1892-93年在马德拉斯记录的笔记
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中文
印度教的三大基本要素是：信仰神，信仰吠陀为天启，信仰业力和轮回的教义。
如果我们从字里行间研读吠陀，就会看到一种和谐的宗教。
印度教与其他宗教的不同之处在于，在印度教中我们是从真理走向真理——从较低的真理走向较高的真理——而绝非从谬误走向真理。
吠陀应当以进化的眼光来研读。它们包含了宗教意识进步的完整历史，直至宗教在合一中达到圆满。
吠陀是无始（Anadi）的，是永恒的。这一陈述的含义并不像某些人错误地认为的那样，是说吠陀的文字是无始的，而是说吠陀所阐明的灵性法则是无始永恒的。这些不变而永恒的法则在不同的时代被伟大的人物或仙人（Rishi）所发现，尽管其中一些如今已被遗忘，而另一些则得以保存。
当许多人从不同的角度和距离眺望大海时，每个人都根据自己的视野看到其中的一部分。虽然每个人都可以说他所看到的是真正的大海，但所有人说的都是真话，因为他们看到的都是同一广阔水域的不同部分。因此，宗教经典虽然似乎包含着各种不同甚至矛盾的陈述，但它们说的都是真话，因为它们都是对那唯一无限实在的描述。
当一个人第一次看到海市蜃楼时，他会把它当作真实的事物，在徒劳地试图用它来解渴之后，才知道那是海市蜃楼。但此后每当他再看到这样的现象时，尽管表面上看起来真实，"这是海市蜃楼"的认知总会自动浮现在他心中。同样，对于即身解脱者（Jivanmukta，生前解脱之人）而言，摩耶（Maya）的世界也是如此。
吠陀的某些奥秘仅为特定的家族所知，正如某些能力天然存在于某些家族之中。随着这些家族的消亡，那些秘密也随之失传。
吠陀的解剖学并不逊色于阿育吠陀的解剖学。
器官的许多部分有许多名称，因为他们需要为祭祀而解剖动物。大海被描述为满是船只。航海后来被禁止了，部分原因是人们开始担心人们可能因此而皈依佛教。
佛教是新兴的刹帝利阶层对吠陀祭司统治的反叛。
印度教在吸取了佛教的精华之后将其抛弃。南方所有阿阇梨的努力都是为了促成两者之间的调和。商羯罗（Shankara）的教导显示了佛教的影响。他的弟子们歪曲了他的教导，并将其推向如此极端，以至于后来的一些改革者称阿阇梨的追随者为"隐蔽的佛教徒"，也是有道理的。
斯宾塞的"不可知者"是什么？那就是我们的摩耶（Maya）。西方哲学家害怕不可知者，但我们的哲学家纵身跃入了未知之中，而且他们征服了它。
西方哲学家就像秃鹫，翱翔在高空，但目光始终盯着下面的腐肉。他们无法跨越未知的领域，因此转身回来崇拜全能的金钱。
世界上一直有两条进步路线——政治的和宗教的。在前者中，希腊人是一切，现代政治制度不过是希腊制度的发展；在后者中，印度人是一切。
我的宗教是一种宗教，基督教是它的分支，佛教是它的叛逆之子。
化学在找到一种元素——所有其他元素都可从中推演而出——时便停止进步。物理学在找到一种力——所有其他力都是其表现——时便停止发展。同样，宗教在达到合一时便停止进步，而印度教正是如此。
没有任何新的宗教思想在任何地方被宣扬而不能在吠陀中找到。
在一切事物中，发展有两种类型——分析的和综合的。在前者方面，印度人优于其他民族。在后者方面，他们则几乎为零。
印度人培养了分析和抽象的能力。没有任何民族曾产生过像波你尼（Panini）那样的语法。
罗摩努阇（Ramanuja）的重要功绩是将耆那教徒和佛教徒转化为印度教徒。他是偶像崇拜的大力倡导者。他将爱和信仰作为解脱（Moksha）的有力手段引入。
甚至在《薄伽梵往世书》中，也提到了二十四位化身，与耆那教的二十四位祖师相对应，而利沙巴提婆（Rishabhadeva）这个名字在两者中都是共同的。
瑜伽的修习赋予抽象的能力。成就者（Siddha）优于他人之处在于，他能够将属性从事物中分离出来，独立地思考它们，并赋予它们客观实在性。
两个极端总是相遇且彼此相似。最伟大的忘我虔信者——其心灵沉浸在对无限梵（Brahman）的冥想中——和最堕落的醉汉狂人呈现出相同的外在表现。有时我们会惊讶于从一个到另一个的类比性转变。
极度紧张敏感的人容易成为宗教人物。无论他们将什么放入脑海，都会变得热忱无比。一位被指责为疯狂的虔信者回答说："这世上所有人都是疯的；有些人痴迷于黄金，有些人痴迷于女人，有些人痴迷于神；如果溺水是人的命运，那么溺死在牛奶的海洋中总比溺死在粪池中好。"
无限之爱的神和崇高无限的爱的对象被绘为蓝色。克里希纳（Krishna）被绘为蓝色，所罗门的爱之神也是如此。凡是崇高和无限的事物与蓝色相关联，这是一条自然法则。捧一捧水，它是完全无色的。但看看深邃广阔的海洋，它蓝得无以复加。看看你身边的空间，它是无色的。但看看无限的天空；它是蓝色的。
印度人沉浸于理想之中，缺乏写实的观察，这一点从以下事实中可见一斑。看绘画和雕塑。你在印度绘画中看到什么？各种各样荒诞不经、不合自然的形象。你在印度神庙里看到什么？一个四折姿势的那罗延天（Chaturbhanga Narayana）或类似的东西。但看看任何意大利绘画或希腊雕像——你会发现对自然多么深入的研究！一位绅士为了画一位手持蜡烛的女士，花了二十年时间自己手持蜡烛坐在那里。
印度人在主观科学方面取得了进步。
吠陀中教导的行为规范与人性中的差异一样多。教给成人的东西不能教给儿童。
导师（Guru）应该是人的医生。他应该了解弟子的本性，并教导最适合他的方法。
修习瑜伽有无穷的方法。某些方法在某些人身上产生了成功的结果。但有两种方法对所有人都具有普遍重要性：（一）通过否定每一种已知的经验来达到实在；（二）认为你是一切，是整个宇宙。第二种方法虽然比第一种更快达到目标，但不是最安全的。它通常伴随着巨大的危险，可能使人误入歧途，阻碍他达到目的。
基督教所教导的爱与印度教所教导的爱之间有这样的区别：基督教教导我们要像我们希望他人爱我们那样去爱邻人；印度教则要求我们像爱自己一样去爱他们，实际上就是在他们身上看到我们自己。
一只猫鼬通常被放在一个玻璃箱里，系着一条长链，以便它可以自由地走动。当它在外面闲逛时嗅到了危险，一跳就回到了玻璃箱里。一个瑜伽行者（Yogi）在这个世界上也是如此。
整个宇宙是一条存在的锁链，物质构成一极，神构成另一极；特殊不二论（Vishishtadvaita）的教义或可用类似的理念来解释。
吠陀中充满了证明有人格之神存在的经文。那些通过长期虔修而见到神的仙人，窥见了未知的领域，并向世界发出了挑战。只有那些没有走过仙人所描述的道路、没有遵循其教导的自大之人，才会批评和反对他们。迄今为止还没有人敢站出来说他已经切实地遵循了他们的指引却什么也没看到，说这些人是骗子。有些人在不同的时期接受了考验，感到自己没有被神遗弃。这个世界就是这样：如果对神的信仰不能给我们任何安慰，那么自杀反而更好。
一位虔诚的传教士外出办事。突然间他的三个儿子都死于霍乱。他的妻子用一块床单盖住了三个心爱孩子的遗体，在门口等候丈夫归来。当他回来时，她在门口拦住他，问了他一个问题："亲爱的丈夫，如果有人把什么东西托付给你，在你不在的时候又突然把它收回，你会难过吗？"他回答说："当然不会。"于是她带他进去，掀开床单，露出三具遗体。他平静地承受了这一切，安葬了遗体。这就是那些坚定信仰全能慈悲之神——掌管宇宙中一切事物之神——的人的心灵力量。
