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Showing posts from March, 2017

REASON AND RELIGION-1.6 { 1.Claiming this ( Brahmam ) superiority, religions have many times looked down, unfortunately, on all secular knowledge, and not only so, but many times have refused to be justified by the aid of secular knowledge. 2. In consequence, all the world over there have been fights between secular knowledge and religious knowledge, the one claiming infallible authority as its guide, refusing to listen to anything that secular knowledge has to say on the point, the other, with its shining instrument of reason, wanting to cut to pieces everything religion could bring forward.

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Opinion               29/03/2017.                    1023.                 All Members,          Respected family members of this great holy Nation.           VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE PRESENT DAY STUDENTS : - Sub : REASON AND RELIGION-1.6 ----------------------------------------- Swami Vivekananda (Delivered in England) Ref : {1.Claiming this ( Brahmam ) superiority, religions have many times looked down, unfortunately, on all secular knowledge, and not only so, but many times have refused to be justified by the aid of secular knowledge. I. 1. Now, the question arises if this light of reason is able to judge between inspiration and inspiration, and if this light can uphold its standard when the quarrel is between prophet and prophet, if it has the power of understanding anything whatsoever of religion. 2. If it has not, nothing can determine the hopeless fight of books and prophets which has been going on through ages; for it means that all religions are mere

The Essence of Dharma-4.

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26/03/2017. (Spoken on February 11th, 1973) Thus, our little activities in day-to-day existence hang themselves on the vast concept of the cosmos. This is the peculiarity of Indian philosophy. Everything is connected with the cosmos. We cannot breathe unless we know the nature of existence as a whole. Even the smallest of our performances in life, whether religious or secular, is dependent ultimately on the structure or pattern of the universe. All our activities are spiritualised in this manner. The culture of Bharatavarsha, India, is spiritual in the sense that everything is connected with the universe. There is nothing which has no relevance to the cosmic processes of nature. If we install a newly made door, well, there is a prayer offered and a religious ceremony. If we build a house, of course, there is a very large ceremony indeed. If a marriage takes place, if a child is born or if someone dies, there is a religious ceremony. If a wife is pregnant, there is a r

REASON AND RELIGION-1.5 { 1.Claiming this ( Brahmam ) superiority, religions have many times looked down, unfortunately, on all secular knowledge, and not only so, but many times have refused to be justified by the aid of secular knowledge. 2. In consequence, all the world over there have been fights between secular knowledge and religious knowledge, the one claiming infallible authority as its guide, refusing to listen to anything that secular knowledge has to say on the point, the other, with its shining instrument of reason, wanting to cut to pieces everything religion could bring forward.

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Opinion               23/03/2017.                    1018.                 All Members,          Respected family members of this great holy Nation.           VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE PRESENT DAY STUDENTS : - Sub : REASON AND RELIGION-1.5 ----------------------------------------- Swami Vivekananda (Delivered in England) Ref : {1.Claiming this ( Brahmam ) superiority, religions have many times looked down, unfortunately, on all secular knowledge, and not only so, but many times have refused to be justified by the aid of secular knowledge.  You also say the same thing, my Christian friend; you say that what Jehovah declared to the Jews is right to do, and what he forbade them to do is wrong. So say I, Allah declared in my book that certain things should be done, and that certain things should not be done, and that is all the test of right and wrong." In spite of that the Christian is not satisfied; he insists on a comparison of the morality of the Sermon on t

The Essence of Dharma-3.

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16/03/2017. (Spoken on February 11th, 1973) Now, the purpose of life, or the aim of life, is again dependent upon the nature of the universe. How is the universe constituted? On that depends very much the aim of our existence, of our life, and consequently, the nature of our activities. We must know to what family we belong, what sort of atmosphere we are living in, what the tradition of our society is. On that depends the way in which we have to conduct ourselves in life. Likewise, we may have to find out the nature of the universe as a whole in order that we may know what our function in life is because we are inextricably involved in the structure of the universe. We are a part of the cosmos, and the laws that operate in the cosmos naturally have a say in the matter of our personal existence. We cannot do something contrary to the law of nature, of the universe, just as we cannot do something contrary to the principles of our own family or our society. Swami

REASON AND RELIGION-1.4 { 1.Claiming this ( Brahmam ) superiority, religions have many times looked down, unfortunately, on all secular knowledge, and not only so, but many times have refused to be justified by the aid of secular knowledge. 2. In consequence, all the world over there have been fights between secular knowledge and religious knowledge, the one claiming infallible authority as its guide, refusing to listen to anything that secular knowledge has to say on the point, the other, with its shining instrument of reason, wanting to cut to pieces everything religion could bring forward.

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Opinion               14/03/2017.                    1012.                 All Members,          Respected family members of this great holy Nation.           VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE PRESENT DAY STUDENTS : - Sub : REASON AND RELIGION-1.4 ----------------------------------------- Swami Vivekananda (Delivered in England) Ref : {1.Claiming this ( Brahmam ) superiority, religions have many times looked down, unfortunately, on all secular knowledge, and not only so, but many times have refused to be justified by the aid of secular knowledge. I. People who deny the efficacy of any rationalistic investigation into religion seem to me somewhat to be contradicting themselves. II. For instance, the Christian claims that his religion is the only true one, because it was revealed to so-and-so. III. The Mohammedan makes the same claim for his religion; his is the only true one, because it was revealed to so-and-so. IV. But the Christian says to the Mohammedan, "

The Essence of Dharma-2.

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09/03/2017. (Spoken on February 11th, 1973) The duty of man depends upon the aim of life. Whatever we are supposed to do in our life is directed by the purpose for which we are existing. Aimless activity is unthinkable. All our efforts, professions and works are somehow or other directed toward the achievement of an end, a goal or a purpose. Unless we are conscious and clear about the aim of our life, it would be difficult for us to determine the nature of our duties in life. In India especially, ethics are based on metaphysics. The conduct of life is rooted in the concept of existence. Swami Krishnananda To be continued ..

REASON AND RELIGION-1.3 { 1.Claiming this ( Brahmam ) superiority, religions have many times looked down, unfortunately, on all secular knowledge, and not only so, but many times have refused to be justified by the aid of secular knowledge. 2. In consequence, all the world over there have been fights between secular knowledge and religious knowledge, the one claiming infallible authority as its guide, refusing to listen to anything that secular knowledge has to say on the point, the other, with its shining instrument of reason, wanting to cut to pieces everything religion could bring forward.

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Opinion               05/03/2017.                    1007.                 All Members,          Respected family members of this great holy Nation.           VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE PRESENT DAY STUDENTS : - Sub : REASON AND RELIGION-1.3 ----------------------------------------- Swami Vivekananda (Delivered in England) Ref : {1.Claiming this ( Brahmam ) superiority, religions have many times looked down, unfortunately, on all secular knowledge, and not only so, but many times have refused to be justified by the aid of secular knowledge. } The question is: Is there a way out? To put it in a more concrete form: Is religion to justify itself by the discoveries of reason, through which every other science justifies itself? Are the same methods of investigation, which we apply to sciences and knowledge outside, to be applied to the science of Religion? In my opinion this must be so, and I am also of opinion that the sooner it is done the better. If a religion is destr