Practical Vedanta

Practical Vedantaother words, nature (the cause of bondage) is without beginning and end, but notin the same sense as soul, because nature has no individuality; it is like a riverwhich gets a fresh body of water every moment; the sum total of these bodies ofwater is the river, but the river is not a constant quantity. Everything in nature isconstantly changing, but the soul never changes; so, as nature is always changing,it is possible for the soul to come out of its bondage.The whole of the universe is built upon the same plan as a part of it. So, just as Ihave a mind, there is a cosmic mind. As in the individual, so in the universal.There is the universal gross body; behind that, a universal fine body; behind that, auniversal mind; behind that, a universal egoism, or consciousness; and behind that,a universal intelligence. And all this is in nature, the manifestation of nature, notoutside of it.We have the gross bodies from our parents, as also our consciousness. Strictheredity says my body is a part of my parents' bodies, the material of myconsciousness and egoism is a part of my parents'. We can add to the little portioninherited from our parents by drawing upon the universal consciousness. There isan infinite storehouse of intelligence out of which we draw what we require; thereis an infinite storehouse of mental force in the universe out of which we aredrawing eternally; but the seed must come from the parents. Our theory is hereditycoupled with reincarnation. By the law of heredity, the reincarnating soul receivesfrom parents the material out of which to manufacture a man.Some of the European philosophers have asserted that this world exists because Iexist; and if I do not exist, the world will not exist. Sometimes it is stated thus: Ifall the people in the world were to die, and there were no more human beings, andno animals with powers of perception and intelligence, all these manifestationswould disappear. But these European philosophers do not know the psychology ofit, although they know the principle; modern philosophy has got only a glimpse ofit. This becomes easy of understanding when looked at from the Sankhya point ofview. According to Sankhya, it is impossible for anything to be, which has not asits material, some portion of my mind. I do not know this table as it is. Animpression from it comes to the eyes, then to, the Indriya, and then to the mind;and the mind reacts, and that reaction is what I call the table. It is just the same asthrowing a stone in a lake; the lake throws a wave towards the stone; this wave iswhat we know. What is external nobody knows; when I try to know it, it has tobecome that material which I furnish. I, with my own mind, have furnished thematerial for my eyes. There is something which is outside, which is only, theoccasion, the suggestion, and upon that suggestion I project my mind; and it takesthe form that I see. How do we all see the same things? Because we all have;similar parts of the cosmic mind. Those who have like minds will see like things,and those who have not will not see alike.file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Chitra%20Selva...oksBySwami/PracticalVedanta/PracticalVedantaPDF.html (88 of 113)2/26/2007 12:24:34 AM