{"1": {"fulltext": "133\\nB2 P5\\nopy 1", "height": "4692", "width": "3016", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4683", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "133\\nA2 P5\\nopy 1\\nVEDANTA PHILOSOPHY\\nLECTURE BY\\nSWAMI ABHEDANANDA\\nPHILOSOPHY OF GOOD AND EYIL\\nTuxedo Hall, New York, November 19, 1899\\nPublished by the Vedanta Society\\nNEW YORK\\nPRICE 10 CENTS\\nCopyright, 1900, by Swami Abhed\\\\anda, new york", "height": "4683", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "63900", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "5590\\nTWO COPIES RECEIVED.\\nLibrary of COBfMt* SECOND COPY,\\nOffice \u00c2\u00a9f ttee\\nJUM131900 lB!j f\\nKegUUr of CopyrtcM* A C O\\n9*w*e /J,\\nGood and evil of this world of duality are unreal, are spoken of by words,\\nand exist only in the mind. Bh gavatam, Book XI, ch. XXVII.\\nHe who is devoted to higher knowledge rises above both good and evil.\\nBhagavad Gita, ch. II, v. 50.\\nTHE PHILOSOPHY OF GOOD AND EVIL.\\nWhosoever has made a careful study of the phe-\\nnomena of the universe, has noticed that nature is\\nbisected, as it were, by the inevitable dualism of her\\nopposing forces. The world of phenomena bears\\ntestimony to the constant fight of these two sets of\\ncontrasting forces, which have a multitude of desig-\\nnations, such as good and evil, virtue and vice,\\nknowledge and ignorance, light and darkness, heat\\nand cold, attraction and repulsion, love and hatred,\\npleasure and pain, health and disease, life and death.\\nOn the one side, we see about us the signs of good-\\nness, virtue, knowledge, love, self-sacrifice, health\\nand all that makes life sweet and worth living on the\\nother side we find the expressions of evil, vice, igno-\\nrance, hatred, selfishness, murder, pestilence, disease,\\nplague, earthquake, and all that makes life bitter, un-\\nhappy and miserable. Nature stands before us, as it\\nwere, with a benign and loving expression, ever\\nready to pour on our heads the blessings and com-\\nforts which she holds in one hand, while at the same\\ntime she affrights us by showing the sharp, shining", "height": "4733", "width": "2798", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "2 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.\\nedge of the drawn sword of destruction and evil\\nwhich she holds in her other hand. This dual aspect\\nin nature cannot be denied, and we are all bound to\\nexperience one or the other of these two sides at\\nevery moment of our earthly existence. Whenever\\nwe experience the good side of nature, we rejoice and\\nfeel ourselves extremely happy; but our heart trem-\\nbles, our breath stops, when we are face to face with\\nthe other aspect. Nature has ever been express-\\ning herself in these two ways. What we see today\\nwas seen thousands of years ago and will be seen\\nthousands of years hence. Centuries have gone by,\\nnation after nation has passed away, but has nature\\never ceased to follow her course? No. Her laws are\\nperennial; her course is eternal. If we read the his-\\ntories of ancient nations, we see that these two aspects\\nof nature were as clearly manifested in the past as they\\nare now. Constant attempts have been made to trace\\nthe causes of these contrasting forces and contradic-\\ntory events of the phenomenal world. The best\\nthinkers and philosophers of every age and clime have\\ndevoted their energies most earnestly and enthusias-\\ntically to the solution of the mystery of the good and\\nevil aspects of nature, and to tracing how this dualism\\nbegan and what was its cause. All the religious sys-\\ntems and philosophies of the world are but so many\\nattempts of the human mind to reach the proper solu-\\ntion of this problem of good and evil, and to discover\\nwhy such a thing as evil exists, why there is so much\\nmisery, suffering, crime and vice about us, and how\\nthese can be annihilated.", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "THE PHILOSOPHY OF GOOD AND EVIL. 3\\nAll such attempts and explanations can be classified\\nunder three names; first, optimistic; secondly, pessi-\\nmistic; and thirdly, monistic. We find the most an-\\ncient of the optimistic explanations of the dual aspect\\nof nature in the Zendavesta, the scriptures of the an-\\ncient Persians, or Iranians. These ancient Persian\\noptimists looked at the good and evil forces x)f nature\\nas two entities eternally separate from each other, and\\nbelieved that they were created by two distinct beings,\\nor spirits. The one was called Ahura Mazda, the\\ncreator of all good that exists in the universe. The\\nother was called Ahriman, the creator of all evil. The\\none half of the universe was created by the good God\\nAhura Mazda, who is omniscient, all-powerful, and\\ngovernor of all good thoughts and ideas, and of\\neverything that is good in the universe; while the\\nother half, and all that is evil, was created by Ahri-\\nman, the evil spirit.