Introduction To Vedanta - P. Nagaraja Rao 5 страница

⇐ ПредыдущаяСтр 9 из 20Следующая ⇒

siddhih'.

The Vedantin does not belittle the power of

-66

INTRODUCTION TO VEDANTA

reason. He expects the student to be critical and not

the dupe of appearances. He must have a discerning

intellect and an inquiring frame of mind. The

Upani$ads declare that there is no admittance to the

fold of Vedanta ‘for those that are intellectually in-

dolent, and cannot or would not think. ’

The student of Vedanta is asked to examine and

to think out the pros and cons of the message he re-

ceives from his Guru. He is not to accept blindly

whatever his teacher teaches. It is neither blind faith

nor blank acceptance. Manana or reflection has an

important place in the Vedantin’s discipline. The dis-

cipline is partly moral and partly intellectual. Rea-

son is acclaimed as the charioteer. Inquiry or jijndsd

is enjoined on the aspirant. Jijnasa is research, in

the words of Deussen. Philosophical inquiry is made

the necessary preliminary for spiritual realization.

All these point to the fact that logic was not discard-

ed by Vedanta.

The Vedanta system is a spiritual guide. It is

also an intellectual system with a rigour all its own.

The system adheres to the strict rules of logic. The

arguments are developed with perfect freedom, fresh-

ness and down-rightness. They follow logic rigour-

ously without ever looking right or left. There is no

trace of intellectual cowardice in the system. They

show a strong and simple desire to abide within the

strict limits of knowledge. The doctrines are ela-

borated with perfect freedom and ruthlessness. It is

sheer ignorance to hold that Vedanta is positive

throughout and is not argumentative, that it asserts

and does not prove.

A glance at the method of Vedanta and the

nature of the logical discussion carried on in the

APPROACH TO VEDANTA

57 '

commentaries reveals the place of reason in Vedanta.

Max Muller f-emarks that “the teachers of Vedanta are

working out mighty philosophical problems with un-

faltering love of Truth, and in an unimpassioned and

truly philosophical spirit. ”

The method, in the hands of Sankara, affects

one almost as a great physical act of courage. The

boldness is astounding as the sonorous prose in which

it is set is fascinating. In the words of Daniel H. H.

Ingalls, “If one has a taste for grandeur, if one relishes,

for example, the poetry of Lucretius with its ‘flam-

ing walls of the universe/ one cannot be unmoved

by the sonorous prose of Sankara where these flaming

walls tumble down. ”

The method adopted by Vedanta passes through

three steps. First of all we get a presentation of the

prima facie views. The Vedantin states in full the

tenets of other rival schools. They take up first that

system which is remotest from Vedanta. Then follows

a serious criticism of the other systems from the logi-

cal and scriptural standpoints. The rival systems are

convicted of contradiction and inconsistency. The

criticism of other views is called khandana. Lastly,

there is the establishment of the final position as rea-

soned out doctrine. This is called siddhanta. In all

this, Vedanta makes use of logical reasoning. Non-

contradiction is the test of Truth, as unsublatability

(abadha) the mark of Reality. The legitimate claims

of reason are recognized by Vedanta. Vedanta is

more than rational thought and not less than it. Spiri-

tual intuition is neither infra-intellectual nor contra-

intellectual. It rises above the intellect. “The death

of the intellect is not a necessary condition for the

life of the Spirit. ” Dr. S. Radhakrishnan observes,

. 58

INTRODUCTION TO VEDANTA

" wisdom pure and transcendent is different from

scientific knowledge but not discontinuous with it. ”

The dialectical method of Vedanta compels it to deal

with the tenets of all other schools; this makes it a

compendium of the entire range of Indian philosophy.

Sankara’s method of Advaita Vedanta is unique.

It is critical and dialectical. It passes in review the

positions taken up by other systems of philosophy

and criticizes them in turn, one after another. In

this process of criticism the Advaita Vedantin never

fails to note the varying fulness, the philosophical

worth and the logical acumen of other systems. The

lower category is criticized in the light of the higher

in which it finds its fulfilment. In the words of Dr. S.

Radhakrishnan, " In Vedanta, as in the Upanisads,

there is progressive discovery of truth. ”

To sum up, the Vedantin’s insistence that the

final testimony of Truth is first-hand spiritual expe-

rience makes it scientific. Others may teach us the

truth, which they have reached, as well as the method

by which they have done so, but unless we by our-

selves get at those experiences, we cannot call it our

own. The Upanisads declare that we should see the

Spirit. It is variously described as anubhava, dar-

sana, brahma-sparsa. Philosophy is not the mere

discovery of Truth but its realization. Along with

this insistence on spiritual experience there is the re-

cognition of the function and the legitimate use of

logic, which makes Vedanta acceptable to the con-

temporary votaries of science and reason. Hence, the

charge against Vedanta that it is unscientific and

purely based on faith is not true.

