The Religion of Twentieth Century - By Swami Abhedananda

8/9/2019 The Religion of Twentieth Century - By Swami Abhedananda

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THE RELIGIONOF THE

fwentieth Century

Swami Abhedananc


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Works of Swami AbhedanandaHow to be a Yogi ...Nine Lectures Pt. IGreat Saviors of the WorldDivine Heritage of ManSelf KnowledgeIndia & Her People (Half cloth)Do (Paper)Lectures and Addresses of

Swami Abhedananda (in India)Spiritual UnfoldmentRe-incarnationPhilosophy of WorkHuman Affection & Divine Love (Cloth)Do ( Paper )

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Swami Abhedananda


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The

Religion of The TwentiethCentury

BySWAMI fABHEDANANDA

Author of "Self Knowledge" ; "India and Her People*"Divine Heritage of Man" ; "How to be a

Yogi" ; "Re-incarnation" ; etc. etc. etc.

Ramakrishna Vedanta Society

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The Religion of the TwentiethCentury

Twentieth Century may be called the ageof science and reason. In this age everythingthat is based upon scientific truths or upon ra-tional foundation appeals to our minds andwe accept it as truth. Science to-day, rulesover our thoughts and reason and our presenttendency is to make all physical and mentalactivities harmonize with the laws explainedby modern science. Our general tendency isto apply the truths of science in the acts of ourdaily lives. In cooking, eating, drinking, dress-ing, walking and in all avocations of life wetry to observe the laws of nature as discoveredby the scientists of to-day. We are now readyto reject everything which is not approved bythe scientific thinkers of the world. Every day,science is forcing us to remodel our old ideas,to change our habit, to rebuild our dwellinghouses, and to reform our societies.

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Religion of The Twentieth CenturyScientific investigations have opened before

our eyes the doors of the unknown realms ofthe universe. With the help of the torch-lightof modern science we are now able to see thevastness and grandeur of the phenomenal uni-verse and the most exquisite beauty and perfec-tion, in every minute detail of the objects ofnature from the smallest to the largest. Sciencehas revealed to us the profoundest depths ofnature and has taken the seekers after truth,step by step, along the path of evolution intothe realm of the finer forces that operate uponthe invisible particles of matter known as atomsand molecules. Scientific researches have notonly explained the constituent elements whichproduce the phenomenal objects, but havelately revealed to us that those which wereso long known as atoms are not in reality in-divisible units. There are particles fiuer thanatoms. Each atom can be sub-divided intoa thousand corpuscles or electrons which makeup its body and form. Each of these electrons


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Religion of The Twentieth Centueymay be called an etherial centre of force similarto negative electricity. Governed by the Lawof Attraction and Repulsion these electrons pro-duce atoms, molecules and elements of nature.

To-day, the light of new knowledge hasdawned upon the horizon of our minds andwith its help we can see things which wereunknown to the thinkers of the past centuries.Science has also demonstrated that the variousforces of nature, like electricity, heat, light,motion, gravitation are nothing but so manyexpressions, so many manifestations of oneeternal Cosmic Energy.

Modern science has disproved, as we allknow, the Theory of a Special Creation in adefinite period of time, but, on the contrary,it has shown that this world has come to itspresent state through a gradual process ofevolution which must have lasted for millionsand millions of years. By this Theory ofEvolution, modern science has given a death-blow to the Biblical Cosmogony which depend-3


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Religion of The Twentieth Centuryed upon the Theory of a Special Creation.