\\nAt first these two spirits were friendly and lived\\ntogether, but afterwards Ahriman separated from\\nAhura Mazda, rebelled against him, and acted as his\\nconstant adversary. When the good God, Ahura\\nMazda, created the world and made it good in every\\nway, the malicious Ahriman, who is described as a\\nwily serpent, showed his power and tricks by sowing\\nthe seeds of sin and evil in the beautiful creation of\\nAhura Mazda. Although he was punished by Ahura\\nMazda, he did not stop fighting with his most power-\\nful enemy. This fight will continue until the day of\\njudgment and the renovation of the world, when the\\nvictory of good over evil will be complete; then", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "4 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.\\nAhura Mazda will create another and better world,\\nfree from sin and evil. Ahura Mazda has several\\ngood spirits, or angels under his command Ahriman\\nalso has many evil spirits as his attendants. Both\\nare working through their attendants. Such is the\\nexplanation of the cause of good and evil in the\\nPersian scriptures, the Zendavesta.\\nThis Persian idea of the two separate creators of\\ngood and evil was adopted by the ancient Jews dur-\\ning the Babylonian captivity, which lasted from 536\\nto 333 B.C. The Persian paradise, Aryana Vaejo, be-\\ncame the Garden of Eden in the Old Testament;\\nElohim Yahveh, the tribal god of the house of Israel,\\nbecame the creator of good and of the universe;\\nwhile Satan, the old time servant of Yahveh, was en-\\ndowed with the wicked and malicious spirit of Ahri-\\nman, and afterwards became the devil in the New\\nTestament. It was at this time that the ancient He-\\nbrews received from the Persians the ideas of heaven\\nand hell, of angels and bright spirits. They accepted\\nthe Persian belief in punishment after death and in\\nthe resurrection of the spiritual body, as well as in the\\nsupernatural Saviour of the world. Thus we can trace\\nthe origin of the mythological explanation regarding\\nthe cause of good and evil as described in the Scrip-\\ntures of the Hebrews, Christians, and Mahommedans.\\nThe same ideas of reward and punishment, of good\\nand evil, prevail -amongst the Mahommedans, who be-\\nI eve in the Old Testament as much as do the Chris-\\ntians and Hebrews. The idea that good and evil are\\nthe results of two distinct and eternally separate", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "THE PHILOSOPHY OF GOOD AND EVIL. 5\\ncauses pervades many of the sayings of Jesus the\\nChrist, as, for instance, A good tree cannot bring\\nforth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth\\ngood fruit. (Math. vii. 18.) By this simile Jesus\\nthe Christ not only separated the cause of good from\\nthat of evil, but he indicated that evil can never pro-\\nduce good, nor good, evil. He also described the\\npunishment of evil when he said, Every tree that\\nbringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast\\ninto the fire. (Math. vii. 19.)\\nAccording to the synoptic gospels, as they have\\nbeen handed down to us, Jesus believed that the pun-\\nishment of evil is the casting of the evil-doer into fire.\\nThis idea gradually developed into the hell-fire doc-\\ntrine of Christian theology. Jesus also believed in\\ndevils, when he cast them out, as well as in Satan,\\nthe creator of all evils, and Beelzebub, the prince of\\ndevils, and in their attendants. (See Math. xii. 26, 27.)\\nMoreover, he believed that he cast out devils by the\\nspirit of God, thus proclaiming that God, who is all*\\ngood, can never produce any evil.\\nAccording to the New Testament, all diseases, sor-\\nrows, suffering, misery, crime, sin and all that is evil,\\nare the works of Satan, or the evil spirit. Satan, in\\nthe New Testament, is a personage of great im-\\nportance, as he is the cause of the numberless and\\nimmeasurable evils which exist in the world. He is\\nthe prince, or ruler of this world. (John xii. 31.) In\\nshort, he is the pillar of the systems of Mazdaism,\\nJudaism, Christianity and Mahommedanism. If that\\nprominent pillar were taken away the whole world of", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "6 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.