绝对者永远不能被思维所及。我们对一件事物不可能有任何观念，除非它是有限的。无限的神只能被构想和崇拜为有限的存在。
施洗约翰是一个艾赛尼派成员——一个佛教徒的教派。基督教的十字架不过是湿婆（Shiva）林伽转变为两道交叉而成的。在古罗马的遗迹中仍可发现佛教崇拜的痕迹。
在南印度，一些罗伽（曲调）被当作独立的罗伽来演唱和记忆，而实际上它们是六个基本罗伽的衍生。在他们的音乐中，很少有穆尔恰纳（Murchhana），即声音的波动性触碰。
甚至完美乐器的使用也很罕见。南方的维纳琴并非真正的维纳琴。我们没有军乐，也没有军诗。跋婆普提（Bhavabhuti）稍带一些军事气息。
基督是一位游方僧（Sannyasin），他的宗教本质上只适合游方僧。他的教导可以概括为："放下"——仅此而已——只适合少数被恩宠的人。"有人打你的右脸，连左脸也转过来由他打！"——不可能做到，不切实际！西方人自己也知道。这是为那些渴慕正义、以完善为目标之人而设的。"坚持你的权利"才是普通人的准则。不能对所有人——苦行者和居士——宣讲同一套道德规范。
所有的宗教派别如基督教都理所当然地认为所有人是平等的。这不为科学所证实。心灵之间的差异比身体之间的差异更大。印度教的一个根本教义是：所有人都是不同的，多样性中存在统一。即便是酒鬼，也有适合他的真言（Mantra）——即便是去嫖妓的人也有！
道德是一个相对的概念。这个世上存在什么绝对道德吗？这个观念是一种迷信。我们没有权利以同一标准来评判每个时代的每个人。
每个人，在每个时代，在每个国家，都处于其特殊的境遇之中。如果境遇变了，观念也必须变。吃牛肉曾经是合乎道德的。气候寒冷，谷物还不太为人所知。肉类是主要可得的食物。因此在那个时代和那种气候下，牛肉在某种程度上是不可或缺的。但吃牛肉如今被认为是不道德的。
唯一不变的是神。社会是运动着的。
世界（Jagat）的意思是运动着的。神是不动的（Achala）。
我所说的不是"改革"，而是"前进"。没有什么东西坏到不能改革。适应是生命的全部奥秘——其底下运作的原则是展开生命的原则。适应或调整是真我与试图压制它的外在力量相对抗的结果。最善于自我调整的人活得最久。即使我不宣讲这些，社会也在变化，它必须变化。不是基督教，也不是科学，是必然性在底层运作——人们必须生存否则就饿死的必然性。
世界上最好的风景可以在喜马拉雅山（Himalayas）的崇高高峰上看到。如果一个人在那里住上一段时间，无论他之前多么浮躁，他必定会获得心灵的宁静。神是最高形式的普遍法则。一旦这条法则被认知，所有其他法则都可以被解释为其从属。神之于宗教，正如牛顿万有引力定律之于落体。
一切崇拜都包含最高形式的祈祷。对于一个不能进行禅（Dhyana）或心灵崇拜的人来说，礼拜（Puja）或仪式崇拜是必要的。他必须拥有具体的东西。
唯有勇者才担当得起真诚。比较一下狮子和狐狸。
只爱神和自然中善的一面——连小孩都能做到。你应当也爱可怖的和痛苦的一面。一位父亲爱孩子，即使孩子在给他带来麻烦。
克里希纳是神的化身，降世来拯救人类。牧女之戏（Gopi-lila，他与牧女的嬉戏）是爱的宗教的极致，在其中个体性消融，达到了交融。正是在这一神圣游戏中，克里希纳展示了他在《薄伽梵歌》（Gita）中所宣讲的："为我放弃一切其他的牵绊。"去庇护在温达文（Vrindavana）之戏中来理解虔信（Bhakti）。关于这一主题，有大量的书籍存世。这是印度的宗教。绝大多数印度人追随克里希纳。
克里希纳是穷人的神、乞丐的神、罪人的神、儿子的神、父亲的神、妻子的神，是所有人的神。他亲密地进入我们所有的人际关系，使一切变得神圣，最终引领我们走向解脱。他是隐匿于哲学家和学者面前、却向无知者和儿童显现的神。他是信仰和爱的神，而非学问之神。对于牧女们来说，爱与神是同一件事——她们知道他是爱的化身。
在德瓦拉卡（Dwaraka），克里希纳教导责任；在温达文，他教导爱。他允许他的儿子们互相残杀，因为他们是邪恶的。
根据犹太教和伊斯兰教的观念，神是一个大法官。我们的神表面严厉，但内心慈爱仁慈。
有些人不理解不二论（Advaita）却歪曲其教义。他们说："什么是净（Shuddha）和不净（Ashuddha）——善与恶有什么区别？这都是人类的迷信。"然后在行为上不守任何道德约束。这完全是无赖行径；这种说教造成的危害无可估量。
这个身体由两种业所构成——由善与恶构成——有害的恶和无害的善。一根刺扎进了我的身体，我拿另一根刺把它挑出来，然后把两根都扔掉。一个希望达到完善的人，以善的刺来拔出恶的刺。他仍然活着，既然只剩下善，留给他的行动势能必定是善的。即身解脱者（Jivanmukta）身上留有一点点圣洁，他活着，但他所做的一切都必定是圣洁的。
善是趋向我们进步的，恶是趋向我们退化的。人由三种品质构成——兽性的、人性的和神性的。那趋向增加你身上神性的就是善，那趋向增加你身上兽性的就是恶。你必须杀死兽性本性，成为人，即有爱心和慈善心。你必须超越这一层，成为纯粹的极乐——存在-意识-极乐（Sachchidananda），不灼烧的火焰，充满奇妙的爱，却没有人间之爱的软弱，没有痛苦的感受。
虔信（Bhakti）分为法定虔信（Vaidhi）和随情虔信（Raganuga）。
法定虔信是对吠陀教导的不折不扣的信仰和服从。
随情虔信有五种：
（一）寂静（Shanta），以基督的宗教为例证；
（二）仆从（Dasya），以哈努曼对罗摩（Rama）的关系为例证；
（三）友伴（Sakhya），以阿周那对克里希纳的关系为例证； （四）慈爱（Vatsalya），以瓦苏提婆对克里希纳的关系为例证； （五）甜蜜（Madhura，夫妻之情），以克里希纳与牧女们的生活为例证。
凯沙布·钱德拉·森把社会比作一个椭圆。神是中心的太阳。社会有时处于远日点，有时处于近日点。一位化身（Avatar）降世，将社会带到近日点。然后它又退回去。为什么会这样？我说不出。为什么需要化身？为什么需要创造？为什么他不把我们全都创造为完美的？这是神圣的游戏（Lila），我们不知道。
人可以成为梵（Brahman），但不能成为神。如果有人成为神，拿他的创造来给我看。毗湿瓦密多罗（Vishvamitra）的创造是他自己的想象。它应该服从毗湿瓦密多罗的法则。如果有人成为造物主，由于法则的冲突，世界就会走向终结。这种平衡是如此精妙，以至于你扰乱了一个原子的均衡，整个世界都会走向灭亡。
曾有伟大的人物——如此伟大，以至于没有任何数字或人类的算术能够说明他们与我们之间的差距。但与神相比，他们不过是几何上的点。与无限相比，一切都是虚无。与神相比，毗湿瓦密多罗不过是一只飞蛾而已。
帕坦伽利（Patanjali）是进化论的始祖，无论是灵性的还是物质的。
通常有机体弱于环境。它在努力适应自己。有时它过度适应了。于是整个身体就变成了另一个物种。南迪（Nandi）是一个人，他的圣洁如此之大，以至于人类的身体无法容纳。所以那些分子变成了神体。
竞争的巨大引擎将摧毁一切。如果你要活下去，就必须适应时代。如果我们要活下去，就必须成为一个科学的民族。智力是力量。你们必须学习欧洲人的组织能力。你们必须受教育，必须教育你们的女性。你们必须废除童婚。
所有这些思想都在社会上流传。你们都知道，却不敢行动。谁来挂铃铛？在时机成熟时，一个了不起的人会出现。然后所有的老鼠都会变得勇敢。
