Chapter II: Part 2

What makes nature change? We see that Up to this point everything, all _Prakriti_, is _jadâ_ (insentient). It is working under law; it is all compound and insentient. Mind, intelligence, and will, all are insentient. But they are all reflecting the sentiency, the _Chit_ (Intelligence) of some Being who is beyond all this, and whom the Sânkhya philosophers call _Purusha_. This _Purusha_ is the unwitting cause of all these changes in Nature--in the universe. That is to say, this _Purusha_, taking Him in the universal sense, is the God of the universe. It is claimed that the will of the Lord created the universe. This is very good as a common daily expression, but that is all. How could it be will? Will is the third or fourth manifestation in Nature. Many things exist before it, and what created _them_? Will is a compound, and everything that is a compound is a production out of Nature. Will itself cannot create Nature. It is not a simple. So to say that the will of the Lord created the universe is illogical. Our will only covers a little portion of self-consciousness, and moves our brain, they say. If it did you could stop the action of the brain, but you cannot. It is not the will. Who moves the heart? It is not the will, because if it were you could stop it or not at your will. It is neither will that is working your body, nor that is working the universe. But it is something of which will itself is one of the manifestations. This body is being moved by the power of which will is only a manifestation in one part. So in the universe there is will, but that is only one part of the universe. The whole of the universe is not guided by will, that is why we do not find the explanation in will. Suppose I take it for granted that the will is moving the body, and then I begin to fret and fume. It is my fault, because I had no right to take it for granted that it was will. In the same way, if I take the universe and think it is will that moves it and then find things that do not coincide, it is my fault. This _Purusha_ is not will, neither can it be intelligence, because intelligence itself is a compound. There cannot be any intelligence without some sort of matter. In man, this matter takes the form which we call brain. Wherever there is intelligence there must be matter in some form or other. But that intelligence itself is a compound. What then is this _Purusha_? It is neither intelligence nor _buddhi_ (will), but yet it is the cause of both these; it is His presence that sets them all vibrating and combining. _Purusha_ may be likened to some of these substances which by their mere presence promote chemical reaction, as in the case of cyanide of potassium which is added when gold is being smelted. The cyanide of potassium remains separate and unaffected, but its presence is absolutely necessary to the success of the process. So with the _Purusha_. It does not mix with Nature: it is not Intelligence, or _Mahat_, or any one of these, but the Self, the Pure, the Perfect. “I am the Witness, and through My witnessing, Nature is producing all that is sentient and all that is insentient.” (Gita IX. 10.)

What is this sentiency in Nature? The basis of sentiency is in the _Purusha_, is the nature of the _Purusha_. It is that which cannot be spoken, but which is the material of all that we call knowledge. This _Purusha_ is not consciousness, because consciousness is a compound, but whatever is light and goodness in this consciousness belongs to It. Sentiency is in the _Purusha_, but the _Purusha_ is not intelligent, not knowing, it is knowledge itself. The _Chit_ in the _Purusha_, plus _Prakriti_, is what is known to us as intelligence and consciousness. Whatever is pleasure and happiness and light in the universe belongs to the _Purusha_, but it is a compound because it is that _Purusha_ plus Nature. “Wherever there is any happiness, wherever there is any bliss, there is one spark of that immortality, which is _Purusha_.” This _Purusha_ is the great attraction of the universe, untouched by, and unconnected with the universe, yet it attracts the whole universe. You see a man going after gold, because therein is a spark of the _Purusha_, even though he knows it not. When a man desires children, or a woman a husband, what is the attracting power? That spark of _Purusha_ behind the child or wife, behind everything. It is there, only overlaid with matter. Nothing else can attract. “In this world of insentiency that _Purusha_ alone is sentient.” This is the _Purusha_ of the _Sânkhyas_. As such it necessarily follows that this _Purusha_ must be omnipresent. That which is not omnipresent must be limited. All limitations are caused; that which is caused must have beginning and end. If the _Purusha_ is limited it will die, will not be final, will not be free, but will have been caused. Therefore if not limited, it is omnipresent. According to Kapila there are many _Purushas_, not one. An infinite number of them, you are one, I am one, each is one; an infinite number of circles, each one infinite, running through this universe. The _Purusha_ is neither born nor dies. It is neither mind nor matter, and the reflex from it is all that we know. We are sure if it be omnipresent it knows neither death nor birth. Nature is casting her shadow upon it, the shadow of birth and death, but it is by its own nature eternal. So far we have found the theory of Kapila wonderful.

Next we will have to take up the proofs against it. So far the analysis is perfect, the psychology cannot be controverted. There is no objection to it. We will ask of Kapila the question: Who created Nature? and his answer will be that Nature (_Prakriti_) is uncreate. He also says that the _Purusha_ is omnipresent and that of these _Purushas_ there is an infinite number. We shall have to controvert this last proposition, and find a better solution, and by so doing we shall come to the ground taken by Vedânta. Our first doubt will be how there can be these two infinites. Then our argument will be that it is not a perfect generalization, and that therefore we have not found a perfect solution. And then we shall see how the Vedantists find their way out of all these difficulties and reach a perfect solution. Yet all the glory really belongs to Kapila. It is very easy to give a finish to a building that is nearly complete.

