Maya and the evolution of the conception of God

[Guest guest]

Then, there were the Charvakas, who preached horrible things, the

most rank, undisguised materialism, such as in the nineteenth century

they dare not openly preach. These Charvakas were allowed to preach

from temple to temple, and city to city, that religion was all

nonsense, that it was priestcraft, that the Vedas were the words and

writings of fools, rogues, and demons, and that there was neither God

nor an eternal soul. If there was a soul, why did it not come back

after death drawn by the love of wife and child? Their idea was that

if there was a soul it must still love after death, and want good

things to eat and nice dress. Yet no one hurt these Charvakas.

 

Thus India has always had this magnificent idea of religious freedom,

and you must remember that freedom is the first condition of growth.

What you do not make free, will never grow. The idea that you can

make others grow and help their growth, that you can direct and guide

them, always retaining for yourself the freedom of the teacher, is

nonsense, a dangerous lie which has retarded the growth of millions

and millions of human beings in this world. Let men have the light of

liberty. That is the only condition of growth.

 

We, in India, allowed liberty in spiritual matters, and we have a

tremendous spiritual power in religious thought even today. You grant

the same liberty in social matters, and so have a splendid social

organisation. We have not given any freedom to the expansion of

social matters, and ours is a cramped society. You have never given

any freedom in religious matters but with fire and sword have

enforced your beliefs, and the result is that religion is a stunted,

degenerated growth in the European mind. In India, we have to take

the shackles from society; in Europe, the chains must be taken from

the feet of spiritual progress. Then will come a wonderful growth and

development of man. If we discover that there is one unity running

through all these developments, spiritual, moral, and social, we

shall find that religion, in the fullest sense of the word, must come

into society, and into our everyday life. In the light of Vedanta you

will understand that all sciences are but manifestations of religion,

and so is everything that exists in this world.

 

- Swami Vivekananda

 

.... to be continued