每当一个伟大的人出现时，条件已经在他脚下准备好了。他是压垮骆驼的最后一根稻草。他是大炮的火花。谈论自有其意义——我们正在为他做准备。
克里希纳狡猾吗？不，他不狡猾。他尽了最大的努力来防止战争。是难敌（Duryodhana）强迫发动了战争。但一旦投入其中，你就不应退缩——这才是尽责之人。不要逃跑，那是懦弱。既然已经在其中，你就必须去做。你不应退让一步——当然不是为了错误的事；这是一场正义之战。
魔鬼以多种伪装出现——愤怒以正义的面目出现——激情以责任的面目出现。当它第一次来到时，人是清醒的，然后他就忘记了。就像你们的律师的良心一样；起初他们知道那都是无赖行径，然后这是对客户的责任；最后他们变得麻木了。
瑜伽行者住在纳尔马达河畔——那是最适合他们的地方，因为气候非常均匀。虔信者住在温达文。
士兵们死得早——自然充满了缺陷——运动员也死得早。绅士阶层是最强壮的，而穷人则是最耐寒的。水果饮食可能适合便秘之人。文明人需要休息来从事智力工作。为了饮食，他不得不吃香料和调味品。野蛮人一天走四五十英里。他喜欢最清淡的食物。
我们的水果全是人工培育的，天然的芒果是很差的东西。小麦也是人工培育的。
通过持守梵行来保存你体内的灵性储备。
居士关于收入支出的规则是：四分之一的收入用于家庭，四分之一用于慈善，四分之一用于储蓄，四分之一用于自身。
多样性中的统一是创造的计划，普遍性中的个性。
为什么只否认因而不否认果呢？果中的一切必然包含在因中。
基督的公开生活仅仅延续了十八个月，而为此他已默默准备了三十二年。穆罕默德四十岁才出山。
种姓制度在自然的一般进程中确实变得必不可少。那些对某种工作有天赋的人形成一个阶层。但谁来判定某个特定个人的阶层呢？如果一个婆罗门认为自己对灵性文化有特殊天赋，他为什么要害怕在公开场合与一个首陀罗较量？一匹骏马会害怕与一匹劣马赛跑吗？
请参阅《克里希纳耳饰集》的作者维尔瓦曼伽拉（Vilvamangala）的生平——一位因为看不到神而剜出自己双眼的虔信者。他的一生说明了这样一个原则：即使是误导的爱，最终也会通往真正的爱。
印度人过早的宗教进步，以及那种使他们在万事中都执著于更高选择的超精微性，已将他们沦落到了如今的境地。印度人需要从西方学一点唯物主义，并教西方人一点灵性。
先教育你们的女性，然后让她们自己做主；她们会告诉你们什么改革对她们是必要的。在涉及她们的事务上，你们算什么？
是谁把清扫工和贱民贬低到了如今这般堕落的状况？在行为上冷酷无情，同时却宣讲精妙的不二论——这岂不是雪上加霜？
有形与无形在这个世界上交织在一起。无形只能通过有形来表达，有形只能与无形一起来思考。世界是我们思想的一种形式。偶像是宗教的表达。
在神之中，一切本性皆有可能。但我们只能通过人性来看到他。我们可以像爱一个人那样来爱他——作为父亲、儿子。世上最强烈的爱是男女之间的爱，而且是秘密的爱尤为强烈。这正体现在克里希纳与拉达（Radha）之间的爱中。
吠陀中没有任何地方说人生而有罪。这样说是对人性的极大诋毁。
面对面看到实在并非易事。前几天，一个人在一幅画中怎么也找不到那只隐藏的猫，尽管那只猫占了画面的大部分。
你不能伤害别人然后安然坐着。这是一架奇妙的机器——你无法逃脱神的惩罚。
欲望（Kama）是盲目的，通往地狱。爱（Prema）才是爱，通往天堂。
在克里希纳与拉达的爱中，没有任何情欲或同情的概念。拉达对克里希纳说："如果你将双足放在我的心上，一切情欲都将消失。"
当达到超越时，情欲死去，只剩下爱。
一位诗人爱上了一个洗衣女。滚烫的豆汤溅到了那个女人的脚上，那位诗人的脚却被烫伤了。
湿婆（Shiva）是神的庄严面，克里希纳是神的美丽面。爱结晶为蓝色。蓝色是强烈之爱的表达。所罗门看到了"克里希纳"。在这里，克里希纳来让所有人看到。
即使在今天，当你得到爱时，你就看到了拉达。成为拉达而得救。别无他途。基督徒不理解所罗门之歌。他们称之为预言，象征基督对教会的爱。他们认为那是无稽之谈，于是编造出某种故事来附会。
印度人相信佛陀是一位化身。
印度人积极地信仰神。佛教并不试图去了解他是否存在。
佛陀来鞭策我们去实践。行善，毁灭激情。然后你自己就会知道，二元论还是不二论哲学是真的——是有一个还是不止一个。
佛陀是印度教的改革者。
对同一个人，母亲看到一个儿子，而妻子同时以不同的方式看到，产生不同的结果。恶人在神中看到邪恶。善良之人在他身上看到美德。他容纳一切形式。他可以按照每个人的想象来塑造。水在不同的容器中呈现不同的形状。但水存在于所有容器之中。因此一切宗教都是真的。
神既残忍又不残忍。他既是一切存在又是一切不存在，同时如此。因此他是一切矛盾的集合。自然也不过是一团矛盾而已。
意志自由——你感觉自己可以自由行动。但这种自由是一种必然。在思想与行动之前、之后和之间有一条无限的因果链，但后者被冠以自由之名——就像一只鸟飞过一间明亮的房间。我们感到自由，感到它别无他因。我们无法超越意识，因此我们感到自己是自由的。我们追溯不到比意识更远的地方。唯有神才感受到真正的自由。大圣（Mahapurusha）感到自己与神合一；因此他们也感受到真正的自由。
你可以堵住出水口来阻止泉水流出，把水都聚集在泉源中；你在此之外没有自由。但源头保持不变。一切都是前定的——而前定的一部分就是你会有这样的感觉——自由的感觉。我在塑造自己的行动。责任是反应的感觉。没有绝对的力量。这里的力量是对行使某种能力的有意识感受，而这种能力是由必然性所创造的。人有"我在行动"的感觉；他所说的力量或自由，就是这种感觉。力量伴随着责任。无论什么通过前定而经由我们做出，我们都感受到反应。一个被人抛出的球，它自身也感受到反应。
但这种以自由的面目降临到我们身上的内在必然性，并不影响我们与周围环境所形成的有意识关系。相对性不变。要么人人自由，要么人人处于必然之中。那无关紧要。关系仍然是一样的。善与恶仍然是一样的。如果一个小偷以他不得不偷为由辩护，治安法官会说他不得不惩罚。我们坐在一个房间里，整个房间在移动——我们之间的关系没有变。从这条无限的因果链中解脱出来就是解脱（Mukti）。解脱者（Mukta）不受必然性的驱动，他们如同神一般。他们开启因果链。神是唯一自由的存在——是他们意志的最初源头——他们始终如此体验到神。
渴望的感觉是真正的祈祷，而非言语。但你必须有耐心等待，看看你的祈祷是否得到回应。
你应该通过履行你的责任来培养高尚的品性。通过履行我们的责任，我们摆脱了责任的观念；然后，也唯有到那时，我们才感到一切都是由神所为。我们不过是他手中的机器。这个身体是不透明的，神是灯。从身体中发出的一切都是神的。你感觉不到它。你感到"我"。这是妄惑。你必须学会平静地顺从神的意志。责任是最好的学校。这种责任就是道德。训练自己彻底顺从。去掉那个"我"。不要虚伪做作。然后你就能摆脱责任的观念；因为一切都是他的。然后你自然而然地前行，宽恕着，忘却着，如此等等。
我们的宗教总是向不同的人呈现不同层次的责任和宗教。
光无处不在，但唯有在圣洁之人身上才可见。大圣如同水晶玻璃——神的全部光芒穿过并反复穿透。为什么不崇拜一位即身解脱者（Jivanmukta）呢？
与圣人的接触是有益的。如果你走近圣人，你会发现圣洁在那里的一切中无意识地溢出。
不要抵抗对你自己施加的恶，但你可以抵抗对他人施加的恶。
如果你希望成为一位圣人，你应该放弃一切享乐。通常，你可以享受一切，但要向神祈求引导，他会引领你前行。
