Teachings of Swami Vivekananda

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Teachings of Swami Vivekananda

Source: Free Press Journal

 

Duty:

Our first duty is not to hate ourselves; because to advance we must

have faith in ourselves first and then in God. He who has no faith

in himself can never have faith in God.

 

When you are doing any work, do not think of anything beyond. Do it

as worship, as the highest worship, and devote your life to it for

the time being.

 

Meditation:

The greatest thing is meditation. It is the nearest approach to

spiritual life -- the mind meditating. It is the one moment in our

daily life that we are not material -- the Soul thinking of Itself,

free from all matter -- this marvellous touch of the Soul.

 

The greatest help to spiritual life is meditation. In meditation we

divest ourselves of all material conditions and feel our divine

nature. We do not depend upon any external help in meditation.

 

Mind and Thought:

When your mind has become controlled you have control over the whole

body; instead of being slave to this machine, the machine is your

slave. Instead of machine being able to drag the soul down it

becomes its greatest helpmate.

 

Mind is like a lake, and every thought is like a wave upon that

lake. Just as in the lake waves rise and then fall down and

disappear, so these thought-waves are continually rising in the mind

stuff, and then disappearing but they do not disappear forever. They

become finer and finer, but they are all there, ready to start up at

another time when called upon to do so.

 

Happiness:

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.