GIFT OF UNIVERSALITY OF VEDANTA 9y SWAMI PRAKASHANANDA THE VEDANTA SOCIETY of San Francisco is an institution based on broad and universal principles. It aims at expounding the philosophy of life in a simple, rational and practical way. It has a vital and helpful message for per- sons in all walks of life. You are cordially welcome to the lect- ures by Swami Prakashananda of India, delivered every Sunday at 11 A. M. and 8 P. M. Tuesday and Thursday class lectures and individual lessons are for the mem- bers. Any sincere truth-seeker is eligible to membership. For further information please inquire or write to the Secretary. UNIVERSALITY OF VEDANTA 9, SWAMI PRAKASHANANDA Delivered at the Congress of Religious Philosophies, held under the auspices of P. P. I. E. at San Francisco in 1915 Published by THE VEDANTA SOCIETY OF SAN FRANCISCO 2963 Webster Street San Francisco, California U. S. A. Copyright, 1922, by Vedanta Society of S. F. THE UNIVERSALITY OF VEDANTA Our Motherland, India, and our religion, have not infrequently been grossly misrepresented. People in Western countries seldom go to the right sources for information. There are, for instance, the orthodox Christian missionaries, who, carried away by their enthusiasm to bring light to the so-called benighted heathen, would not hesitate to exaggerate or misstate the condi- tions of India and misinterpret the various phases of Hinduism. Then, again, there are the foreign travellers who skim over the country, stop in hotels and come in contact with their Anglo-Indian friends. They see only the squalor 'and the famine, or the gorgeous temples and other superficial things, and thus fail, in not a few cases, to touch the inner spring of Indian religious life. And these people write books on Indian religion and the socio-moral principles of the people ! What can you expect but a caricature of one of the sublimest religions in the world? If the tour- ists passing through the different countries of Europe and America, judge the western peoples and their religion sweepingly by observing the slums, the graft and reckless sacrifice of high moral principles in socio-political life, they un- 481502 t)F'VEI)ANTA doubtedly do injustice, like those shallow and superficial observers and writers of Indian life and religion. But when we turn our eyes to those great savants, who have, with unprejudiced minds, studied the religio-philosophical systems of In- dia, we receive an altogether different message and interpretation. Well has it been said by Professor Mav Muller : "If I were to look over the whole world to find out the country most richly endowed with all the wealth, power, and beauty that Nature can bestow in some parts a very paradise on earth I should point to India. If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions of some of them which well deserve the attention even of those w T ho have studied Plato and Kant I should point to India. And if I were to ask myself from what literature we here in Europe, we who have been nurtured al- most exclusively on the thoughts of Greek and Romans, and of one Semetic race, the Jewish, may draw that corrective which is most wanted in order to make our inner life more perfect, more truly human, a life not for this life only, but a transfigured and eternal life again I should point to India." Vict|or Couslin, the UNIVERSALITY OF VEDANTA 5 greatest among French historians of philosophy, while lecturing at Paris in the year 1828-29, spoke in the following terms to an audience of two thousand people : ' ( When we read with attention the poetical and philosophical monu- ments of the East, above all, those of India, which are beginning to spread in Europe, we discover there many a truth, and truths so profound and which make such a contrast with the meanness of the results at which the Euro- pean genius has sometimes stopped, that we are constrained to bend the knee before the philosophy of the East, and to see in this cradle of the human race the native land of the highest philosophy." Reverend R. Heber Newton, an eminent Western divine, said in one of his ad- dresses: "What we may reasonably expect is not the coming of a new religion from the East to supercede Christianity, but the coming of influences from the East to renew and restore Christianity. Our lamps burn low, but we need not cast them away; we should simply open them to the sacred oil of the East, which the High Priest of the Temple is even now pouring in upon the wicks when, lo ! a new flame in which we shall see and rejoice. The qualities which the Western world lacks the Eastern holds in excess. We might then look for the ordering by Providence of an infusion 6 UNIVERSALITY OF VEDANTA of the essence of the East; the balm of Gilead for the wounds of England, the cordial of In- dia for the tire of America. ' ' Students of religion sometimes become con- fused over the different names applied to the religion of the Hindus. The word 'Hindu' originated from the name of a river, Indus, in the Northwestern part of India, which in Sanskrit is called Sindhu. The