The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 2/Practical Vedanta and other lectures/The Goal
THE GOAL
(Delivered in San Francisco, March 27, 1900)
We find that man, as it were, is always surrounded by something greater than
himself, and he is trying to grasp the meaning of this. Man will ever [seek]
the highest ideal. He knows that it exists and that religion is the search
after the highest ideal. At first all his searches were in the external
plane — placed in heaven, in different places — just according to [his
grasp] of the total nature of man.
[Later,] man began to look at himself a little closer and began to find out
that the real "me" was not the "me" that he stands for ordinarily. As he
appears to the senses is not the same as he really is. He began to [search]
inside of himself, and found out that . . . the same ideal he [had placed]
outside of himself is all the time within; what he was worshipping outside
was his own real inner nature. The difference between dualism and monism is
that when the ideal is put outside [of oneself], it is dualism. When God is
[sought] within, it is monism.
First, the old question of why and wherefore . . . How is it that man became
limited? How did the Infinite become finite, the pure become impure? In the
first place, you must never forget that this question can never be answered
[by] any dualistic hypothesis.
Why did God create the impure universe? Why is man so miserable, made by a
perfect, infinite, merciful Father? Why this heaven and earth, looking at
which we get our conception of law? Nobody can imagine anything that he has
not seen.
All the tortures we feel in this life, we put in another place and that is
our hell . . . .
Why did the infinite God make this world? [The dualist says:] Just as the
potter makes pots. God the potter; we the pots. . . . In more philosophical
language the question is: How is it taken for granted that the real nature
of man is pure, perfect, and infinite? This is the one difficulty found in
any system of monism. Everything else is clean and clear. This question
cannot be answered. The monists say the question itself is a contradiction.
Take the system of dualism — the question is asked why God created the
world. This is contradictory. Why? Because — what is the idea of God? He is
a being who cannot be acted upon by anything outside.
You and I are not free. I am thirsty. There is something called thirst, over
which I have no control, [which] forces me to drink water. Every action of
my body and even every thought of my mind is forced out of me. I have got to
do it. That is why I am bound . . . . I am forced to do this, to have this,
and so on . . . . And what is meant by why and wherefore? [Being subject to
external forces.] Why do you drink water? Because thirst forces you. You are
a slave. You never do anything of your own will because you are forced to
do everything. Your only motive for action is some force. . . .
The earth, by itself, would never move unless something forced it. Why does
the light burn? It does not burn unless somebody comes and strikes a match.
Throughout nature, everything is bound. Slavery, slavery! To be in harmony
with nature is [slavery]. What is there in being the slave of nature and
living in a golden cage? The greatest law and order is in the [knowledge
that man is essentially free and divine] Now we see that the question why
and wherefore can only be asked [in ignorance]. I can only be forced to do
something through something else.
[You say] God is free. Again you ask the question why God creates the world.
You contradict yourself. The meaning of God is entirely free will. The
question put in logical language is this: What forced Him, who can never be
forced by anybody, to create the world? You say in the same question, What
forced Him? The question is nonsense. He is infinite by His very nature; He
is free. We shall answer questions when you can ask them in logical
language. Reason will tell you that there is only one Reality, nothing else.
Wherever dualism has risen, monism came to a head and drove it out.
There is only one difficulty in understanding this. Religion is a
common-sense, everyday thing. The man in the street knows it if you put it
in his language and not [if it is put] in a philosopher's language. It is a
common thing in human nature to [project itself]. Think of your feeling with
the child. [You identify yourself with it. Then] you have two bodies.
[Similarly] you can feel through your husband's mind Where can you stop? You
can feel in infinite bodies.
Nature is conquered by man every day. As a race, man is manifesting his
power. Try in imagination to put a limit to this power in man. You admit
that man as a race has infinite power, has [an] infinite body. The only
question is what you are. Are you the race or one [individual]? The moment
you isolate yourself, everything hurts you. The moment you expand and feel
for others, you gain help. The selfish man is the most miserable in the
world. The happiest is the man who is not at all selfish. He has become the
whole creation, the whole race and God [is] within him. . . . So in dualism
— Christian, Hindu, and all religions — the code of ethics . . . . is: Do
not be selfish . . . . things for others! Expand! . . . .
The ignorant can be made to understand [this] very easily, and the learned
can be made to understand still more easily. But the man who has just got a
speck of learning, him God himself cannot make understand. [The truth is,]
you are not separate [from this universe]; Just as your Spirit] is [not]
separate from the rest of you. If [not] so, you could not see anything,
could not feel anything. Our bodies are simply little whirlpools in the
ocean of matter. Life is taking a turn and passing on, in another form . . .
