The Real Nature of Man

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The different philosophies seem to agree that this Atman, whatever it

be, has neither form nor shape, and that which has neither form nor

shape must be omnipresent. Time begins with mind, space also is in

the mind. Causation cannot stand without time. Without the idea of

succession there cannot be any idea of causation. Time, space and

causation, therefore, are in the mind, and as this Atman is beyond

the mind and formless, it must be beyond time, beyond space, and

beyond causation. Now, if it is beyond time, space, and causation, it

must be infinite. Then comes the highest speculation in our

philosophy. The infinite cannot be two. If the soul be infinite,

there can be only one Soul, and all ideas of various souls--you

having one soul, and I having another and so forth--are not real. The

Real Man, therefore, is one and infinite, the omnipresent Spirit. And

the apparent man is only a limitation of that Real Man. In that sense

the mythologies are true that the apparent man, however great he may

be, is only a dim reflection of the Real Man who is beyond. The Real

Man, the Spirit, being beyond cause and effect, not bound by time and

space, must, therefore, be free. He was never bound, and could not be

bound. The apparent man, the reflection, is limited by time, space,

and causation, and is, therefore, bound. Or in the language of some

of our philosophers, he appears to be bound, but really is not. This

is the reality in our souls, this omnipresence, this spiritual

nature, this infinity. Every soul is infinite, therefore there is no

question of birth and death. Some children were being examined. The

examiner put them rather hard questions, and among them was this

one: " Why does not the earth fall? " He wanted to evoke answers about

gravitation. Most of the children could not answer at all; a few

answered that it was gravitation or something. One bright little girl

answered it by putting another question: " Where should it fall? " The

question is nonsense. Where should the earth fall? There is no

falling or rising for the earth. In infinite space there is no up or

down; that is only in the relative. Where is the going or coming for

the infinite? Whence should it come and whither should it go?

 

Thus, when people cease to think of the past or future, when they

give up the idea of body, because the body comes and goes and is

limited, then they have risen to a higher ideal. The body is not the

Real Man, neither is the mind, for the mind waxes and wanes. It is

the Spirit beyond, which alone can live for ever. The body and mind

are continually changing, and are, in fact, only names of series of

changeful phenomena, like rivers whose waters are in a constant state

of flux, yet presenting the appearance of unbroken streams. Every

particle in this body is continually changing; no one has the same

body for many minutes together, and yet we think of it as the same

body. So with the mind; one moment it is happy, another moment

unhappy; one moment strong, another weak; an ever-changing whirlpool.

That cannot be the Spirit which is infinite. Change can only be in

the limited. To say that the infinite changes in any way is absurd;

it cannot be. You can move and I can move, as limited bodies; every

particle in this universe is in a constant state of flux, but taking

the universe as a unit, as one whole, it cannot move, it cannot

change. Motion is always a relative thing. I move in relation to

something else. Any particle in this universe can change in relation

to any other particle; but take the whole universe as one, and in

relation to what can it move? There is nothing besides it. So this

infinite Unit is unchangeable, immovable, absolute, and this is the

Real Man. Our reality, therefore, consists in the Universal and not

in the limited. These are old delusions, however comfortable they

are, to think that we are little limited beings, constantly changing.

People are frightened when they are told that they are Universal

Being, everywhere present. Through everything you work, through every

foot you move, through every lip you talk, through every heart you

feel.

 

People are frightened when they are told this. They will again and

again ask you if they are not going to keep their individuality. What

is individuality? I should like to see it. A baby has no moustache;

when he grows to be a man, perhaps he has a moustache and beard. His

individuality would be lost, if it were in the body. If I lose one

eye, or if I lose one of my hands, my individuality would be lost if

it were in the body. Then, a drunkard should not give up drinking

because he would lose his individuality. A thief should not be a good

man because he would thereby lose his individuality. No man ought to

change his habits for fear of this. There is no individuality except

in the Infinite. That is the only condition which does not change.

Everything else is in a constant state of flux. Neither can

individuality be in memory. Suppose, on account of a blow on the head

I forget all about my past; then, I have lost all individuality; I am

gone. I do not remember two or three years of my childhood, and if

memory and existence are one, then whatever I forget is gone. That

part of my life which I do not remember, I did not live. That is a

very narrow idea of individuality.

 

- Swami Vivekananda

 

.... to be continued