Reading section 3

So far it is clear that this macrocosm and microcosm are built on exactly the same plan, and in this microcosm we know only one very small part. We know neither the sub-conscious, nor the super-conscious. We know only the conscious. If a man says “I am a sinner,” he is foolish, because he does not know himself. He is the most ignorant of men about himself; one part only he knows, because the fact of knowledge covers only one part of the “mind-ground” he is in. So with this universe; it is possible to know only one part through reasoning, but Nature comprises the whole of it, the sub-conscious, the conscious and the super-conscious, the individual _mahat_ and the universal _Mahat_ with all their subsequent modifications, and these lie beyond reason.

What makes nature change? We see that Up to this point everything, all _Prakriti_, is _jadâ_ (insentient). It is working under law; it is all compound and insentient. Mind, intelligence, and will, all are insentient. But they are all reflecting the sentiency, the _Chit_ (Intelligence) of some Being who is beyond all this, and whom the Sânkhya philosophers call _Purusha_. This _Purusha_ is the unwitting cause of all these changes in Nature--in the universe. That is to say, this _Purusha_, taking Him in the universal sense, is the God of the universe. It is claimed that the will of the Lord created the universe. This is very good as a common daily expression, but that is all. How could it be will? Will is the third or fourth manifestation in Nature. Many things exist before it, and what created _them_? Will is a compound, and everything that is a compound is a production out of Nature. Will itself cannot create Nature. It is not a simple. So to say that the will of the Lord created the universe is illogical. Our will only covers a little portion of self-consciousness, and moves our brain, they say. If it did you could stop the action of the brain, but you cannot. It is not the will. Who moves the heart? It is not the will, because if it were you could stop it or not at your will. It is neither will that is working your body, nor that is working the universe. But it is something of which will itself is one of the manifestations. This body is being moved by the power of which will is only a manifestation in one part. So in the universe there is will, but that is only one part of the universe. The whole of the universe is not guided by will, that is why we do not find the explanation in will. Suppose I take it for granted that the will is moving the body, and then I begin to fret and fume. It is my fault, because I had no right to take it for granted that it was will. In the same way, if I take the universe and think it is will that moves it and then find things that do not coincide, it is my fault. This _Purusha_ is not will, neither can it be intelligence, because intelligence itself is a compound. There cannot be any intelligence without some sort of matter. In man, this matter takes the form which we call brain. Wherever there is intelligence there must be matter in some form or other. But that intelligence itself is a compound. What then is this _Purusha_? It is neither intelligence nor _buddhi_ (will), but yet it is the cause of both these; it is His presence that sets them all vibrating and combining. _Purusha_ may be likened to some of these substances which by their mere presence promote chemical reaction, as in the case of cyanide of potassium which is added when gold is being smelted. The cyanide of potassium remains separate and unaffected, but its presence is absolutely necessary to the success of the process. So with the _Purusha_. It does not mix with Nature: it is not Intelligence, or _Mahat_, or any one of these, but the Self, the Pure, the Perfect. “I am the Witness, and through My witnessing, Nature is producing all that is sentient and all that is insentient.” (Gita IX. 10.)

