The Heartbeat of the Absolute

CHAPTER 1

All Is A Miracle
4 April 1971 am in Mt. Abu, Rajasthan, India

OM.
THAT IS WHOLE, AND THIS ALSO IS WHOLE.
FOR ONLY THE WHOLE IS BORN OUT OF THE WHOLE;
AND WHEN THE WHOLE IS TAKEN FROM THE WHOLE,
BEHOLD, THE REMAINDER IS WHOLE.
OM. PEACE, PEACE, PEACE.

The Ishavasya Upanishad begins and ends with this sutra, and in it is declared all that can ever
be said. It is quite unique. For those who fully understand it, no more is needed; the rest of the
Upanishad is for those who do not. Thus the peace prayer, which usually brings the Upanishad to its
close, is here invoked at the end of the very first sutra. And for those who have come to the peaks
of understanding, this is the end of the Ishavasya; but for those who are still climbing, it is only the
beginning.

Part of its uniqueness lies in the clarity with which it distinguishes between the Eastern and the
Western methods of thinking and reasoning. Two schools of reasoning have flourished in the
world – one in Greece, the other in India. The Greek system of logic gave birth to the whole of
Western science, while from the Indian system emerged religion. The first and most fundamental
of the differences between the two lies in the Western – Greek – method of progressing towards aconclusion. Whenever we seek the truth of a matter, an initial inquiry will lead via research to an
eventual conclusion; first, thought and inquiry, then conclusion.

The Indian way is exactly the opposite. India affirms that what we are going to investigate is always
there. It does not take shape as a result of our inquiry, but is already present even before our
investigation begins. The truth which will become manifest was there before we were in existence.
It was there before we discovered it just as much as it is there once we have done so. Truth is not
formed or constructed through our research; what research does is to bring it within the realm of our
experience. Truth is ever-present. That is why the Indian way of reasoning declares the conclusion
in the beginning, and afterwards discusses method and procedure; first conclusion, then method.
The Western way puts method first, then investigation, and finally conclusion.

One important point should be kept in mind: the Western method is very appropriate for those who
look for truth by thinking about it. This method of reasoning is like trying to find something on a dark
night with the help of a small lamp. The night is pitch black, and the light sheds its light dimly over
three or four feet of ground. Only a small patch is visible, most remains unseen; and conclusions
arrived at about that which is seen will be tentative. After a while, as one proceeds with the lamp, a
little more becomes visible, and it is needed to revise or change the conclusion. As one progresses
further and further, new things continuously become visible and so the conclusion is altered again
and again.

Following as it does the Greek school of logic, Western science can never reach a final conclusion.
All its conclusions are therefore tentative, temporary, and based on the knowledge acquired up to
the present time. If something new is discovered tomorrow, there will be a change in the conclusion.
That is why no truth arrived at by the West is absolute. It is not total. All its truths and conclusions
are imperfect. But truth can never be imperfect or incomplete, and whatever is imperfect will be
untruth. The conclusion we are required to alter tomorrow is in reality not the truth even today! It
simply appears to be the truth. That alone can be truth which we never need to change. So the
conclusions which are declared as truths by the West are really untruths based on the knowledge
acquired so far and needing alteration according to the knowledge obtained tomorrow.

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