The distinguishing characteristic of Vedanta is

its close association with philosophy and religion. The

APPROACH TO VEDANTA 59*

close alliance of the two in Vedanta and in other

systems is a dominant feature of Indian philosophy.

The basic motive for philosophy, according to

Vedanta, is to put an end to all the sorrows of human

life and attain a state of existence called moksa. In

moksa the individual has all his doubts and disbeliefs

dispelled and all his strife and tension overcome. It

is looked upon as the state of perfect bliss. The des-

tiny of man is to attain moksa. In moksa he grows to

his best and realizes his true nature. All arts and

science should subserve the individual's aspiration for

moksa. There is no such cry in Vedanta as ‘art for

art's sake’. Everything is for moksa’s sake. Vedanta

originates in man’s search for the highest good which

will radically terminate all the suffering and limita-

tions of human life. This practical motive is through-

out present in all the systems of Indian philosophy.

This basic practical motive has at times overshadow-

ed the logical subtlety, depth and skill, the powers

of analysis, the force of argument, the dialectical

acumen, and the play of reason found in the Indian

systems of philosophy which regales and baffles many

an ardent lover of pure thought.

The motive force in Vedanta is not speculative

as in the West. In the words of Bradley, ‘Philosophy

seeks to gain possession of Reality only in an ideal

form. ' The mission of the philosopher, Mackenzie,,

adds, terminates in the quest, rather than in any

actions that may follow from it. Curiosity, intellec-

tual restlessness, and the passion for finding Truth in

terms of logic have spurred on Western thinkers to

construct philosophical systems. They do not seek

safety or consolation. The ideal philosopher is

INTRODUCTION TO VEDANTA

'described by Collingwood in his autobiography. He

writes that

the Oxford Philosophers have excogitated a philosophy, so pure

from the sordid taint of utility that they could lay their hands

on their hearts and say it was of no use at all; a philosophy so

scientific that no one whose life was not a life of pure research

could appreciate it; and so abstruse that only^a whole time stu-

dent, and a clever man at that, could understand it. They were

resigned to the contempt of fools and amateurs.

This brings out tne intellectual and speculative

nature of Western philosophy. Vedanta takes a dif-

ferent view of philosophy. It does not stop at the dis-

covery of Truth but utilizes it for removing all the

sorrows of life. Philosophy seeks moksa. It is a peace

that passeth all understanding.

Reflective thinking and an analysis of the signi-

ficance of human experience have convinced the

Vedantin of the presence of evil in human life. Life

is found to be full of sorrows and has no permanent

value. The evils of the world are classified under

three distinct heads. They are (1) intra-organic, i. e.,

arising from psycho-physical causes like bodily and

mental suffering, i. e., ddhyatmika; (2) troubles and

evils arising from extra-organic cases such as from

men, beasts, and birds, i. e., adhibhautika; (3) evils aris-

ing from supernatural influences like spirits, ghosts,

demons, elements, and planets, i. e., adhidaivaka. The

radical termination of all these miseries is the func-

tion and purpose of philosophy according to Vedanta.

Philosophy for the Vedantin is not the luxury of the

learned few, ‘a parenthesis in the life of men, a tempt-

ing and fruitless exercise of the mind, a flight from the

objects of immediate living'. It has an important part

to play helping man to realize his destiny.

APPROACH TO VEDANTA

Philosophy is what matters most. It is not the

mere advancement of knowledge. It is not an arm-

chair study arising out of the instinct of wonder or

^curiosity. It is not the exhibition of dialectical skill

or logical acumen. It does not merely seek intellec-

tual clarity or mental perspicacity. It is an intense

and an inner quest for a spiritual experience that ter-

minates all ills and gives us permanent bliss. It is

the full awareness of the ills, weariness, and the

limitations of the world that makes the Vedantin seek

moksa. It destroys the radical unrest of life and its

process. It begins in the perception of sorrows. There

is the unmistakable initial pessimism staring us in

the face. Analysis and reflection lay them bare to us.

Most of the pleasures of human life are impermanent,

and at every stage of our association with them, there

is sorrow attached to them. In the pursuit of the things

of the world like wealth, fame, etc. we become the

inevitable prey of passions which distract and disturb

ourselves. It produces tension and strife in us and

makes us restless. When we pursue the objects of

the world we expose ourselves to the strife and jea-

lousy of men from whom we wrest the objects. After

getting the objects of our ambition we are tortured

by the fear and anxiety of their possible loss. Finally,

we land ourselves in sorrow when we lose the objects.