What is this sentiency in Nature? The basis of sentiency is in the _Purusha_, is the nature of the _Purusha_. It is that which cannot be spoken, but which is the material of all that we call knowledge. This _Purusha_ is not consciousness, because consciousness is a compound, but whatever is light and goodness in this consciousness belongs to It. Sentiency is in the _Purusha_, but the _Purusha_ is not intelligent, not knowing, it is knowledge itself. The _Chit_ in the _Purusha_, plus _Prakriti_, is what is known to us as intelligence and consciousness. Whatever is pleasure and happiness and light in the universe belongs to the _Purusha_, but it is a compound because it is that _Purusha_ plus Nature. “Wherever there is any happiness, wherever there is any bliss, there is one spark of that immortality, which is _Purusha_.” This _Purusha_ is the great attraction of the universe, untouched by, and unconnected with the universe, yet it attracts the whole universe. You see a man going after gold, because therein is a spark of the _Purusha_, even though he knows it not. When a man desires children, or a woman a husband, what is the attracting power? That spark of _Purusha_ behind the child or wife, behind everything. It is there, only overlaid with matter. Nothing else can attract. “In this world of insentiency that _Purusha_ alone is sentient.” This is the _Purusha_ of the _Sânkhyas_. As such it necessarily follows that this _Purusha_ must be omnipresent. That which is not omnipresent must be limited. All limitations are caused; that which is caused must have beginning and end. If the _Purusha_ is limited it will die, will not be final, will not be free, but will have been caused. Therefore if not limited, it is omnipresent. According to Kapila there are many _Purushas_, not one. An infinite number of them, you are one, I am one, each is one; an infinite number of circles, each one infinite, running through this universe. The _Purusha_ is neither born nor dies. It is neither mind nor matter, and the reflex from it is all that we know. We are sure if it be omnipresent it knows neither death nor birth. Nature is casting her shadow upon it, the shadow of birth and death, but it is by its own nature eternal. So far we have found the theory of Kapila wonderful.

Next we will have to take up the proofs against it. So far the analysis is perfect, the psychology cannot be controverted. There is no objection to it. We will ask of Kapila the question: Who created Nature? and his answer will be that Nature (_Prakriti_) is uncreate. He also says that the _Purusha_ is omnipresent and that of these _Purushas_ there is an infinite number. We shall have to controvert this last proposition, and find a better solution, and by so doing we shall come to the ground taken by Vedânta. Our first doubt will be how there can be these two infinites. Then our argument will be that it is not a perfect generalization, and that therefore we have not found a perfect solution. And then we shall see how the Vedantists find their way out of all these difficulties and reach a perfect solution. Yet all the glory really belongs to Kapila. It is very easy to give a finish to a building that is nearly complete.

III

SÂNKHYA AND ADVAITA

I will give you first a _resumé_ of the _Sânkhya_ philosophy, through which we have been going, because in this lecture we want to find where its defects are, and where Vedânta comes in as supplementary to these defects. You must remember that according to the _Sânkhya_ philosophy, Nature is causing all these manifestations which we call thought and intellect, reason, love, hatred, touch, taste; that everything is from Nature. This Nature consists of three sorts of elements, one called _Sattva_, another _Rajas_, and the third _Tamas_. These are not qualities, but the materials out of which the whole universe is being evolved, and at the beginning of a cycle they remain in equilibrium. When creation comes this equilibrium is disturbed and these elements begin to combine and recombine, and manifest as the universe. The first manifestation of this is what the _Sânkhya_ calls the _Mahat_ (universal Intelligence), and out of that comes consciousness. And out of consciousness is evolved _Manas_ (universal Mind). Out of this consciousness are also evolved the organs of the senses, and the _tanmâtras_,--sound particles, touch particles, taste particles, and so forth. All fine particles are evolved from this consciousness, and out of these fine particles come the gross particles which we call matter. After the _tanmâtras_ (those particles which cannot be seen, or measured) come the gross particles which we can feel and sense. The _chitta_ (“mind-stuff”) in its three-fold functions of intellect, consciousness and mind, is working and manufacturing the forces called _prânas_. These _prânas_ have nothing to do with breath, you must at once get rid of that idea. Breath is one effect of the Prâna (universal Energy). By these _prânas_ are meant the nervous forces that are governing and moving the whole body, which are manifesting themselves as thought, and as the various functions of the body. The foremost and the most obvious manifestation of these _prânas_ is the breathing motion. If it were caused by air, a dead man would breathe. The _prâna_ acts upon the air, and not air upon it. These _prânas_ are the vital forces which manipulate the whole body, and they in turn are manipulated by the mind and the _indriyas_ (the two kinds of organs). So far so good. The psychology is very clear and most precise, and just think of the age of it, the oldest rational thought in the world! Wherever there is any philosophy or rational thought, it owes something to Kapila. Wherever there is any attempt at psychology, or philosophy, there is some indebtedness to the great father of this thought, to this man Kapila.

