真实的人与表象的人
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中文
第十六章
真实的人与表象的人
（在纽约讲演）
我们站在这里，双眼有时望向数里之外。自人类开始思考以来，便一直如此眺望。人总是向前看，展望未来。即便在肉身消散之后，他也想知道自己将去往何方。人们提出了各种理论，一套又一套的体系相继涌现，试图作出解释。有些被摒弃，另一些被接受，如此往复，只要人类存在，只要人类思考，这一切便不会停止。这些体系中各有真理，也各有非真理之处。我将尝试把印度在这一领域探索的精华与结果呈现在你们面前。我将尝试协调各位印度哲学家在不同时期就这一主题所提出的各种思想；我将尝试调和心理学家与形而上学家，并在可能的情况下，使之与现代科学思想家的见解相融。
吠檀多哲学的核心主题是追寻统一。印度人的心灵不在乎个别之物，始终追求普遍，乃至于宇宙普遍性。"那是什么，知晓了它，其他一切便可得知？"这是唯一的主题。"如同知晓一块泥土，便可知晓一切泥土所造之物，那是什么，知晓了它，便能了知整个宇宙？"这是唯一的探索。印度哲学家认为，整个宇宙可以归结为一种物质，他们称之为阿卡夏（Âkâsha，虚空）。我们所见、所触、所感、所尝的一切，不过是这阿卡夏的不同表现形式。它无处不在，精微无比。我们所称的固体、液体或气体，各种形态与形体，大地、太阳、月亮与繁星——一切皆由阿卡夏组成。
是什么力量作用于这阿卡夏，从中创造出整个宇宙？与阿卡夏并存的是宇宙之力；宇宙中一切力量的显现，无论是力或引力——乃至于思想——皆不过是那一种力的不同表现，印度人称之为普拉纳（Prâna，生命气）。普拉纳作用于阿卡夏，创造了整个宇宙。在一个宇宙周期的开端，普拉纳在无限的阿卡夏之海中沉睡，最初静止不动。然后，普拉纳的作用使阿卡夏之海中产生运动，随着普拉纳开始运动、振动，从这片大海中涌现出各种天体系统——太阳、月亮、星辰、大地、人类、动物、植物，以及各种力量与现象的显现。因此，在他们看来，力量的每一种表现皆是普拉纳，每一种物质表现皆是阿卡夏。当这一周期结束时，我们所称的固体将融入下一种更精微的形态，即液态；液态将融入气态，气态则融入更精微均匀的热振动，一切最终归回原初的阿卡夏；而我们今日所称的引力、斥力与运动，也将缓缓归回原初的普拉纳。此后，普拉纳据说将沉睡一段时期，再度涌现，抛出所有那些形态；当这个时期结束，整个过程再度归于沉寂。如此，创造的过程下降复上升，来回摆荡。以现代科学的语言来说，它在一个时期变得静止，在另一个时期变得动态；有时成为潜势，有时成为现实。这种交替自永恒以来便在进行。
然而，这一分析只是局部的。这已为现代物理科学所知。物理科学的探究无法超越这一范围。但探索并不因此止步。我们尚未找到那个——知晓了它便可了知一切的东西。我们已将整个宇宙归结为两种成分，即所谓的物质与能量，或古代印度哲学家所称的阿卡夏与普拉纳。下一步是将阿卡夏与普拉纳归结为其本源。两者皆可归结为更高的存在，称之为心（mind）。正是从这心——摩诃特（Mahat，宇宙普遍思维力）——产生了这两者。思想是比阿卡夏或普拉纳更精微的存在显现。正是思想将自身分裂为这两者。宇宙普遍思想在太初便已存在，它显现、变化、演化为阿卡夏与普拉纳二者，由这两者的结合，整个宇宙得以产生。
其次，我们来到心理学领域。我正在看着你们。外部感觉由眼睛带给我，由感觉神经传递到大脑。眼睛并非视觉器官，它们不过是外在工具，因为如果其后真正的器官——即将感觉传达至大脑者——被毁，我纵有二十只眼睛也无法看见你们。视网膜上的影像或许完整无缺，我却仍然看不见你们。因此，器官不同于其工具；在工具——眼睛——之后，必有器官存在。其他一切感觉亦然。鼻子并非嗅觉，不过是工具，其后方有器官。我们所有的感觉，首先有肉身中的外在工具，其后在同一肉身中有器官；然而仅此犹不充分。试想我正在对你们说话，你们专心聆听。这时突然发生了某事，比如铃声响起；你们也许不会听到铃声。声音的振动传到你的耳中，击打鼓膜，印象由神经带入大脑；假如整个过程已完整地将冲动传入大脑，你们为何没有听到呢？还缺少一个要素——心（mind）并未与器官相附。当心脱离器官时，器官或许带来任何消息，心也不会接收。唯当心附着于器官时，方能接收消息。然而，即使如此，整个过程仍未完成。还有一个因素是必需的——内在必须有一个反应。随着这反应，知觉（perception）才得以产生。外部之物，仿佛将消息之流送入我的大脑；心将其接收，呈递于智（intellect），智将其与先前接收的印象相关联，发出反应之流，随着这反应，知觉便产生了。意志（will）就在这里。进行反应的心之状态称为菩提（Buddhi），即智。然而，即使如此，整个过程仍未完成，还需再进一步。设想这里有一架照相机和一块布，我试图将影像投射在布上。我该怎么做？我要引导各种光线穿过照相机，落在布上，在那里汇聚成形。有一件事是必要的——接受影像的东西不能移动。我无法在移动的东西上成形影像，因为我投射的光线是运动的，这些运动的光线必须在某个静止的东西上被收集、统一、协调并完成。感觉器官传入的感觉，以及心再呈递于智的感觉，情形也是如此。除非背景中有某种永恒之物——影像仿佛可以在其上形成，我们可以在其上统一各种不同的印象——否则这一过程便无法完成。是什么赋予我们变化中的整个存在以统一性？是什么维持着运动之物片刻不辍的同一性？是什么使我们所有不同的印象汇聚于一处、居留于此并形成一个统一的整体？我们已经发现，必定有某种东西来承担这一功能，我们也看到，相对于身体和心，这种东西必定是静止的。相机投射影像的那块布，相对于光线是静止的，否则便不会有影像。也就是说，感知者必须是一个个体。这某种东西——心在其上描绘所有这些画面，感觉由心与智携至其上，在其上被放置、分组并形成统一体——就是人类的灵魂。
我们已经看到，是宇宙普遍心将自身分裂为阿卡夏与普拉纳，而在心之上我们找到了我们内在的灵魂。在宇宙中，在宇宙普遍心之后，有一个灵魂存在，被称为神。在个体中，它是人类的灵魂。在这个宇宙中，正如宇宙普遍心演化为阿卡夏与普拉纳，我们同样可以发现，宇宙普遍灵魂本身演化为心。这在个别人类身上是否确实如此？他的心是其身体的创造者，他的灵魂是其心的创造者吗？也就是说，他的身体、心与灵魂是三种不同的存在，还是三位一体，抑或是同一存在单元的不同存在状态？我们将逐步尝试找到这一问题的答案。我们目前已获得的第一步是：这里有这外在的身体，在外在身体之后是器官、心、智，在这之后是灵魂。在这第一步，我们仿佛发现，灵魂与身体分离，也与心本身分离。宗教世界的意见在此分歧，分歧之处在于：一般所称的二元论的所有宗教观点，主张这灵魂是有属性的，具有各种性质，所有享乐、喜悦与痛苦的感受确实属于灵魂。非二元论者则否认灵魂具有任何这样的属性，认为它是无属性的。
让我首先谈谈二元论者，向你们呈现他们关于灵魂及其命运的立场；其次是反驳他们的体系；最后，让我们尝试找到非二元论将带给我们的和谐。人类的这一灵魂，因为它与心和身体分离，因为它不由阿卡夏与普拉纳组成，所以必定是不朽的。为什么？我们所说的死亡是什么意思？是分解。而这只对由合成而成的事物才是可能的；任何由两种或三种成分构成的东西都必然走向分解。唯有非合成结果之物，才永不可能走向分解，因此也永不可能死亡。它是不朽的。它自永恒以来便已存在，是无始的。每一件被创造之物不过是一种组合；没有人曾见过创造从虚无中产生。我们所知的一切创造，都是将已有事物组合成更新的形态。既然如此，人类的这一灵魂是单纯的，它必定一直存在，也将永远存在。当此身消散，灵魂继续存在。依吠檀多论者之说，当此身瓦解，人的生命力退回其心，心仿佛溶入普拉纳，普拉纳进入人的灵魂，人的灵魂便出离，裹覆着所谓的精微体，即心灵体或灵性体（随你喜欢怎么称呼）。在这精微体中存有此人的业印（Samskaras）。什么是业印？这心如同一个湖，每一个思想如同湖上的一朵浪花。正如湖中的浪花升起，然后落下消失，这些思想之浪也在心素（mind-stuff）中不断升起，然后消失，但它们并非永远消失。它们变得越来越精微，但皆在那里，随时准备在被召唤时再度涌现。记忆不过是将那些已进入更精微存在状态的思想，重新召回为波形。如此，我们所思的一切，我们所做的每一个行动，皆储存于心；以精微的形式全在那里，当一个人死去，这些印象的总和在心中，心又以少许精微物质为媒介运作。灵魂裹覆着这些印象与精微体而出，灵魂的命运由各种力量的合力所引导，这些力量由各种不同的印象所代表。依我们之见，灵魂有三种不同的归宿。
