LISTEN TO SWAMI VIVEKANANDA – simplified by J K SIVAN
Search within.
All our knowledge is based upon experience,be it our own or some else’s.. We go from the less to the more general, from the general to the particular information, and it is our experience. Science makes people to find easily the truth from what they see, hear, think and learn , because it appeals to the particular experiences of every human being. The scientist does not tell you to believe in anything, but he has certain results which come from his own experiences, and reasoning on them when he asks us to believe in his conclusions, he appeals to some universal experience of humanity. In every exact science there is a basis which is common to all humanity, so that we can at once see the truth or the fallacy of the conclusions drawn therefrom. Has religion any such basis or not? The answer is both Yes and No.
Religion, as it is generally taught all over the world, is based upon faith and belief, In most cases, consists only of different sets of theories, and that is all religions quarrel with one another. These theories are based upon belief. One believes the God sitting above in the skies and if asked about Him he has no clue. The other many not believe in Him and say “Oh, these religions are only bundles of theories without any standard to judge them by, each man preaching his own pet ideas.” But there is a basis of universal belief in religion, governing all the different theories and all the varying ideas of different sects in different countries. They are also based upon universal experiences.
If you analyse all the various religions of the world, you will find that these are divided into two classes, those with a book and those without a book. Those with a book are the strongest, and have the largest number of followers. Those without books have mostly died out, and the few new ones have very small following. Yet, in all of them we find one consensus of opinion, that the truths they teach are the results of the experiences of particular persons.
Christ said he saw God; the disciples said they felt God; and so forth. Similarly, in Buddhism, it is Buddha’s experience. He experienced certain truths, saw them, came in contact with them, and preached them. So with the Hindus. Their Rishis declare they experienced certain truths, and these they preach. Thus all the religions of the world have been built upon that one universal foundation of all our knowledge, ie., direct experience. The teachers all saw God; they all saw their own souls, they saw their future, they saw their eternity, and what they saw they preached. Presently there is a strong claim that those experiences of the past Rishis are impossible. May be those experiences were possible with a few men, the first founders of the religions. So these experiences have become obsolete. We have now to take religion on belief. This I entirely deny. If there has been one experience in this world in any particular branch of knowledge, it absolutely follows that that experience has been possible millions of times before, and will be repeated eternally. Uniformity is the rigorous law of nature; what once happened can happen always.
Yoga teachers say that religion is not only based upon the experience of ancient times, but any man can be religious if he has the same perceptions himself. Yoga teaches us how to get these perceptions. It is no use to talk about religion until one has felt it. No need for any fight or quarrel about religion or god. One has to go to the fountain-head. Every one has a soul and must feel it. The God is there for him to realise. If men believe in a God, they may become good, and moral, and so make good citizens. When one grasps the truth, realised it, felt it within his heart of hearts, then alone, declare the Vedas, would all his doubts vanish, all darkness be scattered, and all crookedness be made straight.
“Ye children of immortality, even those who live in the highest sphere, the way is found; there is a way out of all this darkness, and that is by perceiving Him who is beyond all darkness; there is no other way.”
Each science must have its own methods. I could preach you thousands of sermons, but they would not make you religious, until you practiced the method. These are the truths of the sages of all countries, of all ages, of men pure and unselfish, who had no motive but to do good to the world. They found some truth higher than what the senses can bring to us, and they invite verification. They ask us to take up the method and practice honestly, and realise the truth for themselves. So we must work faithfully using the prescribed methods, and light will come.
In acquiring knowledge we must first observe facts, then generalise, and then draw conclusions or principles. The mind, gets knowledge by observing the facts going on within.The internal world has no telescope or any other equipment or instrument to help us. The mind alone can read the thoughts in mind. It requires a great deal of practice. very hard work it the only way search within. Thus Knowledge itself is the highest reward of knowledge. There is also utility in it. It will take away all our misery. When by analysing his own mind, man comes face to face, , with something which is never destroyed, something which is, by its own nature, eternally pure and perfect, he will no more be miserable, no more unhappy. All misery comes from fear, from unsatisfied desire. Man will find that he never dies, and then he will have no more fear of death. When he knows that he is perfect, he will have no more vain desires, and both these causes being absent, there will be no more misery — there will be perfect bliss, even while in this body.
