Realisation

[Guest guest]

The one central idea throughout all the Upanishads is that of

realisation. A great many questions will arise from time to time, and

especially to the modern man. There will be the question of utility,

there will be various other questions, but in all we shall find that

we are prompted by our past associations. It is association of ideas

that has such a tremendous power over our minds. To those who from

childhood have always heard of a Personal God and the personality of

the mind, these ideas will of course appear very stern and harsh, but

if they listen to them and think over them, they will become part of

their lives and will no longer frighten them. The great question that

generally arises is the utility of philosophy. To that there can be

only one answer: if on the utilitarian ground it is good for men to

seek for pleasure, why should not those whose pleasure is in

religious speculation seek for that? Because sense-enjoyments please

many, they seek for them, but there may be others whom they do not

please, who want higher enjoyment. The dog's pleasure is only in

eating and drinking. The dog cannot understand the pleasure of the

scientist who gives up everything, and, perhaps, dwells on the top of

a mountain to observe the position of certain stars. The dogs may

smile at him and think he is a madman. Perhaps this poor scientist

never had money enough to marry even, and lives very simply. May be,

the dog laughs at him. But the scientist says, " My dear dog, your

pleasure is only in the senses which you enjoy, and you know nothing

beyond; but for me this is the most enjoyable life, and if you have

the right to seek your pleasure in your own way, so have I in mine. "

The mistake is that we want to tie the whole world down to our own

plane of thought and to make our mind the measure of the whole

universe. To you, the old sense-things are, perhaps, the greatest

pleasure, but it is not necessary that my pleasure should be the

same, and when you insist upon that, I differ from you. That is the

difference between the worldly utilitarian man and the religious man.

The first man says, " See how happy I am. I get money, but do not

bother my head about religion. It is too unsearchable, and I am happy

without it. " So far, so good; good for all utilitarians. But this

world is terrible. If a man gets happiness in any way excepting by

injuring his fellow-beings, godspeed him; but when this man comes to

me and says, " You too must do these things, you will be a fool if you

do not, " I say, " You are wrong, because the very things, which are

pleasurable to you, have not the slightest attraction to me. If I had

to go after a few handfuls of gold, my life would not be worth

living! I should die. " That is the answer the religious man would

make. The fact is that religion is possible only for those who have

finished with these lower things. We must have our own experiences,

must have our full run. It is only when we have finished this run

that the other world opens.

 

The enjoyments of the senses sometimes assume another phase which is

dangerous and tempting. You will always hear the idea--in very old

times, in every religion--that a time will come when all the miseries

of life will cease, and only its joys and pleasures will remain, and

this earth will become a heaven. That I do not believe. This earth

will always remain this same world. It is a most terrible thing to

say, yet I do not see my way out of it. The misery in the world is

like chronic rheumatism in the body; drive it from one part and it

goes to another, drive it from there and you will feel it somewhere

else. Whatever you do, it is still there. In olden times people lived

in forests, and ate each other; in modern times they do not eat each

other's flesh, but they cheat one another. Whole countries and cities

are ruined by cheating. That does not show much progress. I do not

see that what you call progress in the world is other than the

multiplication of desires. If one thing is obvious to me it is this

that desires bring all misery; it is the state of the beggar, who is

always begging for something, and unable to see anything without the

wish to possess it, is always longing, longing for more. If the power

to satisfy our desire is increasing in arithmetical progression, the

power of desire is increased in geometrical progression. The sum

total of happiness and misery in this world is at least the same

throughout. If a wave rises in the ocean it makes a hollow somewhere.

If happiness comes to one man, unhappiness comes to another or,

perhaps, to some animal. Men are increasing in numbers and some

animals are decreasing; we are killing them off, and taking their

land; we are taking all means of sustenance from them. How can we

say, then, that happiness is increasing? The strong race eats up the

weaker, but do you think that the strong race will be very happy? No;

they will begin to kill each other. I do not see on practical grounds

how this world can become a heaven. Facts are against it. On

theoretical grounds also, I see it cannot be.

 

- Swami Vivekananda

 

.... to be continued