The astronomical discoveries of the presentcentury have shown the most wonderful thingsof the visible universe. Modern astronomyteaches us that the distance to the sun fromthis earth is only ninety-three millions of miles.Most of the planets are over one hundredmillions of miles away from us and the dia-meter of the solar system is only six-thousandmillions of miles , and to cross this space, lighttravelling at the rate of one hundred andeighty-six thousand miles per second, wouldtake only nine minutes to reach us. The near-est star beyond our solar system is so distantthat the light emanating from that star, takesthree and one-half years to reach our earth.Some of these stars are so remote that the lightwhich we see from them to-day, probably leftthem long before Jesus was born, before theEgyptian pyramid was built, nay, long beforethe earth was created, according, to the Theoryof Genesis. Perhaps when that light reaches4


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Religion of The Twentieth Centuryour planet, the star from which it emanatedcenturies ago, has become extinct in the mean-time. Think of the immensity of space andvastness of the universe and conceive of thetime when these luminaries first appeared inthe heavens and compare your conception withthe stories of creation which you have learntfrom your childhood.

The Geological researches of this centuryhave shown that the first appearance of man onearth was not six thousand years ago, as theChristian Bible teaches, but in the Tertiaryperiod which goes way back beyond 50, 000 or100,000 years from to-day.

Comparative Anatomy and Physiology haveproved that human organism was not the resultof a Special Creation as described in Genesis,but that it was closely related to the organismof the lower animals. It was the result of thegradual process of evolution from a lowerform to a higher one. Furthermore, it has beenscientifically demonstrated that the life-prin-

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Religion op The Twentieth Centuryciple manifests itself not only through animalforms but also through vegetables and eventhrough inorganic metals. We have learnt to-daythat the plants have eyes and other senses, thatthey have something like a nervous system,pulsation, heartbeat and the power to feel painetc. Those who have read Sir J. C. Bose'sfamous book entitled "Response in the Livingand Non-living" will remember that ordinarymetal like iron or tin manifests life-force andresponds to an electric shock in the same man-ner as a living tissue or a muscle of a livinganimal. This discovery has revolutionised ourconception of life and nonlife. Moreover, ithas emphasized that old truth mentioned inthe Vedas that life-force or Prana is one anduniversal, although its manifestations aremultiform.

Biology has disproved the old Theory thatGod breathed life into the nostrils of the firstman before he became a living animal, as ifthe lower animals had no breath of life at all ;

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Religion of The Twentieth Centukyon the contrary, it has proved that theminutest protoplasm or bioplasm or amoebapossesses life ; nay, the whole universe isfilled with the eternal life-principle or vitalenergy, that there is no such thing as deadmatter, and that the life of a man is not theresult of some supernatural intervention, butthat it is as natural as the life of plants andof lower animals.

Comparative Psychology has taught us thatthe lower animals have not been created forman's food but that they have sensation, feelingreasoning, memory and many other mentalfaculties like those of ours ; that they are asvaluable in the economy of nature as we are.We have learnt that mind is as much subjectto evolution and growth as the gross physicalbody. The scientific investigations into theconstitution of the mind have proved veryrecently that the mental functions are the re-sults of the vibrations of the finest etherialparticles ; and that thought-force is most inti-

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Religion op The Twentieth Centurymately correlated to the physical forces. Asphysical science has proved that the life-principleis one and universal and has also explained bythe Theory of Evolution, persistence of energyand correlation of forces, that all the variousforces of nature are but the expressions of oneeternal energy, so mental science has provedthe same unity in variety on the mental plane.

Thought-transference and telepathy haveproved that the individual minds are united toone another, that they are like so many eddiesin the eternal current of the Cosmic Mind.Every thought which we think, touches andinfluences the minds of other persons whetherthey are near to us or far away ; the distanceon the physical plane does not affect ourmental conditions.As on the physical plane wireless-telegraphyhas brought us above space relations, and hasrevealed to us how powerful is the atmos-pheric electric current, so thought-transferenceand telepathy have brought us above space

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Religion of The Twentieth Centuryrelations, and it has also shown that theatmospheric thought current is infinitely morepowerful than the thought current that ismanifested through individual centres, just aswireless telegraphy has shown that the atmos-pheric electric current is much more powerfulthan electricity produced by artificial means.Now, we know that if we can harmonize ourmental conditions or the vibrations of our ownminds, by tuning them in harmony with thevibrations of the cosmic mind, then, we canmake ourselves the store-house of infinitepowers and infinite possibilities.

