Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Vedanta Brain and Islam Body

Whether we call it Vedantism or any ism, the truth is that Advaitism is the last word of religion and thought and the only position from which one can look upon all religions and sects with love. 
I believe it is the religion of the future enlightened humanity. 

The Hindus may get the credit of arriving at it earlier than other races, they being an older race than either the Hebrew or the Arab; yet practical Advaitism, which looks upon and behaves to all mankind as one's own soul, was never developed among the Hindus universally.

On the other hand, my experience is that if ever any religion approached to this equality in an appreciable manner, it is Islam and Islam alone.
Therefore I am firmly persuaded that without the help of practical Islam, theories of Vedantism, however fine and wonderful they may be, are entirely valueless to the vast mass of mankind. 

We want to lead mankind to the place where there is neither the Vedas, nor the Bible, nor the Koran; yet this has to be done by harmonising the Vedas, the Bible and the Koran. Mankind ought to be taught that religions are but the varied expressions of THE RELIGION, which is Oneness, so that each may choose that path that suits him best.

For our own motherland a junction of the two great systems, Hinduism and Islam -- Vedanta brain and Islam body -- is the only hope. 

                     - Swami Vivekananda, 
                        in a Letter to Mohammed Sarfaraz Husain 
                         from Almora (June 1898)

More Dead than Alive


Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Break all Other Idols

"He who is in you and is outside of you, who works through every hand, who walks through every foot, whose body you are, Him worship, and break all other idols.

"He who is the high and the low, the saint and the sinner, the god and the worm, Him worship, the visible, the knowable, the real, the omnipresent, break all other idols.

"In whom there is neither past life nor future birth, nor death nor going or coming, in whom we always have been and always will be one, Him worship, break all other idols.

"Ay, fools, neglecting the living Gods and His infinite reflection with which the world is full, and running after imaginary shadows! Him worship, the only visible, and break all other idols."

                            - Swami Vivekananda, 
                                 in a Letter to Mary Hale 
                                  from Almora (July 1897)

Automaton


Monday, October 28, 2019

Many Paths

The glory of Hinduism lies in the fact that while it has defined ideals, it has never dared to say that any one of these alone was the one true way. 
In this it differs from Buddhism, which exalts monasticism above all others as the path that must be taken by all souls to reach perfection. 

The story given in the Mahâbhârata of the young saint who was made to seek enlightenment, first from a married woman and then from a butcher, is sufficient to show this. 'By doing my duty', said each one of these when asked, 'by doing my duty in my own station, have I attained this knowledge'. 

There is no career then which might not be the path to God. The question of attainment depends only, in the last resort, on the thirst of the soul. 

                       - Swami Vivekananda    

God-on-Earth


Sunday, October 27, 2019

Inequality - Bane of Human Nature

This is the bane of human nature, the curse upon mankind, the root of all misery -- this inequality. This is the source of all bondage, physical, mental, and spiritual. 

   समं पश्यन् हि सर्वत्र समवस्थितमीश्वरम् | 
   न हिनस्त्यात्मनात्मानं ततो याति परां गतिम् ||  
   --"Since seeing the Lord equally existent everywhere, he injures not Self by self, and so goes to the Highest Goal" (Gita, XIII. 28). 
This one saying contains, in a few words, the universal way to salvation. 

                    - Swami Vivekananda, 
                      ‘Reply to Maharaja of Khetri’


Be and Make


Saturday, October 26, 2019

One Religion

The greatest misfortune to befall the world would be if all mankind were to recognize and accept but one religion, one universal form of worship, one standard of morality. 
This would be the death-blow to all religious and spiritual progress. 

Instead of trying to hasten this disastrous event by inducing persons, through good or evil methods, to conform to our own highest ideal of truth, we ought rather to endeavour to remove all obstacles which prevent men from developing in accordance with their own highest ideals, and thus make their attempt vain to establish one universal religion.
  
                     - Swami Vivekananda, 
                         'The Goal and Methods of Realisation', 
                            Notes from Lectures and Discourses

Ridicule, Opposition, Acceptance


Friday, October 25, 2019

Different Forms of Renunciation

The formation of society, the institution of marriage, the love for children, our good works, morality, and ethics are all different forms of renunciation. 

