. Postage, 11 cents. Portrait of author,
frontispiece.
Besides lectures on Râja Yoga the book contains Patanjali’s Yoga
Aphorisms with Commentary, a copious Sanskrit Glossary, a lecture on
Immortality, and the Swâmi’s lectures on BHAKTI YOGA.
“The whole spirit of the book is candid in the extreme. It appeals
to what is best and noblest in man. It makes no foolish mysteries
and demands no blind belief. It puts forth its system in a plain and
simple manner. It is able to present its own method without in any
way attacking the method of others. It manifests a charity that it is
usual to call Christian but which Vivekânanda proves is equally the
property of the Hindu. If this little book had nothing to teach but the
beautiful toleration it advocates, it would be well worth reading; but
many will find in it valuable suggestions to aid in reaching the higher
life.”--_Arena_, Mar., 1897.
“A large part of the book is occupied with that method of attaining
perfection known as Râja Yoga, and there are also translations of a
number of aphorisms and an excellent glossary.”--_Living Age_, August
5th, 1899.
“A valuable portion of the volume to students is the glossary of
Sanskrit technical terms. This includes not only such terms as are
employed in the book, but also those frequently employed in works on
the Vedânta philosophy in general.”--_New York Times_, July 22d, 1899.
“A new edition with enlarged glossary, which will be welcomed by
students of comparative religion, who are already familiar with the
author’s lectures in this country.”--_Review of Reviews_, Oct., 1899.
“The methods of practical realization of the divine within the
human are applicable to all religions, and all peoples, and
only vary in their details to suit the idiosyncrasy of race and
individuals.”--_Post_, Washington, D. C., June 12th, 1899.
Sent on receipt of price and postage by the
VEDÂNTA PUBLICATION COMMITTEE
135 West 80th St., New York.
_Agents for Europe_--Messrs. LUZAC & CO.,
London, W. C., 46 Great Russell St.
The Sayings of Sri Râmakrishna.
COMPILED BY
SWÂMI ABHEDÂNANDA
234 pages. Flexible cloth, gilt top, 75c. net. Postage, 4c.
Râmakrishna was a great Hindu saint of the nineteenth century who
has already had an influence on the religious thought of America and
England through the teachings of his disciples, Swâmi Vivekânanda,
Swâmi Abhedânanda, and others. His Sayings are full of broad practical,
non-sectarian instructions concerning the spiritual life which cannot
but give help and inspiration to the followers of all creeds. The
present volume contains a larger number of Sayings than has yet
appeared in any one English collection. For the first time also they
have been classified into chapters and arranged in logical sequence
under marginal headings, such as “All creeds paths to God,” “Power of
Mind and Thought,” “Meditation,” “Perseverance.” As an exposition of
the universal truths of Religion and their application to the daily
life this book takes its place among the great scriptures of the world.
My Master
By SWÂMI VIVEKÂNANDA
12mo, 90 pages. Cloth, 50 cents. Postage, 6 cents.
“This little book gives an account of the character and career of the
remarkable man known in India as Paramahamsa Srimat Râmakrishna, who is
regarded by a great number of his countrymen as a divine incarnation.
It is not more remarkable for the story it tells of a holy man than for
the clear English in which it is told, and the expressions of elevated
thought in its pages.”--_Journal_, Indianapolis, May 13th, 1901.
“The book, besides telling the life of Sri Râmakrishna, gives an
insight into some of the religious ideas of the Hindus and sets forth
the more important ideals that vitally influence India’s teeming
millions. If we are willing to sympathetically study the religious
views of our Aryan brethren of the Orient, we shall find them governed
by spiritual concepts in no way inferior to the highest known to
ourselves, concepts which were thought out and practically applied
by these ancient philosophers in ages so remote as to antedate
history.”--_Post, Washington_, May 13th, 1901.
Sent on receipt of price and postage by the
VEDÂNTA PUBLICATION COMMITTEE
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_Agts. for Europe_--Messrs. LUZAC & CO., London, W. C.,
46 Great Russell Street.
By SWÂMI ABHEDÂNANDA
Divine Heritage of Man
12mo, 215 pages. Portrait of author, frontispiece.
Cloth, $1.00. Postage, 8 cents.
CONTENTS. I. Existence of God. II. Attributes of God. III. Has God any
Form? IV. Fatherhood and Motherhood of God. V. Relation of Soul to
God. VI. What is an Incarnation of God? VII. Son of God. VIII. Divine
Principle in Man.
“The Swâmi Abhedânanda’s writings are also companionable and
readable.... The Philosophy of India, being the bringing together of
the best thoughts and reasonings of the best men for the thousands of
preceding years, had under consideration the self-same problems that
are to-day vexing the souls of our philosophers. The Swâmi’s book is
therefore not so radical a departure from accepted thought as might
at first be imagined.... It is not meat for babes, but rather will it
give new lines of thought to the brightest intellects.”--_Transcript_,
Boston, Aug., 1903.
“His method of dealing with these fundamental questions is peculiarly
free both from dogmatic assertion and from pure metaphysical
speculation.”--_Inter-Ocean_, Chicago, Aug., 1903.
“He bases his arguments, not on theological hypotheses, but on
scientific facts.”--_Cleveland Plain Dealer_, Aug., 1903.
“It is written in a plain and logical style, and cannot fail to
interest all who are anxious for information concerning the philosophy
of which the author is such an able exponent.”--_Times_, Pittsburg,
June, 1903.
“A glance over a few of its pages would be sufficient to convince
the reader that he is in the presence of an intellect of high order,
more thoroughly conversant with the philosophies and sciences of the
Occidental world than most Europeans or Americans.... The ‘Divine
Heritage of Man’ gives a rare insight into the religious views of
educated Hindoos and its argumentation furnishes an intellectual
treat.”--_Chronicle_, San Francisco, Aug., 1903.
“Fully cognizant of modern scientific discoveries, the author treats
his subject broadly.”--_Bookseller, Newsdealer, and Publisher_, New
York, Aug., 1903.