Swami Paratparananda1
11-27-1972
First let's say what the meaning of the word Vedanta is: it means "the final part of the Vedas." The Vedas are the sacred books of the Hindus; the word Veda, in Sanskrit means "Wisdom." The Vedas can be divided into two parts: the first comprises the hymns that are designated as Samhita and the texts about the methods of rituals and sacrifices, which are called Bráhmanas; the second constitutes philosophy or knowledge, the Upanishads. All Hindu philosophy is based on the Upanishads, which are usually designated as Vedanta. Although the word Vedanta denotes the last part of the Vedas, not all Upanishads form only the final part of them. Some are found in the Bráhmanas or ritual part of the Vedas; For example, Isha Upanishad forms Chapter 40 of Yayur Veda Samhita. There are other Upanishads that are independent, that is, they are not included in either the Bráhmanas or other parts of the Vedas, however, there is no reason to suppose that they are completely independent of the other parts, for we know that many portions are they have lost. Thus, it is quite possible that the independent Upanishads belonged to some Bráhmanas that in the course of time ceased to be used, while the Upanishads remained.
Vedanta is both philosophy and practical religion. In India philosophy as mere intellectualism is not very important; for Hindus, philosophy must be practical, which can be carried out in daily life; it must be useful for the common man to form his life in this world, and rise or unite with God. Religion also for them does not mean merely believing in some dogmas or creeds, but rather putting beliefs into practice.
Swami Vivekananda says: "The first religious ideas begin with God's." Here is the universe and it is created by a Being. Everything that is in this universe has been created by Him. Along with that idea, at a later stage, comes the soul - that this body exists and there is also something inside of him that is not the body. This is the most idea
1 Swami Paratparananda was the spiritual leader of Ramakrishna Ashrama, Buenos Aires, Argentina and Ramakrishna Vedanta Ashrama, Sao Paulo, Brazil (1973-1988).
Primitive that we know of religion. We can find some followers of her in India, but she was ruled out long ago. Religions in India begin in a particular way. It is only through acute analysis and much conjecture that we can think that this stage existed in these religions. The tangible state in which we find them is the next stage, not the first. In the oldest stage the idea of creation is very peculiar and that the whole universe is created from scratch, according to the will of God; that this universe did not exist, and out of nothing has been begotten. In the next stage we find that this conclusion is doubted. How can the existence of non-existence be produced? It is the first step of Vedanta. If this universe is existing, it must have come out of something, because it is easy to see that nothing is begotten from nothing anywhere. If you want to build a house you need materials that exist before; If you see a boat, we can conclude that the raw material existed previously. Therefore, of course, the first idea that this universe was created from nothing was rejected, but the material with which this world was created was lacking. The whole history of religion, in reality, is the search for this material.
“What has all this been produced from? From what God created everything? ”All philosophies, so to speak, revolve around this issue. One solution is that nature, God, and the individual being are eternal existences as if they were three parallel lines that run eternally, of which nature and the soul make up what are called God's dependents, who is in turn, Independent Reality Each soul, the same as each particle of matter, depends entirely on the will of God.
Now all Vedantists have a common psychology; Whatever their philosophies, their psychology is the same: that of Sankhia. According to it, the perception is caused by the transmission of vibrations that reach, first, the organs of the external senses, hence the internal ones; then to the mind; then to buddhi or intellect, and then to Atman, to Being. ”
This Being is potentially divine and eternal. However, we find three aspects of Vedanta in its philosophy according to its concept of Being, namely, dualism, qualified monism and pure monism, or, rather, non-dualism, since in Sanskrit, advaita means non-diversification. The first considers that there is a discernible distinction between the soul, or the individual being, nature and God. That is, that the soul always remains separated from God during eternity, that the soul or yiva is small, helpless, always dependent on God. The second, that is, qualified monism, considers nature and the soul as the body of God: souls are never separated from God, they are parts of Him. When they are released they remain in His presence and enjoy eternal bliss in she.