Further, a psychological examination of the plea-

sures and passions of life reveal that a complete

indulgence in them leads to sorrow. The normal ap-

petites of men grow with what they feed on. Once

we take to the indulgence of pleasures, we secure the

ends we seek, provided our sense organs, which are the

instruments of the pleasure, are in sound condition.

. With their decay the pleasures also decay. It is the

INTRODUCTION TO VEDANTA

law of indulgence, that it wears away the vigour of

sense organs. Even the pleasures derived from the.

sense organs do not always afford us the same

satisfaction. What gave success and satisfaction in

the case of one person, at one time, may not be so

to another, or even to the same person^at other times.

Further, there is the law of diminishing returns ope-

rating in the field of pleasures also. There is a pecu-

liar law associated with the indulgence of pleasures.

Men take to certain pleasures with the hope of satisfy-

ing their cravings. With every satisfaction the want in-

creases and in course of time becomes a tyrant passion

and also an obssessive craving. The craving gives

you discomfort. Thus we see that the law of pleasures

is self-defeating. This psychological law is not only

true of minor passions but it is true also of major

human passions like ambition, vanity, etc. A life of

fulfilled ambitions goads us on to fresh adventures

and their fulfilment still leaves the question, what if

one has all this?

Lowes Dickinson points out that “too few of us

surely attain the good even of which we are capable,

too many are capable of too little; and all are capable

for a short time. ” Sage Patanjali in a significant

aphorism sums up the Indian philosophical attitude

when he says, “to the enlightened all is misery. ” They

cry with Hamlet, “how weary, stale and unprofitable

are the uses of the world! ”

The Vedantin admits the existence of sorrow and

does not despair. He finds that philosophy, i. e. atraa-

vidya, enables him to destroy the misery. ‘He who

knows the Atman, fords across the ocean of sorrow’

says the Upanisad. Vedanta begins, like all the other

systems of Indian philosophy, with an initial

APPROACH TO VEDANTA

pessimism. The imperfections and miseries of life

are the starting point. Their pessimism is not final.

A strong optimistic note is struck that moksa destroys

all sorrows and secures the plenitude of bliss. It is

not right to characterize such an attitude as pessimistic.

Max Muller remarks that it is an unfair charge

to call Vedanta pessimistic. The Vedantins have de-

rived their name for “the good’ from a word which

originally meant Being and Real, Sat. The re-

moval of suffering is the function of philosophy. Pain

and suffering are imperfect and in a perfect state they

are annihilated. This is not the disposition we can

call pessimism.

Vedanta seeks to journey from the world of de-

values to the world of values. It is essentially

a philosophy of values. It is a system as well as a

spiritual guide. It is not only a view of life but a

way of life also. There is no divorce between theory

and practice, between philosophy and life. Theory

and practice, dcara and vicara, keep close touch.

Vedanta does not believe in anaemic and unlived

knowledge. The philosophic experiences transform

the man. It is this close alliance between religion

and philosophy that has saved philosophy from be-

coming purely speculative. It is practical and has

coloured Indian culture in all its aspects. Vedanta’s

approach to the nature of philosophy is distinct. It

does not regard philosophy as a mere effort of the in-

tellect to build a system of thought. It is primarily

a spiritual guide. Philosophy is not a perpetual ad-

venture in the world of ideas with no final solutions.

Philosophy is not the disturber of man’s peace. It

is not a sedative that lulls us to sleep.

Many of the European philosophical systems are

INTRODUCTION TO VEDANTA

intellectual efforts to study and state the problems.

Huxley observes that ‘anybody with the requisite wits

and learning can write philosophy; the problem is to

be a philosopher or lover of wisdom. ’ Heraclitus

writes that ‘much learning does not produce under-

standing. ’ /

The Vedantin’s view is that the purpose of philo-

sophy is not merely the discovery of Truth but its

realization. It is not a second-hand or n^-hand ac-

ceptance of Truth. The final authority is self-certi-

fying experience. The experience transforms life un-

like the life of the intellectual. It is the common

experience of men that

“one may stand very high in the intellectual scale, and yet be in

complete opposition to spirit. Pride, self-centredness, attachment

to one’s own particular notions, may fill one’s mind with continual

agitations and anxieties. In one’s study one may think like a

spiritual man, and in the outside world behave like a carnal man.