那些极具灵性之人，死后沿太阳光线前行，到达所谓的太阳界，再由此到达月亮界，再到达所谓的闪电界，在那里与一个已获福祉的灵魂相遇，这位灵魂引导来者前往最高之界，即梵界（Brahmaloka），梵天所居之界。在那里，这些灵魂获得遍知与全能，几乎与神本身一样强大而全知；依二元论者之说，他们永居于那里；或依非二元论者之说，在宇宙周期结束时，他们将与宇宙普遍合而为一。第二类人，出于自私动机而行善者，死时被善业的果报所携，到达所谓的月亮界，那里有各种天堂，他们在那里获得精微的身体，即神体。他们成为神，居于其中，享受天堂的福祉，历经漫长岁月；这段时期结束后，旧业再度作用于他们，他们因而再次降落到大地；他们经由气界、云界及所有这些不同区域而下降，最终随雨滴抵达大地。在那里，他们附着于某种谷物，这谷物最终被某位有资格为他们提供物质以形成新身的人所食。最后一类，即恶人，死后成为鬼或恶魔，居于月亮界与大地之间的某处。有些试图扰乱人类，有些则与人为善；在那里居留一段时间后，他们也重回大地，转生为动物。在动物体中居留一段时间后，他们得以解脱，回来，再度成为人，从而再获一次完善自我的机会。由此可见，几近完善、仅余少许不净者，经由太阳光线前往梵界；中等之人，因世间某些善行而怀着升天之念，升往月亮界中的天堂，在那里获得神体；但他们必须再度成为人，因而再获一次完善的机会。极为邪恶者成为鬼与恶魔，之后或许须投入动物体；此后他们再度成为人，再获一次完善的机会。这大地被称为业土（Karma-Bhumi），即业的领域。唯在此处，人造作其善业或恶业。当一个人志在升天并为此目的行善，他便行善而不如此储积任何恶业。他只是享受他在世间所造善业的果报；当这善业耗尽，他所有先前积储的恶业的果报之力便降临于他，将他再度带回大地。同样，那些成为鬼的人，留于那种状态，不再生起新业，而是受其过去恶行的恶果，之后在动物体中居留一段时期，不造任何新业。这一时期结束时，他们也再度成为人。因善恶之业而招致的奖罚状态，不具有生起新业之力；彼等唯有享受或承受而已。若有极为卓越的善业或极为邪恶的业，其果迅速成熟。例如，一个人一生中行了许多恶事，却做了一件善事，这善事的果报将立即显现，但这果报经历过后，所有的恶行也必须产生其果报。所有行了某些善事与大事、但其人生整体行止尚不端正者，将成为神；在以神体享受神的威能一段时期后，他们将再度成为人；善业之力耗尽后，旧有的恶业便浮现待偿。那些行了极度恶业者，须着鬼与魔的身体，当那些恶行的效果耗尽，与之相关的少许善业使他们再度成为人。从梵界再无堕落与轮回[Samsara]之处，其道称为神道（Devayâna），即通往神之道；通往天堂之道则称为祖道（Pitriyâna），即通往祖先之道。
因此，依吠檀多哲学之见，人是宇宙中最伟大的存在，而这劳作之世界是其中最好的地方，因为唯有在此，他才有最大、最好的机会臻至完善。天使或神，无论你如何称呼他们，若想达到完善，都必须成为人。这是伟大的中心，奇妙的均衡点，奇妙的机遇——这人类的生命。
我们接下来谈到哲学的另一面。有些佛教徒全盘否认我刚才提出的灵魂理论。"有什么用呢，"佛教徒说，"何必假设某种东西作为此身体和心的基底、背景？为何我们不能让思想自行流淌？何须在这由心与身组成的有机体之外，再承认第三种物质，即所谓的灵魂？它有何用处？难道这个有机体不足以解释其自身吗？何须再取一个第三者？"这些论点非常有力，这种推理极为有力。就外在研究而言，我们看到这个有机体足以解释其自身——至少我们许多人如此认为。那么何须有一个灵魂作为基底，一个非心非体的某物，却作为心与体的背景？让我们只有心与体。身体是一条不断变化的物质之流的名称。心是一条不断变化的意识或思想之流的名称。是什么产生了二者之间表观的统一性？这统一性实际上并不存在，让我们这样说。试想一支燃着的火把，将它迅速在你面前旋转，你看见一个火圈。这圆圈实际上并不存在，但因为火把不断运动，它留下了圆圈的外观。同样，这生命中并无统一性；这不过是一团不断向下奔流的物质，你或许可以称这整团物质为一个统一体，但仅此而已。心也是如此；每一个思想都与其他每一个思想分离；只是这奔流的电流留下了统一性的幻象；无须第三种物质。身体与心的这一宇宙现象，是所有真实存在之物；不要在其后预设什么。你会发现，这一佛教思想已在现代被某些派别和流派所接受，他们都声称这是新的——是他们自己的发明。这一直是大多数佛教哲学的核心思想，即这世界本身已绰绰有余；你无须寻求任何背景；感官宇宙就是所有存在之物：将某种东西视为这宇宙之支撑有何用？一切皆是属性的集合；何须一个假定的基质，供其附着？物质的观念来自属性的迅速交替，而非来自其后某种不变的东西。我们看到这些论点中有些是多么有力，它们轻易地诉诸人类的普通经验——事实上，百万人中难有一人能想到现象之外的事物。对于绝大多数人而言，自然仅仅表现为不断变化、旋转、组合、混合的变化之团。我们很少有人能瞥见后面那片平静的海洋。对我们来说，它总是被拍打成浪；这宇宙在我们眼中不过是一团翻腾的浪涛。于是我们发现了这两种意见：一种是在身心之后有某种东西，作为不变不动的基质；另一种是宇宙中不存在不动性或不变性，一切皆是变化，唯有变化。这一分歧的解答出现在思想的下一步，即非二元论。
非二元论说，二元论者在万物之后发现某种背景——一个不变的背景——是对的；我们无法设想变化而没有某种不变的东西存在。我们只能通过知晓某个变化较少的东西来设想任何可变之物，而这个东西与某个变化更少的东西相比，也必须显得变化更多，如此一直下去，直至我们必然承认，必定有某种东西是永远不变的。这一切表现必定曾处于无表现状态，宁静而沉寂，是对立力量的平衡，可以说，彼时没有力量运作，因为力量在平衡被打破时才发挥作用。宇宙永远急于归返那种平衡状态。如果我们对任何事实确定无疑，我们对此确定无疑。当二元论者声称有某种不变的东西，他们完全正确；但他们的分析——认为那是一个既非身体也非心的基底，一个与两者分离的某物——是错误的。就佛教徒所说宇宙是一团变化这一点而言，他们完全正确；只要我是与宇宙分离的，只要我退后一步，注视着我面前的某物，只要有两件事——观看者与被观看之物——宇宙就将永远显现为变化，不断变化。但实际是，这宇宙中既有变化也有不变性。灵魂、心与身体并非三种分离的存在，因为由这三者构成的有机体实际上是一个。同一件事以身体的形式显现，以心的形式显现，以超乎心与体的那件事的形式显现；但它同时并非所有这些。看见身体的人，甚至连心也看不见；看见心的人，看不见他所称的灵魂；而看见灵魂的人——对他来说，身体与心已消失。唯见运动者，绝不见绝对的宁静；而见绝对宁静者——对他来说，运动已消失。一根绳子被误认为是蛇。将绳子视为蛇的人，对他来说绳子已消失；当幻觉止息，他注视绳子，蛇已消失。
那么，只有一个包容一切的存在，而这一个显现为多数。这真我[Atman]或灵魂或实体，是宇宙中所有存在之物。这真我或实体或灵魂，在非二元论的语言中，就是梵，因名与形的介入而显现为多数。看看海中的波浪。没有一朵浪花真正不同于大海，但是什么使波浪表观上不同呢？名与形；波浪的形状，以及我们给它的名称"波浪"，这使它与大海不同。当名与形消失，它就是同一片大海。谁能在波浪与大海之间作出任何真实的区别？如此，整个宇宙就是那一个本体；名与形创造了所有这些不同。正如当太阳照耀在数百万水滴上，在每一颗水珠上可见太阳最完美的倒影，宇宙的这唯一灵魂、唯一真我、唯一存在，被反映在所有这些无数名形各异的水珠上，显现为多样；但实际上只有一个。没有"我"，也没有"你"；这一切都是一个。要么全是"我"，要么全是"你"。这二元性的观念，即所谓的"二"，完全是虚假的，而我们通常所知的整个宇宙，不过是这种错误知识的结果。当辨别之力降临，人发现并非有二而是有一，他就会发现他自己就是这宇宙。"正是我是这个宇宙，如其现在所是，一团不断变化之物。正是我超越一切变化，超越一切属性，永恒完美，永恒有福。"
因此，只有一个真我[Atman]，一个自我，永恒纯净，永恒完善，不变，未曾改变；它从未改变过；宇宙中所有这些种种变化，不过是那唯一真我中的表象。
名与形在其上绘制了所有这些梦境；正是形使浪花不同于大海。假设波浪平息，形会留存吗？不，它会消失。波浪的存在完全依赖于大海的存在，但大海的存在丝毫不依赖于波浪的存在。形在波浪存在时存在，但一旦波浪离去，形便消失，无法留存。这名与形，是所谓幻象[Maya]（first use: 幻象[Maya]）的产物。正是这幻象[Maya]在制造个体，使一者显现为不同于另一者。然而它并无实体存在。幻象[Maya]无法说是存在的。形无法说是存在的，因为它依赖于另一件事物的存在。它也无法说是不存在的，因为它造成了所有这些差异。依不二论（Advaita）哲学之见，这幻象[Maya]或无明——或名与形，或在欧洲被称为"时间、空间与因果性"——正是从这一无限存在中使我们看到宇宙的多样性；在本质上，这宇宙是一。只要有人认为存在两种终极实在，他就是错的。当他知晓只有一个，他就是对的。这正是每天在物质层面、精神层面以及灵性层面向我们证明的。今日已证明，你和我，太阳、月亮与星辰，不过是同一物质之海中不同点的不同名称，而这物质在其形态中持续变化。数月前还在太阳中的这一粒能量，现在可能在人体中；明天可能在动物体中，后天可能在植物中。它来来去去，无有止息。这是一整块无尽的物质，唯以名形相区别。一个点称为太阳；另一个称为月亮；另一个称为星辰；另一个称为人；另一个称为动物；另一个称为植物；如此等等。所有这些名称皆是虚构的；它们并无实在性，因为整体是一团持续变化的物质。这同一宇宙，从另一个角度来看，是一片思想之海，我们每一个人是其中一个称为某一特定心的点。你是一个心，我是一个心，每个人都是一个心；同一个宇宙，从知识的角度来看，当眼睛已清除幻觉，当心已变得纯净，就显现为那不断的绝对存在，永恒纯净，不变，永生。