宇宙只填充了心灵的一小部分，心灵渴望的是超越世界之上的东西。
自私是每个人体内的魔鬼化身。每一点自我，一点一点，都是魔鬼。从一边去除自我，神便从另一边进入。当自我被去除，唯有神留存。光明与黑暗不能共处。
忘记那个小"我"是心灵健康纯净的标志。一个健康的孩子忘记自己的身体。
悉多（Sita）——说她是纯洁的，那是一种亵渎。她是纯洁本身的化身——这个地球上曾经活过的最美好的人物。
一个虔信者应该像悉多在罗摩面前那样。他可能被投入各种各样的苦难之中。悉多不在意她的苦难；她将自己的一切集中于罗摩。
佛教关于绝对实体什么也没有证明。在一条河流中，水在变化；我们没有权利称这条河流为"一"。佛教徒否认"一"，说它是"多"。我们说它是"一"而否认"多"。他们称之为业的，就是我们称之为灵魂的。根据佛教，人是一系列的波浪。每一个波浪消亡，但不知何故第一个波浪引起了第二个波浪。第二个波浪与第一个波浪相同是幻觉。要摆脱幻觉就需要善业。佛教徒不假设世界之外的任何东西。我们说在相对之外有绝对。佛教承认有苦，且只要我们能够摆脱这苦（Duhkha）就够了；至于我们是否会得到乐（Sukha），我们不知道。佛陀宣说的并非他人所说的灵魂。根据印度教，灵魂是一个实体或本质，神是绝对的。两者在此一致：它们都消融相对。但佛教徒不告诉你消融相对之后的结果是什么。
当今的印度教和佛教是从同一棵树枝上生长出来的。佛教退化了，商羯罗把它砍掉了！
据说佛陀否定吠陀是因为其中有太多的杀生（Himsa）和其他事情。佛教的每一页都是对吠陀（仪式层面）的抗争。但他没有权力这样做。
关于神，佛陀明确地持不可知论态度；但在我们的宗教中，神无处不被宣说。吠陀教导神——既是有人格的也是无人格的。《薄伽梵歌》中处处宣说神。没有神就没有印度教。没有神就没有吠陀。那是唯一的解脱之路。游方僧必须多次重复以下文字：我渴望解脱，归依那创造了世界、呼出了吠陀的神。
佛陀，我们现在可以说，本应理解宗教的和谐。他引入了宗派主义。
现代印度教、现代耆那教和佛教在同一时期分支而出。在一段时间内，它们各自似乎都想在怪诞和虚伪方面超越其他。
我们无法想象任何不是神的东西。他就是我们以五种感官所能想象的一切，还有更多。他如同变色龙；每个人，每个民族，在不同的时期，以不同的形式看到他的一个面。让每个人看到并取走适合他的那部分神。好比每种动物从自然中吸取适合它的食物。
像基督教这类宗教的缺陷在于它们对所有人有一套规则。但印度教适合宗教追求和进步的所有层次。它包含了一切理想的完美形式。例如，寂静或至福的理想可在瓦西什塔（Vasishtha）身上找到；爱的理想在克里希纳身上；责任的理想在罗摩和悉多身上；智慧的理想在舒卡提婆（Shukadeva）身上。研究这些人以及其他理想人物的品格。选择一个最适合你的来效法。
追随真理，无论它引你到何方；将理念贯彻到其最终的逻辑结论。不要怯懦和虚伪。你必须对你的理想有巨大的虔诚，不是一时的虔诚，而是平静的、坚持不懈的、稳定的虔诚，如同查塔卡鸟（Chataka，一种鸟），在雷电交加之中仰望天空，除了云中之水，什么水都不喝。在追求圣洁的奋斗中灭亡吧；千万次欢迎死亡。不要灰心丧气。当善美的甘露不可得时，这不是我们应该去吃毒药的理由。没有逃避。这个世界与彼世一样未知。
慈善永不落空；对理想的奉献在同情心上永不衰竭，永不厌倦同情他人。爱敌人对普通人来说是不可能的：他们为了自己的生存而驱逐他人。只有极少数人在这个世上两者都实践了。遮那迦王（King Janaka）就是其中之一。这样的人甚至高于游方僧。纯洁与离欲化身的舒卡提婆（Shukadeva）以遮那迦为导师（Guru）；遮那迦对他说："你是天生的成就者（Siddha）；你所知道的以及你父亲所教导你的，都是真的。我向你保证这一点。"
普遍性中的个性是创造的计划。每一个细胞在产生意识的过程中都有其作用。人既是个体的，同时又是普遍的。正是在实现我们个体本性的同时，我们也实现了我们的民族本性和普遍本性。每一个人都是一个无限的圆，其圆心无处不在，圆周无处可寻。通过修习，人可以感受到普遍的自性，这正是印度教的精髓。谁在一切众生中看到自己的真我（Atman），谁就是智者（Pandita）。
仙人是灵性法则的发现者。
在不二论（Advaita）中，没有个体灵魂（Jivatma）；那只是一种妄惑。在二元论（Dvaita）中，个体灵魂与神无限地不同。两者都是真的。一个人去了泉源，另一个人去了水塘。就我们的意识所及而言，我们显然都是二元论者。但超越意识之外呢？超越那一层，我们就是不二论者。实际上，这才是唯一的真理。根据不二论，要像爱你自己的真我一样爱每一个人，而不是像基督教所教的那样爱他如兄弟。兄弟之情应被普遍的自性所取代。不是普遍的兄弟之情，而是普遍的自性才是我们的座右铭。不二论也可以包含"最大幸福"理论。
"我即是他"（So'ham）。不断重复这个理念，起初是有意地；然后它在修习中变为自动的。它渗透到神经之中。因此这个理念，通过反复默念，应当被驱入神经之中。
或者，首先从你意识中的二元论开始；第二阶段，特殊不二论（Vishishtadvaita）——"我在你之中，你在我之中，一切皆是神。"这是基督的教导。
最高的不二论无法降到实际生活的层面。不二论在实践中从特殊不二论的层面运作。二元论——小圆与大圆不同，仅通过虔信（Bhakti）相连；特殊不二论——小圆在大圆之内，运动受大圆调节；不二论——小圆扩展，与大圆重合。在不二论中，"我"消融于神之中。神在这里，神在那里，神就是"我"。
获得虔信的一种方法是多次重复神的名号。真言（Mantra）有效力——仅仅是言语的重复。贾拉吉曼·切蒂（Jalagiman Chetti）的力量就是来自真言的重复——以某种仪式重复某些词语。古代战争中矢（Astra）或箭（Bana）的威力是来自真言。这在我们所有的经典（Shastra）中都被视为当然。认为我们应该把所有这些经典都当作想象之物，那才是迷信。
要获得虔信，应当寻求拥有虔信的圣人的陪伴，阅读如《薄伽梵歌》和《效法基督》这样的书籍；时刻思念神的属性。
吠陀不仅包含获得虔信的方法，也包含获得一切世间善恶的手段。各取所需。
孟加拉是虔信或虔信者的土地。柴坦尼亚（Chaitanya）在加甘纳特（Jagannatha）神庙中站立以瞻仰神像时所站的石头，被他的爱与虔诚的泪水磨损了。当他出家时，他通过将糖放在舌头上一段时间而糖不融化，向他的导师展示了他的资格。他通过虔修所获得的洞察力发现了温达文。
我告诉你们一些生活中的指导原则。凡是来自印度的东西，都当作真的，直到你找到令人信服的理由去不信；凡是来自欧洲的东西，都当作假的，直到你找到令人信服的理由去相信。不要被欧洲的愚蠢所迷惑。为自己思考。你们只缺少一样东西：你们是奴隶；你们跟随欧洲人做的一切。那不过是一种无能的心态。社会可以从任何方面吸取素材，但应按自己的方式成长。
对一种新习俗感到震惊是一切迷信之父，是通往地狱的第一条路。它导向偏执和狂热。真理是天堂。偏执是地狱。
## 脚注
English
The three essentials of Hinduism are belief in God, in the Vedas as revelation, in the doctrine of Karma and transmigration.
