宇宙：大宇宙
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中文
第十一章
宇宙论
大宇宙
（一八九六年一月十九日讲于纽约）
我们周遭所见的花朵何其美丽，清晨旭日升起的景象何其美丽，大自然那变化万千的色彩何其美丽。整个宇宙都是美丽的，人类自降临大地以来便一直沉醉于这美丽之中。群山巍峨，令人叹为观止；奔腾的巨流滚滚向海，一望无际的沙漠，无边无垠的大洋，繁星点点的穹天——这一切都令人敬畏，令人震撼，令人心旷神怡。我们所称之为自然的这整个存在的洪流，自亘古以来便一直作用于人类的心灵。它作用于人类的思想，而思想的反应便催生了这样的疑问：这一切是什么，从何而来？远至人类最古老著作——吠陀——最早部分的时代，我们便发现同样的问题被提出："此从何处而来？当时既无有，亦无无，而黑暗隐于黑暗之中，是谁展现了这宇宙？如何展现？谁知其秘？"这一问题一直延续至今日。千百万次尝试已被用以回答它，然而千百万次它仍将不得不被再度回答。并非每一次回答都是失败；对这一问题的每个回答都包含着部分真理，而这真理随着时间的流逝愈来愈充实。我将尽力向诸位呈现我从印度古哲学家那里汲取的答案之轮廓，使之与现代知识相融合。
我们发现，在这个最古老的问题中，已有若干要点得以解答。首先，曾有一个时代，"既无有，亦无无"，这个世界并不存在；我们的母亲大地连同海洋、江河、山岳、城市、乡村、人类、动物、植物、飞鸟、星球与发光体——这无限多样的造化，皆不曾存在。我们对此确定无疑吗？我们将尝试追溯这一结论是如何得出的。人在周围看到了什么？取一棵小植物。他将种子埋入地中，不久之后，他便发现一株植物悄然破土而出，缓缓抬起自身，向上生长，长成一棵参天大树。随后它凋零而死，只留下种子。它完成了一个轮回——从种子中萌生，成为大树，最终又归于种子。看一只鸟儿，它如何从蛋中破壳而出，活完一生，然后死去，留下其他蛋——未来鸟儿的种子。动物如此，人类亦如此。自然界中的一切，似乎都从某些种子、某些萌芽、某些精微的形态开始，变得愈来愈粗重，发展演化，经历一段时间后，又回归到那精微的形态，复归寂灭。那个美丽阳光在其中嬉戏的雨滴，以水蒸气的形式被从大洋中吸引而上，飘游远空，抵达某一区域，在那里凝结为水，以今日之形态落下——再次化为水蒸气。我们周遭自然界中的一切莫不如此。我们知道，那些巨大的山岳正被冰川与江河所侵蚀，它们缓慢而确实地将其研磨成沙，沙漂流入海，沉积于海床，一层叠一层，硬结如岩，再度被隆起成为下一世代的山岳。它们又将被研磨成沙，如此周而复始。山岳从沙中升起，归于沙土。
倘若自然界处处一致这一说法成立，倘若迄今人类经验尚未推翻这一说法，即创造一粒微小沙砾所遵循的方法，同样作用于创造巨大的太阳、恒星以及整个宇宙，倘若整个宇宙的构建与原子的构建完全相同，倘若同一律贯穿整个宇宙，那么，正如吠陀中所说："知一块黏土，便知宇宙中一切黏土的本质。"取一株小植物，研究其生命，我们便能了解宇宙的本质。若我们了解一粒沙，便能领悟整个宇宙的奥秘。将这一推理运用于现象，我们首先发现，一切事物在起点与终点上几乎相似。山岳从沙中来，归于沙土；江河从水蒸气中流出，归于水蒸气；植物生命从种子中而来，归于种子；人类生命从人类的胚芽中而来，归于人类的胚芽。宇宙连同其星辰与行星，从星云状态中产生，必将归于星云。我们由此得知什么？即显现的或粗重的状态是结果，而精微的状态是原因。数千年前，伟大的一切哲学之父迦毗罗已证明，毁灭意味着回归原因。若这张桌子被毁，它将回归其原因，回归那些精微的形态与微粒，它们结合在一起，构成了我们称之为桌子的这一形态。若一个人死去，他将回归赋予他身体的各元素；若这地球死去，它将回归赋予它形态的各元素。这便是所谓毁灭，即回归原因。因此我们得知，结果与原因相同，并无不同，只是以另一形态存在。这只玻璃杯是一个结果，它有其原因，而此原因以此形态存在于其中。一定量的名为玻璃的材料，加上制造者双手中的力，是工具性与质料性的原因，二者结合，产生了被称为玻璃杯的这一形态。制造者双手中的力，以凝聚力的形式存在于玻璃杯中，没有这凝聚力，微粒便会散落；玻璃材料亦同样存在其中。玻璃杯不过是这些精微原因以新形态的显现，若它被打碎，以凝聚力形式存在的力将回归其本有元素，玻璃的微粒将维持原状，直至它们取得新形态。
由此我们发现，结果与原因永无不同。只是这结果是原因以更粗重形态的再现。其次，我们得知，所有这些我们称之为植物、动物或人类的特殊形态，都在无穷无尽地重复升沉。种子产生树木，树木产生种子，种子再次萌发成另一棵树，如此这般，无有穷尽。水滴从山间滚落入海，再次升为水蒸气，回到山间，再度流入海洋。如此升降，周而复始。一切生命皆如此，一切我们所能见、所能感、所能闻或所能想象的存在皆如此。凡在我们知识范围之内的一切，皆以同样的方式进行，犹如人体中的呼气与吸气。造化中的一切都以这种形式运行，一波升起，另一波落下，再度升起，再度落下。每波皆有其谷，每谷皆有其波。同一律必然适用于作为整体的宇宙，因其具有一致性。这宇宙必须被归还于其原因；太阳、月亮、星辰与大地，身体与心灵，宇宙中的一切，都必须回归其精微的原因，消散，仿佛被毁灭。然而它们将以精微的形态存活于原因之中。从这些精微的形态中，它们将再度涌现为新的大地、太阳、月亮与星辰。
