Swami Vivekananda's Quotes Part - 1

All power is within you. You can do anything and everything. Believe in that. Do not believe that you are weak; do not believe that you are half-crazy lunatics, as most of us do nowadays. Stand up and express the divinity within you.

"I am the thread that runs through all these pearls," and each pearl is a religion or even a sect thereof. Such are the different pearls, and God is the thread that runs through all of them; most people, however, are entirely unconscious of it.

“Comfort” is no test of truth; on the contrary, truth is often far from being “comfortable.”

All knowledge that the world has ever received comes from the mind; the infinite library of the universe is in our own mind.

Are great things ever done smoothly? Time, patience, and indomitable will must show.


As body, mind, or soul, you are a dream; you really are Being, Consciousness, Bliss (satchidananda). You are the God of this universe.

As soon as I think that I am a little body, I want to preserve it, to protect it, to keep it nice, at the expense of other bodies; then you and I become separate.

Astrology and all these mystical things are generally signs of a weak mind; therefore as soon as they are becoming prominent in our minds, we should see a physician, take good food, and rest.

Desires must bring misery. The great secret of true success, of true happiness (sh), is this: the person who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish person, is the most successful.

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.

Give up all desire for enjoyment in (eh) earth or heaven. Control (osm) the organs of the senses and control the mind. Bear every misery without even knowing that you are miserable. Think of nothing but spiritual freedom.

Go on saying, “I am free.” Never mind if the next moment delusion comes and says, “I am bound.” Dehypnotize the whole thing.

Hold to the idea, “I am not the mind, I see that I am thinking, I am watching my mind act,” and each day the identification of yourself with thoughts and feelings will grow less, until at last you can entirely separate yourself from the mind and actually know it to be apart from yourself.

I hate this world, this dream, this horrible nightmare, with its churches and chicaneries, its books and blackguardisms, its fair faces and false hearts, its howling righteousness on the surface and utter hollowness beneath, and, above all, its sanctified shopkeeping.

I, for one, thoroughly believe that no power in the universe can withhold from anyone anything they really deserve.

If a piece of burning charcoal be placed on a man’s head, see how he struggles to throw it off. Similar will be the struggle for freedom of those who really understand that they are slaves of nature.

If superstition enters, the brain is gone.

If there is no strength in body and mind, the Atman cannot be realized. First you have to build the body by good nutritious food—then only will the mind be strong.

If you want to be a Yogi, you must be free, and place yourself in circumstances where you are alone and free from all anxiety. One who desires a comfortable and nice life and, at the same time, wants to realize the Atman is like the fool who, wanting to cross the river, caught hold of a crocodile mistaking it for a log of wood.

In real meditation you forget the body. You may be cut to pieces and not feel it at all. You feel such pleasure in it. You become so light. This perfect rest we will get in meditation.

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 for the idea, not the person.

Nature, body, mind go to death, not we. We neither go nor come. The man Vivekananda is in nature, is born and dies; but the Self we see as Vivekananda is never born and never dies. It is the eternal and unchangeable Reality.

Perfection does not come from belief or faith. Talk does not count for anything. Parrots can do that. Perfection comes through selfless work.

Tell the truth boldly, whether it hurts or not. Never pander to weakness. If truth is too much for intelligent people and sweeps them away, let them go; the sooner the better.

The correct meaning of the statement "The Vedas are beginningless and eternal" is that the law or truth revealed by them is permanent and changeless.

The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves! If you do not exist, how can God exist, or anybody else?

The greatest sin is to think that you are weak. No one is greater: realize that you are Brahman.

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Swami Vivekananda about Jesus And His crucifixion

Q. A man in the audience said, "If ministers stop preaching hell-fire, they will have no control over their people."

A. They had better lose it then. The man who is frightened into religion has no religion at all. Better teach him of his divine nature than of his animal.

Q. What did the Lord mean when he said, "The kingdom of heaven is not of this world?"

A. That the kingdom of heaven is within us. The Jewish idea was a kingdom of heaven upon this earth. That was not the idea of Jesus.

Q. Do you believe we come up from the animals?

A. I believe that, by the law of evolution, the higher beings have come up from the lower kingdoms.

Q. Do you know of anyone who remembers his previous life ?

A. I have met some who told me they did remember their previous life. They had reached a point where they could remember their former incarnations.

