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The One Alone
The
One - in Him alone is all this flux, all this changing Cosmos,
established. He is the guide and guardian of every consciousness.
All such denotions touch only the fringe of the One. Westerners
said that the intelligence of man can succeed in this venture. But,
the seekers of this land showed a heroism that could not be
measured or limited. This is a fact that cannot but be accepted.
Western Philosophers renowned for their daring flights into the
realms of the spirit have shown only a tiny spark of this heroism;
so, they are amazed at the speculative and experiential heights
reached by the sages of India. This feeling of wonder has been
charmingly expressed by Professor Max Mueller. "Into whatever
unknown realms of experience their causative and positive inquiry
led them, the Indian seekers ventured boldly therein. They never
hesitated to discard, for the sake of success in this adventure,
whatever they felt as an encumbrance. They were not affected by
fear of how others might judge them". Max Mueller exhorted people
to involve themselves in Bharathiya Paramartha Vahini (the
Nectarine stream of the search for the Supreme, flowing in India),
for he felt the Indian sadhakas pursued the path of Right, the
path of Truth.
Ekam sath; vipraah bahudhaa vadanthi. (One alone
is; the wise speak of It as many). This indeed is most sublimely
meaningful. This is the basic truth behind the spiritual efforts
of India since ages. And, even the theistic principle and practice
that will spread all over the world with unprecedented
benedictions in the coming years have as their basis this great
axiom laid down by the sages of India, long, long ago.
Rks arose on various Deities and Divine Forces, because the
rishis knew that the "One that alone is", can be cognised by each
one only from his own viewpoint, and that it is different for
different persons, depending on the stage reached in clarifying
and purifying the vision. They announced through that statement,
their discovery that the One is the subject which all the sages
and saints, seers and poets, hymnists and composers adored and
praised in various languages, during various moods, through
various styles of expression. Thus, from the declaration quoted
above "Ekam sath; vipraah bahudhaa vadanthi", emerged consequences
of the highest value to the world. For example, many are surprised
that India is the one country where religious fanaticism is absent
and no one hinders or harms the religious observances of another.
There are, in this country, theists, atheists, dualists,
non-dualists, monotheists, and others; they all live together in
peace and harmony, without causing or suffering injury.
Excerpt from Sathya Sai Vahini,
p.14
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