The Real Nature of Man

[Guest guest]

The Real Nature of Man

 

by Swami Vivekananda

 

Great is the tenacity with which man clings to the senses. Yet,

however substantial he may think the external world in which he lives

and moves, there comes a time in the lives of individuals and of

races when, involuntarily, they ask, " Is this real? " To the person

who never finds a moment to question the credentials of his senses,

whose every moment is occupied with some sort of sense-enjoyment--

even to him death comes, and he also is compelled to ask, " Is this

real? " Religion begins with this question and ends with its answer.

Even in the remote past, where recorded history cannot help us, in

the mysterious light of mythology, back in the dim twilight of

civilisation, we find the same question was asked, " What becomes of

this? What is real? "

 

One of the most poetical of the Upanishads, the Katha Upanishad,

begins with the inquiry: " When a man dies, there is a dispute. One

party declares that he has gone for ever, the other insists that he

is still living. Which is true? " Various answers have been given. The

whole sphere of metaphysics, philosophy, and religion is really

filled with various answers to this question. At the same time,

attempts have been made to suppress it, to put a stop to the unrest

of mind which asks, " What is beyond? What is real? " But so long as

death remains, all these attempts at suppression will always prove to

be unsuccessful. We may talk about seeing nothing beyond and keeping

all our hopes and aspirations confined to the present moment, and

struggle hard not to think of anything beyond the world of senses;

and, perhaps, everything outside helps to keep us limited within its

narrow bounds.

 

The whole world may combine to prevent us from broadening out beyond

the present. Yet, so long as there is death, the question must come

again and again, " Is death the end of all these things to which we

are clinging, as if they were the most real of all realities, the

most substantial of all substances? " The world vanishes in a moment

and is gone. Standing on the brink of a precipice beyond which is the

infinite yawning chasm, every mind, however hardened, is bound to

recoil and ask, " Is this real? " The hopes of a lifetime, built up

little by little with all the energies of a great mind, vanish in a

second. Are they real? This question must be answered. Time never

lessens its power; on the other hand, it adds strength to it.

 

.... to be continued