THE PROOF OF TRUTH by Swami Nikhilananda

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Namaste

 

Here's an excerpt from the Introduction to Atma bOdha, translated and

commented by Swami Nikhilananda for your reading pleasure. Regards.

 

Om Shanti

Kathi

 

The Proof of Truth

by Swami Nikhilananda

 

Ultimate reality is transcendental. lt is not perceived by the senses or

comprehended by the mind. It is not a matter of indubitable experience for

the inmost consciousness of man. It is directly and immediately experienced

without the instrumentality of the senses and the mind,and does not depend

for its proof upon any external authority. The perception of the external

world is neither direct nor immediate, but is dependent upon the senses and

the mind and is always coloured by them. On the other hand, the experience

of Reality is both immediate and direct, and becomes possible only when the

senses and the mind, through the practice of rigid spiritual discipline,

have been made absolutely calm. It is the consciousness in man that

experiences the universal consciousness, the two being, in reality,

identical.

 

But there are infinite possibilities of self-deception. To protect the

aspirant from error and delusion the seers of Vedanta lay down three

criteria of truth. These are scriptural authority (Sruti), reasoning

(yukti), and personal experience (anubhava). Any one of these, singly, may

enable a man to realize partial truth, but when all three point to the same

conclusion, the aspirant may be assured that he has realized the whole of

truth. The meaning of the scriptures, which contain the recorded

experiences of knowers of truth of the past, must be explained by a

competent teacher. In order to free reasoning from the pitfalls of

rationalistion, rigorous mental disciplines are prescribed so that the

aspirant may be grounded in detachment not only from the external world but

also from his own pet ideas and exclusive loyalties. The aspirant must be

able to view his own thinking objectively and submit it to a searching

analysis. Ultimate values must be judged by the standard of erternity

and not of time. Lastly, the conclusions of the scriptures, reaffirmed

by reasoning, must be experienced by the aspirant himself. Ultimate Truth,

the basis of the universe, is self-evident, non-contradictory, and free from

fear and friction. The seer perceives Truth everywhere and in everything,

and thus becomes completely free from fear, sorrow, and expectation, which

characterize the life of falsehood in the relative world.

 

A spirit of synthesis generally pervades the philosophy of Vedanta. The

search is always directed to the discovery of the First Principle, through

which the multiplicity of the universe can be known and explained. The

Hindu seer insists that the aspirant after knowledge should first, through

self-control and meditation, realize Ultimate Reality; only then can he know

the nature of the world. As Ramakrishna said, "To know the many, without

knowledge of the One is ignorance, whereas to know the one is knowledge'.

But it must not be overlooked that some noted Indian philosophers, such as

Kapila and Patanjali, have shown remarkable acumen in their analysis of the

mind and the material world.