A Comprehensive Collection - Swami Vivekananda

296 REALIZATION.the Vedas say so, and in spite of that,see these bold men.No, the truth is not to be found by much study of the Vedas-Therefore with whom the Lord is pleased, unto that man Heexpresses Himself. But then, the question may arise, thatwill be something like partisanship. So this expression.Those who are evil doers, whose minds are not peaceful,can never know the light.It is those who are true at heart,pure in their deeds, whose senses have become controlled,unto them this Self manifests itself.Here is a beautiful figure. Picture the Self to be therider and this body the chariot,the intellect to be thecharioteer, mind the reins, and the senses the horses. Inthat chariot, where the horses are well broken in, wherethe reins are strong and kept w;ellin the hands of thecharioteer (the intellect), that the chariot reaches the goalwhich is the state of Him the Omnipresent. But wherethe horses, the senses, are not controlled, nor the reins,the mind, well controlled, that chariot comes to destruction.This Atman in all beings does not manifest Himself to theeyes or the senses, but those whose minds have becomepurified and refined, they see Him. Beyond all sound, alltouch, beyond form, absolute, beyond all taste and touch,infinite, without beginning and without end, even beyondNature, the unchangeable, he who realises Him, he freeshimself from the jaws of death. But it is very difficult.It is, as it were, walking on the blade of a razor ;the wayis long and perilous, but struggle on, do not despair."Awake, arise, and stop not till the goal is reached."Now you see that the one central idea throughout allthe Upanishadsis that of realisation. A great many questions will arise from time to time, and especially to themodern man.There will be the question of utility, therewill be various other questions, but in all we shall find