Vedanta for the Western World

458 Pages·2016·22.95 MB·English

by  Gerald Heard

VEDANTA FOR
THE WESTERN WO' D
Contributors
SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA
SRI CHAlfANYA
AMIYA
GUIDO FERRANDO"
GEORGE FITTS
GERALD HEARD
ALDOUS HUXLEY
ALLAN HUNTER
CHRISTOPHER ISHERWOOD
FREDERICK MANCHESTER
SWAMI PRABHAVANANDA
SWAMI SHIVANANDA
JOHN VAN DRUTEN
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
CHRISTOPHER WOOD
SWAMI YATISWARANANDA
VEDANTA
FOR THE
WESTERN
WORLD
Edited
with an Introduction
by
Isherwood
Christopher
LONDON
GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD
FIXST PUBUSHK) IN GRIAT BRITAIN
IN 1948
COPY1UOHT IN THE U.8.A.
Allrightsrutrvtd
StcondImpression 1949
PRINT1D ^CWAT BRITAIN
BYHINOttSON & SPAiDINC
LONDON, W.I.
CONTENTS
***
INTRODUCTION by Christopher Ishcrwood I
h Mysticism Escapism? by Gerald Heard 99
The Minimum Working Hypothesis by Aldous Huxley 33
Hypothesis andBeliefby Christopher Ishcrwood 36
What To?a Is by Swami Prabhavananda 41
The Goal ofTog* by Swami Prabhavananda 47
Vedtnta MS the Scientific Approach to Religion by Gerald Heard 51
Dedication Ode by Frederick Manchester 56
My Discoveries in Vedant* by Gerald Heard 59
Divine Grace by Swami Prabhavananda 64
Towards Meditation by SwamiYatwwarananda 71
The Toga ofMeditation by Swami Prabhavananda 80
The Return to Ritual by Gerald Heard 89
Religion and Temperament by Aldous Huxley 94
Religion and Time by Aldous Huxley 103
EM
The Problem of by Swami Prabhavananda 110
The Magical andthe Spiritual by Aldous Huxley 11a
How to Integrate our Personality by SwamiYatiswarananda 116
Distractions by Aldous Huxley 125
DiynessandDarkNight by Gerald Heard 136
Realize the Truth by Swami Yatiswarananda 142
OM
The Mystic Word by Swami Prabhavananda 149
Power ofthe Wordby Swami Adbhutananda 154
Meditation by Swami Adbhutananda 157
Brahman andMaya by Swami Adbhutananda 160
Seven Meditations by Aldous Huxley 163
Spiritual Maxims by Swami Shivananda 171
Control ofthe Subconscious Mindby Swami Prabhavananda 174
Thoughts by a Stream by Allan Hunter ' 182
Prayer byJohn van Druten 184
From a Notebook by Aldous Huxley 189
Thoughts by George Fitts *93
Warnings andHints to theSpiritual Aspirant 195
Swami Yatiswarananda
Contents vi
Page
Renunciation and Austerity by Swami Prabhavananda 205
On a Sentencefrom Shakespeare by Aldous Huxley 209
/Am Where I Have Always Been byJohn van Druten 212
Samadhi by Swami Prabhavananda 216
Chant the Name ofthe Lord by Sri Chaitanya 225
An Unpublished lecture by Swami Vivekananda 227
Sri Ramakrishna, Modern Spirit andReligion
Swami Prabhavananda
241
St. Francis andSri Ramakrishna by Guido Ferrando 253
Marriage ofSarada Devi by Amiya Corbin 261
The Gospel ofSri Ramakrishna by Christopher Wood 266
Vivekananda andSarah Bernhardt by Christopher Isherwood 268
Man and Reality by Aldous Huxley 273
Words and Reality by Aldous Huxley 278
Some Aspects ofBuddha's Thought by Swami Prabhavananda 283
Buddha andBergson by Swami Prabhavananda 288
The Philosophia Perennis by Gerald Heard 294
Reflections on the Lord's Prayer by Aldous Huxley 298
Sermon on the Mount by Swami Prabhavananda 313
Maya and Mortal Mind byJohn van Druten 350
Martha by Amiya Corbin 354
The Gita and War by Christopher Isherwood 358
Action and Contemplation by Aldous Huxley 366
Unknown Indian Influences by Gerald Heard 371
Readings in Mysticism by Aldous Huxley 376
Mysticism in the Theologia Germanica by Gerald Heard 383
The Spiritual Message ofDante by Guido Ferrando 389
Notes on Brother Lawrence by Gerald Heard 396
Self-Surrender by Swami Prabhavananda 417
The Churches, Humanism, Spirituality by Gerald Heard 423
Idolatry by Aldous Huxley 427
Is there Progess? by Gerald Heard 432
Godin Everything by Swami Prabhavananda 436
The Future ofMankind's Religion by Gerald Heard 442
The Tellow Mustard by Aldous Huxley 447
The Wishing Tree by Christopher Isherwood 448
Lints by Aldous Huxlev 452
INTRODUCTION
FIRST OF ALL, WHAT IS VEDANTA?
