Meditation And Its Methods: Swami Vivekananda Guides on the Practice of Meditation by Swami Vivekananda

by Vivekananda

A certain theory existed that everything raised one’s spiritual power.

Freedom is never to be reached by the weak. Throw away all weakness. Tell your body that it is strong, tell your mind that it is strong, and have unbounded faith and hope in yourself.

Therefore do not hate anybody, because that hatred which comes out from you, must, in the long run, come back to you. If you love, that love will come back to you, completing the circle. (CW 1. 196)

Concept of circle

the mind is in three states, one of which is darkness, called Tamas, found in brutes and idiots; it only acts to injure. No other idea comes into that state of mind. Then there is the active state of mind, Rajas, whose chief motives are power and enjoyment. “I will be powerful and rule others.” Then there is the state called Sattva, serenity, calmness, in which the waves cease, and the water of the mind-lake becomes clear. (CW 2. 202)

How to rmai calm

Therefore worship Him who alone stands by us whether we are doing good

Meditation means the mind is turned back upon itself. The mind stops all the [thought-waves] and the world stops. Your consciousness expands. Every time you meditate you will keep your growth. . . . Work a little

This is the first step. By the control of the subconscious mind you get control over the conscious. (CW 6.30-32)

The real aim is to make the mind functionless, but this cannot be got at unless one becomes absorbed in some subject.

Control the mind, cut off the senses, then you are a Yogi; after

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you should sometimes dance wildly and sometimes remain lost to outward sense. Does one feel happy to taste of a good thing by oneself? One should share it with others.

Never mind failures; they are quite natural, they are the beauty of life, these failures. What would life be without them?