God and the Human soul

C L Kaloo

Swami Vivekananda delivered lectures to the delegates at the world’s parliament of religions Chicago on 11th Sept, 1893 and while referring to the delegates, quoted few line from a hymn which he had read during his school days, “As the different streams having their source in different places, all mingle their water in the sea, so O lord, the different paths which a man take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to THEE.” He made the audience aware of wonderful doctrine preached in the Bhagavat Gita; “Whosoever comes to ME through whatsoever path which in the end lead to ME.”
However, in his broad-based deliverances, he told the delegates on 19th Sept, 1893 that Hindu philosophers believe that every soul is a circle whose circumference is nowhere but whose center is located in the body; and that death means the change of the center from body to body. Nor is the soul bound by the conditions of matter. In its very essence, it is free, unbound, holy, pure and perfect. But somehow or the other it finds itself, tied down to matter. It is a fact that in everybody’s consciousness that one thinks of oneself as body because of the principle of delusion (Maya). This net of ‘Maya’ (delusion) can be broken only with the worship of the lord through concentration and meditation, unselfish work and surrendering to HIM in all situations. In this context, a reference is made to Adhya 3rd; shloka-30 of the Bhagavat Gita (3.30BG) which reads as under:
“mayi sarvani karmani sannyasya”
Means: “Resign all works to ME”
The conclusion is that a person without God consciousness acts according to the concept of the material body and senses in delusion (effects of Maya), but a person who is God-conscious acts according to the knowledge that the body is the property of God and should therefore be engaged in the service of the God. The connection between God and the human soul has been clarified by Swami Vivekananda in his own words, as quoted, “A needle covered up with clay will not be attracted by a magnet, but as soon as the clay is washed off, it’ll be attracted. Thus, God is a magnet and human soul is the needle and its evil works-the dirt and dust cover it. As soon as dirt and dust is cleared, the soul is pure and it’ll by natural attraction, comes to God and remains with HIM forever, but remain eternally separate.”
Swami Vivekananda was blessed by the God to make the humanity understand, through his versatile oration and knowledge of vedas and upanishads, that each soul is potentially divine. He said, “The goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this by work or worship or psychic control or philosophy-by one or more or all of these and be free. This is whole of religion. Doctrines or dogmas or rituals or books or temples or forms are but secondary details.” He advocated Vedanta philosophy and declared that one theme of this philosophy is to search after unity. According to Vedanta, the whole of this universe can be resolved into one material which is called ‘AKASHA’. Everything that we see around us, feel, touch, taste is simply a different manifestation of this ‘AKASHA’. All that we call solids, liquids, or gases, figures, forms or bodies, the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars-everything is composed of this ‘AKASHA’. Along with ‘AKASHA’ exists, universal power; and all that power in the universe, manifesting as force or attraction-nay even as thought, is but a different manifestation of that one power which is called ‘PRANA’. This ‘PRANA’ acting as ‘AKASHA’ is creating this whole of the universe. In the beginning of a cycle, this ‘PRANA”, as it were, sleeps in the infinite ocean of ‘AKASHA’. It existed motionless, in the beginning and through the action of this ‘PRANA’; the motion arises in this ocean of this ‘AKASHA’. Then this ‘PRANA’ begins to move to vibrate and out of this ocean comes the various celestial systems

as described above, viz. sun, moon, stars etc. and human beings and the manifestation of all the various forces and phenomena. Every manifestation of power, therefore, according to Vedantists is this ‘PRANA’. Every material manifestation is ‘AKASHA’. When this cycle will end and all that call solid will melt away into the next form, the next finer or the liquid form; that will melt into the gaseous, and that into finer and uniform heat and vibrations and all will melt back into the original ‘AKASHA’ and what we now call attraction, repulsion and motion will slowly resolve into the original ‘PRANA’. Thus this ‘PRANA’ of creation is going down and coming up, oscillating backwards and forwards. In the language of modern science, it is becoming static during one period and during another period it is becoming dynamic and one time it becomes active. Thus this attraction has gone on through eternity-according to these learned philosophers of Vedanta and as authenticated by the great visionary saint and philosopher, Swami Vivekananda(a lecture delivered in New York-Sept 1893) as quoted:
“Thus resolving the whole universe into two components-matter and energy or what the ancient philosophers of india called ‘AKASHA’ and ‘PRANA’. Both can be resolved into the still higher entity which is called ‘mind’. This state of mind which reacts is called ‘BUDDHI’-the intelect. Thus, they describe that it is the universal cosmic mind that splits itself into the ‘AKASHA’ and ‘PRANA’ and beyong ‘mind’, they’ve found their soul in living entity and in the universe, behind the universal mind, there is a soul that exists and it is called God. In the individual, it is the soul of a man (jeevatma).” Swami ji has described it and explained that according to the Vedanta school of thought-when this body dissolves, the vital forces of the man go back to his mind, and the mind becomes dissolved, as it were, with the ‘PRANA’, and that ‘PRANA’ entres into the soul of a man and soul of a man comes out, clothed as it were, which they call the fine body, the mental body or spiritual body as we may like to call it. In this body, are the ‘SAMASKARAS’ of the man. Sami ji further explains as what these samaskaras are? The mind is like a lake and every thought is like a wave upon that lake. Just as in the lake, waves rise and then fall down and dissappear, so these thought-waves are continually rising in the mind-stuff and then disappering forever. They become finer and finer but they are all there, ready to start up at another time, when called upon to do so. Memory is simply calling back into wave-form, some of these thoughts which have gone into the finer state of existence. Thus, everything that we have thought, every action that we have done, is lodged in the mind; it is all there in fine form, and when a man dies, the sum total of the impressions is in the mind which again works upon a little fine material as a medium. The soul, clothed as it were, with these impressions and the fine body, passes out, and the destiny of the soul is guided by the resultant of all different forces represented by different impressions.
In this context, the saint philospher made humanity aware that those who are spiritual, when they die, they follow the solar rays, and reach what is called the solar sphere, and through which they reach what is called the lunar sphere and through that they reach what is called the sphere of lighting and there they meet with another soul who is already blessed and he guides the newcomer forward to the highest of all spheres which is called the ‘BHRAHMA-LOKA’-The Sphere of Brahma. The way to Brahmaloka from which there is no more fall or return is called ‘Devayana’ i.e, the way to God; the way to heaven is known as ‘Pitriyana’ i.e, the way to Fathers. Man, therefore, according to Vedanta philosophy, is the greatest being that is in the universe and this world of work-sphere of karma (KARMABHOMI)-the best place in it, because only herein is the greatest and the best chance for him to become perfect. This is the great centre, the wonderful poise and the wonderful opportunity-THIS HUMAN LIFE.ss

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