________________
erilo.ply of Sivilini Vivekananda
39
these actions are consumed in the present life, while some are stored for the future life.
Western thinker, Dr. McTaggart also explains this principle but in a different way. To quote him, “All is not lost with the loss of memory, and what is of value may be preserved as well as transcended."'3
Swami Vivekananda was more practical than an idealist. He considers human being as the manifested form of the Infinite. According to him, if we take the character of a man, it is really the aggregate of tendencies, the sum total of the activities of mind. Miseries and happiness both are equal factors in the formation of character of a man. Even good and evil have equal share in moulding the total character of a man. Sometimes miseries play more important part in the human life. "Misery is a greater teacher than happiness.''4
All the actions that we see in the world, all the movements in human society, are simply the display of human thought. Likewise, the will has its own manifestation on the human character. The inan of strong character can produce so many valuable actions. Gigantic souls are received by persistent work through ages. Such a gigantic will as that of Lord Buddha or Jesus Christ, could not be attained in one life. Millions and millions of carpenters like Joseph had gone, millions and millions are still living. Millions and millions of petty kings like Buddha's father had been in this world. If this is the case of only hereditary transmission, we cannot bridge the gulf between the carpenter and his son. It cannot be solved by the mere doctrine of heredity. In the view of Swamiji : “The gigantic will which Buddha and Jesus threw over the world, whence did it come? Whence came this accumulation of power ? It must have been there through ages and ages, continually growing bigger and bigger, until it brust on society in a Buddha or, a Jesus, ever rolling down to the present day."
According to Vivekananda, all these are determined by Karma. No one can get anything unless he earns it, for instance : a man may struggle all his life to become rich. He may cheat thousands in this process. But at last he finds that he does not deserve to become rich and so his life