If one studies the Vedas between the lines, one sees a religion of harmony.
One point of difference between Hinduism and other religions is that in Hinduism we pass from truth to truth—from a lower truth to a higher truth—and never from error to truth.
The Vedas should be studied through the eye-glass of evolution. They contain the whole history of the progress of religious consciousness, until religion has reached perfection in unity.
The Vedas are Anadi, eternal. The meaning of the statement is not, as is erroneously supposed by some, that the words of the Vedas are Anadi, but that the spiritual laws inculcated by the Vedas are such. These laws which are immutable and eternal have been discovered at various times by great men or Rishis, though some of them are forgotten now, while others are preserved.
When a number of people from various angles and distances have a look at the sea, each man sees a portion of it according to his horizon. Though each man may say that what he sees is the real sea, all of them speak the truth, for all of them see portions of the same wide expanse. So the religious scriptures, though they seem to contain varying and conflicting statements, speak the truth, for they are all descriptions of that one infinite Reality.
When one sees a mirage for the first time, he mistakes it for a reality, and after vainly trying to quench his thirst in it, learns that it is a mirage. But whenever he sees such a phenomenon in future, in spite of the apparent reality, the idea that he sees a mirage always presents itself to him. So is the world of Maya to a Jivanmukta (the liberated in life).
Some of the Vedic secrets were known to certain families only, as certain powers naturally exist in some families. With the extinction of these families, those secrets have died away.
Vedic anatomy was no less perfect than the Ayurvedic.
There were many names for many parts of the organs, because they had to cut up animals for sacrifice. The sea is described as full of ships. Sea voyage was prohibited later on, partly because there came the fear that people might thereby become Buddhists.
Buddhism was the rebellion of newly-formed Kshatriyas against Vedic priestcraft.
Hinduism threw away Buddhism after taking its sap. The attempt of all the Southern Acharyas was to effect a reconciliation between the two. Shankaracharya's teaching shows the influence of Buddhism. His disciples perverted his teaching and carried it to such an extreme point that some of the later reformers were right in calling the Acharya's followers "crypto-buddhists".
What is Spencer's unknowable? It is our Maya. Western philosophers are afraid of the unknowable, but our philosophers have taken a big jump into the unknown, and they have conquered.
Western philosophers are like vultures soaring high in the sky, but all the while, with their eye fixed on the carrion beneath. They cannot cross the unknown, and they therefore turn back and worship the almighty dollar.
There have been two lines of progress in this world—political and religious. In the former the Greeks are everything, the modern political institutions being only the development of the Grecian; in the latter the Hindus are everything.
My religion is one of which Christianity is an offshoot and Buddhism a rebel child.
Chemistry ceases to improve when one element is found from which all others are deductible. Physics ceases to progress when one force is found of which all others are manifestations. So religion ceases to progress when unity is reached, which is the case with Hinduism.
There is no new religious idea preached anywhere which is not found in the Vedas.
In everything, there are two kinds of development—analytical and synthetical. In the former the Hindus excel other nations. In the latter they are nil.
The Hindus have cultivated the power of analysis and abstraction. No nation has yet produced a grammar like that of Panini.
Ramanuja's important work is the conversion of Jains and Buddhists to Hinduism. He is a great advocate of image-worship. He introduced love and faith as potent means of salvation.
Even in the Bhagavata, twenty-four Avatars are mentioned corresponding to the twenty-four Tirthankaras of the Jains, the name of Rishabhadeva being common to both.
The practice of Yoga gives the power of abstraction. The superiority of a Siddha over others consists in his being able to separate attributes from objects and think of them independently, giving them objective reality.
The opposite extremes always meet and resemble each other. The greatest self-forgotten devotee whose mind is absorbed in the contemplation of the infinite Brahman and the most debased, drunken maniac present the same externals. At times we are surprised with the analogical transition from one to the other.
Extremely nervous men succeed as religious men. They become fervent over whatever they take into their head. "All are mad in this world; some are mad after gold, others after women, and some are after God; if drowning is to be the fate of man, it is better to be drowned in an ocean of milk than in a pool of dung", a devotee replied who was charged with madness.
The God of Infinite Love and the object of Love sublime and infinite are painted blue. Krishna is painted blue, so also Solomon's God of Love. It is a natural law that anything sublime and infinite is associated with blue colour. Take a handful of water, it is absolutely colourless. But look at the deep wide ocean; it is as blue as anything. Examine the space near you; it is colourless. But look at the infinite expanse of the sky; it is blue.
That the Hindus, absorbed in the ideal, lacked in realistic observation is evident from this. Take painting and sculpture. What do you see in the Hindu paintings? All sorts of grotesque and unnatural figures. What do you see in a Hindu temple? A Chaturbhanga Narayana or some such thing. But take into consideration any Italian picture or Grecian statue—what a study of nature you find in them! A gentleman for twenty years sat burning a candle in his hand, in order to paint a lady carrying a candle in her hand.
The Hindus progressed in the subjective sciences.
There are as many different conducts taught in the Vedas as there are differences in human nature. What is taught to an adult cannot be taught to a child.
A Guru should be a doctor of men. He should understand the nature of his disciple and teach him the method which suits him best.
There are infinite ways of practicing Yoga. Certain methods have produced successful result with certain men. But two are of general importance with all: (1) Reaching the reality by negativing every known experience, (2) Thinking that you are everything, the whole universe. The second method, though it leads to the goal sooner than the first, is not the safest one. It is generally attended with great dangers which may lead a man astray and deter him from obtaining his aim.
There is this difference between the love taught by Christianity and that taught by Hinduism: Christianity teaches us to love our neighbours as we should wish them to love us; Hinduism asks us to love them as ourselves, in fact to see ourselves in them.
