[Message] - Straight Talk on Religion - Swami Vivekananda

Straight Talk on Religion:

(Excerpts from The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda)

A man may believe in all the churches in the world, he may carry in his head all the sacred books ever written, he may baptize himself in all the rivers of the earth, still, if he has no perception of God, I would class him with the rankest atheist.

And a man may have never entered a church or a mosque, nor performed any ceremony, but if he feels God within himself and is thereby lifted above the vanities of the world, that man is a holy man, a saint, call him what you will.

As soon as a man stands up and says he is right or his church is right, and all others are wrong, he is himself all wrong. He does not know that upon the proof of all the others depends the proof of his own. Love and charity for the whole human race, that is the test of true religiousness. I do not mean the sentimental statement that all men are brothers, but that one must feel the oneness of human life.

So far as they are not exclusive, I see that the sects and creeds are all mine; they are all grand. They are all helping men towards the real religion. I will add, it is good to be born in a church, but it is bad to die there. It is good to be born a child, but bad to remain a child. Churches, ceremonies, and symbols are good for children, but when the child is grown, he must burst the church or himself.

We must not remain children for ever. It is like trying to fit one coat to all sizes and growths. I do not deprecate the existence of sects in the world. Would to God there were twenty millions more, for the more there are, there will be a greater field for selection. What I do object to is trying to fit one religion to every case.

Though all religions are essentially the same, they must have the varieties of form produced by dissimilar circumstances among different nations. We must each have our own individual religion, individual so far as the externals of it go.

Until the water comes out, it is all book, book. So until your religion makes you realize God, it is useless. He who only studies books for religion reminds one of the fable of the ass which carried a heavy load of sugar on its back, but did not know the sweetness of it."

The man at whose feet I sat all my life--and it is only a few ideas of his that I try to teach--could [hardly] write his name at all. All my life I have not seen another man like that, and I have traveled all over the world. When I think of that man, I feel like a fool, because I want to read books and he never did. He never wanted to lick the plates after other people had eaten. That is why he was his own book.

All my life I am repeating what Jack said and John said, and never say anything myself. What glory is it that you know what John said twenty-five years ago and what Jack said five years ago? Tell me what you have to say.

Mind you, there is no value in learning. You are all mistaken in learning. The only value of knowledge is in the strengthening, the disciplining, of the mind. By all this eternal swallowing it is a wonder that we are not all dyspeptics. Let us stop, and burn all the books, and get hold of ourselves, and think.

You all talk [about] and get distracted over losing your "individuality". You are losing it every moment of your lives by this eternal swallowing. If any one of you believes what I teach, I will be sorry. I will only be too glad if I can excite in you the power of thinking for yourselves.... My ambition is to talk to men and women, not to sheep.

By men and women, I mean individuals. You are not little babies to drag all the filthy rags from the street and bind them up into a doll!

This is a place for learning! That man is placed in the university! He knows all about what Mr. Blank said!" But Mr. Bland said nothing! If I had the choice, I would ... say to the professor, "Get out! You are nobody!" Remember this individualism at any cost! Think wrong if you will, no matter whether you get truth or not. The whole point is to discipline the mind. That truth which you swallow from others will not be yours. You cannot teach truth from my mouth; neither can you learn truth from my mouth. None can teach another.

You have to realize truth and work it out for yourself according to your own nature. ... All must struggle to be individuals--strong, standing on your own feet, thinking your own thoughts, realizing your own Self. No use swallowing doctrines others pass on--standing up together like soldiers in jail, sitting down together, all eating the same food, all nodding their heads at the same time. Variation is the sign of life. Sameness is the sign of death.

Once I was in an Indian city, and an old man came to me. He said, "Swami, teach me the way." I saw that that man was as dead as this table before me. Mentally and spiritually he was really dead. I said, "Will you do what I ask you to do? Can you steal? Can you drink wine? Can you eat meat?"

The man [exclaimed], "What are you teaching!"

I said to him, "Did this wall ever steal? Did the wall ever drink wine?"

"No, sir."

Man steals, and he drinks wine, and becomes God. "I know you are not the wall, my friend. Do something! Do something!" I saw that if that man stole, his soul would be on the way to salvation.

How do I know that you are individuals--all saying the same thing, all standing up and sitting down together? That is the road to death! Do something for your souls! Do wrong if you please, but do something! You will understand me by and by, if you do not just now. Old age has come upon the soul, as it were. If has become rusty. The rust must be [rubbed off], and then we go on. Now you understand why there is evil in the world. Go home and think of that, just to take off that rustiness!

(Collected from various lectures and talks from the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda)

Thanks to Swami Vivekananda Group Facebook.

[Swami Vivekananda] - Build up Your Character & Manifest your Real Nature

                                                     If I teach you, therefore, that your nature is evil, that you should go home and sit in sackcloth and ashes and weep your lives out because you took certain false steps, it will not help you, but will weaken you all the more, and I shall be showing you the road to more evil than good. If this room is full of darkness for thousands of years and you come in and begin to weep and wail, "Oh the darkness", will the darkness vanish? Strike a match and light comes in a moment. What good will it do you to think all your lives, "Oh, I have done evil, I have made many mistakes"? It requires no ghost to tell us that. Bring in the light and the evil goes in a moment. Build up your character, and manifest your real nature, the Effulgent, the Resplendent, the Ever-Pure, and call It up in everyone that you see.

 - Swami Vivekananda
 The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 2/Practical Vedanta and other lectures/Practical Vedanta: Part IV


 Thanks to Inspiring Stories Group of Facebook

[Quotes] - Who Build highways for others with their heart's Blood. - Swami Vivekananda.

       Will such a day come when this life will go for the sake of other's good? The world is not a child's play — and great men are those who build highways for others with their heart's blood. This has been taking place through eternity, that one builds a bridge by laying down his own body and thousands of others cross the river through its help. " Shiva!"


- Swami Vivekananda
25th September, 1894 NEW YORK
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 6/Epistles - Second Series/XLVII Brother disciples




* Thanks to Inspiratinal Messages group

[Swami Vivekananda] [Inspiring Messages] - I AM FEAR OF FEAR, THE TERROR OF TERROR

I AM FEAR OF FEAR, THE TERROR OF TERROR

" All blessings on you. You come of the blood of a Kshatriya. Our yellow garb is the robe of death on the field of battle. Death for the cause is our goal, not success. Shri wah Guru! . . .