III

SÂNKHYA AND ADVAITA

I will give you first a _resumé_ of the _Sânkhya_ philosophy, through which we have been going, because in this lecture we want to find where its defects are, and where Vedânta comes in as supplementary to these defects. You must remember that according to the _Sânkhya_ philosophy, Nature is causing all these manifestations which we call thought and intellect, reason, love, hatred, touch, taste; that everything is from Nature. This Nature consists of three sorts of elements, one called _Sattva_, another _Rajas_, and the third _Tamas_. These are not qualities, but the materials out of which the whole universe is being evolved, and at the beginning of a cycle they remain in equilibrium. When creation comes this equilibrium is disturbed and these elements begin to combine and recombine, and manifest as the universe. The first manifestation of this is what the _Sânkhya_ calls the _Mahat_ (universal Intelligence), and out of that comes consciousness. And out of consciousness is evolved _Manas_ (universal Mind). Out of this consciousness are also evolved the organs of the senses, and the _tanmâtras_,--sound particles, touch particles, taste particles, and so forth. All fine particles are evolved from this consciousness, and out of these fine particles come the gross particles which we call matter. After the _tanmâtras_ (those particles which cannot be seen, or measured) come the gross particles which we can feel and sense. The _chitta_ (“mind-stuff”) in its three-fold functions of intellect, consciousness and mind, is working and manufacturing the forces called _prânas_. These _prânas_ have nothing to do with breath, you must at once get rid of that idea. Breath is one effect of the Prâna (universal Energy). By these _prânas_ are meant the nervous forces that are governing and moving the whole body, which are manifesting themselves as thought, and as the various functions of the body. The foremost and the most obvious manifestation of these _prânas_ is the breathing motion. If it were caused by air, a dead man would breathe. The _prâna_ acts upon the air, and not air upon it. These _prânas_ are the vital forces which manipulate the whole body, and they in turn are manipulated by the mind and the _indriyas_ (the two kinds of organs). So far so good. The psychology is very clear and most precise, and just think of the age of it, the oldest rational thought in the world! Wherever there is any philosophy or rational thought, it owes something to Kapila. Wherever there is any attempt at psychology, or philosophy, there is some indebtedness to the great father of this thought, to this man Kapila.

So far we see that this psychology is wonderful, but we shall have to differ with it on some points, as we go on. We find that the principal idea on which Kapila works is evolution. He makes one thing evolve out of another, because his very definition of causation is “the effect is the cause reproduced in another form,” and because the whole universe, so far as we see it, is progressive and evolving. This whole universe must have evolved out of some material, out of _Prakriti_ or Nature. Therefore this Nature cannot be essentially different from its cause, only when it takes form it becomes limited. The material itself is without form. But according to Kapila, from undifferentiated nature down to the last stage of differentiation, none of these is the same as _Purusha_, the “Enjoyer,” or “Enlightener.” Just as a lump of clay, so is a mass of mind, or the whole universe. By itself it has no light, but we find reason and intelligence in it, therefore there must be some Existence behind it, behind the whole of Nature, whose light is percolating through it and appearing as _Mahat_ and consciousness and all these various things, and this Existence is what Kapila calls the _Purusha_, the _Âtman_ or Self of the Vedantist. According to Kapila, the _Purusha_ is a _simple_ factor, not a compound. It is immaterial, the only one that is immaterial, whereas all the various manifestations are material. The _Purusha_ alone knows. Suppose I see a blackboard, first the external instruments will bring that sensation to the organ (to the _indriya_ according to Kapila), from the organ it will go to the mind and make an impression; the mind will cover it up with another factor,--consciousness, and will present it to the _buddhi_ (intelligence), but _buddhi_ cannot act; it is the _Purusha_ behind that acts. These are all its servants, bringing the sensation to It, and It gives the orders, and the _buddhi_ reacts. The _Purusha_ is the Enjoyer, the Perceiver, the real One, the King on his throne, the Self of man, and It is immaterial. Because It is immaterial, it necessarily follows that It must be infinite, It cannot have any limitation whatever. So each one of these _purushas_ is omnipresent, each is all-pervading, but can act only through fine and gross manifestations of matter. The mind, the self-consciousness, the organs and the vital forces compose what is called the fine body, or what in Christian philosophy is called the “spiritual body” of man. It is this body that comes to reward or punishment, that goes to the different heavens; that incarnates and reincarnates; because we see from the very beginning that the going and coming of the soul (_Purusha_) is impossible. Motion means going and coming, and that which goes from one place to another cannot be omnipresent. It is this _linga-sarira_ (subtle body) which comes and goes. Thus far we see from Kapila’s psychology that the soul is infinite, and that the soul is the only principle that is not an evolution of Nature. It is the only one that is outside of Nature, but It has apparently got bound by Nature. This Nature is around the _Purusha_ and It has identified Itself with Nature. It thinks “I am the _linga-sarira_,” It thinks “I am the gross matter, the gross body,” and as such is enjoying pleasure and pain; but these do not really belong to the soul, they belong to this _linga-sarira_, and to the gross body. When certain nerves are hurt we feel pain. We recognize that immediately. If the nerves in our fingers were dead we could cut the fingers and not feel it. So pleasure and pain belong to the nerve-centres. Suppose my organ of sight is destroyed, I do not feel pleasure or pain from color, although my eyes are there. So it is obvious that pleasure and pain do not belong to the soul. They belong to the mind and the body.