. The sun, the moon, the stars, you and I are mere whirlpools. Why did I
select [a particular mind as mine? It is] simply a mental whirlpool in the
ocean of mind.
How else is it possible that my vibration reaches you just now? If you throw
a stone in the lake, it raises a vibration and [that stirs] the water into
vibration. I throw my mind into the state of bliss and the tendency is to
raise the same bliss in your mind. How often in your mind or heart [you have
thought something] and without [verbal] communication, [others have got your
thought]? Everywhere we are one. . . . That is what we never understand. The
whole [universe] is composed of time, space, and causation. And God [appears
as this universe]. . . . When did nature begin? When you [forgot your true
nature and] became [bound by time, space, and causation].
This is the [rotating] circle of your bodies and yet that is your infinite
nature. . . . That is certainly nature — time, space, and causation. That is
all that is meant by nature. Time began when you began to think. Space began
when you got the body; otherwise there cannot be any space. Causation began
when you became limited. We have to have some sort of answer. There is the
answer. [Our limitation] is play. Just for the fun of it. Nothing binds you;
nothing forces [you. You were] never bound. We are all acting our parts in
this [play] of our own invention.
But let us bring another question about individuality. Some people are so
afraid of losing their individuality. Wouldn't it be better for the pig to
lose his pig-individuality if he can become God? Yes. But the poor pig does
not think so at the time. Which state is my individuality? When I was a baby
sprawling on the floor trying to swallow my thumb? Was that the
individuality I should be sorry to lose? Fifty years hence I shall look upon
this present state and laugh, just as I [now] look upon the baby state.
Which of these individualities shall I keep ? . . .
We are to understand what is meant by this individuality. . . . [There are
two opposite tendencies:] one is the protection of the individuality, the
other is the intense desire to sacrifice the individuality. . . . The mother
sacrifices all her own will for the needy baby. . . . When she carries the
baby in her arms, the call of individuality, of self-preservation is no more
heard. She will eat the worst food, but her children will have the best. So
for all the people we love we are ready to die.
[On the one hand] we are struggling hard to keep up this individuality; on
the other hand, trying to kill it. With what result? Tom Brown may struggle
hard. He is [fighting] for his individuality. Tom dies and there is not a
ripple anywhere upon the surface of the earth. There was a Jew born nineteen
hundred years ago, and he never moved a finger to keep his individuality. .
. . Think of that! That Jew never struggled to protect his individuality.
That is why he became the greatest in the world. This is what the world does
not know.
In time we are to be individuals. But in what sense? What is the
individuality of man? Not Tom Brown, but God in man. That is the [true]
individuality. The more man has approached that, the more he has given up
his false individuality. The more he tries to collect and gain everything
[for himself], the less he is an individual. The less he has thought of
[himself], the more he has sacrificed all individuality during his lifetime,
. . . the more he is an individual. This is one secret the world does not
understand.
We must first understand what is meant by individuality. It is attaining the
ideal. You are man now, [or] you are woman. You will change all the time.
Can you stop? Do you want to keep your minds as they are now — the angels,
hatreds, jealousies, quarrels, all the thousand and one things in the mind?
Do you mean to say that you will keep them? . . . You cannot stop anywhere .
. . until perfect conquest has been achieved, until you are pure and you are
perfect.
You have no more anger when you are all love, bliss, infinite existence. . .
. Which of your bodies will you keep? You cannot stop anywhere until you
come to life that never ends. Infinite life! You stop there. You have a
little knowledge now and are always trying to get more. Where will you stop?
Nowhere, until you become one with life itself. . . .
Many want pleasure [as] the goal. For that pleasure they seek only the
senses. On the higher planes much pleasure is to be sought. Then on
spiritual planes. Then in himself — God within him. The man whose pleasure
is outside of [himself] becomes unhappy when that outside thing goes. You
cannot depend for this pleasure upon anything in this universe. If all my
pleasures are in myself, I must have pleasure there all the time because I
can never lose my Self. . . . Mother, father, child, wife, body, wealth —
everything I can lose except my self . . . bliss in the Self All desire is
contained in the Self. . . . This is individuality which never changes, and
this is perfect.
. . . And how to get it? They find what the great souls of this world — all
great men and women — found [through sustained discrimination]. . . . What
of these dualistic theories of twenty gods, thirty gods? It does not matter.