那么，二元论者关于人死后升天、或往此或往彼界，以及恶人成为鬼、成为动物如此种种的三重末世论，结果如何？非二元论者说，无人来，无人去。你如何能来去？你是无限的；你往何处去？在某所学校里，一群小孩正在受测。出题者愚蠢地向这些小孩提出了各种难题。其中有这样一道题："为什么大地不落下？"他的用意是要引出这些小孩关于万有引力或某种复杂科学真理的概念。他们中大多数甚至连问题都看不懂，于是给出了各种错误的答案。但一个聪明的小女孩反以问题作答："它往哪里落呢？"出题者的问题本身就是无稽之谈。宇宙中没有上下；这个概念只是相对的。灵魂之事亦然；关于它的生死问题，本身即是彻头彻尾的无稽之谈。谁离去，谁到来？你在哪里不存在？你不在的天堂在哪里？人类的真我无处不在。它将去往何处？它哪里不去？它无处不在。如此，所有关于生死、关于天堂与更高天界和更低世界的幼稚之梦与孩童般的幻想，对于完善之人而言，立即消失殆尽。对于几近完善之人，在向他们展示了直至梵界的几幕场景之后，也消失了。它对无知者持续。
整个世界为何相信升天，相信死亡与诞生？我在读一本书，一页又一页被读过，翻了过去。又来一页，被翻了过去。谁在变化？谁来去？不是我，而是书。这整个自然，就是灵魂面前的一本书，一章又一章被读过，翻了过去，不时有一幅场景展开，被读过，翻了过去。新的一幕到来，但灵魂是永恒不变的——永恒的。变化的是自然，而非人类的灵魂。这永不改变。生死在自然之中，而非在你之中。然而无知者受到迷惑；正如我们在错觉中认为是太阳在运动而非大地，我们也以完全相同的方式认为是我们在死去，而非自然。因此这一切都是幻觉。正如我们认为田野在移动而非火车时，那是幻觉；生死的幻觉也恰好是如此。当人处于某种精神状态，他们将这同一存在看作大地、太阳、月亮、星辰；而所有处于同一精神状态的人看到同样的东西。在你我之间，或许有数百万存在处于不同的存在层面。他们永远看不见我们，我们也看不见他们；我们只看见那些与我们处于同一精神状态、同一层面的人。那些具有同样振动调谐的乐器彼此共鸣，仿佛如此；如果他们所称的"人类振动"状态改变了，人类便不再在此可见；整个"人类宇宙"将消失，取而代之的是，其他景象将在我们面前展开，也许是神与神界，或者对于恶人来说，是魔鬼与魔界；但这一切不过是同一宇宙的不同景象。从人类层面来看，这宇宙就是大地、太阳、月亮、星辰及所有这些事物——正是这同一宇宙，从邪恶的层面看，显现为受罚之所。而这同一宇宙，对那些想要将其视为天堂的人而言，就是天堂。那些一生梦想着去见一位端坐宝座之神，并在那里终日赞美祂的人，死时，他们只会看见他们心中所有之物的景象；这同一宇宙将化为一座庞大的天堂，各种长着翅膀的存在四处飞翔，一位神端坐宝座之上。这些天堂都是人自己制造的。所以不二论者（Advaitin）说，二元论者所说是真的，但这一切都只是他自己制造的。这些界域与魔鬼、神与轮回[Samsara]、转生，都是神话；这人类的生命亦然。人们所犯的最大错误，永远是认为唯有这一生才是真实的。当其他事物被称为神话，他们理解得很好，但从不愿承认自己处境也是如此。这整件事如其所表现的，不过是神话，而最大的谎言是我们是身体——我们从未如此，也永远不可能如此。我们从不曾是微末凡人，这是我们最大的谎言；我们是宇宙之神。在崇拜神的过程中，我们一直在崇拜我们自己隐藏的真我[Atman]。你对自己说过的最坏的谎言，是你生来是罪人或恶人。唯有那在另一人身上看见罪人的人，才是罪人。假设这里有个婴儿，你在桌上放了一袋金子。假设一个强盗来拿走了金子。对婴儿来说，这无关紧要；因为内里没有强盗，外面也没有强盗。对于罪人与卑劣之人，外面有卑劣；但对于善人则不然。如此，恶人将这宇宙看作地狱，部分善人将其视为天堂，而完善的存在则将其认知为神本身。然后唯有面纱从眼前落去，那被净化洁净的人，发现他整个视野改变了。折磨他数百万年的恶梦，全部消失，那曾将自己视为人、或神或恶魔的人，那曾将自己视为居于低处、高处、大地、天堂等等的人，发现他实际上无处不在；时间在他之内，他不在时间之内；所有天堂在他之内，他不在任何天堂之内；人所崇拜的所有神明在他之内，他不在那些神明中的任何一个。他是神与魔鬼、人与植物、动物与石头的制造者，人类的真实本性现在向他展开，显示为高于天堂，比我们的宇宙更完善，比无限的时间更无限，比无处不在的以太更无处不在。唯如此，人变得无畏，变得自由。届时所有幻觉止息，所有苦难消失，所有恐惧永远终结。生离去，死亦随之；痛苦飞逝，喜乐亦随之飞逝；大地消散，天堂亦随之消散；身体消失，心也随之消失。对那个人而言，整个宇宙仿佛消失了。这种持续不断的力量之追寻、运动与斗争，永远止息，那原本显现为力量与物质、自然之斗争、自然本身、天堂与大地、植物与动物、人与天使的，一切都升华为一个无限、不可分割、不可改变的存在，那知晓之人发现他与那存在是一体。"正如各种颜色的云朵出现在天空前，在那里停留片刻，然后消散而去"，在这灵魂面前，所有这些景象来了又去——大地与天堂，月亮与诸神，喜乐与痛苦；但它们都消逝了，留下那无限、湛蓝、不变的天空。天空永不改变；改变的是云朵。认为天空改变了是一个错误。认为我们是不净的、是有限的、是分离的，这是一个错误。真实的人是那唯一的本体存在。
现在有两个问题。第一个是："这一切是否可以证悟？迄今为止这不过是教义、哲学，但它能够证悟吗？"是的，可以。这世界上仍有活着的人，对他们而言幻觉已永远消散。他们在这样的证悟之后会立即死亡吗？不会像我们以为的那样迅速。被同一轴连接的两个轮子在一起转动。如果我抓住其中一个轮子，用斧头砍断轴，我抓住的那个轮子停止了；但另一个轮子上有其过去的动量，因此它还转动了一会儿，然后倒下。这纯净完善的存在，即灵魂，是一个轮子，这外在的身体与心的幻觉是另一个轮子，它们被业——业力之轴——连接在一起。知识是斩断二者之间纽带的斧头，灵魂之轮将停止——停止认为它是来来去去、生死不息的，停止认为它是自然、有需求和欲望的，并将发现它是完善的，无欲的。但在另一个轮子——身体与心之轮——上，会有过去行为的动量；因此它还会存活一段时间，直到那过去业的动量耗尽，直到那动量被消耗殆尽，然后身体与心坠落，灵魂变得自由。不再有升往天堂、再度归来，甚至不再有升往梵界或任何最高界域，因为他要从哪里来，又往哪里去呢？今生已达到这种状态的人——哪怕只有片刻，寻常的世界景象已改变，实在已显现——他被称为"活着解脱者"。这就是吠檀多论者的目标，在活着时获得解脱[Moksha]（first use: 解脱[Moksha]）。
有一次，在印度西部，我正在印度洋海岸的沙漠地带旅行。一天又一天，我徒步穿越沙漠，但令我惊奇的是，我每天都看见美丽的湖泊，四周有树木，树木的影子倒悬其中，在那里颤动。"看起来多美，他们把这称为沙漠之地！"我心想。将近一个月，我看着这些美丽的湖泊、树木与植物旅行。有一天，我非常口渴，想喝水，于是我开始朝其中一个清澈美丽的湖走去，当我靠近时，它消失了。我的脑海中闪过一个念头："这就是我一生中一直读到的海市蜃楼。"随之而来的还有一个想法：整整一个月，每天，我都在看这海市蜃楼而不自知。第二天早上，我开始行进。湖又出现了，但随之而来的是，这是海市蜃楼而非真湖的认知。这个宇宙也是如此。我们所有人每天、每月、每年地在这世界的海市蜃楼中旅行，不知道这是蜃景。有一天它会破碎，但它又会回来；身体必须在过去业力的支配下继续存在，因此蜃景还会回来。只要我们为业所缚，这世界就会向我们回来：男人、女人、动物、植物、我们的依恋与责任，一切都会回来，但不会带着同样的力量。在新知识的影响下，业力将被瓦解，其毒素将会丧失。它蜕变了，因为与之同来的还有这样的认知：我们现在知道了，实在与蜃景之间鲜明的区别已被知晓。
这世界届时将不再是以前的世界了。然而这里有一个危险。我们看到，在每个国家，都有人接受这种哲学，说："我超越一切善恶；所以我不受任何道德律的约束；我可以随心所欲。"你或许在这个国家目前能找到许多愚蠢之人，说着："我没有束缚；我就是神本身；随我做任何事。"这是不对的，尽管灵魂确实超越一切律法，无论是物质的、精神的还是道德的。律法之内是束缚；律法之外是自由。同样千真万确的是，自由是灵魂的本性，是其与生俱来的权利：灵魂那真实的自由，以人类表观自由的形式，透过物质的幔纱照耀。你生命的每一刻，你都感到自己是自由的。我们片刻都无法生活、说话或呼吸，而不感到我们是自由的；但同时，一点点思考就向我们表明，我们如同机器，并不自由。那么什么是真实的？这自由的观念是否是幻觉？一方认为自由的观念是幻觉；另一方说束缚的观念是幻觉。这是怎么发生的？人实际上是自由的，真实的人不可能不自由。当他进入幻象[Maya]的世界，进入名与形的世界，他就受束缚。自由意志是一个误称。意志永远不可能自由。它怎么能自由？只有当真实的人已被束缚，他的意志才出现，而非之前。人的意志是受束缚的，但作为那意志之基础的东西，是永恒自由的。所以，即使在我们称为人类生命或神类生命的束缚状态中，无论在大地还是在天堂，仍有那自由的回忆在我们心中，那是我们神圣权利所赋予的自由。有意识或无意识地，我们都在向它奋力前行。当一个人获得了自己的自由，什么律法能束缚他呢？这宇宙中没有任何律法能束缚他，因为这整个宇宙就是他自己的。
他就是整个宇宙。要么说他就是整个宇宙，要么说对他而言宇宙不存在。那么他怎么能有关于性别与国家的这些小小观念？他怎么能说，我是男人，我是女人，我是孩子？这些不都是谎言吗？他知道它们是。他怎么能说这些是男人的权利，那些是女人的权利？没有人拥有权利；没有人单独存在。既没有男人也没有女人；灵魂是无性别的，永恒纯净。说我是男人或女人是谎言，说我属于这个国家或那个国家也是谎言。整个世界是我的国家，整个宇宙是我的，因为我用它作为我的身体将自己裹覆其中。然而我们看到，在这世界上有些人准备鼓吹这些教义，同时却做我们称之为肮脏的事；如果我们问他们为何如此，他们告诉我们，这是我们的幻觉，他们什么坏事都做不了。用以判断他们的检验标准是什么？检验标准在这里。