Q. Do you believe in Christ's crucifixion?

A. Christ was God incarnate; they could not kill him. That which was crucified was only a semblance, a mirage.

Q. If he could have produced such a semblance as that, would not that have been the greatest miracle of all?

A. I look upon miracles as the greatest stumbling-blocks in the way of truth. When the disciples of Buddha told him of a man who had performed a so-called miracle — had taken a bowl from a great height without touching it — and showed him the bowl, he took it and crushed it under his feet and told them never to build their faith on miracles, but to look for truth in everlasting principles. He taught them the true inner light — the light of the spirit, which is the only safe light to go by. Miracles are only stumbling-blocks. Let us brush them aside.

Q. Do you believe Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount?

A. I do believe he did. But in this matter I have to go by the books as others do, and I am aware that mere book testimony is rather shaky ground. But we are all safe in taking the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount as a guide. We have to take what appeals to our inner spirit. Buddha taught five hundred years before Christ, and his words were full of blessings: never a curse came from his lips, nor from his life; never one from Zoroaster, nor from Confucius.

Source: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complete_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda/Volume_1/Lectures_And_Discourses/Soul,_God_And_Religion

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Swami B.V. Narasimha Says Ramana Maharshi Was Exposed To Swami Vivekananda Works As Early As 1901

Narasimha reports (p. 23) that from 1900, G. Seshier of Tiruvannamalai visited Ramana. Seshier was studying yoga, especially Vivekananada’s English lectures on Raja Yoga, Jnana Yoga and an English translation of the Rama Gita. He brought these books to Ramana and mentioned his difficulties.

Ramana then went through each of them and wrote out in easy Tamil prose the gist of these works on bits of paper and answered similarly supplemental questions. Thus Seshier had quite a sheaf of these slips written by the swami in 1900, 1901 and 1902, and he copied them into a small notebook.

Narasimha says that it is from these slips and Seshier’s notebook that Ramana’s book Vichara Sangraha (Self-Enquiry) was published (pp. 73-74). This fact is of enormous importance, since it shows that Ramana was exposed to Vivekananda’s neo-Hinduism at a very early date.

Although Ramana was acquainted with the neo-Hindu ideas of Vivekananda as early as 1901, and although Ramana adopted some of their ideas, he also makes some very traditional advaitic statements that there is no external world to help. For
example, Ramana was asked by a disciple, “How can I help others?” Ramana replied:

Who is there for you to help? Who is the ‘I’ that is to help others? First clear up that point and then everything will settle itself.

Inasmuch as there is no ego in him, there are not others for him. When there is no mind he cannot be aware of others (Talks, 552; Dec. 20, 1938).

Sources:

1) Swami B.V. Narasimha: Self Realization: The Life and Teachings of Sri Ramana
Maharshi (Tiruvannamalai, 1993, first published 1931) [‘Narasimha’].

2) Paul Brunton and Ramana Maharshi by Dr. J. Glenn Friesen

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Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Swami Vivekananda First Meeting

When Vivekananda came to Ramakrishna his name was still Narendranath -- later on Ramakrishna named him Vivekananda. When he came to Ramakrishna he was extremely argumentative, an atheist, a rationalist. He wanted proof for everything.

There are some things that have no proof -- it cannot be helped. There is no proof for godliness: it is, and yet there is no proof. There is no proof for love. It is, and yet there is no proof. There is no proof for beauty. It is, and yet there is no proof.

If I say, "Look how beautiful these ironwood trees are," and you say, "I don't see any beauty -- Trees are just trees. Prove it!," it will be difficult. How can one prove they are beautiful? To be beautiful you need a sense of beauty -- there is no other way. You need eyes -- there is no other way. It is reported that Majnu said, "To know Laila you will need the eyes of Majnu." It is true; to see Laila there is no other way. The king of his area called Majnu and said. "You are mad! I know your Laila -- an ordinary girl, jet black -- nothing special.

I feel sorry for you, so here are twelve girls from my palace -- they are the most beautiful women of the country. You can chose any one you like. Seeing you cry, my heart also cries. " Majnu looked at them and said, "There is no Laila among them. They cannot even be compared to Laila, they are not even worth the dust of her feet." The king said, "Majnu, you are mad...!" Majnu said, "That may be so, but I must tell you one thing: to see Laila you will need the eyes of Majnu." Majnu is right. To see the beauty of trees you need an eye for art -- there is no other proof.

If one wants to know love, one will need the heart of a lover -- there is no other proof. And godliness is the collective name of all the beauty, all the love and all the truth of this universe. For it an unwavering consciousness is needed, a witnessing is needed... where no word remains, no thought remains, no wave arises... where no mental dust remains and the mirror of consciousness is perfectly pure. What proof? Vivekananda told Ramakrishna, "I want proof. If God exists then prove it!"

