The Real Nature of Man

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There is a great discussion going on as to whether the aggregate of

materials we call the body is the cause of manifestation of the force

we call the soul, thought, etc., or whether it is the thought that

manifests this body. The religions of the world of course hold that

the force called thought manifests the body, and not the reverse.

There are schools of modern thought which hold that what we call

thought is simply the outcome of the adjustment of the parts of the

machine which we call body. Taking the second position that the soul

or the mass of thought, or however you may call it, is the outcome of

this machine, the outcome of the chemical and physical combinations

of matter making up the body and brain, leaves the question

unanswered. What makes the body? What force combines the molecules

into the body form? What force is there which takes up material from

the mass of matter around and forms my body one way, another body

another way, and so on? What makes these infinite distinctions? To

say that the force called soul is the outcome of the combinations of

the molecules of the body is putting the cart before the horse. How

did the combinations come; where was the force to make them? If you

say that some other force was the cause of these combinations, and

soul was the outcome of that matter, and that soul--which combined a

certain mass of matter--was itself the result of the combinations, it

is no answer. That theory ought to be taken which explains most of

the facts, if not all, and that without contradicting other existing

theories. It is more logical to say that the force which takes up the

matter and forms the body is the same which manifests through that

body. To say, therefore, that the thought forces manifested by the

body are the outcome of the arrangement of molecules and have no

independent existence has no meaning; neither can force evolve out of

matter. Rather it is impossible to demonstrate that what we call

matter does not exist at all. It is only a certain state of force.

Solidity, hardness, or any other state of matter can be proved to be

the result of motion. Increase of vortex motion imparted to fluids

gives them the force of solids. A mass of air in vortex motion, as in

a tornado, becomes solid-like and by its impact breaks or cuts

through solids. A thread of a spider's web, if it could be moved at

almost infinite velocity, would be as strong as an iron chain and

would cut through an oak tree. Looking at it in this way, it would be

easier to prove that what we call matter does not exist. But the

other way cannot be proved.

 

What is the force which manifests itself through the body? It is

obvious to all of us, whatever that force be, that it is taking

particles up, as it were, and manipulating forms out of them--the

human body. None else comes here to manipulate bodies for you and me.

I never saw anybody eat food for me. I have to assimilate it,

manufacture blood and bones and everything out of that food. What is

this mysterious force? Ideas about the future and about the past seem

to be terrifying to many. To many they seem to be mere speculation.

 

We will take the present theme. What is this force which is now

working through us? We know how in old times, in all the ancient

scriptures, this power, this manifestation of power, was thought to

be a bright substance having the form of this body, and which

remained even after this body fell. Later on, however, we find a

higher idea coming--that this bright body did not represent the

force. Whatsoever has form must be the result of combinations of

particles and requires something else behind it to move it. If this

body requires something which is not the body to manipulate it, the

bright body, by the same necessity, will also require something other

than itself to manipulate it. So, that something was called the soul,

the Atman in Sanskrit. It was the Atman which through the bright

body, as it were, worked on the gross body outside. The bright body

is considered as the receptacle of the mind, and the Atman is beyond

that. It is not the mind even; it works the mind, and through the

mind the body. You have an Atman, I have another, each one of us has

a separate Atman and a separate fine body, and through that we work

on the gross external body. Questions were then asked about this

Atman, about its nature. What is this Atman, this soul of man, which

is neither the body nor the mind? Great discussions followed.

Speculations were made, various shades of philosophic inquiry came

into existence; and I shall try to place before you some of the

conclusions that have been reached about this Atman.

 

- Swami Vivekananda

 

.... to be continued