The Cosmos: The Macrocosm
(by Swami Vivekananda)
[ Swami Vivekananda - A
spiritual genius of commanding intellect and power, Vivekananda crammed immense
labor and achievement into his short life, 1863-1902. Born in the Datta family of
Calcutta, the youthful Vivekananda embraced the agnostic philosophies of the
Western mind along with the worship of science.
Accepting an opportunity to represent Hinduism at Chicago's Parliament of Religions in 1893, Vivekananda won instant celebrity in America and a ready forum for his spiritual teaching of monistic Vedanta. His influence has been seen in the works of such philosophers as Sri Aurobindo and Mahatma Gandi.]
OUT OF WHAT HAS THIS universe been produced then? From
a preceding fine universe. Out of what has man been produced? The preceding
fine form. Out of what has the tree been produced? Out of the seed; the whole
of the tree was there in the seed. It comes out and becomes manifest. So, the
whole of this universe has been created out of this very universe existing in a
minute form. It has been made manifest now. It will go back to that minute
form, and again will be made manifest. Now we find that the fine forms slowly
come out and become grosser and grosser until they reach their limit, and when
they reach their limit they go back further and further, becoming finer and
finer again. This coming out of the fine and becoming gross, simply changing
the arrangements of its parts, as it were, is what in modern times is called
evolution. This is very true, perfectly true; we see it in our lives. No
rational man can possibly quarrel with these evolutionists. But we have to
learn one thing more. We have to go one step further, and what is that? That
every evolution is preceded by an involution. The seed is the
father of the tree, but another tree was itself the father of the seed. The
seed is the fine form out of which the big tree comes, and another big tree was
the form which is involved in that seed.
The whole
of this universe was present in the cosmic fine universe. The little cell,
which becomes afterwards the man, was simply the involved man and
becomes evolved as a man. If this is clear, we have no quarrel with the
evolutionists, for we see that if they admit this step, instead of their
destroying religion, they will be the greatest supporters of it.
We see then
that nothing can be created out of nothing. Everything exists through eternity,
and will exist through eternity. Only the movement is in succeeding waves and
hollows, going back to fine forms, and coming out into gross manifestations.
This involution and evolution is going on throughout the whole of
nature. The whole series of evolution, beginning with the lowest manifestation
of life and reaching up to the highest – the most perfect man – must have been
the involution of something else. The question is: The involution of what? What
was involved? God. The evolutionist will tell you that your idea that it was
God is wrong. Why? Because you see God is intelligent, but we find that
intelligence develops much later on in the course of evolution. It is in man
and the higher animals that we find intelligence, but millions of years have
passed in this world before this intelligence came. This objection of the
evolutionists does not hold water, as we shall see by applying our theory.
The tree
comes out of the seed, goes back to the seed; the beginning and the end are the
same. The earth comes out of its cause and returns to it. We know that if we
can find the beginning we can find the end. E converso, if we find the end we can find the beginning. If that is so,
take this whole evolutionary series, from the protoplasm at one end to the
perfect man at the other, and this whole series is one life. In the end
we find the perfect man, so in the beginning it must have been the same.
Therefore, the protoplasm was the involution of the highest
intelligence. You may not see it but that involved intelligence is what is
uncoiling itself until it becomes manifested in the most perfect man. That can
be mathematically demonstrated. If the law of conservation of energy is true,
you cannot get anything out of a machine unless you put it in there first. The
amount of work that you get out of an engine is exactly the same as you have
put into it in the form of water and coal, neither more nor less. The work I am
doing now is just what I put into me, in the shape of air, food, and other
things. It is only a question of change and manifestation. There cannot
be added in the economy of this universe one particle of matter or one
foot-pound of force, nor can one particle of matter or one foot-pound of force
be taken out. If that be the case, what is this intelligence? If it was not
present in the protoplasm, it must have come all of a sudden, something coming
out of nothing, which is absurd.
