Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

by Vivekananda

The rest, all these talks and reasonings and philosophies and dualisms and monisms, and even the Vedas themselves are but preparations, secondary things.

I smile when I read books written by some modern people who ought to have known better, that the Buddha was the destroyer of Brahminical idolatry. Little do they know that Buddhism created Brahminism and idolatry in India.

You can do anything and everything without even the guidance of any one. All power is there. Stand up and express the divinity within you.

let us therefore take up a great ideal and give up our whole life to it. Let this be our determination, and may He, the Lord, who "comes again and again for the salvation of His own people", to quote from our scriptures — may the great Krishna bless us and lead us all to the fulfilment of our aims!

"Whenever, O descendant of Bharata, there is decline of Dharma, and rise of Adharma, then I body Myself forth. For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked, and for the establishment of Dharma I come into being in every age."

Give up the awful disease that is creeping into our national blood, that idea of ridiculing everything, that loss of seriousness. Give that up. Be strong and have this Shraddha, and everything else is bound to follow.

He is an artist in thought, an idealist in belief and a dramatist on the platform.

He is under contract with the "Slayton Lyceum Bureau," of Chicago, to fill a three-years' engagement in this country.

The great danger is that every man wants to jump at the highest ideal, but jumping is not the way. That ends only in a fall. We are bound down here, and we have to break our chains slowly. This is called Viveka, discrimination.

No man has the right to cook food only for himself; it is for others, and he should have what remains.

God is not to be reached by the weak. Never be weak. You must be strong; you have infinite strength within you.

Let the mind be cheerful, but calm. Never let it run into excesses, because every excess will be followed by a reaction.

The first step is: What do we want? Let us ask ourselves this question every day, do we want God?

Let us ask ourselves each day, "Do we want Gods" When we begin to talk religion, and especially when we take a high position and begin to teach others, we must ask ourselves the same question.

You must bear in mind that religion does not consist in talk, or doctrines, or books, but in realisation; it is not learning, but being .

Would to God that religions multiplied until every man had his own religion, quite separate from that of any other!

The choosing of one's own road is called in the language of Bhakti, Ishta, the chosen way.

know that any work which brings out the latent power in thee is Punya (virtue); and that which makes thy body and mind weak is, verily, sin.

One moment I think that I am spiritual, that I am moral; and the next moment, a blow comes, and I am thrown flat on my back. And why? — I have lost faith in myself, my moral backbone is broken.

Religion is neither talk, nor theory, nor intellectual consent. It is realisation in the heart of our hearts; it is touching God; it is feeling, realising that I am a spirit in relation with the Universal Spirit and all Its great manifestations.

Spiritual death is the result of following each other like a flock of sheep.

"I will become a Prophet, I will become a messenger of Light, I will become a child of God, nay, I will become a God!"

You must remember that humanity travels not from error to truth, but from truth to truth; it may be, if you like it better, from lower truth to higher truth, but never from error to truth.

You are the spirit. That is the first fundamental belief you must never give up.

"He who finds rest in the midst of activity, and activity in rest, he is the wise amidst men, he the Yogi, he is the doer of all work" (Gita, IV. 18).

the evolution of spiritual humanity.

First, let us be Gods, and then help others to be Gods. "Be and make." Let this be our motto. Say not man is a sinner. Tell him that he is a God. Even if there were a devil, it would be our duty to remember God always, and not the devil. If the room is dark, the constant feeling and repeating of darkness will not take it away, but bring in the light.

Have infinite patience, and success is yours.

It is more blessed, in my opinion, even to go wrong, impelled by one's free will and intelligence than to be good as an automaton.

4.6.2 THE HYMN OF CREATION (Rendered from Bengali) One Mass, devoid of form, name, and colour, Timeless, devoid of time past and future, Spaceless, voiceless, boundless, devoid of all — Where rests hushed even speech of negation. [30] From thence, down floweth the river causal, Wearing the form of desire radiant, Its heaving waters angrily roaring The constant roar, "I am", "I am". In that ocean of desire limitless, Appear shining waves, countless, infinite, Oh, of what power manifold they are, Of what forms myriad, of what repose, Of what movements varied, who can reckon? Millions of moons, millions of suns, Taking their birth in that very ocean, Rushing headlong with din tumultuous, Overspread the whole firmament, drowning The points of heaven in light effulgent. In it arise and reside what beings, Quick with life, dull, and lifeless — unnumbered, And pleasure and pain, disease, birth, and death! Verily, the Sun is He, His the ray, Nay, the Sun is He, and He is the ray.

To friend and foe Thy lotus-eyes are even; Ever Thine animating touch brings fruit To fortunate and unfortunate alike; The shade of death and immortality — Both these, O mother, are Thy grace Supreme! Mother Supreme! Oh, may Thy gracious face Never be turned away from me, Thy child!

She who, since birth, has ever led me on Through paths of trouble to perfection's goal, Mother-wise, in Her own sweet playful ways, She, who has always through my life inspired My understanding, She, my Mother, She, The All, is my resort, whether my work O'erdow with full fruition or with none.

Work hard. Be holy and pure and the fire will come.

You will have to take charge of the whole movement, not as a leader , but as a servant . Do you know, the least show of leading destroys everything by rousing jealousy?

If you are really my children, you will fear nothing, stop at nothing. You will be like lions. We must rouse India and the whole world. No cowardice. I will take no nay. Do you understand? Be true unto death! . . . The secret of this is Guru-Bhakti — faith in the Guru unto death! Have you that? I believe with all my heart that you have, and you know that I have confidence in you — so go to work. You must succeed. My prayers and benedictions follow every step you take. Work in harmony. Be patient with everybody. Every one has my love. I am watching you. Onward! Onward!

Love immense and infinite, broad as the sky and deep as the ocean — this is the one great gain in life. Blessed is he who gets it.