The result of the psychological studies withthe help of powerful microscopes, has broad-ened our views of life and mind to such anextent that now we are able to say positivelythat wherever there is the expression of life,there is also the manifestation of certainfunctions of what we call mind. All thediscoveries of the higher laws and finer forcesof nature, and all the inventions of scientific

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Religion of The Twentieth Centuryinstruments of the present century have testi-fied the fact that human intelligence and willpower are but the expressions of the All-know-ing Intelligence and Almighty Will-power ofthe Divine Being.

Again, the scientific Monism of this centuryhas given an irreparable blow to the olddualistic theory that mind and matter were twoseparate entities and that one was the causeof the other. Now we know that matter andmind are but the objective and subjectivemanifestations of one substance or Realitywhich is called by modern science the Unknownand the Unknowable. Herbert Spencer says :''Matter, motion and force are not the realitybut the symbols of Reality." He also says inhis Psychology : ''The same reality is manifes-ted objectively and subjectively." It expressesin the objective world as matter ; in the subjec-tive world as mind ; in the objective world asgravitation, electricity, heat and motion ; inthe subjective world as intellect, understanding

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Religion of The Twentieth Centuryemotion, will etc. The Reality is one but themanifestations are diversified. Thus, theultimate conclusion of the Monistic science isunity in variety. Through the help of thismonistic science we can now say positivelythat the material and efficient causes of theuniverse are in one substance or Being, whichis the common source of all mental and physicalpowers.

The students of modern science can no longerbelieve in a Creator who dwells outside thenature, who commands from His heavenlyabode and creates the universe out of nothing.Modern science has discarded the old absurdidea that something could be created out ofnothing. It has also given sufficient evidenceby which it can be proved that like matter, thegerm of life is uncreatable and indestructibleand that this germ of life is subject to the Lawof Causation. It possesses infinite potentialitiesand unlimited possibilities. Parents do notcreate these germs of life or the individual

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Religion op The Twentieth Centurysouls as we call them, but they become theprincipal channels through which the germsof life manufacture gross physical bodies andmanifest those powers which are alreadylatent in them. This truth of science hasdestroyed the foundation of the old belief thatthe germs of life or individual souls werecreated fresh at the time of the birth of a childby an extra-cosmic Being. Moreover, byproving the indestructibility of the germ oflife and of the life-force, the problem of birthand death has been brought at the door of thetruth of pre-existence and of continuity ofexistence after death.

To-day we know that we can never die, orcan never be destroyed or absolutely annihila-ted : but that there will be other manifes-tations so long as the germs of life will con-tinue to exist. This leads us to the theory ofrebirth or re-incarnation.

The theory of re-incarnation, again, makesthe germs of life or individual souls act as free

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Religion op The Twentieth Centuryagents, reaping the results of their own thoughtsand deeds, being subject to the law of causeand sequence. They mould their own future,-create their own destiny and being subject toevolution, they rise from lower to higher stagesand progress onward to the ultimate goal.They are indestructible ; and they continue toexist whether on this plane or on some other.This has helped us to realize the truth of thegreatest philosophers of India, that the Soulsare immortal and eternal by their birthright.They mean by 'Soul' the same thing whichmodern science means by the germ of life.

Thus, by studying various branches ofscience we learn that unity in variety is theplan of nature, that there is one ultimate sub-stance which is the material and efficient causeof the universe, that the germs of life areuncreated and indestructible and that they arefree agents.

Now these are the most salient points onwhich science has been at war with the dualis-

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Religion of The Twentieth Centurytic religions of the world. In ancient timesreligion performed the function of science intrying to explain the phenomena and theircauses. But now, the discoveries of modernscience have shown the errors and mistakeswhich were committed by orthodox theologiansand religious teachers of the various sects ofthe world. Consequently, they have beenleft far behind by the advanced scientificthinkers of the present age.

