A Comprehensive Collection - Swami Vivekananda

"""MAYA AND ILLUSION. 153changing, no stop and no rest. So are all our lives, goingon and on without knowing any rest. What are we to do ?The man whohas enough to eat and drink is an optimist,and he says, do not speak of misery, for it frightens him.Tell not him of the sorrows and the sufferings of theworld ; go to him and tell that it is all good.Yes, I amsafe," says he, look at me, I have a nice house to live in.I do not care for cold ;therefore do not bring these horriblepictures before me."But, on the other hand, there areothers dying of cold and hunger. Go and teach them that itThere is a man who has suffered tremendouslyis all good.in this life, and he will not hear of anything joyful, ofanything beautiful, of anything that is good. Frighteneverybody," says he "why should it be that anybody:should laugh while I am weeping? I must make them allweep with me, for I am miserable, and they must all bemiserable ;that is my onlyconsolation." Thus we aregoing on between optimism and pessimism. Then thereis the tremendous fact of death. The whole world isgoing to death ; everything is dying. All our progress,our vanities, our reforms, our luxuries, our wealth, ourknowledge, have that one end death. That is all,that iscertain. Cities come and go, empires rise and fall, planetsbreak into pieces and crumble into dust, to be blown aboutby the atmospheres of the different planets. Thus it is..going on from time without beginning. What is the goal?Death is the goal of everything. Death is the goal oflife, of beauty, of wealth, of power, of virtue too. Saintsdie and sinners die, kings die and beggars die. They areall going to death, and yet thislife exists.tremendous clinging on toSomehow, we do not know why, we have to-cling on to life ;we cannot give it up. And this ismaya.The mother isnursing a child with great care ;all