Black and thick are the folds of sinister fate. But I am the master. I raise my hand, and lo, they vanish! All this is nonsense. And fear? I am the Fear of fear, the Terror of terror, I am the fearless secondless One, I am the Rule of destiny, the Wiper-out of fact. Shri wah Guru! Steady, child, don't be bought by gold or anything else, and we win! "

- Swami Vivekananda
26th May, 1900.



* Above content received from Facebook Inspirational Stories & Speeches, Thanks

[Stories] - Energy Expands

Your thoughts become energy. If your thoughts are negative, the energy
is negative; if positive, then the energy is positive. When emotions
become involved with the thoughts, the energy is even stronger. The
energy, however, doesn’t remain dormant — it expands. It expands each
time you think your thought. For example, “I want to buy a new home.”
The more you think this thought, the energy expands and builds, and
the stronger the thought becomes. Dreaming of your “want” builds the
energy more.

As energy builds and gains strength, it begins to attract like energy.
Like a magnet, the energy attracts other like matter to it. Since the
energy is inside you, it attracts the like matter to you. If your
thoughts lean toward the negative, then you are attracting negative
matter — dead end jobs, horrible bosses, bad relationships, never
achieving that which you most want, constant struggle, conflicts,
built up anger, and so on. Whereas, if your thoughts are positive, you
attract positive outcomes and situations.

As you can see, negative thoughts and energy weaken you and your
ability to achieve. Positive thoughts and energy empower you. Whatever
you think, you attract back to you in greater degrees. Literally, your
thoughts do create your reality. Evidence is all around you. Are your
thoughts negative or positive? Do negative or positive situations,
events and people surround you?

Source: Change Your Mind, Change Your Life

Whatever you think that you become.If you have to think ,think good
thoughts,great thoughts - Swami Vivekananda


* Thanks to HolyTrio Google Groups

[Messages] - Practical Vedanta - Swami Vivekananda

There is this strongly conservative tendency in human nature: we do not like to move one step forward. I think of mankind just as I read of persons who become frozen in snow; all such, they say, want to go to sleep, and if you try to drag them up, they say, "Let me sleep; it is so beautiful to sleep in the snow", and ...

[Messages] - Power of Thought (Swami Vivekananda)

Blame none for your own faults, stand upon your own feet, and take the whole responsibility upon yourselves. Say, “This misery that I am suffering is of my own doing, and that very thing proves that it will have to be undone by me alone.” That which I created, I can demolish; that which is created by someone else I shall never be able to destroy.

God gave me Everything

When I Asked God for Strength
He Gave Me Difficult Situations to Face

When I Asked God for Brain & Brown
He Gave Me Puzzles in Life to Solve

When I Asked God for Happiness
He Showed Me Some Unhappy People

When I Asked God for Wealth
He Showed Me How to Work Hard

When I Asked God for Favors
He Showed Me Opportunities to Work Hard

When I Asked God for Peace
He Showed Me How to Help Others

God Gave Me Nothing I Wanted
He Gave Me Everything I Needed
 
 
- Swami Vivekananda

[Messages] - நம்மை நாமே செதுக்கிக் கொள்ளல் - சுவாமி விவேகானந்தர்

சுவாமி விவேகானந்தர் கூறியவைகளை, உன் எதிர்காலம் உன் கையில் என்ற புத்தகமாகத் தொகுத்து ஸ்ரீராமகிருஷ்ண மடம் வெளியிட்டுள்ளது.


அந்த புத்தகத்தில் இடம்பெற்றிருப்பவற்றை தமிழ்.வெப்துனியா.காம் வாசகர்களுக்காக அளிக்கின்றோம்.

மனிதனின் வெளிப்பொறிகள் அமைந்துள்ள இந்த உடல் தூலவுடல் எனப்படுகிறது. சமஸ்கிருதத்தில் இதை ஸ்தூல சரீரம் என்பர். இதற்குப் பின்னால்தான் புலன், மனம், புத்தி, நான் - உணர்வு என்ற தொடர் அமைகிறது. இவையும், உயிர்ச் சக்திகளும் இணைந்த ஒன்றே நுண்ணுடல் அல்லது சூட்சும சரீரம். இந்தச் சச்திகள் மிக நுட்பமான அணுக்களால் ஆனவை. எத்தகைய தீங்கு ஏற்பட்டாலும் இந்த உடம்பு அழியாத அளவுக்கு அவை நுட்பமானவை. எந்த விதமான கேடும் அதிர்ச்சியும் சூட்சும உடலைப் பாதிப்பதில்லை.

நம் கண்ணுக்குப் புலனாவதான தூலவுடல் பருப்பொருளால் ஆனது. எனவே அது தொடர்ந்து புதுப்பிக்கப்படுகிறது. மாறுபடுகிறது. உட்கருவிகளான மனம், புத்தி, நான் - உணர்வு என்பவை மிக மிக நுட்பமான பொருளால் ஆனவை. எனவே பல யுகங்களானாலும் அவை அழியாமல் இருக்கும். வேறு எதுவுமே தடை சய்ய முடியாத அளவிற்கு நுட்பமானவை இவை. இவை எந்தத் தடைகளையும் கடந்துவிடும். இந்தத் தூலவுடல் அறிவற்றது, நுண்ணுடலும் அதுபோன்றது தான். ஆனால் இது சற்று நுட்பமான ஜடப்பொருளால் ஆக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

