The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 6/Lectures and Discourses/Worshipper and Worshipped
WORSHIPPER AND WORSHIPPED
(This lecture is reproduced from the Vedanta and the West. See Vol. IV.)
(Delivered in San Francisco area, April 9, 1900)
We have been taking up the more analytical side of human nature. In this
course we [shall] study the emotional side. . . . The former deals with man
as unlimited being, [as] principle, the latter with man as limited being. .
. . The one has no time to stop for a few tear-drops or pangs; the other
cannot proceed without wiping the tear-drop, without healing that misery.
One is great, so great and grand that sometimes we are staggered by the
magnitude; the other [is] commonplace, and yet most beautiful and dear to
us. One gets hold of us, takes us up to the heights where our lungs almost
burst. We cannot breathe [in] that atmosphere. The other leaves us where we
are and tries to see the objects of life, [takes the limited] view. One will
accept nothing until it has the shining seal of reason; the other has faith,
and what it cannot see it believes. Both are necessary. A bird cannot fly
with only one wing. . . .
What we want is to see the man who is harmoniously developed . . . great in
heart, great in mind, [great in deed] . . . . We want the man whose heart
feels intensely the miseries and sorrows of the world. . . . And [we want]
the man who not only can feel but can find the meaning of things, who delves
deeply into the heart of nature and understanding. [We want] the man who
will not even stop there, [but] who wants to work out [the feeling and
meaning by actual deeds]. Such a combination of head, heart, and hand is
what we want. There are many teachers in this world, but you will find [that
most of them] are one-sided. [One] sees the glorious midday sun of intellect
[and] sees nothing else. Another hears the beautiful music of love and can
hear nothing else. Another is [immersed] in activity, and has neither time
to feel nor time to think. Why not [have] the giant who is equally active,
equally knowing, and equally loving? Is it impossible? Certainly not. This
is the man of the future, of whom there are [only a] few at present. [The
number of such will increase] until the whole world is humanised.
I have been talking to you so long about intellect [and] reason. We have
heard the whole of Vedanta. The veil of Maya breaks: wintry clouds vanish,
and the sunlight shines on us. I have been trying to climb the heights of
the Himalayas, where the peaks disappear beyond the clouds. I propose lip
study with you the other side: the most beautiful valleys, the most
marvellous exquisiteness in nature. [We shall study the] love that holds us
here in spite of all the miseries of the world, [the] love that has made us
forge the chain of misery, this eternal martyrdom which man is suffering
willingly, of his own accord. We want to study that for which man has forged
the chain with his own hands, that for which he suffers, that eternal love.
We do not mean to forget the other. The glacier of the Himalayas must join
hands with the rice fields of Kashmir. The thunderbolt must blend its base
note with the warbling of the birds.
This course will have to do with everything exquisite and beautiful. Worship
is everywhere, in every soul. Everyone worships God. Whatever be the name,
they are all worshipping God. The beginnings of worship—like the beautiful
lotus, like life itself—are in the dirt of the earth. . . . There is the
element of fear. There is the hungering for this world's gain. There is the
worship of the beggar. These are the beginnings of [the] world worshipping,
[culminating in] loving God and worshipping God through man.
Is there any God? Is there anyone to be loved, any such one capable of being
loved? Loving the stone would not be much good. We only love that which
understands love, that which draws our love. So with worship. Never say
[that] there is a man in this world of ours who worshipped a piece of stone
[as stone]. He always worshipped [the omnipresent being in the stone].
We find out that the omnipresent being is in us. [But] how can we worship,
unless that being is separate from us? I can only worship Thee, and not me.
I can only pray to Thee, and not me. Is there any "Thou"?
The One becomes many. When we see the One, any limitations reflected through
Maya disappear; but it is quite true that the manifold is not valueless. It
is through the many that we reach the one. . . .
Is there any Personal God—a God who thinks, who understands, a God who
guides us? There is. The Impersonal God cannot have any one of these
attributes. Each one of you is an individual: you think, you love, [you]
hate, [you] are angry, sorry, etc.; yet you are impersonal, unlimited. [You
are] personal and impersonal in one. You have the personal and the
impersonal aspects. That [impersonal reality] cannot be angry, [nor] sorry,
[nor] miserable—cannot even think misery. It cannot think, cannot know. It
is knowledge itself. But the personal [aspect] knows, thinks, and dies, etc.
Naturally the universal Absolute must have two aspects; the one representing
the infinite reality of all things; the other, a personal aspect, the Soul
of our souls, Lord of all lords. [It is] He who creates this universe. Under
[His] guidance this universe exists. . . .
He, the Infinite, the Ever-Pure, the Ever-[Free,]. . . He is no judge, God
cannot be [a] judge. He does not sit upon a throne and judge between the
good and the wicked. . . . He is no magistrate, [no] general, [nor] master.
Infinitely merciful, infinitely loving is the Personal [God].
