Name : Yash Shah

Course : MA Philosophy Part 1

Subject : Contemporary Indian Philosophy
Project : Practical Vedanta
Reference : Complete Works Of Swami
Vivekanand, Volume-2





























Introduction


Vedanta is practical can be adduced from the fact that the best thoughts
from the Vedanta is not the concoction or invention of sages who spends
prodigious amount of hours meditating in the wilderness of the forests or
the oblivion of the caves. They are not thought by those delinquents who
have wriggled themselves out of all responsibilities and have secluded
themselves from the earthly, materialistic life and now are living like
vagabonds or hermits. The most impactful thoughts in Vedanta are
taught by those who live the busiest lives who equates their work,
responsibilities, obligations with their Dharma and performs them to the
best of their ability with unflinching devotion.


Work with dispassion

The primary goal of Vedanta is work arduously utilising every atom of
our energy with an unruffled, unperturbed mind. Normally intense
activity is associated with incorrigible passions. But the very evident
though perplexing irony is you can do the greatest amounts of work with
utmost adherence to quality in a state of dispassion. Also dispassion
happens when you follow the principle of Nishkaam Karma, working
without expecting anything in return. When you work expecting huge
dividends in the future, we will alternate perenially from a state of
ecstasy to a state of despondency which may lead us to sporadic states of
flying passions, anger and frustration. But the technique is to give your
every bit of energy to your work without any speculations about the
results with a stoical, placid mind devoid of passions, filled with the
ambrosia of dispassion, impervious to any circumstances whatsoever.





You are God

Vedanta preaches an ideal that is well within the infinite human
capacity. Infact Vedanata says that the ideal is the truth and is already
pre-existent and is all the time dormant within us as our eyes are
shrouded with the clouds of illusion. Normally the ideal seems to be
beyond human capacity, but as per Vedanta, the ideal is itself the
practical. There is no two ness, there is just oneness. However people
normally harmonises the ideal with the life. They manipulate, distort the
ideal to fit in the finite, limited demarcated boundaries of their life. But
we should elevate ourselves to reach that all pervasive ideal. Birth and
death are inconsequential when compared with the immortality of the
soul just like energy which is neither created nor can ever be destroyed.
Also anything can be attained by the infinte potential of humans. Swami
Vivekanand says that other religions may be preaching that if you don't
believe in God, you are an atheist. But Vedanta preaches that if you
don't believe in the infinite capacity of the soul, you are an athesist.
Vedanta recognises no sin, it recognises only illusion, error. And the
biggest error or illusion is to consider yourself to be finite, weak
compartmentalising yourself in doing these things and not doing those
things. It is to consider yourself to be evil. This is just the dust of illusion
that is troubling our eyes and evading us to see the ultimate reality.
Vedanta expounds oneness in things. In a way we are Brahman. We are
Gods, it's just that it is not manifested to us. Hence we have all the
qualities of the divine that is infinite, immortal, omniscient. If we
elucidate further the oneness of things our soul is a treasure of all the
hidden secrets of the universe. Everything lies within us.


Attainment of self-realisation is difficult, but not impossible


In contrast to the conventional wisdom, the reality is not realised by
truants who escape from the responsibilities in the blindness, selfish
pursuit to attain Nirvana. But those who have submerged themselves in
their daily duties, responsibilities and more importantly work. In the
present context, it doesn't mean that you have a beautiful wife or a pretty
girlfriend. Or you attend marriages, you watch movies, you cannot
realise the reality. It doesn't mean if you abstain yourself from your
karma, your responsibilities, your work and clothed yourself in religious
robes and become servile to self-styled Godmen or evangelists who
claim that they possess the panacea of all ills, enlightenment will force
its entry to the realm of your soul. It means that we can live our social
lives but live by certain well founded principles, work diligently towards
our goals in a state of calmness and dispassion expecting absolutely
nothing in return and at the same time take some time off and
contemplate about things that are meaningful, things that needs to be
integrated in life and things that are meaningless that needs to be
discarded from the life and with confidence follow our reasoned
conviction, we can surely attained that apparently elusive self
realisation.


