Complete Works of Swami Abhedananda (Set of 11 Volumes)

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About The Book

These learned writings and speeches on different subjects of philosophy, metaphysics, psychology, religion, mysticism, logic, history and culture of the Patriot Saint Swami Abhedananda are thought provoking and soul stirring, and we firmly believe that they will kindle the living and lasting light of new hope, inspiration and lasting light of new hope, inspiration and knowledge into the hearts of then who will sincerely commune with those writings and speeches.

Swami Abhedananda was a man of Divine realization and an outstanding personality. And not only that, but the Swami was also a great scholar, a preacher, a social reformer, and a regenerator of the human society. He was one of the direct disciples of Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the spiritual brother of Swami Vivekananda.

The life of Swami Aabhedanada was intimately bound up with the Vedanta movement in the west for quarter of a century, beginning from 1896. It was during this period that he delivered innumerable public lectures on different subjects, from thousand platforms in the two continents of America and Europe. Besides, he was frequently invited at various Universities, Colleges and also Churches where distinguished listeners thronged to hear him.

From 1896 to 1921, he lectured all over the Western lands, and after returning from the West in 1921, he devoted his life to the social cause of religious an d spiritual upliftment of the peoples of India, and his soul stirring lectures really inspired the scholars, students and truth seeking peoples all over the world. His sincere propagation of the message, philosophy and religion of his Great Master, Sri Ramakrishna, was really fruitful with their lasting hope and inspiration.

He entered in to the blissful abiss of mahasmadhi on the 8th September in 1939.

About The Author

Swami Abhedanada, an apostle of Sri Ramakrishna Born October 2, 1866 Spent his early life among the brotherhood in Barangar monastery near Calcutta in severe austerity Travelled barefooted all over India from 1888 1895 Went to London at the call of Swami Vivekananda in 1896 Acquainted with many distinguished savants, including Prof. Ma Muller and Prof. Paul Deussen Landed in New York and took charge of the Vedanta Society in 1897 Became acquainted with Prof. Josiah Royce of Harvard , Prof. Hyslop of Columbia, Prof Lanamann, Prof. G. H. Howison, Prof. Fay, Mr. Edison the inventor, Dr.Elmer Gates, Ralph Waldo Trine, W.D. Howells, Prof. Herschel C. Parker, Dr. Logan, Rev. Bishp Potter, Prof. Shaler, Dr. Janes, the Chairman of the Cambridge Philosophical Conference and the Professors of Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Barkeley and Clarke Universities Travelled extensively all through the Unites States, Canada, Alaska and Mexico Made frequent trips to Europe, delivering lectures in different parts of the Content Crossed the Atlantic seventeen times Was appreciated very much for his profundity of scholarship, intellectual brilliance, oratorical talents, charming personality and nobility of character Made a short visit to India in 1906 Returned to America Came back to India finally in 1921 om his way home joined the Educational Conference, Honolulu Visited Japan, China, the Philippines, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Rangoon Started on a long tour and went as far Tibet in 1922 Established centers at Calcutta and Darjeeling Left his mortal frame on September 8, 1939.

Preface (Volume 1)

Spiritual Unfoldment by Swami Abhedananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa Dev, is a guide for those who are willing to learn methodically and earnestly the practices of Yoga and spiritual Sadhana, for attaining self control and complete mastery over their senses, body and mind. The author, being a man of Realization and highly gifted teacher of humanity, knows best the method of achieving the highest goal of human life. He knows well the difficulties and pitfalls in the path of spiritual progress, while proceeding through the yogic practices and Vedantic sadhana. He puts forward different knotty problems of the Yoga method, solves them with a master hand by clearing all doubts, and leads the spiritual seekers of Truth step by step to the highest destination of the transcendental knowledge. He discloses the secrets of concentration, and assures us that they are the best spiritual methods of attaining the siipramental truth and absolute freedom. He warns us against the danger that we are generally apt to fall into, by being deluded by the charms of the gradually developed psychic powers and urges us to be fully cautious of them by keeping our minds fixed upon the highest ideal. He says that we should learn to keep ourselves away from the snares of worldly pleasures first by right discrimination (viveka or sadasadvichara) and then by concentrating our mind (dhyana) upon the summum bonum of life.