Ramakrishna looked at Vivekananda. This youth had great promise, great potential; much was ready to happen within him. There was a great treasure with which Vivekananda was unacquainted. Ramakrishna looked into, peered into, the past lives of this youth. Vivekananda had come carrying a great treasure, a great treasure of integrity, but it was suppressed under his logic.

Seeing this, a cry of anguish and compassion must have risen from Ramakrishna's heart. He said, "Forget all this. We'll talk about proof and such things later on. I have become a little old, I have difficulty reading; you are young, you eyes are still strong -- read from the book lying there."

It was the Ashtavakra Gita. "Read a little out loud to me." It is said that Vivekananda saw nothing wrong in this, this fellow was not requesting anything special. He read three or four sutras and every cell began trembling. He started to panic and he said, "I cannot read on." Ramakrishna insisted, " Go ahead and read. What harm can there be in it? How can this book hurt you? You are young, your eyes are still fresh, and I am old, it is hard for me to read. I must hear this book -- read it out to me."

It is said that Vivekananda kept on reading aloud from the book -- and disappeared in meditation. Ramakrishna had seen great potential in this youth, a very promising potential, like that of a bodhisattva who one day or other is destined to become a buddha. Sooner or later, no matter how much he wanders, he is approaching buddhahood. When Vivekananda came to Ramakrishna his name was still Narendranath -- later on Ramakrishna named him Vivekananda. When he came to Ramakrishna he was extremely argumentative, an atheist, a rationalist.

Swami Vivekananda Searching Job

There is a small memoir in the life of Vivekananda. When Vivekananda’s father died, there was so much poverty in his home that often there was not enough food for both mother and son. So, Vivekananda would tell his mother, ”Today I am invited to a friend’s house, I will go there.” In fact there was no invitation, no nothing, he would just roam around on the roads and later return home. Otherwise the food was so little that his mother would feed him and would remain hungry herself.

So, he would return home with an empty stomach but happy and laughing saying loudly, ”It was a wonderful meal! Such delicious food dishes were cooked!” He would enter the house talking of those food stuffs that were nowhere cooked for him, that he had not eaten anywhere.

When Ramakrishna came to know of this, he said, ”How mad you are! Why don’t you ask God and all will be taken care of.” Vivekananda said that it will be too ordinary a thing to talk about eating and drinking with God. Still Ramakrishna asked him to ask at least once and see. He sent Vivekananda inside the temple. One hour passed, one and a half hours passed, Vivekananda came out from the temple and was very blissful and estatic. He came out dancing. Ramakrishna asked, ”Did you get it? Did you ask for it?” Vivekananda said, ”Get what?” Ramakrishna said, ”I had told you to put forward your demand. What makes you return so blissful?”

Vivekananda said, ”I forgot that completely ” This happened several times. Ramakrishna would send him in and when Vivekananda came out of the temple, he would inquire about it. Then Vivekananda would remember what he had been sent in for. Ramakrishna said, ”Are you mad or something? Because while going inside, you promised me that you will ask.”

Vivekananda would say, ”When I go in, there remains not even a faint memory that I have to ask God for something. On the contrary, a feeling of giving arises in me, that I should give myself to Him. And when I give myself, there is such bliss, so much of it that there is neither hunger, nor thirst, nor the need to ask”

Vivekananda could not ask. It was not possible for him. Until now no truly religious person has asked for anything from God. And those who have asked, it ought to be understood well that they have nothing to do with religion. The religious man has only given.

Source: "Ramakrishna Paramhansa & Swami Vivekananda First Meeting" from book "the mahageeta vol1" By Osho

http://formlesspath-sunthosh.blogspot.com/2010/05/ramakrishna-paramhansa-and-swami.html

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Swami Vivekananda's Brilliant Advice To A Lady Who Asked To Marry Him

When Swami Vivekananda went to USA, a lady asked him to marry her. When Swami asked the lady about what made her ask him such question. The lady replied that she was fascinated by his intellect. She wanted a child of such an intellect. So she asked Swami, whether he could marry her and give a child like him.

He said to that lady, that since she was attracted only by his intellect, there is no problem.

"My dear lady, I understand Your desire. Marrying and bringing a child in to this world and understanding whether it is intelligent or not takes very long time. More over it is not guaranteed.

Instead, to fulfil Your desire immediately, I can suggest a guaranteed way. Take me as Your child. You are my mother. Now Your desire of having a child of my intellect is fulfilled."

The lady was speechless.

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