尽管善与恶都是灵魂的条件性显现，恶是最外层的包覆，善是真实之人即真我[Atman]更近的包覆。一个人除非穿透恶的层面，否则无法抵达善的层面，除非穿越善与恶两个层面，否则无法抵达真我。抵达真我的人，还有什么附着于他？少许业，少量过去生命动量的碎片，但这全是良善的动量。在恶的动量被彻底消耗殆尽、过去的杂质被完全燃烧之前，任何人都不可能看见和证悟真理。因此，已抵达真我、已见真理的人，其身上残余的是过去生命中善印象的余存，即善的动量。即使他活在身体中，不停地劳作，他也只是为了行善而劳作；他的唇只说对众人的祝福；他的手只做善事；他的心只能思善；他无论去往何处，其在场皆是祝福。他本身就是一个活着的祝福。这样的人，仅凭其在场，甚至能将最邪恶的人变为圣者。即使他不开口，他的在场也将是人类的祝福。这样的人能做任何恶事吗；他们能做邪恶之举吗？你必须记住，证悟与空谈之间，犹如天壤之别。任何蠢人都会空谈。鹦鹉也会说话。说话是一回事，证悟是另一回事。哲学、教义、论证、书籍、理论、教堂、宗派，以及所有这些事物，在各自的领域都是有益的；但当那证悟降临，这些事物便脱落了。例如，地图是有益的，但当你亲眼见到那个国家，再看地图，你发现多大的差别！所以那些已证悟真理的人，不需要逻辑的推理及所有其他智识的体操来帮助他们理解真理；对他们而言，真理是他们生命中的生命，是具体化的，比可触的还要真实。正如吠檀多圣人所说，"就如你手中的果实"；你可以站起来说，它就在这里。所以那些已证悟真理的人将站起来说，"真我[Atman]在这里。"你或许与他们辩论上整年，但他们只会微笑；他们将视一切为孩童的咿哑；他们会让孩子咿哑不停。他们已证悟真理，满满当当。假设你已去过一个国家，另一个人来向你争论说那个国家从未存在，他或许无休止地争论，但你唯一的心态必是认为那个人适合进疯人院。所以证悟之人说，"世界上所有这些关于小小宗教的喋喋不休，不过是咿哑；证悟才是宗教的灵魂，是宗教的精髓。"宗教是可以证悟的。你准备好了吗？你渴求它吗？若是，你便将获得证悟，届时你才会真正具有宗教性。在你获得证悟之前，你与无神论者之间并无区别。无神论者是真诚的，但那声称信仰宗教却从不尝试证悟它的人，是不真诚的。
下一个问题是要知道证悟之后会发生什么。假设我们已证悟了宇宙的这种统一性，即我们就是那无限的存在，再假设我们已证悟这真我[Atman]是唯一的存在，而正是这同一真我在所有这些各种现象形式中显现，那之后我们会变成什么？我们会变得不活跃，躲进一个角落坐在那里自生自灭吗？"对世界有什么益处？"那个老问题！首先，它为何应该对世界有益？这有什么理由吗？任何人有什么权利提出"对世界有什么益处？"这个问题？那是什么意思？婴儿喜欢糖果。假设你正在进行与某个电学主题有关的研究，婴儿问你，"它能买糖果吗？""不能，"你回答。"那有什么益处？"婴儿说。所以人们站起来说，"这对世界有什么益处；它能给我们钱吗？""不能。""那有什么益处？"这就是人们所说的对世界有益的意思。然而宗教的证悟确实对世界大有裨益。人们担心，当他们达到证悟，当他们证悟到只有一个存在时，爱的源泉将会枯竭，生命中的一切都会离去，他们所爱的一切，在今生和来生，将仿佛对他们消逝。人们从不停下来想想，那些最少关注自身个体性的人，恰恰是世界上最伟大的工作者。只有当一个人发现他所爱之物并非任何低贱、渺小、短暂的事物，他才真正去爱。只有当一个人发现他所爱之物并非一团泥土，而是神本身，他才真正去爱。当妻子认为丈夫就是神本身，她对丈夫的爱就更深。当丈夫知道妻子就是神本身，他对妻子的爱就更深。认为孩子是神本身的母亲，将更加爱护孩子。知晓最大仇敌就是神本身的人，将爱那最大的仇敌。知晓那圣人就是神本身的人，将爱那圣人；同一个人也将爱最不神圣的人，因为他知晓那最不神圣之人的背景仍然是祂，是那主。这样的人成为世界的推动者，对他而言，渺小的自我已死，神取而代之。整个宇宙对他来说将被改造。那痛苦与悲惨之物，将全部消逝；争斗将全部离去、消失。这宇宙对我们来说将不再是一座监狱，我们在那里每天挣扎、搏斗、相互竞争一口面包，而将成为一座游乐场。届时这宇宙将多么美丽！只有这样的人才有权利站起来说，"这世界多么美好！"只有他才有权利说这一切都是好的。从这证悟中对世界产生的巨大益处将是：若今日全人类仅仅领会到那伟大真理的一点点，整个世界的面貌将会改变，战斗与争吵将被和平的统治所取代。那迫使我们超越所有人而前进的无礼而野蛮的急迫感，将从世界上消失。随之消失的将是所有争斗，随之消失的将是所有仇恨，随之消失的将是所有嫉妒，所有恶将永远消失。届时神将生活在这大地上。这大地本身将成为天堂，当神与神共戏，当神与神共事，当神与神相爱，还有什么恶可言？这就是神圣证悟的巨大效用。你在社会中所见的一切，届时都将改变和升华。你将不再认为人是恶的；这是首要的巨大收获。当一个穷人或女人犯了错，你将不再站起来对其投以蔑视的目光。女士们，你们将不再以鄙视的眼光看那在夜间行走街头的可怜女人，因为你们将在那里见到神本身。你们将不再想到嫉妒与惩罚。这一切都将消失；爱，那伟大的爱的理想，将是如此有力，无须任何鞭子和绳索来正确引导人类。
如果生活在这世上的男男女女中，有百万分之一的人坐下来，哪怕几分钟说，"你们都是神，哦，你们这些男人，你们这些动物和生灵，你们都是那唯一活生生的神的显现！"整个世界在半小时内就会改变。代替向每个角落投掷巨大的仇恨炸弹，代替向每个国家投射嫉妒与邪念的电流，人们将想到这一切都是祂。祂是你所见所感的一切。你怎么能见到恶，除非恶就在你自身之内？你怎么能见到那盗贼，除非他就坐在你内心深处？你怎么能见到那杀人犯，除非你自己就是那杀人犯？行善，恶就会为你消失。整个宇宙将如此改变。这是对社会最大的贡献。这是对人类有机体的巨大贡献。这些思想在古代印度由个人思索出来，付诸实践。由于教师的排他性和外族征服等各种原因，这些思想未能传播开来。然而它们是宏伟的真理；凡是它们发挥作用之处，人便成为神圣的。我整个生命都因我将在下周日向你们讲述的那些神圣之人之一的触动而改变；而这些思想将被播撒到整个世界的时刻即将来临。它们不再居住于寺院中，不再局限于只有学者才能研习的哲学书籍，不再是宗派和少数学者的专属，而将被广泛播撒到整个世界，成为圣徒与罪人、男女与儿童、学者与无知者的共同财富。届时它们将渗透入世界的大气，我们呼吸的空气本身，随着它的每一次脉动，将说道："汝即彼（Thou art That）"。而整个宇宙，连同其无数的太阳与月亮，透过一切会说话之物，将以一个声音说道："汝即彼。"
English
CHAPTER XVI
THE REAL AND THE APPARENT MAN
(Delivered in New York)
Here we stand, and our eyes look forward sometimes miles ahead. Man has been doing that since he began to think. He is always looking forward, looking ahead. He wants to know where he goes even after the dissolution of his body. Various theories have been propounded, system after system has been brought forward to suggest explanations. Some have been rejected, while others have been accepted, and thus it will go on, so long as man is here, so long as man thinks. There is some truth in each of these systems. There is a good deal of what is not truth in all of them. I shall try to place before you the sum and substance, the result, of the inquiries in this line that have been made in India. I shall try to harmonise the various thoughts on the subject, as they have come up from time to time among Indian philosophers. I shall try to harmonise the psychologists and the metaphysicians, and, if possible, I shall harmonise them with modern scientific thinkers also.
