Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha

WHY THE SEARCH FOR THE REALITY?

[This is an extract from an article that appeared in June 1983 issue 
of the monthly journal ‘Vicharasetu – The Path of Introspection’]

Vedanta is a system of philosophy. Philosophy is a science concerning Reality. Reality is a logical concept. We mean by Reality or the Real, THAT which remains ever and ever. While thus permanent existence is one feature of the Reality, uniformity, changelessness, etc. are the other features.

The quest for the Reality becomes necessary for man because he finds that the things of the world, including his body, are having only a fleeting and perishable nature. Fleetingness pre-supposes destruction or non-existence. When a thing is found to change, the change implies the destruction or disappearance of its present form and then the emergence and appearance of another form in which it is seen to exist subsequently. The fact that the things of the world are of a perishable and changing nature, we have to consider them as un-real. This unreal nature of the world and its contents naturally makes us think whether there is not anything real at all.

The entire effort in our life is to acquire the various objects of enjoyment. Some of the objects are living, while others are inert. By the acquisition of objects we hope to preserve our peace, contentment and satisfaction. But, because the objects that we seek to acquire have a fleeting nature, we find ourselves unable to preserve them forever. Naturally, the peace, happiness and contentment we so much crave for, never reach a level of fulfillment, the level of poornatha. Therefore, it is but natural for us to wonder whether there is no possibility to find out something real, by acquiring which we can derive permanent peace and contentment.

Thus, on the basis of the logical enquiry as well as on the basis of a practical need, the quest for Reality is an urge that we are compelled to give expression to and pursue.

The lines in which Vedanta pursues its quest for the Reality are mainly three: (1) Living as we do, in body which goes on fleeting, and working with a mind which goes on thinking in a consistently changing manner, we find that we are somehow able to maintain the persistent notion of ‘I’. In other words, the ‘I’ - sense in us seems to suffer no transformation or destruction, whereas the body, mind, etc with which it is associated, do so. What is the reason for the ‘I’ sense to remain changeless like this? Is the ‘I’ different from the body and the mind? If so, what is it? In what way are we to conceive of the relation between the ‘I’ and the body. (2) What is the mystic substance with which the multiple-world objects have been made? As, for example, various ornaments are made out of the same gold, and numerous mud-pots out of the one clay, etc. (3) What is the nature of the Creator of the world? How are we to conceive of HIM? What is the relation between we us, the world,  and God?

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QUOTES FROM POOJYA SWAMIJI

Our body grows but to age and decline. The mind, on the other hand, is meant only to expand and evolve steadily with the passage of time. Each New Year thus brings the compulsion to examine ourselves how far the right lessons have been learnt and assimilated, how much the mind has imbibed depth and magnanimity. For, the real spiritual progress can be judged only from the growing loftiness of our mind and heart.

- Swamiji

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Fly aloft, dear heart, fly and fly. In softness lies your expansion and in firmness your strength and purpose.

- Swamiji

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