Rama often times uses the word "Vedanta," a name. It is this name which makes some people prejudiced against hearing anything from Rama. One man comes and he preaches in the name of Buddha; many man comes and he preaches in the name of Buddha; many people do not like to hear him, because he brings to them a name which is not agreeable to their ears. Be more considerate, please. In the twentieth century it is high time to rise above names. What Rama brings to you or what anybody else brings to you, take it on its own merits. Be not confounded by names, be not mislead by names. Examine everything by itself, see if it works.
Accept a thing and believe in a religion on its own merits. Examine it yourself. sift it. Sell not your liberty to Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed or Krishna. If Buddha taught that way or Christ taught this way, or if Mohammed taught in some other way, it was all good and all right for them; they lived in other times. They mastered their problems; they judged by their own intellects; it was so grand of them. But you are living today you shall have to judge and criticize and examine matters for yourselves. Be free, free to look at everything by your own light. If your ancestors believed in a particular religion, it was perhaps very good for them to believe in that, but now your salvation is your own business, your redemption is not the business of your ancestors. They believed in a particular religion which may or may not have saved them, but you have to work out your own emanicipation. Whatever comes before you, examine it per se, examine it by yourself, not giving up your freedom. To your ancestors only one particular religion may have been shown, to you all sorts of truths, all sorts of religions, all sorts of philosophies, all sorts of sciences are being demonstrated. If the religion of your ancestors is yours on the ground of its being laid before you, so is the religion of Buddhism yours on the ground of its being placed before you, so is Vedanta yours on the ground of its being put before you.
Truth is nobody's property; truth is not the property of Jesus; we ought not to preach it in the name of Jesus. Truth is not the property of Buddha; we need not preach it in the name of Buddha. It is not the property of Mohammed; it is not the property of Krishna or anybody. It is everybody's property. If one man drinks the fresh waters of the spring, you can drink the same fresh water. Such should your attitude be towards all religions. Rama brings Vedanta to you, not with the intention of nick naming you Vedantin, no. Take all that, assimilate it, make it your own, you may call it Christianity--names are nothing to us. Rama brings you a religion which is found in the streets, which is written upon the leaves, which is murmured by the books, which is whispered in the winds, which is throbbing your own veins and arteries; a religion which concerns your business and bosom; a religion which you have not to practise by going into a particular church only; a religion which you have to practise and live in your everyday life, about your hearth, in your dining room, everywhere you have to live that religion. We might not call it Vedanta, we might call it by some other name-- the term Vedanta simply means the fundamental truth; the Truth is your own, it is not Rama's more than yours, it does not belong to the Hindu more than to you. It belongs to nobody, everybody and every thing belongs to it.
Some people say that Vedanta teaches pessimism, Vedanta teaches hopelessness, it teaches idleness, laziness. Rama requests those people to keep this logic with them and not to sell their intellect to others; keep it to themselves and see whether the teachings of Vedanta lead to life, energy, power, success or something else. Ask not whether the Indians live it or not. Rama tells plainly that it is not the exclusive property of the Indians, t is everybody's property. It is your own birthright.
The Secret of Success is manifold. There are phases of the secret.
I. PRINCIPLE OF SUCCESS
Work
Without work you can never succeed. Intense work, according to Vedanta, is rest. All true work is rest.
LOGIC: The body works automatically, as it were, the mind is absorbed in the work to such a degree that "I am working" is entirely gone, the small enjoying ego is absolutely lost, the credit seeking little self is absent. This incessant work unwillingly leads you to the highest yoga.
***
There is not necessity of your retiring into the forests and pursuing abnormal practices to realize Vedantic yoga.
****
Vedanta preaches in order that you may have success you must through your acts, by your own body and muscles, cremate them in the fire of use. You must use them. In other words all work is nothing else but making your body and mind illusions, practically nothing from the stand point of your own consciousness. Rise above them and that is work.
***
If you avail yourself of that higher mood, you can always keep yourself at your best and the work through your hands will be perfect, most beautiful. That higher mood, or that higher secret, Vedanta lays before you; it is nothing else but being in perfect harmony with the universe, being in tune with the Divinity, practically living in the true Atma or God within you, and being raised above the little ego or selfish desires.
***
Vedanta requires you to work for its own sake. In order that your work should be successful, you should not mind the end, you should not care for the consequences or the result. Let the means and the end be brought together, let the very work be your end. Vedanta wants you to be at rest in your inner Self. Let the inner soul be at rest and the body be continually at work -- the body, subject to the laws of dynamics, being in action, and inner Self always at statistical rest. It is our selfish restlessness that spoils all our work. Follow work for the sake of the peace or nirvana connected with it.