A mongoose is generally kept in a glass-case with a long chain attached to it, so that it may go about freely. When itscents danger as it wanders about, with one jump it goes into the glass case. So is a Yogi in this world.
The whole universe is one chain of existence, of which matter forms one pole and God the other; the doctrine of Vishishtadvaitism may be explained by some such ideas.
The Vedas are full of passages which prove the existence of a Personal God. The Rishis, who through long devotion saw God, had a peep into the unknown and threw their challenge to the world. It is only presumptuous men, who have not walked in the path described by the Rishis and who have not followed their teachings, that criticise them and oppose them. No man has yet come forward who would dare to say that he has properly followed their directions and has not seen anything and that these men are liars. There are men who have been under trial at various times and have felt that they have not been forsaken by God. The world is such that if faith in God does not offer us any consolation, it is better to commit suicide.
A pious missionary went out on business. All of a sudden his three sons died of cholera. His wife covered the three dead bodies of her beloved children with a sheet and was awaiting her husband at the gate. When he returned, she detained him at the gate and put him the question, "My dear husband, some one entrusts something to you and in your absence suddenly takes it back. Will you feel sorry?" He replied, "Certainly I would not". Then she took him in, removed the sheet and showed the three corpses. He bore this calmly and buried the bodies. Such is the strength of mind of those who hold firm faith in the existence of an all-merciful God who disposes of everything in the universe.
The Absolute can never be thought of. We can have no idea of a thing unless it is finite. God the infinite can only be conceived and worshipped as the finite.
John the Baptist was an Essene—a sect of Buddhists. The Christian cross is nothing but the Shivalinga converted into two across. Remnants of Buddhist worship are still to be found among the relics of ancient Rome.
In South India, some of the Ragas (tunes) are sung and remembered as independent Ragas, whereas they are derivations of the six primary ones. In their music, there is very little of Murchhana, or oscillating touches of sound.
Even the use of the perfect instrument of music is rare. The Vina of the South is not the real Vina. We have no martial music, no martial poetry either. Bhavabhuti is a little martial.
Christ was a Sannyasin, and his religion is essentially fit for Sannyasins only. His teachings may be summed up as: "Give up"; nothing more—being fit for the favoured few. "Turn the other cheek also!"—impossible, impracticable! The Westerners know it. It is meant for those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, who aim at perfection. "Stand on your rights", is the rule for the ordinary men. One set of moral rules cannot be preached to all—sadhus and householders.
All sectarian religions take for granted that all men are equal. This is not warranted by science. There is more difference between minds than between bodies. One fundamental doctrine of Hinduism is that all men are different, there being unity in variety. Even for a drunkard, there are some Mantras—even for a man going to a prostitute!
Morality is a relative term. Is there anything like absolute morality in this world? The idea is a superstition. We have no right to judge every man in every age by the same standard.
Every man, in every age, in every country is under peculiar circumstances. If the circumstances change, ideas also must change. Beef-eating was once moral. The climate was cold, and the cereals were not much known. Meat was the chief food available. So in that age and clime, beef was in a manner indispensable. But beef-eating is held to be immoral now.
The one thing unchangeable is God. Society is moving.
Jagat (world) means that which is moving. God is Achala (immovable).
What I say is not, "Reform", but, "Move on". Nothing is too bad to reform. Adaptability is the whole mystery of life—the principle underneath which serves to unfold it. Adjustment or adaptation is the outcome of the Self pitted against external forces tending to suppress It. He who adjusts himself best lives the longest. Even if I do not preach this, society is changing, it must change. It is not Christianity nor science, it is necessity, that is working underneath, the necessity that people must have to live or starve.
The best scenery in the world can be seen on the sublime heights of the Himalayas. If one lives there for a time, he is sure to have mental calmness, however restless he might have been before. God is the highest form of generalised law. When once this law is known, all others can be explained as being subordinate to it. God is to religion what Newton's law of gravity is to falling bodies.
Every worship consists of prayer in the highest form. For a man who cannot make Dhyana or mental worship, Puja or ceremonial worship is necessary. He must have the thing concrete.
The brave alone can afford to be sincere. Compare the lion and the fox.
Loving only the good in God and nature—even a child does that. You should love the terrible and the painful as well. A father loves the child, even when he is giving him trouble.
Shri Krishna was God, incarnated to save mankind. Gopi-lila (his disport with cowherd maids) is the acme of the religion of love in which individuality vanishes and there is communion. It is in this Lila that Shri Krishna shows what he preaches in the Gita: "Give up every other tie for me." Go and take shelter under Vrindavana-Lila to understand Bhakti. On this subject a great number of books is extant. It is the religion of India. The larger number of Hindus follow Shri Krishna.
Shri Krishna is the God of the poor, the beggar, the sinner, the son, the father, the wife, and of everyone. He enters intimately into all our human relations and makes everything holy and in the end brings us to salvation. He is the God who hides himself from the philosopher and the learned and reveals himself to the ignorant and the children. He is the God of faith and love and not of learning. With the Gopis, love and God were the same thing—they knew Him to be love incarnate.
In Dwaraka, Shri Krishna teaches duty; in Vrindavana, love. He allowed his sons to kill each other, they being wicked.
God, according to the Jewish and Mohammedan idea, is a big Session Judge. Our God is rigorous on the surface, but loving and merciful at heart.
There are some who do not understand Advaitism and make a travesty of its teachings. They say, "What is Shuddha and Ashuddha (pure and impure)—what is the difference between virtue and vice? It is all human superstition", and observe no moral restraint in their actions. It is downright roguery; and any amount of harm is done by the preaching of such things.
This body is made up of two sorts of Karma consisting of virtue and vice—injurious vice and non-injurious virtue. A thorn is pricking my body, and I take another thorn to take it out and then throw both away. A man desiring to be perfect takes a thorn of virtue and with it takes off the thorn of vice. He still lives, and virtue alone being left, the momentum of action left to him must be of virtue. A bit of holiness is left to the Jivanmukta, and he lives, but everything he does must be holy.
Virtue is that which tends to our improvement, and vice to our degeneration. Man is made up of three qualities—brutal, human, and godly. That which tends to increase the divinity in you is virtue, and that which tends to increase brutality in you is vice. You must kill the brutal nature and become human, that is, loving and charitable. You must transcend that too and become pure bliss, Sachchidananda, fire without burning, wonderfully loving, but without the weakness of human love, without the feeling of misery.
Bhakti is divided into Vaidhi and Raganuga Bhakti.
Vaidhi Bhakti is implicit belief in obedience to the teachings of the Vedas.
Raganuga Bhakti is of five kinds:
(1) Shanta as illustrated by the religion of Christ;
(2) Dasya as illustrated by that of Hanuman to Rama;
(3) Sakhya as illustrated by that of Arjuna to Shri Krishna; (4) Vatsalya as illustrated by that of Vasudeva to Shri Krishna; (5) Madhura (that of the husband and wife) in the lives of Shri Krishna and the Gopikas.
Keshab Chandra Sen compared society to an ellipse. God is the central sun. Society is sometimes in the aphelion and sometimes in the perihelion. An Avatar comes and takes it to the perihelion. Then it goes back again. Why should it be so? I cannot say. What necessity for an Avatara? What necessity was there to create? Why did He not create us all perfect? It is Lila (sport), we do not know.
Men can become Brahman but not God. If anybody becomes God, show me his creation. Vishvamitra's creation is his own imagination. It should have obeyed Vishvamitra's law. If anybody becomes a Creator, there would be an end of the world, on account of the conflict of laws. The balance is so nice that if you disturb the equilibrium of one atom, the whole world will come to an end.
There were great men—so great that no number nor human arithmetic could state the difference between them and us. But compared with God, they were geometrical points. In comparison with the Infinite, everything is nothing. Compared with God, what is Vishvamitra but a human moth?
