26 February 2014

Swami Vivekananda's Quotes On Charvaka Or Lokayata


Charvaka (Cārvāka, Carvaka, or Chârvâka, Devanagari: चार्वाक, Bengali: চার্বাক) or Lokayata (Devanagari: लोकायत, Bengali: লোকায়ত) is a school of Indian philosophy that rejects all concepts of heaven and hell, karma, moksha. Carvakas are considered atheist and materialistic.

In this article you'll find Swam Vivekananda's quotations on Charvaka or Lokayata.

Swami Vivekananda on Charvaka or Lokayata
written in Devanagari script: Yavat jivet, sukham jivet, rinam kritwa, ghritam pivet
They denied inferential knowledge
accepting only perception by the senses
—Swami Vivekananda 
Image source: Original
Swami Vivekananda told—
  • Chârvâkas, a very ancient sect in India, were rank materialists. They have died out now, and most of their books are lost. They claimed that the soul, being the product of the body and its forces, died with it; that there was no proof of its further existence. They denied inferential knowledge accepting only perception by the senses.[Source]
  • In every country and every human breast there is a natural desire to find a stable equilibrium — something that does not change. We cannot find it in nature, for all the universe is nothing but an infinite mass of changes. But to infer from that that nothing unchanging exists is to fall into the error of the Southern school of Buddhists and the Chârvâkas, which latter believe that all is matter and nothing mind, that all religion is a cheat, and morality and goodness, useless superstitions.[Source]
  • The books of Veda have two parts; the first, Cura makanda [Karma Kanda], contains the sacrificial portion, while the second part, the Vedanta, denounces sacrifices, teaching charity and love, but not death. Each sect took up what portion it liked. The charvaka, or materialist, basing his doctrine on the first part, believed that all was matter and that there is neither a heaven nor a hell, neither a soul nor a God.[Source]
  • The Hindu drank in with his mother's milk that this life is as nothing — a dream! In this he is at one with the Westerners; but the Westerner sees no further and his conclusion is that of the Chârvâka — to "make hay while the sun shines". "This world being a miserable hole, let us enjoy to the utmost what morsels of pleasure are left to us." To the Hindu, on the other hand, God and soul are the only realities, infinitely more real than this world, and he is therefore ever ready to let this go for the other.[Source]
  • There were the Chârvâkas, who preached horrible things, the most rank, undisguised materialism, such as in the nineteenth century they dare not openly preach. These Charvakas were allowed to preach from temple to temple, and city to city, that religion was all nonsense, that it was priestcraft, that the Vedas were the words and writings of fools, rogues, and demons, and that there was neither God nor an eternal soul. If there was a soul, why did it not come back after death drawn by the love of wife and child. Their idea was that if there was a soul it must still love after death, and want good things to eat and nice dress. Yet no one hurt these Charvakas.[Source]

See also

  1. Swami Vivekananda on sex
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Swami Vivekananda's Quotes On Materialism