webdunia photo WD
இந்த நுண்ணுடலின் ஒரு பகுதி மனம், ஒரு பகுதி புத்தி, ஒரு பகுதி நான் - உணர்வு. ஆனாலும் இவற்றில் எந்த ஒன்றும் `அறிபவன்' ஆக முடியாது. இவற்றுள் எதுவும் பார்ப்பவனாக, சாட்சியாக, யாருக்காக அறிவுச் செயல் நடக்கிறதோ அவனாக, நடக்கும் செயலைப் பார்ப்பவனாக ஆக முடியாது. மனத்திலும் புத்தியிலும் நான் - உணர்விலும் ஏறப்டும் இயக்கங்கள் எல்லாம் இவை அல்லாத வேறு யாருக்காகவோதான் இருக்க வேண்டும். இவை நுட்பமான ஜடப்பொருள் அணுக்களால் ஆனவை. ஆதலால் தன்னொளி உடையவையாக இருக்க முடியாது. இவற்றின் ஒளி இவற்றிற்குச் சொந்தமானதாக இருக்க முடியாது. எடுத்துக்காட்டாக இந்த மேஜையை எந்த ஜடப் பொருளும் உருவாக்கியிருக்க முடியாது. எனவே இவற்றிற்கெல்லாம் பின்னால் யாரோ ஒருவர் இருக்க வேண்டும், இவரே எல்லா தோற்றங்களுக்கும் உண்மைக் காரணமானவர். உண்மையாகவே எல்லாவற்றையும் அனுபவிப்பவர். இவரையே வடமொழியில் ஆத்மன் என்கிறார்கள். இவரே மனிதனின் உண்மை ஆன்மா.

உடல் ஒவ்வொரு நிமிடமும் அழிந்து கொண்டே இருக்கிறது. மனமோ தொடர்ந்து மாறியபடி இருக்கிறது. உடல் பலவற்றின் சேர்க்கை, மனமும் அத்தகையதே, எனவே இவை எல்லா மாறுதல்களுக்கும் அப்பாற்பட்ட நிலையை அடைய முடியாது. ஆனால் தூலப் பொருளான இந்த மெல்லிய உறையையும், இதற்கு அப்பாலுள்ள மனம் என்ற நுட்பமான உறையையும் தாண்டி இருக்கிறது ஆன்மா. இதுவே மனிதனது உண்மைத் தத்துவம். இது நிலையானது. என்றுமே பந்தப்படாதது. இதன் அழியாமை, சுதந்திரம் ஆகிய தன்மைகளே எண்ணம், ஜடப் பொருள் போன்ற போர்வைகளை ஊடுருவி, பெயர் உருவம் என்ற நிறங்களைக் கடந்து, சுதந்திரம் அழியாமை என்ற தன்மைகளை வற்புறுத்தி நிற்கிறது.

மிகவும் தடித்த அஞ்ஞானம் என்ற போர்வைகளையும் ஊடுருவி இந்த ஆன்மாவின் அழிவின்மையும், ஆனந்தமும், அமைதியும், தெய்வீகமும் பிரகாசித்து, நாம் இவற்றை உணரும்படிச் செய்கின்றன. ஆன்மாதான் உண்மை மனிதன். அவன் பயமும் அழிவும் பந்தமும் அற்றவன்.

வெளிச்சக்தி எதுவும் பாதிக்க முடியாத போது, எந்த மாறுதல்களையும் உண்டாக்க இயலாதபோதுதான் சுதந்திரம் என்பது இருக்க முடியும். எல்லா நியதிகளுக்கும், எல்லா எல்லைகளுக்கும், எல்லா விதிகளுக்கும், காரண காரியம் எல்லாவற்றிற்கும் அப்பால்தான் சுதந்திரம் என்பது இருக்க முடியும்.

எனவே எந்த வகை மாறுதலுக்கும் உட்படாததுதான் சுதந்திரமாகவும் அழிவற்றதாகவும் இருக்க முடியும். இருக்கின்ற இதுதான் அதாவது மனிதனது உண்மைத் தத்துவம்தான் ஆன்மா. இது மாறுதல் இல்லாதது, கட்டுப்பாடுகளுக்கு உட்படாதது. எனவே இதற்குப் பிறப்பும் இல்லை, இறப்பும் இல்லை.

ஒவ்வொரு மனித ஆளுமையையும் ஒரு கண்ணாடிக் கோளத்திற்கு ஒப்பிடலாம். ஒவ்வொன்றின் நடுவிலும் இறைவனிடமிருந்து வெளிப்படும் தூய வெள்ளொளி இருக்கிறது. ஆனால் கண்ணாடிகள் பல நிறங்களிலும், பல கனங்களிலும் இருப்பதால் வெளிவரும் கதிர்கள் பல்வேறு தோற்றங்களைப் பெறுகின்றன. எல்லா நடு ஒளிகளும் ஒரே மாதிரியானவை, ஒரே அழகைக் கொண்டவை, வித்தியாசமாகத் தோன்றுவதற்குக் காரணம் அது வெளிப்படுகின்ற புறக் கருவிகளில் உள்ள குறைபாடுகளே. நாம் மேலே உயர உயர, அந்தக் கருவி மேலும் தெளிவாக ஒளி வீசும் தன்மையை அடைகிறது.

நன்றி : ஸ்ரீராமகிருஷ்ண மடம், மயிலாப்பூர், சென்னை - 4.

சுவாமி விவேகானந்தரின் பொன்மொழிகள்

ஒரு முறை சுவாமிஜி இருக்கும் மடத்திற்கு வந்த ஒரு சீடர் அங்கே இருந்த களஞ்சியப் புத்தகங்களின் தொகுதியை ஆச்சரியத்துடன் பார்த்துக்கொண்டிருந்தார்.

அவர் விவேகானந்தரிடம் வியப்புடன் கூறினார் ' இந்தப் புத்தகங்கள் எல்லாவற்றையும் ஒரு பிறவியில் படித்து முடிப்பது இயலாத காரியம்' என்றார். சுவாமி விவேகானந்தரோ அந்தப் புத்தகங்களில் பத்துப் பகுதிகளை முடித்துவிட்டுப் பதினோராம் பகுதியைப் படித்துக் கொண்டிருக்கிறார் என்பது சீடருக்குத் தெரியாது.

சுவாமி விவேகானந்தரோ அந்த சீடரிடம் ' என்ன சொல்கிறா நீ? முதல் பத்துப் பகுதிகளில் என்ன கேள்வி வேண்டுமானாலும் கேள். நான் பதில் சொல்கிறேன்?' என்றார்.

சீடரோ திகைப்புடன் ' என்ன, இந்த நூல்களை எல்லாம் படித்து விட்டீர்களா?' என்றார்.

சுவாமிஜியோ 'படிக்காமல் கேள்வி கேட்கச் சொல்வேனா? என்றார்.