Swami Abhedananda classifies his discourses into three illuminating chapters, self control, concentration and meditation, and Godconsciousness. Self control is the key to unlock the mystery of concentration and meditation. Concentrated attention next leads the Sadhakas directly to the temple of God consciousness. Swamiji says that the spiritual life of a man or a woman depends upon the subjugation (damana) or suppression (nirodha) of the senses, upon the self control (samjaman) of the passions and desires, and upon the manifestation of Divine powers that are latent in the reservoir of the subconscious or unconscious in every individual soul. Concentration leads to meditation means, concentration prepares the mind of the seekers of truth to reach the state of concentrated attention or meditation after reducing its distracted and diverged modifications (manovrittis) to an unbroken flow of one current of thought (niravachinna ekamukhi chintadhara) towards a fixed ideal. By gaining the power of meditation, a Yogi enters into the state of Godconsciousness, which is called in the treatise on Yoga, Samadhi. In fact, Godconsciousness is not a state at all, although commonly known as the fourth state or turiya, because it transcends all other states, first, second and third (Virat, Hiranyagarbha and Isvara chaitanyas) in its surpassing nature and essence. The states are nothing but the different levels of consciousness, and the fourth or transcending consciousness is the pure consciousness (shudhha chaitanya) itself. Having attained this pure consciousness or enlightenment, the soul enters into the abode of eternal peace and serene tranquillity.

Acharya Sankara and other non dualist Vedantists criticize this state of emancipation or mukti, achieved through the process of Yoga, because they say that there is a great deal of difference between the yogic intuition and the vedantic intuition. They argue that mere subjugation or suppression of mad rushes of the passions and desires means the reduction of gross forms of the passions and desires into their causal state. They are rather forced to sleep in the bed of the unconscious, but are likely to wake up under favourable conditions. So, by suppression one cannot get permanent peace, but it offers him only temporary calmness of the mind. In fact, the non dualist Vedantists want the passions and desires to be eternally sub limated into pure consciousness. Like the Vedantists, Sri Aurodindo also said that the ripus (passions and desires) cannot be conquered by damana. It is only by purification through the divine consciousness entering into the egoistic nature and changing it that this can be done.

Swami Abhedananda’s position in his discourses is also quite clear. He deals with the subject of spiritual unfoldment purely from the yogic standpoint, and so it is neither necessary for him to compare his method of treatment with any other systems of philosophical thoughts, nor to refute the method of Yoga in the light of the Advaita Vedanta. Otherwise, when he deals with the process of controlling the mind in his Doctrine of Karma he says: “Instead of indulging in desires, some say, you should kill them out. But you cannot kill them out. There are certain cults that teach: ‘kill out all the desires and make your mind blank’. We cannot do that. We can reduce the number of desires by discrimination and not allowing indulgence. In that way we can purify our heart or mind.” This purification of mind is no other than the sublimation or transformation (rupantarakaran) of the mind into pure consciousness. Sri Ramakrishna also instructs the spiritual aspirants to change or reverse the course of thought from one side to another (‘more phiriye de’), and the change implies the notion of purification of the mind.

Sri Ramakrishna has said that all the systems of spiritual practices are true, as they lead us to one and the same goal in the final analysis. The paths of progress may differ, but the destination or goal is the same. The ultimate aim of all the systems of religion and spiritual practices is to be free from the bondage of ignorance and simultaneously to attain mukti or salvation. So Swami Abhedananda says that a real aspirant of spiritual knowledge may choose and adopt any one of the systems or practices that suits him, and if he is a sincere seeker after truth, he will surely reach the goal.

Swamiji makes his discourses all through very lucid and clear, so that we may grasp and understand the secrets of the subject easily and make them applicable in our daily life. His style and language are penetrating and transparent, and they show us the inner depth, true significance and real purport of the subject and thus help us in realizing the highest truth.

We shall be glad if the author’s earnest desire of enlightening the hearts of the readers is fulfilled.