From thought to intention, from intention to will, and from will

to action and conduct, the road is not smooth nor even continuous. ”

For the intuitive realization of the Truth, mere

intellectual acuteness is not enough. It must be ac-

companied by a stern moral personal discipline. The

realization inaugurates a new life. This does not

mean that Vedanta abnegates its faith in inferential

reasoning in respect of both its rules of generaliza-

tion and its certification of fact and value. It trans-

cends the rational mode and does not negate it. It

is not geared on to any sectarian revelation. What is

experienced intuitively is intellectually explained.

The intellectual explanation is not the same as the

intuitive realization. “Reading even the best cookery-

book is not equivalent to eating even the worst

dinner. ”

When the Vedantin says that moksa is attained’

APPROACH TO VEDANTA

by Jnana, he, means by Jnana, sdksatkdra, realiza-

tion and not relational knowledge. The Vedan-

tic conception of man, particularly of the Sankara

school, gives the clue to the relation between reason

and religious experience. According to his reading of

the Upanisads, each one of us is potentially universal

consciousness and the mind at large. Men appear as

a society of different island universes. The principle

of individualism is the result and the function of rea-

son and brain. It embodies and particularizes the

spirit and gives us the feeling that we are unrepeat-

able unique individuals, with our incommunicable

private sensations and feelings, interests, and fancies.

This makes us compete with one another. The aim

of Vedanta is to get back and recover the integral con-

sciousness that we are. The universal consciousness

which is the spirit is funnelled through the brain and

the nervous system which results in individuality.

The celebrated French philosopher Bergson has point-

ed out that the function of the brain in man is elimi-

native and productive. It leaves only a small and

special section of our experience for us and shuts out

the rest in the interests of our biological survival.

The spirit-consciousness can and does know every-

thing that is happening everywhere in the universe.

The brain delimits the consciousness and knows only

what trickles from the universal consciousness. The

brain is the reducing valve. We cannot have a science

of the working of this universal consciousness.

Huxley writes:

We had better admit, then, that there will probably never

be a completely adequate science of man. There are all sorts of

useful partial sciences, dealing with generalities and averages —

such as economics and actuarial statistics, sociology and

INTRODUCTION TO VEDANTA

comparative religion and various brands of psychology. But there

is no genuine anthropology, no full science of Man, in which the

u niq ue ne ss of human beings takes its place along with their like-

ness, the irreducible diversities along with the unities. The art

of life is still an art and is likely to remain one indefinitely.

The most distinguished parapsychologist of our

age, Dr. Rhine, writes in his recent book, New World

of the Mind, that “there is something operative in

man that transcends laws of matter. . . . The universe

differs, therefore, from what the prevailing materia-

listic concept indicates. It is one about which it is

possible to be religious. ” Experiments in modern

para-psychology conducted under the most stringent

conditions point to actual facts of telepathy, clair-

voyance, and precognition. They all go under the

name of extra-sensory perception (ESP). These

odd exceptional inexplicate facts, however trivial in them-

selves, are always the point from which the next great and funda-

mental advance in human knowledge is made. The facts of

paranormal psychology have given us the alternative to the cur-

rent fashionable determinist view of man, i. e. that he is just a

collection of neural events embellished by a phosphorescence of

subjective recognition.

The universal consciousness in man is to be

liberated by definite mental habits, personality traits

and spiritual discipline. In the words of Blake, “If

the doors of perception are cleansed, everything will

appear to man as it is, infinite. ”

The Vedantic ideal for man is not mere contem-

plation for its own sake. The first road is the road

of contemplation leading to God-union. Freedom from

distracted existence, freedom from the lust of the

eye, body and flesh are absolutely necessary. They

secure spiritual regeneration. Pascal remarked, “the

sum of evil would be much diminished if men could

APPROACH TO VEDANTA

only learn to sit quietly in their rooms. ” Huxley

significantly observes that “half at least of all mora-

lity is negative and consists in keeping out of mis-

chief. The Lord’s Prayer is less than fifty words long,

and six of these words are devoted to asking God

not to lead us into temptation. ” The Vedantic disci-

pline does not erect an insurmountable barrier bet-

ween contemplation and action. It does not regard

contemplation as the do-nothing attitude in life.

It does not countenance a philosophy of life that

negates action, the will to action and the very

thought of action. “We must think like men of ac-

tion and act like men of thought. ” It is wrong read-

ing of the ideal of sannyasa to associate it with world-

denial. The realized souls are the ‘active contempla-

tives’ in Eckhart’s phrase; they are ready to come

down from heaven in order to bring a cup of water to

his sick brother. They want to share their vision and

experience with all. They ask us to climb the wall

and see the vision. They are full of compassion.