The result of this fight between science andreligion which finally began in the last centuryhas not ended yet. All the existing greatreligions have been shaken to their veryfoundations. Various attempts have been madeto harmonize religion with science but all suchattempts have ended in complete failure. Now,science has become stronger in power than theexisting religions. Sectarian religions arestruggling hard to keep up with the progress ofscience and are obliged to reject those theoriesand beliefs which were based upon tradition

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Religion of The Twentieth Centuryand not upon scientific truths.

Not very long ago, the Dean ofWestministerAbbey, London, said in the course of anaddress : "That much which was acceptedliterally by our forefathers could not be ac-cepted literally by us to-day. The first chapterof Genesis no longer means to us that theworld was made in six days. The secondchapter of Genesis no longer means to us thatGod moulded clay into a human figure andbreathed upon it or that, He took a rib fromAdam and made Eve. These and many otherstories like that of the talking serpent and thetalking ass, we do not take now as historicalfacts, but as imagery which clothed certainspiritual lessons."

Most deplorable is the mental condition ofthose who still cling to the belief that thescriptural texts are the revealed words of Godand that they are infallible. The eyes of themasses are now opened to scientific truths andthe world now demands absolute harmony

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Religion of The Twentieth Centurybetween religion and science.

Thus, when the scientific minds of Europeand America took their stand against super-natural revelation and showed its errors byimpartial criticism the ready-witted defendersof the traditional religion tried their best toavoid the conflict between religion and scienceand to support the theological dogmas eitherby taking shelter under history and callingtheir religion historical, or by making it standon faith alone, because faith according to themis above all criticism.

But the archeological researches and thehigher cirticisms of the old and new Testa-ments have enlightened the minds of thepresent generation by explaining the origin,authorship and the dates of the compositionof each of the canonized books of the ChristianScriptures. If we study the various religiousscriptures of the world, we shall find that onereligion is just as good as any other, and thatone set of scriptural writings which claims to16


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Religion of The Twentieth Centurybe a direct revelation of God, has just as muchargument for such a claim as the others have.If we accept one Scripture as the revealedWord of God, we shall have to accept all theScriptures of the world. We cannot reject any.If, for instance, we accept the Christian Bibleas the revealed Word of God, we shall have toaccept the Vedas, the Koran, the Zend-Avesta,because the reason and arguments given ineach case are exactly the same. Furthermore,comparative study of the various religions ofthe world has taught us a great lesson that noreligion whether great or small ever had asupernatural origin, but that every religion, onthe contrary, is the natural result of theattempts of the human mind to grasp the truthsand to explain the mysteries of the pheno-menal universe.

The comparative mythology has shown thatmythical elements exist in the ChristianScriptures just as much as among the non-Christian Bibles of the world. Some myths2 17


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Religion op The Twentieth Centurywere but personifications of natural forces orevents, some were the developments ofmetaphors, some were the survivals of earlysuperstition ; while others were the exagger-ated accounts or descriptions of some realevents in the life of some great spiritual leaderor holy personage who was * diefied by thepeople.

Prof, Bacon of Yale University says : "Theearliest narratives of Genesis are already pro-phetic in character, because they turn to themass of mere folk-tale and legend current inthe eighth or ninth Century before Christ".

Regarding Abraham, for instance, the learn-ed Professor says : "The figure of Abrahamappears purely and simply as the type of pre-historic Israel brought from the far off East byYahveh to inherit the land of Cannan". Healso says : "The Abraham of the New Testa-ment would not be the historic figure, if therewere one ; it would be but the ideal heir ofYahveh. The true Abraham is the ideal and

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Religion op The Twentieth Centurythis Abraham lived only in the minds of Pro-phets and Seers". The story of the Delugeand Noah's Ark has been proved to be absurdand meaningless by Huxley and other scientists.A parallel for the story of Noah, is to be foundin the mythological story of Deulcilion amongthe ancient Greeks ; such stories existed amongthe ancient Hindus, the Chinese and othernations.