சீடர் சுவாமிஜி சொல்வதால் அவரிடம் புத்தகத்தில் முதல் பத்துப் பகுதிகளிலிருந்து வெவ்வேறு விதமாக பல கேள்விகளை வெவ்வேறு பக்கங்களிலிருந்தும் கேட்டார்.

சுவாமிஜியோ அசராமல் அனைத்திற்கும் பதிலும் விளக்கமும் சில இடங்களில் அந்த புத்தகத்தின் மொழியிலேயே அவற்றை எடுத்துக் கூறி அசர வைத்தார்.

சீடர் புத்தகத்தை வைத்து விட்டு 'இது மனித ஆற்றலால் முடியாத காரியம்!' என்றார்.

ஆனால் சுவாமிஜியோ 'ஏன் முடியாது. இதோ பார், பிரம்மச்சரியத்தை (கட்டுக்கோப்பான ஒழுக்கத்தையும் தியானத்தையும் வழுவாமல் கடைபிடித்தல்) ஒழுங்காக கடைப்பிடிப்பது ஒன்றால் மட்டுமே எல்லா கலைகளும் கணநேரத்தில் கைவசப்படும்; ஒருமுறை கேட்பவற்றைத் தவறின்றி நினைவில் கொள்ளவும், மீண்டும் அதை அப்படியே ஒப்பிக்கவும் முடியும். இத்தகைய பிரம்மச்சரியம் இல்லாமையால் தான் நமது நாட்டில் எல்லாம் அழிவின் எல்லைக்கே வந்துவிட்டன' என்றார்.

இந்த பிரம்மச்சரியத்தை கடைபிடிப்பதால் உண்டாகும் சக்தியை பற்றி சுவாமி விவேகானந்தர் மேற்கொண்டு விளக்குகிறார். குறைவாகவோ அதிகமாகவோ ஒவ்வொரு மனிதனிடமும் ஓஜஸ் (மனித ஆற்றல் அனைத்தும் ஓர் இடத்தில் குவியும் சக்தி) சேமித்து வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

உடலில் செயல்படுகின்ற எல்லா ஆற்றல்களும் அவற்றின் மிகவுயர்ந்த நிலையில் ஓஜஸாக மாறுகின்றன. ஒரு சக்திதான் இன்னொரு சக்தியாக மாறுகிறது என்பதை மனதில் கொள்ள வேண்டும். வெளியில் மின்சாரமாக, காந்த சக்தியாகச் செயல்படுகின்ற அதே சக்தி தான் அகச் சக்தியாக மாறுகிறது. தசைச் சக்தியாக செயல்படுபவைதாம் ஓஜஸாக மாறுகிறது. அதே சக்தி தான் பாலுறவு சக்தியாக, பாலுணர்ச்சியாக வெளிப்படுகிறது.

இவ்வகையில் வெளிப்படும் சக்தியை கட்டுப்படுத்தினால் எளிதில் ஓஜஸாக மாறுகிறது. நம்மிடம் இருப்பது ஒரே சக்தி தான். அதை தான் நாம் பல்வேறு நிலைகளில் உபயோகிக்கிறோம். எனவே எவ்வெவற்றிர்கு சக்தியை செலவிடவேண்டும் என்பதில் தெளிவு பெற வேண்டும்.

ஒழுக்கமுடைய ஆண்களும் பெண்களும் மட்டுமே ஓஜஸை மேலே எடுத்துச் சென்று மூளையில் சேமிக்க முடியும். அதனால் தான் பிரம்மச்சரியம் மிகச் சிறந்த ஒழுக்கமாகக் கருதப்படுகிறது. பிரம்மச்சரியத்திலிருந்து வழுவினால் ஒருவனிடமிருந்து ஆன்மீகம் நீங்கி விடுவதையும் மனவலிமையையும் ஒழுக்க வீரியத்தையும் அவன் இழந்துவிடுவதையும் உணர முடியும்.

இந்தக் காரணத்தினால் தான் பெரிய ஆன்மீக வீரர்களைத் தந்துள்ள எல்லா மதங்களும் சிறிதும் வழுவாத பிரம்மச்சரியத்தை எப்போதும் வற்புறுத்துவதைக் காண்கிறோம். இதே காரணத்தினால் தான், திருமணம் செய்து கொள்ளாத துறவியர் தோன்றினர்.

எண்ணம், சொல், செயல் அனைத்திலும் அப்பழுக்கற்ற பிரம்மச்சரியம் (கட்டுக்கோப்பான ஒழுக்கத்தையும் தியானத்தையும் வழுவாமல் கடைபிடித்தல்) அவசியம்.

- சுவாமி விவேகானந்தர்.

[Messages] - From Complete works of Swami Vivekananda (RAJA YOGA LESSONS)

Three things are necessary to the student who wishes to succeed in attaining god.

First. Give up all ideas of enjoyment in this world and the next, care only for God and Truth. We are here to know truth, not for enjoyment. Leave that to brutes who enjoy as we never can. Man is a thinking being and must struggle on until he conquers death, until he sees the light. He must not spend himself in vain talking that bears no fruit. Worship of society and popular opinion is idolatry. The soul has no sex, no country, no place, no time.

Second. Intense desire to know Truth and God. Be eager for them, long for them, as a drowning man longs for breath. Want only God, take nothing else, let not "seeming" cheat you any longer. Turn from all and seek only God.

Third. The six trainings: First — Restraining the mind from going outward. Second — Restraining the senses. Third — Turning the mind inward. Fourth — Suffering everything without murmuring. Fifth — Fastening the mind to one idea. Take the subject before you and think it out; never leave it. Do not count time. Sixth — Think constantly of your real nature. Get rid of superstition. Do not hypnotise yourself into a belief in your own inferiority. Day and night tell yourself what you really are, until you realise (actually realise) your oneness with God.

Without these disciplines, no results can be gained.

We can be conscious of the Absolute, but we can never express It. The moment we try to express It, we limit It and It ceases to be Absolute.

We have to go beyond sense limit and transcend even reason, and we have the power to do this.