关于这升降，还有一个事实需要了解。种子从树中生出，它并不立即成为树，而是有一段不活动的时期，或更确切地说，是一段极为精微、未曾显现的作用时期。种子必须在土壤之下运作一段时间。它破裂成碎片，仿佛退化，而新生便从那退化中产生。在起初，整个宇宙也必须以同样的方式，在那精微的形态中运作一段时间，不可见，未曾显现，即所谓混沌；而新的展现便从那混沌中产生。宇宙一次显现的整个时期——其归入精微形态，在那里停留一段时间，再度涌现——在梵文中被称为一个劫（Kalpa）或一个周期。其次来到一个极为重要的问题，尤其对于现代而言。我们看到，精微的形态缓慢地、渐渐地发展，逐渐变得愈来愈粗重。我们已经看到，原因与结果相同，而结果只是以另一形态存在的原因。因此，这整个宇宙不可能从虚无中产生。无物无因而来，而原因便是以另一形态存在的结果。
那么这宇宙是从何产生的？从先前精微的宇宙。人是从何产生的？从先前的精微形态。树是从何产生的？从种子；整棵树皆在种子之中。它显现出来，变得可见。同样地，整个宇宙是从以精微形态存在的这同一宇宙中创造出来的。它如今被彰显出来，将回归那精微形态，再度被彰显。现在我们发现，精微的形态缓慢地涌现，变得愈来愈粗重，直至达到其极限，当它们达到极限时，又回转愈来愈精微。这种从精微中涌现变得愈来愈粗重的过程，只是重新排列其各部分的组合，在现代被称为进化。这是非常正确的，完全正确；我们在自己的生命中便能见到。任何有理性的人都不可能与这些进化论者争辩。但我们还须学习一件事，还需更进一步，那是什么？即每一次进化都先有一次内卷。种子是树的父，然而另一棵树本身是种子的父。种子是精微的形态，大树从中生长而出，而另一棵大树是内卷于那种子中的形态。整个宇宙曾存在于宇宙精微状态之中。那个后来成为人的微小细胞，不过是内卷的人，进化展现为人。若此点清晰明了，我们便与进化论者无任何争论，因为我们看到，若他们承认这一步骤，非但没有摧毁宗教，他们反将成为宗教最有力的支持者。
我们由此看到，没有任何事物能从虚无中创造出来。一切事物皆通过永恒而存在，并将通过永恒而存在。唯有运动是在相继的波浪与波谷中，回归精微形态，涌现为粗重显现。这内卷与进化正在整个自然界中持续进行。整个进化的系列，从最低等的生命显现开始，上升至最高等、最完美的人，必然是某种其他事物内卷的结果。问题在于：是什么的内卷？内卷的是什么？是上帝。进化论者将告诉你，你认为是上帝的想法是错误的。为何？因为你看到上帝是智性的，但我们发现，智性在进化过程中出现得颇晚。正是在人类和较高等动物中，我们才发现智性，但在这世界上，智性出现之前已经过去了数百万年。进化论者的这一反对意见站不住脚，正如我们通过运用我们的理论所将看到的。树从种子中生出，归于种子；起点与终点相同。大地从其原因中生出，回归于其原因。我们知道，若我们能找到起点，便能找到终点。反之亦然，若我们找到终点，便能找到起点。若如此，取整个进化的系列，以一端的原生质与另一端的完美人类为两极，整个系列是一段生命。在终点我们发现完美的人，因此在起点也必然相同。所以，原生质是最高智性的内卷。你或许看不到这一点，但那内卷的智性正是在展开自身，直至在最完美的人中得以显现。这可以用数学方法加以证明。若能量守恒定律是真实的，你便无法从一台机器中得到任何东西，除非你先将其放入其中。你从一台发动机中得到的功，恰好等于你以水和燃煤的形式投入其中的功，不多也不少。我现在所做的功，正是我以空气、食物及其他东西的形式投入自身的。这只是变化与显现的问题。在这宇宙的经济中，不可能增加一粒物质或一英尺磅的力，也不可能减少一粒物质或一英尺磅的力。若情况如此，那这智性是什么？若它不存在于原生质中，它必然是突然出现的，某种东西从虚无中生出，这是荒谬的。因此，绝对可以推断，那完美的人、自由的人、神人——他已超越自然律，超越了一切，他不必再经历这进化过程，不必再历经生死——基督徒所称的"基督人"，佛教徒所称的"佛人"，瑜伽行者所称的"自由者"——那完美的人，他处于进化链的一端，曾内卷于处于同一链另一端的原生质细胞之中。
将同样的推理运用于整个宇宙，我们看到，智性必然是造化之主，是原因。人类对宇宙所有最进化的观念是什么？是智性，是部分与部分之间的调适，是智性的展示，而古老的设计论正是试图表达这一点。因此，起初便是智性。在起初，那智性内卷，而在终点那智性进化显现。宇宙中所展示的智性总和，因此必然是那内卷的宇宙智性在展开自身。这宇宙智性便是我们所称的上帝。无论以何名称呼，在起初存在那无限宇宙智性是绝对确定的事实。这宇宙智性内卷，显现，进化自身，直至成为完美的人，"基督人"，"佛人"。然后它回归其本有的源头。这便是为何所有经典都说："我们在他里面生活、动作、存留。"这便是为何所有经典都宣讲，我们来自上帝，归于上帝。不要被神学术语所吓倒；若术语令你惶恐，你便不适合做一个哲学家。这宇宙智性，便是神学家所称的上帝。