The accounts of immaculate conception andof the virgin birth are to be found in connec-tion with the lives of all the great Saviours ofthe world, most of whom lived long beforeChrist was born. The healing miracles ofiEsculapius (Esclepius), the ancient Greekphysician, suggested those of the New Testa-ment. Thus, we see that the scientific research-es of the 19th Century have removed thehistorical prop of the traditional religions.

Those who believe that Christian religionstands on faith alone, abuse the true meaningof the word "Faith" and mistake the sheerest

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Eeligion of The Twentieth Centurycredulity for it. According to most of them"Faith" is another word for that which the oldFather Tertullian meant by "Belief", that is,Credo quia impossible est I believe, becauseit is impossible. But scientific minds do notcare to entertain this kind of belief or blindfaith ; they are not ready to give such an un-certain foundation to the religion of the 20thCentury.

The Harmony of Religion and ScienceThe Twentieth Century needs a religion

which will be in perfect harmony with all thetruths discovered by modern science, whichmust be based upon the principle of unityin variety, and which should regard the mate-rial and efficient cause of the universe as oneand the same.

The Twentieth Century needs a religionwhich will advocate freedom of thought, free-dom of speech and at the same time, whichwill be in perfect harmony with the conclu-

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Religion of The Twentieth Centurysions of modern scientific researches ; a religionwhich will harmonize with the monisticphilosophy, and every step of which shall befounded u,pon the solid rock of truth, unassail-able by the critics whether of higher or oflower order. As the spirit and ideal of modernscience have been absolute freedom of thoughtand independence of the authority of books orpersonalities and as its sole object has been thediscovery of truth and the worship of nothingbut Truth, so shall be the spirit, ideal andobject of that religion which will be fitted forthe present century, which shall stand on theadamantine rock of truths, already discoveredby modern science. That true religion willreign supreme over the minds of all the seekersafter Truth, who live in the present century.In that religion of science there will be noscheme of salvation ; no dogma of heaven orhell ; no fear of eternal punishment.

The spiritualistic movement and the resear-ches of the Psychical Societies have already

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Religion op The Twentieth Centurygiven a death-blow to the dogma of hell-fireand of eternal punishment. This is not asmall gain achieved by the Western people ofthe present century. The system of religionwhich is needed for the Twentieth Century,must not be limited by sacerdotal institution,must not acknowledge the divine right of thepriesthood, and must not be governed by theauthority of Scripture, of any book or persona-lity, nor should it insist upon practising theceremonies and rituals which form merely thenon-essential parts of religion and which arenot absolutely necessary for the salvation of thesouls from eternal damnation.

The Twentieth Century needs a religionwhich will not support any doctrine or dogmawhich cannot be sustained by scientific reason-ing. The Twentieth Century needs a religionwhich will be free from all superstitious ideas,doctrines and dogmas that give countenanceto the creation of the human being out ofnothing. 22


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Religion op The Twentieth CenturyThe Twentieth Century religion needs a

conception of God who is personal, impersonal,and beyond both, and whose supreme aspectwill harmonize with the absolute Reality ofthe universe called by different names, suchas the Substantia of Spinoza, Noumenon ofHerbert Spencer, the Good of Plato, the Over-soul of Emerson, Ding an Sick or Transcen-dental-Thing-in-itself of Kant etc., who istranscendent as well as immanent and residentin nature, and who is the Soul of our soul, andthe Life of our life. He should not be con-fined by any particular name.When we give a name and personality tothe Divine Being, we project our own ideasand make God limited by our conception ofHis personality. Why should God be limitedby our name or our conception of His persona-lity ? We must realize Him as the infiniteBeing, beyond all limitations of our concep-tions, of our ideas ; and the Divine Beingshould also harmonize with the highest ideals

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Eeligion of The Twentieth Centuryof the greatest philosophers of the world. Inthat way, we shall find an absolute harmonybetween religion and science.