The soul has neither pleasure nor pain; it is the Witness of everything, the eternal Witness of things that are going on, but it takes no fruits from any work. “As the sun is the cause of sight in every eye, yet is not itself affected by the defects in any eye; as a piece of crystal appears red when red flowers are placed before it, so this _Purusha_ appears to be affected by pleasure or pain from the reflection cast upon It by Nature, but it remains ever unchanged.” The nearest way to describe Its state is that it is meditation. This meditative state is that in which you approach nearest to the _Purusha_. Thus we see why the meditative state is always called the highest state by the _Yogi_, neither a passive nor an active state, but the meditative state. This is the _Sânkhya_ philosophy.

Next, the _Sânkhyas_ say that this manifestation of Nature is for the soul, all the combinations are for something outside of Nature. So these combinations which we call Nature, these constant changes are going on for the enjoyment of the soul, for its liberation, that it may gain all this experience from the lowest to the highest, and when it has gained it, the soul finds that it never was in Nature. It was entirely separate, and it finds that it is indestructible, that it neither goes nor comes, that going to heaven and being born again were in Nature and not in the soul. So the soul becomes free. All of Nature is working for the enjoyment and experience of the soul. It is getting this experience in order to reach the goal, and that goal is freedom. These souls are many, according to the _Sânkhya_ philosophy. There is an infinite number of souls. And the other conclusion is that there is no God, as the Creator of the universe. Nature herself is sufficient to produce all these forms. God is not necessary, say the _Sânkhyas_.

Now we shall have to contest these three positions of the _Sânkhyas_. First that intelligence or anything of that sort does not belong to the soul, but that it belongs entirely to Nature; the soul being simply qualitiless, colorless. The second point is that there is no God, but Vedânta will show that without a God there cannot be any explanation whatever. Thirdly, we shall have to contend that there cannot be many souls, that there cannot be an infinite number, that there is only One Soul in the universe, and that One is appearing as many.

We will take the first proposition, that intelligence and reason belong entirely to Nature, and not to the soul. The Vedânta says that the soul is in its essence Existence-Knowledge-Bliss; but we agree with the _Sânkhyas_ that all that they call intelligence is a compound. For instance, let us look at our perceptions. We remember that the _chitta_ (or the “mind-stuff”) is what is combining all these things, and upon which all these impressions are made, and from which reactions come. Suppose there is something outside. I see the blackboard. How does the knowledge come? The blackboard itself is unknown, I can never know it. It is what the German philosophers call the “thing in itself.” That blackboard, that “X,” is acting on my mind, and the _chitta_ reacts. The _chitta_ is like a lake; throw a stone upon it, and as soon as the stone strikes it a reactionary wave comes towards the stone. This wave is what you really know. And this wave is not like the stone at all, it is a wave. So that blackboard, “X,” is the stone which strikes the mind and the mind throws up a wave towards that object which strikes it, and this wave which is thrown towards it is what we call the blackboard. I see you. You as reality are unknown and unknowable. You are “X” and you act upon my mind, and the mind throws a wave towards the point from which the action came, and that wave is what I call Mr. or Mrs. So-and-So.

There are two elements in this, one from inside and the other from outside, and the combination of these two, “X” plus mind, is our external universe. All knowledge is by reaction. In the case of a whale it has been determined by calculation how long after its tail is struck, its mind reacts upon the tail and the tail feels the pain. Take the case of the pearl oyster, in which the pearl is formed by the oyster throwing its own juice around the grain of sand that enters the shell and irritates him. There are two things which cause the pearl. First the oyster’s own juice, and second the blow from outside. So this table is “X” plus my mind. The very attempt to know it will be made by the mind; therefore the mind will give some of its own substance to enable it to understand, and when we understand it, it has become a compound thing,--“X” plus the mind. Similarly in internal perception; when we want to know ourselves. The real Self, which is within us, is also unknown and unknowable. Let us call it “Y.” When I want to know myself as Mr. So-and-So it is “Y” plus the mind. That “Y” strikes a blow on the mind, and when I want to know myself I must throw a blow upon the mind also. So our whole world is “X” plus mind (the external world), and “Y” plus mind (the internal world). We shall see later how this Advaitist idea can be demonstrated mathematically.