All our lives in every society are the subjection of the will, the thirst, the desire. This surrender of the will or the fictitious self -- or the desire to jump out of ourselves, as it were -- the struggle still to objectify the subject -- is the one phenomenon in this world of which all societies and social forms are various modes and stages. 

Love is the easiest and smoothest way towards the self-surrender or subjection of the will, and hatred, the opposite. 

                      - Swami Vivekananda, 
                        in a Letter to Mary Hale 
                         from London (November 1896)


India and West


Thursday, October 24, 2019

Good and Evil in Objective Life

Objective society will always be a mixture of good and evil -- objective life will always be followed by its shadow, death, and the longer the life, the longer will also be the shadow. 

It is only when the sun is on our own head that there is no shadow. When God and good and everything else is in us, there is no evil. 
In objective life, however, every bullet has its billet -- evil goes with every good as its shadow. Every improvement is coupled with an equal degradation. The reason being that good and evil are not two things but one, the difference being only in manifestation -- one of degree, not kind.

                        - Swami Vivekananda, 
                           in a Letter to Mary Hale 
                            from London (November 1896)


Elevation of Masses


Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Karma-Yoga Secret

The world does not need you at all. The world goes on, you are like a drop in the ocean. 
A leaf does not move, the wind does not blow without Him. Blessed are we that we are given the privilege of working for Him, not of helping Him. 
Cut out this word "help" from your mind. You cannot help; it is blaspheming. 

You are here yourself at His pleasure. Do you mean to say, you help Him? You worship. When you give a morsel of food to the dog, you worship the dog as God. God is in that dog. He is the dog. He is all and in all. We are allowed to worship Him. 

Stand in that reverent attitude to the whole universe, and then will come perfect non-attachment. This should be your duty. This is the proper attitude of work. 
This is the secret taught by Karma-Yoga. 

                             - Swami Vivekananda, 
                                'Work is Worship', 
                                   Notes from Lectures and Discourses 


Do Not Degrade the Soul


Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Sat-Chit-Ananda

Om Tat Sat -- that Being -- knowing -- bliss.

(a) The only real Existence, which alone is -- everything else exists inasmuch as it reflects that real Existence.

(b) It is the only Knower -- the only Self-luminous -- the Light of consciousness. Everything else shines by light borrowed from It. Everything else knows inasmuch as it reflects Its knowing.

(c) It is the only Blessedness -- as in It there is no want. It comprehends all -- is the essence of all.

It is Sat-chit-ananda. 

                       - Swami Vivekananda, Writings

Essentials to Success


Monday, October 21, 2019

Bliss Absolute

All hatred is "killing the self by the self"; therefore, love is the law of life. To rise to this is to be perfect; but the more "perfect" we are, the less work can we do. 

The Sattvika see and know that all this world is mere child's play and do not trouble themselves about that. We are not much disturbed when we see two puppies fighting and biting each other. We know it is not a serious matter. 
The perfect one knows that this world is Maya. 

Life is called Samsara -- it is the result of the conflicting forces acting upon us. 
Materialism says, "The voice of freedom is a delusion." 
Idealism says, "The voice that tells of bondage is but a dream." 
Vedanta says, "We are free and not free at the same time." That means that we are never free on the earthly plane, but ever free on the spiritual side. 

The Self is beyond both freedom and bondage. We are Brahman, we are immortal knowledge beyond the senses, we are Bliss Absolute. 

                 - Swami Vivekananda, 
                     Discourses on Jnana-Yoga, US

Truth, Purity, and Unselfishness


Sunday, October 20, 2019

Four Yogas

Every man must develop according to his own nature. 
As every science has its methods, so has every religion. The methods of attaining the end of religion are called Yoga by us, and the different forms of Yoga that we teach, are adapted to the different natures and temperaments of men. 
We classify them in the following way, under four heads:

(1) Karma-yoga -- the manner in which a man realizes his own divinity through works and duty.
(2) Bhakti-yoga -- the realisation of the divinity through devotion to, and love of, a Personal God.
(3) Raja-yoga -- the realisation of the divinity through the control of mind.
(4) Jnana-yoga -- the realisation of a man's own divinity through knowledge.  