Man stands in materialism; you and I are materialists.
Our talking about God and Spirit is good;
but it is simply the vogue in our society to talk thus:
we have learnt it parrot-like and repeat it.
—Swami Vivekananda 
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
In this article you'll find Swami Vivekananda's quotes on materialism.
  • Charity is great, but the moment you say it is all, you run the risk of running into materialism.[Source]
  • Chârvâkas, a very ancient sect in India, were rank materialists.[Source]
  • For a time it seemed inevitable that the surging tide of agnosticism and materialism would sweep all before it. There were those who did not dare utter what they thought. Many thought the case hopeless and the cause of religion lost once and for ever. But the tide has turned and to the rescue has come — what? The study of comparative religions. By the study of different religions we find that in essence they are one.[Source]
  • If there be no eternal life, still the enjoyment of spiritual thoughts as ideals is keener and makes a man happier, whilst the foolery of materialism leads to competition and undue ambition and ultimate death, individual and national.[Source]
  • I am not talking about what every one of us means by love. Little namby-pamby love is lovely. Man rails in love with woman, and woman goes to die for man. The chances are that in five minutes John kicks Jane, and Jane kicks John. This is a materialism and no love at all. If John could really love Jane, he would be perfect that moment.[Source]
  • Let there be as little materialism as possible, with the maximum of spirituality.[Source]
  • Life is called Samsara -- it is the result of the conflicting forces acting upon us. Materialism says, "The voice of freedom is a delusion." Idealism says, "The voice that tells of bondage is but a dream." Vedanta says, "We are free and not free at the same time." That means that we are never free on the earthly plane, but ever free on the spiritual side. The Self is beyond both freedom and bondage. We are Brahman, we are immortal knowledge beyond the senses, we are Bliss Absolute.[Source]
  • Man stands in materialism; you and I are materialists. Our talking about God and Spirit is good; but it is simply the vogue in our society to talk thus: we have learnt it parrot-like and repeat it. So we have to take ourselves where we are as materialists, and must take the help of matter and go on slowly until we become real spiritualists, and feel ourselves spirits, understand the spirit, and find that this world which we call the infinite is but a gross external form of that world which is behind.[Source]
  • Materialism and all its miseries can never be conquered by materialism.[Source]
  • Materialism has come to the rescue of India in a certain sense by throwing open the doors of life to everyone, by destroying the exclusive privileges of caste, by opening up to discussion the inestimable treasures which were hidden away in the hands of a very few who have even lost the use of them. Half has been stolen and lost; and the other half which remains is in the hands of men who, like dogs in the manger, do not eat themselves and will not allow others to do so.[Source]
  • Materialism prevails in Europe today. You may pray for the salvation of the modern sceptics, but they do not yield, they want reason.[Source]
  • Materialism says, the voice of freedom is a delusion. Idealism says, the voice that tells of bondage is delusion. Vedanta says, you are free and not free at the same time — never free on the earthly plane, but ever free on the spiritual.[Source]
  • Neither idealists nor materialists are right; we must take both idea and expression.[Source]
  • No more materialism, no more this egoism, I must become spiritual.[Source]
  • Spirituality brings a class of men who lay exclusive claim to the special powers of the world. The immediate effect of this is a reaction towards materialism, which opens the door to scores of exclusive claims, until the time comes when not only all the spiritual powers of the race, but all its material powers and privileges are centred in the hands of a very few; and these few, standing on the necks of the masses of the people, want to rule them. Then society has to help itself, and materialism comes to the rescue.[Source]
  • Superstitions are all materialism, because they are all based on the consciousness of body, body, body. No spirit there. Spirit has no superstitions -- it is beyond the vain desires of the body.[Source]
  • That intense faith in another world, that intense hatred for this world, that intense power of renunciation, that intense faith in God, that intense faith in the immortal soul, is in you. I challenge anyone to give it up. You cannot. You may try to impose upon me by becoming materialists, by talking materialism for a few months, but I know what you are; if I take you by the hand, back you come as good theists as ever were born. How can you change your nature?[Source]
  • The Hindus have to learn a little bit of materialism from the West and teach them a little bit of spirituality.[Source]
  • The idea of God grew side by side with the idea of [materialism].[Source]
  • The idea of reform came to India when it seemed as if the wave of materialism that had invaded her shores would sweep away the teachings of the sages. But the nation had borne the shocks of a thousand such waves of change. This one was mild in comparison. Wave after wave had flooded the land, breaking and crushing everything for hundreds of years. The sword had flashed, and "Victory unto Allah" had rent the skies of India; but these floods subsided, leaving the national ideals unchanged.[Source]
  • To believe that mind is all, that thought is all is only a higher materialism.[Source]
  • Two attempts have been made in the world to found social life: the one was upon religion, and the other was upon social necessity. The one was founded upon spirituality, the other upon materialism; the one upon transcendentalism, the other upon realism.[Source]
  • We must get out of materialism.[Source]
  • What is the idea of God in heaven? Materialism. The Vedantic idea is the infinite principle of God embodied in every one of us. God sitting up on a cloud! Think of the utter blasphemy of it! It is materialism -- downright materialism. When babies think this way, it may be all right, but when grown - up men try to teach such things, it is downright disgusting -- that is what it is. It is all matter, all body idea, the gross idea, the sense idea. Every bit of it is clay and nothing but clay. Is that religion?[Source]
  • Whether on the ground of materialism, or of intellect, or of spirituality, the compensation that is given by the Lord to every one impartially is exactly the same. Therefore we must not think that we are the saviours of the world. We can teach the world, a good many things, and we can learn a good many things from it too. We can teach the world only what it is waiting for.[Source]

