Unity in Diversity

[Guest guest]

A few words ought to be said here. You will generally hear that this

Vedanta, this philosophy and other Eastern systems, look only to

something beyond, letting go the enjoyments and struggle of this

life. This idea is entirely wrong. It is only ignorant people who do

not know anything of Eastern thought, and never had brain enough to

understand anything of its real teaching, that tell you so. On the

contrary, we read in our scriptures that our philosophers do not want

to go to other worlds, but depreciate them as places where people

weep and laugh for a little while only, and then die. As long as we

are weak we shall have to go through these experiences; but whatever

is true, is here, and that is the human soul. And this also is

insisted upon, that by committing suicide, we cannot escape the

inevitable; we cannot evade it. But the right path is hard to find.

The Hindu is just as practical as the Western, only we differ in our

views of life. The one says, build a good house, let us have good

clothes and food, intellectual culture, and so on, for this is the

whole of life; and in that he is immensely practical. But the Hindu

says, true knowledge of the world means knowledge of the soul,

metaphysics; and he wants to enjoy that life. In America there was a

great agnostic, a very noble man, a very good man, and a very fine

speaker. He lectured on religion, which he said was of no use; why

bother our heads about other worlds? He employed this simile; we have

an orange here, and we want to squeeze all the juice out of it. I met

him once and said, " I agree with you entirely. I have some fruit, and

I too want to squeeze out the juice. Our difference lies in the

choice of the fruit. You want an orange, and I prefer a mango. You

think it is enough to live here and eat and drink and have a little

scientific knowledge; but you have no right to say that that will

suit all tastes. Such a conception is nothing to me. If I had only to

learn how an apple falls to the ground, or how an electric current

shakes my nerves, I would commit suicide. I want to understand the

heart of things, the very kernel itself. Your study is the

manifestation of life, mine is the life itself. My philosophy says

you must know that and drive out from your mind all thoughts of

heaven and hell and all other superstitions, even though they exist

in the same sense that this world exists. I must know the heart of

this life, its very essence, what it is, not only how it works and

what are its manifestations. I want the why of everything. I leave

the how to children. As one of your countrymen said, 'While I am

smoking a cigarette, if I were to write a book, it would be the

science of the cigarette.' It is good and great to be scientific, God

bless them in their search; but when a man says that is all, he is

talking foolishly, not caring to know the raison d'être of life,

never studying existence itself. I may argue that all your knowledge

is nonsense, without a basis. You are studying the manifestations of

life, and when I ask you what life is, you say you do not know. You

are welcome to your study, but leave me to mine. "

 

I am practical, very practical, in my own way. So your idea that only

the West is practical is nonsense. You are practical in your way, and

I in another. There are different types of men and minds. If in the

East a man is told that he will find the truth by standing on one leg

all his life, he will pursue that method. If in the West men hear

that there is a gold mine somewhere in an uncivilised country,

thousands will face the dangers there, in the hope of getting the

gold; and, perhaps, only one succeeds. The same men have heard that

they have souls but are content to leave the care of them to the

church. The first man will not go near the savages, he says it may be

dangerous. But if we tell him that on the top of a high mountain

lives a wonderful sage who can give him knowledge of the soul, he

tries to climb up to him, even if he be killed in the attempt. Both

types of men are practical, but the mistake lies in regarding this

world as the whole of life. Yours is the vanishing point of enjoyment

of the senses--there is nothing permanent in it, it only brings more

and more misery--while mine brings eternal peace.

 

- Swami Vivekananda

 

.... to be continued

[Guest guest]

I am not trying to act funny, but these days, i am reading very few of the

posts. So, by chance, when I read this post, I thought, what the heck, Mr Kumar

speaks exactly my language and thoughts, till I reached the end and realised

that it was Vivekanad as well as Mr Kumar, who thought similarly. That gives me

confidence, well I am not much off the mark, even if there need not be any mark.

 

to everybody their own path, but you can't avoid going within. If you do that,

you will miss whatever mark is there.

 

rgds

 

ranjan

 

 

" C. P. Kumar " <cpkumar wrote:

 

A few words ought to be said here. You will generally hear that this

Vedanta, this philosophy and other Eastern systems, look only to

something beyond, letting go the enjoyments and struggle of this

life. This idea is entirely wrong. It is only ignorant people who do

not know anything of Eastern thought, and never had brain enough to

understand anything of its real teaching, that tell you so. On the

contrary, we read in our scriptures that our philosophers do not want

to go to other worlds, but depreciate them as places where people

weep and laugh for a little while only, and then die. As long as we

are weak we shall have to go through these experiences; but whatever

is true, is here, and that is the human soul. And this also is

insisted upon, that by committing suicide, we cannot escape the

inevitable; we cannot evade it. But the right path is hard to find.

The Hindu is just as practical as the Western, only we differ in our

views of life. The one says, build a good house, let us have good

clothes and food, intellectual culture, and so on, for this is the

whole of life; and in that he is immensely practical. But the Hindu

says, true knowledge of the world means knowledge of the soul,

metaphysics; and he wants to enjoy that life. In America there was a

great agnostic, a very noble man, a very good man, and a very fine

speaker. He lectured on religion, which he said was of no use; why

bother our heads about other worlds? He employed this simile; we have

an orange here, and we want to squeeze all the juice out of it. I met

him once and said, " I agree with you entirely. I have some fruit, and

I too want to squeeze out the juice. Our difference lies in the

choice of the fruit. You want an orange, and I prefer a mango. You

think it is enough to live here and eat and drink and have a little

scientific knowledge; but you have no right to say that that will

suit all tastes. Such a conception is nothing to me. If I had only to

learn how an apple falls to the ground, or how an electric current

shakes my nerves, I would commit suicide. I want to understand the

heart of things, the very kernel itself. Your study is the

manifestation of life, mine is the life itself. My philosophy says

you must know that and drive out from your mind all thoughts of

heaven and hell and all other superstitions, even though they exist

in the same sense that this world exists. I must know the heart of

this life, its very essence, what it is, not only how it works and

what are its manifestations. I want the why of everything. I leave

the how to children. As one of your countrymen said, 'While I am

smoking a cigarette, if I were to write a book, it would be the

science of the cigarette.' It is good and great to be scientific, God

bless them in their search; but when a man says that is all, he is

talking foolishly, not caring to know the raison d'être of life,

never studying existence itself. I may argue that all your knowledge

is nonsense, without a basis. You are studying the manifestations of

life, and when I ask you what life is, you say you do not know. You

are welcome to your study, but leave me to mine. "

 

I am practical, very practical, in my own way. So your idea that only

the West is practical is nonsense. You are practical in your way, and

I in another. There are different types of men and minds. If in the

East a man is told that he will find the truth by standing on one leg

all his life, he will pursue that method. If in the West men hear

that there is a gold mine somewhere in an uncivilised country,

thousands will face the dangers there, in the hope of getting the

gold; and, perhaps, only one succeeds. The same men have heard that

they have souls but are content to leave the care of them to the

church. The first man will not go near the savages, he says it may be

dangerous. But if we tell him that on the top of a high mountain

lives a wonderful sage who can give him knowledge of the soul, he

tries to climb up to him, even if he be killed in the attempt. Both

types of men are practical, but the mistake lies in regarding this

world as the whole of life. Yours is the vanishing point of enjoyment

of the senses--there is nothing permanent in it, it only brings more

and more misery--while mine brings eternal peace.

 

- Swami Vivekananda

 

.... to be continued