Swami Vivekananda
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The Ideal Human Being
Ashok Vohra, The Making Of An Ideal Human Being, May 20, 2017: The Times of India
According to Swami Vivekananda, man is essentially enlightened and is by nature divine. All men are `heirs of immortal bliss'. But, because of wrong education and theories he forgets his divinity and essential goodness. He starts believing that he is a sinner. So he starts worshipping and pursuing external matter and forgets spirituality within.
Swamiji persuaded those who strayed from their true nature to come out of the delusion and understand that `they are not matter, they are not bodies'. They have to realise that `matter is their servant, not they the servant of matter'.For this purpose he set for himself the goal of making them aware of “their divinity, and how to make it manifest in every movement of life“. Right type of education has as its foundation the maxim: “There is no sin in thee, there is no misery in thee; thou art the reservoir of omnipotent power. Arise, awake and manifest the Divinity within.“
Swamiji's teaching helps us realise that those who call us sinners are wrong. “It is foolishness, wickedness, downright rascality to say that you are sinners. You are all God.“
Such an education could result in enabling persons to respect others their neighbours, fellow citizens, immediate surroundings and their overall environment. An enlightened person has 10 characteristics. These are: “Contentment, forbearance, gentleness, respect for others' property , purity, self-control, knowledge, philosophic wisdom, veracity and patience.“
The aim of an enlightened being is to live according to his svadharma his true nature and learn to control his appetite. He takes from society as little as is essential for his survival, and gives to it as much as he can. His actions are not motivated by any self-interest.
Tyaga, renunciation and seva, service are his ideals. There is no selfishness in him. He synthesises the opposites materialism and idealism; the sensual and spiritual; abhyu daya and nihshreyas; preya and shreya. He does not live for himself alone; rather, he lives for the welfare of his fellow beings.
In a letter to the Maharaja of Mysore, Vivekananda, explaining the notion of enlightened men, wrote, “My noble prince, this life is short, the vanities of the world are transient, but they live who live for others, the rest are more dead than alive!“ He wrote this, because he believed that not exclusion but inclusion is the right policy . According to him, “All expansion is life, and all contraction is death.“
We ought to love and serve others and not hate or exploit them because loving and serving others is expansion and hating and exploiting them is contraction. Expansion comes from a firm faith in the Kathopanisad dictum which says, “The infinite Atman is present in every being, but lies hidden and therefore is not manifest; but it can be realised by the subtle and penetrating reason of those who are trained to perceive subtler and subtler truths.“
An enlightened person, according to Vivekananda, by virtue of his training and education, is able to see the same Atman in every being and therefore treats them at par, even identical with himself. He, like Vivekananda, wishes, “May I be born again and again, and suffer thousands of miseries, so that I may worship the only God that exists, the only God I believe in, the sum total of all souls of all races and all species.“
Karma Yoga and Non-resistance
[ From the archives of the Times of India]
In reading the Bhagwad Gita, many in western countries may have felt astonished at the second chapter, wherein Sri Krishna calls Arjuna a hypocrite and a coward because of his refusal to fight, or offer resistance, on account of his adversaries being his friends and relatives, making the plea that non-resistance was the highest ideal of love. This is a great lesson for us all to learn, that in all matters the two extremes are alike.
The extreme positive and the extreme negative are always similar. When the vibrations of light are too slow, we do not see them, nor do we see them when they are too rapid. So with sound; when very low in pitch, we do not hear it; when very high, we do not hear it either. Of like nature is the difference between resistance and non-resistance. One man does not resist because he is weak, lazy, and cannot, not because he will not; the other man knows that he can strike an irresistible blow if he likes; yet he not only does not strike, but blesses his enemies. The one who from weakness resists not commits a sin, and as such cannot receive any benefit from non-resistance; while the other would commit a sin by offering resistance.
Buddha gave up his throne and renounced his position, that was true renunciation; but there cannot be any question of renunciation in the case of a beggar who has nothing to renounce. So we must always be careful about what we really mean when we speak of this non-resistance and ideal love. We must first take care to understand whether we have the power of resistance or not. Then, having the power, if we renounce it and do not resist, we are doing a grand act of love; but if we cannot resist and yet, at the same time, try to deceive ourselves into the belief that we are actuated by motives of the highest love, we are doing the exact opposite. Arjuna became a coward at the sight of the mighty array against him; his ‘‘love’’ made him forget his duty towards his country and king. That is why Sri Krishna told him that he was a hypocrite: Thou talkest like a wise man, but thy actions betray thee to be a coward; therefore stand up and fight!
