53. The Dream of Materialism
The condition of the world, the strife and uncertainty that is
everywhere, the general dissatisfaction with and rebellion against
any and every situation shows that the ideal of material perfection
is an empty dream and proves the existence of an eternal Reality
beyond materiality; for if this Reality did not exist, the increased
material well-being of millions of people which science has
brought about would have produced contentment and satisfaction,
and the tremendous imagination science has projected into the
general consciousness would have let loose happiness. Man
thinks that there was never so much achievement and promise of
greater achievement as now; but the fact is there was never such
wide-spread distrust and dissatisfaction and misery. The promises
of science have been proved empty, and its vision false.
Reality alone is real; the only true thing that can be said is, Reality
exists and all that is not the Real has no existence except as
illusion. In their heart of hearts people know this and, although for
a time, they get beguiled by the false promises of illusion and
think of them as real, nothing else than the Real can satisfy them,
and they become fed up with the misery that the almost limitless
play of false imagination gradually brings about. This is the
condition of the general people now. Even I am fed up and
miserable. Why should I be so, when I am free? Because as the
Buddha said, 'I am eternally free and eternally bound.I am bound because of people's bondage, and fed up and
miserable because of their fed-upness and misery. The greatest
scientists themselves are becoming dismayed at the areas of
knowledge still beyond them and appalled at what their
discoveries may unleash. It will not be long now before they admit
the existence of this eternal Reality which men call God, and
which is unapproachable through the intellect.
The ordinary man, although he is completely fed up with being
cheated of the prize that materialism promises and appears to
deny the existence of God and to have lost faith in everything but
the immediate advantage, never really loses his inborn belief in
God and faith in the Reality which is beyond the illusion of the
moment. His apparent doubt and loss of faith is because of a
desperation of mind only, it does not touch his heart. Look at
Peter. He denied Christ. Desperation made his mind deny, but in
his heart he knew that Christ was what He was. The ordinary man
never loses faith. He is as one who climbs up a mountain a
certain distance and, experiencing cold and difficulty of breathing,
returns to the foot of the mountain. But the scientific mind goes on
up the mountain until its heart freezes and dies. But this mind is
becoming so staggered by the vastness still beyond it, that it will
be forced to admit the hopelessness of its quest and turn to God,
the Reality.
everywhere, the general dissatisfaction with and rebellion against
any and every situation shows that the ideal of material perfection
is an empty dream and proves the existence of an eternal Reality
beyond materiality; for if this Reality did not exist, the increased
material well-being of millions of people which science has
brought about would have produced contentment and satisfaction,
and the tremendous imagination science has projected into the
general consciousness would have let loose happiness. Man
thinks that there was never so much achievement and promise of
greater achievement as now; but the fact is there was never such
wide-spread distrust and dissatisfaction and misery. The promises
of science have been proved empty, and its vision false.
Reality alone is real; the only true thing that can be said is, Reality
exists and all that is not the Real has no existence except as
illusion. In their heart of hearts people know this and, although for
a time, they get beguiled by the false promises of illusion and
think of them as real, nothing else than the Real can satisfy them,
and they become fed up with the misery that the almost limitless
play of false imagination gradually brings about. This is the
condition of the general people now. Even I am fed up and
miserable. Why should I be so, when I am free? Because as the
Buddha said, 'I am eternally free and eternally bound.I am bound because of people's bondage, and fed up and
miserable because of their fed-upness and misery. The greatest
scientists themselves are becoming dismayed at the areas of
knowledge still beyond them and appalled at what their
discoveries may unleash. It will not be long now before they admit
the existence of this eternal Reality which men call God, and
which is unapproachable through the intellect.
The ordinary man, although he is completely fed up with being
cheated of the prize that materialism promises and appears to
deny the existence of God and to have lost faith in everything but
the immediate advantage, never really loses his inborn belief in
God and faith in the Reality which is beyond the illusion of the
moment. His apparent doubt and loss of faith is because of a
desperation of mind only, it does not touch his heart. Look at
Peter. He denied Christ. Desperation made his mind deny, but in
his heart he knew that Christ was what He was. The ordinary man
never loses faith. He is as one who climbs up a mountain a
certain distance and, experiencing cold and difficulty of breathing,
returns to the foot of the mountain. But the scientific mind goes on
up the mountain until its heart freezes and dies. But this mind is
becoming so staggered by the vastness still beyond it, that it will
be forced to admit the hopelessness of its quest and turn to God,
the Reality.
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