Practical Vedanta

Practical Vedantarepeat [something] two or three times; it becomes my nature. Do not be miserable!Do not repent! What is done is done. If you burn yourself, [take theconsequences].. . . Be sensible. We make mistakes; what of that? That is all in fun. They go socrazy over their past sins, moaning and weeping and all that. Do not repent! Afterhaving done work, do not think of it. Go on! Stop not! Don't look back! What willyou gain by looking back? You lose nothing, gain nothing. You are not going tobe melted like butter. Heavens and hells and incarnations — all nonsense!Who is born and who dies? You are having fun, playing with worlds and all that.You keep this body as long as you like. If you do not like it, do not have it. TheInfinite is the real; the finite is the play. You are the infinite body and the finitebody in one. Know it! But knowledge will not make any difference; the play willgo on. . . . Two words — soul and body — have been joined. [Partial] knowledgeis the cause. Know that you are always free. The fire of knowledge burns down allthe [impurities and limitations]. I am that Infinite. . . .You are as free as you were in the beginning, are now, and always will be. He whoknows that he is free is free; he who knows that he is bound is bound.What becomes of God and worship and all that? They have their place. I havedivided myself into God and me; I become the worshipped and I worship myself.Why not? God is I. Why not worship my Self? The universal God — He is alsomy Self. It is all fun. There is no other purpose.What is the end and aim of life? None, because I [know that I am the Infinite]. Ifyou are beggars, you can have aims. I have no aims, no want, no purpose. I cometo your country, and lecture — just for fun. No other meaning. What meaning canbe there? Only slaves do actions for somebody else. You do actions for nobodyelse. When it suits you, you worship. You can join the Christians, theMohammedans, the Chinese, the Japanese. You can worship all the gods that everwere and are ever going to be. . . .I am in the sun, the moon, and the stars. I am with God and I am in all the gods. Iworship my Self.There is another side to it. I have kept it in reserve. I am the man that is going tobe hanged. I am all the wicked. I am getting punished in hells. That [also] is fun.This is the goal of philosophy [to know that I am the Infinite]. Aims, motives,purposes, and duties live in the background. . . .This truth is first to be listened to then to be thought about. Reason, argue it out byall manner of means. The enlightened know no more than that. Know it for certainthat you are in everything. That is why you should not hurt anybody, because inhurting them you hurt yourself. . . . [Lastly,] this is to be meditated upon. Thinkupon it. Can you realise there will come a time when everything will crumble inthe dust and you will stand alone? That moment of ecstatic joy will never leaveyou. You will actually find that you are without bodies. You never had bodies.I am One, alone, through all eternity. Whom shall I fear? It is all my Self. This iscontinuously to be meditated upon. Through that comes realisation. It is throughfile:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Chitra%20Selv...ksBySwami/PracticalVedanta/PracticalVedantaPDF.html (111 of 113)2/26/2007 12:24:34 AM