Vedanta is the philosophy of the Vedas, those Indian scrip
tures which are the most ancient religious writings now
known to the world. More generally speaking, the term
"Vedanta" covers not only the Vedas themselves but the
whole body of literature which explains, elaborates and com-
ments upon their teaching, right down to the present day,
The Bhagavad-Gita and the works of Shankara belong to
Vedanta: so do many of the articles in this volume.
Vedanta is often, but less correctly, called "Hinduism"; a
foreign word. The inhabitantsof India were described by the
Persians as Hindus, because they lived on the other side of
the River Sindhu (the Indus). The Persians, apparently,
could not manage the sound of the letter S.
In India today, as elsewhere, there are hundreds of sects.
Vedanta Philosophy is the basis of them all. Indeed, in its
simplest form, it may be regarded as a statement of the
Philosophia Perennis, the least common denominator of all
religious belief, which is defined by Aldous Huxley in his
article, "The Minimum Working Hypothesis."
Reduced to its elements, Vedanta Philosophy consists of
three propositions. First, that Man's real nature is divine.
Second, that the aim of human life is to realize this divine
nature. Third, that all religions are essentially in agreement.
We
shall examine each of these in turn.
"Man's real nature is divine*': what does this actually
mean? Vedanta asserts that the universe which is perceived
by our senses is only an appearance. It is not what it seems.
Here, the modern scientist will, of course, agree. Who would
ever suppose, in looking at a flower, a rock and a waterfall,
VEDANTA For The Western World 2
that each was merely a different arrangement of identical
units? The universe is other than its outward aspect. More-
over, this outward aspect is subject to perpetual change. The
hills, said Tennyson, are shadows.
Vedanta goes on to. assert that, beneath this appearance,
this flux, there is an essential, unchanging Reality, which it
calls Brahman, the Godhead. Brahman is Existence itself,
Consciousness itself. Brahman is also said to be that almost
indefinable quality which is called in the Sanskrit language
"Ananda," and in the Christian Bible . . . "the peace of God,
which passeth all understanding . . ." "Ananda" may be
translated not only as "peace" but also as "bliss"; since this
absolute peace, when it is known beneath all flux, appear-
ance and unrest, must give the only permanent kind of
happiness.
At the mention of Brahman, the scientist will become
sceptical. And rightly so; for none of his apparatus is capa-
ble of detecting the existence of this fundamental Reality.
Vedanta will reply that this proves nothing, either way. The
scientist cannot possibly detect Brahman, because scientific
analysis depends, necessarily, upon the evidence of the five
senses, and Brahman is beyond all sense-perception. Why, it
will be asked, should we believe with Vedanta instead of
doubting with the scientist? But the answer to this question
must be delayed for a moment, until we begin to consider
the nature of the mystical experience.
Let us assume, in the meanwhile, that Brahman does exist.
If there is indeed an essential Reality, a Godhead, in the uni-
verse, then it follows that this Reality must be omnipresent.
It must be within each one of us; within every creature and
object. It docs not matter exactly what we mean by "within":
that is a point for theologians to argue. Let us say simply, at
the risk of offending the exponents of semantics, that Brah-
man isour real, essential nature. When speakingof Brahman-
within-the-creature, Vedanta uses, for convenience, another
term, "the Atman." The Atman, in Christian terminology,
is God Immanent; Brahman is God Transcendent. Atinan
and Brahman are one.