Advaita twice saved India from materialism 

From Jnana Yoga, Chapter: The Absolute and Manifestation—[Source]
This Advaita was never allowed to come to the people. At first some monks got hold of it and took it to the forests, and so it came to be called the "Forest Philosophy". By the mercy of the Lord, the Buddha came and preached it to the masses, and the whole nation became Buddhists. Long after that, when atheists and agnostics had destroyed the nation again, it was found out that Advaita was the only way to save India from materialism. Thus has Advaita twice saved India from materialism Before the Buddha came, materialism had spread to a fearful extent, and it was of a most hideous kind, not like that of the present day, but of a far worse nature. I am a materialist in a certain sense, because I believe that there is only One. That is what the materialist wants you to believe; only he calls it matter and I call it God. The materialists admit that out of this matter all hope, and religion, and everything have come. I say, all these have come out of Brahman. But the materialism that prevailed before Buddha was that crude sort of materialism which taught, "Eat, drink, and be merry; there is no God, soul or heaven; religion is a concoction of wicked priests." It taught the morality that so long as you live, you must try to live happily; eat, though you have to borrow money for the food, and never mind about repaying it. That was the old materialism, and that kind of philosophy spread so much that even today it has got the name of "popular philosophy". Buddha brought the Vedanta to light, gave it to the people, and saved India. A thousand years after his death a similar state of things again prevailed. The mobs, the masses, and various races, had been converted to Buddhism; naturally the teachings of the Buddha became in time degenerated, because most of the people were very ignorant. Buddhism taught no God, no Ruler of the universe, so gradually the masses brought their gods, and devils, and hobgoblins out again, and a tremendous hotchpotch was made of Buddhism in India. Again materialism came to the fore, taking the form of licence with the higher classes and superstition with the lower. Then Shankaracharya arose and once more revivified the Vedanta philosophy. He made it a rationalistic philosophy. In the Upanishads the arguments are often very obscure. By Buddha the moral side of the philosophy was laid stress upon, and by Shankaracharya, the intellectual side. He worked out, rationalised, and placed before men the wonderful coherent system of Advaita.
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Swami Vivekananda's Quotes On Importance Of Religion In India

Above all, India is the land of religion.
—Swami Vivekananda
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
In this website we have written two different articles— Swami Vivekananda's quotes on India and Swami Vivekananda's quotes on religion (listed at the bottom of the page as related articles).

Swami Vivekananda called "religion" the "vitality" of the country and "sole interest" of the people of the nation. In this articles we'll make a collection of Swami Vivekananda's quotations on Swami Vivekananda's quotes on importance of religion in India. This article will also contain Swami Vivekananda's quotes on India's contribution to world-religion.
  • Above all, India is the land of religion.[Source]
  • Each nation has a main current in life; in India it is religion. Make it strong and the waters on either side must move along with it.[Source]
  • Each nation has its own peculiar method of work. Some work through politics, some through social reforms, some through other lines. With us, religion is the only ground along which we can move.[Source]
  • Each nation has a theme: everything else is secondary. India's theme is religion.[Source]
  • For good or for evil, the religious ideal has been flowing into India for thousands of years; for good or for evil, the Indian atmosphere has been filled with ideals of religion for shining scores of centuries; for good or for evil, we have been born and brought up in the very midst of these ideas of religion, till it has entered into our very blood and tingled with every drop in our veins, and has become one with our constitution, become the very vitality of our lives. Can you give such religion up without the rousing of the same energy in reaction, without filling the channel which that mighty river has cut out for itself in the course of thousands of years?[Source]
  • Here in India, it is religion that forms the very core of the national heart. It is the backbone, the bed-rock, the foundation upon which the national edifice has been built. Politics, power, and even intellect form a secondary consideration here. Religion, therefore, is the one consideration in India.[Source]
  • Here in this blessed land, the foundation, the backbone, the life-centre is religion and religion alone.[Source]
  • I have come to this conclusion that there is only one country in the world which understands religion — it is India.[Source]
  • In India, religious life forms the centre, the keynote of the whole music of national life.[Source]
  • It is clear to us that, for good or for evil, our vitality is concentrated in our religion. You cannot change it. You cannot destroy it and put in its place another.[Source]
  • Religion and religion alone is the life of India, and when that goes India will die, in spite of politics, in spite of social reforms, in spite of Kubera's wealth poured upon the head of every one of her children.[Source]
  • Religion for a long time has come to be static in India. What we want is to make it dynamic. I want it to be brought into the life of everybody.[Source]
  • Religion in India culminates in freedom.[Source]
  • Religion, in India, means realisation and nothing short of that.[Source]
  • Religion in India must be made as free and as easy of access as is God's air.[Source]
  • Religion is the life of India, religion is the language of this country, the symbol of all its movements.[Source]
  • Religion is the one and sole interest of the people of India.[Source]
  • Religion is the peculiarity of the growth of the Indian mind.[Source]
  • The Indian mind is first religious, then anything else. So this is to be strengthened.[Source]
  • This is the line of life, this is the line of growth, and this is the line of well-being in India — to follow the track of religion.[Source]
  • To the Indian mind there is nothing higher than religious ideals, that this is the keynote of Indian life.[Source]
  • To the other nations of the world, religion is one among the many occupations of life. There is politics, there are the enjoyments of social life, there is all that wealth can buy or power can bring, there is all that the senses can enjoy; and among all these various occupations of life and all this searching after something which can give yet a little more whetting to the cloyed senses — among all these, there is perhaps a little bit of religion. But here, in India, religion is the one and the only occupation of life.[Source]
  • We have seen that our vigour, our strength, nay, our national life is in our religion.[Source]

See also

  1. Swami Vivekananda's quotes on religion
  2. Swami Vivekananda's quotes on What religion is not
  3. Swami Vivekananda's quotes on India
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25 February 2014

Vivekananda Image Quotes - Archive 04

This is an archive of Swami Vivekananda's Image Quote Of The Day. The most recent quotes may be seen in that page.