So far we see that this psychology is wonderful, but we shall have to differ with it on some points, as we go on. We find that the principal idea on which Kapila works is evolution. He makes one thing evolve out of another, because his very definition of causation is “the effect is the cause reproduced in another form,” and because the whole universe, so far as we see it, is progressive and evolving. This whole universe must have evolved out of some material, out of _Prakriti_ or Nature. Therefore this Nature cannot be essentially different from its cause, only when it takes form it becomes limited. The material itself is without form. But according to Kapila, from undifferentiated nature down to the last stage of differentiation, none of these is the same as _Purusha_, the “Enjoyer,” or “Enlightener.” Just as a lump of clay, so is a mass of mind, or the whole universe. By itself it has no light, but we find reason and intelligence in it, therefore there must be some Existence behind it, behind the whole of Nature, whose light is percolating through it and appearing as _Mahat_ and consciousness and all these various things, and this Existence is what Kapila calls the _Purusha_, the _Âtman_ or Self of the Vedantist. According to Kapila, the _Purusha_ is a _simple_ factor, not a compound. It is immaterial, the only one that is immaterial, whereas all the various manifestations are material. The _Purusha_ alone knows. Suppose I see a blackboard, first the external instruments will bring that sensation to the organ (to the _indriya_ according to Kapila), from the organ it will go to the mind and make an impression; the mind will cover it up with another factor,--consciousness, and will present it to the _buddhi_ (intelligence), but _buddhi_ cannot act; it is the _Purusha_ behind that acts. These are all its servants, bringing the sensation to It, and It gives the orders, and the _buddhi_ reacts. The _Purusha_ is the Enjoyer, the Perceiver, the real One, the King on his throne, the Self of man, and It is immaterial. Because It is immaterial, it necessarily follows that It must be infinite, It cannot have any limitation whatever. So each one of these _purushas_ is omnipresent, each is all-pervading, but can act only through fine and gross manifestations of matter. The mind, the self-consciousness, the organs and the vital forces compose what is called the fine body, or what in Christian philosophy is called the “spiritual body” of man. It is this body that comes to reward or punishment, that goes to the different heavens; that incarnates and reincarnates; because we see from the very beginning that the going and coming of the soul (_Purusha_) is impossible. Motion means going and coming, and that which goes from one place to another cannot be omnipresent. It is this _linga-sarira_ (subtle body) which comes and goes. Thus far we see from Kapila’s psychology that the soul is infinite, and that the soul is the only principle that is not an evolution of Nature. It is the only one that is outside of Nature, but It has apparently got bound by Nature. This Nature is around the _Purusha_ and It has identified Itself with Nature. It thinks “I am the _linga-sarira_,” It thinks “I am the gross matter, the gross body,” and as such is enjoying pleasure and pain; but these do not really belong to the soul, they belong to this _linga-sarira_, and to the gross body. When certain nerves are hurt we feel pain. We recognize that immediately. If the nerves in

our fingers were dead we could cut the fingers and not feel it. So pleasure and pain belong to the nerve-centres. Suppose my organ of sight is destroyed, I do not feel pleasure or pain from color, although my eyes are there. So it is obvious that pleasure and pain do not belong to the soul. They belong to the mind and the body.

The soul has neither pleasure nor pain; it is the Witness of everything, the eternal Witness of things that are going on, but it takes no fruits from any work. “As the sun is the cause of sight in every eye, yet is not itself affected by the defects in any eye; as a piece of crystal appears red when red flowers are placed before it, so this _Purusha_ appears to be affected by pleasure or pain from the reflection cast upon It by Nature, but it remains ever unchanged.” The nearest way to describe Its state is that it is meditation. This meditative state is that in which you approach nearest to the _Purusha_. Thus we see why the meditative state is always called the highest state by the _Yogi_, neither a passive nor an active state, but the meditative state. This is the _Sânkhya_ philosophy.