\\nevil would remain causeless and unaccounted for. Al-\\nthough, ever since the beginning of the Christian era,\\nthe Biblical explanation of the cause of good and\\nevil has been accepted and preached by the priests\\nand theologians of Christendom, yet the majority of\\nminds have never stopped to ask the question, why\\ndoes the good God, who is the Creator of the world,\\nat once omnipotent, omniscient and all-merciful, per-\\nmit Satan to tempt mankind, to bring evil into the\\nworld, and to spoil the goodness and purity of His\\nbeautiful creation? That question, however, is of\\nvital importance. The solution of this problem has\\nbeen sought for again and again, and the Christian\\ntheologians, up to this day, have failed to give any\\nsatisfactory answer. All their attempts have ended\\nin making the good God either limited in power, par-\\ntial, unjust, or cruel. Some of the Hebrew prophets,\\nhowever, believed that God was the creator of evil as\\nwell as of good. I am the Lord, and there is none\\nelse. I form the light, and create darkness I make\\npeace, and create evil I the Lord do all these things.\\n(Isaiah xlv. 6, 7.) Again Nehemiah said, Did not\\nour God bring all this evil upon us? (Nehemiah\\nxiii. 18.)\\nThis idea was afterwards accepted by the Calvinists\\nof the seventeenth century. They believed that God\\nwas responsible for the good and evil of the world,\\notherwise He would be limited in power. By attempt-\\ning to solve the problem in this way they left God\\npartial and unjust. St. Augustine tried to solve the\\nquestion of good and evil by formulating the dogma", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "THE PHILOSOPHY OF GOOD AND EVIL. *J\\nof predestination and grace. This was no better than\\nthe solution offered later by Calvin. Instead of trac-\\ning the cause of good and evil, it made the great God\\nunjust and merciless in relation to suffering humanity.\\nWhy should one man be predestined to suffer and\\nanother to enjoy? The doctrine of predestination\\ndoes not give us any reason. Such explanations have\\nmade many a thinker an unbeliever in God and pessi-\\nmistic in his views. Many a soul, saddened by the\\nspectacle of wickedness and suffering in the world has\\ncried aloud in despair, There is no God who can be\\ncalled merciful, just and loving.\\nFrom the time of the Gnostics of the Middle Ages,\\nwho believed that this world was originally created,\\nnot by the good God, but by a devil, and that it is to\\nbe slowly and gradually purified by the power of the\\nmerciful God through Jesus the Christ, down to the\\npresent day, there have been many free-thinkers who\\nhave held that the creator of the world is not an all-\\nmerciful and just God, but a being with a diabolical na-\\nture. August Comte, the most prominent of the mod-\\nern free-thinkers, after seeing the imperfection of this\\nworld, regretted, like Alfonso the King of Castile,\\nthat he had not been present at the time of the crea-\\ntion, as he could have given such excellent advice to\\nthe creator!\\nAnother class of optimists say it is true that this\\nworld is full of sorrow, suffering and misery, but it is\\nthe best world that God could create. Let us shut\\nour eyes to evil, which can never be avoided as long\\nas the present conditions exist, and make the best use", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "8 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.\\nof our time, because matter, by its inherent nature,\\npossesses a diabolical character of its own. A similar\\nopinion was held by Plato, Leibnitz, Dr. Martineau,\\nand other optimists of this class. There are other\\noptimistic thinkers who deny the existence of evil in\\nthe creation of a just, merciful and good God. They\\nsay it is all good, there cannot be any evil. They try\\nto see good everywhere and in every act, and declare\\nthat all sufferings, misery and hardships are for our\\ngood. If any blow comes to us, it is for our good.\\nEverything is for our good, and must be so, because\\nthe nature of creation is inherently good. They deny\\nthe creation of evil, and explain that good is a posi-\\ntive reality, and that what we call evil is only a nega-\\ntion of good. Good predominates in the world al-\\nthough we may not see it at present in all cases.\\nThus, instead of tracing the cause of evil, they deny\\nit and shut their eyes to it. This kind of optimism is\\none extreme; pessimistic thinkers, on the contrary,\\ngo to another extreme. They make evil a positive\\nreality, and good a negation of evil. They make de-\\nstruction, death and misery the goal of the universe\\nand deny the existence of good. They say that suf-\\nfering and misery are the conditions of our existence,\\nthat pleasure and happiness come accidentally. The\\nstruggle for our existence involves some kind of suf-\\nfering which we cannot avoid. If all our wishes be\\nfulfilled the moment they arise in our minds, then how\\nshall we spend our time? How shall we occupy our\\nlives? There would be no struggle for existence, con-\\nsequently no activity, no life. As the human frame", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "THE PHILOSOPHY OF GOOD AND EVIL. 9\\nwill be rent into pieces if the weight of the atmos-\\npheric pressure which we are unconsciously carrying\\nall the time be removed, so according to the pessimis-\\ntic theory, the lives of men will fail of their purpose\\nand end if they are relieved from the burden of need,\\nhardship, adversity and evil. There is no way of\\navoiding this except by death. Life is not worth liv-\\ning according to these pessimists. They do not see\\nany good in life. They must find evil everywhere.