II. PRINCIPLE OF SUCCESS
Unselfish Sacrifice
Let your work be for work's sake, you must work. In your work should your goal be, and thus Vedanta frees you from fretting and worrying desires.
People say, "First deserve and then desire."
Vedanta says, "Deserve only, no need of desiring."
Truth crushed to earth shall rise again. No seed can spring up and multiply without suffering destruction as to its form and appearance. So the second essential to success is sacrifice, crucifying the little self, renunciation.
The Black objects absorb all the colours in the rays of the Sun. They give out no colour, they renounce nothing, they throw back nothing, and they are dark, black. The White objects absorb nothing, claim nothing, they renounce everything. They do not try to keep selfish possession.
Be always a giver, a free worker; never throw your heart in a begging, expecting attitude.
Never feel that anything belongs to your little self; it is God's your real Atman's.
As long as you keep your desires in your pocket, there is no safety or rest for you. Renounce your desires rise above them and you find double peace--immediate rest and eventual fruition of desires. Remember that your desires will be realized only when you rise above them into the supreme reality. When you consciously or unconsciously lose yourself in the Divinity, then and then only will the time be ripe for the fulfillment of desires.
III. PRINCIPLE OF SUCCESS
LOVE
So long as you are in perfect harmony with nature, so long as your mind is in tune with the universe and you are feeling and realizing your oneness with each and all, all the circumstances and surroundings, even winds and waves, will be in your favour. The very moment you are at discord with the All, that very moment your friends and relatives will turn against you, that very moment you will make the whole world stand up in arms against you. Understand this divine Law of Love and practice it. Love is a vital principle of success.
IV. PRINCIPLE OF SUCCESS
CHEERFULNESS
Vedanta inculcates that you should not bother yourself about surroundings and circumstances. Know the Law and shake off all fear. The very influence of the magistrate puts everything in order, just as the very presence of the sun wakes up all Nature, enlivens rivers, plants, birds, beasts and men. Similarly, when you plant yourself firmly in the Truth, when you install yourself in the position of the disinterested supreme judge, your very Atman, when your glorious Self shines in its full splendour, all the circumstances, all your surroundings, will take care of themselves, everything will be enlivened and put in order in the genial light of your presence.
If you go on doing your duty, if you are faithful to your work, bother not yourself about the outside aids and helps. They are bound to come to you, must come to you.
Allow not the sense of duty to throw you of the balance or damp your spirits. Remember that all duty is, after all imposed on you by yourselves. Ultimately you are your own master. You yourself chose your position, offered your services, and created your superiors.
V. PRINCIPLE OF SUCCESS
FEARLESSNESS
Dispel the fear inducing attachment to the body. Keep in your mind the light of Truth ever ablaze, no devil of fear or temptation will approach you. Believe in the Law of Divine.
VI. PRINCIPLE OF SUCCESS - SELF-RELIANCE
Self-trust is a fundamental principle of bliss. Vedanta teaches you not to call yourself a groveling, sneaking, miserable sinner or wretch. Vedanta wants you to believe in your innate power. You are Infinite. God Almighty you are, Infinite God you are. Believe that. What inspiring truth. Believe in the outside and you fail. That is the law.
When we rely upon Self and trust nothing but the Atman, all things flock to us. If you think yourself a poor, sneaking vermin, that you become, and if you honour yourself and rely on your Self, grandeur you win. What you think, the same you must become.
Do not pleasure make yourselves cringing, sneaking, miserable creatures. As you think, so will you become. Think yourselves to be God and God you are. Think yourselves to be free and free you are this moment.
Think yourself to be Divinity, have a living faith in your Divinity and nothing can harm you, nobody can injure you.
According to Vedanta, all your world being but your own creation, your own idea, why think yourself a low, miserable sinner? Why not think yourself into a fearless, self-reliant incarnation of Divinity.
Have a living faith in the truth, a right knowledge of things around you, take all your circumstances at their own worth and realize the spirit to such a degree that this world becomes unreal to you.
VII. PRINCIPLE OF SUCCESS
PURITY
The Law of Karma retaliates and baffles you when you want to abuse it for selfish ends. Do not dictate your will to God. Let God's will be done in reference to bodily wants. Banish all worldly motives of work. Cast off, exercise the demands of desires. Make all your work sacred. Rid yourself of the disease of attachment or clinging. Attachment to one object detaches you from all. Work minus desire is a synonym for the highest Renunciation or worship.
Your heaven is WITHIN you. You play the part of an impure, unchaste adulterer when you stoop down to indulge in outside so called objects of pleasure. Tell the external enjoyments, "Get behind me, Satan, I will take nothing at thy hands." Are you not really the source of all joy?
****
OR COMPLETE WORKS OF SWAMI RAMA TIRTH Volume-I.
No comments:
Post a Comment