BY C. JINARAJADASA
The life of man is not more than a fraction of a
millionth of a millimeter compared to the eternity of time. What, therefore, is
the outlook for man when his body wears away and is dissolved into the elements
from which it is composed? Does anything remain of man that can be thought of
as in any way “immortal?” This, indeed, is the great problem around which all
philosophical systems revolve.
The first important element in trying to understand
the problem is to realize that a man is what he thinks he is. In one of
the sermons of the Buddha there is the striking verse, “Thought in the mind
hath made us; what we are by thought is wrought and built.” Just as it is
necessary, in trying to make a machine operate well, to remove all dust from
it, so similarly one of the first actions of a man who is to think rightly is
to separate himself from the expressions of his body, its needs, its ailments,
its clamours. The English philosopher Carlyle put the whole matter sarcastically
in one phrase, “Soul is not synonymous with stomach.”
Today some of the greatest scientific thinkers in
the field of physics have openly stated that what is important in understanding
the universe, from their standpoint, is that matter is only after all a form of
mind. It is, therefore, not an impossible assumption to state that above all
things a man is mind. From this assumption comes to problem, which is, can a
man organize his mind in such a manner that both Immortality and Infinity
reflect themselves in his mind?
This is the problem which every religion presents
to its followers. But it is no exaggeration to say that today religions are so
full of dead traditions, that no man with a keen intellect, especially if he is
trained in scientific ways of thought, finds a solution along the line of
religion.
If religion the fails us, is there no other line of
action possible? There is a way through what is called “Culture.” The word
certainly is very vague, but considered in its highest sense and not limiting
it to the culture of any one civilization, we mean by culture something which
by experiences of our heart and mind we find is permanent among the fleeting
and passing details of our lives. The poets especially are representatives of
this aspect of culture, for each true poet tries to see the permanent in the
impermanent. When a great poet succeeds, his creation is for all time. Homer
when translated today into any language has a quality of vividness; he is still
in touch with life in this year 1946 as he was in the life of his own day. So
beautiful is this element in Homer that at the moment I am reading daily to a
girl of eleven a brilliant translation of “The Odyssey”, and she is as
much enthralled by the story as I am. It is this quality of permanence among
the impermanent which the Greek sculptors showed in all their best creations,
for a statue of Pallas Athene or Apollo, though it began with a human model was
made by the sculptor to reveal a definite Idea of a divine Personality.
Similarly, too, there is a sculpturesque quality in the great men and women
created by Shakespeare. They have translated him in Japan and put some of his
plays on the stage, although Japanese mentality is in many ways so different
from that of the English.
In the same way, though Goethe wrote over a century
ago, something of what he created has still for us the quality of permanence.
In a supreme manner, the great religious and philosophical works of India
called the Upanishads are as living to day for the seeker of truth as when they
were first composed thousands of years ago. Perhaps the most brilliant instance
of a philosopher and poet whose creations have the quality of permanence is
Plato.
It is from these elements of culture that a man can
find himself, if he has the right development of his mind, to be what the
Platonist called “the Idea.” That Idea of himself can be discovered by him as
having the quality of immortality and infinity. So far went Plato.
But it is not enough to discover oneself as the
Idea. To realize oneself as immortal requires that the Idea should be “put to
work.” In other words, the individual who realizes himself as the Idea must
stand forth in life as one who generates ideas in the minds of others,
and so brings about revolutionary changes in their lives. In this manner the
individual knows that though he is mortal, yet immortality is a part of him. So
we have Jesus Christ saying, “Not I work, but the Father worketh in me.” And
the Father is eternal.
Are all these thoughts only like the mere spinning
of a spider’s web which can be broken by a gust of wind? That is the test for
one who seeks to know that he is not the perishable body, but is something that
can be described an imperishable soul. No one in this matter can lead another
by the hand and say, “Follow me and I will show you Truth.” On the other hand
there is the testimony throughout the ages that great souls have identified
themselves with an immortal and infinite element in life, and so stand
finger-posts pointing to the road that leads to the Infinite and the Immortal.
They entered upon a supreme adventure and they found success in it. How far a
man today can set out on that same adventure and come to the goal he seeks
depends on himself, on what is within him for that task which only he can know.
Socrates, after he was condemned to death, was not
disturbed in the least; even on the last day, he talked with his friends as if
he would meet them the next day. Carlyle said of him: “Socrates is terribly at
home in Zion.” That is the supreme adventure in life, to be here and now, in
this chaos of a world in the year 1946, to be “at home in Zion.” I can only
testify: It can be done.