The one theme of the Vedanta philosophy is the search after unity. The Hindu mind does not care for the particular; it is always after the general, nay, the universal. "What is that, by knowing which everything else is to be known?" That is the one theme. "As through the knowledge of one lump of clay all that is of clay is known, so, what is that, by knowing which this whole universe itself will be known?" That is the one search. The whole of this universe, according to the Hindu philosophers, can be resolved into one material, which they call Âkâsha. Everything that we see around us, feel, touch, taste, is simply a differentiated manifestation of this Akasha. It is all-pervading, fine. All that we call solids, liquids, or gases, figures, forms, or bodies, the earth, sun, moon, and stars — everything is composed of this Akasha.
What force is it which acts upon this Akasha and manufactures this universe out of it? Along with Akasha exists universal power; all that is power in the universe, manifesting as force or attraction — nay, even as thought — is but a different manifestation of that one power which the Hindus call Prâna. This Prana, acting on Akasha, is creating the whole of this universe. In the beginning of a cycle, this Prana, as it were, sleeps in the infinite ocean of Akasha. It existed motionless in the beginning. Then arises motion in this ocean of Akasha by the action of this Prana, and as this Prana begins to move, to vibrate, out of this ocean come the various celestial systems, suns, moons, stars, earth, human beings, animals, plants, and the manifestations of all the various forces and phenomena. Every manifestation of power, therefore, according to them, is this Prana. Every material manifestation is Akasha. When this cycle will end, all that we call solid will melt away into the next form, the next finer or the liquid form; that will melt into the gaseous, and that into finer and more uniform heat vibrations, and all will melt back into the original Akasha, and what we now call attraction, repulsion, and motion, will slowly resolve into the original Prana. Then this Prana is said to sleep for a period, again to emerge and to throw out all those forms; and when this period will end, the whole thing will subside again. Thus this process of creation is going down, and coming up, oscillating backwards and forwards. In the language of modern science, it is becoming static during one period, and during another period it is becoming dynamic. At one time it becomes potential, and at the next period it becomes active. This alteration has gone on through eternity.
Yet, this analysis is only partial. This much has been known even to modern physical science. Beyond that, the research of physical science cannot reach. But the inquiry does not stop in consequence. We have not yet found that one, by knowing which everything else will be known. We have resolved the whole universe into two components, into what are called matter and energy, or what the ancient philosophers of India called Akasha and Prana. The next step is to resolve this Akasha and the Prana into their origin. Both can be resolved into the still higher entity which is called mind. It is out of mind, the Mahat, the universally existing thought-power, that these two have been produced. Thought is a still finer manifestation of being than either Akasha or Prana. It is thought that splits itself into these two. The universal thought existed in the beginning, and that manifested, changed, evolved itself into these two Akasha and Prana: and by the combination of these two the whole universe has been produced.
We next come to psychology. I am looking at you. The external sensations are brought to me by the eyes; they are carried by the sensory nerves to the brain. The eyes are not the organs of vision. They are but the external instruments, because if the real organ behind, that which carries the sensation to the brain, is destroyed, I may have twenty eyes, yet I cannot see you. The picture on the retina may be as complete as possible, yet I shall not see you. Therefore, the organ is different from its instruments; behind the instruments, the eyes, there must be the organ So it is with all the sensations. The nose is not the sense of smell; it is but the instrument, and behind it is the organ. With every sense we have, there is first the external instrument in the physical body; behind that in the same physical body, there is the organ; yet these are not sufficient. Suppose I am talking to you, and you are listening to me with close attention. Something happens, say, a bell rings; you will not, perhaps, hear the bell ring. The pulsations of that sound came to your ear, struck the tympanum, the impression was carried by the nerve into the brain; if the whole process was complete up to carrying the impulse to the brain, why did you not hear? Something else was wanting — the mind was not attached to the organ. When the mind detaches itself from the organ, the organ may bring any news to it, but the mind will not receive it. When it attaches itself to the organ, then alone is it possible for the mind to receive the news. Yet, even that does not complete the whole. The instruments may bring the sensation from outside, the organs may carry it inside, the mind may attach itself to the organ, and yet the perception may not be complete. One more factor is necessary; there must be a reaction within. With this reaction comes knowledge. That which is outside sends, as it were, the current of news into my brain. My mind takes it up, and presents it to the intellect, which groups it in relation to pre-received impressions and sends a current of reaction, and with that reaction comes perception. Here, then, is the will. The state of mind which reacts is called Buddhi, the intellect. Yet, even this does not complete the whole. One step more is required. Suppose here is a camera and there is a sheet of cloth, and I try to throw a picture on that sheet. What am I to do? I am to guide various rays of light through the camera to fall upon the sheet and become grouped there. Something is necessary to have the picture thrown upon, which does not move. I cannot form a picture upon something which is moving; that something must be stationary, because the rays of light which I throw on it are moving, and these moving rays of light, must be gathered, unified, co-ordinated, and completed upon something which is stationary. Similar is the case with the sensations which these organs of ours are carrying inside and presenting to the mind, and which the mind in its turn is presenting to the intellect. This process will not be complete unless there is something permanent in the background upon which the picture, as it were, may be formed, upon which we may unify all the different impressions. What is it that gives unity to the changing whole of our being? What is it that keeps up the identity of the moving thing moment after moment? What is it upon which all our different impressions are pieced together, upon which the perceptions, as it were, come together, reside, and form a united whole? We have found that to serve this end there must be something, and we also see that that something must be, relatively to the body and mind, motionless. The sheet of cloth upon which the camera throws the picture is, relatively to the rays of light, motionless, else there will be no picture. That is to say, the perceiver must be an individual. This something upon which the mind is painting all these pictures, this something upon which our sensations, carried by the mind and intellect, are placed and grouped and formed into a unity, is what is called the soul of man.
We have seen that it is the universal cosmic mind that splits itself into the Akasha and Prana, and beyond mind we have found the soul in us. In the universe, behind the universal mind, there is a Soul that exists, and it is called God. In the individual it is the soul of man. In this universe, in the cosmos, just as the universal mind becomes evolved into Akasha and Prana, even so, we may find that the Universal Soul Itself becomes evolved as mind. Is it really so with the individual man? Is his mind the creator of his body, and his soul the creator of his mind? That is to say, are his body, his mind, and his soul three different existences or are they three in one or, again, are they different states of existence of the same unit being? We shall gradually try to find an answer to this question. The first step that we have now gained is this: here is this external body, behind this external body are the organs, the mind, the intellect, and behind this is the soul. At the first step, we have found, as it were, that the soul is separate from the body, separate from the mind itself. Opinions in the religious world become divided at this point, and the departure is this. All those religious views which generally pass under the name of dualism hold that this soul is qualified, that it is of various qualities, that all feelings of enjoyment, pleasure, and pain really belong to the soul. The non-dualists deny that the soul has any such qualities; they say it is unqualified.
Let me first take up the dualists, and try to present to you their position with regard to the soul and its destiny; next, the system that contradicts them; and lastly, let us try to find the harmony which non-dualism will bring to us. This soul of man, because it is separate from the mind and body, because it is not composed of Akasha and Prana, must be immortal. Why? What do we mean by mortality? Decomposition. And that is only possible for things that are the result of composition; anything that is made of two or three ingredients must become decomposed. That alone which is not the result of composition can never become decomposed, and, therefore, can never die. It is immortal. It has been existing throughout eternity; it is uncreate. Every item of creation is simply a composition; no one ever saw creation come out of nothing. All that we know of creation is the combination of already existing things into newer forms. That being so, this soul of man, being simple, must have been existing for ever, and it will exist for ever. When this body falls off, the soul lives on. According to the Vedantists, when this body dissolves, the vital forces of the man go back to his mind and the mind becomes dissolved, as it were, into the Prana, and that Prana enters into the soul of man, and the soul of man comes out, clothed, as it were, with what they call the fine body, the mental body, or spiritual body, as you may like to call it. In this body are the Samskâras of the man. What are the Samskaras? This mind is like a lake, and every thought is like a wave upon that lake. Just as in the lake waves rise and then fall down and disappear, so these thought-waves are continually rising in the mind-stuff and then disappearing, but they do not disappear for ever. They become finer and finer, but they are all there, ready to start up at another time when called upon to do so. Memory is simply calling back into waveform some of those thoughts which have gone into that finer state of existence. Thus, everything that we have thought, every action that we have done, is lodged in the mind; it is all there in fine form, and when a man dies, the sum total of these impressions is in the mind, which again works upon a little fine material as a medium. The soul, clothed, as it were, with these impressions and the fine body, passes out, and the destiny of the soul is guided by the resultant of all the different forces represented by the different impressions. According to us, there are three different goals for the soul.
