MAYA AND ILLUSION

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Posted by: " Uttishthata " uttishthata

Fri Nov 23, 2007 6:33 pm (PST)

 

MAYA AND ILLUSION - Swam Vivekananda

 

Shall we not work to do good then? Yes, with more zest than ever,

but what this knowledge will do for us is to break down fanaticism.

The Englishman will no more be a fanatic and curse the Hindu. He

will learn to respect the customs of different nations. There will

be less of fanaticism and more of real work. Fanatics cannot work,

they waste three-fourths of their energy. It is the level-headed,

calm, practical man who works. So, the power to work will increase

from this idea. Knowing that this is the state of things, there will

be more patience. The sight of misery or of evil will not be able to

throw us off our balance and make us run after shadows. Therefore,

patience will come to us, knowing that the world will have to go on

in its own way. If, for instance, all men have become good, the

animals will have in the meantime evolved into men, and will have to

pass through the same state, and so with the plants. But only one

thing is certain; the mighty river is rushing towards the ocean, and

all the drops that constitute the stream will in time be drawn into

that boundless ocean. So, in this life, with all its miseries and

sorrows, its joys and smiles and tears, one thing is certain, that

all things are rushing towards their goal, and it is only a question

of time when you and I, and plants and animals, and every particle

of life that exists must reach the Infinite Ocean of Perfection,

must attain to Freedom, to God.

 

Let me repeat, once more, that the Vedantic position is neither

pessimism nor optimism. It does not say that this world is all evil

or all good. It says that our evil is of no less value than our

good, and our good of no more value than our evil. They are bound

together. This is the world, and knowing this, you work with

patience. What for? Why should we work? If this is the state of

things, what shall we do? Why not become agnostics? The modern

agnostics also know there is no solution of this problem, no getting

out of this evil of Maya, as we say in our language; therefore they

tell us to be satisfied and enjoy life. Here, again, is a mistake, a

tremendous mistake, a most illogical mistake. And it is this. What

do you mean by life? Do you mean only the life of the senses? In

this, every one of us differs only slightly from the brutes. I am

sure that no one is present here whose life is only in the senses.

Then, this present life means something more than that. Our

feelings, thoughts, and aspirations are all part and parcel of our

life; and is not the struggle towards the great ideal, towards

perfection, one of the most important components of what we call

life? According to the agnostics, we must enjoy life as it is. But

this life means, above all, this search after the ideal; the essence

of life is going towards perfection. We must have that, and,

therefore, we cannot be agnostics or take the world as it appears.

The agnostic position takes this life, minus the ideal component, to

be all that exists. And this, the agnostic claims, cannot be

reached, therefore he must give up the search. This is what is

called Maya -- this nature, this universe.

 

to be continued...

 

The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda Volume 2 [ Page :101 ]

(Lecture Delivered in London)

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

Strength is life, weakness is death. Strength is felicity, life

eternal, immortal. Weakness is constant strain and misery; weakness

is death.

- Swami Vivekananda