Take it from another side. Every cell in your body has a soul conscious of
the cell. It is a separate entity. It has a little will of its own, a little
sphere of action of its own. All [cells] combined make up an individual. [In
the same way,] the Personal God of the universe is made up of all these
[many individuals].
Take it from another side. You, as I see you, are as much of your absolute
nature as has been limited and perceived by one. I have limited you in order
to see you through the power of my eyes, my senses. As much of you as my
eyes can see, I see. As much of you as my mind can grasp is what I know to
be you, and nothing more. In the same way, I am reading the Absolute, the
Impersonal [and see Him as Personal]. As long as we have body and mind, we
always see this triune being: God, nature, and soul. There must always be
the three in one, inseparable. . . . There is nature. There are human souls.
There is again That in which nature and the human souls [are contained]
The universal soul has become embodied. My soul itself is a part of God. He
is the eye of our eves, the life of our life, the mind of our mind, the soul
of our soul. This is the highest ideal of the Personal God we can have.
If you are not a dualist, [but are] a monist, you can still have the
Personal God. . . . There is the One without a second. That One wanted to
love Himself. Therefore, out of that One, He made [many]. . . . It is the
big Me, the real Me, that that little me is worshipping. Thus in all systems
you can have the Personal [God].
Some people are born under circumstances that make them happier than others:
why should this be in the reign of a just being? There is mortality in this
world. These are the difficulties in the way [These problems] have never
been answered. They cannot be answered from any dualistic plane. We have to
go back to philosophy to treat things as they are. We are suffering from our
own Karma. It is not the fault of God. What we do is our own fault, nothing
else. Why should God be blamed?. . .
Why is there evil? The only way you can solve [the problem] is [by saying
that God is] the cause of both good and evil. The great difficulty in the
theory of the Personal God is that if you say He is only good and not evil,
you will be caught in the trap of your own argument. How do you know there
is [a] God? You say [that He is] the Father of this universe, and you say He
is good; and because there is [also] evil in the world, God must be evil. .
. . The same difficulty!
There is no good, and there is no evil. God is all there is . . . . How do
you know what is good? You feel [it]. [How do you know what is evil ? If
evil comes, you feel it. . . . We know good and evil by our feelings. There
is not one man who feels only good, happy feelings. There is not one who
feels only unhappy feelings. . . .
Want and anxiety are the causes of all unhappiness and happiness too. Is
want increasing or decreasing? Is life becoming simple or complex? Certainly
complex. Wants are being multiplied. Your great-grandfathers did not want
the same dress or the same amount of money [you do]. They had no electric
cars, [nor] railroads, etc. That is why they had to work less. As soon as
these things come, the want arises, and you have to work harder. More and
more anxiety, and more and more competition.
It is very hard work to get money. It is harder work to keep it. You fight
the whole world to get a little money together [and] fight all your life to
protect it. [Therefore] there is more anxiety for the rich than for the
poor. . . . This is the way it is. . . .
There are good and evil every where in this world. Sometimes evil becomes
good, true; but other times good becomes evil also. All our senses produce
evil some time or other. Let a man drink wine. It is not bad [at first], but
let him go on drinking, [and] it will produce evil. . . . A man is born of
rich parents; good enough. He becomes a fool, never exercises his body or
brain. That is good producing evil. Think of this love of life: We go away
and jump about and live a few moments; we work hard. We are born babies,
entirely incapable. It takes us years to understand things again. At sixty
or seventy we open our eyes, and then comes the word, "Get out! " And there
you are.
We have seen that good and evil are relative terms. The thing [that is] good
for me is bad for you. If you eat the dinner that I eat, you will begin to
weep, and I shall laugh. . . . We [may] both dance, but I with joy and you
with pain. . . . The same thing is good at one part of our life and bad at
another part. How can you say [that] good and evil are all cut and dried—
[that] this is all good and that is all evil?
Now, who is responsible for all this good and evil, if God is ever the good?
The Christians and the Mohammedans say there is a gentleman called Satan.
How can you say there are two gentlemen working? There must be one. . . .
The fire that burns the child also cooks the meal. How can you call the fire
good or bad, and how can you say it was created by two different persons?
Who creates all [so-called] evil? God. There is no other way out. He sends
death and life, plague and epidemics, and everything. If such is God, He is
the good; He is the evil; He is the beautiful; He is the terrible; He is
life; and He is death.
How can such a God be worshipped? We shall come to [understand] how the soul
can really learn to worship the terrible; then that soul will have peace. .
. . Have you peace? Do you get rid of anxieties? Turn around, first of all,
and face the terrible. Tear aside the mask and find the same [God]. He is
the personal—all that is [apparently] good and all that is [apparently]
bad. There is none else. If there were two Gods, nature could not stand a
moment. There is not another one in nature. It is all harmony. If God played
one side and the devil the other, the whole [of] nature would be [in chaos].
Who can break the law? If I break this glass, it will fall down. If anyone
succeeds in throwing one atom out of place, every other atom will go out of
balance. . . . The law can never be broken. Each atom is kept in its place.