The Twentieth Century needs a religionwhich will harmonize with the ultimateconclusions of all the great philosophersof all countries and will be based uponthe moral and the spiritual laws whichgovern our lives. That religion will not onlyaccept all the truths discovered by the variousbranches of science but will have room forother discoveries which will be made in future.As the aim and ideal of modern science havealways been toward the support of truth andthe independence of blind faith or tradition,so that religion which will be fitted for theTwentieth Century must have the same aim,the same ideal and the same object to perform.Now, the question arises, is it possible to finda religion which will be in absolute harmonywith science and with the great philosophiesof the world. The answer is in the affirmative.24


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Religion of The Twentieth CenturyTrue religion and science are always in perfectharmony. There never has been any quarrelor fight between true religion and scienceboth of which are universal in their scope andare one in their ideal.

Prof. Huxley said : "True science willcontinue to fulfil one of her most beneficientfunctions, that of relieving men from theburden of false science which is imposed uponthem in the name of religion."

Herbert Spencer had this in his mind whenhe said : "The most abstract truth containedin religion and the most abstract truth contain-ed in science must be one in which the twocoalesce. To reach that point of view fromwhich the seeming discordance of religion andscience disappears and the two merge into one,must cause a revolution of thought fruitfuland beneficial in consequences and must surelybe worth an effort".

Time has come when we must make aneffort to see the harmony that exists between

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Religion of The Twentieth Centurytrue Science and true Religion. We mustexamine minutely and impartially all theexisting religions of the world and see whichof them is based upon the principle of Unityin variety and which of them accepts thegrand scientific truth of one substance as thematerial and efficient cause of the universe.

If we examine carefully Christianity,Judaism, Mohammedanism, Zoroastrianismand all other special religions, we findthat they are not based upon that principle ofUnity in variety, because they teach twoCreators, the Creator of good and the Creatorof evil. They are dualistic. The Creator ofgood is fighting against the Creator of evil.The Creator of evil is fighting against theCreator of good, so they do not teach thedoctrine of Unity in variety but duality ofexistence. Buddhism does not teach Unityin Variety.

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Religion of The Twentieth CenturyVedanta, The Universal Religion

There is only one religion which has beenteaching the same truth of Unity in varietyfrom pre-historic times, for nearly fivethousand years. This religion is now givento the world. In the Upanishads we find :"As one 'fire' coming into this world manifestsitself through various forms, so the oneEternal, Absolute Being manifests itself in thevarious phenomena of the world." "As one*air\ passing through different holes of a fluteproduces various notes of music, so the oneEternal Substance manifests itself in thevarious phenomena of the universe." "Fromthat one Substance has emanated Prana tthe life-force of the plant, life-principle in all,mind and all the sense-power, also that whichis space, that which is gaseous, heat, liquid,and that which is solid." This idea cannotbe found in any other Scripture of the world.

This universal religion is nameless andformless. It is in absolute harmony with

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Religion of The Twentieth Centuryscience. Vedanta teaches that one Substance orReality is the material and efficient cause of theuniverse. It also describes the evolution ofthe phenomenal world, and rejects the theoryof a special creation. The process of cosmicevolution as described in Vedanta is this :From that one Substance came ether, fromether that which is gaseous, from the gaseousstate heat, from that state liquid, then thatwhich is solid ; and later came gradually thevegetables, the lower animals, and from thelower animals, up to the highest, man. Thus,it explains that the phenomenal universe withall the varieties of names, forms and forceshas evolved out of one eternal Cosmic Energycalled in Sanskrit Prakriti which is the motherof all manifestations. It is One and universal.Vedanta teaches that God is personal, imper-sonal and beyond both. Individual souls,according to this religion, are not created outof nothing, but are eternal ; they are eternalgerms of life, subject to the Law of cause and

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Religion of The Twentieth Centurysequence. They are indestructible, immortal ;and these germs of life are free agents, manifes-ting powers which are latent in them. Itteaches that mind and matter are the sub-jective and objective manifestation of that OneBeing.