1→许多人曾问我，"你为何使用那个古老的词，神？"因为它是我们目的最好的词；你找不到比那更好的词，因为人类所有的希望、渴望与幸福都集中于那个词。现在改变这个词是不可能的。像这样的词最初是由那些已经实现其含义、理解其意义的伟大圣人所创造的。但随着它们在社会上流通，无知的人们取用这些词，结果是它们失去了其精神与光辉。神这个词从远古以来就被使用，这种宇宙智慧的观念，以及一切伟大而神圣的东西，都与它相关联。你的意思是说，因为某个愚人说它不对，我们就应该将它扔掉吗？另一个人或许会来说，"取我的词"，再另一个人，"取我的词"。如此愚蠢的词语将没有尽头。使用旧词，只是在真实的精神中使用它，清除它的迷信，充分实现这个伟大的古老词语的含义。若你理解联想法则的力量，你将知道这些词与无数宏伟而强大的观念相关联；它们被数以百万计的人类灵魂所使用与礼拜，并被他们与人性中一切最高与最善、一切理性的、一切可爱的、一切伟大而崇高的东西相联系。它们作为这些联想的暗示而来，不能被放弃。若我试图通过只是告诉你神创造了宇宙来表达所有这些，那对你毫无意义。然而，经历了所有这些挣扎，我们回到了他，那古老而至高者。 2→ 3→我们现在看到，宇宙能量的所有各种形式，如物质、思想、力量、智慧等等，只不过是那宇宙智慧的显现，或者，正如我们以后将称呼它的，至高主宰。你所见、所感或所听到的一切，整个宇宙，都是他的创造，或者更准确地说，是他的投射；或者更精确地说，就是主宰本身。正是他在闪耀着太阳与星辰，他是大地母亲。他就是大洋本身。他以温柔的阵雨降临，他是我们所呼吸的温柔空气，正是他在身体中作为力量运作。他是被说出的言语，他是说话的人。他是在座的听众。他是我所站立的讲台，他是使我看见你们面容的光。这一切都是他。他本身既是这个宇宙的物质因也是效力因，正是他被内卷于微小的细胞，在另一端进化，再次成为神。正是他降临并成为最低等的原子，缓慢地展开他的本性，重新与他自身合为一体。这是宇宙的奥秘。"你是那人，你是那女人，你是那在青春的骄傲中健步行走的强壮男子，你是那颤巍巍拄着拐杖的老人，你在一切之中。你就是一切，哦，主宰。"这是唯一能令人类理智满足的宇宙解答。一言以蔽之，我们从他而生，我们生活于他之中，回归于他。
English
CHAPTER XI
THE COSMOS
The Macrocosm
(Delivered in New York, 19th January 1896)
The flowers that we see all around us are beautiful, beautiful is the rising of the morning sun, beautiful are the variegated hues of nature. The whole universe is beautiful, and man has been enjoying it since his appearance on earth. Sublime and awe-inspiring are the mountains; the gigantic rushing rivers rolling towards the sea, the trackless deserts, the infinite ocean, the starry heavens — all these are awe-inspiring, sublime, and beautiful indeed. The whole mass of existence which we call nature has been acting on the human mind since time immemorial. It has been acting on the thought of man, and as its reaction has come out the question: What are these, whence are they? As far back as the time of the oldest portion of that most ancient human composition, the Vedas, we find the same question asked: "Whence is this? When there was neither aught nor naught, and darkness was hidden in darkness, who projected this universe? How? Who knows the secret?" And the question has come down to us at the present time. Millions of attempts have been made to answer it, yet millions of times it will have to be answered again. It is not that each answer was a failure; every answer to this question contained a part of truth, and this truth gathers strength as time rolls on. I will try to present before you the outline of the answer that I have gathered from the ancient philosophers of India; in harmony with modern knowledge.