Next, the _Sânkhyas_ say that this manifestation of Nature is for the soul, all the combinations are for something outside of Nature. So these combinations which we call Nature, these constant changes are going on for the enjoyment of the soul, for its liberation, that it may gain all this experience from the lowest to the highest, and when it has gained it, the soul finds that it never was in Nature. It was entirely separate, and it finds that it is indestructible, that it neither goes nor comes, that going to heaven and being born again were in Nature and not in the soul. So the soul becomes free. All of Nature is working for the enjoyment and experience of the soul. It is getting this experience in order to reach the goal, and that goal is freedom. These souls are many, according to the _Sânkhya_ philosophy. There is an infinite number of souls. And the other conclusion is that there is no God, as the Creator of the universe. Nature herself is sufficient to produce all these forms. God is not necessary, say the _Sânkhyas_.

Now we shall have to contest these three positions of the _Sânkhyas_. First that intelligence or anything of that sort does not belong to the soul, but that it belongs entirely to Nature; the soul being simply qualitiless, colorless. The second point is that there is no God, but Vedânta will show that without a God there cannot be any explanation whatever. Thirdly, we shall have to contend that there cannot be many souls, that there cannot be an infinite number, that there is only One Soul in the universe, and that One is appearing as many.

We will take the first proposition, that intelligence and reason belong entirely to Nature, and not to the soul. The Vedânta says that the soul is in its essence Existence-Knowledge-Bliss; but we agree with the _Sânkhyas_ that all that they call intelligence is a compound. For instance, let us look at our perceptions. We remember that the _chitta_ (or the “mind-stuff”) is what is combining all these things, and upon which all these impressions are made, and from which reactions come. Suppose there is something outside. I see the blackboard. How does the knowledge come? The blackboard itself is unknown, I can never know it. It is what the German philosophers call the “thing in itself.” That blackboard, that “X,” is acting on my mind, and the _chitta_ reacts. The _chitta_ is like a lake; throw a stone upon it, and as soon as the stone strikes it a reactionary wave comes towards the stone. This wave is what you really know. And this wave is not like the stone at all, it is a wave. So that blackboard, “X,” is the stone which strikes the mind and the mind throws up a wave towards that object which strikes it, and this wave which is thrown towards it is what we call the blackboard. I see you. You as reality are unknown and unknowable. You are “X” and you act upon my mind, and the mind throws a wave towards the point from which the action came, and that wave is what I call Mr. or Mrs. So-and-So.

There are two elements in this, one from inside and the other from outside, and the combination of these two, “X” plus mind, is our external universe. All knowledge is by reaction. In the case of a whale it has been determined by calculation how long after its tail is struck, its mind reacts upon the tail and the tail feels the pain. Take the case of the pearl oyster, in which the pearl is formed by the oyster throwing its own juice around the grain of sand that enters the shell and irritates him. There are two things which cause the pearl. First the oyster’s own juice, and second the blow from outside. So this table is “X” plus my mind. The very attempt to know it will be made by the mind; therefore the mind will give some of its own substance to enable it to understand, and when we understand it, it has become a compound thing,--“X” plus the mind. Similarly in internal perception; when we want to know ourselves. The real Self, which is within us, is also unknown and unknowable. Let us call it “Y.” When I want to know myself as Mr. So-and-So it is “Y” plus the mind. That “Y” strikes a blow on the mind, and when I want to know myself I must throw a blow upon the mind also. So our whole world is “X” plus mind (the external world), and “Y” plus mind (the internal world). We shall see later how this Advaitist idea can be demonstrated mathematically.

“X” and “Y” are simply the algebraic unknown quantities. We have seen that all knowledge is a combination, and this world, the universe, is a combination, and intelligence is similarly a combination. If it is internal intelligence it is “Y” plus the mind, if an external object, it is “X” plus the mind. Knowledge is a combination of “Y” plus the mind and matter is a combination of “X” plus the mind. We first take the internal group. Intelligence which we see in Nature cannot be wholly in Nature, because intelligence itself is a compound of “Y” plus the mind. “Y” comes from the Self. So the intelligence that we know is a compound of the power of the light of the soul plus nature. Similarly, the existence which we know must be a compound of “X” plus the mind. We find therefore that in these three factors, I exist, I know and I am blessed, the idea that I have no want, which comes from time to time, is the central idea, the grand basic idea of our life, and when it becomes limited, and becomes a compound, we think it happiness and misery. These factors manifest as existence phenomenal, knowledge phenomenal, and love phenomenal. Every man exists, and every man must know, and every man is made for bliss. He cannot help it. So through all existence; animals and plants, from the lowest to the highest existence, all must love. You may not call it love; but they must all exist, must all know and must all love. So this existence which we know is a compound of “X” and the mind, and knowledge also is a compound of that “Y” inside plus mind, and that love also is a compound of that “Y” and mind. Therefore these three factors which come from inside and are combining themselves with the external things to manufacture phenomenal existence, knowledge and love, are called by the Vedantists “Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, Bliss Absolute.”