21 February 2014

"Human language is the attempt to express the truth that is within."

20 February 2014

"Nivritti is turning aside from the world."

19 February 2014

"The materialising forces which through desire lead us to take an active part in worldly affairs are called Pravritti."

18 February 2014

"Meditate upon the Om that is in the heart."

17 February 2014

"May blessings and happiness attend every step of your progress in this world."

16 February 2014

God is perfect; He has no wants

15 February 2014

"We do not progress from error to truth, but from truth to truth."

14 February 2014

"It requires no proofs to demonstrate the existence of the beloved to the lover."

13 February 2014

"Never talk about the faults of others, no matter how bad they may be. Nothing is ever gained by that. You never help one by talking about his fault; you do him an injury, and injure yourself as well."

12 February 2014

"The Guru is the means of realisation. There is no knowledge without a teacher."

11 February 2014

"Priestcraft is in its nature cruel and heartless. That is why religion goes down where priestcraft arises."

10 February 2014

"There is the real me which nothing can destroy, and there is the phenomenal me which is continually changing and disappearing."

9 February 2014

"The Atman is Knowledge, the Atman is Intelligence, the Atman is Sachchidananda. It is through the inscrutable power of Maya, which cannot be indicated as either existent or non - existent, that the relative consciousness has come upon the Jiva who is none other than Brahman."

 8 February 2014

"Non-attachment is the complete self-abnegation."

7 February 2014

"Such a man becomes a world-mover for whom his little self is dead and God stands in its place. The whole universe will become transfigured to him."

6 February 2014

"Do not fret because the world looks with suspicion at every new attempt, even though it be in the path of spirituality."

5 February 2014

"The Gerua robe is not for enjoyment. It is the banner of heroic work."

4 February 2014

The road to the Good is the roughest and steepest in the universe. It is a wonder that so many succeed, no wonder that so many fall.

3 February 2014

Good and evil thoughts are each a potent power, and they fill the universe.

2 February 2014

Renunciation means that none can serve both God and Mammon.

1 February 2014

India can never be Europe until she dies.

31 January 2014

Space-time-causation, or name-and-form, is what is called Maya.

30 January 2014

The great quality of Bhakti is that it cleanses the mind.

29 January 2014

If there is any being I love in the whole world, it is my mother.

28 January 2014

It is through the feelings that the highest secrets are reached.

27 January 2014

Feel like Christ and you will be a Christ; feel like Buddha and you will be a Buddha.

26 January 2014

As I look back upon the history of my country, I do not find in the whole world another country which has done quite so much for the improvement of the human mind. Therefore I have no words of condemnation for my nation. I tell them, You have done well, only try to be better.

25 January 2014

If there is a God we must see Him, if there is a soul we must perceive it; otherwise it is better not to believe.

24 January 2014

We want everything but God. This is not religion that you see all around you.


Portal

This article is a sub article of Swami Vivekananda's Image Quote Of The Day and a sub-article of

Portal image
Portal:Image quote
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23 February 2014

Romesh Chunder Dutt On Swami Vivekananda

Image source: Wikipedia
Romesh Chunder Dutt (Bengali: রমেশ চন্দ্র দত্ত, 13 August 1848—30 November 1909) was a noted Indian historian, economic and a civil servant. A detailed biography of Dutt is available at Wikipedia.

In this article we'll have a look at Romesh Chunder Dutt's quotes and comments on Swami Vivekananda.

In 1902, in a letter written to Sister Nivedita, Dutt wrote—
Since then I have heard the sad news of Swami Vivekananda’s death. I never saw the Swami, I never closely followed his teachings, but you know how sincerely I appreciated and admired his high patriotism, his genuine belief in the greatness of his country, his manly faith in the future of his countrymen if they are true to themselves. That spirit of selfreliance, that determination to work out our own salvation,— that faith in our country and ourselves,—that conviction that our future rests in our own hands,—are the noblest lessons that we learn from the life of him whose loss we all lament today. India is poorer to-day for the untimely loss of an earnest worker who
had faith in himself ; to us in Bengal the loss is more of a personal nature ; to you the bereavement is one which will cast a shadow over all your life. Only the thought of his earnestness and greatness, only the imperishable lessons which his life teaches, may afford some consolation to those who have lost in him a friend, a helper in life, a teacher of the great truths.

References

  1. Letters of Sister Nivedita, vol: I, p: 534
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Francis Younghusband On Swami Vivekananda

Francis Younghusband or Francis Edward Younghusband (31 May 1863 – 31 July 1942) was a British Army officer, explorer, and a writer. He discussed Indian religions, culture, Indian mystics in several books. A detailed biography of Younghusband is available at Wikipedia.