“X” and “Y” are simply the algebraic unknown quantities. We have seen that all knowledge is a combination, and this world, the universe, is a combination, and intelligence is similarly a combination. If it is internal intelligence it is “Y” plus the mind, if an external object, it is “X” plus the mind. Knowledge is a combination of “Y” plus the mind and matter is a combination of “X” plus the mind. We first take the internal group. Intelligence which we see in Nature cannot be wholly in Nature, because intelligence itself is a compound of “Y” plus the mind. “Y” comes from the Self. So the intelligence that we know is a compound of the power of the light of the soul plus nature. Similarly, the existence which we know must be a compound of “X” plus the mind. We find therefore that in these three factors, I exist, I know and I am blessed, the idea that I have no want, which comes from time to time, is the central idea, the grand basic idea of our life, and when it becomes limited, and becomes a compound, we think it happiness and misery. These factors manifest as existence phenomenal, knowledge phenomenal, and love phenomenal. Every man exists, and every man must know, and every man is made for bliss. He cannot help it. So through all existence; animals and plants, from the lowest to the highest existence, all must love. You may not call it love; but they must all exist, must all know and must all love. So this existence which we know is a compound of “X” and the mind, and knowledge also is a compound of that “Y” inside plus mind, and that love also is a compound of that “Y” and mind. Therefore these three factors which come from inside and are combining themselves with the external things to manufacture phenomenal existence, knowledge and love, are called by the Vedantists “Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, Bliss Absolute.”

That Absolute Existence which is limitless, which is unmixed, uncombined, which knows no change, is the free soul, and that Real Existence, when it gets mixed up, muddled up, as it were, with the elements of Nature is what we call human existence. It is limited and manifests as plant life, animal life, human life, just as infinite space is apparently limited by the walls of this room, or by any other enclosure. That Knowledge Absolute means not the knowledge we know, not intelligence, not reason, not instinct, but that which when it becomes manifested we call by these names. When that Knowledge Absolute becomes limited we call it intuition, and when it becomes still more limited we call it reason, instinct, etc. That Knowledge Absolute is _Vijnâna_. The nearest translation of it is “all-knowingness.” There is no combination in it. It is the nature of the soul. That Bliss Absolute when it becomes limited we call love, attraction for the gross body, or the fine bodies, or for ideas. These are but distorted manifestations of this blessedness which is not a quality of the soul, but the essence, the inherent nature of the soul. Absolute Existence, Absolute Knowledge, and Absolute Blessedness are not qualities of the soul, but its essence; there is no difference between them and the soul. And the three are one; we see the one thing in three different lights. They are beyond all knowledge and by their reflection Nature appears to be intelligent.

It is that eternal Knowledge Absolute of the Self percolating through the mind of man that becomes our reason and intelligence. It varies according to the medium through which it is shining. There is no difference as soul between me and the lowest animal, only his brain is a poorer medium through which the knowledge shines, and we call it instinct. In man the brain is much finer, so the manifestation is much clearer, and in the highest man it has become entirely clear, like a piece of glass. So with existence; this existence which we know, this limited bit of existence is simply a reflection of that Existence Absolute which is the nature of the soul. So with bliss; that which we call love or attraction is but the reflection of the eternal blessedness of the Self, because with these manifestations come limitations, but the unmanifested, the natural, essential existence of the soul is unlimited, to that blessedness there can be no limit. But in human love there are limitations. I may love you one day, I may cease to love you the next. My love increases one day, decreases the next, because it is only a limited manifestation. The first thing therefore that we find against Kapila is that he conceives the soul to be a mere qualitiless, colorless, inactive something. Vedânta teaches that it is the essence of all Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss; infinitely higher than all knowledge that we know, infinitely more blessed than any human love that we can think of, infinitely existing. The soul never dies. Death and birth are simply unthinkable in connection with the Self, because it is Existence Absolute.

The second point where we will contend with Kapila is with regard to his idea of God. Just as this series of limited manifestations of Nature, beginning with the individual intellect and ending with the individual body, requires the Self behind as the ruler and governor on the throne, so in the Cosmos, we must enquire what the universal Intelligence, the universal Mind, the universal fine and gross materials have as their ruler and governor? How will that series become complete without one universal Self behind it as its ruler and governor? If we deny that there is a universal governor, we must deny there is a soul behind the lesser series, because the whole universe is a repetition of the same plan. When we know one lump of clay we know the nature of all clay. If we can analyze one human being, we shall have analyzed the whole universe, because it is all built on the same plan. Therefore if it be true that behind this individual series there stands one who is beyond all nature, who is not composed of materials, the _purusha_, the very same logic will apply to this universe, and this universe too will require such a Soul. The Universal Soul which is behind the modifications of Nature is called by Vedânta _Isvara_, the Supreme Ruler, God.

