We help ourselves, not the world

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WE HELP OURSELVES, NOT THE WORLD

 

Swami Vivekananda

 

Before considering further how devotion to duty helps us in our

spiritual progress, let me place before you in a brief compass

another aspect of what we in India mean by Karma. In every religion

there are three parts: philosophy, mythology, and ritual. Philosophy

of course is the essence of every religion; mythology explains and

illustrates it by means of the more or less legendary lives of great

men, stories and fables of wonderful things, and so on; ritual gives

to that philosophy a still more concrete form, so that every one may

grasp it--ritual is in fact concretised philosophy. This ritual is

Karma; it is necessary in every religion, because most of us cannot

understand abstract spiritual things until we grow much spiritually.

It is easy for men to think that they can understand anything; but

when it comes to practical experience, they find that abstract ideas

are often very hard to comprehend. Therefore symbols are of great

help, and we cannot dispense with the symbolical method of putting

things before us. From time immemmorial symbols have been used by

all kinds of religions. In one sense we cannot think but in symbols;

words themselves are symbols of thought. In another sense everything

in the universe may be looked upon as a symbol. The whole universe

is a symbol, and God is the essence behind. This kind of symbology

is not simply the creation of man; it is not that certain people

belonging to a religion sit down together and think out certain

symbols, and bring them into existence out of their own minds. The

symbols of religion have a natural growth. Otherwise, why is it that

certain symbols are associated with certain ideas in the mind of

almost every one? Certain symbols are universally prevalent. Many of

you may think that the cross first came into existence as a symbol

in connection with the Christian religion, but as a matter of fact

it existed before Christianity was, before Moses was born, before

the Vedas were given out, before there was any human record of human

things. The cross may be found to have been in existence among the

Aztecs and the Phoenicians ; every race seems to have had the cross.

Again, the symbol of the crucified Saviour , of a man crucified upon

a cross, appears to have been known to almost every nation. The

circle has been known to almost every naiton. The circle has been a

great symbol throughout the world. Then there is the most universal

of all symbols, the Swastika.

 

At one time it was thought that the Buddhists carried it all over

the world with them, but it has been found out that ages before

Buddhism it was used among nations. In Old Babylon and in Egypt it

was to be found. What does this show? All these symbols could not

have been purely conventional. There must be some reason for them;

some natural association between them and the human mind. Language

is not the result of convention; it is not that people ever agreed

to represent certain ideas by certain words; there never was an idea

without a corresponding word or a word without a corresponding idea;

ideas and words are in their nature inseparable. The symbols to

represent ideas may be sound symbols or colour symbols. Deaf and

dumb people have to think with other than sound symbols. Every

thought in the mind has a form as its counterpart. This is called in

Sanskrit philosophy Nama- Rupa--name and form. It is as impossible

to create by convention a system of symbols as it is to create a

language. In the world's ritualistic symbols we have an expression

of the religious thought of humanity. It is easy to say that there

is no use of rituals and temples and all such paraphernalia; every

baby says that in modern times. But it must be easy for all to see

that those who worship inside a temple are in many respects

different from those who will not worship there. Therefore the

association of particular temples, rituals, and other concrete forms

with particular religions has a tendency to bring into the minds of

the followers of those religions the thoughts for which those

concrete things stand as symbols; and it is not wise to ignore

rituals and symbology altogether. The study and practice of these

things form naturally a part of Karma-Yoga.

 

There are many other aspects of this science of work. One among them

is to know the relation between thought and word and what can be

achieved by the power of the word. In every religion the power of

the word is recognised, so much so that in some of them creation

itself is said to have come out of the word. The external aspect of

the thought of God is the Word, and as God thought and willed before

He created, creation came out of the Word. In this stress and hurry

of our materialistic life, our nerves lose sensibility and become

hardened. The older we grow, the longer we are knocked about in the

world, the more callous we become; and we are apt to neglect things

that even happen persistently and prominently around us. Human

nature, however, asserts itself sometimes, and we are led to inquire

into and wonder at some of these common occurrences; wondering thus

is the first step in the acquisition of light. Apart from the higher

philosophic and religious value of the Word, we may see that sound

symbols play a prominent part in the drama of human life. I am

talking to you. I am not touching you; the pulsations of the air

caused by my speaking go into your ear, they touch your nerves and

produce effects in your minds. You cannot resist this. What can be

more wonderful than this? One man calls another a fool, and at this

the other stands up and clenches his fist and lands a blow on his

nose. Look at the power of the word! There is a woman weeping and

miserable; another woman comes along and speaks to her a few gentle

words, the doubled up frame of the weeping woman becomes

straightened at once, her sorrow is gone and she already begins to

smile. Think of the power of words! They are a great force in higher

philosophy as well as in common life. Day and night we manipulate

this force without thought and without inquiry. To know the nature

of this force and to use it well is also a part of Karma-Yoga.

