Expectations can take many forms. Sometimes it is with a clear tangible result in the form of money or some reward that is measurable materially. Sometimes it is unclear and intangible expectation like being appreciated or respected for work done. Sometimes it can be simply an expectation to be left alone or being given the … Read more
Very often despite our best intentions and strongest controls, we find that we say or do something we didn’t want, or act in a manner in which we did not want to. It is as if we are pulled or provoked into a particular direction by something within us (which we attribute to external behavior … Read more
Swami Vivekananda on Strength: The only way to rise is by doing the duty next to us, and thus gathering strength go on until we reach the highest state. The infinite strength of the world is yours. Drive out the superstition that has covered your minds. Let us be brave. Know the Truth and practice … Read more
Swami Vivekananda on Truth: Man is not travelling from error to truth, but from truth to truth, from lower to higher truth. Love, truth, and unselfishness are not merely moral figures of speech, but they form our highest ideal, because in them lies such a manifestation of power. And what is truth? That I am … Read more
“For man to be able to live he must either not see the infinite or have such an explanation of the meaning of life as will connect the finite with the infinite.” Jigneshbhai was reading from Leo Tolstoy’s ‘A Confession and other religious writings’. “Tolstoy went on an exploration of the meaning of life when … Read more
Swami Vivekananda on Teachers and Teaching: It is an insult to a starving people to offer them religion; it is an insult to a starving man to teach him metaphysics. The whole gist of this teaching is that you should work like a master and not as a slave; work incessantly, but do not do … Read more
My notes from ‘Vedanta: Voice of Freedom” – a selected compilation from the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. “Vedanta in Practice”, “Goal of Vedanta” and “Universality of Vedanta” – Chapter Highlights reproduced below: *** The less the thought of the body, the better. For it is the body that drags us down. It is attachment, … Read more
Swami Vivekananda on Rituals: In the world’s ritualistic symbols we have an expression of the religious thought of humanity. It is easy to say that there is no use of rituals and temples and all such paraphernalia; every baby says that in modern times. But it must be easy for all to see that those … Read more
The Secret of Work: Chapter excerpts from Karma Yoga – from the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda Vol 1. Excerpts are reproduced below: *** Spiritual knowledge is the only thing that can destroy our miseries for ever; any other knowledge satisfies wants only for a time. It is only with the knowledge of the spirit … Read more