THE REAL NATURE OF MAN

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Posted by: " Uttishthata " uttishthata

Sun Sep 2, 2007 7:55 pm (PST)

 

THE REAL NATURE OF MAN - Swami Vivekananda

 

Thus, when people cease to think of the past or future, when they

give up the idea of body, because the body comes and goes and is

limited, then they have risen to a higher ideal. The body is not the

Real Man, neither is the mind, for the mind waxes and wanes. It is

the Spirit beyond, which alone can live for ever. The body and mind

are continually changing, and are, in fact, only names of series of

changeful phenomena, like rivers whose waters are in a constant

state of flux, yet presenting the appearance of unbroken streams.

Every particle in this body is continually changing; no one has the

same body for many minutes together, and yet we think of it as the

same body. So with the mind; one moment it is happy, another moment

unhappy; one moment strong, another weak; an ever-changing

whirlpool. That cannot be the Spirit which is infinite. Change can

only be in the limited. To say that the infinite changes in any way

is absurd; it cannot be. You can move and I can move, as limited

bodies; every particle in this universe is in a constant state of

flux, but taking the universe as a unit, as one whole, it cannot

move, it cannot change. Motion is always a relative thing. I move in

relation to something else. Any particle in this universe can change

in relation to any other particle; but take the whole universe as

one, and in relation to what can it move? There is nothing besides

it. So this infinite Unit is unchangeable, immovable, absolute, and

this is the Real Man. Our reality, therefore, consists in the

Universal and not in the limited. These are old delusions, however

comfortable they are, to think that we are little limited beings,

constantly changing. People are frightened when they are told that

they are Universal Being, everywhere present. Through everything you

work, through every foot you move, through every lip you talk,

through every heart you feel.

 

To be continued..

 

The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda Volume 2 [ Page : 79 ]

(Delivered in London)

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

So long as the millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold every

person a traitor who, having been educated at their expense, pays

not the least heed to them!

- Swami Vivekananda