Thoughts of Swami Vivekananda

Hello guys, do you know Swami Vivekananda? The great Indian Monk who spread out Hindu philosophy worldwide. He was a fellow of Great Swami Ramkrushna Paramhans. Today also, Swami Vivekananda is a role model for country’s youth. 

Following are some quotes of Swami Vivekananda. Just reading these quotes you will get slightest idea about personality of this man. Now day’s a number of religions or movements represent these thoughts. I think the essence of his teaching is that there is God in every human. So as you love yourself also look after your brothers & sisters. One can’t become happy alone with his society in sorrows. Helping other people to rise from their worse condition, will automatically give you the MOKSHA. There was a true story about Swami Vivekananda. Once he was in foreign country & a woman just greeted him by shake-hand. After this shake-hand that woman felt so sacred that she avoided washing her hand for 2-3 days. Read following thoughts & just feel their power, energy, you will automatically consider this woman ‘luckiest’.

“All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who loves lives, he who is selfish is dying. Therefore love for love’s sake, because it is law of life, just as you breathe to live."

“Our duty is to encourage everyone in his struggle to live up to his own highest idea, and strive at the same time to make the ideal as near as possible to the Truth.” 

“Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you cannot, fold your hands, bless your brothers and let them go their own way.” 

“Each work has to pass through these stages—ridicule, opposition, and then acceptance. Those who think ahead of their time are sure to be misunderstood."

 “Even the greatest fool can accomplish a task if it were after his or her heart. But the intelligent ones are those who can convert every work into one that suits their taste.” 

“If you want to have life, you have to die every moment for it. Life and death are only different expressions of the same thing looked at from different standpoints; they are the falling and the rising of the same wave, and the two form one whole.” 

“Purity, patience, and perseverance are the three essentials to success and, above all, love.”

 “If you want to have life, you have to die every moment for it. Life and death are only different expressions of the same thing looked at from different standpoints; they are the falling and the rising of the same wave, and the two form one whole.” 

“Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship or psychic control or philosophy – by one or more or all of these and be free.” 

“After every happiness comes misery; they may be far apart or near. The more advanced the soul, the more quickly does one follow the other. What we want is neither happiness nor misery. Both make us forget our true nature; both are chains--one iron, one gold; behind both is the Atman, who knows neither happiness nor misery. These are states, and states must ever change; but the nature of the Atman is bliss, peace, unchanging. We have not to get it, we have it; only wash away the dross and see it.” 

“All is the Self or Brahman. The saint, the sinner, the lamb, the tiger, even the murderer, as far as they have any reality, can be nothing else, because there is nothing else.”

 “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."

 “Come out into the broad light of day, come out from the little narrow paths, for how can the infinite soul rest content to live and die in small ruts?” “Come out into the universe of Light. Everything in the universe is yours, stretch out your arms and embrace it with love. If you every felt you wanted to do that, you have felt God.” 

“As soon as you know the voice and understand what it is, the whole scene changes. The same world which was the ghastly battlefield of maya is now changed into something good and beautiful. 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. Avoid excessive merriment."

“A mind in that state never becomes calm; it becomes fickle. Excessive merriment will always be followed by sorrow. Tears and laughter are near kin. People so often run from one extreme to the other.”

 “Be perfectly resigned, perfectly unconcerned; then alone can you do any true work. No eyes can see the real forces; we can only see the results. Put out self, forget it; just let God work, it is His business.” 

“Be strong! … You talk of ghosts and devils. We are the living devils. The sign of life is strength and growth. The sign of death is weakness. Whatever is weak, avoid! It is death. If it is strength, go down into hell and get hold of it! There is salvation only for the brave. "None but the brave deserves the fair. None but the bravest deserves salvation."

 “Bless people when they revile you. Think how much good they are doing by helping to stamp out the false ego. Hold fast to the real Self. Think only pure thoughts, and you will accomplish more than a regiment of mere preachers. Out of purity and silence comes the word of power. “ “Blows are what awaken us and help to break the dream. They show us the insufficiency of this world and make us long to escape, to have freedom.” 

“Books are infinite in number and time is short. The secret of knowledge is to take what is essential. Take that and try to live up to it. Both the forces of good and evil will keep the universe alive for us, until we awake from our dreams and give up this building of mud pies."

“Brave, bold men and women, these are what we want. What we want is vigor in the blood, strength in the nerves, iron muscles and nerves of steel, not softening namby-pamby ideas. Avoid all these. Avoid all mystery. There is no mystery in religion.” “Desire, ignorance, and inequality—this is the trinity of bondage. Desire, want, is the father of all misery.”

 “Desires are bound by the laws of success and failure. Desires must bring misery. The great secret of true success, of true happiness, is this: the person who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish person, is the most successful."

“Despondency is not religion, whatever else it may be.“ “Discriminate within yourself between the real and the unreal. Have you not read the Vedanta? Even when you sleep, keep the sword of discrimination at the head of your bed, so that covetousness cannot approach you even in dream. Practicing such strength, renunciation will gradually come, and then you will see the portals of heaven are wide open to you" 

 “Do any deserve liberty who are not ready to give it to others? Let us calmly go to work, instead of dissipating our energy in unnecessary fretting &fuming." *********************************************************************************
This is just a small collection of thoughts. If anyone interested in his entire work, please contact me.