In this world of many he who
sees the One, in this ever-changing world, he who sees Him who never changes, as
the Soul of his own soul, as his own Self - he is free, he is blessed, he has
reached the goal.
Therefore know that thou art He; thou art the God of this universe - tat tvam
asi - (thou art That).
All these various ideas that I am a man or a woman, or sick or healthy, or
strong or weak, or that I hate or I love, or have a little power, are but
hallucinations. Away with them! What makes you weak? What makes you fear? You
are the One Being in the universe. What frightens you?
Stand up then and be free. Know that every thought and word that weakens you in
this world is the only evil that exists. Whatever makes men weak and fear is the
only evil that should be shunned. What can frighten you?
If the suns come down, and the moons crumble into dust, and systems after
systems are hurled into annihilation, what is that to you? Stand as a rock; you
are indestructible. You are the Self, the God of the universe. Say: "I am
Existence Absolute, Bliss Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, I am He." And like a
lion breaking its cage, break your chain and be free for ever. What frightens
you, what holds you down? Only ignorance and delusion; nothing else can bind
you.
Poem / quote n° 3156 : Vivekananda, (Calcutta, 1862 — id., 1902), Hindu mystic,
major exponent of Vedanta philosophy, Hinduism
Source : excerpt from Jnana-Yoga, Immortality, Swami Vivekananda, pg 164
Wherever there are two, there is fear, there is danger, there is conflict, there
is strife. When it is all One, who is there to hate, who is there to struggle
with? When it is all He, with whom can you fight? This explains the true nature
of life; this explains the true nature of being. This is perfection, and this is
God. As long as you see the many, you are under delusion.
Poem / quote n° 3155 : Vivekananda, (Calcutta, 1862 — id., 1902), Hindu mystic,
major exponent of Vedanta philosophy, Hinduism
Source : excerpt from Jnana-Yoga, Immortality, Swami Vivekananda, pg 164
You are the omniscient, omnipresent being of the universe. But of such beings
can there be many? Can there be a hundred thousand millions of omnipresent
beings? Certainly not. Then, what becomes of us all? You are only one; there is
only one such Self, and that One Self is you. Standing behind this little nature
is what we call the Soul. There is only One Being, One Existence, the
ever-blessed, the omnipresent, the omniscient, the birthless, deathless.
Poem / quote n° 3154 : Vivekananda, (Calcutta, 1862 — id., 1902), Hindu mystic,
major exponent of Vedanta philosophy, Hinduism
Source : excerpt from Jnana-Yoga, Immortality, Swami Vivekananda, pg 164
Thus sang a Vedantist: I never had fear or doubt. Death never came to me. I
never had a father or mother, for I was never born. Where are my foes? - for I
am All. I am Existence, Knowledge, Bliss Absolute. I am It. I am It."
Poem / quote n° 2696 : Vivekananda, (Calcutta, 1862 — id., 1902), Hindu mystic,
major exponent of Vedanta philosophy, Hinduism
Source : "Vedanta: Voice of Freedom", Vedanta Society of St. Louis, 205 S.
Skinker Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63105.
NONE CAN DIE. None can be degraded forever. Life is but a playground, however
gross the play may be. However we may receive blows and however knocked about we
may be, the Soul is there and is never injured. We are that Infinite.
Poem / quote n° 2695 : Vivekananda, (Calcutta, 1862 — id., 1902), Hindu mystic,
major exponent of Vedanta philosophy, Hinduism
Source : "Vedanta: Voice of Freedom", Vedanta Society of St. Louis, 205 S.
Skinker Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63105.
This is the gist of all worship: to be pure and to do good to others. He who
sees Shiva in the poor, in the weak, and in the diseased, really worships Shiva.
And if he sees Shiva only in the image, his worship is but preliminary. He who
has served and helped one poor man seeing Shiva in him, without thinking of his
caste or creed or race or anything, with him Shiva is more pleased than with the
man who sees Him only in temples.
Poem / quote n° 2694 : Vivekananda, (Calcutta, 1862 — id., 1902), Hindu mystic,
major exponent of Vedanta philosophy, Hinduism
Source : "Vedanta: Voice of Freedom", Vedanta Society of St. Louis, 205 S.
Skinker Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63105.
It IS IN LOVE that religion exists and not in ceremony-in the pure and sincere
love in the heart. Unless a man is pure in body and mind, his coming into a
temple and worshipping Shiva is useless. The prayers of those who are pure in
mind and body will be answered by Shiva, and those who are impure and yet try to
teach religion to others will fail in the end. External worship is only a symbol
of internal worship, but internal worship and purity are the real things.
Without them, external worship would be of no avail.
Poem / quote n° 2693 : Vivekananda, (Calcutta, 1862 — id., 1902), Hindu mystic,
major exponent of Vedanta philosophy, Hinduism
Source : "Vedanta: Voice of Freedom", Vedanta Society of St. Louis, 205 S.
Skinker Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63105.
To sinners and vile men there is vileness outside, but not to good men. So the
wicked see this universe as a hell, and the partially good see it as heaven,
while the perfect beings realize it as God Himself. Only when a man sees this
universe as God does the veil fall from his eyes; then that man, purified and
cleansed, finds his whole vision changed. The bad dreams that have been
torturing him for millions of years all vanish, and he who was thinking of
himself as either a man or a god or a demon, he who was thinking of himself as
living in low places, in high places, on earth, in heaven, and so on, finds that
he is really omnipresent; that all time is in him, and that he is not in time;
that all the heavens are in him, that he is not in any heaven; and that all the
gods that man ever worshipped are in him, and that he is not in any one of those
gods. He was the manufacturer of gods and demons, of men and plants and animals
and stones. And the real nature of man now stands unfolded to him as being
higher than heaven, more perfect than this universe of ours, more infinite than
infinite time, more omnipresent than the omnipresent ether.
Poem / quote n° 2692 : Vivekananda, (Calcutta, 1862 — id., 1902), Hindu mystic,
major exponent of Vedanta philosophy, Hinduism
Source : "Vedanta: Voice of Freedom", Vedanta Society of St. Louis, 205 S.
Skinker Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63105.
It may frighten many of you, but you will understand it by degrees. The living
God is within you, and yet you are building churches and temples and believing
all sorts of imaginary nonsense. The only God to worship is the human soul in
the human body. Of course all animals are temples too, but man is the highest,
the Taj Mahal of temples. If I cannot worship in that, no other temple will be
of any advantage. The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every
human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God
in him, that moment I am free from bondage. Everything that binds vanishes, and
I am free.
Poem / quote n° 2691 : Vivekananda, (Calcutta, 1862 — id., 1902), Hindu mystic,
major exponent of Vedanta philosophy, Hinduism
Source : "Vedanta: Voice of Freedom", Vedanta Society of St. Louis, 205 S.
Skinker Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63105.
You are God and so am I.
Who obeys whom? Who worships whom? You are the highest temple of God. I would
rather worship you than any temple, image or bible.
Poem / quote n° 2690 : Vivekananda, (Calcutta, 1862 — id., 1902), Hindu mystic,
major exponent of Vedanta philosophy, Hinduism
Source : "Vedanta: Voice of Freedom", Vedanta Society of St. Louis, 205 S.
Skinker Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63105.