Persian inva- ders often pronounced 'S* as 'H', so the people living beyond the river were designated by them as Hindus, and their religion was called 'Hinduism/ Now, people of all classes in dif- ferent faiths such as Christians, Jews, Par- sees, Mohammedans, etc., are living in different parts of India, so the term 'Hinduism' cannot be rightly applied to the religion of the various classes of people. The term), 'Brahmanism' given by the foreign missionaries and scholars to the religion of the Hindus has also lost its significance. Undoubtedly, there was a time when the Brahmans were the custodians of the religions of the Hindus, 'but now-a-days the Brahmans represent the priestly class who have ceased to bej the true leaders of religion. The proper name for the religion of the Hindus would be 'Vedic Religion' or 'Vedanta'. In order to understand a religion, we should know its founder as well as its scriptures. The UNIVERSALITY OF VEDANTA 7 question can be rightly asked, "who is the foun- der of Hinduism?" In reply we are proud to say that Hinduism is not built around the per- sonality of a founder, as Christianity is foun- ded on the divine personality of Christ, or as Mohammedanism is based on the personality of Mohammed. Hinduism, on the other hand, is based on the impersonal and eternal verities of life and creation. Just as the law of gravitation existed before its discovery, and would exist if all humanity forgot it, so it is with the laws and principles that govern the universe. The moral, ethical and spiritual relations between soul and soul, and between individual spirits and the universal Spirit, were there before their discovery and would remain even if we forgot them. The dis- coverers of these principles are called Rishis or seers of truth. They are honored and wor- shipped as God-men and perfected souls. It would be interesting to know that some of the very greatest of them were women. Though Hinduism is based on the eternal and impersonal truths underlying creation, still it accepts personal founders and recognizes the necessity of personal ideals,. Here lies the true universality of Vedanta. Those God-men who discover and also represent in their life the im- personal divine principles are accepted by Hin- 8 UNIVERSALITY OF VEDANTA duism. Hinduism accepts all that existed in the past and will accept those who will come in the future. As Christians have the Bible ; Buddhists, the Tripitaka; Mohammedans, the Koran; so have Hindus the Vedas. In order to get an insight into the Hindu religious philosophies, one must study three Prasthanas (pathways to knowl- edge) : theUpanishads, which are the cream of the Vedas; Gita, which has been translated as 'Song Celestial' by Sir Edwin Arnold; Vyasa- Sutras or Vedanta Aphorisms, by Badarayana Vyasa. Well has it been said by Paul Deussen ; "On the tree of Indian Wisdom there is no fairer flower than the Upanishads, no finer fruit than the Vedanta Philosophy." The great Ger- man philosopher, Schopenhauer, said in appre- ciation of the Upanishads : * ' In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life, it will be the solace of my death." Professor Max Muller says: "There was one religion only, or one religious philoso- phy, that of the Vedanta, which .... placed the highest happiness of the soul in the discov- ery and recovery of its true nature as from eternity to eternity one with God. It the Vedanta has room for almost every religion; nay, it embraces them all." UNIVERSALITY OF VEDANTA 9 Not a few scholars have an erroneous notion that Vedanta Philosophy is only monistic. In reality, Vedanta includes dualism, qualified non- dualism, and monism. Sankaracharya wrote commentaries on Vedanta Aphorisms and estab- lished the monistic school of thought. Raman- uja wrote commentaries on the same aphorisms and expounded the qualified non-dualistic sys- tem. Madhvacharya also wrote commentaries on these aphorisms and established the dualis- tic school of thought. There are other books which are called Turanas' and 'Smritis'. Smri- tis are ethical codes and Puranas try to incul- cate the sublime teachings of the Upanishads through historical records of the life deeds of the sages and saviours and mythological stories. While the Upanishads form the basis of all these various scriptures, the Gita has become the Bible of the Hindus. Besides these, there are six sys- tems of philosophy which time will not permit me to explain in detail. Professor Max Mul- ler's "Six Schools of Vedanta Philosophy" will give the reader some idea about these wonderful systems. But the Hindus do not reject or con- demn the other bibles of different religions. "Those who realize the Truth become one with It. Their words are the Vedas or scriptures. Expressed in Sanskrit or any other language, they will dispell the doubts of our hearts." 