Preface (volume 2)

The first six lectures contained in the volume were delivered before the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. As my limited time did not permit me to describe at length the status of Hindu women, I have added a separate on Womans Place in Hindu Religion to complete the subject. My main object has been to give an impartial account of the facts from the standpoint of an unbiased historian, and to remove all misunderstandings which prevail among the Americans concerning India and her people. I have cited Hindu, American, and European authorities to support my statements, and I beg to acknowledge my indebtedness to those writers from whom I have quoted, especially to Mr.R. C. Dutt. C. I. E., for numerous valuable facts statistics collected by him through years of tireless research in England, and embodied in his historical works, Civilization in Anent India, Economic History of India, and India in the Victorian Age.

Introduction

I am very glad to learn that the course of lectures, recently delivered before the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences by Swami Abhedananda, is to be published. These lectures constitute an exceedingly valuable description of the social, political, educational, and religious conditions of India. They contain precisely what ht American wants to know about India. Delivered, as they were by a native of India, they are not coloured by foreign prejudices. I am impressed, by foreign prejudices. I am impressed, by what I heard of the lectures, with the fact that in the hurry and bustle of our Western civilization we have a great deal to learn from the East.

Preface (Volume 3)

How to be a Yogi is a book on the science and practice of different types of Yoga which are interconnected with religion and philosophy applied in practice. These lectures were delivered by Swami Abhedanaada before the American students of Yoga and philosophy and were published in book form from the Vedanta Ashrama, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

In this book Swami Abhedanada has consecutively surveyed the science and the practice of Yoga as a whole. This book contains nine illuminating chapters on different types of Yoga along with their philosophy, psychology and science. In the introductory chapter the Swami has defined what true religion is. He says that true religion is not based on mere theory or speculation, but on practice. Religion really prepares the ground of divine spirituality which does not depend upon the reading of the scriptures, not upon the theological and speculative discussions on the shastras, and not upon intellect and reason, but upon the realization or the divine immediate awareness of the unchangeable Reality.

Swami Abhedannada has said that he had the good fortune to be acquainted with a divine man, whose name is Ramakrishan Paramahansa. He never went to any school, neither the read any of ht scriptures and philosophies, yet he had reached perfection by realizing he absolute Brahman. From this it is understood that true spirituality and God realization do not depend on any book knowledge, nor on the intellectual apprehension, but on the sincere spiritual practice of Yoga which makes a man commune with the Absolute. Swami Abhedannada has further said that self knowledge is acquired neither by sense perception, nor be reading the shastras but by studying ones own nature, and by practicing the different branches of Yoga.

The second chapter deals with the discussion What is Yoga. In this chapter, the learned Swami has given eleven definitions of Yoga. In the eleventh definition he says that Yoga means the restraint of all thought action through concentration and meditation. Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root, yuji which means ‘to join’ i.e. to join the jivatman with the Para matman. The practitioners of Yoga are mainly divided into three classes and among them the born Yogi are included in the first class, the half awakened souls are included in the second class, and the unawakend souls are included in the third class.

The third chapter is devoted to the discussion on the Hatha Yoga. The Hatha Yoga is the science which teaches to conquer hunger, thirst, sleep, diseases, etc. Some Hatha Yogis practise trataka, and fix their eyes in the centre of the eyebrows, for gaining concentration as well as some psychic powers.

The Swami has defined different kinds of asanas or the sitting postures to be practised by the Hatha Yogis. He warns the Hatha Yogis not to practise the Yoga which develops psychic powers, and instructs them to practise that kind of Yoga which is helpful to the Raja Yoga, because the Raja Yoga leads the souls to the realization of God consciousness and to freedom.

In the fourth chapter Swami Abhedananda has discussed about the laws and science of the Raja Yoga which is known as the royal road, or the surest path to perfection. The Raja Yoga deals entirely with mind and its powers, and so it may be called the science of applied psychology. This best and grandest method of Yoga teaches to strengthen will power of mind, and to develop the powers of concentration and meditation, which lead to the state of super consciousness.

