Practical Vedanta

Practical Vedantaperception, one coming from outside and the other from inside, and thecombination of these two, x + mind, is our external universe. All knowledge is byreaction. In the case of a whale it has been determined by calculation how longafter its tail is struck, its mind reacts and the whale feels the pain. Similar is thecase with internal perception. The real self within me is also unknown andunknowable. Let us call it y. When I know myself as so-and-so, it is y + the mind.That y strikes a blow on the mind. So our whole world is x + mind (external), andy + mind (internal), x and y standing for the thing-in-itself behind the external andthe internal worlds respectively.According to Vedanta, the three fundamental factors of consciousness are, I exist,I know, and I am blessed The idea that I have no want, that I am restful, peaceful,that nothing can disturb me, which comes from time to time, is the central fact ofour being, the basic principle of our life; and when it becomes limited, andbecomes a compound, it manifests itself as existence phenomenal, knowledgephenomenal, and love. Every man exists, and every man must know, and everyman is mad for love. He cannot help loving. Through all existence, from thelowest to the highest, all must love. The y, the internal thing-in-itself, which,combining with mind, manufactures existence, knowledge, and love, is called bythe Vedantists. Existence absolute, Knowledge absolute, Bliss absolute. That realexistence is limitless, unmixed, uncombined, knows no change, is the free soul;when it gets mixed up, muddled up, as it were, with the mind, it becomes what wecall individual existence. It is plant life, animal life, human life, just as universalspace is cut off in a room, in a jar, and so on. And that real knowledge is not whatwe know, not intuition, nor reason, nor instinct. When that degenerates and isconfused, we call it intuition; when it degenerates more, we call it reason; andwhen it degenerates still more, we call it instinct. That knowledge itself is Vijnâna,neither intuition, nor reason nor instinct. The nearest expression for it is allknowingness.There is no limit to it, no combination in it. That bliss, when it getsclouded over, we call love, attraction for gross bodies or fine bodies, or for ideas.This is only a distorted manifestation of that blessedness. Absolute Existence,absolute Knowledge, and absolute Blessedness are not qualities of the soul, but theessence; there is no difference between them and the soul. And the three are one;we see the one thing in three different aspects. They are beyond all relativeknowledge. That eternal knowledge of the Self percolating through the brain ofman becomes his intuition, reason, and so on. Its manifestation varies according tothe medium through which it shines. As soul, there is no difference between manand the lowest animal, only the latter's brain is less developed and themanifestation through it which we call instinct is very dull. In a man the brain ismuch finer, so the manifestation is much clearer, and in the highest man itbecomes entirely clear. So with existence; the existence which we know, thelimited sphere of existence, is simply a reflection of that real existence which isthe nature of the soul. So with bliss; that which we call love or attraction is but therejection of the eternal blessedness of the Self. With manifestation comesfile:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Chitra%20Selv...ksBySwami/PracticalVedanta/PracticalVedantaPDF.html (104 of 113)2/26/2007 12:24:34 AM