The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 7/Inspired Talks/Sunday, August 4
(RECORDED BY MISS S. E. WALDO, A DISCIPLE)
SUNDAY, August 4, 1895.
"Whom the ignorant worship, Him I preach unto thee."
This one and only God is the "knownest" of the known. He is the one thing we
see everywhere. All know their own Self, all know, "I am", even animals. All
we know is the projection of the Self. Teach this to the children, they can
grasp it. Every religion has worshipped the Self, even though unconsciously,
because there is nothing else.
This indecent clinging to life as we know it here, is the source of all
evil. It causes all this cheating and stealing. It makes money a god and all
vices and fears ensue. Value nothing material and do not cling to it. If you
cling to nothing, not even life, then there is no fear. "He goes from death
to death who sees many in this world." There can be no physical death for us
and no mental death, when we see that all is one. All bodies are mine; so
even body is eternal, because the tree, the animal, the sun, the moon, the
universe itself is my body; then how can it die? Every mind, every thought
is mine, then how can death come? The Self is never born and never dies.
When we realise this, all doubts vanish. "I am, I know, I love" — these can
never be doubted. There is no hunger, for all that is eaten is eaten by me.
If a hair falls out, we do not think we die; so if one body dies, it is but
a hair falling. . . .
The superconscious is God, is beyond speech beyond thought, beyond
consciousness. . . . There are three states, — brutality (Tamas), humanity
(Rajas), and divinity (Sattva). Those attaining the highest state simply
are. Duty dies there; they only love and as a magnet draw others to them.
This is freedom. No more you do moral acts, but whatever you do is moral.
The Brahmavit (knower of God) is higher than all gods. The angels came to
worship Jesus when he had conquered delusion and had said, "Get thee behind
me, Satan." None can help a Brahmavit, the universe itself bows down before
him. His every desire is fulfilled, his spirit purifies others; therefore
worship the Brahmavit if you wish to attain the highest. When we have the
three great "gifts of God" — a human body, intense desire to be free, and
the help of a great soul to show us the way — then liberation is certain for
us. Mukti is ours.
* * *
Death of the body for ever is Nirvana. It is the negative side and says, "I
am not this, nor this, nor this." Vedanta takes the further step and asserts
the positive side — Mukti or freedom. "I am Existence absolute, Knowledge
absolute, Bliss absolute, I am He", this is Vedanta, the cap-stone of the
perfect arch.
The great majority of the adherents of Northern Buddhism believe in Mukti
and are really Vedantists. Only the Ceylonese accept Nirvana as
annihilation.
No belief or disbelief can kill the "I". That which comes with belief and
goes with disbelief is only delusion. Nothing teaches the Atman. "I salute
my own Self." "Self-illuminated, I salute myself, I am Brahman." The body is
a dark room; when we enter it, it becomes illuminated, it becomes alive.
Nothing can ever affect the illumination; it cannot be destroyed. It may be
covered, but never destroyed.
* * *
At the present time God should be worshipped as "Mother", the Infinite
Energy. This will lead to purity, and tremendous energy will come here in
America. Here no temples weigh us down, no one suffers as they do in poorer
countries. Woman has suffered for aeons, and that has given her infinite
patience and infinite perseverance. She holds on to an idea. It is this
which makes her the support of even superstitious religions and of the
priests in every land, and it is this that will free her. We have to become
Vedantists and live this grand thought; the masses must get it, and only in
free America can this be done. In India these ideas were brought out by
individuals like Buddha, Shankara, and others, but the masses did not retain
them. The new cycle must see the masses living Vedanta, and this will have
to come through women.
"Keep the beloved beautiful Mother in the heart of your hearts with all
care."
"Throw out everything but the tongue, keep that to say, "Mother, Mother!"
"Let no evil counsellors enter; let you and me, my heart, alone see Mother."
"Thou art beyond all that lives!"
"My Moon of life, my Soul of soul!"
SUNDAY AFTERNOON.
Mind is an instrument in the hand of Atman, just as body is an instrument in
the hand of mind. Matter is motion outside, mind is motion inside. All
change begins and ends in time. If the Atman is unchangeable, It must be
perfect; if perfect, It must be infinite; and if It be infinite, It must be
only One; there cannot be two infinites. So the Atman, the Self, can be only
One. Though It seems to be various, It is really only One. If a man were to
go toward the sun, at every step he would see a different sun, and yet it
would be the same sun after all.
Asti, "isness", is the basis of all unity; and just as soon as the basis is
found, perfection ensues. If all colour could be resolved into one colour,
painting would cease. The perfect oneness is rest; we refer all
manifestations to one Being. Taoists, Confucianists, Buddhists, Hindus,
Jews, Mohammedans, Christians, and Zoroastrians, all preached the golden
rule and in almost the same words; but only the Hindus have given the
rationale, because they saw the reason: Man must love others because those
others are himself. There is but One.
Of all the great religious teachers the world has known, only Lao-tze,
Buddha, and Jesus transcended the golden rule and said, "Do good to your
enemies", "Love them that hate you."
Principles exist; we do not create them, we only discover them. . . .
Religion consists solely in realisation. Doctrines are methods, not
religion. All the different religions are but applications of the one
religion adapted to suit the requirements of different nations. Theories
only lead to fighting; thus the name of God that ought to bring peace has
been the cause of half the bloodshed of the world. Go to the direct source.
Ask God what He is. Unless He answers, He is not; but every religion teaches
that He does answer.
Have something to say for yourself, else how can you have any idea of what
others have said? Do not cling to old superstitions; be ever ready for new
truths. "Fools are they who would drink brackish water from a well that
their forefathers have digged and would not drink pure water from a well
that others have digged." Until we realise God for ourselves, we can know
nothing about Him. Each man is perfect by his nature; prophets have
manifested this perfection, but it is potential in us. How can we understand
that Moses saw God unless we too see Him? If God ever came to anyone, He
will come to me. I will go to God direct; let Him talk to me. I cannot take
belief as a basis; that is atheism and blasphemy. If God spake to a man in
the deserts of Arabia two thousand years ago, He can also speak to me today,
else how can I know that He has not died? Come to God any way you can; only
come. But in coming do not push anyone down.
The knowing ones must have pity on the ignorant. One who knows is willing to give up his body even for an ant, because he knows that the body is nothing.