The practice of Raja Yoga is divided into eight steps like yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana dhyana and samadhi. The asana is the posture of sitting. Patanjali says that a suitable and an easy asana can be chosen for making the spinal cord straight and taking the breath without any obstruction and difficulty. The Yogis say that vital power or energy is stored up in the nerve centres of the spinal cord, and it is the cause of the motion of the lungs, which in turn produces respiration, and respiration is the cause of the circulation of blood and of all other organic activities. So the spinal cord should be kept straight to help the current flow easily through the cannel of the spinal cord. The pratyahara is the preparatory ground for concentration. Concentration means to reduce the divergent desires or the manifold modifications of mind into their causal state and to make them concentrate upon one point. The samadhi is the state of super consciousness. Patanjali has divided this supreme state into different classes, and the nirvija or nirvikalpa samadhi is the highest one, where all the seeds of desires and the cause of the cycle of births and rebirths are eternally transcended. The process of concentration really transforms the mind into pure consciousness. In the highest state of samadhi, a Sadhaka gains spiritual illumination, and cuts asunder the knots of nescience or avidya.

In the fifth chapter, the Swami has dealt with Karma Yoga. The Swami says that the word ‘Karma Yoga’ connotes the idea of ‘dexterity in work’. The spirit of worship must be the keynote of all kinds of work, and the work with this divine spirit is known as the philosophy of work. The Swami further says that, in truth, we do work through the inspiration cum dictation of the will of the mind, and so if we purify our mind with the spirit of worship of God and if we give up all kinds of ego centric ideas from our mind, then the mind is concentrated and enjoys tranquil peace and happiness. The Swami says: “He who wishes to practise the Karma Yoga, should abandon the attachment to the fruits of his labours, and learn to work for work’s sake,. The teachings of the Bhagavad Gita is that you have the right to do works, and not to ask or enjoy the fruits thereof. So the works with love for God and love for the humanity are known as the Karma Yoga which is the precondition of the Bhakti Yoga.

In the sixth chapter, Swami Abhedananda has described the main principles of the Bhakti Yoga. The Bhakti Yoga is the path of devotion for God and also the path of love for all the creatures of the world. The Swami says: “The word bhakti means ‘devotion’, while Yoga in this case signifies the union of the individual soul with God. Hence the Bhakti Yoga is the method of devotion by which true communion of the soul with the supreme Deity is accomplished”. There are mystics all over the world, who devote their lives in the holy service of the beloved God. The Christian mystics, the German mystics, the Spanish mystics and other mystics of other nations are just like the Vaishnava mystics of India and the Sufi mystics of Persia and Arabia. All of them worship their ever beloved Friend, God through love and devotion, and they want the Divine communion with God in ecstasy which makes them forget their consciousness of the body and the world.

Swami Abhedananda says that a Bhakta “never forgets his relation to his beloved. His mind is concentrated and one pointed and, consequently, meditation becomes easy for huii. True devotion or continuous remembrance of the divine Ideal leads him to the unceasing meditation, and ultimately lifts the soul to samadhi, where it realizes God and communes with Him undisturbed by any other thought, feeling, idea or sensation. Becoming dead to the sense phenomena, it lives on the spiritual plane of the God consciousness”. In fact, a true Bhakti Yogi does everything in this world of works or duties with the spirit of worship. So the material sense phenomena cannot entangle him in the world of maya.

In the seventh chapter, Swami Abhedananda has explained the art and science of the Jnana Yoga. The Swami says that the Jnana Yoga is based entirely upon the monistic principle of Advaita, or the non dualistic system of Vedanta.”Its purpose is to show that the subject and the object are but the two expressions of one absolute Being or Substance that God and man, the Creator and the created, are only different aspects of one universal Reality”. The Jnana Yoga awakens the soul from the deep slumber of ignorance, and makes it realize the immortal Atman.

In the eighth chapter, the Swami has dealt with the science of breathing. The mysterious and invisible vital energy or force is known as the prana. In the Upanishad, the prana has been called the cause of life, because no being can live without the prana or the vital energy. We generally inhale the breath or prana and purify the circulation of blood in the system of our body. But it should be remembered that behind the breath or prime air, there remains the living energy which vitalizes the systems of the whole body and mind.