In this article we'll collect Francis Younghusband's quotes and comments on Swami Vivekananda.

Younghusband told—
On the death of Ramakrishna the leadership of the little group of disciples fell to Vivekananda, still only twenty-three years of age. Though busy with his own domestic affairs he set to work to fulfil the sacred task left him by Ramakrishna. Disregarding their vacillations he would spend hours in describing the soul-stirring experiences of the Master. And after a time they set out all over India preaching the message of Ramakrishna. They left their dearest. They suffered the agonies that all saints have to endure. And Vivekananda went further still. He went to Europe and America. He became [famous] all over the world. But always he attributed every good he had or did to what his Master, Ramakrishna, had imparted to him.

References

  1. Modern Mystics, New York, University Books, Inc., 1970, p. 96.
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18 February 2014

Swami Vivekananda's Quotes On Pravritti And Nivritti

Nivritti is turning aside from the world.
—Swami Vivekananda
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
Pravritti (Devanagari: प्रवृत्ति) and Nivritti {Devanagari: निवृत्ति) are two Sanskrit words and Hindu concepts.There are two impulses in every mind, one says— "go outside", and the another suggests not to go. The first one is "Pravritti" and the second one is "Nivritti.
In this article we'll make a collection of Swami Vivekananda's quotations on Pravritti and Nivritti.

Pravritti and Nivritti

I

From Karma Yoga, Chapter: Non-attachment is the complete self-abnegation—[Source]
Here are two Sanskrit words. The one is Pravritti, which means revolving towards, and the other is Nivritti, which means revolving away. The "revolving towards" is what we call the world, the "I and mine”; it includes all those things which are always enriching that "me" by wealth and money and power, and name and fame, and which are of a grasping nature, always tending to accumulate everything in one centre, that centre being "myself". That is the Pravritti, the natural tendency of every human being; taking everything from everywhere and heaping it around one centre, that centre being man's own sweet self. When this tendency begins to break, when it is Nivritti or "going away from," then begin morality and religion. Both Pravritti and Nivritti are of the nature of work: the former is evil work, and the latter is good work. This Nivritti is the fundamental basis of all morality and all religion, and the very perfection of it is entire self-abnegation, readiness to sacrifice mind and body and everything for another being. When a man has reached that state, he has attained to the perfection of Karma-Yoga. This is the highest result of good works.

II

From Jnana Yoga, Chapter: Maya and Evolution—[Source]
There is one impulse in our minds which says, do. Behind it rises another voice which says, do not. There is one set of ideas in our mind which is always struggling to get outside through the channels of the senses, and behind that, although it may be thin and weak, there is an infinitely small voice which says, do not go outside. The two beautiful Sanskrit words for these phenomena are Pravritti and Nivritti, "circling forward" and "circling inward". It is the circling forward which usually governs our actions. Religion begins with this circling inward. Religion begins with this "do not". Spirituality begins with this "do not". When the "do not" is not there, religion has not begun. And this "do not" came, causing men's ideas to grow, despite the fighting gods which they had worshipped.

 Swami Vivekananda's Quotes on Pravritti and Nivritti

  • Acting in the external world Maya manifests itself as the two powers of attraction and repulsion. In the internal its manifestations are desire and non - desire (Pravritti and Nivritti). The whole universe is trying to rush outwards. Each atom is trying to fly off from its centre. In the internal world, each thought is trying to go beyond control. Again each particle in the external world is checked by another force, the centripetal, and drawn towards the centre. Similarly in the thought - world the controlling power is checking all these outgoing desires.[Source]
  • Every Hindu who has tasted the fruits of this world must give up in the latter part of his life, and he who does not is not a Hindu and has no more right to call himself a Hindu. We know that this is the ideal — to give up after seeing and experiencing the vanity of things. Having found out that the heart of the material world is a mere hollow, containing only ashes, give it up and go back. The mind is circling forward, as it were, towards the senses, and that mind has to circle backwards; the Pravritti has to stop and the Nivritti has to begin. That is the ideal. But that ideal can only be realised after a certain amount of experience. We cannot teach the child the truth of renunciation.[Source]
  • Nivritti is turning aside from the world.[Source]
  • "Pravirti" [Pravritti] means love of God and all his creatures.[Source]
  • The Hindu Ideal of life is "Nivarti" [Nivritti]. Nivarti means subjugation and conquest of evil passions, of Tamasa nature of lust, revenge and avarice. It does not mean conquest of all desire. It means only the annihilation of gross desires. Every man is bound to love and sympathize with his fellow creatures.[Source]
  • The materialising forces which through desire lead us to take an active part in worldly affairs are called Pravritti.[Source]
  • There is being, "x", which is manifesting itself as both mind and matter. Its movements in the seen are along certain fixed lines called law. As a unity, it is free; as many, it is bound by law. Still, with all this bondage, an idea of freedom is ever present, and this is Nivritti, or the "dragging from attachment".[Source]
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17 February 2014