                 - Swami Vivekananda, 
                    The Goal and Methods of Realisation, 
                     Notes from Lectures and Discourses 


Graveyard of Infinite Past


Saturday, October 19, 2019

God Doesn't Need Help!

It is in ignorance that struggle remains, because we are all really atheists. Real theists cannot work. 
We are atheists more or less. We do not see God or believe in Him. He is g-o-d to us, and nothing more. 
There are moments when we think He is near, but then we fall down again. … … 

The next time you see these silly phrases about the world and how we must all help God and do this or that for Him, remember this. Do not think such thoughts; they are too selfish. All the work you do is subjective, is done for your own benefit. God has not fallen into a ditch for you and me to help Him out by building a hospital or something of that sort. 

He allows you to work. He allows you to exercise your muscles in this great gymnasium, not in order to help Him but that you may help yourself. 
Do you think even an ant will die for want of your help? 
Most arrant blasphemy!

                      - Swami Vivekananda, 
                         Work is Worship, 
                         Notes from Lectures and Discourses 


Pure and Heroic Action


Thursday, October 17, 2019

All MySelf

There is another way of looking at the truth we have been discussing: the Hindu way. 
We claim that Buddha's great doctrine of selflessness can be better understood if it is looked at in our way. 

In the Upanishads there is already the great doctrine of the Atman and the Brahman. The Atman, Self, is the same as Brahman, the Lord. This Self is all that is; It is the only reality. Maya, delusion, makes us see It as different. 
There is one Self, not many. That one Self shines in various forms. 

Man is man's brother because all men are one. A man is not only my brother, say the Vedas, he is myself. Hurting any part of the universe, I only hurt myself. I am the universe. 
It is a delusion that I think I am Mr. So-and-so -- that is the delusion.  

                        - Swami Vivekananda, 
                           ‘Buddha’s Message to the World’, 
                            Talk at San Francisco   


Glass of Different Colors and Thickness


Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Moksha and Dharma

Now what is that good which is to be pursued? 
The good for him who desires Moksha is one, and the good for him who wants Dharma is another. 

This is the great truth which the Lord Shri Krishna, the revealer of the Gita, has tried therein to explain, and upon this great truth is established the Varnashrama system and the doctrine of Svadharma etc. of the Hindu religion.
अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्र: करुण एव च |
निर्ममो निरहंकार: समदु:खसुख: क्षमी ||  (Gita, XII. 13.)
 --"He who has no enemy, and is friendly and compassionate towards all, who is free from the feelings of 'me and mine', even-minded in pain and pleasure, and forbearing"-- these and other epithets of like nature are for him whose one goal in life is Moksha.

क्लैब्यं मा स्म गम: पार्थ नैतत्त्वय्युपपद्यते |
क्षुद्रं हृदयदौर्बल्यं त्यक्तोत्तिष्ठ परन्तप ||  (Gita, II. 3.)
 --"Yield not to unmanliness, O son of Pritha! Ill doth it befit thee. Cast off this mean faint-heartedness and arise, O scorcher of thine enemies."
तस्मात्त्वमुत्तिष्ठ यशो लभस्व जित्वा शत्रुन्भुंक्ष्व राज्यं समृध्दम् |
मयैवैते निहिता: पूर्वमेव निमित्तमात्र भव सव्यसाचिन् || (Gita, XI. 33.)
--"Therefore do thou arise and acquire fame. After conquering thy enemies, enjoy unrivalled dominion; verily, by Myself have they been already slain; be thou merely the instrument, O Savyasachin (Arjuna)."
In these and similar passages in the Gita the Lord is showing the way to Dharma

                          - Swami Vivekananda, 
                            The East and The West

Fruits of Freedom of Spirit


Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Applied Mine of Strength

The Advaita is the eternal mine of strength
But it requires to be applied. It must first be cleared of the incrustation of scholasticism, and then in all its simplicity, beauty and sublimity be taught over the length and breadth of the land, as applied even to the minutest detail of daily life.
 "This is a very large order"; but we must work towards it, nevertheless, as if it would be accomplished tomorrow. 

