Who are we, you and I?

If matter and mind are but different aspects of a simple current of energy called life, what are the individual drops of living organisms known as you and I? We are separate bits of consciousness impelled to seek identity, through sympathetic understanding with the unified consciousness of the whole.

Listen to the modern Hindu philosopher, Vivekananda “This separation between man and man, man and woman, man and child, nation from nation , earth from moon, moon from sun, this separation…… does not exist, it is not real. It is merely apparent on the surface. In the heart of things there is unity still”.

Vivekananda defines this universal consciousness as God. “The highest truth is this: God is present in all beings. They are his multiple forms. There is no other god to seek,” and the only way to seek him is to cherish- that is, to put yourself in the place of and thus to become identified with- your fellow men. “He alone serves God who serves all mankind”.

The contemplative self, which unites all the other selves within the individual, is like the white radiance which unites all the colours with the spectrum. And the contemplative self of the absolute is the radiant fusion of all the individuals in the universe.

And the whole, or the absolute self-call it God if yourself knows infinitely more than the part, or the individual self. The knowledge of god is to the performer of a sonata is to the knowledge of the listener. To the listener who cheers the melody for the first time, the progress of the composition has a past, a present and a future. The past is the part he has already heard, the present is the note he hears now, the future is the part he has not heard as yet. But to the performer, the entire sonata unites as a consistent and persistent present- a totally known to him at once in all its component parts. As the melody keeps on unfolding, we become gradually more and more aware of the general theme. We begin to see the inter-relationship between the parts and the whole- between you and me and essence of the world.

From the individual to the family, from family to the precinct, from the precinct to the state, from the state to the nation, from the nation to humanity, from humanity to all things, and from everything to God. 

And what is the formula that fuses all these relatives into the absolute?

For the answer to this question let us visit the great French scientist, Laplace on his death bed. His friends are trying to console him with the importance of his discoveries and the celebrity of his books. “But these”, he shakes his head sadly, “are not the essentials things in life”. What then, they ask. And the old man, gasping for his final breath, whispers “LOVE”. 

Let’s all live in peace and harmony, when nature defines no difference, why do we believe in it?

Thanks!

SHEFAIL AHMED 

DAYANAND HOUSE