And now, with the second of the Vedanta propositions, we
come to most of our difficulties. The aim of human life, we
Introduction
3
are told, is to realize the Atman, our essential nature, and
hence our identity with the one, underlying Reality.
Why? How? Who says so? How does he know?
In the first place, why? The answer to this question is by
no means evident to the majority of people alive on earth
today. Human life hasmany apparentaims: we can find them
stated in the headlines and advertisements of any newspaper.
Win the war. Win the peace. Get your man. Get a home. Get
a better job. Become beautiful. Become strong. Become edu-
cated. Such are our objectives. And millions strive for them,
with the greatest courage and devotion, year after year.
To seek to realize my essential nature is to admit that I
am dissatisfied with my nature as it is at present. It is to ad-
mit that I am dissatisfied with the kind of life I am leading
now. But am I, honestly? Oh yes, we admit our faults. We
admit that the and economic condition of the world
political
leaves much to be desired. But we are optimistic. We believe
in patching up and muddling through. We are prepared to
take the rough with the smooth. We have our moments of
triumph, we enjoy periods of vivid happiness; and for these
we are ready to pay, if we must, with spells of disappoint-
On
ment, boredom, regret. the whole, the majority of us are
content. The great mass of normally healthy, well-adjusted
men and women, absorbed in their families and their
jobs,
will protest: "Leave us alone. We are well enough off as we
are."
We
"Are you? doubt it," say Buddha, Jesus, Shankara,
Shakespeare and Tolstoy. And they proceed to point out, in
their different languages and figures of speech, that death
brings an end to all desire, that worldly wealth is a house
built upon the sand, that the beautiful body is a decaying
bag of filth, that ambition will be pricked like an inflated
bladder, that our bustling activity resembles the antics of
patients in a madhouse. Their words depress us: for the truth
is obvious, if we consider it. But we do not wish to consider
it. There is no time, we say. We are in the midst of whatever
we are doing. Action is begetting action. To pause, to philos-
ophize, seems feeble, cowardly, and even downright wicked.
So we dismiss our prophets as pessimists, and their teaching
We
as other worldly defeatism. hurry away with a sigh, re-
VEDANTA
For The Western World 4
solved to have our fun while we can, or, at any rate, to get on
with the next
job.
But suppose I really am dissatisfied with my life and my-
self. Suppose I have actually attained some of the world's
advertised objectives, and found beyond them an emptiness,
a teasing question which I cannot answer. I am confronted
with Life's subtlest riddle: the riddle of human boredom. In
my desperation, I am ready to assume, provisionally, that this
Atman, this essential nature, does exist within me, arid does
offer me a lasting strength, wisdom, peace and happiness.
How am I to realize this nature? How am I to enjoy it?
The answer is given, unanimously, by all the teachers and
prophets. It is very disconcerting:
"By ceasing to be yourself."
"What do you mean? That's nonsense. How can I stop be-
ing myself? I'm Christopher Isherwood, or I'm nothing."
"You are the Atman."
"Then why do I think I'm myself?"
"Because of your ignorance. Christopher Isherwood is only
an appearance, a part of the apparent universe. He is a con-
stellation of desires and impulses. He reflects his environ-
ment. He repeats what he has been taught. He mimics the
social behaviour of his community. He copies gestures like a
monkey and intonations like a parrot. All his actions are con-
ditioned by those around him, however eccentric and in-
dividual he may seem to be. He is subject to suggestion, cli-
mate, disease and the influence of drugs. He is changing all
the time. He has no essential reality."
"How did this ignorance start? What caused it?"
Here, the prophets will give slightly different answers.
Buddha will refuse to discuss the question at all, saying that
it is not important. When the house is burning, does it mat-
ter if the man who fired it had red hair? It is only necessary
that we should realize that the house 15 burning. Or, to put it
more mildly, that we should be dissatisfied with our present
condition and re?dy to do something about it.
Christian theologywill speak of Original Sin, and postulate
afallofMan fromconsciousness of his divine nature. Vedanta
does not accept this idea. It conceives of a universe coexistent
with Brahman, equally beginningless and endless. Even if