UNITY IN DIVERSITY 4

July 26, 2006

Om Namah Sivaya

Discourse by Sri Swami Vivekananda

(Delivered in London, 3rd November 1896)

We find, then, that this world is neither optimistic nor pessimistic; it is a

mixture of both, and as we go on we shall find that the whole blame is taken

away from nature and put upon our own shoulders. At the same time the

Vedanta shows the way out, but not by denial of evil, because it analyses boldly

the fact as it is and does not seek to conceal anything. It is not hopeless; it is not

agnostic. It finds out a remedy, but it wants to place that remedy on adamantine

foundations: not by shutting the child's mouth and blinding its eyes with

something which is untrue, and which the child will find out in a few days. I

remember when I was young, a young man's father died and left him poorly off,

with a large family to support, and he found that his father's friends were

unwilling to help him. He had a conversation with a clergyman who offered this

consolation, "Oh, it is all good, all is sent for our good." That is the old method

of trying to put a piece of gold leaf on an old sore. It is a confession of

weakness, of absurdity. The young man went away, and six months afterwards a

son was born to the clergyman, and he gave a thanksgiving party to which the

young man was invited. The clergyman prayed, "Thank God for His mercies."

And the young man stood up and said, "Stop, this is all misery." The clergyman

asked, "Why?Because when my father died you said it was good, though

apparently evil; so now, this is apparently good, but really evil." Is this the way

to cure the misery of the world? Be good and have mercy on those who suffer.

Do not try to patch it up, nothing will cure this world; go beyond it.

This is a world of good and evil. Wherever there is good, evil follows, but

beyond and behind all these manifestations, all these contradictions, the

Vedanta finds out that Unity. It says, "Give up what is evil and give up what is

good." What remains then? Behind good and evil stands something which is

yours, the real you, beyond every evil, and beyond every good too, and it is that which is manifesting itself as good and bad. Know that first, and then and then alone you will be a true optimist, and not before; for then you will be able to

control everything. Control these manifestations and you will be at liberty to

manifest the real "you". First be master of yourself, stand up and be free, go

beyond the pale of these laws, for these laws do not absolutely govern you, they are only part of your being. First find out that you are not the slave of nature, never were and never will be; that this nature, infinite as you may think it, is

only finite, a drop in the ocean, and your Soul is the ocean; you are beyond the

stars, the sun, and the. They are like mere bubbles compared with your infinite

being. Know that, and you will control both good and evil. Then alone the

whole vision will change and you will stand up and say, "How beautiful is good

and how wonderful is evil!"

That is what the Vedanta teaches. It does not propose any slipshod remedy by

covering wounds with gold leaf and the more the wound festers, putting on

more gold leaf. This life is a hard fact; work your way through it boldly, though

it may be adamantine; no matter, the soul is stronger. It lays no responsibility on

little gods; for you are the makers of your own fortunes. You make yourselves

suffer, you make good and evil, and it is you who put your hands before your

eyes and say it is dark. Take your hands away and see the light; you are

effulgent, you are perfect already, from the very beginning. We now understand

the verse: "He goes from death to death who sees the many here." See that One and be free.How are we to see it? This mind, so deluded, so weak, so easily led, even this mind can be strong and may catch a glimpse of that knowledge, that Oneness, which saves us from dying again and again. As rain falling upon a mountain flows in various streams down the sides of the mountain, so all the energies which you see here are from that one Unit. It has become manifold falling upon Maya. Do not run after the manifold; go towards the One. "He is in all that moves; He is in all that is pure; He fills the universe; He is in the sacrifice; He is the guest in the house; He is in man, in water, in animals, in truth; He is the Great One. As fire coming into this world is manifesting itself in various forms, even so, that one Soul of the universe is manifesting Himself in all these various forms. As air coming into this universe manifests itself in various forms, even so, the One Soul of

all souls, of all beings, is manifesting Himself in all forms."

This is true for you when you have understood this Unity, and not before Then

is all optimism, because He is seen everywhere. The question is that if all this

be true that that Pure One — the Self, the Infinite — has entered all this, how is

it that He suffers, how is it that He becomes miserable, impure? He does not,

says the Upanishad. "As the sun is the cause of the eyesight of every being, yet

is not made defective by the defect in any eye, even so the Self of all is not

affected by the miseries of the body, or by any misery that is around you." I

may have some disease and see everything yellow, but the sun is not affected by

it. "He is the One, the Creator of all, the Ruler of all, the Internal Soul of every being — He who makes His Oneness manifold. Thus sages who realise Him as the Soul of their souls, unto them belongs eternal peace; unto none else, unto none else. He who in this world of evanescence finds Him who never changes, he who in this universe of death finds that One Life, he who in this manifold finds that Oneness, and all those who realise Him as the Soul of their souls, to them belongs eternal peace; unto none else, unto none else. Where to find Him in the external world, where to find Him in the suns, and moons, and stars? There the sun cannot illumine, nor the moon, nor the stars, the flash of lightning cannot illumine the place; what to speak of this mortal fire? He shining, everything else shines. It is His light that they have borrowed, and He is shining through them." Here is another beautiful simile. Those of you who have been in India and have seen how the banyan tree

comes from one root and spreads itself far around, will understand this. He is that banyan tree; He is the root of all and has branched out until He has become this universe, and however far He extends, every one of these trunks and branches is connected.

Sivaya Namah