We find that in this oldest of questions a few points had been already solved. The first is that there was a time when there was "neither aught nor naught", when this world did not exist; our mother earth with the seas and oceans, the rivers, and mountains, cities and villages human races, animals, plants, birds, and planets and luminaries, all this infinite variety of creation, had no existence. Are we sure of that? We will try to trace how this conclusion is arrived at. What does man see around him? Take a little plant. He puts a seed in the ground, and later, he finds a plant peep out, lift itself slowly above the ground, and grow and grow, till it becomes a gigantic tree. Then it dies, leaving only the seed. It completes the circle — it comes out of the seed, becomes the tree, and ends in the seed again. Look at a bird, how from the egg it springs, lives its life, and then dies, leaving other eggs, seeds of future birds. So with the animals, so with man. Everything in nature begins, as it were, from certain seeds, certain rudiments, certain fine forms, and becomes grosser and grosser, and develops, going on that way for a certain time, and then again goes back to that fine form, and subsides. The raindrop in which the beautiful sunbeam is playing was drawn in the form of vapour from the ocean, went far away into the air, and reached a region where it changed into water, and dropped down in its present form — to be converted into vapour again. So with everything in nature by which we are surrounded. We know that the huge mountains are being worked upon by glaciers and rivers, which are slowly but surely pounding them and pulverising them into sand, that drifts away into the ocean where it settles down on its bed, layer after layer, becoming hard as rocks, once more to be heaped up into mountains of a future generation. Again they will be pounded and pulverised, and thus the course goes on. From sand rise these mountains; unto sand they go.
