The Self -existent One projected the senses outwards and, therefore, a man looks outward, not within himself. A certain wise one, desiring immortality, with inverted senses, perceived the Self within.
The Vedas
Huh? Say what crazy lady?
I am assuming "the certain wise one" was one of those early rishis, possibly even patanjali. Anyway, what was discovered by this "certain wise one" supports teachings that apply to life today.
Most of humans have an outward focus...we use the energy of this amazing inner essence we do not understand because we do not take the time to explore It...to focus outwardly.
We then tend to very selectively bring the "external world" in to satisfy, numb, help us to soothe or distract from the mess we made inside (because we neglected it) through our senses. We depend heavily on what our senses pick up from the external world around us. We tend to look outward rather than inward for "peace". We have a "worldly" focus rather than a "spititual" one. We often call what is out there "reality" and what is in here "airy-fairy nonsense".
We live by the mantra: I am not okay inside and this might make me feel okay inside.
In order to find that which we think we can find "out there" we need to turn our gaze inward...away from the impermanent and constantly changing phenomena of the outside world to the 'Eternal Internal'. Everything in the physical world is fleeting, finite and just a reflection of reality. Everything in the Soul is eternal and true.
Vivekananda goes on to say that:
...the word used for the Soul is very significant: it is He who has gone inward, the innermost reality of our being, the heart centre, the core, from which, as it were, everything comes out; the central sun of which the mind, the body, the sense-organs and everything else we have are rays going outward.
This Truth found in the Atman/ Soul/ Deepest Core can flow from the inside out once we clear the path from all our human junk storage. When we go inward, with seeking Self as our goal, clearing and cleaning the path to that innermost part of all...the Soul [Sat Chit Ananda] can shine through onto the world.
Back to the Vedanta:
Men of childish intellect, ignorant persons, run after desires which are external,and enter the trap of far-reaching death, but the wise, understanding immortality, never seek for the Eternal in this life of finite things....
Vivekananda explains this to mean
...in this external world, which is full of finite things, it is impossible to see and find the Infinite. The Infinite must be sought in that alone which is infinite, and the only thing infinite about us is that which is within us, our own soul. Neither the body, nor the mind, not even our thoughts, nor the world we see around us, are infinite. The Seer, He to whom they all belong, the Soul of the man. He who is awake in the internal man, alone is infinite, and to seek for the Infinite Cause of this whole universe we must go there. In this Infinite Soul alone we can find it.
This that we are seeking-the Infinite ( whether we call it that or not): everlasting peace and happiness, fulfillment, the answers to Life's most pressing questions, God, Heaven, immortality is not found out there. It can only be found inside where the Soul resides.
As Michael Singer says,
If you can be okay inside no matter what is happening outside, you have transcended into a great being.
Moral of this rampage: Look inside!!!
All is well.
Micahel A. Singer/ Temple of the Universe/ Sounds True ( October 2, 2025) The Real Work: Letting Go from Within. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2ts8daBw98&list=PLyOuAoSmZkKoESr2acNWwhznusbBkKXsT&index=1&t=2s
Vivekananda (n.d.)2.5.9 Chapter 9: Unity in Diversity [from a lecture delivered on Novemeber 3, 1896] The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda . Kindle Edition
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