The Macrocosm

[Guest guest]

I have been asked many times, " Why do you use that old word, God? "

Because it is the best word for our purpose; you cannot find a better

word than that, because all the hopes, aspirations, and happiness of

humanity have been centred in that word. It is impossible now to

change the word. Words like these were first coined by great saints

who realised their import and understood their meaning. But as they

become current in society, ignorant people take these words, and the

result is that they lose their spirit and glory. The word God has

been used from time immemorial, and the idea of this cosmic

intelligence, and all that is great and holy, is associated with it.

Do you mean to say that because some fool says it is not all right,

we should throw it away? Another man may come and say, " Take my

word, " and another again, " Take my word. " So there will be no end to

foolish words. Use the old word, only use it in the true spirit,

cleanse it of superstition, and realise fully what this great ancient

word means. If you understand the power of the laws of association,

you will know that these words are associated with innumerable

majestic and powerful ideas; they have been used and worshipped by

millions of human souls and associated by them with all that is

highest and best, all that is rational, all that is lovable, and all

that is great and grand in human nature. And they come as suggestions

of these associations, and cannot be given up. If I tried to express

all these by only telling you that God created the universe, it would

have conveyed no meaning to you. Yet, after all this struggle, we

have come back to Him, the Ancient and Supreme One.

 

We now see that all the various forms of cosmic energy, such as

matter, thought, force, intelligence and so forth, are simply the

manifestations of that cosmic intelligence, or, as we shall call it

henceforth, the Supreme Lord. Everything that you see, feel, or hear,

the whole universe, is His creation, or to be a little more accurate,

is His projection; or to be still more accurate, is the Lord Himself.

It is He who is shining as the sun and the stars, He is the mother

earth. He is the ocean Himself. He comes as gentle showers, He is the

gentle air that we breathe in, and He it is who is working as force

in the body. He is the speech that is uttered, He is the man who is

talking. He is the audience that is here. He is the platform on which

I stand, He is the light that enables me to see your faces. It is all

He. He Himself is both the material and the efficient cause of this

universe, and He it is that gets involved in the minute cell, and

evolves at the other end and becomes God again. He it is that comes

down and becomes the lowest atom, and slowly unfolding His nature,

rejoins Himself. This is the mystery of the universe. " Thou art the

man, Thou art the woman, Thou art the strong man walking in the pride

of youth, Thou art the old man tottering on crutches, Thou art in

everything. Thou art everything, O Lord. " This is the only solution

of the Cosmos that satisfies the human intellect. In one word, we are

born of Him, we live in Him, and unto Him we return.

 

- Swami Vivekananda