Reason, Faith and Love

REASON, FAITH AND LOVE

[Swamiji had made the home of the Hale family his headquarters during almost all of 1894 before the pivot of his activities moved eastward to the Atlantic Coast. It was on George W. Hale's letter paper and thus, presumably, during one of his stays in the latter's home, that Swamiji jotted down in pencil a series of notes on the subjects of reason, faith, and love, which have recently come to light. Unfortunately the date of the manuscript cannot be accurately determined.]

Reason—has its limits—its base—

its degeneration. The walls round it—

Agnosticism. Atheism. But must not stop

The beyond is acting upon influencing us every

moment—the sky the stars acting upon us—even

those not seen. Therefore must go beyond—reason

alone can't go—finite cannot get at the infinite

Faith its degeneration when alone—bigotry

fanaticism—sectarianism. Narrowing

finite therefore cannot get to the infinite

Sometimes gain in intensity but loses in

extensity—and in bigots & fanatics become

worship of his own pride & vanity

Is there no other way—there is Love

it never degenerates—peaceful softening

ever widening—the universe is too small

for its expansiveness.

We cannot define it we can only trace

it through its development and describe its surroundings

It is at first—what the gravitation

is to the external world—a tendency to unification

forms and conventionalities are its death.

Worship through forms—methods—services

forms—up to then no love.

When love comes method dies.

Human language and human forms God as father, God as mother, God as

the lover—Surata-vardhanam etc. Solomon's Song of

Songs—Dependence and independence

Love Love—

Love the chaste wife—Anasuya Sita—

not as hard dry duty but as ever pleasing

love—Sita worship—

The madness of Love—God intoxicated man

The allegory of Radha—misunderstood

The restriction more increase—

Lust is the death of love

Self is the death of love

individual to general

Concrete to abstract—to absolute

The praying Mohammedan and the girl

The Sympathy—Kabir—

The Christian nun from whose hands blood came

The Mohammedan Saint

Every particle seeking its own complement

When it finds that it is at rest

Every man seeking—happiness—& stability

The search is real but the objects are themselves

but happiness is coming to them momentary at least

through the search of these objects.

The only object unchangeable and the only complement of character and

aspirations of the human Soul is God.

Love is struggle of a human Soul to find its

complement its stable equilibrium its infinite rest.

Reason—has its limits—its base—

its degeneration. The walls round it—

Agnosticism. Atheism. But must not stop

The beyond is acting upon influencing us every

moment—the sky the stars acting upon us—even

those not seen. Therefore must go beyond—reason

alone can't go—finite cannot get at the infinite

Faith its degeneration when alone—bigotry

fanaticism—sectarianism. Narrowing

finite therefore cannot get to the infinite

Sometimes gain in intensity but loses in

extensity—and in bigots & fanatics become

worship of his own pride & vanity

Is there no other way—there is Love

it never degenerates—peaceful softening

ever widening—the universe is too small

for its expansiveness.

We cannot define it we can only trace

it through its development and describe its surroundings

It is at first—what the gravitation

is to the external world—a tendency to unification

forms and conventionalities are its death.

Worship through forms—methods—services

forms—up to then no love.

When love comes method dies.

Human language and human forms God as father, God as mother, God as

the lover—Surata-vardhanam etc. Solomon's Song of

Songs—Dependence and independence

Love Love—

Love the chaste wife—Anasuya Sita—

not as hard dry duty but as ever pleasing

love—Sita worship—

The madness of Love—God intoxicated man

The allegory of Radha—misunderstood

The restriction more increase—

Lust is the death of love

Self is the death of love

individual to general

Concrete to abstract—to absolute

The praying Mohammedan and the girl

The Sympathy—Kabir—

The Christian nun from whose hands blood came

The Mohammedan Saint

Every particle seeking its own complement

When it finds that it is at rest

Every man seeking—happiness—& stability

The search is real but the objects are themselves

but happiness is coming to them momentary at least

through the search of these objects.

The only object unchangeable and the only complement of character and

aspirations of the human Soul is God.

Love is struggle of a human Soul to find its

complement its stable equilibrium its infinite rest.

Reason—has its limits—its base—

its degeneration. The walls round it—

Agnosticism. Atheism. But must not stop

The beyond is acting upon influencing us every

moment—the sky the stars acting upon us—even

those not seen. Therefore must go beyond—reason

alone can't go—finite cannot get at the infinite

Faith its degeneration when alone—bigotry

fanaticism—sectarianism. Narrowing

finite therefore cannot get to the infinite

Sometimes gain in intensity but loses in

extensity—and in bigots & fanatics become

worship of his own pride & vanity

Is there no other way—there is Love

it never degenerates—peaceful softening

ever widening—the universe is too small

for its expansiveness.

We cannot define it we can only trace

it through its development and describe its surroundings

It is at first—what the gravitation

is to the external world—a tendency to unification

forms and conventionalities are its death.

Worship through forms—methods—services

forms—up to then no love.

When love comes method dies.

Human language and human forms God as father, God as mother, God as

the lover—Surata-vardhanam etc. Solomon's Song of

Songs—Dependence and independence

Love Love—

Love the chaste wife—Anasuya Sita—

not as hard dry duty but as ever pleasing

love—Sita worship—

The madness of Love—God intoxicated man

The allegory of Radha—misunderstood

The restriction more increase—

Lust is the death of love

Self is the death of love

individual to general

Concrete to abstract—to absolute

The praying Mohammedan and the girl

The Sympathy—Kabir—

The Christian nun from whose hands blood came

The Mohammedan Saint

Every particle seeking its own complement

When it finds that it is at rest

Every man seeking—happiness—& stability

The search is real but the objects are themselves

but happiness is coming to them momentary at least

through the search of these objects.

The only object unchangeable and the only complement of character and

aspirations of the human Soul is God.

Love is struggle of a human Soul to find its

complement its stable equilibrium its infinite rest.