Of one thing I am sure--that whoever wants to help his fellow beings through genuine love and unselfishness will work wonders. 

                       - Swami Vivekananda, 
                          in a Letter to S C Mukherjee (1895)


Kashi and its Lord


Monday, October 14, 2019

Renunciation alone is Fearless

In enjoyment is the fear of disease;
 In high birth, the fear of losing caste;
 In wealth, the fear of tyrants;
 In honour, the fear of losing her;
 In strength, the fear of enemies;
 In beauty, the fear of the other sex;
 In knowledge, the fear of defeat;
 In virtue, the fear of scandal;
 In the body, the fear of death.

In this life, all is fraught with fear.
 Renunciation alone is fearless. 

                     - Swami Vivekananda, 
                         Translation of Verse 31 
                           of ‘Vairagya Shatakam’ of Bhartrihari   


Forest of Brutes


Sunday, October 13, 2019

Practice and Not Theory

4. But it falleth out, that many who often hear the Gospel of Christ, are yet but little affected, because they are void of the Spirit of Christ. But whosoever would fully and feelingly understand the words of Christ, must endeavour to conform his life wholly to the life of Christ. 
                 (The Imitation of Christ V.2.)

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA'S FOOTNOTE (a): 
Bhagavad Gita 2.29
                                 श्रुत्वाप्येनं वेद न चैव कश्चित् |
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA'S TRANSLATION: 
                                 Others, hearing of It, do not understand. 

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA'S FOOTNOTE (b): 
Vivekachudâmani 62
                       न गच्छति विना पानं व्याधिरौषधशब्दत: |
                       विनाSपरोक्षानुभवं ब्रह्मशब्दैर्न मुच्यते ||
PUBLISHER'S TRANSLATION: 
                      A disease does not leave the body by simply 
                      repeating the name of the medicine; one must 
                       take the medicine. Similarly, liberation does not 
                      come by merely saying the word Brahman. 
                      Brahman must be experienced.

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA'S FOOTNOTE (c): 
Mahâbhârata(critical edition) 12.309.91
                         श्रुतेन किं येन न धर्ममाचरेत् |
PUBLISHER'S TRANSLATION: 
                          Of what avail is reading the Vedas without 
                          practising religion? 

                                 - Swami Vivekananda, 
                                    Bengali Translation of 
                                     ‘The Imitation of Christ’, 1889  

Majestic Internal Nature


Saturday, October 12, 2019

Burning the Dead

The peculiarity you find is that the Semitic races and the Egyptians try to preserve the dead bodies, while the Aryans try to destroy them. 
The Greeks, the Germans, the Romans--your ancestors before they became Christians--used to burn the dead. 

It was only when Charlemagne made you Christians with the sword -- and when you refused, [he] cut off a few hundred heads, and the rest jumped into the water -- that burying came here.

 You see at once the metaphysical significance of burning the dead. The burying of the dead can only remain when there is no idea of the soul, and the body is all. 

                             - Swami Vivekananda, 
                               Class Talk in London, 
                               May 7, 1896

Science of Vedanta


Friday, October 11, 2019

Stand Thou in the Spirit

Let us worship the spirit in spirit, standing on spirit. 
Let the foundation be spirit, the middle spirit, the culmination spirit. There will be no world anywhere. Let it go and whirl into space -- who cares? 
Stand thou in the spirit! That is the goal. 

We know we cannot reach it yet. Never mind. Do not despair, and do not drag the ideal down. 
The important thing is: how much less you think of the body, of yourself as matter -- as dead, dull, insentient matter; how much more you think of yourself as shining immortal being. The more you think of yourself as shining immortal spirit, the more eager you will be to be absolutely free of matter, body, and senses. 
This is the intense desire to be free.  

                          - Swami Vivekananda, 
                            ‘Discipleship’, Talk at San Francisco

Optimistic Temperament


Thursday, October 10, 2019

Truth Stands on Its Own Authority

My teaching is my own interpretation of our ancient books, in the light which my Master shed upon them. 
I claim no supernatural authority. Whatever in my teaching may appeal to the highest intelligence and be accepted by thinking men, the adoption of that will be my reward. 