Their experience they want to share with all. They

refuse to enter nirvana or moksa. They are prepared

to be bom any number of times in any number of

places to rescue mankind. “The Jivan-muktas of the

Vedanta are men in whom the sea flows in their

veins... and the stars are their jewels. ” When all

things are perceived as infinite and holy, what motive

can we have for covetousness or self-assertion, or for

the pursuit of power and drearier forms of pleasure?

“It is the cbntemplatives that keep the world disin-

fected. They are the salt of the earth. ” They bring

back enlightening reports of our transcendent con-

sciousness. They are the conduits and channels

through which a little light flows into our dark world

68 INTRODUCTION TO VEDANTA

which is chronically dying for lack of light. “A world

without the mystics is totally blind. ” The compa-

nionship with such men is the only way to fight

against the attritions of our age. It is the message of

the Gita and the Upanisads that has reconciled the

age-old debate between the actives and the contem-

platives; we are to look into the inner world so that

we may understand the outer. The outer world has

its springs in the inner world. Contemplative life

cleans the doors of perception. The life of contem-

plation is not easy for those that are unregenerate.

It is not the result of learning, systematic philosophiz-

ing, that brings the experience. The Katha Upanisad

declares, 16 “this Self cannot be attained by instruc-

tion, nor even by much learning. It is to be attained

by one whom the Self chooses. To such a one the

Self reveals Its own value. ” Swami Vivekananda de-

clared that Hinduism is the only religion that has

boldly declared that Scripture alone cannot help us

to attain realization. For spiritual experience one

has necessarily to be ethically perfefct. The way to

God-realization is only through good life. There is

no other way to it. “Not he who has not desisted from

evil ways, not he who is notr tranquil, not he who

has not a concentrated mind, not even he whose mind

is not composed, can reach this Self through right

knowledge ’. 17 Spiritual wisdom cannot be had with-

out moral qualifications and the cleansing of our

hearts. We can never obtain saving wisdom by by-

passing moral life. Spiritual life does not grow like

16. Katha Upanisad, I. ii. 23.

17. Katha Upanisad, I. ii. 24. See Munfaka, III. i. 5, III. i. 8;

Brihadaranyaka, TV. iv. 21.

APPROACH TO VEDANTA * 69

grass. It is a two-sided process. The effort of man

is necessary.

The chief contention of Vedanta on the theore-

tical side is that verbal knowledge, discursive reason

and systematic philosophizing cannot give us ade-

quate description of the nature of spiritual Reality.

Our education is predominantly verbal. Vedanta be-

lieves in a direct awareness of Reality, which verbal

knowledge cannot give us. The Brhadaranyaka

Upanisad warns us not to reflect on many words, for

that is mere weariness of speech. “It is not wisdom

to be merely wise, ” declared Euripides, the great

dramatist. The Real cannot be known by vain and

idle arguments. The rationalists of the world fear

those facts that cannot fit in with the facts of life,

and their measuring rods, and the neat systems of

thought. It is no use calling the mystics of the world

cranks, quacks, charlatans and amateurs.

Spiritual experience is of the infinite Reality,

which passes all understanding and yet admits of be-

ing directly and in some manner apprehended. It is a

transcendence of the dual consciousness. Our goal is

to discover that we have always been. It is a making

known and not a bringing something into being. This

task becomes most difficult because of self-love, our

habits of mind, and personality traits. Systematic

reasoning confirms our egoism and insolence. The con-

sciousness of reading all books is not spirituality.

Egoism makes us confine to the here and now. The

urge for self-transcendence is there at the heart of

man. It is the divine irresistible urge in life. Such a

self -transcendence becomes perfect only in spiritual

experience. The God-surrogates, i. e., art, carnival,

drugs, sex, etc. are the ‘doors in the wall’ to use

INTRODUCTION TO VEDANTA

H. G. Wells’s phrase. But all these soon tire out man

and pronounce distress and depression. Goethe writes,

“We talk far too much, we should talk less and draw

more. I personally should like to renounce speech al-

together and, like organic nature, communicate every-

thing I have to say in sketches. ” Reality for the

Vedantin is the primary fact of experience.

Vedanta gives a verbalistic dress to the central

spiritual experience in the form of systematic rea-

soning, something which the rational nature of man

cannot possibly do without. Systematic reasoning

gives us the symbols of the unfathomable mystery.

But we should not mistake symbol as the actual sub-

stantial Reality. The chaff must not be mistaken for

the kernel. Even those theistic schools that do not

entertain the concept of an Absolute also feel that

the Supreme Reality of religion cannot be intel-

lectually apprehended and described in terms of dis-

⇐ Предыдущая 4 5 6 7 8910 11 12 13 Следующая ⇒