They all had the one truth, that this false individuality must go. . . . So
this ego — the less there is of it, the nearer I am to that which I really
am: the universal body. The less I think of my own individual mind, the
nearer I am to that universal mind. The less I think of my own soul, the
nearer I am to the universal soul.
We live in one body. We have some pain, some pleasure. Just for this little
pleasure we have by living in this body, we are ready to kill everything in
the universe to preserve ourselves. If we had two bodies, would not that be
much better? So on and on to bliss. I am in everybody. Through all hands I
work; through all feet I walk. I speak through every mouth; I live in every
body. Infinite my bodies, infinite my minds. I lived in Jesus of Nazareth,
in Buddha, in Mohammed — in all the great and good of the past, of the
present. I am going to live in all that [may] come afterwards. Is that
theory [No, it is the truth.]
If you can realise this, how infinitely more pleasurable that will be. What
an ecstasy of joy! Which one body is so great that we need here anything
[of] the body. . . After living in all the bodies of others, all the bodies
there are in this world, what becomes of us? [We become one with the
Infinite. And] that is the goal. That is the only way. One [man] says, "If I
know the truth, I shall be melted away like butter." I wish people would be,
but they are too tough to be melted so quickly!
What are we to do to be free? Free you are already. . . . How could the free
ever be bound? It is a lie. [You were] never bound. How could the unlimited
ever be limited by anything? Infinite divided by infinite, added to
infinite, multiplied by infinite [remains] infinite. You are infinite; God
is infinite. You are all infinite. There cannot be two existences, only one.
The Infinite can never be made finite. You are never bound. That is all. . .
. You are free already. You have reached the goal — all there is to reach.
Never allow the mind to think that you have not reached the goal. . . .
Whatever we [think] that we become. If you think you are poor sinners you
hypnotise yourselves: "I am a miserable, crawling worm." Those who believe
in hell are in hell when they die; those who say that they will go to heaven
[go to heaven].
It is all play. . . . [You may say,] "We have to do something; let us do
good." [But] who cares for good and evil? Play! God Almighty plays. That is
all. . . .You are the almighty God playing. If you want to play on the side
and take the part of a beggar, you are not [to blame someone else for making
that choice]. You enjoy being the beggar. You know your real nature [to be
divine]. You are the king and play you are a beggar. . . . It is all fun.
Know it and play. That is all there is to it. Then practice it. The whole
universe is a vast play. All is good because all is fun. This star comes and
crashes with our earth, and we are all dead. [That too is fun.] You only
think fun the little things that delight your senses! . . .
[We are told that there is] one good god here, and one bad god there always
on the watch to grab me the moment I make a mistake. . . . When I was a
child I was told by someone that God watches everything. I went to bed and
looked up and expected the ceiling of the room to open. [Nothing happened.]
Nobody is watching us except ourselves. No Lord except our [own Self]; no
nature but what we feel. Habit is second nature; it is first nature also. It
is all there is of nature. I repeat [something] two or three times; it
becomes my nature. Do not be miserable! Do not repent! What is done is done.
If you burn yourself, [take the consequences].
. . . Be sensible. We make mistakes; what of that? That is all in fun. They
go so crazy over their past sins, moaning and weeping and all that. Do not
repent! After having done work, do not think of it. Go on! Stop not! Don't
look back! What will you gain by looking back? You lose nothing, gain
nothing. You are not going to be melted like butter. Heavens and hells and
incarnations — all nonsense!
Who is born and who dies? You are having fun, playing with worlds and all
that. You keep this body as long as you like. If you do not like it, do not
have it. The Infinite is the real; the finite is the play. You are the
infinite body and the finite body in one. Know it! But knowledge will not
make any difference; the play will go on. . . . Two words — soul and body
— have been joined. [Partial] knowledge is the cause. Know that you are
always free. The fire of knowledge burns down all the [impurities and
limitations]. I am that Infinite. . . .
You are as free as you were in the beginning, are now, and always will be.
He who knows that he is free is free; he who knows that he is bound is
bound.
What becomes of God and worship and all that? They have their place. I have
divided myself into God and me; I become the worshipped and I worship
myself. Why not? God is I. Why not worship my Self? The universal God — He
is also my Self. It is all fun. There is no other purpose.