Those that are very spiritual, when they die, follow the solar rays and reach what is called the solar sphere, through which they reach what is called the lunar sphere, and through that they reach what is called the sphere of lightning, and there they meet with another soul who is already blessed, and he guides the new-comer forward to the highest of all spheres, which is called the Brahmaloka, the sphere of Brahmâ. There these souls attain to omniscience and omnipotence, become almost as powerful and all-knowing as God Himself; and they reside there for ever, according to the dualists, or, according to the non-dualists, they become one with the Universal at the end of the cycle. The next class of persons, who have been doing good work with selfish motives, are carried by the results of their good works, when they die, to what is called lunar sphere, where there are various heavens, and there they acquire fine bodies, the bodies of gods. They become gods and live there and enjoy the blessing of heaven for a long period; and after that period is finished, the old Karma is again upon them, and so they fall back again to the earth; they come down through the spheres of air and clouds and all these various regions, and, at last, reach the earth through raindrops. There on the earth they attach themselves to some cereal which is eventually eaten by some man who is fit to supply them with material to make a new body. The last class, namely, the wicked, when they die, become ghosts or demons, and live somewhere midway between the lunar sphere and this earth. Some try to disturb mankind, some are friendly; and after living there for some time they also fall back to the earth and become animals. After living for some time in an animal body they get released, and come back, and become men again, and thus get one more chance to work out their salvation. We see, then, that those who have nearly attained to perfection, in whom only very little of impurity remains, go to the Brahmaloka through the rays of the sun; those who were a middling sort of people, who did some good work here with the idea of going to heaven, go to the heavens in the lunar sphere and there obtain god-bodies; but they have again to become men and so have one more chance to become perfect. Those that are very wicked become ghosts and demons, and then they may have to become animals; after that they become men again and get another chance to perfect themselves. This earth is called the Karma-Bhumi, the sphere of Karma. Here alone man makes his good or bad Karma. When a man wants to go to heaven and does good works for that purpose, he becomes as good and does not as such store up any bad Karma. He just enjoys the effects of the good work he did on earth; and when this good Karma is exhausted, there come, upon him the resultant force of all the evil Karma he had previously stored up in life, and that brings him down again to this earth. In the same way, those that become ghosts remain in that state, not giving rise to fresh Karma, but suffer the evil results of their past misdeeds, and later on remain for a time in an animal body without causing any fresh Karma. When that period is finished, they too become men again. The states of reward and punishment due to good and bad Karmas are devoid of the force generating fresh Karmas; they have only to be enjoyed or suffered. If there is an extraordinarily good or an extraordinarily evil Karma, it bears fruit very quickly. For instance, if a man has been doing many evil things all his life, but does one good act, the result of that good act will immediately appear, but when that result has been gone through, all the evil acts must produce their results also. All men who do certain good and great acts, but the general tenor of whose lives has not been correct, will become gods; and after living for some time in god-bodies, enjoying the powers of gods, they will have again to become men; when the power of the good acts is thus finished, the old evil comes up to be worked out. Those who do extraordinarily evil acts have to put on ghost and devil bodies, and when the effect of those evil actions is exhausted, the little good action which remains associated with them, makes them again become men. The way to Brahmaloka, from which there is no more fall or return, is called the Devayâna, i.e. the way to God; the way to heaven is known as Pitriyâna, i.e. the way to the fathers.
Man, therefore, according to the Vedanta philosophy, is the greatest being that is in the universe, and this world of work the best place in it, because only herein is the greatest and the best chance for him to become perfect. Angels or gods, whatever you may call them, have all to become men, if they want to become perfect. This is the great centre, the wonderful poise, and the wonderful opportunity — this human life.
We come next to the other aspect of philosophy. There are Buddhists who deny the whole theory of the soul that I have just now been propounding. "What use is there," says the Buddhist, "to assume something as the substratum, as the background of this body and mind? Why may we not allow thoughts to run on? Why admit a third substance beyond this organism, composed of mind and body, a third substance called the soul? What is its use? Is not this organism sufficient to explain itself? Why take anew a third something?" These arguments are very powerful. This reasoning is very strong. So far as outside research goes, we see that this organism is a sufficient explanation of itself — at least, many of us see it in that light. Why then need there be a soul as substratum, as a something which is neither mind nor body but stands as a background for both mind and body? Let there be only mind and body. Body is the name of a stream of matter continuously changing. Mind is the name of a stream of consciousness or thought continuously changing. What produces the apparent unity between these two? This unity does not really exist, let us say. Take, for instance, a lighted torch, and whirl it rapidly before you. You see a circle of fire. The circle does not really exist, but because the torch is continually moving, it leaves the appearance of a circle. So there is no unity in this life; it is a mass of matter continually rushing down, and the whole of this matter you may call one unity, but no more. So is mind; each thought is separate from every other thought; it is only the rushing current that leaves behind the illusion of unity; there is no need of a third substance. This universal phenomenon of body and mind is all that really is; do not posit something behind it. You will find that this Buddhist thought has been taken up by certain sects and schools in modern times, and all of them claim that it is new — their own invention. This has been the central idea of most of the Buddhistic philosophies, that this world is itself all-sufficient; that you need not ask for any background at all; all that is, is this sense-universe: what is the use of thinking of something as a support to this universe? Everything is the aggregate of qualities; why should there be a hypothetical substance in which they should inhere? The idea of substance comes from the rapid interchange of qualities, not from something unchangeable which exists behind them. We see how wonderful some of these arguments are, and they appeal easily to the ordinary experience of humanity — in fact, not one in a million can think of anything other than phenomena. To the vast majority of men nature appears to be only a changing, whirling, combining, mingling mass of change. Few of us ever have a glimpse of the calm sea behind. For us it is always lashed into waves; this universe appears to us only as a tossing mass of waves. Thus we find these two opinions. One is that there is something behind both body and mind which is an unchangeable and immovable substance; and the other is that there is no such thing as immovability or unchangeability in the universe; it is all change and nothing but change. The solution of this difference comes in the next step of thought, namely, the non-dualistic.
It says that the dualists are right in finding something behind all, as a background which does not change; we cannot conceive change without there being something unchangeable. We can only conceive of anything that is changeable, by knowing something which is less changeable, and this also must appear more changeable in comparison with something else which is less changeable, and so on and on, until we are bound to admit that there must be something which never changes at all. The whole of this manifestation must have been in a state of non-manifestation, calm and silent, being the balance of opposing forces, so to say, when no force operated, because force acts when a disturbance of the equilibrium comes in. The universe is ever hurrying on to return to that state of equilibrium again. If we are certain of any fact whatsoever, we are certain of this. When the dualists claim that there is a something which does not change, they are perfectly right, but their analysis that it is an underlying something which is neither the body nor the mind, a something separate from both, is wrong. So far as the Buddhists say that the whole universe is a mass of change, they are perfectly right; so long as I am separate from the universe, so long as I stand back and look at something before me, so long as there are two things — the looker-on and the thing looked upon — it will appear always that the universe is one of change, continuously changing all the time. But the reality is that there is both change and changelessness in this universe. It is not that the soul and the mind and the body are three separate existences, for this organism made of these three is really one. It is the same thing which appears as the body, as the mind, and as the thing beyond mind and body, but it is not at the same time all these. He who sees the body does not see the mind even, he who sees the mind does not see that which he calls the soul, and he who sees the soul — for him the body and mind have vanished. He who sees only motion never sees absolute calm, and he who sees absolute calm — for him motion has vanished. A rope is taken for a snake. He who sees the rope as the snake, for him the rope has vanished, and when the delusion ceases and he looks at the rope, the snake has vanished.
There is then but one all-comprehending existence, and that one appears as manifold. This Self or Soul or Substance is all that exists in the universe. That Self or Substance or Soul is, in the language of non-dualism, the Brahman appearing to be manifold by the interposition of name and form. Look at the waves in the sea. Not one wave is really different from the sea, but what makes the wave apparently different? Name and form; the form of the wave and the name which we give to it, "wave". This is what makes it different from the sea. When name and form go, it is the same sea. Who can make any real difference between the wave and the sea? So this whole universe is that one Unit Existence; name and form have created all these various differences. As when the sun shines upon millions of globules of water, upon each particle is seen a most perfect representation of the sun, so the one Soul, the one Self, the one Existence of the universe, being reflected on all these numerous globules of varying names and forms, appears to be various. But it is in reality only one. There is no "I" nor "you"; it is all one. It is either all "I" or all "you". This idea of duality, calf two, is entirely false, and the whole universe, as we ordinarily know it, is the result of this false knowledge. When discrimination comes and man finds there are not two but one, he finds that he is himself this universe. "It is I who am this universe as it now exists, a continuous mass of change. It is I who am beyond all changes, beyond all qualities, the eternally perfect, the eternally blessed."
There is, therefore, but one Atman, one Self, eternally pure, eternally perfect, unchangeable, unchanged; it has never changed; and all these various changes in the universe are but appearances in that one Self.