That Absolute Existence which is limitless, which is unmixed, uncombined, which knows no change, is the free soul, and that Real Existence, when it gets mixed up, muddled up, as it were, with the elements of Nature is what we call human existence. It is limited and manifests as plant life, animal life, human life, just as infinite space is apparently limited by the walls of this room, or by any other enclosure. That Knowledge Absolute means not the knowledge we know, not intelligence, not reason, not instinct, but that which when it becomes manifested we call by these names. When that Knowledge Absolute becomes limited we call it intuition, and when it becomes still more limited we call it reason, instinct, etc. That Knowledge Absolute is _Vijnâna_. The nearest translation of it is “all-knowingness.” There is no combination in it. It is the nature of the soul. That Bliss Absolute when it becomes limited we call love, attraction for the gross body, or the fine bodies, or for ideas. These are but distorted manifestations of this blessedness which is not a quality of the soul, but the essence, the inherent nature of the soul. Absolute Existence, Absolute Knowledge, and Absolute Blessedness are not qualities of the soul, but its essence; there is no difference between them and the soul. And the three are one; we see the one thing in three different lights. They are beyond all knowledge and by their reflection Nature appears to be intelligent.

It is that eternal Knowledge Absolute of the Self percolating through the mind of man that becomes our reason and intelligence. It varies according to the medium through which it is shining. There is no difference as soul between me and the lowest animal, only his brain is a poorer medium through which the knowledge shines, and we call it instinct. In man the brain is much finer, so the manifestation is much clearer, and in the highest man it has become entirely clear, like a piece of glass. So with existence; this existence which we know, this limited bit of existence is simply a reflection of that Existence Absolute which is the nature of the soul. So with bliss; that which we call love or attraction is but the reflection of the eternal blessedness of the Self, because with these manifestations come limitations, but the unmanifested, the natural, essential existence of the soul is unlimited, to that blessedness there can be no limit. But in human love there are limitations. I may love you one day, I may cease to love you the next. My love increases one day, decreases the next, because it is only a limited manifestation. The first thing therefore that we find against Kapila is that he conceives the soul to be a mere qualitiless, colorless, inactive something. Vedânta teaches that it is the essence of all Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss; infinitely higher than all knowledge that we know, infinitely more blessed than any human love that we can think of, infinitely existing. The soul never dies. Death and birth are simply unthinkable in connection with the Self, because it is Existence Absolute.

The second point where we will contend with Kapila is with regard to his idea of God. Just as this series of limited manifestations of Nature, beginning with the individual intellect and ending with the individual body, requires the Self behind as the ruler and governor on the throne, so in the Cosmos, we must enquire what the universal Intelligence, the universal Mind, the universal fine and gross materials have as their ruler and governor? How will that series become complete without one universal Self behind it as its ruler and governor? If we deny that there is a universal governor, we must deny there is a soul behind the lesser series, because the whole universe is a repetition of the same plan. When we know one lump of clay we know the nature of all clay. If we can analyze one human being, we shall have analyzed the whole universe, because it is all built on the same plan. Therefore if it be true that behind this individual series there stands one who is beyond all nature, who is not composed of materials, the _purusha_, the very same logic will apply to this universe, and this universe too will require such a Soul. The Universal Soul which is behind the modifications of Nature is called by Vedânta _Isvara_, the Supreme Ruler, God.