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Part Two
Incomplete Commentaries from Manuscripts
Isha Upanishad
All that is world in the Universe
The Sanscrit word जगत् is in origin a reduplicated & therefore frequentative participle from the root गम् to go It signifies “that which is in perpetual motion”, and implies in its neuter form the world, universe, and in its feminine form the earth World therefore is that which eternally vibrates, and the Hindu idea of the cosmos reduces itself to a harmony of eternal vibrations; form as we see it is simply the varying combination of different vibrations as they affect us through our perceptions & establish themselves to the concept So far then Hinduism has reached by analysis to the last & simplest material expression of this complex universe The question then arises, “Does anything lie beyond? If matter is all, then this is the last & there is no beyond But is matter all?” Our first verse is the answer of the Upanishad to this question “All that is world in the Universe by the Lord must be pervaded ” The very object of our existence is to pierce beyond this last & thinnest veil of matter to Spirit, the Lord who is behind every manifestation of matter, even the simplest & therefore is he the Lord, he is the Self of all things, matter being merely the body When we have realised that all this universe of vibration is full of the Spirit, we have set our feet on the right road that will lead us to the goal of existence This is what we “must” do, in other words to realise God in the universe is the object of our existence But why does the Upanishad say “must be pervaded”; why does it not say simply “is pervaded”? Is this pervasion then not a fact, but a possibility which each individual soul has to turn into a fact for itself? In what sense is it said that the object of the individual soul is to pervade the Universe with the Lord? We must remember that according to the Upanishad there are only two entities in existence which are not phenomena or manifestations, but eternal facts, and these two are in
Page – 95 reality not two but one, the illimitable & infinite Self behind phenomena, and the finite self which perceives phenomena The Adwaita or Monistic Vedanta affirms the entire unity of these two & explains their apparent separation by Maya, Illusion or Ignorance, in other words by the theory that the Indivisible Eternal has deliberately imagined himself as divisible (I speak in metaphors, the only way of approaching such subtle inquiries) & hence created an illusion of multiplicity where the only real fact is Unity We may take the metaphor of a sea & its waves; if each wave were to imagine itself separate from all other waves & from the sea of which it is a part, that would be an illusion similar to that of the finite self when it imagines itself as different from other finite selves and from the Infinite The wave is not really different from the sea but is sea (not the sea) and the next moment will be indistinguishable from sea; in fact the word “wave” merely expresses a momentary perception, an idea of change or modification which the next moment we perceive not to exist, and not a real object; the only real object is the sea
The Visishta Adwaita or modified-Monistic Vedanta on the other hand recognises that the infinite Self & the finite Self are eventually One, but still there is a distinction, a certain limitation of the Oneness The finite Self is of & in the infinite Self & therefore one with it but it does not coincide with it or disappear into it; the goal of its existence is the delight of feeling its oneness with the Eternal, but still the very feeling of delight implies a limitation, a difference, & this limitation is not temporary but eternal An image may be taken from the phenomenon of Light & its vibrations; it is all light, there is no real difference, & yet each of the vibrations is in a sense separate & continues its own existence on its own line for ever through infinity Lastly the Dwaita or Dualistic Vedanta affirms, on the contrary, that the finite selves & the Infinite are for ever different & the whole riddle of the world lies in their difference & in their attraction to each other To become one with the Eternal is here also the goal of the finite but the oneness is emotional & not essential; it is Union & not fusion It is difficult to find a close image here, but for want of a better we may take that of a river & the sea to
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which it is hasting It is water hasting to water & the whole aim of the river is to fling itself into the sea & towards that it strives with all its might & with all its soul; & finally it reaches the sea & mixes with it And yet there it is still, a river & not the sea So the two live in a perpetual embrace, ever united & yet ever different & feeling their separate existence Now these three philosophies really image three different states of soul & three different roads to the realisation of God There is the intellectual state of soul which reaches God through knowledge; this naturally attaches itself to Monism, for it seeks only the knowledge of its identity with God & its tendency is to discourage all action & emotion which interfere with this aim Then there is the actional state of soul which reaches God through action leading to knowledge & inspired by emotion; this aims at the knowledge of its identity with God, but its actional state requires a certain sense of difference from God without which action becomes meaningless; its tendency therefore, if the knowledge-impulse predominates over the emotional, is to rest for a time in modified Monism, though it recognises pure Monism as a far goal beyond; but if the emotional impulse predominates over the intellectual, its tendency is to adopt modified Monism as a final solution Lastly there is the emotional state of soul which reaches God through divine love; this naturally attaches itself to Dualism; for the only desire of love is to attain the loved one & go on loving for ever; an impossibility unless the feeling of difference in Union goes on for ever The three philosophies are therefore simply three different standpoints from which we envisage one single truth, that nothing eventually matters in the world except God & the goal of existence is to attain Him And I may add my own conviction that all three are necessary soul-stages By pausing too long in Dualism or even in modified Monism, we debar ourselves too long from our final emancipation; but by leaping too quickly to Monism we fall into a dangerous tendency towards the premature dissolution of phenomena which if largely followed upsets the fine balance of the world The right progress of the soul is first to realise its difference from God, so that we may feel attracted towards Him, then to realise that that difference
Page – 97 is a temporary or at least not an entire difference, that there is unity beyond, so that we may advance towards Him by the right road & under the laws of that phenomenal existence through which he reveals himself to us, and finally to perceive that we and God are One & all phenomena temporary & illusory, so that escaping from name & form we may lose ourselves in Him and attain our soul’s salvation Well then, here are three standpoints; which is the standpoint of the Upanishads? They do not, in fact, confine themselves to any, but regarding them as three necessary stages, speak now from one, now from another, now from a third Here it is speaking in a spirit of very slightly modified Monism There are two nonphenomenal existences, the Infinite Self & the Finite Self; from the point of view of the Infinite, Eternal Self, the universe is already pervaded with God; but we must also consider the point of view of the Finite Self,—which is really Infinite but considers itself to be Finite To this Finite Self the Universe is only the mass of its own perceptions If it perceives the Universe as mere matter, then for its purposes the Universe is Matter & not pervaded by the Lord; if I consider yonder tree as so much wood & pith & sap & leaves, such it is & no more so far as I am concerned; if I look within & perceive God there then it is I who have put him there; for the moment before He was not there for me & now He is In more Monistic language the Self at first imagines itself to be confined within its own body, but as it grows in thought it looks into object after object & perceives itself there & so it goes on putting itself into everything until it has pervaded all that is in the world with itself; it then realises that there is no self or non-self but all is God We see that it is merely a difference of language, of outlook, of perception; but these are the things through which human thought proceeds & they must be given their due place To recognize the differences they involve & yet to perceive the unity into which they merge, is the law & goal of all Hindu thought
But whatever the standpoint we take, for dualist, monist or semimonist the Vedanta lays this down as the great essential step to realise that when we have resolved this universe of forms
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& names into a great harmony of vibrations, we must still go beyond & perceive that the whole is but the material expression of one pervading Spirit And when we have realised this, what is the practical result; for it must be remembered that the Vedanta is always profoundly practical[.]
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