\\nThe best way of escaping evil is by committing sui-\\ncide. They do not believe in the idea that a creator\\nwho is merciful, just and all-good, created this world\\nof misery, suffering, sorrow and evil. They do not\\nsay who created it. Thus the pessimistic explanation\\nleads to another extreme, and does not satisfy any ra-\\ntionalistic mind.\\nA better explanation of the cause of good and evil\\nis needed. But if the optimists are justified in seeing\\ngood in everything, and in saying that God created\\nthis world for our pleasure and happiness, the pessi-\\nmists are equally justified in seeing evil in everything\\nand in saying that God created this world for the suf-\\nfering and misery of millions. The true explanation\\nlies neither in optimism nor in pessimism. They are\\nthe two extremes. As long as the idea of the special\\ncreation of the world by an extra-cosmic personal\\nr God is preached, so long the true philosophy of good\\nand evil will not be properly understood. In the\\nWest, people are beginning to wake up from the sleep\\nof superstition and prejudice, and to see, through sci-\\nence and logic, that there can not be two separate ere-", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "IO VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.\\nators of good and evil who are constantly fighting\\nagainst each other, nor two forces of nature; but\\nthat all the phenomena of nature are but the expres-\\nsions of one eternal Energy. The whole universe is\\nthe result of the evolution of that one Energy. Na-\\nture is one, and not two.\\nThe theory of the creators of good and evil is sup-\\nplanted by the doctrine of evolution. Ahura Mazda\\nand Ahriman, with their many names, such as Je-\\nhovah, Satan, Devil and others, having played their\\nparts for centuries on the stage of the universe, are\\nnow slowly withdrawing themselves into oblivion.\\nThe idea of a special creation at a definite time, has\\nbeen followed by that of a gradual process of evolu-\\ntion extending through millions of years, in which\\nextra-cosmic creators have neither part nor share.\\nTo a scientific mind the Garden of Eden has no at-\\ntraction of any kind, it has become like a fool s para-\\ndise. The fall of man is no longer a reality, but a\\nmythological story. Thoughtful men and women of\\nWestern Countries who believe in the doctrine of evo-\\nlution are just beginning to unlearn the scriptural\\ndogmas. The time has come when people are apply-\\ning logic and reason in solving the problem of good\\nand evil. The tendency of scientific researches and\\ninvestigations is to discover the unity of nature, which\\nunderlies the apparent duality of the opposing forces,\\nand to explain the variety of phenomena through that\\nunderlying unity. In India, this unity of nature was\\nunderstood by the monistic thinkers and Vedanta\\nphilosophers many centuries before the birth of", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "THE PHILOSOPHY OF GOOD AND EVIL. II\\nChrist. These monistic thinkers understood from the\\nbeginning that this world was not created at a special\\ntime by a special being, and aided by logic and reason\\nthey came to believe in the doctrine of evolution.\\nIn the voluminous writings of the Hindu sages\\nthere is no word which means a creation out of noth-\\ning. The word they use literally means projection/\\nanswering to the modern idea of evolution. Unlike\\nthe Western people of today, they had nothing to\\nunlearn, as they had slowly and gradually discovered\\nthe true cause of good and evil, and afterwards ex-\\nplained their mutual relation as clearly as possible.\\nThey said that good and evil are relative terms, one\\nof which cannot exist without the other. What we\\ncall good depends upon the existence of what we\\ncall evil/ and evil exists only in relation to good.\\nBeing interdependent terms they cannot be separated.\\nIn trying to separate them and to make each stand by\\nitself as independent of the other, we not only de-\\nstroy their relative and interdependent nature, but\\nwe destroy the terms themselves. The moment you\\ntry to separate good from evil you find this to be true.