What does it matter if we fail to derive the exact
meaning of this great harmony? Is it not like
the hand meeting the string and drawing out at once
all its tones at the touch? It is the language
of beauty, the caress, that comes from the heart of
the world straightway reaches our heart.
Last night, in the silence which pervaded the darkness,
I stood alone and heard the voice of the singer of
eternal melodies. When I went to sleep I closed
my eyes with this last thought in my mind, that even
when I remain unconscious in slumber the dance of
life will still go on in the hushed arena of my sleeping
body, keeping step with the stars. The heart
will throb, the blood will leap in the veins, and
the millions of living atoms of my body will vibrate
in tune with the note of the harp-string that thrills
at the touch of the master.
THE REALISATION OF THE INFINITE
The Upanishads say: “Man becomes true if
in this life he can apprehend God; if not, it is the
greatest calamity for him.”
But what is the nature of this attainment of God?
It is quite evident that the infinite is not like
one object among many, to be definitely classified
and kept among our possessions, to be used as an ally
specially favouring us in our politics, warfare, money-making,
or in social competitions. We cannot put our
God in the same list with our summer-houses, motor-cars,
or our credit at the bank, as so many people seem
to want to do.
We must try to understand the true character of the
desire that a man has when his soul longs for his
God. Does it consist of his wish to make an
addition, however valuable, to his belongings?
Emphatically no! It is an endlessly wearisome
task, this continual adding to our stores. In
fact, when the soul seeks God she seeks her final
escape from this incessant gathering and heaping and
never coming to an end. It is not an additional
object the she seeks, but it is the nityo ’nityanam,
the permanent in all that is impermanent, the rasanam
rasatamah, the highest abiding joy unifying all
enjoyments. Therefore when the Upanishads teach
us to realise everything in Brahma, it is not to seek
something extra, not to manufacture something new.
Know everything that there is in the universe as
enveloped by God. [Footnote: Ichavasyamdiam
sarvam yat kincha jagatyanjagat.] Enjoy whatever
is given by him and harbour not in your mind the greed
for wealth which is not your own. [Footnoe:
Tena tyaktena bhunjitha ma gridhah kasyasviddhanam.]
When you know that whatever there is is filled by
him and whatever you have is his gift, then you realise
the infinite in the finite, and the giver in the gifts.
Then you know that all the facts of the reality have
their only meaning in the manifestation of the one
truth, and all your possessions have their only significance
for you, not in themselves but in the relation they
establish with the infinite.