Such is the central idea of karma yoga. The karma yogi is the man who understands that the highest ideal is non-resistance, and who also knows that this non-resistance is the highest manifestation of power in actual possession, and also what is called the resisting of evil is but a step on the way towards the manifestation of this highest power, namely, non-resistance. Before reaching this highest ideal, work, fight, strike straight from the shoulder. Then only, having gained the power to resist, will non-resistance be a virtue...
Inactivity should be avoided by all means. Activity always means resistance. Resist all evils, mental and physical; and when you have succeeded in resisting, then calmness will come...Plunge into the world and, after a time, when you have suffered and enjoyed all that is in it, renunciation will come and calmness...until you have fulfilled this desire, until you have passed through that activity, it is impossible for you to come to the state of calmness, serenity, and self-surrender. These ideas of serenity and renunciation have been around for thousands of years...yet few have really reached that stage.
Vedanta
Jan 12 2015
Vivekananda saw practical Vedanta as Panacea
M N Kundu
Swami Vivekananda was never concerned with world-negating spirituality distanced from the din and bustle of daily living. He was intensely perturbed by the endless suffering of mankind and discovered that the root of all suffering lies in ignorance, disharmony, divisiveness and confinement of consciousness within finitudes. His esoteric experience of Advaita philosophy of Vedanta offered him a unique panacea. In the light of his experience of cosmic consciousness he found a bridge between science and spirituality, between religions and between the mundane and divine. From absolutely secular, scientific and experiential philosophy he developed the concept of practical Vedanta as a formula of living. Swamiji prescribed the following motto of life as self-realisation and selfless service to humanity: “Atmano mokshartham jagaddhitaya cha.“ The twofold complementary agenda can be best practised with the concept of practical Vedanta which is not a religious but a spiritual formula for all.
The central theme of Vedanta is essential unity in diversity or ultimate oneness of existence. Brahmn alone abides. Its manifestation through names, forms and attributes are merely apparent within time, space and causality rooted in cosmic delusion. Each soul is potentially divine and essentially one. Hence Vedan tic Self-realisation is infinite selfexpansion in the universe as expression of the Absolute. There is no divisiveness in One without a second as Christ also experienced, “I and my Father are one.“
Practical Vedanta is rooted in upanishadic revelations. But the best lesson is found in the Gita delivered at Kurukshetra which teaches us unattached action with spiritual anchorage.
Joyful action flows from the ce Joyful action flows from the centre of our being where we are not lost in the circumference of worldly doing and possessing with undue attachment.Then every action is divine action and play of the divine in the divine world.The mundane and spiritual get united in massive oneness and we experience joy in life as the play of consciousness.
For Swamiji renunciation did not lie in negating creation but in divinisation of entire creation and serving all. When we behold Creation as expression of the Absolute within and without our sense of personal loss, then gain or egosatisfaction get automatically sublimated. Instead of being player we become observer of cosmic drama with joy of Being.
The resultant effect is selfless love for entire Creation and absolute freedom from human bondage. Then our happiness no longer depends on anything or anybody but flows from within.
Sense of immortality gives us ous freedom to act without fear tremendous freedom to act without fear or temporal concern. Tremendous sense of harmony enables us to enjoy apparent diversity in thought, action, belief and worship. We become not tolerant but appreciative of one another and rise above sectarian boundaries where solutions to all problems flow from empathy.
Practical Vedanta starts with self-purification through selfless service which is possible only when we are grounded in cosmic Self through constant Self-inquiry and deep meditation.Self-expansion leads to falling in love with everybody with perception of own Self.Then our life becomes an instrument of cosmic will for playing divine tune as a finite expression of inexpressible Infinite.
Swamiji wanted us to attain this divine consciousness and make it our sole mission and direction. In that elevated consciousness our personal suffering becomes enactment, disharmony a veil of ignorance and the creation a cosmic drama. Behind all these remains blissful singular existence and consciousness of cosmic Self behind the plurality of names, forms and attributes. Therefore, he said, “Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached.“ (January 12 is Swami Vivekananda's birth anniversary.)