Live and let live


Everything is just One. That also means that the divinity exists within
every particle of the universe. Then it becomes obvious that the divine
resides within animals. Hence animals should not be slaughtered for
food. They also not be subjects or victims of scientific experiments.
There are many schools of thought that expounds animals are created for
food for humans as they are beasts and we are humans the superior
beings. Swami Vivekanand thereby Vedanta says that the difference is in
degree not in kind. They just variate from us in some peculiar
idiosyncrasies but they are not altogether different. But just like from the
vantage point, the slums, the cottages, the big buildings all look alike,
the same way from a man's higher Truth everything is equal, it is just
that that one indivisible consciousness that pervades everyone and
everything.


Keep the ideal: the way it is.


Swami Vivekanand reiterates repeatedly that the ideal should not be
dragged down and should not be somehow accommodated in the actual.
This is the problem why religion has contaminated over the years,
instead of being harbingers of peace, they have become a bloodthirsty
hens laying eggs of violence. As people distort, manipulate , at times
subconsciously even misinterpret the truth or the ideal to bring it down
to such a level that there remains absolutely no difference between the
real and the actual. And this ill-conceived ideals exponentially grows
until the rationalist man metamorphosises into a chauvinist, fanatic
individual. Swami Vivekanand in a way is also a rationalist rather than
an empiricist as he vociferously and passionately advises people almost
in a didactic manner to abstain from school of thoughts or religions that
preaches man to succumb to corporeal pleasures and pains. At the same
time we should not castigate or ostracise people which is obsequious to
these schools of thoughts.


Religion for all

Infact I personally believe that the cause of violence in this world is
because people are not able to realise or see the oneness in everything
and everybody. Also the inexperience, naive prejudice that my religion
or philosophy is the best I what brings the journey of learning to
standstill and convert men into fanatics, rabble-rousers and demagogues.
Swami Vivekanand insists that religion should be practical, it should
serve the man at whatever stage of growth or whatever level of
development it may be. Or it will just be an implausible theory
understood by a very few. Religion should be able to cater the
requirements of any person irrespective of the perspective he may have.
For eg there are few intellectual Hindu who have an abhorrence for
rituals. However their religion is manifested in the way they fulfil their
responsibilities, their duties with utmost honesty and dedication.
Religion should be eclectic, it should incorporate views, perspectives
and beliefs of different, varied nature till it helps in the growth of the
society and the development of the individual.


Faith moves mountains

Swami Vivekanand says that a person should have incorrigible faith in
himself because we are nothing but that one Brahman. It is said only
Gods can worship Gods. The existence of faith is what separates the
great from the mere good. We have to be convinced that we posses all
those infinite, divine qualities which can take us to insurmountable
heights. We cannot become great because we are already great, so
greatness is the quality that has patiently lied latent within us all this
time, so when people claim that you have become great, it is nothing but
the long awaited manifestation of that greatness. So there is nothing that
this immortal soul that is closed by the hide of our body cannot do.
However, whenever we talk of Vedanta, we should remember that
underlying oneness or the absolutes that pervades everything and
everyone. Hence faith in Vedanta means faith in all. Love means love
for all because we all are just the manifestations of that one
consciousness, just like the multifarious waves part of that one
prodigious sea.
There can be not an iota of violence if people have this irrevocable faith
in themselves and in others and realise that oneness that binds
everything, because killing someone would be something like
amputating your own limbs, hurting someone would be hurting oneself.
Hence people who have realised this oneness can empathise or feel the
pain and suffering of others and can rejoice in the happiness of others.






Conclusion

It can be concluded that the practical application of Vedanta mostly
revolves around the conviction that we all are one. If we just believe in
this oneness, then boundaries will melt, the wall of differences will
collapse. I think only when everybody share this experience of oneness,
only then we will realise the apparently implausible objective of
Vasudhaiv Kuntumbakam. One world one family.