Now comes the more difficult point to fight. There can be but one Soul. To begin with, we can give the _Sânkhyas_ a good blow by taking up their theories and proving that each soul must be omnipresent, because it is not composed of anything. Everything that is limited must be limited by something else. Here is the existence of the table. Its existence is circumscribed by many things, and we find that every limitation presupposes some limiting thing. If we think of space, we have to think of it as a little circle, but beyond that is more space. We cannot imagine a limited space in any other way. It can only be understood and perceived through the infinite. To perceive the finite, in every case we must apprehend the infinite; both stand or fall together. When you think of time, you have also to think of time beyond any particular period of time. The latter is limited time and the larger is unlimited time. Wherever you endeavor to perceive the finite, you will find it impossible to separate it from the infinite. If this be the case, we shall prove thereby that this Self must be infinite, omnipresent. Then comes a fine question. Can the omnipresent, the infinite be two? Suppose there are two infinites, one will limit the other. Suppose there are two infinites,--A and B; the infinite “A” limits the infinite “B,” because the infinite “B” you can say is not the infinite “A,” and the infinite “A” it can be said is not the infinite “B.” Therefore there can be but one infinite. Secondly, the infinite cannot be divided. Infinity divided into any number of parts must still be infinity, for it cannot be separated from itself. Suppose there is an infinite ocean of water, could you take up one drop from there? If you could, that ocean would no longer be infinite, that drop would limit it. The infinite cannot be divided by any means.

But there are stronger proofs that the Self is One. Not only so, but that the whole universe is one. We will once more take up our “X” and “Y”. We have shown how what we call the external world is “X” plus mind, and the internal world “Y” plus mind. “X” and “Y” are both unknown quantities, unknown and unknowable. What is the mind? The mind is the “time, space and causation.” This idea is the nature of the mind. You can never think without time, you can never conceive of anything without space, and you can never imagine anything without causation. These three are the forms in which both “X” and “Y” are caught, and which become the mind. Beyond that there is nothing to the mind. Take off these three forms which of themselves do not exist,--what remains? It is all one; “X” and “Y” are one. It is only this mind, this form, that has limited them apparently, and made them differ as internal and external world. “X” and “Y” are both unknown and unknowable. We cannot attribute any quality to them. As such they are both the same. That which is qualitiless and attributeless and absolute must be one. There cannot be two absolutes. When there are no qualities there can be only One. “X” and “Y” are both without qualities because they take qualities only in the mind, therefore this “X” and “Y” are one.

The whole universe is One. There is only One Self in the universe, only One Existence, and that One Existence, when it is passing through the forms of time, space and causation, is called _buddhi_, fine matter, gross matter, etc. All physical and mental forms, everything in the universe is that One, appearing in various ways. When a little bit of it gets into this network of time, space and causation, it apparently takes forms; remove the network and it is all One. This whole universe is all one, and is called in the Advaitist philosophy _Brahman_. _Brahman_ appearing behind the universe is called God; appearing behind the little universe--the microcosm, is the soul. This very “Self” or Âtman therefore is God in man. There is only one _Purusha_, and He is called God, and when God and man are analyzed they are one. The universe is you yourself, the unbroken you; you are throughout this universe. “In all hands you work, through all mouths you eat, through all nostrils you breathe, through all minds you think.” The whole universe is you; this universe is your body; you are the universe, both formed and unformed. You are the soul of the universe, its body also. You are God, you are the angels, you are man, you are the animals, you are the plants, you are the minerals, you are everything; all manifestation is you. Whatever exists is you--the _real_ “You”--the one undivided Self--not the little, limited personality that you have been regarding as yourself.

The question now arises,--how have you, that Infinite Being, broken into parts, become Mr. So-and-So, and the animals and so on? The answer is that all this division is only apparent. We know that the infinite cannot be divided, therefore this idea that you are a part has no reality, and never will have: and this idea that you are Mr. So-and-So was never true at any time; it is but a dream. Know this and be free. That is the Advaitist conclusion. “I am neither the mind, nor the body, nor am I the organs; I am Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute; I am He, I am He,” This is knowledge, and everything besides this is ignorance. Everything that is, is but ignorance, the result of ignorance. Where is knowledge for me, for I am knowledge itself! Where is life for me, for I am life itself! Life is a secondary manifestation of my nature. I am sure I live, for I am life, the one Being, and nothing exists except through me, and in me, and as me. I am manifested through elements, but I am the one free. Who seeks freedom? Nobody seeks freedom. If you think that you are bound, you remain bound; you make your own bondage. If you realize that you are free, you are free this moment. This is knowledge, knowledge of freedom. Freedom is the goal of all Nature.