Upon it name and form have painted all these dreams; it is the form that makes the wave different from the sea. Suppose the wave subsides, will the form remain? No, it will vanish. The existence of the wave was entirely dependent upon the existence of the sea, but the existence of the sea was not at all dependent upon the existence of the wave. The form remains so long as the wave remains, but as soon as the wave leaves it, it vanishes, it cannot remain. This name and form is the outcome of what is called Maya. It is this Maya that is making individuals, making one appear different from another. Yet it has no existence. Maya cannot be said to exist. Form cannot be said to exist, because it depends upon the existence of another thing. It cannot be said as not to exist, seeing that it makes all this difference. According to the Advaita philosophy, then, this Maya or ignorance — or name and form, or, as it has been called in Europe, "time, space, and causality" — is out of this one Infinite Existence showing us the manifoldness of the universe; in substance, this universe is one. So long as any one thinks that there are two ultimate realities, he is mistaken. When he has come to know that there is but one, he is right. This is what is being proved to us every day, on the physical plane, on the mental plane, and also on the spiritual plane. Today it has been demonstrated that you and I, the sun, the moon, and the stars are but the different names of different spots in the same ocean of matter, and that this matter is continuously changing in its configuration. This particle of energy that was in the sun several months ago may be in the human being now; tomorrow it may be in an animal, the day after tomorrow it may be in a plant. It is ever coming and going. It is all one unbroken, infinite mass of matter, only differentiated by names and forms. One point is called the sun; another, the moon; another, the stars; another, man; another, animal; another, plant; and so on. And all these names are fictitious; they have no reality, because the whole is a continuously changing mass of matter. This very same universe, from another standpoint, is an ocean of thought, where each one of us is a point called a particular mind. You are a mind, I am a mind, everyone is a mind; and the very same universe viewed from the standpoint of knowledge, when the eyes have been cleared of delusions, when the mind has become pure, appears to be the unbroken Absolute Being, the ever pure, the unchangeable, the immortal.
What then becomes of all this threefold eschatology of the dualist, that when a man dies he goes to heaven, or goes to this or that sphere, and that the wicked persons become ghosts, and become animals, and so forth? None comes and none goes, says the non-dualist. How can you come and go? You are infinite; where is the place for you to go? In a certain school a number of little children were being examined. The examiner had foolishly put all sorts of difficult questions to the little children. Among others there was this question: "Why does not the earth fall ?" His intention was to bring out the idea of gravitation or some other intricate scientific truth from these children. Most of them could not even understand the question, and so they gave all sorts of wrong answers. But one bright little girl answered it with another question: "Where shall it fall?" The very question of the examiner was nonsense on the face of it. There is no up and down in the universe; the idea is only relative. So it is with regard to the soul; the very question of birth and death in regard to it is utter nonsense. Who goes and who comes? Where are you not? Where is the heaven that you are not in already? Omnipresent is the Self of man. Where is it to go? Where is it not to go? It is everywhere. So all this childish dream and puerile illusion of birth and death, of heavens and higher heavens and lower worlds, all vanish immediately for the perfect. For the nearly perfect it vanishes after showing them the several scenes up to Brahmaloka. It continues for the ignorant.
How is it that the whole world believes in going to heaven, and in dying and being born? I am studying a book, page after page is being read and turned over. Another page comes and is turned over. Who changes? Who comes and goes? Not I, but the book. This whole nature is a book before the soul, chapter after chapter is being read and turned over, and every now and then a scene opens. That is read and turned over. A fresh one comes, but the soul is ever the same — eternal. It is nature that is changing, not the soul of man. This never changes. Birth and death are in nature, not in you. Yet the ignorant are deluded; just as we under delusion think that the sun is moving and not the earth, in exactly the same way we think that we are dying, and not nature. These are all, therefore, hallucinations. Just as it is a hallucination when we think that the fields are moving and not the railway train, exactly in the same manner is the hallucination of birth and death. When men are in a certain frame of mind, they see this very existence as the earth, as the sun, the moon, the stars; and all those who are in the same state of mind see the same things. Between you and me there may be millions of beings on different planes of existence. They will never see us, nor we them; we only see those who are in the same state of mind and on the same plane with us. Those musical instruments respond which have the same attunement of vibration, as it were; if the state of vibration, which they call "man-vibration", should be changed, no longer would men be seen here; the whole "man-universe" would vanish, and instead of that, other scenery would come before us, perhaps gods and the god-universe, or perhaps, for the wicked man, devils and the diabolic world; but all would be only different views of the one universe. It is this universe which, from the human plane, is seen as the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, and all such things — it is this very universe which, seen from the plane of wickedness, appears as a place of punishment. And this very universe is seen as heaven by those who want to see it as heaven. Those who have been dreaming of going to a God who is sitting on a throne, and of standing there praising Him all their lives, when they die, will simply see a vision of what they have in their minds; this very universe will simply change into a vast heaven, with all sorts of winged beings flying about and a God sitting on a throne. These heavens are all of man's own making. So what the dualist says is true, says the Advaitin, but it is all simply of his own making. These spheres and devils and gods and reincarnations and transmigrations are all mythology; so also is this human life. The great mistake that men always make is to think that this life alone is true. They understand it well enough when other things are called mythologies, but are never willing to admit the same of their own position. The whole thing as it appears is mere mythology, and the greatest of all lies is that we are bodies, which we never were nor even can be. It is the greatest of all lies that we are mere men; we are the God of the universe. In worshipping God we have been always worshipping our own hidden Self. The worst lie that you ever tell yourself is that you were born a sinner or a wicked man. He alone is a sinner who sees a sinner in another man. Suppose there is a baby here, and you place a bag of gold on the table. Suppose a robber comes and takes the gold away. To the baby it is all the same; because there is no robber inside, there is no robber outside. To sinners and vile men, there is vileness outside, but not to good men. So the wicked see this universe as a hell, and the partially good see it as heaven, while the perfect beings realise it as God Himself. Then alone the veil falls from the eyes, and the man, purified and cleansed, finds his whole vision changed. The bad dreams that have been torturing him for millions of years, all vanish, and he who was thinking of himself either as a man, or a god, or a demon, he who was thinking of himself as living in low places, in high places, on earth, in heaven, and so on, finds that he is really omnipresent; that all time is in him, and that he is not in time; that all the heavens are in him, that he is not in any heaven; and that all the gods that man ever worshipped are in him, and that he is not in any one of those gods. He was the manufacturer of gods and demons, of men and plants and animals and stones, and the real nature of man now stands unfolded to him as being higher than heaven, more perfect than this universe of ours, more infinite than infinite time, more omnipresent than the omnipresent ether. Thus alone man becomes fearless, and becomes free. Then all delusions cease, all miseries vanish, all fears come to an end for ever. Birth goes away and with it death; pains fly, and with them fly away pleasures; earths vanish, and with them vanish heavens; bodies vanish, and with them vanishes the mind also. For that man disappears the whole universe, as it were. This searching, moving, continuous struggle of forces stops for ever, and that which was manifesting itself as force and matter, as struggles of nature, as nature itself, as heavens and earths and plants and animals and men and angels, all that becomes transfigured into one infinite, unbreakable, unchangeable existence, and the knowing man finds that he is one with that existence. "Even as clouds of various colours come before the sky, remain there for a second and then vanish away," even so before this soul are all these visions coming, of earths and heavens, of the moon and the gods, of pleasures and pains; but they all pass away leaving the one infinite, blue, unchangeable sky. The sky never changes; it is the clouds that change. It is a mistake to think that the sky is changed. It is a mistake to think that we are impure, that we are limited, that we are separate. The real man is the one Unit Existence.
Two questions now arise. The first is: "Is it possible to realise this? So far it is doctrine, philosophy, but is it possible to realise it?" It is. There are men still living in this world for whom delusion has vanished for ever. Do they immediately die after such realisation? Not so soon as we should think. Two wheels joined by one pole are running together. If I get hold of one of the wheels and, with an axe, cut the pole asunder, the wheel which I have got hold of stops, but upon the other wheel is its past momentum, so it runs on a little arid then falls down. This pure and perfect being, the soul, is one wheel, and this external hallucination of body and mind is the other wheel, joined together by the pole of work, of Karma. Knowledge is the axe which will sever the bond between the two, and the wheel of the soul will stop — stop thinking that it is coming and going, living and dying, stop thinking that it is nature and has wants and desires, and will find that it is perfect, desireless. But upon the other wheel, that of the body and mind, will be the momentum of past acts; so it will live for some time, until that momentum of past work is exhausted, until that momentum is worked away, and then the body and mind fall, and the soul becomes free. No more is there any going to heaven and coming back, not even any going to the Brahmaloka, or to any of the highest of the spheres, for where is he to come from, or to go to? The man who has in this life attained to this state, for whom, for a minute at least, the ordinary vision of the world has changed and the reality has been apparent, he is called the "Living Free". This is the goal of the Vedantin, to attain freedom while living.
Once in Western India I was travelling in the desert country on the coast of the Indian Ocean. For days and days I used to travel on foot through the desert, but it was to my surprise that I saw every day beautiful lakes, with trees all round them, and the shadows of the trees upside down and vibrating there. "How wonderful it looks and they call this a desert country!" I said to myself. Nearly a month I travelled, seeing these wonderful lakes and trees and plants. One day I was very thirsty and wanted to have a drink of water, so I started to go to one of these clear, beautiful lakes, and as I approached, it vanished. And with a flash it came to my brain, "This is the mirage about which I have read all my life," and with that came also the idea that throughout the whole of this month, every day, I had been seeing the mirage and did not know it. The next morning I began my march. There was again the lake, but with it came also the idea that it was the mirage and not a true lake. So is it with this universe. We are all travelling in this mirage of the world day after day, month after month, year after year, not knowing that it is a mirage. One day it will break up, but it will come back again; the body has to remain under the power of past Karma, and so the mirage will come back. This world will come back upon us so long as we are bound by Karma: men, women, animals, plants, our attachments and duties, all will come back to us, but not with the same power. Under the influence of the new knowledge the strength of Karma will be broken, its poison will be lost. It becomes transformed, for along with it there comes the idea that we know it now, that the sharp distinction between the reality and the mirage has been known.