Swami Vivekananda's Quotes On Physique

How will you struggle with the mind
unless the physique be strong?
—Swami Vivekananda 
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
In this website we have already written articles on Swami Vivekananda's quotations on body and health (listed at the bottom of the page as "Related articles"). Now, the topic of our this article is Swami Vivekananda's quotes on physique.
  • Don't you find that in a weak physique it is difficult to control the sex - appetite or anger? Lean people are quickly incensed and are quickly overcome by the sex - instinct.[Source]
  • First build up your own physique. Then only you can get control over the mind. "नायमात्मा बलहीनेन लभ्य:-- this Self is not to be attained by the weak" (Katha Upanishad, I.ii.23).[Source]
  • How will you struggle with the mind unless the physique be strong?[Source]
  • If the physique of the parents be not strong and healthy, how can strong and healthy children be born at all?[Source]
  • The gist of the letter I wrote to you about your change to Baidyanath was that it would be impossible for a man of weak and extremely delicate physique like you to live in that place unless you spent a good deal of money.[Source]
  • The gist of the thing is that unless one has a good physique one can never aspire to Self - realisation.[Source]
  • The physique of this country is not at all good. If you want to do some strenuous work, it cannot bear the strain.[Source]
  • You must learn to make the physique very strong and teach the same to others. Don't you find me exercising every day with dumb - bells even now? Walk in the morning and evenings and do physical labour. Body and mind must run parallel. It won't do to depend on others in everything. When the necessity of strengthening the physique is brought home to people, they will exert themselves of their own accord. It is to make them feel this need that education is necessary at the present moment.[Source]

See also

  1. Swami Vivekananda's quotes on body
  2. Swami Vivekananda's quotes on health
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Swami Vivekananda's Quotes On Om

To know the Om is to know the secret of the universe.
—Swami Vivekananda 
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
Om or Aum (Devanagari: ॐ or ओं or ओ३म्, Bengali: ওঁ) is considered as a divine sound and a name of God. The sound Om is a combination of A-U-M, according to Hindu belief, the sound Om includes every possible sound of the universe.

 The topic of our this article is Swami Vivekananda's quotations on Om.
  • As every word-symbol, intended to express the inexpressible Sphota, will so particularise it that it will no longer be the Sphota, that symbol which particularises it the least and at the same time most approximately expresses its nature, will be the truest symbol thereof; and this is the Om, and the Om only;
    because these three letters अ उ म (A.U.M.), pronounced incombination as Om, may well be the generalised symbol of all possible sounds. The letter A is the least differentiated of all sounds, therefore Krishna says in the Gita अक्षराणां अकारोऽस्मि — "I am A among the letters".[Source]
  • For those who believe in God, a symbolical name, such as Om or other sacred words received from a Guru, will be very helpful. Om is the greatest, meaning the Absolute. Meditating on the meaning of these holy names while repeating them is the chief practice.[Source]
  • Great men like Avatâras, in coming back from Samadhi to the realm of "I" and "mine", first experience the unmanifest Nada, which by degrees grows distinct and appears as Om, and then from Omkâra, the subtle form of the universe as a mass of ideas becomes experienced, and last, the material universe comes into perception.[Source]
  • He whom all the Vedas seek, to see whom men undergo all sorts of asceticism, I will tell you His name: It is Om. This eternal Om is the Brahman, this is the immortal One; he who knows the secret of this — whatever he desires is his.[Source]
  • His manifesting word is Om.[Source]
  • Ishvara is the Atman as seen or grasped by mind. His highest name is Om; so repeat it, meditate on it, and think of all its wonderful nature and attributes. Repeating the Om continually is the only true worship. It is not a word, it is God Himself.[Source]
  • It is not necessary to go through all these ceremonials to reach the meaning of the Vedanta. Repeating Om is enough.[Source]
  • Om is the pointed piece and Dhyâna (meditation) is the friction.[Source]
  • Om is the sacred name of that indescribable One. This word is the holiest of all words. He who knows the secret of this word receives that which he desires." Take refuge in this word. Whoso takes refuge in this word, to him the way opens.[Source]
  • Om represents the Akhanda, the undifferentiated Brahman.[Source]
  • Om, the one without a second. He in me, I in Him. I am like a bit of glass in an ocean of light. I am not, I am not. He is, He is, He is.[Source]
  • "Om, this is the Brahman; Om, this is the greatest reality; he who knows the secret of this Om, whatever he desires that he gets." Ay, therefore first know the secret of this Om, that you are the Om; know the secret of this Tattvamasi, and then and then alone whatever you want shall come to you.[Source]
  • One must think of Om, and of its meaning too.[Source]
  • Meditate upon the Om that is in the heart.[Source]
  • "That which all the Vedas declare, which is proclaimed by all penances, seeking which men lead lives of continence, I will tell you in one word — it is 'Om'." You will find this word "Om" praised very much in the Vedas, and it is held to be very sacred.[Source]
  • The Hindu boy or girl ... gets initiation. He gets from his Guru a word. This is called the root word. This word is given to the Guru [by his Guru], and he gives it to his disciple. One such word is OM. All these symbols have a great deal of meaning, and they hold it secret, never write it. They must receive it through the ear — not through writing — from the teacher, and then hold it as God himself. Then they meditate on the word.[Source]
  • The Jnani must keep ever in his mind the "Om Tat Sat", that is, Om the only real existence.[Source]
  • To know the Om is to know the secret of the universe.[Source]