 

Our duty to others means helping others; doing good to the world.

Why should we do good to the world? Apparently to help the world,

but really to help ourselves. We should always try to help the

world, that should be the highest motive in us; but if we consider

well, we find that the world does not require our help at all. This

world was not made that you or I should come and help it. I once

read a sermon in which it was said, " All this beautiful world is

very good, because it gives us time and opportunity to help others. "

Apparently, this is a very beautiful sentiment, but is it not a

blasphemy to say that the world needs our help? We cannot deny that

there is much misery in it; to go out and help others is, therefore,

the best thing we can do, although in the long run, we shall find

that helping others is only helping ourselves. As a boy I had some

white mice. They were kept in a little box in which there were

little wheels, and when the mice tried to cross the wheels, the

wheels turned and turned, and the mice never got anywhere. So it is

with the world and our helping it. The only help is that we get

moral exercise. This world is neither good nor evil; each man

manufactures a world for himself. If a blind man begins to think of

the world, it is either as soft or hard, or as cold or hot. We are a

mass of happiness or misery; we have seen that hundreds of times in

our lives. As a rule, the young are optimistic and the old

pessimistic. The young have life before them; the old complain their

day is gone; hundreds of desires, which they cannot fulfil struggle

in their hearts. Both are foolish nevertheless. Life is good or evil

according to the state of mind in which we look at it, it is neither

by itself. Fire, by itself, is neither good nor evil. When it keeps

us warm we say, " How beautiful is fire! " When it burns our fingers,

we blame it. Still, in itself it is neither good nor bad. According

as we use it, it produces in us the feeling of good or bad; so also

is this world. It is perfect. By perfection is meant that it is

perfectly fitted to meet its ends. We may all be perfectly sure that

it will go on beautifully well without us, and we need not bother

our heads wishing to help it.

 

Yet we must do good; the desire to do good is the highest motive

power we have, if we know all the time that it is a privilege to

help others. Do not stand on a high pedestal and take five cents in

your hand and say, " Here, my poor man, " but be grateful that the

poor man is there, so that by making a gift to him you are able to

help yourself. It is not the receiver that is blessed, but it is the

giver. Be thankful that you are allowed to exercise your power of

benevolence and mercy in the world, and thus become pure and

perfect. All good acts tend to make us pure and perfect. What can we

do at best? Build a hospital, make roads, or erect charity asylums.

We may organise a charity and collect two or three millions of

dollars, build a hospital with one million, with the second give

balls and drink champagne, and of the third let the officers steal

half, and leave the rest finally to reach the poor; but what are all

these? One mighty wind in five minutes can break all your buildings

up. What shall we do then? One volcanic eruption may sweep away all

our roads and hospitals and cities and buildings. Let us give up all

this foolish talk of doing good to the world. It is not waiting for

your or my help; yet we must work and constantly do good, because it

is a blessing to ourselves. That is the only way we can become

perfect. No beggar whom we have helped has ever owed a single cent

to us; we owe everything to him, because he has allowed us to

exercise our charity on him. It is entirely wrong to think that we

have done, or can do, good to the world, or to think that we have

helped such and such people. It is a foolish thought, and all

foolish thoughts bring misery. We think that we have helped some man

and expect him to thank us, and because he does not, unhappiness

comes to us. Why should we expect anything in return for what we do?

Be grateful to the man you help, think of him as God. Is it not a

great privilege to be allowed to worship God by helping our fellow

men? If we were really unattached, we should escape all this pain of

vain expectation, and could cheerfully do good work in the world.

Never will unhappiness or misery come through work done without

attachment. The world will go on with its happiness and misery

through eternity.

