A Comprehensive Collection - Swami Vivekananda

""""UNITY IN DIVERSITY. 24!when I was a yo )ng child, a young man s father died andleft him poor, and with a large family to support. Hefoundthat his father s friends were his worst enemies inreality, and one day he had a conversation with a clergyman who offered this consolation,Oh, it is all good, all issent for our good."That is the old method of tryingtoputa piece of gold cloth on an old sore. It is a confessionof weakness, of absurdity. Then this young man went,away, and six months afterwards the clergymanhad a sonborn, and the young man was invited to the party forthanksgiving. Then the clergyman began to pray, ThankGod for His mercies. "And the young man stood up andsaid,why.Stop this is all; misery."The clergyman askedBecause whe/i my father died it was all good rthough apparently evil ;so now this isapparently good,,but reallyevil." Is this the way to cure the misery ofthe world ? Be good and have mercy to those who suffer.Do not try to patch it up, nothing will cure this world ; gobeyond it.This world is a world of good afad evil always. Wherever there is good, evil follows, but beyond and behind allthe manifestation, the contradiction, the Vedanta finds outthat unity.It says give up what is evil and give up whatis good. What then remains? It says good and evil arenot all we have. Behind these stand something which isyours, the real you, beyond every evil, and beyond everygood too, and it is that which is manifestingitself as gooda^nd bad. Know that first, and then, and then alone, youwill be an optimist, and not before for ; you will thencontrol the whole thing. Control these manifestations andthen you will be at liberty to manifest the real just asyou like. Then alone you will be able to manifest it onlyas good or only as evil, just as you like but be first;master16