Each is weighed and measured and fulfils its [purpose] and place. Through
His command the winds blow, the sun shines. Through His rule the worlds are
kept in place. Through His orders death is sporting upon the earth. Just
think of two or three Gods having a wrestling match in this world! It cannot
be.
We now come to see that we can have the Personal God, the creator of this
universe, who is merciful and also cruel. . . . He is the good, He is the
evil. He smiles, and He frowns. And none can go beyond His law. He is the
creator of this universe.
What is meant by creation, something coming out of nothing? Six thousand
years ago God woke up from His dream and created the world [and] before that
there was nothing? What was God doing then, taking a good nap? God is the
cause of the universe, and we can know the cause through the effect. If the
effect is not present, the cause is not [the] cause. The cause is always
known in and through the effect. . . . Creation is infinite. . . . You
cannot think of the beginning in time or in space.
Why does He create it? Because He likes to; because He is free. . . . You
and I are bound by law, because we can work [only] in certain ways and not
in others. "Without hands, He can grasp everything. Without feet, [He moves
fast]." Without body, He is omnipotent. "Whom no eyes can see, but who is
the cause of sight in every eye, know Him to be the Lord." You cannot
worship anything else. God is the omnipotent supporter of this universe.
What is called "law" is the manifestation of His will. He rules the universe
by His laws.
So far [we have discussed] God and nature, eternal God and eternal nature.
What about souls? They also are eternal. No soul was [ever] created; neither
can [the] soul die. Nobody can even imagine his own death. The soul is
infinite, eternal. How can it die? It changes bodies. As a man takes off his
old, worn-out garments and puts on new and fresh ones, even so the worn-out
body is thrown away and [a] fresh body is taken.
What is the nature of the soul? The soul is also [omnipotent] and
omnipresent. Spirit has neither length, nor breadth, nor thickness. . . .
How can it be said to be here and there? This body falls; [the soul] works
[through] another body. The soul is a circle of which the circumference is
nowhere, but the centre is in the body. God is a circle whose circumference
is nowhere, but whose centre is everywhere. The soul by its [very] nature is
blessed, pure, and perfect; it could never be pure if its nature was impure.
. . . The soul's nature is purity; that is why souls [can] become pure. It
is blessed [by nature]; that is why it [can] become blessed. It is peace;
[that is why it can become peaceful]. . . .
All of us who find ourselves in this plane, attracted to the body, work hard
for a living, with jealousies and quarrels and hardships, and then death.
That shows we are not what we should be. We are not free, perfectly pure,
and so on. The soul, as it were, has become degraded. Then what the soul
requires is expansion. . . .
How can you do it? Can you work it out yourself ? No. If a man's face is
dusty, can you wash it out with dust? If I put a seed in the ground, the
seed produces a tree, the tree produces a seed, the seed another tree, etc.
Hen and egg, egg and hen. If you do something good, you will have to reap
the result of that, be born again and be sorry. Once started in this
infinite chain, you cannot stop. You go on, . . . up and down, [to] heavens
and earths, and all these [bodies]. . . . There is no way out.
Then how can you get out of all this, and what are you here for? One idea is
to get rid of misery. We are all struggling day and night to get rid of
misery. . . . We cannot do it by work. Work will produce more work. It is
only possible if there is someone who is free himself and lends us a hand.
"Hear, ye children of immortality, all those that reside in this plane and
all those that reside in the heavens above, I have found the secret", says
the great sage. "I have found Him who is beyond all darkness. Through His
mercy alone we cross this ocean of life."
In India, the idea of the goal is this: There are heavens, there are hells,
there are earths, but they are not permanent. If I am sent to hell, it is
not permanent. The same struggle goes on and on wherever I am. How to get
beyond all this struggle is the problem. If I go to heaven, perhaps there
will be a little bit of rest. If I get punished for my misdeeds, that cannot
last [for ever either] . . . . The Indian ideal is not to go to heaven. Get
out of this earth, get out of hell, and get out of heaven! What is the goal?
It is freedom. You must all be free. The glory of the soul is covered up. It
has to be uncovered again. The soul exists. It is everywhere. Where shall it
go? . . . Where can it go? It can only go where it is not. If you understand
[that] it is ever present, . . . [there will be] perfect happiness for ever
afterwards. No more births and deaths. . . . No more disease, no body. [The]
body itself is the biggest disease. . . .
The soul shall stand [as] soul. Spirit shall live as spirit. How is this to
be done? By worshipping [the Lord in] the soul, who, by his [very] nature is
ever present, pure, and perfect. There cannot be two almighty beings in this
world. [Imagine having] two or three Gods; one will create the world,
another says, "I will destroy the world." It [can] never happen. There must
be one God. The soul attains to perfection; [it becomes] almost omnipotent
[and] omniscient. This is the worshipper. Who is the worshipped? He, the
Lord God Himself, the Omnipresent, the Omniscient, and so on. And above all,
He is Love. How is [the soul] to attain this perfection? By worship.