On the other hand, non-dualism insists that Brahman or God is not different from the individual being, that there are not many souls, that it is ignorance or maya who projects the multiplicity we see in the world. All that exists according to them is the manifestation of God; the individual being is identical to Brahman. To illustrate this fact of how we have come to regard the world as something other than God, they give the well-known example of the snake superimposed on the rope in the dark. A man in the dark is wrong and sees a snake in a rope that is on the road, and is frightened; but then, when someone assures him that there are no snakes in that place and carries a lantern and shows him a rope, he understands that he was excited. Also, under the spell of maia, or ignorance, the human being considers everything manifest as distinct from God; but when he manages to get rid of her, he perceives that there was nothing but God all the time; that it was his ignorance about Reality that produced that illusion of multiplicity. They also give the example of mirage: a thirsty man in the desert, spot an oasis of groves with succulent fruits and a lake of clean water, and rushes to get there; however, the further he advances towards him, he perceives it so much farther. And he who knows this phenomenon, after a while, realizes it. And once he discovers it, he won't be fooled anymore. However, while in the desert, the phenomenon reappears before him. But every time he appears he knows that it is an illusion, and he does not fall victim to it. Likewise, he who has realized, intimately seen God, Reality, does not get carried away by the charm of multiplicity. Then, he knows that Reality, Existence, is unique. And everything appears as real because of this Existence behind everything. This aspect is called Advaita scripting, or non-dualism.
We can consider all these aspects, as progressive stages. The common man, who is aware of his body and the multiplicity, which is considered as an individual separated from others, and yet he longs to see God, cannot follow the aspect of non-dualism The majority of humanity is incapable of understanding the highest philosophy of non-dualism, because in non-dualism, Reality, Existence, as Absolute, Abstract, without form is presented. The common man needs a personal God to fix his mind on him. For that there are no better examples than the Divine Incarnations. One cannot imagine a personal God more excellent than the one who manifests as God-man. The human mind, circumscribed as it stands for its weaknesses, cannot conceive of a being more eminent than the Divine Incarnation. In Her the greatest virtues and qualities are perceived more clearly. Compassion and love for no reason overflow from his heart to all living beings; She is the personification of the Truth as well as other magnificent qualities. Therefore, they are conceptualized as equal to God's worship.
All Vedantists agree, on three points. They believe the God, in the Vedas as divine revelations, and in the cycles. The belief about the cycles is as follows: all matter in the entire universe is the visible result of a primary matter called akasha and all force, be it gravitation, attraction or repulsion, or life, is the consequence of a primary force called prana. The prana, acting on the akasha, creates or projects the universe. At the beginning of a cycle the akasha is motionless, unmanifest; then, prana acts more and more, projecting more and denser forms of akasha: stars, plants, animals and human beings. After an incalculable time this evolution ceases and the involution begins. Everything is gradually resolved in finer and finer, subtle forms, until they take the original form of akasha and prana. Then, a new cycle begins. There is something that is beyond akasha and prana; These two can be solved in a third element called mahat, the Cosmic Mind. It does not create akasha and prana but becomes itself in them. This cycle process goes on forever; It begins with the projection we call creation; then, the dissolution; after a period of unmanifestation, the projection begins again.
Let's talk now about Sankhia psychology. According to her, in perception, that is, in the case of seeing something, there are first the instruments of vision, the eyes; behind the instruments is the corresponding or indria organ - the optic nerve and its center in the brain - which is not the external instrument but without which the eyes cannot see. You still need more to get the perception; the mind must get in touch and hold on to this organ; In addition, it is necessary that the sensation reaches the intellect or buddhi, the determinative faculty of the mind. When the reaction comes from the intellect, along with it the external world and the ego appear, but the process is not yet complete; all ideas in the mind must be united and projected on something that remains motionless, that is, on what is called the soul or Purusha or Atman.
According to this Sankhia psychology, the reactive state of the mind called buddhi or intellect, is the result of the change or certain manifestation of the Mahat or Cosmic Mind. The Mahat is transformed into vibrant thoughts, and these partly become subtle organs and partly become the five subtle elements, namely: space, air, fire, water and earth. Due to the combination of these, the entire universe is produced. Beyond the Mahat is the Aviakta, or the unmanifest, where even the manifestation of the mind is not present. There are only causes. It is also called Prakriti. Beyond this Prakriti, and eternally separated from it, is the Purusha, the soul of the sankhias, which is without attributes and omnipresent. The Purusha is not the actor but the witness.
The Vedantists reject Sankhias ideas about the soul and nature. They claim from the beginning that this soul and this nature are one and the same thing. Even the dualists among the Vedantists admit that Brahman, or God, is not only the efficient cause of this universe, but also the material. They only say this in words but do not try to reach a conclusion. They say: “There are three things: God, the soul and nature; nature and the individual being are, so to speak, the body of God, and in this sense it can be said that God and the entire universe are one and the same thing. But this nature and these different souls are separated from each other through eternity; only at the beginning of a cycle do they manifest; and when the cycle ends they return to their fine or subtle state. ”
Non-dualists reject this theory of the soul and build their own philosophy, on the sayings of the Upanishads that are mostly in their favor. One of the Upanishads says: “When you know a piece of clay, you also know all the items, such as the jar, the plate, the cup, and the pot made of it, since all these things are nothing more than Shapes of the same clay. In the same way, knowing Brahman, the Supreme Being, the Absolute, the Infinite, everything is known, because all the manifest are variations of names and forms, the reality is only Brahman ”. Here it clearly demonstrates that the universe is nothing more than Brahman, God. The question will arise: If God has become all this, what we could algebraically call X, does it not turn out that the rest of God would be God minus X? To this the advaitists or non-dualists reply: None of that; The entire universe is just an appearance, an illusion. All this universe and all creatures that are born and die, all this infinite number of souls that rise and descend, are dreams; there is no individual being, how can there be many? Everything is the Unique Reality. Because, says one of the Upanishads: “Just as the sun reflected in different particles of dew seems to be many, and each sun reflected in them is a perfect image of him, and yet there is only one sun, likewise all the yivas or individual beings are reflections of the Infinite in different minds. ”Therefore, the human being, as a body, mind or soul, is a dream; What it really is is Existence, Consciousness and Absolute Bliss. This is the position of the non-dualist. For us who have not transcended the idea that we are a body, this position would seem incongruous, even more silly, but we must say that those who came to this conclusion were not charlatans, but had done what they were saying. The Rishis, seers who proclaim this idea in the Upanishads of ancient India, the great masters like Goudapada and Shankaracharya, who came later, experienced their unity with the Absolute; Moreover, in India, perhaps there was never a lack of beings who realized this state of non-dualism. For those who still smile to themselves, doubting an experience as such, we will quote what happened with Swami Vivekananda when he approached Sri Ramakrishna. Narendra - as Swami Vivekananda was called back then - also not only doubted but made fun of this teaching. When Sri Ramakrishna wanted to teach him a non-dualistic text asking him to read it before him, he protested by saying: “These rishis must be crazy; They say everything is Brahman. This is blasphemy, for there is no difference between such philosophy and atheism. There is no greater sin in this world than to think of myself as identical with the Creator. I am god! You are God! These created things are God! What can be more absurd than this? The wise men who wrote these things must have been insane. ”
Sri Ramakrishna was amused at this openly coarse attitude of Naren and only used to say: “I might not accept the opinion of these wise men, but how can you insult them or limit God's infinity? Go on, praying to the God of Truth, and believe in any aspect of Him so that He will reveal himself to you. ”But Narendra did not submit easily; everything that did not agree with reason considered it false, and it was its nature to oppose all falsehood.
As a consequence he did not miss any opportunity to ridicule Advaita philosophy. But the Master knew that Narendra's path was that of Gnana, Knowledge; for this reason he persisted in telling him about this philosophy. One day he tried to make him understand the identity of the individual being with Brahman, but without success. Narendra left the room, and approaching Pratap Chandra Hazra - a gentleman who lived at the time in Dakshineswar - said: “How can I be this? This jar is God, this cup is God, we are also God; nothing can be more absurd! ”And he laughed out loud. Sri Ramakrishna, who was in his room in a semi-conscious state, hearing Naren's laugh, came out with his clothes under his arm like a child, and said smiling: “Hello! What are you talking about? ”And he touched Narendra and entered samadhi, or spiritual ecstasy. The effect of the touch, Naren described it this way: “The magic touch of the Master that day immediately produced a wonderful change in my mind. Stunning, because there really was nothing in the universe except God; I saw it very clearly, but I kept silent to see if the idea lasted. But the impression did not diminish in the course of the day; I returned home, but there also everything I saw looked like Brahman. I sat down to eat and saw that all things, - the food, the plate, the person who served me and even myself - was nothing more than That. I took one or two bites and sat dumb; I was surprised by my mother's words that said: Why are you sitting there motionless? Finish your meal. ' I started to eat, but all the time, whether I was eating, I was lying or going to University, I had the same experience and I constantly felt a kind of lethargic state. While walking through the streets I felt the carriage passing but I was not inclined to get out of the way. I felt that the cars and I were of the same subject; I had no feeling in my members, so much, that I thought they were paralyzed. I didn't feel the taste of food, moreover, I felt like someone was eating for me. Sometimes I went to bed during lunch and after a while I got up to eat again. The result was that some days I ate too much but this didn't hurt me. My mother got scared and said there must be something wrong with my health. I was afraid that I would not live long. When that state changed a little, the world began to seem like a dream. While walking through the city square I banged my head against the gates to see if they were real or just a dream. This state of affairs continued for a few days; when I became normal again I realized that I should have had a glimpse of the state of Advaita; Then it occurred to me that the words of the sacred scriptures were not false. Since then I could not deny the conclusions of the Advaita philosophy. ”
A very convincing theory of the disparity that we find in the world is what Vedanta affirms, that of karma, which expresses that every human being is reaping what he has sown, that is, his condition in this world is the result of his actions. in the previous lives. It is he who manufactured his birth and happy or unhappy life. We are responsible for who we are; No one is guilty of our misfortune, but ourselves. But we must not confuse this theory with fatalism. There is a very encouraging idea in this theory: if we have suffered this life of suffering and death as a result of our actions, we can rise and free ourselves by the same means, that is, by our good deeds and thoughts. Karma theory is like that of action and reaction; the man pursues the result of the action until this result ends. All acts beget good and bad results, and, to enjoy the meritorious acts, the one who does them with personal motive goes to the heavens, says the Hindu sacred scriptures. But in this case, the heavens means only a place of enjoyment, and when the act ends, the being has to return to this earth according to his desire and demerits of their previous actions. They also say: `` Only the acts of human beings produce good or bad results, but not those of animals or those of devas or celestial beings. They only reap what they have sown. Therefore, he who wants to free himself must detach himself from all worldly objects, from all desires.
A very wonderful statement of Vedanta is found in the Rig Veda which is the oldest of all. It says: Existence is unique; the wise call it by different names. That is, God is unique even though the races and sects of different religions call him by the names they like. This is a fact that Sri Ramakrishna proved in His life. He practiced not only the different disciplines of the sects of Hinduism but also those of Islam and Christianity. And he came to have the final Realization of all of them. And then he said: `` So many opinions are so many paths to reach the same Reality. '' Therefore, Vedanta does not disparage any religion, even more, accepts all as true Nor does he want to convert any human being who follows one religion into another but, rather, helps confirm his faith in his own religion and remove doubts that prevail in his mind. That is why Vedanta has no disputes with any religion. From ancient times India gave refuge to all the persecuted. The Persians - followers of Zoroaster - fled their country to preserve their religion and were welcomed with open arms in India. Everything that remains of this religion is found only in India. We could cite more examples but what we have said is enough to show you how deeply the Hindu people have absorbed this idea that Existence is unique and only what the wise call it by different names.
We can also find the fundamental basis of morality in non-dualism, since it affirms that there are not many souls; every living being is Brahman; therefore, he who hates his neighbor hates himself; He who helps others helps himself. If it weren't for that, why should we walk the straight path? That is, why not steal, or fool people for our own happiness? Would it be for fear of society or justice? In that case, the man, when he felt strong or clever enough to avoid his eyes, would commit vicious acts to seize the property of others. But morals based on the awareness that we are all one will not allow him to do any harm or deceit his fellow men.
We have said that he, Vedanta accepts all religions as true. We should note that the word "acceptance" is not tolerance; The word tolerance implies something of contempt or the treatment of an evil that one has to endure as inevitable. This is not the attitude of Vedanta. He really believes that all paths, whatever they are, lead to Reality, to God, and must be accepted as true.
Vedanta says: “The Self, the Atman, is immortal; It is not born, nor dies, there was no time when it did not exist, nor will there be a time when it does not exist. It is eternal: it does not die when the body ceases to exist. ”Sri Krishna also affirms the same in the Bhagavad Gita. Let's examine this statement. We see that everything created perishes; there is nothing in this world that exists forever; even the planets, the earth, the sun, all one day will disappear, and if the soul or the Being was created then it is logical to deduce what will perish. But all religions insist that the Self continues to exist after the death of the body. This belief is also inherent in the human being. When that is so, it is illogical to conclude that it was created at some time. Nor can we maintain that there are as many souls as living beings - as the Sankhias say - because they themselves declare that Purusha, the Being, is omnipresent and eternal. The Vedantist asks: “How can there be two or more eternal and omnipresent entities? If this were true, one will limit the omnipresence of others, or the omnipresence of one will spread over others. That's absurd; therefore, we cannot say that there is more than one omnipresent entity and this is the Reality, the Absolute Existence, or God. ”By this reasoning we also reach the same conclusion as that of the non-dualist, that the universe with its living beings It is identical to Brahman.
So far we have talked about Vedanta philosophy. Now let's say what are the practices that Vedanta suggests to achieve perfection, liberation, to God. Vedanta does not require us to flee the world, to stop fulfilling our obligations and duties. However, we need to change the way things are perceived. The wise men who proclaimed this Vedanta philosophy have deepened the human mind and have come to the conclusion that everyone does not have the same aptitude, the same tendencies, the same inclinations. They knew that just as each human being is different in their physical appearance, each one also has a different disposition to that of the others, and therefore, they have given each one freedom to follow their own inclinations and develop according to their disposition. . It is a well known fact that when a person's natural development is impeded, even with good intentions, his or her progress is restricted and sometimes his character becomes complex. Sri Krishna definitely forbids meddling in the natural development of man, when he says: “The intellect of ignorant people who are attached to actions or rituals should not be confused. A sage should encourage them by presenting themselves as an example of the activity. ”Sri Ramakrishna explains - so to speak - this same saying as follows. He says: “The mother prepares different dishes for her children according to the digestion power of each one; Some give fried fish, another boiled fish and one with a delicate stomach gives only fish soup. In the same way, the guru or spiritual master, who knows the inherent tendencies of his disciples, prescribes different practices for each according to his capacity. ”We see here that the task of following a path should not be heavy, nor should it disrupt the aptitude of the candidate.
Therefore, the guidance of a perfect teacher who knows all the paths and can also deepen the mind of the disciple is necessary. Commonly the human being does not know his own inclinations well; he is attracted by intellectualism and considers himself fit to follow the path of non-dualism, but for the homeless, who are the majority of humanity; this is dangerous. Until one does not renounce all worldly joys and all desires in heaven, one is not fit to follow this path. Total renunciation, internal and external, is an essential requirement of this path.
The attitude of devotion is the best at this time when the human being cannot overcome identification with his body. On this path we must not tear away the tender human feelings, but instead direct them towards God. Any of these relationships with God can be established, namely that of a servant to his master; that of a child towards his mother or father; that of a friend, and others like that. The essential thing is to love God with all your heart, beg him constantly and uninterruptedly to reveal himself in our hearts. We must emphasize here that renunciation, at least internal, is indispensable on this path as well. Unless one departs from attachments and worldly things, it will be impossible to fix one's mind on God. The constant remembrance of God is the best way to direct the mind towards Him. But this cannot be acquired in a few days; It is a lifelong task. Therefore, the applicant must allocate some time of his daily life, especially during the hours of dawn and dusk, to prayer, and carry out that practice without fail every day. He who longs to see God will feel the urge to do these practices without anyone telling him. It is also true that as one advances in the practices one will feel that yearning more and more. Until then, one must continue to pray as if it were a duty.
At the beginning of the practices almost everyone will feel only this way, but you should not despair. There will come a time when the omission of the practice will be like the lack of food. This is the dawn of longing to see God.
The third path is that of action. No one can avoid acting. By doing good to others, one's mind is cleansed, but in this action there must be no personal motive, no reward of any kind, nor anxiety about fame. It is only possible to act like this when one has the certain conviction that all that is manifest is God, that he is serving God alone in all these forms. However, this conviction is not acquired by the mere desire to have it, you need to impress the mind with this idea over and over again when she is wrong and takes pride in having done meritorious acts.
Psychic control is the fourth path. In this case the aspirant must be from the beginning of pure mind practices. Here the practices are hard, almost impossible to practice at this time. Therefore, we must be very careful before practicing the disciplines that this path suggests.
We have said that every human being has to develop according to his natural disposition. In all there are, to a greater or lesser degree, the inclinations towards devotion, action, knowledge and control, psychic. Depending on which of them prevails in the mind of the aspirant, he must choose the right path. The best way is a mixture of all paths, that is, to perform good deeds, such as helping others without personal interest, praying, meditating on God and remembering Him always and having the conviction that this world is His manifestation, or God Himself. .
Let's recap. Vedanta philosophy is broad; todos pueden servirse de ella sin que necesiten cambiar su propia religión. Según ella, el ser es potencialmente divino, sólo los deseos son los que cubren su divinidad: esta es la ignorancia. Los deseos obligan al ser humano a aferrarse a las cosas mundanas, tales corno ellas aparecen. Lo que el conocedor de Brahman o Dios adquiere es el ver al universo en su real perspectiva, no como se presenta. La apariencia es engañadora, mientras que la Realidad detrás de ella es Dios mismo. Realizándolo el ser humano se vuelve perfecto; se libera para siempre. Esto es, en breve, la esencia del Vedanta.
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