Excerpts from the Vedanta for the Western World Christopher Isherwood

'Oh, you just hate the world, that is all.'
'It is you who hate the world, in your heart of hearts. You are bound to hate it, because you know only its appearance, and its appearance, seems to end in death. But I see the Reality within the appearance. I see the World within Reality.
And I love it as I love the Reality itself.'
'I must say, all this sounds very selfish. I am to spend the rest of my life trying to know my real nature. Thinking about myself, in fact. What about my neighbours? Am I to forget them altogether? What about social service? What about my duty to the community?'
'As soon as you start thinking and acting in the way I have shown you, your life will be nothing but social service. You will be more available to your neighbours than ever before, because you will be less egoistic. You will do your duty to the community far better, because your motives will be less mixed with vanity and the desire for power and self- advertisement. You think you love some of your neighbours now. You cannot dream how you will love them all, when you begin to see the Reality within each human being, and to understand his absolute identity with yourself. What is it that your neighbour needs most? Is not it just that reassurance, that knowledge and peace which are the objects of your own search? How can you transmit them to others, until you have won them for yourself? By helping yourself, you are helping mankind. By helping mankind, you are helping yourself. That is the law of all spiritual progress.'
'Provided, of course, that the Reality exists.'
'The Reality does exist.'
'How do I know?'
'Because I have experienced it.'
'Why should I believe you?'
'Because you can experience it for yourself.'

The question "why does God
permit evil?" is, to a Vedantist, as meaningless as "why does
God permit good?" The fire burns one man and warms an-
other, and is neither kind nor cruel.

An inhuman philosophy? Certainly. Brahman is not hu-
man. We must beware of thinking about the Reality in rela-
tive terms. It is not simply a giant person. It has nothing to
do with our shifting standards of good and evil, pleasure,
unhappiness, right and wrong.

"Very well: we'll forget about the cause of my ignorance.
Now how do I stop being Christopher Isherwood?"

"By ceasing to believe that you are. What is this belief?
Egotism, nothing else: an egotism which is asserted and rein-
forced by hundreds of your daily actions. Every time you
desire, or fear, or hate; every time you boast or indulge your
vanity; every time you struggle to get something for yourself,
you are really asserting: 'I am a separate, unique individual.
I stand apart from everything else in this universe/ But you
don't, you know. The scientist will agree with me that you
don't. Every living creature and every object are interrelated,
biologically, psychologically, physically, politically, econom-
ically. They are all of a piece."

"So I merely have to stop believing I'm an individual?"

"It isn't so easy. First, you must start acting as though you
had ceased to believe it. Try to overcome this possessive atti-
tude toward your actions. Stop taking credit for your suc-
cesses. Stop bemoaning your failures, and making excuses for
them. Stop worrying so much about results. Just do the best
you can. Work for the work's sake. Think of your body, if
you like, as an instrument."

 

"Whose instrument?"

"The instrument of the Atman."

"Why should I work for the Atman? It doesn't need my
help."



"There is no question of helping the Atman. All work
done in this spirit is symbolic, like ritual. It becomes a form
of worship."

"How dull that sounds! Where's the inducement? What's
the motive?"

"Love."

"You mean, I should love the Atman? How can I?"

"You love Christopher Isherwood, don't you?"

"Yes, I suppose so. Most of the time. When I don't hate
him."

"Then you ought to love your real Self much more. The
Atman is perfect. Christopher Isherwood isn't."

"But I know him. I've never seen the Atman. I'm not even
sure it exists."

"Try to feel that it exists. Think about it. Pray to it. Medi-
tate on it. Know that you are it."

"You mean, hypnotize myself?"

"If it's nothing but auto-hypnosis, you'll soon find out.
Hypnosis wouldn't give you any lasting results. It wouldn't
give you the peace and understanding you are looking for. It
wouldn't transform your character. Neither would alcohol,
for that matter, or any other drug. I'm only asking you to
try it. This is a matter for personal experiment,"

"All right. What else am I to do?"

"Judge every thought and every action from this stand-
point: 'Does it make me freer, less egotistic, more aware of
the Reality; or does it attach me more tightly to the illusion
of individual separateness?' You'll find, in practice, that cer-
tain thoughts and actions obstruct your progress. Give them
up. Other thoughts and actions will assist your progress. Cul-
tivate them."