This prana should be controlled by the process, of pranayama, or the practice of breathing .The Swami says: “This control of the prana brings complete subjugation of all the forces which govern the mind and the body”. The Yogis say that the prana is the king, and the prana should be controlled for calming down the activities of mind, because the prana and the manas (mind) are inter connected together. Again mind is the finest vibration of the prana, and matter is the grossest vibration of the prana. So the mind and the matter are no other than the prana in vibration The nerve centres of the spinal cord (merudanda) are the main stations where this vital force is stored. There are many centres in the spinal cord, of which precedes the whole body, including its organs. All sensations and motions of the limbs depend upon these nerve centres in the spinal column and the brain. There are two currents, which flow in and out of the brain through the spinal column and nerves; they are called the afferent and efferent currents, in Sanskrit, idea and pingala. They run through the anterior and posterior channels of the spinal cord. These furnish the two paths over which the currents of the prana travel. The nervous energy itself is scattered throughout the system, and the only means of regulating it is by controlling the principal centres or stations in the spinal column. If, therefore, any one wishes to control the prana, he must learn to govern the chief stations through whicn it works. The prana being controlled, the mind is controlled and there reigns the tranquil peace.

The nineth chapter has been devoted to the historical and mystical discussion on Was Christ a Yogi. It is a historical fact that Christ came to India, he travelled the holy places of India, and learned the practice of Yoga from the Indian Yogis. Swami Abhedananda has shown that Christ’s Divine realization was the result of his Indian yogic cum vedantic sadhana. In his Bengali book, Kashmir O Tibbate, the Swami has given the historical account of Christ’s visit to India. In that book, he has given an account or a record of Christ’s journey and visit to India from a Tibatan manuscript preserved in the Hemis Monastery in Ladak. The Russian traveler Notovitch had seen that record in that Monastery, and had given the detailed account of Christ’s stay for nearly eighteen years. Swami Abhedananda also made that manuscript of the Hemis Monstery to be translated by a senior Tibetan Monk. He has given the translated record in Bengali in his book, Kashmir O Tibbate. It is interesting to note that this chapter on Was Christ a Yogi has been adopted in an important book, Adept of Galilee, published in American.

However, Swami Aabhedananda has proved in this last chapter that Christ was a true Yogi, and He practiced the Yoga which enabled Him to realize the truths: I and my Father are one, and Love thy neighbor as thyself. The Swami says: The greater portion of the life of Jesus is absolutely unknown to us, and as He did not leave behind him any systematic teaching regarding the method by which one may attain to that state of God consciousness which He Himself reached, there is no way of finding out what He did or practiced during the eighteen years that elapsed before His appearance in public. Jesus the Christ was really a great Yogi, because He realized the transitory and ephemeral nature of the phenomenal world and, discriminating the real from the unreal, renounced all desires for worldly pleasures and bodily comforts. Jesus the Christ was also a great Karma Yogi, because He never worked for worldly pleasures and bodily comforts. Jesus the Christ was also a great Karma Yogi, because He never worked for results; He had neither desire for name, nor ambition for fame or for earthly prosperity. Jesus of Nazareth also proved Himself to be a great Bhakti Yogi, and a true love of God. Like the great Raja Yogis of India, Jesus the Christ knew also the secret of separating the soul from his physical shell, l and he showed this at the time of his death while his body was suffering from the extreme pain, by saying, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. The Swami at last says that it is through the teachings of Vedanta that though Hindus have learned how to glorify the character of Jesus the Christ. Jesus was a Yogi, and a realized man, nay, He was one of the saviours of the mankind, and so all nations of the world love him and worship him as a Divine incarnation of God.

Preface Volu 4

Unlike many of the books on spiritualism, the present work has a special feature and beauty of its own. Its pages do not narrate the chief legends and tales of the departed spirits and the wandering ghosts and also of the supernatural beings of the unknown ethereal sphere, as one in most cases finds in such books that claim to unveil the mystery of the world beyond the books that claim to unveil the mystery of the world beyond the grave. The treatment of the chapters of this book is purely a scientific and rational one, and it has taken a new and novel departure from the prevailing methods and systems of the presentation of this subject.