Source: http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_8/vol_8_frame.htm

[Messages] - Swami Vivekananda Concluding remarks in Parliament of Religion

The seed is put in the ground, and earth and air and water are placed around it. Does the seed become the earth; or the air, or the water? No. It becomes a plant, it develops after the law of its own growth, assimilates the air, the earth, and the water, converts them into plant substance, and grows into a plant.

Similar is the case with religion. The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth.

If the Parliament of Religions has shown anything to the world it is this: It has proved to the world that holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this evidence, if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be written, in spite of resistance: "Help and not Fight," "Assimilation and not Destruction," "Harmony and Peace and not Dissension."

- Swami Vivekanada

* Thanks to Holy Trio Google Groups.

[Quotes] - How to attain Freedom - Swami Vivekananda.

There is only one way to attain that infinite freedom, and that is by giving up this little life, giving up this little universe, giving up this earth, giving up heaven, giving up the body, giving up the mind, giving up everything that is limited and conditioned. If we give up our attachment to this little universe of the sense or of the mind, we shall be free immediately. The only way to come out of bondage is to go beyond the limitations of law, to go beyond causation

Class on Karma Yoga. New York, January 10, 1896. Complete Works, 1.97.

The Drop of Water Who Wept - Small Story

The Drop of Water Who Wept

Swami Vivekananda said :



One day a drop of water fell into the vast ocean. When it found itself there, it began to weep and complain.

The great ocean laughed at the drop of water. 'Why do you weep?' it asked. `I do not understand. When you join me, you join all your brothers and sisters, the other drops of water of which I am made. You become the ocean itself. If you wish to leave me, you have only to rise up on a sunbeam into the clouds. From there you can descend again, little drop of water, a blessing and a benediction to the thirsty earth.'

[As told to the opera singer, Emma Calve who was repulsed at the thought of the loss of her ego/individuality.(from her autobiography, My Life), 1922, Appleton]

Thanks to Uttishthata group

Interview With Swami Vivekananda -THE ABROAD AND THE PROBLEMS AT HOME

[Our representative met the Swami Vivekananda in the train at the Chingleput Station and travelled with him to Madras. The following is the report of the interview]


Q.- "What made you go to America, Swamiji?"

Swami Vivekananda- "Rather a serious question to answer in brief. I can only answer it partly now. Because I travelled all over India, I wanted to go over to other countries. I went to America by the Far East."

Q.- "What did you see in Japan, and is there any chance of India following in the progressive steps of Japan?"

Swami Vivekananda- "None whatever, until all the three hundred millions of India combine together as a whole nation. The world has never seen such a patriotic and artistic race as the Japanese, and one special feature about them is this that while in Europe and elsewhere Art generally goes with dirt, Japanese Art is Art plus absolute cleanliness. I would wish that every one of our young men could visit Japan once at least in his lifetime. It is very easy to go there. The Japanese think that everything Hindu is great and believe that India is a holy land. Japanese Buddhism is entirely different from what you see in Ceylon. It is the same as Vedanta. It is positive and theistic Buddhism, not the negative atheistic Buddhism of Ceylon.

Q.- "What is the key to Japan's sudden greatness?"

Swami Vivekananda- "The faith of the Japanese in themselves, and their love for their country. When you have men who are ready to sacrifice their everything for their country, sincere to the backbone ” when such men arise, India will become great in every respect. It is the men that make the country! What is there in the country? If you catch the social morality and the political morality of the Japanese, you will be as great as they are. The Japanese are ready to sacrifice everything for their country, and they have become a great people. But you are not; you cannot be, you sacrifice everything only for your own families and possessions."

Q.- "Is it your wish that India should become like Japan?"

Swami Vivekananda- "Decidedly not. India should continue to be what she is. How could India ever become like Japan, or any nation for the matter of that? In each nation, as in music, there is a main note, a central theme, upon which all others turn. Each nation has a theme: everything else is secondary. India's theme is religion. Social reform and everything else are secondary. Therefore India cannot be like Japan. It is said that when 'the heart breaks', then the flow of thought comes. India's heart must break, and the flow of spirituality will come out. India is India. We are not like the Japanese, we are Hindus. India's very atmosphere is soothing. I have been working incessantly here, and amidst this work I am getting rest. It is only from spiritual work that we can get rest in India. If your work is material here, you die of ” diabetes!"

Q.- "So much for Japan. What was your first experience of America, Swamiji?"

Swami Vivekananda- "From first to last it was very good. With the exception of the missionaries and 'Church-women' the Americans are most hospitable, kind-hearted, generous, and good-natured."

Q.- "Who are these 'Church-women' that you speak of, Swamiji?"

Swami Vivekananda- "When a woman tries her best to find a husband, she goes to all the fashionable seaside resorts and tries all sorts of tricks to catch a man. When she fails in her attempts, she becomes, what they call in America, an 'old maid', and joins the Church. Some of them become very 'Churchy'. These 'Church-women' are awful fanatics. They are under the thumb of the priests there. Between them and the priests they make hell of earth and make a mess of religion. With the exception of these, the Americans are a very good people. They loved me, and I love them a great deal. I felt as if I was one of them."

Q.- "What is your idea about the results of the Parliament of Religions?"

Swami Vivekananda- "The Parliament of Religions, as it seems to me, was intended for a 'heathen show' before the world: but it turned out that the heathens had the upper hand and made it a Christian show all around. So the Parliament of Religions was a failure from the Christian standpoint, seeing that the Roman Catholics, who were the organisers of that Parliament, are, when there is a talk of another Parliament at Paris, now steadily opposing it. But the Chicago Parliament was a tremendous success for India and Indian thought. It helped on the tide of Vedanta, which is flooding the world. The American people ” of course,minus the fanatical priests and Church-women ” are very glad of the results of the Parliament."

Q.- "What prospects have you, Swamiji, for the spread of your mission in England?"

Swami Vivekananda- "There is every prospect. Before many years elapse a vast majority of the English people will be Vedantins. There is a greater prospect of this in England than there is in America. You see, Americans make a fanfaronade of everything, which is not the case with Englishmen. Even Christians cannot understand their New Testament, without understanding the Vedanta. The Vedanta is the rationale of all religions. Without the Vedanta every religion is superstition; with it everything becomes religion."

Q.-"What is the special trait you noticed in the English character?"

