A Comprehensive Collection - Swami Vivekananda

256 THE COSMOS : THE MACROCOSM.parts, is what, in modern times, is called Evolution.This isverytrue, perfectly true, we see it in our lives. Therecannot be any possible quarrel with these evolutionists forany rational man. But we have to learn one thingWe more.have to go one step further, and what is that? Thatevery evolution is preceded by an involution. The seed isthe father of the tree, but another tree was itself the fatherof the seed. The seed is the fine form out of whifti thebig tree comes, and another big tree was the form which hasgot involved in that seed. The whole of the tree is therepresent. No tree can be produced out of nothing, but wesee that the tree will come out of the seed, and certain seedswill produce certain trees, and not others.So it shows thatthe cause of that tree was the seed, an/1 that seed alone,andthat the whole of that tree was in that seed. The whole ofthe human being was in that one protoplasm, and it comesout slowly and slowly. The whole of this universe waspresent in the cosmic fine universe. Everything is presentin its cause, in its fine form. Therefore evolution is true,this gradual unfolding of grosser and grosser forms, thesemanifestations ;this is perfectly true, but each case hasbeen preceded by an involution. So the little cell whichbecomes afterwards the great man, was simply the involvedgreat man, and he will manifest himself and become evolved as a great man. If this is clear we have no quarrelwith the evolutionists, for as we go on we will see that ifthey admit this step, instead of the evolutionists destroyingreligion, they will be the greatest supporters of it.So far we see then that nothing can be created in thesense of something coming out of nothing. Everythingexists through eternity, and will exist through eternity.Only the movement is in succeeding waves and hollows.Going back to fine forms, coming out into big proper-