He who sees, perceives, understands & loves the self; delights in the self; reveals in the self; rejoices in the self, becomes the Lord and Master in all the world.
( Swami Abhedananda) Continuing our thrust in learning from some of the great Saints & Philosophers, we shall pick up a few powerful messages on Dharma, Ethical living & spiritual wisdom conveyed to the world by Swami Abhedananda of the period 1866-1939 CE, spiritual brother of Swami Vivekananda and a direct disciple of Swami Ramakrishna Paramhansa. " All religions unanimously declare that God is Truth and Truth is God." and " Faith in God is the cornerstone of all the great mansions of religions of the world." are some of his powerful messages on main focus of Religions of the world.
Born in Calcutta, named Kaliprasad Chandra, learnt Yoga from19th century mystic Swami Ramakrishna Paramhansa; established Ramakrishna Vedanta Math. On the advice of Swami Vivekananda, he headed Vedanta Society of New York in 1897 and for next 25 yrs, traveled and lectured on Vedanta wide across the audience of the world; authored several books on philosophy, religion, culture, reincarnation. doctrine of Karma & other spiritual aspects.
Going thru his published scripts titled " The Complete Works of Swami Abhedananda", I could pick up enormous treasure of knowledge and wisdom on " Dharma, Ethical living and Spiritual Wisdom". Some of my key learnings are summarized below
- Every religion can be divided into two parts, non essentials and essentials. Doctrines, dogmas, rituals, ceremonies and mythologies of all the organized religious creeds come under non essentials.The essentials consist of Self Knowledge which is knowledge of divine nature of self or higher self and Self Control which is restraint of the lower self or selfish nature.
- Whenever there is too much of non essentials, religious corruption, superstitions and false theology prevail and hide the kernel of essential truth. Furthermore, poor self control may easily start reflecting into unethical human behavior like uncontrolled passion, anger, greed, hatred towards others, self delusion, egotism and sometimes jealousy.
- No one can succeed in attaining self control, so essential for following Dharma & Ethical values, by being a slave to desires. Ethical and Spiritual living requires subjugation of senses.
- Whether we believe in God or not, whether we have faith in any prophet or not, if we have self control, concentration, truthfulness and disinterested love for one and all, then we are on a righteous path leading to ethical and spiritual living.
- Vedanta philosophy preaches that the true Self is absolutely indestructible and unchangeable. Destruction of self is just as impossible as the destruction of the Absolute and this truth is realized by achieving perfection in self knowledge.
- He, who realizes all beings in the self, and the self in all animate & inanimate objects of the universe, never hates anyone or anything. Hatred develops from imperfect relative knowledge and when hatred is gone, jealousy and other selfish feelings disappear and divine love begins to reign.
- True self or Atman is above good or evil, beyond virtue or vice. We are a part of Divinity. let us feel it, realize it and we will be free. The attainment of this freedom thru self knowledge brings in us the realization of our oneness with divinity.
Quoting him on one occasion in the context of Self Knowledge, it is said," I am the light of the universe.Through me shine the sun, moon, stars and the lightening. I am the lord of the body, senses and the mind. I am also the lord of all phenomenal objects. I have realized my true self and also the true self of the universe and now I am one with the Absolute." What a powerful message on True self and Divinity! Let me now share a few more learnings from his scriptures, on Karma, Ethical living and divinity in general.
- Life is Prana, Prana is life; Life is immortality and Immortality is life; Life never dies.
- The doctrine of Karma alone can explain the problem of good and evil and reconcile man to the terrible and apparent injustice of life.
- In this world of relativity, it is impossible to find an action which is absolutely good and creates no discord or disharmony. " स्वारम्भा हि दोषेण धरमेंनागिन्रिवाव्रता ie actions are followed by its demerits just as the fire is enveloped with smoke. It is equally difficult to find any work with absolute evil effect without causing some kind of good somewhere in the universe.
- Wherever there is perfect harmony, peace, tranquility or happiness, this could be the result of good acts; and wherever discord, disease, suffering, pain, misery or unhappiness prevail,there could be violations of moral and other laws of ethical living and consequently, there is evil.
- A believer in the law of Karma is responsible for all the good and bad results of his own actions. He knows that he creates his own destiny and moulds his character by his thoughts and deeds. He never blames others for his misery and suffering. He is more moral and virtuous. He avoids doing anything wrong because he knows that every wrong action will sooner or later react upon himself making him unhappy and miserable. Doctrine of Karma conveys that God never rewards the virtuous nor punishes the wicked. "नादन्ते कस्यचित्त पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभुः ".
- The Karmyoga teaches that by performing all the obligatory works of life without seeking any return for self ie thru non attachment, we gain the purification of the heart leading to divine wisdom and liberation of soul.
- Divine love( expression of feeling of oneness) and Divine wisdom are one and lead to seeing divinity in everything.These unfold the inner self simultaneously and lead us to God consciousness.
- The knowledge of Truth ( Sat-yam) brings freedom to the soul. About five centuries before the advent of Jesus, Buddha declared," Happy is he who has found the truth. Truth is noble and sweet. There is no savior in the world except the truth." Our own holy sages and prophets of Vedic period have been saying," From truth we have come into existence, in truth we live and into truth we return in the end." Whosoever has found the truth, is happy, free and blissful.
- The infinite & eternal truth, Brahman, pervades the whole universe, the visible and the invisible. May we realize the infinite in this life. May we attain to that truth and enjoy peace for ever.
- The Self ( Atman) is the infinite. Self is below, above, behind, before, right or left; self is all this.
- That which is infinite is bliss. In the finite, there is no bliss. Infinity alone is bliss. This infinity is to be realized.
He also carried out in depth work on " Reincarnation" and " Life beyond death" and expressed his views in series of lectures and scripts. Let me end the blog by sharing one or two of his strong convictions in this area based on his thinking.
- The religion of Vedanta tells us not to seek divine wisdom from the departed spirits, and not to waste our time & energy by going after them, because the result will not be successful. " Devyana", the divine path is through Self Knowledge or the relative knowledge of the individual soul with the universal spirit.
- The salvation of the soul is the highest ideal of all religions. In each individual soul, a current of love flowing like a river, constantly seeks an outlet thru which it can run into the ocean of divine love, called GOD. How can a man taste the nectar of divine love and obtain salvation from selfishness, so long as he is a slave of desires? True lover of God desires nothing, cares for nothing but the eternal truth.
" The world needs today a universal religion, which will embrace within its unbounded arms, all the established religions of the world, and which will give them their proper places which they deserve in this scale of religious revolution. Truth is eternal and it can not be monopolized by any sect or creed or religion."
