The next question for consideration is what we mean by law being universal.
Our universe is that portion of existence which is characterized by what the
Sanskrit psychologists call Desha-kâla-nimitta, or what is known to European
psychology as space, time, and causation. This universe is only a part of
infinite existence, thrown into a peculiar mould, composed of space, time, and
causation. It necessarily follows that law is possible only within this
conditioned universe; beyond it there cannot be any law. When we speak of the
universe, we only mean that portion of existence which is limited by our mind
— the universe of the senses, which we can see, feel, touch, hear, think of,
imagine. This alone is under law; but beyond it existence cannot be subject to
law, because causation does not extend beyond the world of our minds.
Anything beyond the range of our mind and our senses is not bound by the law
of causation, as there is no mental association of things in the region beyond
the senses, and no causation without association of ideas. It is only when
"being'' or existence gets moulded into name and form that it obeys the law of
causation, and is said to be under law; because all law has its essence in
causation. Therefore we see at once that there cannot be any such thing as free
will; the very words are a contradiction, because will is what we know, and
everything that we know is within our universe, and everything within our
universe is moulded by the conditions of space, time, and causation. Everything
that we know, or can possibly know, must be subject to causation, and that
which obeys the law of causation cannot be free. It is acted upon by other
agents, and becomes a cause in its turn. But that which has become converted
into the will, which was not the will before, but which, when it fell into this
mould of space, time, and causation, became converted into the human will, is
free; and when this will gets out of this mould of space, time, and causation, it
will be free again. From freedom it comes, and becomes moulded into this
bondage, and it gets out and goes back to freedom again.
The question has been raised as to from whom this universe comes, in whom it
rests, and to whom it goes; and the answer has been given that from freedom it
comes, in bondage it rests, and goes back into that freedom again. So, when we
speak of man as no other than that infinite being which is manifesting itself, we
mean that only one very small part thereof is man; this body and this mind
which we see are only one part of the whole, only one spot of the infinite being.
This whole universe is only one speck of the infinite being; and all our laws,
our bondages, our joys and our sorrows, our happinesses and our expectations,
are only within this small universe; all our progression and digression are
within its small compass. So you see how childish it is to expect a continuation
of this universe — the creation of our minds — and to expect to go to heaven,
which after all must mean only a repetition of this world that we know. You see
at once that it is an impossible and childish desire to make the whole of infinite
existence conform to the limited and conditioned existence which we know.
When a man says that he will have again and again this same thing which he is
hating now, or, as I sometimes put it, when he asks for a comfortable religion,
you may know that he has become so degenerate that he cannot think of
anything higher than what he is now; he is just his little present surroundings
and nothing more. He has forgotten his infinite nature, and his whole idea is
confined to these little joys, and sorrows, and heart-jealousies of the moment.
He thinks that this finite thing is the infinite; and not only so, he will not let this
foolishness go. He clings on desperately unto Trishnâ, and the thirst after life,
what the Buddhists call Tanhâ and Tissâ. There may be millions of kinds of
happiness, and beings, and laws, and progress, and causation, all acting outside
the little universe that we know; and, after all, the whole of this comprises but
one section of our infinite nature.
To acquire freedom we have to get beyond the limitations of this universe; it
cannot be found here. Perfect equilibrium, or what the Christians call the peace
that passeth all understanding, cannot be had in this universe, nor in heaven,
nor in any place where our mind and thoughts can go, where the senses can
feel, or which the imagination can conceive. No such place can give us that
freedom, because all such places would be within our universe, and it is limited
by space, time, and causation. There may be places that are more ethereal than
this earth of ours, where enjoyments may be keener, but even those places must
be in the universe and, therefore, in bondage to law; so we have to go beyond,
and real religion begins where this little universe ends. These little joys, and
sorrows, and knowledge of things end there, and the reality begins. Until we
give up the thirst after life, the strong attachment to this our transient
conditioned existence we have no hope of catching even a glimpse of that
infinite freedom beyond. It stands to reason then that there is only one way to
attain to that freedom which is the goal of all the noblest aspirations of
mankind, and that is by giving up this little life, giving up this little universe,
giving up this earth, giving up heaven, giving up the body, giving up the mind,
giving up everything that is limited and conditioned. If we give up our
attachment to this little universe of the senses or of the mind, we shall be free
immediately. The only way to come out of bondage is to go beyond the
limitations of law, to go beyond causation.
