The Argument
We find that man, as it were, is always surrounded by something greater than
himself, and he is trying to grasp the meaning of this. Man will ever [seek]
the highest ideal. He knows that it exists and that religion is the search
after the highest ideal. At first all his searches were in the external
plane--placed in heaven, in different places--just according to [his grasp] of
the total nature of man.
[Later,] man began to look at himself a little closer and began to
find out that the real "me" was not the "me" that he stands
for ordinarily. He began to [search] inside himself, and found out that...the
same ideal he [had placed] outside of himself is all the time within; what he
was worshipping outside was his own real inner nature.
Are We the Slaves of Nature?
Throughout nature, everything is bound. Slavery, slavery! To be in harmony with
nature is [slavery]. What is there in being the slave of nature and living in a
golden cage? The greatest law and order is in the [knowledge that man is essentially
free and divine]. Now we see that the question why and wherefore can only be
asked [in ignorance]. I can only be forced to do something through something
else.
Nature is conquered by man every day. As a race, man is
manifesting his power. Try in imagination to put a limit to this power in man.
You admit that man as a race has infinite power, has [an] infinite body. The
only question is what you are. Are you the race or one [individual]?
Unselfishness
[The truth is,] you are not separate [from this universe]; [just
as your Spirit] is [not] separate from the rest of you. If [not] so, you could
not see anything, could not feel anything. Our bodies are simply little
whirlpools in the ocean of matter. Life is taking a turn and passing on, in
another form....The sun, the moon, the stars, you and I are mere whirlpools.
Why did I select [a particular mind as mine? It is] simply a mental whirlpool
in the ocean of mind.
The whole [universe] is composed of time, space, and causation.
And God [appears as this universe]....When did nature begin? When you [forgot
your true nature and] became [bound by time, space, and causation].
This is the [rotating] circle of your bodies and yet that is your
infinite nature....That is certainly nature --time, space, and causation. That
is all that is meant by nature. Time began when you began to think. Space began
when you got the body; otherwise there cannot be any space. Causation began
when you became limited. We have to have some sort of answer. There is the
answer. [Our limitation] is play. Just for the fun of it. Nothing binds you;
nothing forces [you. You were] never bound. We are all acting our parts in this
[play] of our own invention.
The True Individuality
But let us bring another question about individuality. Some people are so
afraid of losing their individuality. Wouldn't it be better for the pig to lose
his pig-individuality if he can become God? Yes. But the poor pig does not
think so at the time. Which state is my individuality? When I was a baby
sprawling on the floor trying to swallow my thumb? Was that the individuality I
should be sorry to lose? Fifty years hence I shall look upon this present state
and laugh, just as I [now] look upon the baby state. Which of these
individualities shall I keep?...
In time we are to be individuals. But in what sense? What is the
individuality of man? Not Tom Brown, but God in man. That is the [true]
individuality. The more man has approached that, the more he has given up his
false individuality. The more he tries to collect and gain everything [for
himself], the less he is an individual. The less he has thought of [himself],
the more he has sacrificed all individuality during his lifetime,...the more he
is an individual. This is one secret the world does not understand....
We must first understand what is meant
by individuality. It is attaining the ideal. You are man now, [or] you are
woman. You will change all the time. Can you stop? You cannot stop anywhere
until you come to life that never ends. Infinite life! You stop there. You have
a little knowledge now and are always trying to get more. Where will you stop?
Nowhere, until you become one with life itself...
Free You Are Already
What are we to do to be free? Free you are already....How could the free ever
be bound? It is a lie. [You were] never bound. How could the unlimited ever be
limited by anything? Infinite divided by infinite, added to infinite,
multiplied by infinite [remains] infinite. You are infinite; God is infinite.
You are all infinite. There cannot be two existences, only one. The Infinite
can never be made finite. You are never bound. That is all....You are free
already. You have reached the goal--all there is to reach. Never allow the mind
to think that you have not reached the goal....
Whatever we [think] that we become. If you think you are poor
sinners you hypnotise yourselves: "I am a miserable, crawling worm."
Those who believe in hell are in hell when they die; those who say that they
will go to heaven [go to heaven].
It is all play....[You may say,] "We have to do something;
let us do good." [But] who cares for good and evil? Play! God Almighty
plays. That is all....You are the almighty God playing. If you want to play on
the side and take the part of a beggar, you are not [to blame someone else for
making that choice]. You enjoy being the beggar. You know your real nature [to
be divine]. You are the king and play you are a beggar.... It is all fun. Know
it and play. That is all there is to it. Then practise it. The whole universe
is a vast play. All is good because all is fun. This star comes and crashes
with our earth, and we are all dead. [That too is fun.] You only think fun the
little things that delight your senses!...
Be sensible. We make mistakes; what of that? That is all in fun.
They go so crazy over their past sins, moaning and weeping and all that. Do not
repent! After having done work, do not think of it. Go on! Stop not! Don't look
back! What will you gain by looking back? You lose nothing, gain nothing. You
are not going to be melted like butter. Heavens and hells and incarnations--all
nonsense!