All religions have for their object the teaching either of devotion, knowledge, or Yoga, in a concrete form. 
Now, the philosophy of Vedanta is the abstract science which embraces all these methods, and this it is that I teach, leaving each one to apply it to his own concrete form. I refer each individual to his own experiences, and where reference is made to books, the latter are procurable, and may be studied by each one for himself. 

Above all, I teach no authority proceeding from hidden beings speaking through visible agents, any more than I claim learning from hidden books or manuscripts. 
I am the exponent of no occult societies, nor do I believe that good can come of such bodies. 
Truth stands on its own authority, and truth can bear the light of day. 

                 - Swami Vivekananda, 
                   ‘West Minster Gazette’ Interview 
                     (23rd October 1895)


Perfect Unselfishness


Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Fooling us with Little Brains

It is a funny world, and the funniest chap you ever saw is 
He -- the Beloved Infinite! Fun, is it not? 
Brotherhood or playmatehood -- a school of romping children let out to play in this playground of the world! 
Isn't it? 

Whom to praise, whom to blame, it is all His play. 
They want explanations, but how can you explain Him? He is brainless, nor has He any reason. 
He is fooling us with little brains and reason, but this time He won't find me napping. I have learnt a thing or two: 
Beyond, beyond reason and learning and talking is the feeling, the "Love", the "Beloved". 

Ay, sake, fill up the cup and we will be mad.

Yours ever in madness, 

                  -Swami Vivekananda, 
                    in a Letter to Francis Leggett 
                      from London (July 1896)

Minds and Bodies


Tuesday, October 8, 2019

All Good Thoughts are Immortal

Start with the idea that we can finish all experience in this world, in this incarnation. 
We must aim to become perfect in this life, this very moment. Success only comes to that life amongst men who wants to do this, this very moment. It is acquired by him who says, "Faith, I wait upon faith come what may". 

Therefore, go on knowing you are to finish this very moment. Struggle hard and then if you do not succeed, you are not to blame. 
Let the world praise or blame you. 
Let all the wealth of the earth come to your feet, or let you be made the poorest on earth. 
Let death come this moment or hundreds of years hence. Swerve not from the path you have taken. 

All good thoughts are immortal and go to make Buddhas and Christs. 

                  - Swami Vivekananda, 
                      Class Notes taken at Greenacre (Maine), 
                      Summer 1894 


Salutations to Great Beings


Monday, October 7, 2019

Mother - Power of all Causation

She [Divine Mother] is the power of all causation. 
She energises every cause unmistakably to produce the effect.
Her will is the only law, and as She cannot make a mistake, nature's laws -- her will -- can never be changed. 

She is the life of the Law of Karma or causation. 
She is the fructifier of every action. Under Her guidance we are manufacturing our lives through our deeds or Karma. 

                       - Swami Vivekananda, Writings


Truly Civilised


Sunday, October 6, 2019

From Dualism to Non-Dualism

The truth about it is that no one has created you -- you have created yourself. 
This is discrimination, this is Vedanta. 

But one does not understand it before realisation. Therefore the aspirant should begin with the dualistic standpoint, that the Lord is causing the good actions, while he is doing the evil. 
This is the easiest way to the purification of the mind. 

Hence you find dualism so strong among the Vaishnavas. It is very difficult to entertain Advaitic (non-dualistic) ideas at the outset. But the dualistic standpoint gradually leads to the realisation of the Advaita. 

                        - Swami Vivekananda, 
                           Conversations and Dialogues, 
                                recorded by Priya Nath Sinha



Playmates of Mother


Saturday, October 5, 2019

Infinite Mother

This highest Energy-love-beauty is a person, an individual, the Infinite Mother of this universe -- the God of gods -- 
the Lord of lords, omnipresent yet separate from the universe -- the Soul of souls, yet separate from every soul -- 
the Mother of this universe, because She has produced it -- 
its Ruler, because She guides it with the greatest love and in the long run brings everything back to Herself. 

Through Her command the sun and moon shine, the clouds rain, and death stalks upon the earth. 

                         - Swami Vivekananda, Writings


Basis of Civilisation