MAYA AND FREEDOM

[Uttishthata]

MAYA AND FREEDOM
- Swami Vivekananda


"Trailing clouds of glory we come," says the poet. Not all of us come
as trailing clouds of glory however; some of us come as trailing black
fogs; there can be no question about that. But every one of us comes
into this world to fight, as on a battlefield. We come here weeping to
fight our way, as well as we can, and to make a path for ourselves
through this infinite ocean of life; forward we go, having long ages
behind us and an immense expanse beyond. So on we go, till death comes
and takes us off the field -- victorious or defeated, we do not know.
And this is Mâyâ.

Hope is dominant in the heart of childhood. The whole world is a
golden vision to the opening eyes of the child; he thinks his will is
supreme. As he moves onward, at every step nature stands as an
adamantine wall, barring his future progress. He may hurl himself
against it again and again, striving to break through. The further he
goes, the further recedes the ideal, till death comes, and there is
release, perhaps. And this is Maya.

A man of science rises, he is thirsting after knowledge. No sacrifice
is too great, no struggle too hopeless for him. He moves onward
discovering secret after secret of nature, searching out the secrets
from her innermost heart, and what for? What is it all for? Why should
we give him glory? Why should he acquire fame? Does not nature do
infinitely more than any human being can do? -- and nature is dull,
insentient. Why should it be glory to imitate the dull, the
insentient? Nature can hurl a thunderbolt of any magnitude to any
distance. If a man can do one small part as much, we praise him and
laud him to the skies. Why? Why should we praise him for imitating
nature, imitating death, imitating dullness imitating insentience? The
force of gravitation can pull to pieces the biggest mass that ever
existed; yet it is insentient. What glory is there in imitating the
insentient? Yet we are all struggling after that. And this is maya.


to be continued...


The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda Volume 2 (Delivered in London,
22nd October 1896)


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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." "The Kingdom
of Heaven is within you." Where do you go to seek for the kingdom of
God?--asks Jesus of Nazareth--when it is there within you. Cleanse the
spirit, and it is there. It is already yours. How can you get what is
not yours? It is yours by right. You are the heirs of immortality,
sons of the Eternal Father.
- Swami Vivekananda


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