Guest guest Posted December 19, 2001 Report Share Posted December 19, 2001 Parts 1 to 83 were posted earlier. This is part 84. Your comments are welcome... Vivekananda Centre London Earlier postings can be seen at http://www.vivekananda.btinternet.co.uk/veda.htm SWAMI VIVEKANANDA ON THE VEDAS AND UPANISHADS By Sister Gayatriprana part 84 The riddle remains: who presides over this evil? Many are hoping against hope that all is good and that we do not understand. We are clutching at a straw, burying our heads in the sand. Yet we all follow morality and the gist of morality is sacrifice - not I, but thou. Yet, how it clashes with the great, good God of the universe! He or She is so selfish, the most vengeful person that we know, with plagues, famine, war!... Manu Deva of the Vedas was transformed in Persia into Ahriman. So the mythological explanation of the question was dead; but the question remained and there was not reply, no solution.... Later books began to realize this new idea: evil exists and there is no shirking the fact. The universe is a fact; it is a huge composite of good and evil. Whoever rules must rule over good and evil. If that power makes us live, the same makes us die. Laughter and tears are kin, and there are more tears than laughter in this world. Who made flowers, who made the Himalayas? - a very good God. Who made my sins and weaknesses? - Karma, Satan, self. The result is a lame, one-legged universe, and naturally the God of the universe, a one-legged God. (45) Vedanta does not take the position that this world is only a miserable one. That would be untrue. At the same time, it is a mistake to say that this world is full of happiness and blessings. So, it is useless to tell children that this world is all good, all flowers, all milk and honey. That is what we have all dreamt. At the same time it is erroneous to think that because one person has suffered more than another, that all is evil. It is this duality, this play of good and evil that makes our world of experiences. At the same time Vedanta says, "Do not think that good and evil are two, are two separate existences, for they are one and the same thing appearing in different degrees and in different guises and producing differences of feeling in the same mind." So, the first thought of Vedanta is the finding of unity in the external; the one Existence manifesting Itself, however different It may appear in manifestation. (46) Cross reference to: Rig Veda, 10.125 Ka. Up., 2.1.10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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