IV

THE FREE SOUL

We have seen that the analysis of the _Sânkhyas_ stops with the duality of existence, Nature and souls. There are an infinite number of souls, which, being simple, cannot die, and must therefore be separate from Nature. Nature in itself changes and manifests all these phenomena, and the soul, according to the _Sânkhyas_ is inactive. It is a simple by itself, and Nature works out all these phenomena for the liberation of the soul, and liberation consists in the soul discriminating that it is not Nature. At the same time we have seen that the _Sânkhyas_ were bound to admit that every soul was omnipresent. Being a simple the soul cannot be limited, because all limitation comes either through time, space, or causation. The soul being entirely beyond these cannot have any limitation. To have limitation one must be in space, which means the body, and that which is body must be in Nature. If the soul had form, it would be identified with Nature; therefore the soul is formless, and that which is formless cannot be said to exist here, there, or anywhere. It must be omnipresent. Beyond this the _Sânkhya_ philosophy does not go.

The first argument of the Vedantists against this is that this analysis is not a perfect one. If this Nature be a simple, and the soul is also a simple, there will be two simples, and all the arguments that apply in the case of the soul to show that it is omnipresent, will apply in the case of Nature, and Nature too will be beyond all time, space, and causation, and as the result there will be no change or manifestation. Then will come the difficulty of having two simples, or two absolutes, which is impossible. What is the solution of the Vedantist? His solution is that, just as the _Sânkhyas_ say, it requires some sentient being as the motive power behind, which makes the mind think and Nature work, because Nature in all its modifications, from gross matter up to _Mahat_ (Intelligence) is simply insentient. Now, says the Vedantist, this sentient being which is behind the whole universe is what we call _God_, and consequently this universe is not different from Him. It is He Himself who has become this universe. He not only is the instrumental cause of this universe, but also the material cause. Cause is never different from effect, the effect is but the cause reproduced in another form. We see that every day. So this Being is the cause of Nature. All the forms and phases of Vedânta, either dualistic, or qualified-monistic, or monistic, first take this position,--that God is not only the instrumental but also the efficient cause of this universe, that everything which exists is He. The second step in Vedânta is that these souls are also a part of God, one spark of that Infinite Fire. “As from a mass of fire millions of small particles fly, even so from this Ancient One have come all these souls.” So far so good, but it does not yet satisfy. What is meant by a part of the Infinite? The Infinite is indivisible; there cannot be parts of the Infinite. The Absolute cannot be divided. What is meant therefore that all these sparks are from Him? The Advaitist, the non-dualistic Vedantist, solves the problem by maintaining that there is really no part; that each soul is really not a part of the Infinite, but actually _is_ the Infinite _Brahman_. Then how can there be so many? The sun reflected from millions of globules of water appears to be millions of suns, and in each globule is a miniature picture of the sun-form; so all these souls are but reflections and not real. They are not the real “I” which is the God of this universe, the one undivided Being of the universe. And all these little different beings, men and animals, etc., are but reflections, and not real. They are simply illusory reflections upon Nature. There is but one Infinite Being in the universe, and that Being appears as you and as I, but this appearance of division is after all delusion. He has not been divided, but only appears to be divided. This apparent division is caused by looking at Him through the network of time, space, and causation. When I look at God through the network of time, space, and causation, I see Him as the material world. When I look at Him from a little higher plane, yet through the same network, I see Him as an animal, a little higher as a man, a little higher as a god, but yet He is the One Infinite Being of the universe, and that Being we are. I am That, and you are That. Not parts of It, but the whole of It. “It is the Eternal Knower standing behind the whole phenomena; He Himself is the phenomena.” He is both the subject and the object, He is the “I” and the “You.” How is this? “How to know the knower?” The Knower cannot know himself. I see everything but cannot see myself. The Self, the Knower, the Lord of all, the Real Being, is the cause of all the vision that is in the universe, but it is impossible for Him to see Himself or know Himself, excepting through reflection. You cannot see your own face excepting in a mirror, and so the Self cannot see its own nature until it is reflected, and this whole universe therefore is the Self trying to realize Itself. This reflection is thrown back first from the protoplasm, then from plants and animals, and so on and on from better and better reflectors, until the best reflector,--the perfect man,--is reached. Just as a man who, wanting to see his face, looks first in a little pool of muddy water, and sees just an outline. Then he comes to clearer water, and sees a better image, then to a piece of shining metal, and sees a still better image, and at last to a looking-glass, and sees himself reflected as he is. Therefore the perfect man is the highest reflection of that Being, who is both subject and object. You now find why man instinctively worships everything, and how perfect men are instinctively worshipped as God in every country. You may talk as you like, but it is they who are bound to be worshipped. That is why men worship Incarnations, such as Christ or Buddha. They are the most perfect manifestations of the eternal Self. They are much higher than all the conceptions of God that you or I can make. A perfect man is much higher than such conceptions. In him the circle becomes complete; the subject and the object become one. In him all delusions go away and in their place comes the realization that he has always been that perfect Being. How came this bondage then? How was it possible for this perfect Being to degenerate into the imperfect? How was it possible that the free became bound? The _Advaitist_ says he was never bound, but was always free. Various clouds of various colors come before the sky. They remain there a minute and then pass away. It is the same eternal blue sky stretching there forever. The sky never changes; it is the cloud that is changing. So you are always perfect, eternally perfect. Nothing ever changes your nature, or ever will. All these ideas that I am imperfect, I am a man, or a woman, or a sinner, or I am the mind, I have thought, I will think, all are hallucinations; you never think, you never had a body; you never were imperfect. You are the blessed Lord of this universe, the one Almighty ruler of everything that is and ever will be, the one mighty ruler of these suns and stars and moons and earths and plants, and all the little bits of our universe. It is through you the sun shines, and the stars shed their lustre, and the earth becomes beautiful. It is through your blessedness that they all love and are attracted to each other. You are in all, and you are all. Whom to avoid, and whom to take? You are the all in all. When this knowledge comes delusion immediately vanishes.