Swami Vivekananda- "The Englishman goes to practical work as soon as he believes in something. He has tremendous energy for practical work. There is in the whole world no human being superior to the English gentleman or lady. That is really the reason of my faith in them. John Bull is rather a thick-headed gentleman to deal with. You must push and push an idea till it reaches his brain, but once there, it does not get out. In England, there was not one missionary or anybody who said anything against me; not one who tried to make a scandal about me. To my astonishment, many of my friends belong to the Church of England. I learn, these missionaries do not come from the higher classes in England. Caste is as rigorous there as it is here, and the English churchmen belong to the class of gentlemen. They may differ in opinion from you, but that is no bar to their being friends with you; therefore, I would give a word of advice to my countrymen, which is, not to take notice of the vituperative missionaries, now that I have known that they are. We have 'sized' them, as the Americans say. Non-recognition is the only attitude to assume towards them."

Q.- "Will you kindly enlighten me, Swamiji, on the Social Reform movements in America and England?"

Swami Vivekananda- "Yes. All the social upheavalists, at least the leaders of them, are trying to find that all their communistic or equalising theories must have a spiritual basis, and that spiritual basis is in the Vedanta only. I have been told by several leaders, who used to attend my lectures, that they required the Vedanta as the basis of the new order of things."

Q.- "What are your views with regard to the Indian masses?"

Swami Vivekananda- "Oh, we are awfully poor, and our masses are very ignorant about secular things. Our masses are very good because poverty here is not a crime. Our masses are not violent. Many times I was near being mobbed in America and England, only on account of my dress. But I never heard of such a thing in India as a man being mobbed because of peculiar dress. In every other respect, our masses are much more civilised than the European masses."

Q.- "What will you propose for the improvement of our masses?"

Swami Vivekananda- "We have to give them secular education. We have to follow the plan laid down by our ancestors, that is, to bring all the ideals slowly down among the masses. Raise them slowly up, raise them to equality. Impart even secular knowledge through religion."

Q.- "But do you think, Swamiji, it is a task that can be easily accomplished?"

Swami Vivekananda- "It will, of course, have gradually to be worked out. But if there are enough self-sacrificing young fellows, who, I hope, will work with me, it can be done tomorrow. It all depends upon the zeal and the self-sacrifice brought to the task."

Q.- "But if the present degraded condition is due to their past Karma, Swamiji, how do you think they could get out of it easily, and how do you propose to help them?"

The Swamiji readily answered "Karma is the eternal assertion of human freedom. If we can bring ourselves down by our Karma, surely it is in our power to raise ourselves by it. The masses, besides, have not brought themselves down altogether by their own Karma. So we should give them better environments to work in. I do not propose any levelling of castes. Caste is a very good thing. Caste is the plan we want to follow. What caste really is, not one in a million understands. There is no country in the world without caste. In India, from caste we reach to the point where there is no caste. Caste is based throughout on that principle. The plan in India is to make everybody a Brahmin, the Brahmin being the ideal of humanity.

If you read the history of India you will find that attempts have always been made to raise the lower classes. Many are the classes that have been raised. Many more will follow till the whole will become Brahmin. That is the plan. We have only to raise them without bringing down anybody. And this has mostly to be done by the Brahmins themselves, because it is the duty of every aristocracy to dig its own grave; and the sooner it does so, the better for all. No time should be lost. Indian caste is better than the caste which prevails in Europe or America. I do not say it is absolutely good. Where would you be if there were no caste? Where would be your learning and other things, if there were no caste? There would be nothing left for the Europeans to study if caste had never existed! The Mohammedans would have smashed everything to pieces. Where do you find the Indian society standing still? It is always on the move. Sometimes, as in the times of foreign invasions, the movement has been slow, at other times quicker. This is what I say to my countrymen. I do not condemn them. I look into their past. I find that under the circumstances no nation could do more glorious work. I tell them that they have done well. I only ask them to do better."

Q.- "What are your views, Swamiji, in regard to the relation of caste to rituals?"

Swami Vivekananda- "Caste is continually changing, rituals are continually changing, so are forms. It is the substance, the principle, that does not change. It is in the Vedas that we have to study our religion. With the exception of the Vedas every book must change. The authority of the Vedas is for all time to come; the authority of every one of our other books is for the time being. For instance; one Smriti is powerful for one age, another for another age. Great prophets are always coming and pointing the way to work. Some prophets worked for the lower classes, others like Madhva gave to women the right to study the Vedas. Caste should not go; but should only be readjusted occasionally. Within the old structure is to be found life enough for the building of two hundred thousand new ones. It is sheer nonsense to desire the abolition of caste. The new method is ” evolution of the old."

Q.- "Do not Hindus stand in need of social reform?"

Swami Vivekananda- "We do stand in need of social reform. At times great men would evolve new ideas of progress, and kings would give them the sanction of law. Thus social improvements had been in the past made in India, and in modern times to effect such progressive reforms, we will have first to build up such an authoritative power. Kings having gone, the power is the people's. We have, therefore, to wait till the people are educated, till they understand their needs and are ready and able to solve their problems. The tyranny of the minority is the worst tyranny in the world. Therefore, instead of frittering away our energies on ideal reforms, which will never become practical, we had better go to the root of the evil and make a legislative body, that is to say, educate our people, so that they may be able to solve their own problems. Until that is done all these ideal reforms will remain ideals only. The new order of things is the salvation of the people by the people, and it takes time to make it workable, especially in India, which has always in the past been governed by kings."

Q.- "Do you think Hindu society can successfully adopt European social laws?"

Swami Vivekananda- "No, not wholly. I would say, the combination of the Greek mind represented by the external European energy added to the Hindu spirituality would be an ideal society for India. For instance, it is absolutely necessary for you, instead of frittering away your energy and often talking of idle nonsense, to learn from the Englishman the idea of prompt obedience to leaders, the absence of jealousy, the indomitable perseverance and the undying faith in himself. As soon as he selects a leader for a work, the Englishman sticks to him through thick and thin and obeys him. Here in India, everybody wants to become a leader, and there is nobody to obey. Everyone should learn to obey before he can command. There is no end to our jealousies; and the more important the Hindu, the more jealous he is. Until this absence of jealousy and obedience to leaders are learnt by the Hindu, there will be no power of organization. We shall have to remain the hopelessly confused mob that we are now, hoping and doing nothing. India has to learn from Europe the conquest of external nature, and Europe has to learn from India the conquest of internal nature. Then there will be neither Hindus nor Europeans — there will be the ideal humanity which has conquered both the natures, the external and the internal. We have developed one phase of humanity, and they another. It is the union of the two that is wanted. The word freedom which is the watchword of our religion really means freedom physically, mentally, and spiritually."