What is the end and aim of life? None, because I [know that I am the
Infinite]. If you are beggars, you can have aims. I have no aims, no want,
no purpose. I come to your country, and lecture — just for fun. No other
meaning. What meaning can be there? Only slaves do actions for somebody
else. You do actions for nobody else. When it suits you, you worship. You
can join the Christians, the Mohammedans, the Chinese, the Japanese. You can
worship all the gods that ever were and are ever going to be. . . .
I am in the sun, the moon, and the stars. I am with God and I am in all the
gods. I worship my Self.
There is another side to it. I have kept it in reserve. I am the man that is
going to be hanged. I am all the wicked. I am getting punished in hells.
That [also] is fun. This is the goal of philosophy [to know that I am the
Infinite]. Aims, motives, purposes, and duties live in the background. . . .
This truth is first to be listened to then to be thought about. Reason,
argue it out by all manner of means. The enlightened know no more than that.
Know it for certain that you are in everything. That is why you should not
hurt anybody, because in hurting them you hurt yourself. . . . [Lastly,]
this is to be meditated upon. Think upon it. Can you realise there will come
a time when everything will crumble in the dust and you will stand alone?
That moment of ecstatic joy will never leave you. You will actually find
that you are without bodies. You never had bodies.
I am One, alone, through all eternity. Whom shall I fear? It is all my Self.
This is continuously to be meditated upon. Through that comes realisation.
It is through realisation that you become a [blessing] to others. . . .
"Thy face shines like [that of] one who has known God." [1] That is the goal. This is not to be preached as I am doing. "Under a
tree I saw a teacher, a boy of sixteen; the disciple was an old man of
eighty. The teacher was teaching in silence, and the doubts of the disciple
vanished."[2] And who speaks? Who lights a candle
to see the sun? When the truth [dawns], no witness is necessary. You know it
. . . . That is what you are going to do: . . . realise it. [first think of
it. Reason it out. Satisfy your curiosity. Then [think] of nothing else. I
wish we never read anything. Lord help us all! Just see what [a learned] man
becomes.
- "This is said, and that is said. . . ."
- "What do you say, my friend?"
"I say nothing." [He quotes] everybody else's thought; but he thinks
nothing. If this is education, what is lunacy? Look at all the men who
wrote! . . . These modern writers, not two sentences their own! All
quotations. . . .
There is not much value in books, and in [secondhand] religion there is no
value whatsoever. It is like eating. Your religion would not satisfy me
Jesus saw God and Buddha saw God. If you have not seen God, you are no
better than the atheist. Only he is quiet, and you talk much and disturb the
world with your talk. Books and bibles and scriptures are of no use. I met
an old man when I was a boy; [he did not study any scripture, but he
transmitted the truth of God by a touch].
Silence ye teachers of the world. Silence ye books. Lord, Thou alone speak
and Thy servant listeneth. . . . If truth is not there, what is the use of
this life? We all think we will catch it, but we do not. Most of us catch
only dust. God is not there. If no God, what is the use of life? Is there
any resting-place in the universe? [It is up to us to find it]; only we do
not [search for it intensely. We are] like a little piece of maw carried on
in the current.
If there is this truth, if there is God, it must be within us. . . . [I must
be able to say,] "I have seen Him with my eyes," Otherwise I have no
religion. Beliefs, doctrines, sermons do not make religion. It is
realisation, perception of God [which alone is religion]. What is the glory
of all these men whom the world worships? God was no more a doctrine [for
them. Did they believe] because their grandfather believed it? No. It was
the realisation of the Infinite, higher than their own bodies, minds, and
everything. This world is real inasmuch as it contains a little bit [of] the
reflection of that God. We love the good man because in his face shines the
reflection a little more. We must catch it ourselves. There is no other way.
That is the goal. Struggle for it! Have your own Bible. Have your own
Christ. Otherwise you are not religious. Do not talk religion. Men talk and
talk. "Some of them, steeped in darkness, in the pride of their hearts think
that they have the light. And not only [that], they offer to take others
upon their shoulders and both fall into the pit."[3] . . .
No church ever saved by itself. It is good to be born in a temple, but woe
unto the person who dies in a temple or church. Out of it! . . . It was a
good beginning, but leave it! It was the childhood place . . . but let it
be! . . . Go to God directly. No theories, no doctrines. Then alone will all
doubts vanish. Then alone will all crookedness be made straight. . . .
In the midst of the manifold, he who sees that One; in the midst of this
infinite death, he who sees that one life; in the midst of the manifold, he
who sees that which never changes in his own soul — unto him belongs eternal
peace.