This world will not then be the same world as before. There is, however, a danger here. We see in every country people taking up this philosophy and saying, "I am beyond all virtue and vice; so I am not bound by any moral laws; I may do anything I like." You may find many fools in this country at the present time, saying, "I am not bound; I am God Himself; let me do anything I like." This is not right, although it is true that the soul is beyond all laws, physical, mental, or moral. Within law is bondage; beyond law is freedom. It is also true that freedom is of the nature of the soul, it is its birthright: that real freedom of the soul shines through veils of matter in the form of the apparent freedom of man. Every moment of your life you feel that you are free. We cannot live, talk, or breathe for a moment without feeling that we are free; but, at the same time, a little thought shows us that we are like machines and not free. What is true then? Is this idea of freedom a delusion? One party holds that the idea of freedom is a delusion; another says that the idea of bondage is a delusion. How does this happen? Man is really free, the real man cannot but be free. It is when he comes into the world of Maya, into name and form, that he becomes bound. Free will is a misnomer. Will can never be free. How can it be? It is only when the real man has become bound that his will comes into existence, and not before. The will of man is bound, but that which is the foundation of that will is eternally free. So, even in the state of bondage which we call human life or god-life, on earth or in heaven, there yet remains to us that recollection of the freedom which is ours by divine right. And consciously or unconsciously we are all struggling towards it. When a man has attained his own freedom, how can he be bound by any law? No law in this universe can bind him, for this universe itself is his.
He is the whole universe. Either say he is the whole universe or say that to him there is no universe. How can he have then all these little ideas about sex and about country? How can he say, I am a man, I am a woman I am a child? Are they not lies? He knows that they are. How can he say that these are man's rights, and these others are woman's rights? Nobody has rights; nobody separately exists. There is neither man nor woman; the soul is sexless, eternally pure. It is a lie to say that I am a man or a woman, or to say that I belong to this country or that. All the world is my country, the whole universe is mine, because I have clothed myself with it as my body. Yet we see that there are people in this world who are ready to assert these doctrines, and at the same time do things which we should call filthy; and if we ask them why they do so, they tell us that it is our delusion and that they can do nothing wrong. What is the test by which they are to be judged? The test is here.
Though evil and good are both conditioned manifestations of the soul, yet evil is the most external coating, and good is the nearer coating of the real man, the Self. And unless a man cuts through the layer of evil he cannot reach the layer of good, and unless he has passed through both the layers of good and evil he cannot reach the Self. He who reaches the Self, what remains attached to him? A little Karma, a little bit of the momentum of past life, but it is all good momentum. Until the bad momentum is entirely worked out and past impurities are entirely burnt, it is impossible for any man to see and realise truth. So, what is left attached to the man who has reached the Self and seen the truth is the remnant of the good impressions of past life, the good momentum. Even if he lives in the body and works incessantly, he works only to do good; his lips speak only benediction to all; his hands do only good works; his mind can only think good thoughts; his presence is a blessing wherever he goes. He is himself a living blessing. Such a man will, by his very presence, change even the most wicked persons into saints. Even if he does not speak, his very presence will be a blessing to mankind. Can such men do any evil; can they do wicked deeds? There is, you must remember, all the difference of pole to pole between realisation and mere talking. Any fool can talk. Even parrots talk. Talking is one thing, and realising is another. Philosophies, and doctrines, and arguments, and books, and theories, and churches, and sects, and all these things are good in their own way; but when that realisation comes, these things drop away. For instance, maps are good, but when you see the country itself, and look again at the maps, what a great difference you find! So those that have realised truth do not require the ratiocinations of logic and all other gymnastics of the intellect to make them understand the truth; it is to them the life of their lives, concretised, made more than tangible. It is, as the sages of the Vedanta say, "even as a fruit in your hand"; you can stand up and say, it is here. So those that have realised the truth will stand up and say, "Here is the Self". You may argue with them by the year, but they will smile at you; they will regard it all as child's prattle; they will let the child prattle on. They have realised the truth and are full. Suppose you have seen a country, and another man comes to you and tries to argue with you that that country never existed, he may go on arguing indefinitely, but your only attitude of mind towards him must be to hold that the man is fit for a lunatic asylum. So the man of realisation says, "All this talk in the world about its little religions is but prattle; realisation is the soul, the very essence of religion." Religion can be realised. Are you ready? Do you want it? You will get the realisation if you do, and then you will be truly religious. Until you have attained realisation there is no difference between you and atheists. The atheists are sincere, but the man who says that he believes in religion and never attempts to realise it is not sincere.
The next question is to know what comes after realisation. Suppose we have realised this oneness of the universe, that we are that one Infinite Being, and suppose we have realised that this Self is the only Existence and that it is the same Self which is manifesting in all these various phenomenal forms, what becomes of us after that? Shall we become inactive, get into a corner and sit down there and die away? "What good will it do to the world?" That old question! In the first place, why should it do good to the world? Is there any reason why it should? What right has any one to ask the question, "What good will it do to the world?" What is meant by that? A baby likes candies. Suppose you are conducting investigations in connection with some subject of electricity and the baby asks you, "Does it buy candies?" "No" you answer. "Then what good will it do?" says the baby. So men stand up and say, "What good will this do to the world; will it give us money?" "No." "Then what good is there in it?" That is what men mean by doing good to the world. Yet religious realisation does all the good to the world. People are afraid that when they attain to it, when they realise that there is but one, the fountains of love will be dried up, that everything in life will go away, and that all they love will vanish for them, as it were, in this life and in the life to come. People never stop to think that those who bestowed the least thought on their own individualities have been the greatest workers in the world. Then alone a man loves when he finds that the object of his love is not any low, little, mortal thing. Then alone a man loves when he finds that the object of his love is not a clod of earth, but it is the veritable God Himself. The wife will love the husband the more when she thinks that the husband is God Himself. The husband will love the wife the more when he knows that the wife is God Himself. That mother will love the children more who thinks that the children are God Himself. That man will love his greatest enemy who knows that that very enemy is God Himself. That man will love a holy man who knows that the holy man is God Himself, and that very man will also love the unholiest of men because he knows the background of that unholiest of men is even He, the Lord. Such a man becomes a world-mover for whom his little self is dead and God stands in its place. The whole universe will become transfigured to him. That which is painful and miserable will all vanish; struggles will all depart and go. Instead of being a prison-house, where we every day struggle and fight and compete for a morsel of bread, this universe will then be to us a playground. Beautiful will be this universe then! Such a man alone has the right to stand up and say, "How beautiful is this world!" He alone has the right to say that it is all good. This will be the great good to the world resulting from such realisation, that instead of this world going on with all its friction and clashing, if all mankind today realise only a bit of that great truth, the aspect of the whole world will be changed, and, in place of fighting and quarrelling, there would be a reign of peace. This indecent and brutal hurry which forces us to go ahead of every one else will then vanish from the world. With it will vanish all struggle, with it will vanish all hate, with it will vanish all jealousy, and all evil will vanish away for ever. Gods will live then upon this earth. This very earth will then become heaven, and what evil can there be when gods are playing with gods, when gods are working with gods, and gods are loving gods? That is the great utility of divine realisation. Everything that you see in society will be changed and transfigured then. No more will you think of man as evil; and that is the first great gain. No more will you stand up and sneeringly cast a glance at a poor man or woman who has made a mistake. No more, ladies, will you look down with contempt upon the poor woman who walks the street in the night, because you will see even there God Himself. No more will you think of jealousy and punishments. They will all vanish; and love, the great ideal of love, will be so powerful that no whip and cord will be necessary to guide mankind aright.
If one millionth part of the men and women who live in this world simply sit down and for a few minutes say, "You are all God, O ye men and O ye animals and living beings, you are all the manifestations of the one living Deity!" the whole world will be changed in half an hour. Instead of throwing tremendous bomb-shells of hatred into every corner, instead of projecting currents of jealousy and of evil thought, in every country people will think that it is all He. He is all that you see and feel. How can you see evil until there is evil in you? How can you see the thief, unless he is there, sitting in the heart of your heart? How can you see the murderer until you are yourself the murderer? Be good, and evil will vanish for you. The whole universe will thus be changed. This is the greatest gain to society. This is the great gain to the human organism. These thoughts were thought out, worked out amongst individuals in ancient times in India. For various reasons, such as the exclusiveness of the teachers and foreign conquest, those thoughts were not allowed to spread. Yet they are grand truths; and wherever they have been working, man has become divine. My whole life has been changed by the touch of one of these divine men, about whom I am going to speak to you next Sunday; and the time is coming when these thoughts will be cast abroad over the whole world. Instead of living in monasteries, instead of being confined to books of philosophy to be studied only by the learned, instead of being the exclusive possession of sects and of a few of the learned, they will all be sown broadcast over the whole world, so that they may become the common property of the saint and the sinner, of men and women and children, of the learned and of the ignorant. They will then permeate the atmosphere of the world, and the very air that we breathe will say with every one of its pulsations, "Thou art That". And the whole universe with its myriads of suns and moons, through everything that speaks, with one voice will say, "Thou art That".
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。