10 UNIVERSALITY OF VEDANTA Thus declared Nischaldas, the celebrated author of the book, called Vichar-Sagar (Ocean of Discrimination) . Religion, according to the Hindus, does not consist in believing in doctrines or dogmas, neither in book learning nor in intellectual un- derstanding, but in living the life. Religion is realization. The object of religion is to lead you to a plane of development where 'Vedas become no Vedas,' i.e., scriptures become insuf- ficient and fall short. You have to come face to face with the Supreme. You must attain the direct realization. Books have value in so far as they stimulate in us the desire to realize. From the highest idea of absolutism to the lowest idea of symbolic worship, each has found a place in Hinduism. God is one, infinite and absolute Being, but has different aspects. As- pirants at different stages of growth have dif- ferent conceptions of the same indivisible Being. The highest aspect is called 'Nirguna Brahman/ (unqualified Absolute Spirit). The Infinite cannot be properly expressed through attri- butes. By attributes, we qualify and limit the Unlimited. Even words are not adequate to express the glory, grandeur and sublimity of the Infinite. "Whence words shrink back with the mind unable to reach It." Thus sang the Sages of the Upanishads. UNIVERSALITY OF VEDANTA - 11 So there is a lower aspect of G-od which is called 'S'aguna Brahman/ (Qualified, or God with attributes) . But when we try to think of God who is the essence of blessed abstract qualities, we find it almost impossible to do so without associating God with some personality. Qualities or attributes are so indissolubly con- nected, that without corresponding personality we fail to comprehend the corresponding attri- butes. Hence, arose the necessity of a personal God. Then the idea of a personal God is incom- prehensible to the majority of people without some concrete form or Grod-man, such as Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, etc. Again, through associa- tion of ideas, some symbols, statues and images enable the aspirant to grasp the higher ideal more quickly and satisfactorily. Image- worship, or symbolic worship, has not infrequently been condemned as idolatry. But when forms and symbols are taken as aids to grasp the higher truths and principles, they are not only harm- less, but beneficial and necessary. If we go on decorating and nourishing our body without remembering the embodied soul, we become idolaters. Why is the cross holy ? Why is the crescent sacred? Why do we go to churches for worship? Why do we kneel before altars? We cannot enclose God within four walls, nor can we limit Him to an altar. These are all 12 UNIVERSALITY OF VEDANTA symbols and attempts of the undeveloped mind to grasp the higher and higher truths. The Hindus assert that it makes no difference where- from help comes. Hindus can go to a church, a mosque, or a temple and accept any symbols, as long as it would lead them on to higher and higher realization. We never travel from error to truth, but from lower truth to higher truth. The highest aim of religion is to go to the Infin- ite, through different steps. All religions begin with dualism, but end in monism. In the dualistic state, God is an extra- cosmic Being. We ascribe human relations unto Him. Hindus not only understand the fatherhood of God, but also the motherhood. In fatherhood there is a tinge of fear, but mo- therhood is a sweeter and closer relation. The true divine love must be without fear. The fatherly conception of God can be traced back to the Vedic conception, Dous Pitar, or 'Father in Heaven' and Greek worship of Jupiter, Zeus Pitar. But the Hindu mind did not stop there. They discovered that these relations of indivi- dual souls to the Divine Spirit may be grand, but they are undoubtedly human and make the Divine Spirit anthropomorphic. The higher aspect of God was gradually re- vealed to them. God is no longer distant and extra-cosmic, but intra-cosmic. He is the all- UNIVERSALITY OF VEDANTA 13 immanent Spirit energizing everything. We are all part and parcel of that 'one stupendous whole'. We are in constant touch with That, but we are ignorant of the fact. Still we grow and evolve, until it is discovered that the rela- tion of son to father, that of the beloved to the source of love, even that of the part to the whole will not satisfy the soul. Nothing short of oneness or merging will bring that perfect contentment. The spiritual oneness is the final realization of religious life, when, with Jesus, we would say, "I and my Father are one;" when we shall say with Krishna, "I am that unborn and all-pervading Supreme Being; and with the Vedic sages we would declare, "So- ham," (I am That). "Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divine within, by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy, by one, or more, or all of these and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doc- trines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details." Swami Vivekananda. So there is a chance for all. The difference between a saint and an ordinary soul lies not in kind, but in degree. The divine light of the soul cannot be destroyed, only covered, as the sun is covered by the clouds. Accordingly, 14 UNIVERSALITY OF VEDANTA Hinduism