A Comprehensive Collection - Swami Vivekananda

260 THE COSMOS : THE MACROCOSM.cannot find a better word than that, because all the aspirations, all the pleasures, all the hopes of humanity havecentered in that word. It is impossible now to change theword;it cannot be done. When the words were firstcoined by great saints, gigantic souls, they realized them rand understood the meaning fully. But as they go on inSociety, ignorant people take these words up, and the result is that they lose their glory. So the word Grfrd hascome from time immemorial, and all that is great and holy,and all that idea of this cosmic intelligence, hangs round it.Do you mean to say that because some fool says it is notall right, we should throw it off, and another comes andsays take my word, and another take my word ? If sothere will be no end to these foolish words. Use the oldword, only use it better, cleanse the mind of superstition,and realize fully what this great ancient word means. Ifyou understand what is meant by the power of the laws ofassociation, youwill know that with these words are associated multitudes and multitudes of majestic ideas offorce, they have been used by millions of human souls,millions of people have worshipped these words, and associatedwith them all that is highest and best, all that is rational, allthat is loveable, all that is great and grand in humannature. So these words come as the suggestions of theseassociations, and cannot be given up. If I had tried to explain all this to you, by just telling you that God createdthe universe, it would have conveyed no meaning. Yet,after all this struggle we have come back to Him, theAncient Ofte.Now then, what do we see ? That the beginning of allthe manifestation of thiscosmic energy, call itby variousnames, as matter, or thought, or force, or intelligence, orwhatever name you choose to give it, is simply the manifest-