ॐ
वीरेश्वराय विद्महे विवेकानन्दाय धीमहि । तन्नो
वीर: प्रचोदयात् ।
Learn not the truth of the Self save from one who has realised it;
in all others it is mere talk. Realisation is beyond virtue and
vice, beyond future and past; beyond all the pairs of opposites.
"The stainless one sees the Self, and an eternal calm comes in the
Soul." Talking, arguing, and reading books, the highest flights of
the intellect, the Vedas themselves, all these cannot give
knowledge of the Self.
In us are two — The God-soul and the man-soul. The sages know that
the latter is but the shadow, that the former is the only real
Sun.
Unless we join the mind with the senses, we get no report from
eyes, nose, ears, etc. The external organs are used by the power
of the mind. Do not let the senses go outside, and then you can
get rid of body and the external world.
This very "x" which we see here as an external world, the departed
see as heaven or hell according to their own mental states. Here
and hereafter are two dreams, the latter modelled on the former;
get rid of both, all is omnipresent, all is now. Nature, body, and
mind go to death, not we; we never go nor come. The man Swami
Vivekananda is in nature, is born, and dies; but the self which we
see as Swami Vivekananda is never born and never dies. It is the
eternal and unchangeable Reality.
The power of the mind is the same whether we divide it into five
senses or whether we see only one. A blind man says, "Everything
has a distinct echo, so I clap my hands and get that echo, and
then I can tell everything that is around me." So in a fog the
blind man can safely lead the seeing man. Fog or darkness makes no
difference to him.
Control the mind, cut off the senses, then you are a Yogi; after
that, all the rest will come. Refuse to hear, to see, to smell, to
taste; take away the mental power from the external organs. You
continually do it unconsciously as when your mind is absorbed; so
you can learn to do it consciously. The mind can put the senses
where it pleases. Get rid of the fundamental superstition that we
are obliged to act through the body. We are not. Go into your own
room and get the Upanishads out of your own Self. You are the
greatest book that ever was or ever will be, the infinite
depository of all that is. Until the inner teacher opens, all
outside teaching is in vain. It must lead to the opening of the
book of the heart to have any value.
The will is the "still small voice", the real Ruler who says "do"
and "do not". It has done all that binds us. The ignorant will
leads to bondage, the knowing will can free us. The will can be
made strong in thousands of ways; every way is a kind of Yoga, but
the systematised Yoga accomplishes the work more quickly. Bhakti,
Karma, Raja, and Jnana-Yoga get over the ground more effectively.
Put on all powers, philosophy, work, prayer, meditation — crowd
all sail, put on all head of steam — reach the goal. The sooner,
the better. . . .
Baptism is external purification symbolising the internal. It is
of Buddhist origin.
The Eucharist is a survival of a very ancient custom of savage
tribes. They sometimes killed their great chiefs and ate their
flesh in order to obtain in themselves the qualities that made
their leaders great. They believed that in such a way the
characteristics that made the chief brave and wise would become
theirs and make the whole tribe brave and wise, instead of only
one man. Human sacrifice was also a Jewish idea and one that clung
to them despite many chastisements from Jehovah. Jesus was gentle
and loving, but to fit him into Jewish beliefs, the idea of human
sacrifice, in the form of atonement or as a human scapegoat, had
to come in. This cruel idea made Christianity depart from the
teachings of Jesus himself and develop a spirit of persecution and
bloodshed. . . .
Say, "it is my nature", never say, "It is my duty" — to do
anything whatever.
"Truth alone triumphs, not untruth." Stand upon Truth, and you
have got God.
from the Inspired Talks on
"Kathopanishad" on Saturday, 27 July 1895, Recorded by
Miss S. E. Waldo, A Disciple
[CW:V7]
Today's-Special
: 27-July in Swami Vivekananda Life
27 July 1895 : World Wide Unity - Oakland Island
Beach Christian Unity at Fire Island, NY
All religions are, at the bottom, alike. This is so,
although the Christian Church, like the Pharisee in the
parable, thanks God that it alone is right and thinks that
all other religions are wrong and in need of Christian
light. Christianity must become tolerant before the world
will be willing to unite with the Christian Church in a
common charity. God has not left Himself without a witness
in any heart, and men, especially men who follow Jesus
Christ, should be willing to admit this. In fact, Jesus
Christ was willing to admit every good man to the family
of God. It is not the man who believes a certain
something, but the man who does the will of the Father in
heaven, who is right. On this basis — being right and
doing right — the whole world can unite.
July 27, 1895- Inspired Talks (Kathopanishad)
Learn not the truth of the Self save from one who has
realised it; in all others it is mere talk. Realisation is
beyond virtue and vice, beyond future and past; beyond all
the pairs of opposites. "The stainless one sees the Self,
and an eternal calm comes in the Soul." Talking, arguing,
and reading books, the highest flights of the intellect,
the Vedas themselves, all these cannot give knowledge of
the Self.
In us are two — The God-soul and the man-soul. The sages
know that the latter is but the shadow, that the former is
the only real Sun.
Realisation