never teaches any absurd doctrine like eternal damnation. Sooner or later, each soul will reach the Universal Source. There are different paths leading to the same goal. Human nature may be approximately classified under four heads : emotional, analyti- cal, meditative and active. Just as the kind and benevolent mother prepares different dishes ac- cording to the various tastes and constitutions of different children, even so has Hinduism laid down different paths of God-realization accord- ing to the various spiritual tendencies and tem- peraments of persons placed in different stages of evolution. These paths are called 'Yogas' such as Bhakti, Yoga, path of devotion; Jnana Yoga, path of knowledge; Raja Yoga, path of concentration ; and Karma Yoga, path of action. We talk so glibly about universal religion. Religion, in order to be universal, must be as broad as the heavens above and deep as the oceans beneath, and in its catholicity, would embrace and include all faiths and try to help all natures. There is another way of establish- ing universal religion by seeing harmony in all. If we thoroughly understood the principles of 'unity in variety/ and applied it in the religious field, there would be harmony of religions. As long as there will be diversified natures and temperaments, different religions and sects are UNIVERSALITY OF VEDANTA 15 inevitable. But that does not mean that there must be sectarianism! Just as there are so many radii converging to the same center, so the different religions and sects are many ways leading to the same God. Those who think they cannot be devoted to y, their faith without condemning others, are entirely mistaken. We need devotion not fanaticism! The dogmatic attitude that 'my religion is the only religion; my saviour, the only saviour' betrays not only narrowness, but formidable ignorance. Fanaticism, bigotry and narrow-mindedness have often played a con- spicuous part in religion. The time has come when we should outgrow these, broaden our views and expand our vision. Let us be devo- ted to our -own, and at the same time give liber- ty to others to follow theirs. Harmony of religions does not mean that all religions will be supplanted by one particular religion. Notwithstanding our fanatical atti- tude toward other religions, those faiths which are fed by the fountain of eternal light and wisdom, will remain for the betterment and up- liftment of humanity. As in an orchestra, various instruments, played properly, produce a wonderful harmony, so let all the true reli- gions and faiths remain in their places and do their proper share, and let us bid adieu to all 16 UNIVERSALITY OF VEDANTA uncharitable spirit by recognizing the unity of purpose and aim to be one and the same. The idea of universal harmony first arose in the Vedic age, when it was declared; "Ekam sat vipra vahudha vadanti" (That which exists is one, the sages call It by various names). Coming down through the corridors of time to the fourteenth century B.C., we come upon Sri Krishna, a mighty spirit, who de- clared; ''In whatever way men worship Me, in the same way do I fulfill their desires. It is My path, son of Kunti, men tread in all ways." (Gita, chapter IV-11). In the Vedas we see the germ and here we see the plant, but it was reserved for the ninetenth century to produce a wonderful soul in Sri Ramakrish- na who was the perfect embodiment of uni- versal harmony. Here the plant had grown to be a gigantic tree, under the shade of which men and women of different paths and reli- gions found rest. May He who is Ahura Mazda of the Zoro- astrians; Jehovah of the Jews; Father in Heaven of the Christians ; Allah of the Moham- medans; and Brahman and the Divine Mother of the Hindus and God of all nations and reli- gions, give us the true understanding and the strength to carry the universal harmony into our daily lives. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Cloth, $2.00 ; Postage 10 cents. Paper, $1.50; Postage 8 cents. Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna Cloth, $1.25; Postage 10 cents. The Life of Swami Vivekananda (4 Vols.) Each Vol., Cloth, $2.50 ; Postage 18 cents. Complete works of Swami Vivekananda (5 Vols.) Each Vol., Cloth, $2.50 ; Postage 15 cents. Inner Consciousness, by Swami Prakashananda Paper, 25 cents; Postage 2 cents. Besides the above, many important books and pamphlets on Vedanta Philosophy by the Swamis, translations of Upanishads, etc., for sale at Society headquarters, 2963 Webster Street, San Francisco, Cal. VEDANTA PERIODICALS Prabuddha Bhar at a Monthly. $1.50 a year. Mayavati P. 0. Dt. Almora, U. P., India, Vedanta Kesari Monthly. $1.50 a year. Mylapore, Madras, India. Message of the East Monthly. $2.00 a year. 1 Queensberry St., Boston, Mass. THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE. FEB IS iq^4 JUL 9 1934, AUG1& t* Mni/ n W V 16 J93 4 Afrn. AP "20 1Sdy JAW 17 104; LD21-100m-7,'33 Photomount Pamphlet Binder Gaylord Bros. Makers Syracuse, N. Y. PAT. JAM 21, 1908 YC 1556,4 481502 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY