Why Did Swami Vivekananda Die So Young?

Pure Existence

"Give up all your prejudices and preconceived notions, and consider what are you in deep sleep. It is your own experience, so it cannot be difficult to know. It is our own experience; everyday we are having it. Yet, we throw it away and dismiss it as ‘only deep sleep’. No one will say that he did not exist in deep sleep. Body is not there. World is not there. Thoughts are not there. There is no ‘I and you’, ‘God and world’, ‘pleasure and pain’, ‘good and bad’, ‘existence or non-existence’. All the pairs of opposites have gone. It appears to be an unconscious state because there are no objects there of which to be conscious. You existed in deep sleep. You must have been there. Remembrance always follows experience and there is no experience unless there is consciousness. So, in deep sleep, you exist not as the triad (experience, experiencing, experienced ), but as the one homogeneous Consciousness. In the deep sleep state, nobody sees any objects. The whole creation, including one’s own body and mind, are not seen because they have dissolved. There is no proof to show that when you are asleep, there is a world outside. Your friend, the world he saw while you were sleeping, including your sleeping body lying on the bed, all are thoughts in your mind that occur only during the waking state. During deep sleep, there is no world. So, every moment there is dissolution, and the next moment creation, and the next moment dissolution again. And in between is the existence of the world. This goes on incessantly; this is manifestation, manifestation of the unmanifest. In fact, these are not two. These are all words and ideas formed by us to explain the Truth that is beyond all words. The manifest state ( dream and waking states) and the unmanifest state ( which is called deep sleep or the moment between two thoughts ) are not two. There are no two states here, but they appear as two. The Absolute is neither manifest nor unmanifest. But one thing is certain: throughout all these apparent changes, ‘you’ are there; the ‘real- I’ in you is there. Who is this ‘I’ – that you must know. So, we begin our analysis with the deep sleep state, as we were ‘before creation’, as it were. In the beginning, scriptures say, ‘I alone was’. Body is not there. World is not there. Thoughts are not there. But ‘you’ are there, which no one will deny. Remember, you go into the state of deep sleep everyday willingly, consciously, voluntarily, making all necessary preparation like a comfortable bed, soft pillow and saying ‘good night, please don’t disturb me now’, even to your dearest one. You like that state. You enjoy it, leaving everything behind, possessed by you. Everyday you exist very happily without body and world. We now come to the dream. You saw it. But now you know it was not. Your dreamed body-mind is as real or unreal as are the other objects in the dream. It is the ‘I’ of deep sleep that projected the dream world. Upon awakening (into the dream world or waking state ), the undifferentiated Consciousness of deep sleep divides itself, as though, into the observer who sees and the observed that is seen. First comes the ‘me’ and then immediately comes the ‘you’, meaning the whole world. The whole world appears as an object to me, the subject. But every object thinks itself as the subject. Are we subject or object? We are neither. Both come under phenomena, both are appearances only. Do we regard ourselves as wholly present in sleep or partially present in sleep? We cannot say that only a part of ourselves was in sleep. We are sure that the whole of ourselves was present in sleep. The whole of us was present in deep sleep – not a part of us. Then what is it that we call ‘I’ in waking and dreaming states? Do we add to the whole? Nobody can add to the whole. When we say, “I was wholly present in deep sleep,” we do not add anything to ourselves when we come into the waking condition. So many things attract us and confront us, and we are obliged to pay attention to them. Is the body a part of ourselves? Are the senses a part of ourselves? We may say ‘yes’. Then we must say that in the state of deep sleep, we were not wholly present, because a part of us was outside! The body, the senses, our friends and relationships – they were all outside. If we are wholly present in sleep, unrelated to anything else, then the unrelated condition is wholeness – not the related condition. So, relationships are essentially false! This is what is implied in an analysis of deep sleep. Relationships are not true because they do not belong to the whole. What does not belong to the whole cannot even exist. What can be outside the whole? This is why some people say that the world does not really exist. Why were we not conscious in sleep, and yet seemed to be conscious in sleep? This enigma is what is called ‘ignorance’. Ignorance is not an absence of consciousness. Ignorance is rather a difficulty in knowing a situation – that is what is called ‘ignorance’. Our true nature seems to be undivided, and at the same time a state of consciousness without which memory is impossible. What then am I truly? I am unrelated consciousness, not related consciousness, because one cannot have relations with whole. Our true nature is, by implication we learn, unrelated wholeness of consciousness. It is not part consciousness, but whole consciousness, unconnected with anything else. The whole earth may be ours, but if we are not able to sleep, which would we choose – sleep or emperorship of the earth, because we cannot exchange sleep with emperorship; and no one can! The emperor is not made happy merely through relationship." …………………..Om Shanti!

THE GOLDEN MEAN
If we take any creation as one unit, its manifestation is produced by conjunct of two half units. 1=+1/2 & -1/2. One complete unit comprises of two aspects of the same reality. We inhale and exhale and that is one unit of breath. The rotation of a wheel is caused by forward and backward motion of the engine’s piston. A bird flutters its wings up and down and flies. We are not aware of waking world in our deep sleep and modest estimations hold that during half of our life, we are not really awake. Half of the earth shines brighter under the sun and other half experiences darkness. A pendulum completes one cycle by swinging in two different directions. Good and bad, life and death, day and night, cause and effect, masculine and feminine, positive and negative are apparently two features between which we calibrate our thought, attitude, judgment and action. We are always between two facets of One Truth and we unleash our mind to follow one flank, denouncing another. We are not here to judge what is correct and what is not. Accept all versions, enjoy and swallow them. We have to transcend all the conditions and ‘perceive’ the Truth. We represent the Absolute and Absolute finds its expression in the golden mean. ....................Om Shanti!

Un-fetter Love!

While God is love, God is also law. He will not break a law merely for the sake of love notwithstanding the fact that He is infinite love. If you are driven by emotion in your yearning rather than by intelligence or proper understanding, He is not going to jump from the skies on your call.
There is a rationality behind the laws of the universe. Nothing is outside the purview of the Sovereignty of Eternal Law. It is this rationality that determines not only natural functions such as the seasons, sunrise, meticulous configuration of inter-planetary motions and more , our destiny of birth and death. From childhood we have grown up to our present state and all processes, including the bodily reactions of hunger, thirst, sleep and so on – everything conceivable – all rules and regulations, needs and necessities are explicable only in terms of this cosmic order, which is an expression of the indivisibility of things. Now, the yearning or love, when it is directed to an object outside, becomes a psychological condition, and if love of God is also to become a psychological condition, then it may change according to the conditions of the mind. The conditional relationship of our individuality with circumstances outside prevents us from having any kind of genuineness in our approach to things or in our affections. God is not affected by anything that usually affects the individual, and therefore, the defects of the individual are not present in God. The question of egoism, or the principle of individual affirmation, does not arise in the case of God and He is beyond likes and dislikes. We suffer because we do not conform to the existent laws of nature as a whole. Law of God and law of nature is identical. We have no understanding of the laws of nature; we are not omniscient. But in case of God and those who have knowledge of God or experience of God, this question does not arise, because when there is God-consciousness, there is also an infinitude of awareness in respect of everything. Our action will then not be interference, but rather participation in the existing laws. Participation in law does not produce any reaction from that law, but interference with law may produce a reaction. Our concept of God is here a very important factor, which rules the destiny of our love for God. The love of God may become conditional if He is to be treated as an extra-cosmic something which has to be reached by a temporal affection in the form of a mental emotion. It is important that whether we succeed to 'convince' God that we love Him as per His prescription!
One must appreciate the distinction between the action of soul, that involves the ‘being’ and the action of emotion. Emotions are the vulnerable points of the personality and are induced by the mind. When one is under the sway of intense emotion, all his wisdom and rationality goes to dogs. This brings him much below the level of ‘reason’. Only intellect, with protracted practice, can redress it out. When ‘intellect/reason’ is fully matured and purified, it merges into the ‘intuition’ where the ‘being’ gets involved. There is no question of annihilating the mind or the intellect. Intuitive faculty transcends the lower aspects of mind. Further growth carries it to the higher levels of consciousness. Thus, emotional love and whole-souled love are to be comprehended from two different perspectives. Om!

Consciousness is Undivided, Unrelated!

Give up all your prejudices and preconceived notions, and consider what are you in deep sleep. It is your own experience, so it cannot be difficult to know. It is our own experience; everyday we are having it. Yet, we throw it away and dismiss it as‘only deep sleep’. No one will say that he did not exist in deep sleep. Body is not there. World is not there. Thoughts are not there. There is no ‘I and you’, ‘God and world’, ‘pleasure and pain’, ‘good and bad’, ‘existence or non-existence’. All the pairs of opposites have gone. It appears to be an unconscious state because there are no objects there of which to be conscious. You existed in deep sleep. You must have been there. Remembrance always follows experience and there is no experience unless there is consciousness. So, in deep sleep, you exist not as the triad (experience, experiencing, experienced), but as the one homogeneous Consciousness. In the deep sleep state, nobody sees any objects. The whole creation, including one’s own body and mind, are not seen because they have dissolved. There is no proof to show that when you are asleep, there is a world outside. Your friend, the world he saw while you were sleeping, including your sleeping body lying on the bed, all are thoughts in your mind that occur only during the waking state. During deep sleep, there is no world. So, every moment there is dissolution, and the next moment creation, and the next moment dissolution again. And in between is the existence of the world. This goes on incessantly; this is manifestation, manifestation of the unmanifest. In fact, these are not two. These are all words and ideas formed by us to explain the Truth that is beyond all words. The manifest state ( dream and waking states) and the unmanifest state ( which is called deep sleep or the moment between two thoughts ) are not two. There are no two states here, but they appear as two. The Absolute is neither manifest nor unmanifest.  But one thing is certain: throughout all these apparent changes, ‘you’ are there; the ‘real- I’ in you is there. Who is this ‘I’ – that you must know. So, we begin our analysis with the deep sleep state, as we were 'before creation’, as it were. In the beginning, scriptures say, ‘I alone was’. Body is not there. World is not there. Thoughts are not there. But ‘you’ are there, which no one will deny. Remember, you go into the state of deep sleep everyday willingly, consciously, voluntarily, making all necessary preparation like a comfortable bed, soft pillow and saying ‘good night, please don’t disturb me now’, even to your dearest one. You like that state. You enjoy it,leaving everything behind, possessed by you. Everyday you exist very happily without body and world. We now come to the dream. You saw it. But now you know it was not. Your dreamed body-mind is as real or unreal as are the other objects in the dream. It is the ‘I’ of deep sleep that projected the dreamworld. Upon awakening (into the dream world or waking state ), the undifferentiated Consciousness of deep sleep divides itself, as though, into the observer who sees and the observed that is seen. The scripture is telling us that the waking and dreaming states are not different in substance. First comes the ‘me’ and then immediately comes the ‘you’, meaning the whole world. The whole world appears as an object to me, the subject. But every object thinks itself as the subject. Are we subject or object? We are neither. Both come under phenomena, both are appearances only. Do we regard ourselves as wholly present in sleep or partially present in sleep? We cannot say that only a part of ourselves was in sleep. We are sure that the whole of ourselves was present in sleep. The whole of us was present in deep sleep – not a part of us. Then what is it that we call ‘I’ in waking and dreaming states? Do we add to the whole? Nobody can add to the whole. When we say, “I was wholly present in deep sleep,” we do not add anything to ourselves when we come into the waking condition. So many things attract us and confront us, and we are obliged to pay attention to them. Is the body a part of ourselves? Are the senses a part of ourselves? We may say ‘yes’. Then we must say that in the state of deep sleep, we were not wholly present, because a part of us was outside! The body, the senses, our friends and relationships –they were all outside. If we are wholly present in sleep, unrelated to anything else, then the unrelated condition is wholeness – not the related condition. So, relationships are essentially false! This is what is implied in an analysis of deep sleep. Relationships are not true because they do not belong to the whole. What does not belong to the whole cannot even exist. What can be outside the whole? This is why some people say that the world does not really exist. Why were we not conscious in sleep, and yet seemed to be conscious in sleep? This enigma is what is called ‘ignorance’. Ignorance is not an absence of consciousness. Ignorance is rather a difficulty in knowing a situation – that is what is called ‘ignorance’. Our true nature seems to be undivided, and at the same time a state of consciousness without which memory is impossible! What then am I truly? I am unrelated consciousness, not related consciousness,because one cannot have relations with whole. Our true nature is, by implication we learn, unrelated wholeness of consciousness. It is not part consciousness, but whole consciousness, unconnected with anything else. The whole earth may be ours, but if we are not able to sleep, which would we choose– sleep or emperor-ship of the earth, because we cannot exchange sleep with emperor-ship; and no one can! The emperor is not made happy merely through relationship. …………………..Om Shanti!