Swami Abhedanaanadsa delivered from time to time a number of lectures on spiritualism in response to the initiations from many institutions like the free Religious Association of America, The Psychical Research society of America, the American Institute of Science, etc. The Swami w as once the President of the psychical Research Society of America. He was also well acquainted with the leading scientists, spiritualists, mediums and spirit communicators, during his long stay in America. He has many personal experiences about the departed spirits, sances, spirit communications and other subjects of spiritualism; he believed that most of the spirits are earth bound, as they are not free from desires and passions. Regarding the mediums, he has said that in most cases, the mediums are deprived of their mental and physical powers. Regarding ht sances, the Swami is of opinion that though the departed spirits communicate with the sance holder and with their near and dear ones and furnish information of their earthly and ethereal worlds, yet, in most cases, it has been found that all the information and talks, received from them, are not genuine or correct. So the Swami says that everything of the spirits should be examined with logical and scientific mid.

Regarding this present work, it can be said that it is absolutely free from prejudices and blindly biased views. It is a critical study of the science and practice of spiritualism with impartial or dispassionate views. It has shown wisely and ably the merits and the demerits and also the bright and dark sides of the fact and science of spiritualism. At the same time the learned Swami has clearly solved all the controversial points and problems of the theory of birth and rebirth of the souls, existence and pre existence of the souls, and immortality and eternality of the souls. In short, all the knotty problems of spiritualism or spiritism have been clearly explained and solved by this philosopher saint in the chapters of this book with remarkable characteristics of his own.

It can be said that Swami Abhedananda has neither blindly upheld, nor has totally denied or rejected the facts of the aspects of spiritualism. As for example, the Swami has said: “Although many of the professional mediums have been pitifully exposed as frauds, still there are genuine mediums and authentic manifestations which cannot be explained by telepathy or any other theory than that of the communications of the discarnate spirits. In many cases the audience is deceived by the earth bound spirits. The manifestations on the material plane, such as the table turning, the roping knocks of the spirits, are ordinarily understood by spiritualism, but all such phenomena belong to the lower class of spiritualism or spiritism, as it is called by many. Spiritism can only satisfy our curiosity and does not explain any of our vital questions. But true spiritualism should be distinguished from that phase which is, called spiritism. Higher spiritualism, therefore, is the name for that which starting from the belief in a life after death, reveals the nature of the soul and its relation to God” Further the Swami has said: “Within the last fifty years modern spiritualism has given wonderful demonstrations regarding the existence of disembodied spirits who continue to live even after the dissolution of their gross material forms. It has brought comfort and consolation to the hearts of many people, who were suffering from the evil effects of scepticism and unbelief, concerning the future life, caused by the dry theories of the atheistic, agnostic, and materialistic thinkers of the last century” But it is true, the Swami says that though the disembodied spirits satisfy some of the curiosities of the questioning people, yet they cannot do any real good or they cannot help in any way in the path of spiritual progress. As for example, the Swami says: “The genuine phenomena of spiritism may do some good in the way of satisfying the curiosity of certain people or of bringing the assurance that there is a life after death. They may foretell some petty, trivial events in connection with our business or daily life, but they cannot bring to us the highest wisdom and happiness which come to the soul through Divine communion. These spirits are not angels, as the spiritualism may encourage the hope of meeting the departed spirits of our friends and relatives, and may bring consolation in the mind of those that doubt their existence, but it cannot give us the realization of the absolute Truth, or the attainment of God consciousness”.

Swami Abhedananda, being a true philosopher and a man of realization, has surveyed everything of spiritualism or spiritism from the viewpoint of logic, reasoning, and science. He says that death is inevitable for all the living beings, and they are involved in the cycle of birth and death, until they realize their immortal soul or Atman. Spiritualism is only an open passage for receiving the information of the existence and pre existence of the soul and also of their eternality and immortality, but it cannot assure anyone, the blessings of knowledge of the absolute Brahman.

The Swami says that when a man passes from this material plane, he lives in the mental plane, and does everything through his mind with the impressions (samskaras) of the works he performed in the material plane and also with the countless impressions that are hoarded in the subconscious lair of the mind. The departed soul, sleeps there as it were in the spirit or mind world, and, regarding this sleep af