The Sword of Song

PENTECOST 31 Of thought ! How ends the brave B.D., Summarising Ontology ? “This talk of ‘Real’ is a wraith. Our minds are lost in war of word ; The whole affair is quite absurd— Behold ! the righteous claims of Faith !” (He does not rhyme you quite so neatly ; But that’s the sense of it, completely.) I do not feel myself inclined In spit of my irrevent mind, So lightly to pass by the schemes Of Fichte, Schelling, Hegel (one, Small though the apparent unison), As if they were mere drunken dreams ; For the first word in India here From Koromandl to Kashmir Says the same thing these Germans said : “Ekam Advaita !”44 one, not two ! Thus East and West from A to Z Agree—Alas ! so do not you ? (It matters nothing—you, I find, Are but a mode of my own mind.) As far as normal reasoning goes, I must admit my concepts close Exactly where my worthy friend, Great Mansel, says they ought to end. But here’s the whole thing in a word : Olympus in a nutshell ! I Have a superior faculty To reasoning, which makes absurd, Unthinkable and wicked too, A great deal that I know is true ! In short, the mind is capable, Besides mere ratiocination, Of twenty other things as well, The first of which is concentration ! Here most philosohers agree ; Claim that the truth must so intend, Explain at once all agony Of doubt, make people comprehend 350 355 260 365 370 375 380 385 The Advaitist position. Mind’s superior functions. Does truth make itself in- stantly appa- rent ? Not reason.