Tell me what should I ask of you

What shall I ask of you
 Steadfastness of mountains
 Softness of flowers
 An earth bedecked with flowers and bees
 Or the bottom of the empty sky
 Everything that I want to ask is finite
 Shall I ask for a beautiful printed image
 Or a gem from the ocean
 Or the gentle smile of a lotus
 Or the divine sward of lord Shiva
 Or a deep blue radiance for my body
 Or the limitless universe
 Or the ocean’s horizon
 I just cannot think what to ask you
 You tell me what should I ask of you
 Should I ask for the exotic love of the evening sky
 Or the laughter of my beloved
 Or pleasure from the erotic lover
 Or rhythm from the divine lover
 I am still in a dilemma what to ask
 Tell me now what shall I ask you?
 My body tells me to ask for this
 My mind tells me to ask for that
 The heart tells me to ask only for this
 While wisdom tells me to ask only for that
 Shall I ask for this or that
Everything is impermanent, what shall I ask for?
 The soul in me whispers to ask for every thing
 To ask for what is truth and nothing else
 So why shouldn't I ask just for you?
 For you to be with me every moment
 So that I may ask you for whatever I want
 Whenever I want.

 OM!

Our segregation from the pure Consciousness that is Absolute Bliss, ensued, as if, an innocent baby grows and splits into multiple personalities, such as, being of particular name, cast, creed, color, religion, profession, good, bad, rich, poor, and all such artificial encrustations foisted upon the innocence. The essence was lost and phenomenal relationships, meanings, values and definitions became prevalent and dominant. A building, made of bricks was designated as prison when some people were detained therein, and, if, we began worshiping there, it was known as temple or chapel. A huge gulf came into existence between ‘my son’ and ‘his son’. A small piece of paper became the currency when we added a value to it. The same person sometimes designated as a son and sometimes as a father. These encrustations kept on changing in view of the prevailing circumstances and requirements. The initial dichotomy from the Supreme Being created a sense of insecurity and resulted in fear. This fear impelled our souls to get attached to the outside objects, as falsely projected, consequent upon the deep rooted impulses of desire, to fill the space covered by the fear. Bliss was lost in the mutation. Thus, we created our own projected worlds. The attachment with the illusory world was further strengthened by the fear of losing it; and the poor ‘self’ got involved into a vicious circle of cause and effect. A process was set forth for the Infinite to assume a seeming finitude. All the projections and encrustations culminated into a rationalization for defining ourselves as a separate entity. From somewhere we have gone to somewhere else, without knowing the right direction. Stop defining yourself, shun all the encrustations and annihilate all the relational values to this phenomenal world. You will find yourselves at the same place from where your illusive march began. Right now, you are very much there. Nothing has changed but your concept and the thought process. Just abandon what you are not. ………Om Shanti!