\\nEvil cannot exist alone. If you try to make evil stand\\nby itself as entirely separate from good, you can no\\nlonger recognize it as evil. Consequently, according\\nto the Vedanta philosophers, the difference between\\ngood and evil is not one of kind, but of degree, like\\nthe difference between light and darkness. Again,\\nthe same thing can appear as good and as evil under\\ndifferent circumstances. That which appears as good\\nin one case, may appear as evil if the conditions", "height": "4465", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "12 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.\\nchange and the results be different. The same fire\\nmay be called a giver of life and comfort, a bestower\\nof happiness and a producer of good when it saves the\\nlife of a half-frozen man or when it gives us warmth\\nin the coldest days of winter, or when it cooks our\\nfood, or guides our feet but it will be called the pro-\\nducer of evil and a curse of God when it destroys\\nlife, or inflicts injury on man, or on his property. Still,\\nthe nature of fire is to burn, and this nature does not\\nchange. The great London fire destroyed many lives,\\nbrought ruin and destruction to many families, but\\nat the same time it destroyed the germs of a plague\\nwhich would have done more evil. So it was both\\ngood and evil at the same time. The same force of\\ngravitation is called good when it attracts the mole-\\ncules of our bodies and keeps together the atoms of\\nour clothes, gives shape to our houses, our bodies,\\nand this earth where we are now living, but it is the\\nproducer of evil when it kills a man who falls from\\nthe roof of a house. Electricity is good when it gives\\nlight, moves a street car, cures a pain, or relieves a\\ndisease, but it is evil when it crushes a man under the\\nshock of its tremendous currents. As electricity, it\\nis neither good nor evil, neither positive nor negative,\\nand the other forces of nature are neither good nor\\nevil, but their expressions may be called good or evil\\naccording to the results they produce. The forces of\\nnature are running in the universe with tremendous\\nactivity and mad rush, like the currents of a mighty\\nriver which brings what we call good and blessings\\non one shore, and evil and destruction on the other.", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "THE PHILOSOPHY OF GOOD AND EVIL. 1 3\\nAs, standing on one shore where good prevails, we\\nsay the river is very good, it is the producer of good,\\netc., so, standing on the other shore, we call the same\\nriver a producer of evil, a creator of destruction.\\nSimilarly, we say the forces of nature are good or evil\\naccording to our standard, our ideas and our inter-\\nests. On the one hand, the river fertilizes the country\\nby depositing rich soil and helping the growth of\\nvegetation on the other hand, the same river destroys\\nvillages and all that stands in its way.\\nGood and evil exist in our minds. That which\\nfulfils our interests is called good, and that which\\nbrings to us misery or anything which we do not\\nwant, is called evil. When we look at the phenomena\\nof nature by piecemeal, without recognizing their con-\\nnection, we do not get the proper explanation of\\nevents. But if we look at the same phenomena as re-\\nlated to one another and to the whole universe, then\\nwe discover the true explanation, and we are no\\nlonger puzzled. Then the proper cause of good and\\nevil is understood. It is limitation, the inability to\\nrecognize the relation of the part to the whole. Ac-\\ncording to the monistic philosophers of India, it is\\nimpossible to find anything absolutely good, or ab-\\nsolutely evil in this world of relativity. That which\\nwe call good is only one phase and the other is evil.\\nWhen we ignore the one phase, we see the other phase\\nas alone. The same event may produce evil in one\\ncountry and good in another. The famine in India\\nkilled millions by starvation, but it made the Ameri-\\ncan farmers richer than ever before. The famine has", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "14 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.