If it be true that nature is uniform throughout, if it be true, and so far no human experience has contradicted it, that the same method under which a small grain of sand is created, works in creating the gigantic suns and stars and all this universe, if it be true that the whole of this universe is built on exactly the same plan as the atom, if it be true that the same law prevails throughout the universe, then, as it has been said in the Vedas, "Knowing one lump of clay we know the nature of all the clay that is in the universe." Take up a little plant and study its life, and we know the universe as it is. If we know one grain of sand, we understand the secret of the whole universe. Applying this course of reasoning to phenomena, we find, in the first place, that everything is almost similar at the beginning and the end. The mountain comes from the sand, and goes back to the sand; the river comes out of vapour, and goes back to vapour; plant life comes from the seed, and goes back to the seed; human life comes out of human germs, and goes back to human germs. The universe with its stars and planets has come out of a nebulous state and must go back to it. What do we learn from this? That the manifested or the grosser state is the effect, and the finer state the cause. Thousands of years ago, it was demonstrated by Kapila, the great father of all philosophy, that destruction means going back to the cause. If this table here is destroyed, it will go back to its cause, to those fine forms and particles which, combined, made this form which we call a table. If a man dies, he will go back to the elements which gave him his body; if this earth dies, it will go back to the elements which gave it form. This is what is called destruction, going back to the cause. Therefore we learn that the effect is the same as the cause, not different. It is only in another form. This glass is an effect, and it had its cause, and this cause is present in this form. A certain amount of the material called glass plus the force in the hands of the manufacturer, are the causes, the instrumental and the material, which, combined, produced this form called a glass. The force which was in the hands of the manufacturer is present in the glass as the power of adhesion, without which the particles would fall apart; and the glass material is also present. The glass is only a manifestation of these fine causes in a new shape, and if it be broken to pieces, the force which was present in the form of adhesion will go back and join its own element, and the particles of glass will remain the same until they take new forms.
Thus we find that the effect is never different from the cause. It is only that this effect is a reproduction of the cause in a grosser form. Next, we learn that all these particular forms which we call plants, animals, or men are being repeated ad infinitum, rising and falling. The seed produces the tree. The tree produces the seed, which again comes up as another tree, and so on and on; there is no end to it. Water-drops roll down the mountains into the ocean, and rise again as vapour, go back to the mountains and again come down to the ocean. So, rising and falling, the cycle goes on. So with all lives, so with all existence that we can see, feel, hear, or imagine. Everything that is within the bounds of our knowledge is proceeding in the same way, like breathing in and breathing out in the human body. Everything in creation goes on in this form, one wave rising, another falling, rising again, falling again. Each wave has its hollow, each hollow has its wave. The same law must apply to the universe taken as a whole, because of its uniformity. This universe must be resolved into its causes; the sun, moon, stars, and earth, the body and mind, and everything in this universe must return to their finer causes, disappear, be destroyed as it were. But they will live in the causes as fine forms. Out of these fine forms they will emerge again as new earths, suns, moons, and stars.
There is one fact more to learn about this rising and falling. The seed comes out of the tree; it does not immediately become a tree, but has a period of inactivity, or rather, a period of very fine unmanifested action. The seed has to work for some time beneath the soil. It breaks into pieces, degenerates as it were, and regeneration comes out of that degeneration. In the beginning, the whole of this universe has to work likewise for a period in that minute form, unseen and unmanifested, which is called chaos, and; out of that comes a new projection. The whole period of one manifestation of this universe — its going down into the finer form, remaining there for some time, and coming out again — is, in Sanskrit, called a Kalpa or a Cycle. Next comes a very important question especially for modern; times. We see that the finer forms develop slowly and slowly, and gradually becomes grosser and grosser. We have seen that the cause is the same as the effect, and the effect is only the cause in another form. Therefore this whole universe cannot be produced out of nothing. Nothing comes without a cause, and the cause is the effect in another form.
