A Comprehensive Collection - Swami Vivekananda

BHAKTI OK DEVOTION. 353project out of our own minds. A grain of sand gets intoths shell of an oyster. It begins to irritate the oyster andthe ^yster immediately coversthe sand with a secretion ofits own juice, and the result is the beautiful pearl. Thisis what we are all doing. External things are only thebits of sand which are making the suggestions,and overthese we project our own ideals, and cover the externals.The wicked will see this world as a perfect hell, and thegood will see it as a perfect heaven. Lovers see this worldas full of love, and haters as full of hatred, fighters seenothing but fighting in the world, peace-makers nothingbut peace, the perfect man sees nothing but God. So wealways worship our highest ideals, and when we havereached the point, when we love the ideal as the ideal, allarguments and doubts have vanished for ever. Who careswhether a God can be demonstrated or not ? The ideal cannever escape, because it is a part of my own nature. Ishall only question that ideal, when I question my ownexistence, and as I cannot question the one, I shall notquestion the other. Who cares whether science candemonstrate to me a God outside of myself, living somewhere, managing this universe by fits and starts, creatingit for several days, and then going to sleep for the rest oftime ? Who cares whether God can be Almighty and All-Merciful at the same time, or not ? Who cares whetherHe is the rewarder of mankind, whether He looks at uswith the eyes of a tyrant, or with the eyes of a beneficentmonarch ? The lover has passed beyond all these things 7beyond rewards and punishments, beyond fears, or doubts,or scientific, or any other demonstration. Sufficient untohim is the ideal of love, and is it not self-evident that thisuniverse is but a manifestation of this love ? What is itthat makes atoms come and join atoms, molecule, molecule,23