Therefore
it follows absolutely that the perfect man, the free man, the God-man, who has
gone beyond the laws of nature and transcended everything, who has no more to
go through this process of evolution, through birth and death, that man called
the "Christ-man" by the Christians, and the "Buddha-man" by
the Buddhists, and the "Free" by the Yogisthat perfect man who is at one end of the chain of evolutionwas involved in the cell of the protoplasm, which is at the
other end of the same chain.
Applying the same
reason to the whole of the universe, we see that intelligence must be the Lord
of creation, the cause. What is the most evolved notion that man has of this
universe? It is intelligence, the adjustment of part to part, the display of
intelligence, of which the ancient design theory was an attempt at expression.
The beginning was, therefore, intelligence. At the beginning that intelligence
becomes involved, and in the end that intelligence gets evolved.
The sum total of the intelligence displayed in the universe must, therefore, be
the involved universal intelligence unfolding itself. This
universal intelligence is what we call God. Call it by any other name, it is
absolutely certain that in the beginning there is that Infinite cosmic
intelligence. This cosmic intelligence gets involved, and it manifests, evolves
itself, until it becomes the perfect man, the "Christ-man," the
"Buddha-man." Then it goes back to its own source. That is why all
the scriptures say, "In Him we live and move and have our being."
That is why all the scriptures preach that we come from God and go back to God.
Do not be frightened by theological terms; if terms frighten you, you are not
fit to be philosophers. This cosmic intelligence is what the theologians call
God.
I have been asked
many times, "Why do you use that old word, God?" Because it is the
best word for our purpose; you cannot find a better word than that, because all
the hopes, aspirations, and happiness of humanity have been centered in that
word. It is impossible now to change the word. Words like these were first
coined by great saints who realized their import and understood their meaning.
But as they become current in society, ignorant people take these words, and
the result is that they lose their spirit and glory. The word God has been used
from time immemorial, and the idea of this cosmic intelligence, and all that is
great and holy, is associated with it. Do you mean to say that because some
fool says it is not all right, we should throw it away? Another man may come
and say, "Take my word," and another again, "Take my word." So
there will be no end to foolish words. Use the old word, only use it in the
true spirit, cleanse it of superstition, and realize fully what this great
ancient word means. If you understand the power of the laws of association, you
will know that these words are associated with innumerable majestic and
powerful ideas; they have been used and worshipped by millions of human souls
and associated by them with all that is highest and best, all that is rational,
all that is lovable, and all that is great and grand in human nature. And they
come as suggestions of these associations and cannot be given up. If I tried to
express all these by only telling you that God created the universe, it would
have conveyed no meaning to you. Yet, after all this struggle, we have come
back to Him, the Ancient and Supreme One.
We now see that all
the various forms of cosmic energy, such as matter, thought, force,
intelligence and so forth, are simply the manifestations of that cosmic
intelligence, or, as we shall call it henceforth, the Supreme Lord. Everything
that you see, feel, or hear, the whole universe, is His creation, or to be a
little more accurate, is His projection; or to be still more accurate, is the
Lord Himself. It is He who is shining as the sun and the stars. He is the
mother earth. He is the ocean Himself. He comes as gentle showers. He is the
gentle air that we breathe in, and He it is who is working as force in the
body. He is the speech that is uttered. He is the man who is talking. He is the
audience that is here. He is the platform on which I stand. He is the light
that enables me to see your faces. It is all He. He Himself is both the
material and the efficient cause of this universe, and He it is that gets
involved in the minute cell, and evolves at the other end and becomes God
again. He it is that comes down and becomes the lowest atom, and slowly
unfolding His nature, rejoins Himself. This is the mystery of the universe.
"Thou art the man, Thou art the woman, Thou art the strong man walking in the
pride of youth, Thou art the old man tottering on crutches. Thou art in
everything. Thou art everything, O Lord." This is the only solution of the
Cosmos that satisfies the human intellect. In one word, we are born of Him, we
live in Him, and unto Him we return.
Further
essays by Swami Vivekananda can be
found at http://www.vivekananda.org/archivedReadings.asp
Keith and Marnie
Elliott’s “REMEDY” Site
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