excerpts from vedanta (2)

here are the rest of the excerpts - from chapters 7 to 12. splitting a reallllly long post into two shorter posts, for what it's worth :).

Now and then comes a heavy blow to the soul. For a time he stops the eating and goes toward the unknown God, and a flood of light comes. He thinks that this world is a vain show. Yet again the senses drag him down, and he begins as before to eat the sweet and bitter fruits of the world. Again an exceptionally hard blow comes. His heart becomes open again to divine light. Thus gradually he approaches God, and as he gets nearer and nearer, he finds his old self melting away. When he has come near enough, he sees that he is no other than God, and he exclaims: "He whom I have described to you as the Life of this universe, as present in the atom and in suns and moons - He is the basis of our own life, the Soul of our soul. Nay, thou art That."

There can be no triangle without all its three angles, and there can be no true love without its three following characteristics: The first angle of our triangle of love is that love knows no bargaining. The second angle of the triangle of love is that love knows no fear. The third angle of the love-triangle is that love knows no rival, for in it is always embodied the lover's highest ideal.

The highest ideal of every man is called God. Ignorant or wise, saint or sinner, man or woman, educated or uneducated, cultivated or uncultivated - to every human being the highest ideal is God. The synthesis of all the highest ideals of beauty, of sublimity, and of power gives us the most complete conception of the loving and lovable God.

This is the gist of all worship: to be pure and to do good to others. He who sees Shiva in the poor, in the weak, and in the diseased, really worships Shiva. And if he sees Shiva only in the image, his worship is but preliminary. He who has served and helped one poor man seeing Shiva in him, without thinking of his caste or creed or race or anything, with him Shiva is more pleased than with the man who sees Him only in temples.

At the beginning it was love for the self, but the claims of the little love made love selfish. At the end came the full blaze of light, when that self had become the Infinite. That God, who at first was a Being somewhere, became resolved, as it were, into Infinite Love. Man himself was also transformed. He was approaching God. He was throwing off all vain desires, of which he was full before. With desires vanished selfishness, and at the apex he found that Love, Lover, and Beloved were One.

This is the first lesson to learn: Be determined not to curse anything outside, not to lay the blame upon anyone outside, but be a man, stand up, lay the blame on yourself. You will find that that is always true.

A child begins to play on the piano. At first she must pay attention to every key she is fingering, and as she goes on and on for months and years, the playing becomes almost involuntary, instinctive. What was first done with conscious will does not require later on an effort of the will. This is not yet a complete proof. One half remains, and that is the fact that almost all the actions which are now instinctive can be brought under the control of the will. Each muscle of the body can be brought under control. This is perfectly well known. So the proof is complete, by this double method, that what we now call instinct is the degeneration of voluntary actions. Therefore, if the analogy applies to the whole creation, if all nature is uniform, then what is instinct in lower animals, as well as in men, must be the degeneration of will.

All the strength and succor you want is within yourselves. Therefore make your own future. Let the dead past bury its dead. The infinite future is before you, and you must always remember that each word, thought, and deed lays up a store for you, and that as the bad thoughts and bad works are ready to spring upon you as tigers, so also there is the inspiring hope that the good thoughts and good deeds are ready with the power of a hundred thousand angels to defend you always and forever.

None can be Vedantists and at the same time admit of privilege to anyone, either mental, physical, or spiritual - absolutely no privilege for anyone. The same power is in every man, the one manifesting more, the other less. The same potentiality is in everyone. Where is the claim to privilege? All knowledge is in every soul, even in the most ignorant. He has not manifested it, but perhaps he has not had the opportunity - the environments were not, perhaps, suitable to him. When he gets the opportunity, he will manifest it. The idea that one man is born superior to another has no meaning in Vedanta.

In the old Upanishads we find sublime poetry. Their authors were poets. Plato says that inspiration comes to people through poetry, and it seems as if these ancient rishis, seers of truth, were raised above humanity to show these truths through poetry. They never preached or philosophized or wrote. Music came out of their hearts. In Buddha we had the great, universal heart and infinite patience, making religion practical and bringing it to everyone's door. In Shankaracharya we saw tremendous intellectual power, throwing the scorching light of reason upon everything. We want today that bright sun of intellectuality joined with the heart of Buddha, the wonderful, infinite heart of love and mercy. This union will give us the highest philosophy. Science and religion will meet and shake hands. Poetry and philosophy will become friends. This will be the religion of the future, and if we can work it out, we may be sure that it will be for all times and peoples.

Vedanta believes in only one sin, only one in the world, and it is this: The moment you think you are a sinner, or anybody else is a sinner, that is sin. From that follows every other mistake, or what is usually called sin. There have been many mistakes in our lives. But we are going on. Glory be unto us that we have made mistakes! Take a long look at your past life. If your present condition is good, it has been caused by all the past mistakes as well as successes. Glory be unto success! Glory be unto mistakes! Do not look back upon what has been done. Go ahead!

There is a Hindu legend that the Lord was once incarnated on earth as a pig. He had a pig mate and in course of time several little pigs were born to Him. He was very happy with His family, living in the mire, squealing with joy, forgetting His divine glory and lordship. The gods became exceedingly concerned and came to the earth to beg Him to give up the pig body and return to heaven. But the Lord would have none of that. He drove them away. He said He was very happy and did not want to be disturbed. Seeing no other course, the gods destroyed the pig body of the Lord. At once He regained His divine majesty and was astonished that He could have found any joy in being a pig.

People behave in the same way. Whenever they hear of the Impersonal God, they say, "What will become of my individuality? - my individuality will go!" The next time that thought comes, remember the pig, and then think what an infinite mine of happiness you have, each one of you. How pleased you are with your present condition. But when you realize what you truly are, you will be astonished that you were unwilling to give up your sense life. What is there in your personality? Is it any better than that pig life? And this you do not want to give up! Lord bless us all!

The pig body is hard to give up. We are sorry to lose the enjoyment of our one little pig body! Vedanta does not say, "Give it up." It says, "Transcend it." No need of asceticism - better would be the enjoyment of two bodies, better three, living in more bodies than one!

What is the God of Vedanta? He is principle, not person.

and really, i would have liked to record almost the entirety of the last chapter: the universality of vedanta. much to internalize, much to practice. the essence is this - the strength is within. it must all come from within. there is limitless light within. we know it is there, for we can sense it in fleeting moments when our heart is but pure and selfless. follow that light. that is all we need to do.