Is it not a remarkable fact that these ancientSeekers of truth discovered that which is thespirit of this age, that is, Unity in variety andthe one Substance which is the material andthe efficient cause of the universe ? These arethe grandest truths, but when modern sciencehas proved these truths and confirmed the oldtruths, the scientific truth is doubly true, be-cause we find that different thinkers, startingfrom different standpoints, arrived at the sameconclusion. The great Seers of ancient Indiaarrived at that conclusion from their subjec-tive conception and vision of the truth, andreached that highest goal ; while modernscience starting from ther objective world hasreached the same goal. These two when com-

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Religion of The Twentieth Centurybined will produce the most wonderful har-mony between true science and true religion.

Modern science is just beginning to graspthe truth that the Cause lies in the Effect,that cause and effect are like the unmanifestedand manifested states of the same thing. Butthis truth has been taught in India from veryancient times.

Science is trying to discover the eternaltruth of the universe ; and religion is tryingto worship that eternal Truth, but thatworship of the eternal Truth must depend uponits discovery. If we do not know the eternalTruth, how can we worship it ? We must putevery thing aside which is not in harmonywith the highest conclusions of modern science.So, this religion which is such a universalreligion, and which as I have already said isnameless, is the one which embraces all thereligions of the world. No other religion canbe so universal because other religions aremore or less built around the personality of

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Religion of The Twentieth Centurytheir Founders, Christanity is built aroundthe personality of Christ ; Buddhism aroundBuddha ; Mohammedanism around Mohammed,Christian Science around Mrs. Eddy. Anyreligion that is built around the personalityof its Founder cannot be universal, be-cause that personality may not be acceptedby all. This religion, however we find isnot built upon the personality of one being,but upon the Spiritual Laws which govern oursoul-life. It has existed for five thousand yearsand it will continue to be the religion of theworld in future ; this is the religion of Vedanta.It deals with principles and leaves all thedetails to be worked out by science. It admitsa personal God who is to be worshippedthrough devotion and through love. It teachesthat God is one Substance, and we are butparts ; as Christ said : "I and my Father areone," so the absolute monistic Vedanta teaches 'Iam He* , that we are all absolutely onewith the Supreme Spirit, that our individual

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Religion of The Twentieth Centurysouls are nothing but so many expressions ofthe one universal cosmic Being, who is theLord of the universe. The Creator is nothingbut the first manifestation of the AbsoluteBeing, therefore, He is called the first-bornLord. Modern science has one idea whichwas given in Vedanta centuries before Christ.In modern science we study that Evolution isfollowed by Involution and that evolution lastsfor a certain period of time, which is called acycle, while the cycle of evolution is followedby the cycle of involution, and this chain ofthe cycles of evolution and involution and thenagain evolution and involution is eternal. So,there is the beginning of the cycle of evolution,but there is no beginning of matter, no begin-ning of force, no beginning of the substance ofthe universe.Just as there may be a beginning of the physi-

cal form, but there is no beginning of the es-sence that lives and enforces the physical formsof the individual soul. Each individual soul is

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Religion op The Twentieth Centurysubject to the Law of Cause and Sequence,which is called in Vedanta, the Law of Karma,

Law of KarmaBy studying this Law of Cause and Se-

quence, and of action and reaction, we find thatwe get to the scientific explanation of thecause regarding the sin, misery, sickness andsuffering of the world. Vedanta does notteach that the Creator of evil is one personalityand the Creator of good is another. Vedantateaches, that so long as there is good, therewill be evil ; one cannot exist without theother, so if we take the one we will have totake the other. Reject both, and see that theSoul is neither good nor evil. Evil is onlyignorance ; whatever we do without properknowledge is a mistake, and each mistake is agreat teacher in the long run. Therefore, eachsinful act has its value ; it teaches the soul thelaw that governs that act. In that way allsinful acts are the great mistakes which weare bound to commit, because we have come to

