22. The Eternal Ontological Principle
(Darshan given on March 17th, 1996)
A visitor: How do we know that God is everywhere?
Swamiji: You must have a clear idea of your concept of the world. What do you mean by 'the world'? All ethics follow from metaphysics. The ontological principle must be established first. Something is. Can you say nothing is, or something is? If this question is not clear, no question arising from it will be clear. You should not have doubts about what exists at all, finally. Anything that gets transformed into something else, anything that evolves into another thing, anything that is in a state of transition cannot be said to be existing. It is moving. So have you seen or heard of anything anywhere in the world which is not moving, which is not transitory, which is not evolving? Is there any such thing?
Visitor: No.
Swamiji: Then there is no such thing as existence in this world. Nothing is. Everything moves; it looks like that. Even our growth is a movement. Our birth and death also are movement. Historical movement also is a transition. Nothing is in a static form, so you cannot say that anything is. It is a very serious matter. If nothing is, if everything moves, there is no such thing as the Ultimate Reality; there is only phenomena. Can there be only phenomena without Reality behind it? A thing cannot move erratically, without any target. We do not want to concern ourselves with the passing phenomena. That brings us nothing because we also seem to be only part of that phenomena. We are growing, and becoming old and perishing. Now, what is the good of it? If we grow and become old and perish, what is the great point about it? What have we to gain by this process? Why should we be born, and then grow old and die? We are all involved in this process. What have we to gain by this involvement of being born and then becoming old and then dying? Logically speaking, we cannot give an answer to this question, but yet the heart says there is a great meaning. We cannot say life is meaningless. If you consider that everything is moving, nothing that moves can be said to have any permanent meaning, and yet the heart says there must be something which has a permanent meaning. This is the ontological question, as they call it in philosophy.
There is one thing which is ontologically perfect. It does not move, and it has no necessity to transform itself into something else. There is something which is other than this world phenomena. That something cannot be totally disassociated from phenomena. Because we are involved in phenomena, we are able to see the presence of such a thing. That we are involved in phenomena and yet are able to conceive the necessity of an ontological existence shows that we have some connection with that. So we are ontologically involved in something which is indescribable, unthinkable and indefinable. This is a great satisfaction to know that. We have an ontological being, in spite of all the transition that takes place throughout our body and society outside, and everywhere.
The fact that we are able to conceive of the ontological existence even in the midst of phenomena shows this ontological existence is pervading all phenomena. So there is eternity and temporality working together simultaneously everywhere. The temporality is the time process, which makes everything move and transform into new forms. But the ontological existence is at the back of all this movement of phenomena, which perhaps is the thing towards which everything moves because ontological existence cannot move. Everything moves towards That.
So our purpose of life seems to be an evolutionary process towards ontological existence, and there is no question of knowing where it is because it is pervading the whole of phenomena. Therefore, the ontological existence is everywhere. This is the meaning of saying God is everywhere. I have come to that point.
Visitor: But we have still a responsibility.
Swamiji: You have a responsibility, but it should be in terms of that Eternal Being; otherwise, whatever you do shall be perishable. In order that your work be enduring, the ontological Being should permeate your action, but you should not think that only you are doing everything. There is some hand working behind you which determines the process of your working, and even the intention of your working. That is how they say, in practical language, contemplation and action should go together. You must exist first in order that you may do something. If you yourself are the phenomenon, then you are not existing; therefore, there is no use of doing anything because your doing goes with the perishability of your nature. If there is anything worthwhile, any meaning anywhere, it is due to the infusion of the eternal in the temporal process. This is a little bit of spiritual doctrine in a way, and that decides everything you do.
With this knowledge, do anything that you like, and it will not perish. Anything that is infused with eternity cannot perish. The body may perish, but the soul cannot perish. The body is the phenomenon; the soul is the eternal. This is a great contemplation in the mind. It is a self-adjustment of the total personality, individually as well as socially, and even cosmically. You are thinking like a universal man when you think like this. A universal man is thinking universal activity of a universal value. With this knowledge do your work, and it will not perish. It is like a Godman working, and his activity will not perish. Even if he perishes, the work will not perish because that work has been charged with the eternal ontological principle behind it. If God does the work, it won't perish. If man does the work, it perishes. But man, so-called, is a phenomena that cannot be having any value until the ontological existence is behind it, charging it; this is called the soul. Generally we say there is a soul inside the body. This is another way of saying there is eternity behind the time process. The whole Bhagavadgita doctrine is this much only.