Patanjali is the father of the theory of evolution, spiritual and physical.
Generally the organism is weaker than the environment. It is struggling to adjust itself. Sometimes it over-adjusts itself. Then the whole body changes into another species. Nandi was a man whose holiness was so great that the human body could not contain it. So those molecules changed into a god-body.
The tremendous engine of competition will destroy everything. If you are to live at all, you must adjust yourself to the times. If we are to live at all, we must be a scientific nation. Intellectual power is the force. You must learn the power of organisation of the Europeans. You must become educated and must educate your women. You must abolish child marriage.
All these ideas are floating over society. You all know it, yet dare not act. Who is to bell the cat? In the fullness of time a wonderful man will come. Then all the rats will be made bold.
Whenever a great man comes, the circumstances are ready under his feet. He is the last straw to break the camel's back. He is the spark of the cannon. There is something in the talking—we are preparing for him.
Was Krishna cunning? No, he was not cunning. He tried his best to prevent war. It was Duryodhana who forced the war. But, when once in the thing, you should not recede—that is the man of duty. Do not run away, it is cowardice. When in the thing, you must do it. You should not budge an inch—of course not for a wrong thing; this was a righteous war.
The devil comes in many guises—anger in the form of justice—passion in the form of duty. When it first comes, the man knows and then he forgets. Just as your pleaders' conscience; at first they know it is all Badmashi (roguery), then it is duty to their clients; at last they get hardened.
Yogis live on the banks of the Narmada—the best place for them, because the climate is very even. Bhaktas live in Vrindavana.
Sipahis (sepoys) die soon—nature is full of defect—the athletes die soon. The gentlemen class are the strongest, while the poor are the hardiest. Fruit diet may agree with a costive man. Civilised man needs rest for intellectual work. For food he has to take spices and condiments. The savage walks forty or fifty miles a day. He relishes the blandest foods.
Our fruits are all artificial, and the natural mango is a poor affair. Wheat also is artificial.
Save the spiritual store in your body by observing continence.
The rule for a householder about the expenditure of his income is, one-fourth of the income for his family, one-fourth for charity, one-fourth to be saved, one-fourth for self.
Unity in variety is the plan of creation, individuality in universality.
Why deny the cause only? Deny the effect also. The cause must contain everything that is in the effect.
Christ's public life extended only over eighteen months, and for this he had silently been preparing himself for thirty-two years. Mohammed was forty years old before he came out.
It is true that the caste system becomes essential in the ordinary course of nature. Those that have aptitudes for a particular work form a class. But who is to settle the class of a particular individual? If a Brahmin thinks that he has a special aptitude for spiritual culture, why should he be afraid to meet a Shudra in an open field? Will a horse be afraid of running a race with a jade?
Refer to the life of the author of Krishna-karnamrita, Vilvamangala—a devotee who plucked his eyes out because he could not see God. His life illustrates the principle that even misdirected love leads in the end to love proper.
Too early religious advancement of the Hindus and that superfineness in everything which made them cling to higher alternatives, have reduced them to what they are. The Hindus have to learn a little bit of materialism from the West and teach them a little bit of spirituality.
Educate your women first and leave them to themselves; then they will tell you what reforms are necessary for them. In matters concerning them, who are you?
Who reduced the Bhangis and the Pariahs to their present degraded condition? Heartlessness in our behavior and at the same time preaching wonderful Advaitism—is it not adding insult to injury?
Form and formless are intertwined in this world. The formless can only be expressed in form and form can only be thought with the formless. The world is a form of our thoughts. The idol is the expression of religion.
In God all natures are possible. But we can see Him only through human nature. We can love Him as we love a man—as father, son. The strongest love in the world is that between man and woman, and that also when it is clandestine. This is typified in the love between Krishna and Radha.
Nowhere is it said in the Vedas that man is born a sinner. To say so is a great libel on human nature.
It is not an easy task to reach the state of seeing the Reality face to face. The other day one could not find the hidden cat in a whole picture, though it occupied the major portion of the picture.
You cannot injure anybody and sit quietly. It is a wonderful machinery—you cannot escape God's vengeance.
Kama (lust) is blind and leads to hell. Prema is love, it leads to heaven.
There is no idea of lust or sympathy in the love of Krishna and Radha. Radha says to Krishna, "If you place your feet on my heart, all lust will vanish."
When abstraction is reached lust dies and there is only love.
A poet loved a washerwoman. Hot Dal fell upon the feet of the woman and the feet of the poet were scalded.
Shiva is the sublime aspect of God, Krishna the beautiful aspect of God. Love crystallises into blueness. Blue colour is expressive of intense love. Solomon saw "Krishna". Here Krishna came to be seen by all.
Even now, when you get love, you see Radha. Become Radha and be saved. There is no other way, Christians do not understand Solomon's song. They call it prophecy symbolising Christ's love for the Church. They think it nonsense and father some story upon it.
Hindus believe Buddha to be an Avatara.
Hindus believe in God positively. Buddhism does not try to know whether He is or not.
Buddha came to whip us into practice. Be good, destroy the passions. Then you will know for yourself whether Dvaita or Advaita philosophy is true—whether there is one or there are more than one.
Buddha was a reformer of Hinduism.
In the same man the mother sees a son, while the wife at the same time sees differently with different results. The wicked see in God wickedness. The virtuous see in Him virtue. He admits of all forms. He can be moulded according to the imagination of each person. Water assumes various shapes in various vessels. But water is in all of them. Hence all religions are true.
God is cruel and not cruel. He is all being and not being at the same time. Hence He is all contradictions. Nature also is nothing but a mass of contradictions.
Freedom of the will—it is as you feel you are free to act. But this freedom is a species of necessity. There is one infinite link before, after, and between the thought and the action, but the latter takes the name of freedom—like a bird flitting through a bright room. We feel the freedom and feel it has no other cause. We cannot go beyond consciousness, therefore we feel we are free. We can trace it no further than consciousness. God alone feels the real freedom. Mahapurushas (saints) feel themselves identified with God; hence they also feel the real freedom.
You may stop the water flowing out of the fountain by closing that part of the stream and gathering it all in the fountain; you have no liberty beyond it. But the source remains unchanged. Everything is predestination—and a part of that predestination is that you shall have such feeling—the feeling of freedom. I am shaping my own action. Responsibility is the feeling of reaction. There is no absolute power. Power here is the conscious feeling of exercising any faculty which is created by necessity. Man has the feeling "I act"; what he means by power of freedom is the feeling. The power is attended with responsibility. Whatever may be done through us by predestination, we feel the reaction. A ball thrown by one, itself feels the reaction.
But this innate necessity which comes to us as our freedom does not affect also the conscious relations we form with our surroundings. The relativity is not changed. Either everybody is free or everybody is under necessity. That would not matter. The relations would be the same. Vice and virtue would be the same. If a thief pleads that he was under the necessity of stealing, the magistrate would say that he was under the necessity to punish. We are seated in a room, and the whole room is moving—the relation between us is unchanged. To get out of this infinite chain of causation is Mukti (freedom). Muktas (free souls) are not actuated by necessity, they are like god. They begin the chain of cause and effect. God is the only free being—the first source of their will—and is always experienced by them as such.
The feeling of want is the real prayer, not the words. But you must have patience to wait and see if your prayers are answered.
You should cultivate a noble nature by doing your duty. By doing our duty we get rid of the idea of duty; and then and then only we feel everything as done by God. We are but machines in His hand. This body is opaque, God is the lamp. Whatever is going out of the body is God's. You do not feel it. You feel "I". This is delusion. You must learn calm submission to the will of God. Duty is the best school for it. This duty is morality. Drill yourself to be thoroughly submissive. Get rid of the "I". No humbuggism. Then you can get rid of the idea of duty; for all is His. Then you go on naturally, forgiving, forgetting, etc.