\\ndone evil in India, but good in America. This is true\\nin every case. Our life, which is a great blessing to\\nus, depends upon the life of others. The maintenance\\nof our life causes thousands to die. Millions of lower\\nanimals are killed every day for our food. Each\\nstomach has become a cemetery and each tooth a\\ntombstone. When one man murders another, his mo-\\ntive is to do good to himself or to his family, or to\\nsociety, or to fulfil some purpose which he considers\\ngood. The murderer may believe that he does some\\ngood to somebody, but, as he takes a wrong course\\nof action, he is called a murderer and gets no sym-\\npathy from anybody, and is punished by society and\\nthe State. When a big murderer, however, comes\\nfrom the battle-field after committing hundreds of\\nmurders to possess another s territory, we praise him\\nand honor him and call him the greatest hero, and\\nreward him. But if we analyse the nature of the\\nwork he has done, we find that he has committed\\nmany murders to serve his country. As the murderer\\nof multitudes is supposed to do good to his country,\\nso possibly the man w T ho kills but one person may\\ndo some good somewhere, although we may not rec-\\nognize it as such. Our intellect is short-sighted,\\ntherefore we cannot always see the true results of our\\nactions. As we cannot draw a sharp line of demarca-\\ntion between the good and evil results of the physical\\nforces of nature and cannot say that this is good and\\ngood alone, so we cannot separate the good and evil\\nresults of our moral acts. That which is morally\\ngood in one case may be evil in another. As, for", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "THE PHILOSOPHY OF GOOD AND EVIL. 15\\ninstance, the commandment of God is supposed to\\nbe a moral good, and beneficial to all. Think of the\\ncommand which God gave to Saul; Now go and\\nsmite Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have\\nand spare them not; but slay both man and woman,\\ninfant and suckling, ox, sheep, camel and ass. (1\\nSamuel xv. 3.) We call it a good act because God\\ndid it, but if one man commands another to do such\\na horrible deed what will you call him? Such is our\\njudgment. We say many things without knowing\\nwhy we say them. Let us open our eyes and see how\\nfar good goes and how it is mixed with evil. Every\\nact which we do must be backed by a motive, that\\nmotive again is for the good of some or for the\\nevil of some. We may, or may not, understand it,\\nbut the results of our acts are always mixed with\\ngood and evil. Take, for instance, the nearest ex-\\nample. I am talking to you. Perhaps I am doing\\nsome good. At least, I intend to do so. But at the\\nsame time I am causing the death of millions of mi-\\ncrobes. It may be good to me, or to you, but the\\npoor animalculae would not call it good. When we\\nsee the results of this act from our standpoint we\\ncall it good, but if we were to look at it from the mi-\\ncrobes standpoint it would appear quite different,\\nthey would doubtless call it evil. If we judge every-\\nthing from our standpoint, we can never know\\nwhether it is really good or evil, because our stand-\\nard is limited and imperfect. Those who do not rec-\\nognize the results of acts from different standpoints\\nare liable to all kinds of error. If I judge the whole", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "l6 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.\\nuniverse by my standard, my judgment will be very\\npoor. But when I look at things from the various\\nstandpoints, I can understand how the same event\\ncan produce good and evil in relation to different con-\\nditions. Every mistake we make becomes a great\\nteacher in the long run. Thus evil has its good, and\\ngood has its evil side. Therefore good and evil go\\nhand in hand. But ordinarily, wherever we find a\\npreponderance of good over evil we designate it good,\\nand the opposite as evil. Again, that which is sinful\\nto one may be virtuous to another. Consider the dif-\\nferent standards of sin among the Mahommedans, the\\nMormons and the Christians. Compare the scrip-\\ntures of the world and see how what is a virtue in the\\nOld Testament is a. vice to men who believe in other\\nscriptures. If polygamy is a sin according to the\\nChristians, it is a virtue with the Mahommedans and\\nMormons, and was such with the ancient Jews. That\\nwhich is good for some persons, as inculcated by their\\nreligion, may be evil to others living under a different\\ndispensation.\\nThus, we cannot draw a sharp line between good\\nand evil. Punishment and reward, according to the\\nVedanta philosophy, are but the reactions of our\\nown actions. It says that every action must have\\na similar reaction. If the action be good, the reaction\\nmust be the same. Vedanta philosophy says Every\\naction, whether backed by good or bad motives is\\ncovered with its opposite, as fire is enveloped with\\nsmoke. If we examine our own lives we will notice\\nthat good often comes out of evil. If the greater", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "THE PHILOSOPHY OF GOOD AND EVIL. 1 7\\nnumber of personal misfortunes have their good side,\\nhardly any good fortune ever befell any one which did\\nnot give, either to the same or to some other person,\\nsomething to regret.\\nThe Vedanta philosophers try to explain the so-\\ncalled punishment and reward by referring to the law\\nof cause and sequence, the law of action and reaction.