Soul of a man! By Swami Vivekananda

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Soul of a man! By Swami Vivekananda

 

I am looking at you. The external sensations are brought to me by

the eyes; they are carried by the sensory nerves to the brain. The

eyes are not the organs of vision. They are but the external

instruments,because if the real organ behind, that which carries the

sensation to the brain, is destroyed, I may have twenty eyes, yet I

cannot see you. The picture on the retina may be as complete as

possible, yet I shall not see you. Therefore, the organ is different

from its instruments; behind the instruments, the eyes, there must

be the organ So it is with all the sensations. The nose is not the

sense of smell; it is but the instrument, and behind it is the

organ. With every sense we have, there is first the external

instrument in thephysical body; behind that. in the same physical

body, there is the organ; yet these are not sufficient. Suppose I am

talking to you, and you are listening to me with close attention.

Something happens, say, a bell rings; you will not, perhaps, hear

the bell ring. The pulsations of that sound came to your ear, struck

the tympanum, theimpression was carried by the nerve into the brain;

if the wholeprocess was complete up to carrying the impulse to the

brain, why didyou not hear? Something else was wanting — the mind

was not attachedto the organ. When the mind detaches itself from the

organ, the organ may bring any news to it, but the mind will not

receive it. When it

attaches itself to the organ, then alone is it possible for the mind

to receive the news. Yet, even that does not complete the whole. The

instruments may bring the sensation from outside, the organs may

carry it inside, the mind may attach itself to the organ, and yet the

perception may not be complete. One more factor is necessary; there

must be a reaction within. With this reaction comes knowledge. That

which is outside sends, as it were, the current of news into my

brain. My mind takes it up, and presents it to the intellect, which

groups it in relation to pre-received impressions and sends a current

of reaction, and with that reaction comes perception. Here, then, is

the will. The state of mind which reacts is called Buddhi, the

intellect. Yet, even this does not complete the whole. One step more

is required. Suppose here is a camera and there is a sheet of cloth,

and I try to throw a picture on that sheet. What am I to do? I am to

guide various rays of light through the camera to fall upon the sheet

and become grouped there. Something is necessary to have the picture

thrown upon, which does not move. I cannot form a picture upon

something which is moving; that something must be stationary, because

the rays of light which I throw on it are moving, and these moving

rays of light, must be gathered, unified, co-ordinated, and completed

upon something which is stationary. Similar is the case with the

sensations which these organs of ours are carrying inside and

presenting to the mind, and which the mind in its turn is presenting

to the intellect. This process will not be complete unless there is

something permanent in the background upon which the picture, as it

were, may be formed, upon which we may unify all the different

impressions. What is it that gives unity to the changing whole of our

being? What is it that keeps up the identity of the moving thing

moment after moment? What is it upon which all our different

impressions are pieced together, upon which the perceptions, as it

were, come together, reside, and form a united whole? We have found

that to serve this end there must be something, and we also see that

that something must be, relatively to the body and mind, motionless.

The sheet of cloth upon which the camera throws the picture is,

relatively to the rays of light, motionless, else there will be no

picture. That is to say, the perceiver must be an individual. This

something upon which the mind is painting all these pictures, this

something upon which our sensations, carried by the mind and

intellect, are placed and grouped and formed into a unity, is what is

called the soul of man.

 

Swami Vivekananda!

virag deshpande <viragdeshpande