Our religion always presents different gradations of duty and religion to different people.
Light is everywhere visible only in the men of holiness. A Mahapurusha is like crystal glass—full rays of God passing and repassing through. Why not worship a Jivanmukta?
Contact with holy men is good. If you go near holy men, you will find holiness overflowing unconsciously in everything there.
Resist not evil done to yourself, but you may resist evil done to others.
If you wish to become a saint, you should renounce all kinds of pleasures. Ordinarily, you may enjoy all, but pray to God for guidance, and He will lead you on.
The universe fills only a small portion of the heart which craves for something beyond and above the world.
Selfishness is the devil incarnate in every man. Every bit of self, bit by bit, is devil. Take off self by one side and God enters by the other. When the self is got rid of, only God remains. Light and darkness cannot remain together.
Forgetting the little "I" is a sign of healthy and pure mind. A healthy child forgets its body.
Sita—to say that she was pure is a blasphemy. She was purity itself embodied—the most beautiful character that ever lived on earth.
A Bhakta should be like Sita before Rama. He might be thrown into all kinds of difficulties. Sita did not mind her sufferings; she centreed herself in Rama.
Buddhism proves nothing about the Absolute Entity. In a stream the water is changing; we have no right to call the stream one. Buddhist deny the one, and say, it is many. We say it is one and deny the many. What they call Karma is what we call the soul. According to Buddhism, man is a series of waves. Every wave dies, but somehow the first wave causes the second. That the second wave is identical with the first is illusion. To get rid of illusion good Karma is necessary. Buddhists do not postulate anything beyond the world. We say, beyond the relative there is the Absolute. Buddhism accepts that there is misery, and sufficient it is that we can get rid of this Duhkha (misery); whether we get Sukha (happiness) or not, we do not know. Buddha preached not the soul preached by others. According to the Hindus, soul is an entity or substance, and God is absolute. Both agree in this, that they destroy the relative. But Buddhists do not give what is the effect of that destruction of the relative.
Present-day Hinduism and Buddhism were growths from the same branch. Buddhism degenerated, and Shankara lopped it off!
Buddha is said to have denied the Vedas because there is so much Himsa (killing) and other things. Every page of Buddhism is a fight with the Vedas (the ritualistic aspect). But he had no authority to do so.
Buddha is expressly agnostic about God; but God is everywhere preached in our religion. The Vedas teach God—both personal and impersonal. God is everywhere preached in the Gita. Hinduism is nothing without God. The Vedas are nothing without Him. That is the only way to salvation. Sannyasins have to repeat the following, several times: I, wishing for Mukti, take refuge in God, who created the world, who breathed out the Vedas.
Buddha, we may say now, ought to have understood the harmony of religions. He introduced sectarianism.
Modern Hinduism, modern Jainism, and Buddhism branched off at the same time. For some period, each seemed to have wanted to outdo the others in grotesqueness and humbuggism.
We cannot imagine anything which is not God. He is all that we can imagine with our five senses, and more. He is like a chameleon; each man, each nation, sees one face of Him and at different times, in different forms. Let each man see and take of God whatever is suitable to him. Compare each animal absorbing from nature whatever food is suitable to it.
The fault with all religions like Christianity is that they have one set of rules for all. But Hindu religion is suited to all grades of religious aspiration and progress. It contains all the ideals in their perfect form. For example, the ideal of Shanta or blessedness is to be found in Vasishtha; that of love in Krishna; that of duty in Rama and Sita; and that of intellect in Shukadeva. Study the characters of these and of other ideal men. Adopt one which suits you best.
Follow truth wherever it may lead you; carry ideas to their utmost logical conclusions. Do not be cowardly and hypocritical. You must have a great devotion to your ideal, devotion not of the moment, but calm, persevering, and steady devotion, like that of a Chataka (a kind of bird) which looks into the sky in the midst of thunder and lightening and would drink no water but from the clouds. Perish in the struggle to be holy; a thousand times welcome death. Be not disheartened. When good nectar is unattainable, it is no reason why we should eat poison. There is no escape. This world is as unknown as the other.
Charity never faileth; devotion to an ideal never fails in sympathy, never becomes weary of sympathising with others. Love to enemies is not possible for ordinary men: they drive out others in order to live themselves. Only a very few men lived in the world who practised both. King Janaka was one of them. Such a man is superior even to Sannyasins. Shukadeva, who was purity and renunciation embodied, made Janaka his Guru; and Janaka said to him, "You are a born Siddha; whatever you know and your father taught you, is true. I assure you of this."
Individuality in universality is the plan of creation. Each cell has its part in bringing about consciousness. Man is individual and at the same time universal. It is while realising our individual nature that we realise even our national and universal nature. Each is an infinite circle whose centre is everywhere and circumference nowhere. By practice one can feel universal Selfhood which is the essence of Hinduism. He who sees in every being his own Self is a Pandita (sage).
Rishis are discoverers of spiritual laws.
In Advaitism, there is no Jivatma; it is only a delusion. In Dvaitism, there is Jiva infinitely distinct from God. Both are true. One went to the fountain, another to the tank. Apparently we are all Dvaitists as far as our consciousness goes. But beyond? Beyond that we are Advaitists. In reality, this is the only truth. According to Advaitism, love every man as your own Self and not as your brother as in Christianity. Brotherhood should be superseded by universal Selfhood. Not universal brotherhood, but universal Selfhood is our motto. Advaitism may include also the "greatest happiness" theory.
So'ham—I am He. Repeat the idea constantly, voluntarily at first; then it becomes automatic in practice. It percolates to the nerves. So this idea, by rote, by repetition, should be driven even into the nerves.
Or, first begin with Dvaitism that is in your consciousness; second stage, Vishishtadvaitism—"I in you, you in me, and all is God." This is the teaching of Christ.
The highest Advaitism cannot be brought down to practical life. Advaitism made practical works from the plane of Vishishtadvaitism. Dvaitism—small circle different from the big circle, only connected by Bhakti; Vishishtadvaitism—small circle within big circle, motion regulated by the big circle; Advaitism—small circle expands and coincides with the big circle. In Advaitism "I" loses itself in God. God is here, God is there, God is "I".
One way for attaining Bhakti is by repeating the name of God a number of times. Mantras have effect—the mere repetition of words. Jalagiman Chetti's powers are due to the repetition of the Mantra—repetition of certain words with certain ceremonies. The powers of the Astras or Banas (missiles, arrows, etc.) of ancient war were due to Mantra. This is taken for granted throughout our Shastras. That we should take all these Shastras to be imagination is superstition.
To obtain Bhakti, seek the company of holy men who have Bhakti, and read books like the Gita and the Imitation of Christ; always think of the attributes of God.
The Vedas contain not only the means how to obtain Bhakti but also the means for obtaining any earthly good or evil. Take whatever you want.
Bengal is a land of Bhakti or Bhaktas. The stone on which Chaitanya used to stand in the temple of Jagannatha to see the image was worn by his tears of love and devotion. When he took Sannyasa, he showed his fitness for it to his Guru by keeping sugar on his tongue for some time without its being dissolved. He discovered Vrindavana by the power of insight he had acquired through devotion.
I will tell you something for your guidance in life. Everything that comes from India take as true, until you find congent reasons for disbelieving it. Everything that comes from Europe take as false, until you find congent reasons for believing it. Do not be carried away by European fooleries. Think for yourselves. Only one thing is lacking: you are slaves; you follow whatever Europeans do. That is simply an impotent state of mind. Society may take up materials from any quarter but should grow in its own way.
To be shocked by a new custom is the father of all superstition, the first road to hell. It leads to bigotry and fanaticism. Truth is heaven. Bigotry is hell.
## Footnotes
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。