I was once travelling in the desert in India. I travelled for over a month and always found the most beautiful landscapes before me, beautiful lakes and all that. One day I was very thirsty and I wanted to have a drink at one of these lakes, but when I approached that lake it vanished. Immediately with a blow came into my brain the idea that this was a mirage about which I had read all my life, and then I remembered and smiled at my folly, that for the last month all the beautiful landscapes and lakes I had been seeing were this mirage, but I could not distinguish them then. The next morning I again began my march; there was the lake and the landscape, but with it immediately came the idea, “This is a mirage.” Once known it had lost its powers of illusion. So this illusion of the universe will break one day. The whole of this will vanish, melt away. This is realization. Philosophy is no joke or talk. It will be realized; this body will vanish, this earth and everything will vanish, this idea that I am the body, or the mind, will for some time vanish, or if the _Karma_ is ended it will disappear never to come back; but if one part of the _Karma_ remains,--as a potter’s wheel after the potter has finished the pot, will sometimes go on from the past momentum--so this body, when this delusion has vanished altogether, will go on for some time. Again this world will come, men and women and animals will come, just as the mirage came the next day, but not with the same force, along with it will come the idea that I know its nature now, and it will cause no bondage, no more pain, nor grief, nor misery. Whenever anything miserable will come, the mind will be able to say, “I know you as hallucination.” When a man has reached that state he is called _jivan mukta_, “living free,” free even while living. The aim and end in this life for the _Jnâna Yogi_ is to become this _jivan mukta_, living freedom. He is _jivan mukta_ who can live in this world without being attached. He is like the lotus leaves in water, which are never wet by the water. He is the highest of human beings, nay, the highest of all beings, for he has realized his identity with the Absolute, he has realized that he is one with God. So long as you think you have the least difference from God, fear will seize you, but when you have known that you are He, that there is no difference, entirely no difference, that you are He, all of Him, and the whole of Him, all fear ceases. “There who sees whom? Who worships whom? Who talks to whom? Who hears whom? Where one sees another, where one talks to another, where one hears another, it is in law. Where none sees none, where none speaks to none that is the highest, that is the great, that is the _Brahman_.” Being That, you are always That. What will become of the world then? What good shall we do to the world? Such questions do not arise. “What becomes of my gingerbread if I become old?” says the baby. “What becomes of my marbles if I grow, so I will not grow,” says the boy. “What will become of my dolls if I grow old?” says the little child. It is the same question in connection with this world; it has no existence in the past, present, or future. If we have known the _Âtman_ as It is, if we have known that there is nothing else but this _Âtman_, that everything else is but a dream, with no existence in reality, then this world with its poverties, its miseries, its wickedness and its goodness will cease to disturb us. If they do not exist, for whom and for what shall we take trouble? This is what the _Jnâna Yogis_ teach. Therefore, dare to be free, dare to go as far as your thought leads, and dare to carry that out in your life. It is very hard to come to _jnânam_. It is for the bravest and most daring, who dare to smash all idols, not only intellectual, but in the senses. This body is not I; it must go. All sorts of curious things may come out of this. A man stands up and says I am not the body, therefore my headache must be cured, but where is the headache if not in his body? Let a thousand headaches and a thousand bodies come and go. What is that to me? “I have neither birth nor death; father nor mother I never had; friends and foes I have none, because they are all I; I am my own friend and I am my own enemy; I am Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute; I am He, I am He.” If in a thousand bodies I am suffering from fever and other ills, in millions of bodies I am healthy. If in a thousand bodies I am starving, in other thousand bodies I am feasting. If in thousands of bodies I am suffering misery, in thousands of bodies I am happy. Who shall blame whom, who praise whom? Whom to seek, whom to avoid? I seek none, nor avoid any, for I am all the universe, I praise myself, I blame myself, I suffer for myself, I am happy at my own will, I am free. This is the _Jnâni_, brave and daring. Let the whole universe tumble down; he smiles and says it never existed. It was all an hallucination; we see the universe tumble down; where was it? Where has it gone?

