In the Regeneration and Divinisation of Human Beings

29/12/2017 Spoken on February 11th, 1973) 17.1  We cannot know what dharma is because we cannot know what the universe is. We cannot know what the universe is because it is a blend of spirit and matter in a transcendent fashion in the Absolute. Therefore, the advice given to us is to follow the path of the great ones. Do not try to solve the mystery of dharma for ourselves. The secret of dharma is hidden within the cave, which means to say it is unknowable, very secret.  The right path for us would be the one which has been trodden by the great masters of yore. It is, “The footprints on the sands of time,” as the poet tells us of great ones. This is the supreme mystery of the cosmos. Now, is the cosmos a place or a person or a spirit or a condition? What is the universe? The Bhagavadgita gives us four definitions. Sometimes the universe is regarded as a place. 17.2 When Bhagavan Sri Krishna speaks of the Ultimate Reality as a kind of place, Loerd  calls it "d

Opinion               25/12/2017.                    1077                 All Members,          Respected family members of this great holy Nation. Everyone's idea of practical religion is according to his theory of practicality and the standpoint he starts from. There is work. There is the system of worship. There is knowledge.           VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE PRESENT DAY STUDENTS : - This article was recorded by Ida Ansell in shorthand. As, however, Swamiji's speed was too great for her in her early days, dots are put in the articles to indicate the omissions, while the words within square brackets are added by way of linking up the disconnected parts. (Delivered in San Francisco, April 5, 1900) Sub : PRACTICAL RELIGION : BREATHING AND MEDITATION - 2. Swami Vivekananda We are always talking [about] practical religion. But it must be practical in our sense. Especially [so] in the Western countries. The Protestants' ideal is good works. They do not ca

22/12/2017 Spoken on February 11th, 1973) 16. We cannot know what dharma is because we cannot know what the universe is. We cannot know what the universe is because it is a blend of spirit and matter in a transcendent fashion in the Absolute. Therefore, the advice given to us is to follow the path of the great ones. Do not try to solve the mystery of dharma for ourselves. The secret of dharma is hidden within the cave, which means to say it is unknowable, very secret.  The right path for us would be the one which has been trodden by the great masters of yore. It is, “The footprints on the sands of time,” as the poet tells us of great ones. This is the supreme mystery of the cosmos. Now, is the cosmos a place or a person or a spirit or a condition? What is the universe? The Bhagavadgita gives us four definitions. Sometimes the universe is regarded as a place. When Bhagavan Sri Krishna speaks of the Ultimate Reality as a kind of place, he calls it :- na tadbhasayant

Opinion               18/12/2017.                    1072                 All Members,          Respected family members of this great holy Nation. Everyone's idea of practical religion is according to his theory of practicality and the standpoint he starts from. There is work. There is the system of worship. There is knowledge.           VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE PRESENT DAY STUDENTS : - This article was recorded by Ida Ansell in shorthand. As, however, Swamiji's speed was too great for her in her early days, dots are put in the articles to indicate the omissions, while the words within square brackets are added by way of linking up the disconnected parts. (Delivered in San Francisco, April 5, 1900) Sub : PRACTICAL RELIGION : BREATHING AND MEDITATION - 1. 1.1 The philosopher thinks ... the difference between bondage and freedom is only caused by knowledge and ignorance. To him, knowledge is the goal, and his practicality is gaining that knowledge.... The wor

15/12/2017 Spoken on February 11th, 1973) 15.1 Jneyam yat tat pravakshyami yaj jnatvamrtam asnute, anadimat param brahma na sat tan nasad ucyate. (Gita, Ch-13, Slo-12. ) sarvatah panipadam tat sarvatokshisiromukham, sarvatah srutimal loke sarvam avrtya tishati.  ( Gita, Ch--13, Slo-13. )  sarvendriyagunabhasam  sarvendriyavivarjitam,  asaktam  sarvabhrccaiva  nirgunam  gunabhoktr ca. (Gita. Ch-13, Slo-14. ) bahir antas ca bhutanam acaram caram eva ca, sukshmatvat tad avijneyam durastham canthike ca tat (Gita, Ch-13, 15.) It is both inside and outside. What a wonder it is! -------------------------------------------------------------- This is the transcendent solution of the mystery between spirit and matter. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We cannot understand it because it is subtler than our understanding. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10/12/2017 Spoken on February 11th, 1973) 14.1 Inasmuch as consciousness is undivided, there cannot be externality to it. Even a universe cannot exist outside it, but the universe exists. We are seeing it. So we have two continuities, two continuums – the universal continuum and the consciousness continuum. This double continua of consciousness and matter has led some people to imagine that there is an infinite matter and an infinite consciousness. This is the Sankhya philosophy of India, which says there is an ubiquitous and eternal matter and also an ubiquitous and eternal consciousness, Purusha. But what is that which is between the two? Nobody knows. This is a no-man’s land. As there cannot be a no-man’s land between consciousness and matter, Vedanta comes to the forefront and says, “Sankhya, you are wonderful. You have gone ahead of the scientists in positing the existence of consciousness. You have won a victory over the ignorance of the scientists. But you are also

Opinion               09/12/2017.                    1068                 All Members,          Respected family members of this great holy Nation.           VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE PRESENT DAY STUDENTS : - Sub : REASON AND RELIGION-1.16 Swami Vivekananda (Delivered in England) I. This is all the worship of the Impersonal, and what is the result? The whole life of man will be changed. Strength, strength it is that we want so much in this life, for what we call sin and sorrow have all one cause, and that is our weakness. With weakness comes ignorance, and with ignorance comes misery. It will make us strong. Then miseries will be laughed at, then the violence of the vile will be smiled at, and the ferocious tiger will reveal, behind its tiger's nature, my own Self. II. That will be the result. That soul is strong that has become one with the Lord; none else is strong. In your own Bible, what do you think was the cause of that strength of Jesus of Nazareth, that i

Opinion               02/12/2017.                    1063                 All Members,          Respected family members of this great holy Nation.           VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE PRESENT DAY STUDENTS : - Sub : REASON AND RELIGION-1.15 Swami Vivekananda (Delivered in England) 1. As we have seen, the law of reason says, the particular is only known through the general. So all these particulars, from man to God, are only known through the Impersonal, the highest generalisation. Prayers will remain, only they will get a better meaning. All those senseless ideas of prayer, the low stages of prayer, which are simply giving words to all sorts of silly desire in our minds, perhaps, will have to go. In all sensible religions, they never allow prayers to God; they allow prayers to gods. That is quite natural. The Roman Catholics pray to the saints; that is quite good. But to pray to God is senseless. To ask God to give you a breath of air, to send down a shower o