Practical Vedanta

Practical Vedantaof the knowledge about that one flower. The flower has become infinite — theflower which was finite to begin with. Take a grain of sand. Analyse it. We startwith the assumption that it is finite, and at last we find that it is not, it is infinite;all the same, we have looked upon it as finite. The flower is similarly treated as afinite something.So with all our thoughts and experiences, physical and mental. We begin, we maythink, on a small scale, and grasp them as little things; but very soon they eludeour knowledge and plunge into the abyss of the infinite. And the greatest and thefirst thing perceived is ourselves. We are also in the same dilemma aboutexistence. We exist. We see we are finite beings. We live and die. Our horizon isnarrow. We are here, limited, confronted by the universe all around. Nature cancrush us out of existence in a moment. Our little bodies are just held together,ready to go to pieces at a moment's notice. We know that. In the region of actionhow powerless we are! Our will is being thwarted at every turn. So many thingswe want to do, and how few we can do! There is no limit to our willing. We canwill everything, want everything, we can desire to go to the dogstar. But how fewof our desires can be accomplished! The body will not allow it. Well, nature isagainst the accomplishment of our will. We are weak. What is true of the flower,of the grain of sand, of the physical world, and of every thought, is a hundredfoldmore true of ourselves. We are also in the same dilemma of existence, being finiteand infinite at the same time. We are like waves in the ocean; the wave is theocean and yet not the ocean. There is not any part of the wave of which youcannot say, "It is the ocean." The name "ocean" applies to the wave and equally toevery other part of the ocean, and yet it is separate from the ocean. So in thisinfinite ocean of existence we are like wavelets. At the same time, when we wantreally to grasp ourselves, we cannot — we have become the infinite.We seem to be walking in dreams. Dreams are all right in a dream-mind; but assoon as you want to grasp one of them, it is gone. Why? Not that it was false, butbecause it is beyond the power of reason, the power of the intellect to comprehendit. Everything in this life is so vast that the intellect is nothing in comparison withit. It refuses to be bound by the laws of the intellect! It laughs at the bondage theintellect wants to spread around it. And a thousandfold more so is this the casewith the human soul. "We ourselves" — this is the greatest mystery of theuniverse.How wonderful it all is! Look at the human eye. How easily it can be destroyed,and yet the biggest suns exist only because your eyes see them. The world existsbecause your eyes certify that it exists. Think of that mystery! These poor littleeyes! A strong light, or a pin, can destroy them. Yet the most powerful engines ofdestruction, the most powerful cataclysms, the most wonderful of existences,millions of suns and stars and moons and earth — all depend for their existenceupon, and have to be certified by, these two little things! They say, "Nature, youexist", and we believe nature exists. So with all our senses.What is this? Where is weakness? Who is strong? What is great and what is small?file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Chitra%20Selva...oksBySwami/PracticalVedanta/PracticalVedantaPDF.html (63 of 113)2/26/2007 12:24:33 AM