Q.- "What relation, Swamiji, does ritual bear to religion?"

Swami Vivekananda- "Rituals are the kindergarten of religion. They are absolutely necessary for the world as it is now; only we shall have to give people newer and fresher rituals. A party of thinkers must undertake to do this. Old rituals must be rejected and new ones substituted."

Q.- "Then you advocate the abolition of rituals, don't you?"

Swami Vivekananda- "No, my watchword is construction, not destruction. Out of the existing rituals, new ones will have to be evolved. There is infinite power of development in everything; that is my belief. One atom has the power of the whole universe at its back. All along, in the history of the Hindu race, there never was any attempt at destruction, only construction. One sect wanted to destroy, and they were thrown out of India: They were the Buddhists. We have had a host of reformers — Shankara, Ramanuja, Madhva, and Chaitanya. These were great reformers, who always were constructive and built according to the circumstances of their time. This is our peculiar method of work. All the modern reformers take to European destructive reformation, which will never do good to anyone and never did. Only once was a modern reformer mostly constructive, and that one was Raja Ram Mohan Ray. The progress of the Hindu race has been towards the realisation of the Vedantic ideals. All history of Indian life is the struggle for the realisation of the ideal of the Vedanta through good or bad fortune. Whenever there was any reforming sect or religion which rejected the Vedantic ideal, it was smashed into nothing."

Q.- "What is your programme of work here?"

Swami Vivekananda- "I want to start two institutions, one in Madras and one in Calcutta, to carry out my plan; and that plan briefly is to bring the Vedantic ideals into the everyday practical life of the saint or the sinner, of the sage or the ignoramus, of the Brahmin or the Pariah."


[The Hindu, Madras, February, 1897- Our representative here put to him a few questions relative to Indian politics; but before the Swami could attempt anything like an answer, the train steamed up to the Egmore platform, and the only hurried remark that fell from the Swami was that he was dead against all political entanglements of Indian and European problems. The interview then terminated.]

Thanks to Uttishthata...

[Messages] - Golden Words of Great Swamiji

When I Asked God for Strength
He Gave Me Difficult Situations to Face

When I Asked God for Brain & Brown
He Gave Me Puzzles in Life to Solve

When I Asked God for Happiness
He Showed Me Some Unhappy People

When I Asked God for Wealth
He Showed Me How to Work Hard

When I Asked God for Favors
He Showed Me Opportunities to Work Hard

When I Asked God for Peace
He Showed Me How to Help Others

God Gave Me Nothing I Wanted
He Gave Me Everything I Needed

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Vivekananda

- Swami Vivekananda

[Messages] - Swami Vivekananda says we need to possess three things if we wish to be a true reformer

If you wish to be a true reformer, you must possess three things.

The first is to feel. Do you really feel for your brothers? Do you really feel that there is so much misery in the world, so much ignorance and superstition? Do you really feel that all men are your brothers? Does this idea permeate your whole being? Does it run in your blood? Does it tingle in your veins? Does it course through every nerve and filament of your body? Are you full of that idea of sympathy? If you are, that is only the first step.

Next you must ask yourself if you have found any remedy. The old ideas may be all superstition, but in and around these masses of superstition are nuggets of truth. Have you discovered means by which to keep that truth alone, without any of the dross? If you have done that, that is only the second step;

one more thing is necessary. What is your motive? Are you sure that you are not actuated by greed for gold, by thirst for fame or power? Are you really sure that you can stand for your ideals and work on, even if the whole world wants to crush you down?Are you sure that you know what you want and will perform your duty, and that alone, even if your life is at stake? Are you sure that you will persevere so long as life endures, so long as there is one pulsation left in the heart?

Then you are a real reformer, you are a teacher, a master, a blessing to mankind.

But man is so impatient, so shortsighted! He has not the patience to wait, he has not the power to see. He wants to rule, he wants results immediately. Why? He wants to reap the fruits himself and does not really care for others. Duty for duty’s sake is not what he wants. “To work you have the right, but not to the fruits thereof,” says Krishna. Why cling to results? Ours is to do our duties. Let the fruits take care of themselves. But man has no patience; he takes up any scheme that will produce quick results; and the majority of reformers all over the world can be classed under this heading.

Source: http://www.ramakrishna.org/activities/message/weekly_message14.htm

[Messages] - Swami Vivekananda says what we think we become

Volume 8, Lectures And Discourses

This world is a relative world, a shadow of the real; still, being the plane of equipoise where happiness and misery are about evenly balanced, it is the only plane where man can realise his true Self and know that he is Brahman.

The greatest teacher of the Vedanta philosophy was Shankaracharya. By solid reasoning he extracted from the Vedas the truths of Vedanta, and on them built up the wonderful system of Jnana that is taught in his commentaries. He unified all the conflicting descriptions of Brahman and showed that there is only one Infinite Reality. He showed too that as man can only travel slowly on the upward road, all the varied presentations are needed to suit his varying capacity. We find something akin to this in the teachings of Jesus, which he evidently adapted to the different abilities of his hearers. First he taught them of a Father in heaven and to pray to Him. Next he rose a step higher and told them, "I am the vine, you are the branches", and lastly he gave them the highest truth: "I and my Father are one", and "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you." Shankara taught that three things were the great gifts of God: (1) human body, (2) thirst after God, and (3) a teacher who can show us the light. When these three great gifts are ours, we may know that our redemption is at hand. Only knowledge can free and save us, but with knowledge must go virtue.

Do not pity anyone. Look upon all as your equal, cleanse yourself of the primal sin of inequality. We are all equal and must not think, "I am good and you are bad, and I am trying to reclaim you". Equality is the sign of the free. Jesus came to publicans and sinners and lived with them. He never set himself on a pedestal. Only sinners see sin. See not man, see only the Lord. Spirit is not in time, nor in space. Realise "I am Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, Bliss Absolute -- i am He, I am He". Be glad at birth, be glad at death, rejoice always in the love of God.