You Are Having Fun
Who is born and who dies? You are having fun, playing with worlds and all that.
You keep this body as long as you like. If you do not like it, do not have it.
The Infinite is the real; the finite is the play. You are the infinite body and
the finite body in one. Know it! But knowledge will not make any difference;
the play will go on....Two words--soul and body--have been joined. [Partial]
knowledge is the cause. Know that you are always free. The fire of knowledge
burns down all the [impurities and limitations]. I am that Infinite....
You are as free as you were in the beginning, are now, and always
will be. He who knows that he is free is free; he who knows that he is bound is
bound.
What becomes of God and worship and all that? They have their
place. I have divided myself into God and me; I become the worshipped and I
worship myself. Why not? God is I. Why not worship my Self? The universal
God--He is also my Self. It is all fun. There is no other purpose.
What is the end and aim of life? None,
because I [know that I am the Infinite]. If you are beggars, you can have aims.
I have no aims, no want, no purpose. I come to your country, and lecture --just
for fun. No other meaning. What meaning can be there?
It Is All My Self
There is another side to it. I have kept it in reserve. I am the man that is
going to be hanged. I am all the wicked. I am getting punished in hells. That
[also] is fun. This is the goal of philosophy [to know that I am the Infinite].
Aims, motives, purposes, and duties live in the background....
This truth is first to be listened to, then to be thought about.
Reason, argue it out by all manner of means. The enlightened know no more than
that. Know it for certain that you are in everything.That is why you should not
hurt anybody, because in hurting them you hurt yourself....[Lastly,] this is to
be meditated upon. Think upon it. Can you realise there will come a time when
everything will crumble in the dust and you will stand alone? That moment of
ecstatic joy will never leave you. You will actually find that you are without
bodies. You never had bodies.
I am One, alone, through all eternity. Whom shall I fear? It is
all my Self. This is continuously to be meditated upon. Through that comes
realisation. It is through realisation that you become a [blessings] to
others....
"Thy face shines like [that of] one who has known God."
That is the goal. This is not to be preached as I am doing. "Under a tree
I saw a teacher, a boy of sixteen; the disciple was an old man of eighty. The
teacher was teaching in silence, and the doubts of the disciple vanished."
And who speaks? Who lights a candle to see the sun? When the truth [dawns], no
witness is necessary. You know it....That is what you are going to
do:...realise it. First think of it. Reason it out. Satisfy your curiosity.
Then [think] of nothing else. I wish we never read anything. Lord help us all!
Just see what [a learned] man becomes.
"This is said, and that is said...."
"What do you say, my friend?"
"I say nothing." [He quotes] everybody else's thought;
but he thinks nothing. If this is education, what is lunacy? Look at all the
men who wrote!...These modern writers, not two sentences their own! All
quotations....
There is not much value in books, and in [second-hand] religion
there is no value whatsoever. It is like eating. Your religion would not
satisfy me. Jesus saw God and Buddha saw God. If you have not seen God, you are
no better than the atheist. Only he is quiet, and you talk much and disturb the
world with your talk. Books and bibles and scriptures are of no use. I met an
old man when I was a boy; [he did not study any scripture, but he transmitted
the truth of God by a touch].
Silence ye teachers of the world. Silence ye books. Lord, Thou
alone speak and Thy servant listeneth....If truth is not there, what is the use
of this life? We all think we will catch it, but we do not. Most of us catch
only dust. God is not there. If no God, what is the use of life? Is there any
resting-place in the universe? [It is up to us to find it]; only we do not
[search for it intensely. We are] like a little piece of straw carried on in
the current.
If there is this truth, if there is God, it must be within
us....[I must be able to say,] " I have seen Him with my eyes,"
Otherwise I have no religion. Beliefs, doctrines, sermons do not make religion.
It is realisation, perception of God [which alone is religion].
There is No Other Way
This world is real inasmuch as it contains a little bit [of] the reflection of
that God. We love the good man because in his face shines the reflection a
little more. We must catch it ourselves. There is no other way.
That is the goal. Struggle for it! Have your own Bible. Have your
own Christ. Otherwise you are not religious. Do not talk religion. Men talk and
talk. "Some of them, steeped in darkness, in the pride of their hearts
think that they have the light. And not only [that], they offer to take others
upon their shoulders a and both fall into the pit...."
No church ever saved by itself. It is good to be born in a temple,
but woe unto the person who dies in a temple or church. Out of it!...It was a
good beginning, but leave it! It was the childhood place..but let it be!...Go
to God directly. No theories, no doctrines. Then alone will all doubts vanish.
Then alone will all crookedness be made straight....
In the midst of the manifold, he who
sees that One; in the midst of this infinite death, he who sees that one life;
in the midst of the manifold, he who sees that which never changes in his own
soul -- unto him belongs eternal peace.