\\nAction and reaction are opposite and equal, says\\nphysical law. When we do certain acts we are sure\\nto reap certain results. But, if the results come before\\nwe have forgotten the causes which brought them, we\\ncall them either rewards, or punishments. If a good\\nact is done today, the result may come at once, or\\nafter many years. God never punishes the wicked,\\nnor rewards the virtuous. He shines like the im-\\npartial sun equally upon the heads of sages and sin-\\nners. It is our own acts that bring the results, either\\nin the form of reward or punishment. When we un-\\nderstand clearly the law of cause and sequence, and\\nof action and reaction, then we cease to blame God\\nor any other extra-cosmic creator of evil. Then we\\ndo not say that evil has been interpolated from with-\\nout. If we know that all the forces of nature, both\\nphysical and mental, are but so many expressions of\\none eternal Energy or Divine Will, which is far be-\\nyond the relative good and evil, then we do not see\\ngood and evil in the universe, but on the contrary,\\nwe find everywhere the expression of that Divine\\nWill. The nature of an effect must be the same as\\nthat of the cause, because effect is nothing but the\\nmanifested state of the cause, and if the cause of the", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "1 8 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.\\nuniverse be one eternal, divine Energy, then the uni-\\nverse, as a whole, can be neither good nor evil.\\nWhen we can throw aside the narrow, limited glass\\nof our relative standard, through which we are now\\nlooking at the events of life and put on our mental\\neye the glass of divine energy or universal will, then\\nwe shall no longer see good and evil, virtue and vice,\\nor reward and punishment. But we shall see the ex-\\npression of one law of causation everywhere. Then\\nwe shall not blame our parents, or Satan, or God or\\nanybody, but shall understand that all our misery is\\nbut the result of our own acts which we did in this\\nlife or in a past incarnation. If we understand that\\nas electricity is neither positive nor negative, but\\nappears as positive or negative when manifested\\nthrough a magnet, we can apprehend that the laws\\nof nature only appear to us as good or evil when they\\nexpress themselves through the gigantic magnet of\\nthe phenomenal universe. If we realize that the eter-\\nnal Energy, or the Divine Will, appears as good or\\nevil only as related to our minds and lives, then we\\ncan say, as the great Sages in India said, God does\\nnot create good or evil, nor does He take the virtue\\nor sin of anybody. He does not punish the wicked\\nnor reward the virtuous. Our intelligence being cov-\\nered, as it were, with the cloud of ignorance and rela-\\ntivity, deluded as we are, we imagine, on account of\\nour imperfect understanding, that God creates good\\nor evil, that His creation is good or evil, that He\\npunishes or rewards. It is through our ignorance\\nof Truth that we do not recognize the divinity which", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "THE PHILOSOPHY OF GOOD AND EVIL. 1 9\\npervades the universe, standing high above the reach\\nof our conception of good and evil.\\nLet us strive to see that divinity, by going behind\\nthe phenomenal appearances of good and evil. Let\\nus go to the Eternal Source of all phenomena. Let\\nus first reach the highest plane of spiritual oneness,\\nand standing on that plane of Divine Will, let us un-\\nderstand that good and evil are two aspects of One\\nwhich is neither good nor evil, but Absolute. Then,\\nand then alone, we shall transcend good and evil and\\nenjoy eternal bliss in this life.\\nQUESTIONS AND ANSWERS AFTER THE LECTURE.\\nIs Vedanta optimistic or pessimistic?\\nVedanta philosophy is neither optimistic nor pessi-\\nmistic. It enquires into the true nature of good and\\nevil, describes their interdependent relation, and ulti-\\nmately leads human minds to the realization of\\nDivinity as the life and soul of all phenomenal objects.\\nIs not the Creator of evil separate from the Creator\\nof good?\\nVedanta teaches evolution and not special creation;\\nconsequently it has no need of the unscientific concep-\\ntion of two extra-cosmic creators, the one of good and\\nthe other of evil.\\nHow do you explain good and evil by the theory of\\nevolution?", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "20 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.\\nIn the process of evolution that which appears bene-\\nficial to us under certain conditions is called good;\\nand that which is injurious to us in any way is called\\nevil.\\nWhat does Vedanta say regarding the inheritance\\nof original sin?