Om — a study

From Patanjali's Yoga Aphorisms notes—[Source]
The commentator says the manifesting word of God is Om. Why does he emphasise this word? There are hundreds of words for God. One thought is connected with a thousand words; the idea "God" is connected with hundreds of words, and each one stands as a symbol for God. Very good. But there must be a generalisation among all these words, some substratum, some common ground of all these symbols, and that which is the common symbol will be the best, and will really represent them all. In making a sound we use the larynx and the palate as a sounding board. Is there any material sound of which all other sounds must be manifestations, one which is the most natural sound? Om (Aum) is such a sound, the basis of all sounds. The first letter, A, is the root sound, the key, pronounced without touching any part of the tongue or palate; M represents the last sound in the series, being produced by the closed lips, and the U rolls from the very root to the end of the sounding board of the mouth. Thus, Om represents the whole phenomena of sound-producing. As such, it must be the natural symbol, the matrix of all the various sounds. It denotes the whole range and possibility of all the words that can be made. Apart from these speculations, we see that around this word Om are centred all the different religious ideas in India; all the various religious ideas of the Vedas have gathered themselves round this word Om. What has that to do with America and England, or any other country? Simply this, that the word has been retained at every stage of religious growth in India, and it has been manipulated to mean all the various ideas about God. Monists, dualists, mono-dualists, separatists, and even atheists took up this Om. Om has become the one symbol for the religious aspiration of the vast majority of human beings. Take, for instance, the English word God. It covers only a limited function, and if you go beyond it, you have to add adjectives, to make it Personal, or Impersonal, or Absolute God. So with the words for God in every other language; their signification is very small. This word Om, however, has around it all the various significances. As such it should be accepted by everyone.
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14 February 2014

Swami Vivekananda's Quotes On Progress

All growth, progress, well - being, or degradation is but relative.
—Swami Vivekananda 
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
In this article we'll collect Swami Vivekananda's quotations on progress (Bengali: প্রগতি, Hindi: प्रगति)
  • According to the history of human progress, it is disobedience to nature that has constituted that progress.[Source]
  • All growth, progress, well - being, or degradation is but relative.[Source]
  • All progress and power are already in every man; perfection is man's nature, only it is barred in and prevented from taking its proper course.[Source]
  • All progression is in the relative world.[Source]
  • All real progress must be slow.[Source]
  • Do you think there is any other means of achieving progress except through Rajas?[Source]
  • How can there be any progress of the country without the spread of education, the dawning of knowledge?[Source]
  • I do not believe in eternal progress, that we are growing on ever and ever in a straight line. It is too nonsensical to believe. There is no motion in a straight line. A straight line infinitely projected becomes a circle. The force sent out will complete the circle and return to its starting place.[Source]
  • It is the nature of the brute to remain where he is (not to progress); it is the nature of man to seek good and avoid evil; it is the nature of God to seek neither, but just to be eternally blissful. Let us be God![Source]
  • It is too often believed that a person in his progress towards perfection passes from error to truth; that when he passes on from one thought to another, he must necessarily reject the first. But no error can lead to truth. The soul passing through its different stages goes from truth to truth, and each stage is true; it goes from lower truth to higher truth.[Source]
  • Just as the body has its progress and decadence, so also has the mind, and, therefore, the mind is not the soul, because the soul can neither decay nor degenerate.[Source]
  • Language is the chief means and index of a nation's progress.[Source]
  • Man has wanted to look beyond, wanted to expand himself; and all that we call progress, evolution, has been always measured by that one search, the search for human destiny, the search for God.[Source]
  • May blessings and happiness attend every step of your progress in this world.[Source]
  • None of us have yet seen an ideally perfect man, and yet without that ideal we cannot progress.[Source]
  • Take any path you like; follow any prophet you like; but have only that method which suits your own nature, so that you will be sure to progress.[Source]
  • The best thermometer to the progress of a nation is its treatment of its women.[Source]
  • The Indian mythology has a theory of cycles, that all progression is in the form of waves.[Source]
  • The progress and civilisation of the human race simply mean controlling this nature.[Source]
  • The progress of the world means more enjoyment and more misery too.[Source]
  • The progress of the world through all its evils making it fit for the ideals, slowly but surely.[Source]
  • The test of progress is the amount of renunciation that one has attained.[Source]
  • There is implanted in every man, naturally, a strong desire for progress.[Source]
  • True progress is slow but sure.[Source]
  • We do not progress from error to truth, but from truth to truth.[Source]
  • We have either to progress or to degenerate. Our ancestors did great things in the past, but we have to grow into a fuller life and march beyond even their great achievements.[Source]
  • We know there is no progress in a straight line.[Source]
  • We shall progress inch by inch.[Source]
  • What we want is progress, development, realisation.[Source]
  • Wherever there has been expansion in love or progress in well-being, of individuals or numbers, it has been through the perception, realisation, and the practicalisation of the Eternal Truth—the oneness of all beings.[Source]
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12 February 2014