Thought is all important, for "what we think we become". There was once a Sannyasin, a holy man, who sat under a tree and taught the people. He drank milk, and ate only fruit, and made endless "Pranayamas", and felt himself to be very holy. In the same village lived an evil woman. Every day the Sannyasin went and warned her that her wickedness would lead her to hell. The poor woman, unable to change her method of life which was her only means of livelihood, was still much moved by the terrible future depicted by the Sannyasin. She wept and prayed to the Lord, begging Him to forgive her because she could not help herself. By and by both the holy man and the evil woman died. The angels came and bore her to heaven, while the demons claimed the soul of the Sannyasin. "Why is this!" he exclaimed, "have I not lived a most holy life, and preached holiness to everybody? Why should I be taken to hell while this wicked woman is taken to heaven?" "Because," answered the demons, "while she was forced to commit unholy acts, her mind was always fixed on the Lord and she sought deliverance, which has now come to her. But you, on the contrary, while you performed only holy acts, had your mind always fixed on the wickedness of others. You saw only sin, and thought only of sin, so now you have to go to that place where only sin is." The moral of the story is obvious: The outer life avails little. The heart must be pure and the pure heart sees only good, never evil. We should never try to be guardians of mankind, or to stand on a pedestal as saints reforming sinners. Let us rather purify ourselves, and the result must be that in so doing we shall help others.

The satisfaction of desire only increases it, as oil poured on fire but makes it burn more fiercely. Only through renunciation of this life and of all life to come (heaven etc.), can we reach the point where we stand firmly on the true Self. While we hope for anything, desire still rules us.

Buddha and Christ are the two greatest "bubbles" the world has known. They were great souls who having realised freedom helped others to escape. Neither was perfect, but they are to be judged by their virtues, never by their defects. Jesus fell short, because he did not always live up to his own highest ideal; and above all, because he did not give woman an equal place with man. Woman did everything for him, yet not one was made an apostle. This was doubtless owing to his Semitic origin. The great Aryans, Buddha among the rest, have always put woman in an equal position with man. For them sex in religion did not exist. In the Vedas and Upanishads, women taught the highest truths and received the same veneration as men.

Both happiness and misery are chains, the one golden, the other iron; but both are equally strong to bind us and hold us back from realising our true nature. The Atman knows neither happiness nor misery. These are mere "states", and states must ever change. The nature of the soul is bliss and peace unchanging. We have not to get it; we have it; let us wash away the dross from our eyes and see it. We must stand ever on the Self and look with perfect calmness upon all the panorama of the world. It is but baby's play and ought never to disturb us. If the mind is pleased by praise, it will be pained by blame.

Source: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complete_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda/Volume_8/Lectures_And_Discourses/Discourses_On_Jnana-Yoga

[Messages] - Swami Vivekananda says women must grow in the footprints of Sita

THE SAGES OF INDIA
Volume 3, Lectures from Colombo to Almora

This mind is continually changing, always in a state of flux; it is finite, it is broken into pieces. How can nature tell of the Infinite, the Unchangeable, the Unbroken, the Indivisible, the Eternal? It never can.Even in our lives, in the life of every one of us here, there come moments of calmness, perhaps, when we see before us the death of one we loved, when some shock comes to us, or when extreme blessedness comes to us. Many other occasions there are when the mind, as it were, becomes calm, feels for the moment its real nature; and a glimpse of the Infinite beyond, where words cannot reach nor the mind go, is revealed to us.

Consciousness is bound by the senses. Beyond that, beyond the senses, men must go in order to arrive at truths of the spiritual world, and there are even now persons who succeed in going beyond the bounds of the senses. These are called Rishis, because they come face to face with spiritual truths.

Any attempt to modernise our women, if it tries to take our women away from that ideal of Sita, is immediately a failure, as we see every day. The women of India must grow and develop in the footprints of Sita, and that is the only way.

A great landmark in the history of religion is here, the ideal of love for love's sake, work for work's sake, duty for duty's sake, and it for the first time fell from the lips of the greatest of Incarnations, Krishna, and for the first time in the history of humanity, upon the soil of India. The religions of fear and of temptations were gone for ever, and in spite of the fear of hell and temptation of enjoyment in heaven, came the grandest of ideals, love for love's sake, duty for duty's sake, work for work's sake.

There was a book written a year or two ago by a Russian gentleman, who claimed to have found out a very curious life of Jesus Christ, and in one part of the book he says that Christ went to the temple of Jagannath to study with the Brahmins, but became disgusted with their exclusiveness and their idols, and so he went to the Lamas of Tibet instead, became perfect, and went home.

To any man who knows anything about Indian history, that very statement proves that the whole thing was a fraud, because the temple of Jagannath is an old Buddhistic temple. We took this and others over and re-Hinduised them. We shall have to do many things like that yet. That is Jagannath, and there was not one Brahmin there then, and yet we are told that Jesus Christ came to study with the Brahmins there. So says our great Russian archaeologist.

This one great Northern sage, Chaitanya, represented the mad love of the Gopis. Himself a Brahmin, born of one of the most rationalistic families of the day, himself a professor of logic fighting and gaining a word-victory — for, this he had learnt from his childhood as the highest ideal of life and yet through the mercy of some sage the whole life of that man became changed; he gave up his fight, his quarrels, his professorship of logic and became one of the greatest teachers of Bhakti the world has ever known — mad Chaitanya.

His Bhakti rolled over the whole land of Bengal, bringing solace to every one. His love knew no bounds. The saint or the sinner, the Hindu or the Mohammedan, the pure or the impure, the prostitute, the streetwalker — all had a share in his love, all had a share in his mercy: and even to the present day, although greatly degenerated, as everything does become in time, his sect is the refuge of the poor, of the downtrodden, of the outcast, of the weak, of those who have been rejected by all society. But at the same time I must remark for truth's sake that we find this: In the philosophic sects we find wonderful liberalisms.

Source: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complete_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda/Volume_3/Lectures_from_Colombo_to_Almora/The_Sages_of_India