\\nVedanta does not recognize any such thing as orig-\\ninal sin, which one is bound or destined to inherit.\\nWhat is the meaning and cause of sin?\\nSin means selfishness. It is the result of ignorance\\nof one s true nature, or Divine Self.\\nDoes your philosophy teach Vicarious atonement?\\nNo. But it teaches how to attain at-one-ment, or\\noneness with the Supreme Spirit through the realiza-\\ntion of the Divinity within.\\nCan a sinner reach perfection?\\nYes. When a sinner realizes spiritual oneness with\\nhis true Self which is pure, sinless and divine, that\\nvery moment he becomes free from all sins and im-\\nperfections; and he remains so for ever.\\nAre we responsible for our deeds, good or evil\\nYes. We are responsible for every action, both\\nmental and physical. Moreover we are bound to reap\\nthe results, the deed will surely return to the doer.\\nHow do you differentiate good from evil actions\\nBy the motives that prompt them. An evil action\\nmay result in benefit to others, but is not on that ac-\\ncount a good action, nor can it bless the doer of it.", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0024.jp2"}, "25": {"fulltext": "THE MOTHERHOOD OF GOD\\nLECTURE BY\\nSWAMI ABHEDANANDA\\nTUXEDO HALL\\nNEW YORK, NOVEMBER J2, 1899\\nThe lecture by the Swami Abhedananda on The Mother-\\nhood of God is serious, logical, awakening, and one can\\nhardly help feeling that only use and wont prevent us from\\nrecognizing that the phrase, The Fatherhood of God, is\\nreally assailable. Says Swami Abhedananda,\\nWe live and move and have our existence in that Divine\\nMother. At present we are, as a rule, not much beyond\\nthe old Israelitish notion of Jehovah and here we find this\\nenlightened Indian s teaching specially rational and whole-\\nsome. The Hebrew religion gave us the picture of a Jeho-\\nvah, stern, arbitrary, and exacting as an Eastern autocrat.\\nSays the Swami, The same Jehovah, when considered as the\\nFather of the universe by Jesus and His followers, did not\\nlose this extra-cosmic nature. Even to-day the majority of\\nthe Christians cannot go beyond this idea of an extra-cosmic\\nGod. And that is where we are to-day for the most part.\\nWhat if the profound Eastern idea of the Motherhood of\\nGod, allied to our already fruitful idea of the immanent (in-\\nstead of transcendent) God, should turn out to be the prac-\\ntical emancipation of the Western mind, delivering it from\\nthe anthropomorphic images that cluster about this extra-\\ncosmic God, and introducing it to a thought of God which\\nwill bring Him absolutely near? We have\\nlong needed a little more of this superstition and senti-\\nment in this happy English isle. Let us be hospitable to\\nall who bring out from the treasury things new and old,\\nthe pearl of great price. Especially let us be hospitable\\nto the interesting thinkers who increasingly remind us of\\nthe ancient proverb that wisdom comes from the East.\\nExtracts from the leading editorial of Light, London, July\\n8th, i8c?9.", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0025.jp2"}, "26": {"fulltext": "U25^J2FJ*ONGRESS a\\no m m m 2\\nPUBLICATIONS OF THE VEDANTA SOCIETY\\nLECTURES BY SWAMI VIVEKANANDA:\\nTHE IDEAL OF A UNIVERSAL RELIGION.\\nTHE COSMOS.\\nTHE ATMAN.\\nTHE REAL AND APPARENT MAN.\\nBHAKTI YOGA.\\nWORLD S FAIR ADDRESSES, 10 cents each 1 cent each for postage.\\nTHE VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 An Address before the Graduate Philosophical\\nSociety of Harvard College with introduction by Prof C. C. Everett. 1 5 cents\\n2 cents for postage.\\nKARMA YOGA (8 lectures), bound, 50 cents 5 cents postage.\\nRAJA YOGA, new edition 376 pages, bound, $1.50 11 cents postage.\\nLECTURES BY SWAMI ABHEDANANDA:\\nTHE MOTHERHOOD OF GOD-.\\nSCIENTIFIC BASIS OF RELIGION.\\nTHE RELATION OF SOUL TO GOD\\nCOSMIC EVOLUTION AND ITS PURPOSE.\\nTHE PHILOSOPHY OF GOOD AND EVIL.\\nTHE WAY TO THE BLESSED LIFE.\\nWHY A HINDU IS A VEGETARIAN, 10 cents each 1 cent each for postage.\\nREINCARNATION (3 lectures). 25 cents.\\nOther lectures by Swami Abhedananda will be published during the season of\\n1899-1900.\\nPERIODICALS\\nAWAKENED INDIA, monthly, $i.00 a year Single copy JO cents.\\nTHE BRAHMAVADIN, monthly, $2.00 a year; Single copy 25 cents.\\nThese magazines are published in India, and contain articles and lectures by\\ntbe^wamis,\\n-Q.r.ders received and filled promptly by the\\nPUBLICATION COMMITTEE\\nOF THE VEDANTA SOCIETY.", "height": "4465", "width": "2928", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0026.jp2"}, "27": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0027.jp2"}, "28": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRES:\\n029 819 704 2", "height": "4240", "width": "2662", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosophy00abh_0028.jp2"}}