Preparing for the Miraculous

216 eleven talksFor we cannot suppose that the sole Entity is compelled bysomething outside or other than itself, since no such thingexists. Nor can we suppose that it submits unwillingly tosomething partial within itself which is hostile to its wholeBeing, denied by It and yet too strong for It; for this wouldbe only to erect in other language the same contradiction ofan All and something other than the All.“Even if we say that the universe exists merely becausethe Self in its absolute impartiality tolerates all things alike,viewing with indifference all actualities and all possibilities,yet is there something that wills the manifestation andsupports it, and this cannot be something other than theAll. Brahman is indivisible in all things and whatever iswilled in the world has been ultimately willed by the Brahman.It is only our relative consciousness, alarmed or baffledby the phenomenon of evil, ignorance and pain in thecosmos, that seeks to deliver the Brahman from responsibilityfor Itself and its workings by erecting some oppositeprinciple, Maya or Mara, conscious Devil or self-existentprinciple of evil. There is one Lord and Self and the manyare only His representations and becomings.” 2Delight of existenceOne of the main tenets of Vedanta is that the ultimateattributes of the Divine are sat-chit/tapas-ananda, Existence-Consciousness/Force-Bliss. This is what in the last or highestinstance can be said of the Divine. These attributesare one, they are not and cannot be separate. The singingword ananda is the most difficult to translate, it means themost intense joy, delight, felicity, ecstasy or bliss. This isa divine attribute, different from any of the human feelingssuggested by the enumeration. “The truth is ananda,”2 Id., pp. 31-32.