Before going into the practical part, we will take up one more intellectual question. So far the logic is tremendously rigorous. If man reasons, there is no place for him to stand until he comes to this, that there is but One Existence, that everything else is nothing. There is no other way left for rational mankind but to take this view. But how is it that what is infinite, ever perfect, ever blessed, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute has come under these delusions? It is the same question that has been asked all the world over. In the vulgar form the question becomes “How did sin come into this world?” This is the most vulgar and sensuous form of the question, and the other is the more philosophic form, but the answer is the same. The same question has been asked in various grades and fashions, but in its lower forms it finds no solution, because the stories of apples and serpents and women do not give the explanation. In that state, the question is childish and so is the answer. But the question has assumed very high proportions now. “How this illusion came?” And the answer is as fine. The answer is that we cannot expect any answer to an impossible question. The very question is impossible in terms. You have no right to ask that question. Why? What is perfection? That which is beyond time, space and causation. That is perfect. Then you ask how the perfect became imperfect. In logical language the question may be put in this form--“How did that which is beyond causation become caused?” You contradict yourself. You first admit it is beyond causation, and then ask what causes it. This question can only be asked within the limits of causation. As far as time and space and causation extend, so far can this question be asked. But beyond that it will be nonsense to ask it, because the question is illogical. Within time, space and causation it can never be answered, and what answer may lie beyond these limits can only be known when we have transcended them, therefore the wise will let this question rest. When a man is ill, he devotes himself to curing his disease, without insisting that he must first learn how he came to have it.

There is another form of this question, a little lower, but more practical and illustrative. What produced this delusion? Can any reality produce delusion? Certainly not. We see that one delusion produces another, and so on. It is delusion always that produces delusion. It is disease that produces disease, and not health that produces disease. The wave is the same thing as the water, the effect is the cause in another form. The effect is delusion, and therefore the cause must be delusion. What produced this delusion? Another delusion. And so on without beginning. The only question that remains for you to ask is, does not this break your monism, because you get two existences in the universe, one yourself, and the other the delusion? The answer is,--delusion cannot be called an existence. Thousands of dreams come into your life, but do not form any part of your life. Dreams come and go; they have no existence; to call delusion existence will be sophistry. Therefore there is only one individual existence in the universe, ever free, and ever blessed, and that is what you are. This is the last conclusion reached by the _Advaitists_. It may then be asked, what becomes of all these various forms of worship? They will remain; they are simply groping in the dark for light, and through this groping light will come. We have just seen that the Self cannot see Itself. Our knowledge is within the network of _Mâyâ_ (unreality), and beyond that is freedom; within the network there is slavery, it is all under law. Beyond that there is no law. So far as the universe is concerned, existence is ruled by law, and beyond that is freedom. As long as you are in the network of time, space and causation, to say you are free is nonsense, because in that network all is under rigorous law, sequence and consequence. Every thought that you think is caused, every feeling has been caused; to say that the will is free is sheer nonsense. It is only when the infinite existence comes, as it were, into this network of _Mâyâ_ that it takes the form of will. Will is a portion of that being caught in the network of _Mâyâ_, and therefore “free-will” is a misnomer. It means nothing,--sheer nonsense. So is all this talk about freedom. There is no freedom in _Mâyâ_.

Every one is as much bound in thought, word, deed, and mind, as a piece of stone or this table. That I talk to you now is as rigorously in causation as that you listen to me. There is no freedom until you go beyond _Mâyâ_. That is the real freedom of the soul. Men, however sharp and intellectual, however clearly they see the force of the logic that nothing here can be free, are all compelled to think they are free; they cannot help. No work can go on until we begin to say we are free. It means that the freedom we talk about is the glimpse of the blue sky through the clouds, and that the real freedom--the blue sky itself,--is behind. True freedom cannot exist in the midst of this delusion, this hallucination, this nonsense of the world, this universe of the senses, body and mind. All these dreams, without beginning or end, uncontrolled and uncontrollable, ill-adjusted, broken, inharmonious, form our idea of this universe. In a dream, when you see a giant with twenty heads chasing you, and you are flying from him, you do not think it is inharmonious; you think it is proper and right. So is this law. All that you call law is simply chance without meaning. In this dream state you call it law. Within _Mâyâ_, so far as this law of time, space and causation exists, there is no freedom, and all these various forms of worship are within this _Mâyâ_. The idea of God and the ideas of brute and of man are within this _Mâyâ_, and as such equally hallucinations; all of them are dreams. But you must take care not to argue like some extraordinary men of whom we hear at the present time. They say the idea of God is a delusion, but the idea of this world is true. Both ideas stand or fall by the same logic. He alone has the right to be an atheist who denies this world, as well as the other. The same argument is for both. The same mass of delusion extends from God to the lowest animal, from a blade of grass to the Creator. They stand or fall by the same logic. The same person who sees falsity in the idea of God ought also to see it in the idea of his own body, or his own mind. When God vanishes, then also vanish the body and mind, and when both vanish, that which is the Real Existence remains forever. “There the eyes cannot go, nor the speech, nor the mind. We cannot see it, neither know it.” And we now understand that so far as speech and thought and knowledge, and intellect go, it is all within this _Mâyâ_, within bondage. Beyond that is Reality. There neither thought, nor mind, nor speech, can reach.