APPENDIX TO WHITMAN AS PROPHET (See page 77)

APPENDIX TO WHITMAN AS PROPHET (See page 77)

Passages from early prophetic writings[9]:—

“He, the Highest Person, who is awake in us while we are asleep, shaping one lovely sight after another; that indeed is the Bright, that is Brahman, that alone is called the Immortal.”—Katha Upanishad.

“He is the one God, hidden in all beings, all pervading, the Self within all beings, watching over all works, dwelling in all beings, the witness, the Perceiver, the only one, free from qualities.”—Svetasvatara Upanishad.

“The sun does not shine [show] there, nor the moon and the stars, nor these lightnings, and much less this fire. When he shines, everything shines after him; by his light all this [world] is lightened.”—Svetasvatara Upanishad.

“As rain water that has fallen on a mountain ridge runs down on all sides, thus does he who sees a difference between qualities run after them on all sides.

“As pure water poured into pure water remains the same, thus, O Gautama, is the Self of a thinker who knows.”—Katha Upanishad.

“By the serenity of his thoughts a man blots out all actions, whether good or bad. Dwelling within the Self with serene thoughts he obtains imperishable happiness.”—Maitrayana-Brahmana Upanishad.

“And he who beholds all beings in the Self, and the Self in all beings, he never turns away from it.

“When to a man who understands, the Self has become all things, what sorrow, what trouble, can there be to him who once beheld that unity?”—Vagasaneyi-Samhita Upanishad.

The Blessed one [Buddha] said to Ananda: “Both the ocean and my doctrine become gradually deeper. Both preserve their identity under all changes. Both cast out dead bodies upon the dry land. As the great rivers, when falling into the main, lose their name and are thenceforth reckoned as the great ocean, so all the castes, having renounced their lineage and entered the Sangha [brotherhood], become brethren and are reckoned the sons of Shâkyamuni. The ocean is the goal of all streams and of the rain from the clouds, yet is it never overflowing and never emptied; so the dharma is embraced by many millions of people, yet it neither increases nor decreases. As the great ocean has only one taste, the taste of salt, so my doctrine has only one flavour, the flavour of emancipation. Both the ocean and the dharma are full of gems and pearls and jewels, and both afford a dwelling-place for mighty beings.

“My doctrine is pure, and it makes no discrimination between noble and ignoble, rich and poor. My doctrine is like unto water which cleanses all without distinction. My doctrine is like unto fire which consumes all things that exist between heaven and earth, great and small. My doctrine is like unto the heavens, for there is room in it, ample room, for the reception of all, for men and women, boys and girls, the powerful and the lowly.”—Mahâparinibbâna Suttanta, iii. 22.

“He who believes that this spirit can kill,” says Krishna to Arjuna, “and he who thinks that it can be killed, both of these are wrong in judgment. It neither kills, nor is killed. It is not born, nor dies at any time. It has had no origin, nor will it ever have an origin.

“As a man abandons worn-out clothes and takes other new ones, so does the soul quit worn-out bodies, and enter other new ones. Weapons cannot cleave it. Fire cannot burn it, nor can water wet it, nor can wind dry it.”—Bhagavad Gita.

“I am the same to all beings. I have neither foe nor friend. But those who worship me with devotion dwell in me and I also in them.

“He who discovers inaction in action, and action in inaction, is wise among mortals.

“The practiser of Yoga, whose spirit is purified, who has subdued himself and vanquished his senses, whose Self is the Self of all creatures, is not polluted even by action.”—Ibid.

“Tao as it exists in the world is like the great rivers and seas which receive the streams from the valleys.

“All pervading is the great Tao. It can be at once on the right hand and on the left. All things depend on it for life, and it rejects them not. Its task accomplished, it takes no credit. It loves and nourishes all things, but does not act as master. It is ever free from desire.

“We may call it small. All things return to it, yet it does not act as master. We may call it great.

“The whole world will flock to him who holds the mighty form of Tao. They will come and receive no hurt, but find rest, peace, and tranquillity.”—Sayings of Lao-tzu.

“By non-action there is nothing which cannot be done. Failure is the foundation of success, and the means by which it is achieved. Success is the lurking-place of failure; and who can tell when the turning-point will come?

“He who acts, destroys; he who grasps, loses. Therefore the sage does not act, and so does not destroy; he does not grasp, and so he does not lose.

“Only he who does nothing for his life’s sake can truly be said to value his life.

“When the great Tao falls into disuse, benevolence and righteousness come into vogue. Cast off your holiness, rid yourself of your cleverness, and the people will benefit an hundredfold.”—Ibid.

“I am the Way [Tao, the open Road], the Truth, and the Life.

“Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the good tidings, the same shall save it.

“And lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”—Jesus in the Gospels.