Freedom of the soul

[Guest guest]

The solution of the Vedanta is that we are not bound, we are free

already. Not only so, but to say or to think that we are bound is

dangerous--it is a mistake, it is self-hypnotism. As soon as you

say, " I am bound, " " I am weak, " " I am helpless, " woe unto you; you

rivet one more chain upon yourself. Do not say it, do not think it. I

have heard of a man who lived in a forest and used to repeat day and

night, " Shivoham " --I am the Blessed One--and one day a tiger fell

upon him and dragged him away to kill him; people on the other side

of the river saw it, and heard the voice so long as the voice

remained in him, saying " Shivoham " --even in the very jaws of the

tiger. There have been many such men. There have been cases of men

who, while being cut to pieces, have blessed their enemies. " I am He,

I am He; and so art thou. I am pure and perfect and so are all my

enemies. You are He, and so am I. " That is the position of strength.

Nevertheless, there are great and wonderful things in the religions

of the dualists; wonderful is the idea of the Personal God apart from

nature, whom we worship and love. Sometimes this idea is very

soothing. But, says the Vedanta, the soothing is something like the

effect that comes from an opiate, not natural. It brings weakness in

the long run, and what this world wants today, more than it ever did

before, is strength. It is weakness, says the Vedanta, which is the

cause of all misery in this world. Weakness is the one cause of

suffering. We become miserable because we are weak. We lie, steal,

kill, and commit other crimes, because we are weak. We suffer because

we are weak. We die because we are weak. Where there is nothing to

weaken us, there is no death nor sorrow. We are miserable through

delusion. Give up the delusion, and the whole thing vanishes. It is

plain and simple indeed. Through all these philosophical discussions

and tremendous mental gymnastics we come to this one religious idea,

the simplest in the whole world.

 

The monistic Vedanta is the simplest form in which you can put truth.

To teach dualism was a tremendous mistake made in India and

elsewhere, because people did not look at the ultimate principles,

but only thought of the process which is very intricate indeed. To

many, these tremendous philosophical and logical propositions were

alarming. They thought these things could not be made universal,

could not be followed in everyday practical life, and that under the

guise of such a philosophy much laxity of living would arise.

 

- Swami Vivekananda

 

.... to be continued