Swami Vivekananda's Quotes On Fault

The following story is one which he related recently regarding
the practice of fault - finding among creeds:
"A frog lived in a well. It had lived there for a long time. . . .
—Swami Vivekananda
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
In this article you'll find Swami Vivekananda's quotations on fault.
  • Ay! says the Vedanta, it is not the fault of God that this partiality exists, that this competition exists. Who makes it? We ourselves. There is a cloud shedding its rain on all fields alike. But it is only the field that is well cultivated, which gets the advantage of the shower; another field, which has not been tilled or taken care of cannot get that advantage. It is not the fault of the cloud.[Source]
  • It is not God's fault. It is our fault that we suffer. Whatever we sow we reap.[Source]
  • Never forget that a man is made great and perfect as much by his faults as by his virtues. So we must not seek to rob a nation of its character, even if it could be proved that the character was all faults.[Source]
  • Never talk about the faults of others, no matter how bad they may be. Nothing is ever gained by that. You never help one by talking about his fault; you do him an injury, and injure yourself as well.[Source]
  • Nobody has a right now to say that the Hindus are not liberal to a fault.[Source]
  • Religion is not in fault.[Source]
  • The fire that warms us can also consume us; it is not the fault of the fire.[Source]
  • The same fire that cooks a meal for us may burn a child, and it is no fault of the fire if it does so; the difference lies in the way in which it is used.[Source]
  • The same fire that cooks your meal burns the child. Is it the fault of the fire?[Source]
  • The wind is blowing; those vessels whose sails are unfurled catch it, and go forward on their way, but those which have their sails furled do not catch the wind. Is that the fault of the wind? Is it the fault of the merciful Father, whose wind of mercy is blowing without ceasing, day and night, whose mercy knows no decay, is it His fault that some of us are happy and some unhappy? We make our own destiny. His sun shines for the weak as well as for the strong. His wind blows for saint and sinner alike. He is the Lord of all, the Father of all, merciful, and impartial.[Source]
  • We are suffering from our own Karma. It is not the fault of God. What we do is our own fault, nothing else. Why should God be blamed?. . .[Source]
  • We do not look at our own faults; the eyes do not see themselves, they see the eyes of everybody else. We human beings are very slow to recognise our own weakness, our own faults, so long as we can lay the blame upon somebody else.[Source]

A story

From Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume VII—[Source]
Note: Swamiji told the same story at the Parliament of the World's Religions, Chicago on 15 September 1894
The following story is one which he related recently regarding the practice of fault - finding among creeds: "A frog lived in a well. It had lived there for a long time. It was born there and brought up there, and yet was a little, small frog. Of course the evolutionists were not there to tell us whether the frog lost its eyes or not, but, for our story's sake, we must take it for granted that it had eyes, and that it every day cleansed the waters of all the worms and bacilli that lived in it, with an energy that would give credit to our modern bacteriologists. In this way it went on and became a little sleek and fat -- perhaps as much so as myself. Well, one day another frog that lived in the sea, came and fell into the well. "`Whence are you from?'
"`I am from the sea.'
"`The sea? How big is that? Is it as big as my well?' and he took a leap from one side of the well to the other. "`My friend,' says the frog of the sea, `how do you compare the sea with your little well?' "`Then the frog took another leap and asked; `Is your sea so big?' "`What nonsense you speak to compare the sea with your well.' "`Well, then,' said the frog of the well, `nothing can be bigger than my well; there can be nothing bigger than this; this fellow is a liar, so turn him out.' "That has been the difficulty all the while.
"I am a Hindu. I am sitting in my own little well, and thinking that the world is my well. The Christian sits in his little well and the whole world is his well. The Mohammedan sits in his well and thinks the whole world that. I have to thank you of America for the great attempt you are making to break down the barriers of this little world of ours, and hope that, in the future, the Lord will help you to accomplish that purpose."
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