Out of what has this universe been produced then? From a preceding fine universe. Out of what has men been produced? The preceding fine form. Out of what has the tree been produced? Out of the seed; the whole of the tree was there in the seed. It comes out and becomes manifest. So, the whole of this universe has been created out of this very universe existing in a minute form. It has been made manifest now. It will go back to that minute form, and again will be made manifest. Now we find that the fine forms slowly come out and become grosser and grosser until they reach their limit, and when they reach their limit they go back further and further, becoming finer and finer again. This coming out of the fine and becoming gross, simply changing the arrangements of its parts, as it were, is what in modern times called evolution. This is very true, perfectly true; we see it in our lives. No rational man can possibly quarrel with these evolutionists. But we have to learn one thing more. We have to go one step further, and what is that? That every evolution is preceded by an involution. The seed is the father of the tree, but another tree was itself the father of the seed. The seed is the fine form out of which the big tree comes, and another big tree was the form which is involved in that seed. The whole of this universe was present in the cosmic fine universe. The little cell, which becomes afterwards the man, was simply the involved man and becomes evolved as a man. If this is clear, we have no quarrel with the evolutionists, for we see that if they admit this step, instead of their destroying religion, they will be the greatest supporters of it.
We see then, that nothing can be created out of nothing. Everything exists through eternity, and will exist through eternity. Only the movement is in succeeding waves and hollows, going back to fine forms, and coming out into gross manifestations. This involution and evolution is going on throughout the whole of nature. The whole series of evolution beginning with the lowest manifestation of life and reaching up to the highest, the most perfect man, must have been the involution of something else. The question is: The involution of what? What was involved? God. The evolutionist will tell you that your idea that it was God is wrong. Why? Because you see God is intelligent, but we find that intelligence develops much later on in the course of evolution. It is in man and the higher animals that we find intelligence, but millions of years have passed in this world before this intelligence came. This objection of the evolutionists does not hold water, as we shall see by applying our theory. The tree comes out of the seed, goes back to the seed; the beginning and the end are the same. The earth comes out of its cause and returns to it. We know that if we can find the beginning we can find the end. E converso, if we find the end we can find the beginning. If that is so, take this whole evolutionary series, from the protoplasm at one end to the perfect man at the other, and this whole series is one life. In the end we find the perfect man, so in the beginning it must have been the same. Therefore, the protoplasm was the involution of the highest intelligence. You may not see it but that involved intelligence is what is uncoiling itself until it becomes manifested in the most perfect man. That can be mathematically demonstrated. If the law of conservation of energy is true, you cannot get anything out of a machine unless you put it in there first. The amount of work that you get out of an engine is exactly the same as you have put into it in the form of water and coal, neither more nor less. The work I am doing now is just what I put into me, in the shape of air, food, and other things. It is only a question of change and manifestation. There cannot be added in the economy of this universe one particle of matter or one foot-pound of force, nor can one particle of matter or one foot-pound of force be taken out. If that be the case, what is this intelligence? If it was not present in the protoplasm, it must have come all of a sudden, something coming out of nothing, which is absurd. It, therefore, follows absolutely that the perfect man, the free man, the God-man, who has gone beyond the laws of nature, and transcended everything, who has no more to go through this process of evolution, through birth and death, that man called the "Christ-man" by the Christians, and the "Buddha-man" by the Buddhists, and the "Free" by the Yogis — that perfect man who is at one end of the chain of evolution was involved in the cell of the protoplasm, which is at the other end of the same chain.
Applying the same reason to the whole of the universe, we see that intelligence must be the Lord of creation, the cause. What is the most evolved notion that man has of this universe? It is intelligence, the adjustment of part to part, the display of intelligence, of which the ancient design theory was an attempt at expression. The beginning was, therefore, intelligence. At the beginning that intelligence becomes involved, and in the end that intelligence gets evolved. The sum total of the intelligence displayed in the universe must, therefore, be the involved universal intelligence unfolding itself. This universal intelligence is what we call God. Call it by any other name, it is absolutely certain that in the beginning there is that Infinite cosmic intelligence. This cosmic intelligence gets involved, and it manifests, evolves itself, until it becomes the perfect man, the "Christ-man," the "Buddha-man." Then it goes back to its own source. That is why all the scriptures say, "In Him we live and move and have our being." That is why all the scriptures preach that we come from God and go back to God. Do not be frightened by theological terms; if terms frighten you, you are not fit to be philosophers. This cosmic intelligence is what the theologians call God.
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.
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。