 

There was a poor man who wanted some money; and somehow he had heard

that if he could get hold of a ghost, he might command him to bring

money or anything else he liked; so he was very anxious to get hold

of a ghost. He went about searching for a man who would give him a

ghost, and at last he found a sage with great powers, and besought

his help. The sage asked him what he would do with a ghost. " I want

a ghost to work for me; teach me how to get hold of one, sir; I

desire it very much, " replied the man. But the sage said, " Don't

disturb yourself, go home. " The next day the man went again to the

sage and began to weep and pray, " Give me a ghost; I must have a

ghost, sir, to help me. " At last the sage was disgusted, and

said, " Take this charm, repeat this magic word, and a ghost will

come, and whatever you say to him he will do. But beware; they are

terrible beings, and must be kept continually busy. If you fail to

give him work, he will take your life. " The man replied, " That is

easy; I can give him work for all his life. " Then he went to a

forest, and after long repetition of the magic word, a huge ghost

appeared before him, and said, " I am a ghost. I have been conquered

by your magic; but you must keep me constantly employed. The moment

you fail to give me work I will kill you. " The man said, " Build me a

palace, " , and the ghost said, " It is done; the palace is

built. " " Bring me money, " said the man. " Here is your money, " said

the ghost. " Cut this forest down, and build a city in its

place. " " That is done, " said the ghost, " anything more? " Now the man

began to be frightened and thought he could give him nothing more to

do; he did everything in a trice. The ghost said, " Give me something

to do or I will eat you up. " The poor man could find no further

occupation for him, and was frightened. So he ran and ran and at

last reached the sage, and said, " Oh, sir, protect my life! " The

sage asked him what the matter was, and the man replied, " I have

nothing to give the ghost to do. Everything I tell him to do he does

in a moment, and he threatens to eat me up if I do not give him

work. " Just then the ghost arrived, saying, " I'll eat you up, " and

he would have swallowed the man. The man began to shake, and begged

the sage to save his life. The sage said, " I will find you a way

out. Look at that dog with a curly tail. Draw your sword quickly and

cut the tail off and give it to the ghost to straighten out. " The

man cut off the dog's tail and gave it to the ghost,

saying, " Straighten that out for me. " The ghost took it and slowly

and carefully straightened it out, but as soon as he let it go, it

instantly curled up again. Once more he laboriously straightened it

out, only to find it again curled up as soon as he attempted to let

go of it. Again he patiently straightened it out, but as soon as he

let it go, it curled up again. So he went on for days and days,

until he was exhausted and said, " I was never in such trouble before

in my life. I am an old veteran ghost, but never before was I in

such trouble. " " I will make a compromise with you; " he said to the

man, " you let me off and I will let you keep all I have given you

and will promise not to harm you. " The man was much pleased, and

accepted the offer gladly.This world is like a dog's curly tail, and

people have been striving to straighten it out for hundreds of

years; but when they let it go, it has curled up again. How could it

be otherwise? One must first know how to work without attachment,

then one will not be a fanatic. When we know that this world is like

a dog's curly tail and will never get straightened, we shall not

become fanatics. If there were no fanaticism in the world, it would

make much more progress than it does now. It is a mistake to think

that fanaticism can make for the progress of mankind. On the

contrary, it is a retarding element creating hatred and anger, and

causing people to fight each other, and making them unsympathetic.

We think that whatever we do or possess is the best in the world,

and what we do not do or possess is of no value. So, always remember

the instance of the curly tail of the dog whenever you have a

tendency to become a fanatic. You need not worry or make yourself

sleepless about the world; it will go on without you. When you have

avoided fanaticism, then alone will you work well. It is the level-

headed man, the calm man, of good judgment and cool nerves, of great

sympathy and love, who does good work and so does good to himself.

The fanatic is foolish and has no sympathy; he can never straighten

the world, nor himself become pure and perfect.

 

To recapitulate the chief points in today's lecture:

 

First, we have to bear in mind that we are all debtors to the world

and the world does not owe us anything. It is a great privilege for

all of us to be allowed to do anything for the world. In helping the

world we really help ourselves. The second point is that there is a

God in this universe. It is not true that this universe is drifting

and stands in need of help from you and me. God is ever present

therein, He is undying and eternally active and infinitely watchful.

When the whole universe sleeps, He sleeps not; He is working

incessantly; all the changes and manifestations of the world are

His. Thirdly, we ought not to hate anyone. This world will always

continue to be a mixture of good and evil. Our duty is to sympathise

with the weak and to love even the wrongdoer. The world is a grand

moral gymnasium wherein we have all to take exercise so as to become

stronger and stronger spiritually. Fourthly, we ought not to be

fanatics of any kind, because fanaticism is opposed to love. You

hear fanatics glibly saying, " I do not hate the sinner. I hate the

sin, " but I am prepared to go any distance to see the face of that

man who can really make a distinction between the sin and the

sinner. It is easy to say so. If we can distinguish well between

quality and substance, we may become perfect men. It is not easy to

do this. And further, the calmer we are and the less disturbed our

nerves, the more shall we love and the better will our work be.