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Religion op The Twentieth Centurythis world, and are making experiments all thetime to find out exactly what we want. Beingborn in ignorance we are bound to makemistakes. Why should we blame the Creator forour mistakes ? Therefore, Vedanta teachesthat there is no Creator of good, no Creator ofevil, but the Law of Karma ( Cause andSequence ) will explain all the inequalitiesand diversities that exist in the world, andGod is not regarded as the Giver of rewardsor the Bestower of punishments. God neverpunishes the wicked, nor rewards the virtuous,but that which we call punishment is thereaction of our own mistakes, which mustcome back to the soul from which the actionstarted. That which we call reward is alsothe reaction of our own good acts. So, whyshould we blame God ? God is the Oceanof love, the Ocean of intelligence and justice.

Modern science says that the source of theuniverse is unknown and unknowable. Vedantaalso teaches that it is Unknown and Unknow-34


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Religion op The Twentieth Centuryable by the mind, but can be realised by theSpirit, because it is nearer than our mind,nearer than our heart ; because it is the Soulof our soul, and the essence of our being isthat Substance. It can be realized by enteringinto a higher state of super-consciousness.Thus, it harmonizes with the monistic scienceof modern times. But Vedanta teaches that, thatone Substance is not insentient, but it is thesource of intelligence and all knowledge; other

, wise, if we did not admit this, then the questionwill rise where did our knowledge come from ?Can intelligence come from something whichdoes not possess intelligence ? It would beas absurd as something coming out of nothing.Therefore, Vedanta is more logical and morescientific than the materialistic Monism ofscience. Vedanta gives a scientific basis toreligion, because it explains religion throughscience, in other words through the acceptedrules of inductive and deductive logic andit accepts within its limits the supremacy of

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Religion of The Twentieth Centuryreason. Any system which admits these twopoints is absolutely scientific. But if we applythe rules of logic to the existing religions ofthe world, at every step we shall find that theycannot stand reasoning ; consequently, theyfall to pieces. None but the universal religionof Vedanta can stand the test of logic andscience. The conflict between science andreligion ends in the universal religion ofVedanta. Herbert Spencer wrote just beforehis death with reference to Vedanta that "hewas gratified to find a philosophy akin to hisown thought in India.

"

Again, Vedanta gives the fundamentalprinciples of, and the rational foundation toethics ; for true ethics must be based uponscientific principles, otherwise it has no value.The greatest ethical law, which teaches"Love thy neighbour as thyself," does not giveany reason why we should love our neighbouras ourselves. Christ preached the same, buthe did not give the reason. The reason we


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Religion of The Twentieth Centuryfind in Vedanta which teaches the same truth.We shall love our neighbours not because theyhave done some good to us, but because weare one with our neighbour in spirit, "Tat twama8i" ; because we are all children of the sameInfinite Being. Love means expression ofoneness. That spiritual oneness should be thefoundation of ethics, and then we shall neverdo anything to hurt anybody, nor anything toenrich ourselves at the expense of others.

The truth of Vedanta, which is absolutelyscientific, should be preached before the worldand then we shall find not only peace andharmony among the different sectarian religionsof the world but also we shall find harmonybetween true religion and true science, andthat harmony is needed in the TwentiethCentury. Max Muliar said : "Vedanta is themost sublime of all philosophies, and the mostcomforting of all religions. It has room forevery religion ; nay, it embraces them all".

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Works of Swami AbhedanandaDoctrine of KarmaWhat is VedantaChristian Science & VedantaDoes the Soul Exist after Death ?Philosophy of Good & EvilReligion of the HindusCosmic Evolution and Its PurposeScientific Basis of ReligionWhy a Hindu accepts Christ and rejects

ChurchianityWoman's place in Hindu ReligionSwami Vivekananda and his work

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Documents

The Religion of Twentieth Century - By Swami Abhedananda