Hero, Warrior, Sannyasin

There is no other teacher but your own soul.

- Swami Vivekananda

Vivekananda

Sri Ramakrishna's life-breath,

Sri Ramakrishna's supreme gift to mankind,

Sri Ramakrishna's victory-song all-where!

The victory-world's delight you were;

Lo, the cyclone-valour of the Absolute!

You awakened your slumbering India,

You awakened humanity's sleep.

In you blossomed the Form Universal.

O hero-warrior sannyasin,

In the core of the creation,

Sleeplessly shall burn

The incense of your self-offering.

- Sri Chinmoy

Swami Vivekananda's Practical Vedanta

Lecture by Swami Sarvapriyananda

Swami Vivekananda taught of distinct 
spiritual paths and practices 
suited to four basic personality types:

For the Emotional:

Bhakti-Yoga or Yoga of Devotion

For the Active: Karma-Yoga or Yoga of Unselfish Work

For the Intellectual:

Jnana-Yoga or Yoga of Discriminating Knowledge

For the Meditative:

Raja-Yoga or Yoga of Mind-Control

READ ONLINE: 
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

“Vedanta claims that there has not been one religious inspiration, one manifestation of the divine man, however great, but it has been the expression of that infinite oneness in human nature; and all that we call ethics and morality and doing good to others is also but the manifestation of this oneness. There are moments when every man feels that he is one with the universe, and he rushes forth to express it, whether he knows it or not. This expression of oneness is what we call love and sympathy, and it is the basis of all our ethics and morality. This is summed up in the Vedanta philosophy by the celebrated aphorism, Tat Tvam Asi, ‘Thou art That’. To every man, this is taught: Thou art one with this Universal Being, and, as such, every soul that exists is your soul; and every body that exists is your body; and in hurting anyone, you hurt yourself, in loving anyone, you love yourself. As soon as a current of hatred is thrown outside, whomsoever else it hurts, it also hurts yourself; and if love comes out from you, it is bound to come back to you”  - Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda and the Parliament of Religions
Lecture by Swami Mahayogananda






“Sannyas means courage more than anything else, 

Because it is a declaration of your individuality, 

A declaration of freedom, 

A declaration that you will not be any more part of the mob madness, 

The mob psychology. 

It is a declaration that you are becoming universal; 

You will not belong to any country, 

To any church, to any race, to any religion.”

- Osho

Reincarnation

Pottery Class 1976 

Karma and Rebirth

Lecture by Swami Prapannananda

PRANKRISHNA: "Sir, what is the nature of the life after death?"

MASTER: "As long as a man remains ignorant, that is to say, as long as he has not realized God, so long will, he be born. But after attaining Knowledge he will not have to come back to this earth or to any other plane of existence. The potter puts his pots in the sun to dry. Haven't you noticed that among them there are both baked and unbaked ones? When a cow happens to walk over them, some of the pots get broken to pieces. The broken pots that are already baked, the potter throws away, since they are of no more use to him. But the soft ones, though broken, he gathers up. He makes them into a lump and out of this forms new pots. In the same way, so long as a man has not realized God, he will have to come back to the Potter's hand, that is, he will have to be born again and again."

FROM:

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

by Mahendranath Gupta (M)
THE RECORDER OF THE GOSPEL

This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 

“Jeremiah, go down to the potter’s house. 

I will give you my message there.”

So I went down to the potter’s house 

And saw him working with clay at the wheel. 

He was making a pot from clay. 

But there was something wrong with the pot. 

So the potter used that clay to make another pot. 

With his hands he shaped the pot the way he wanted it to be.

- Jeremiah: 18 (ERV Bible)

Death and Reincarnation

Lecture by Swami Atmavidyananda

Human life is unpredictable. It may end after twenty years or today. Nobody knows when it will end, so it is better to acquire something soon for the journey. Who knows when the call will come? If you go to an unknown land empty-handed you will suffer. Because you were born, you must die. It is true, after death you will have to go to a different place. At any cost, collect all provisions for that journey and keep yourself ready. When the call comes, start your journey with a smiling face. There will be no fear or anxiety if you know definitely that you have what you need for the way.

When you have the noble desire to realize God and an opportunity to lead a good life, please use it wholeheartedly and attain the Truth. Hold tight to God firmly. Let the body go, but don’t give up. Have faith in yourself. “I am a human being, and I can do everything”−have this kind of faith and move forward. You will reach the goal. Your life will be meaningful. Coming and going are painful. Stop this dreadful cycle of reincarnation. Be the Lord’s eternal companion.

- Swami Brahmananda 

The mind has to be made malleable like clay.

Just as clay sticks wherever you throw it, 

So the mind must be made to dwell upon 

Whatever object you concentrate it.

- Swami Vivekananda 

There was never a time when I was not,

Nor you, nor these others.

Nor will there ever be a time to come

When we shall cease.

As one passes in this body

Through childhood, youth and old age 

Even so is the taking on of other bodies. 

This does not trouble the wise. 

Of the non-existent 

There is no coming to be. 

Of the existent 

There is no ceasing to be.

That by which all this is pervaded

Cannot be destroyed.

As one casts off worn out clothes

And puts on others that are new

Even so the Self casts off worn out bodies

And assumes others that are new.

Weapons cannot cut this Self

Fire cannot burn it.

Water does not make it wet

Nor the wind, dry.

It is eternal

All-pervading

Changeless and

Unmoved.

It is the same forever

It is said to be unmanifest

Inconceivable, and

Without change.

Knowing it thus

You should not breathe.

- Alan Watts

Freedom To Be Happy

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. 

- Swami Vivekananda

Happiness You Curve

Lecture by Swami Tyagananda

Pursuit of Happiness

Lecture by Pravrajika Sevaprana

Learning How to be Happy

Lecture by Swami Bhaskarananda

Freedom: The Song of the Soul

Lecture by Pravrajika Virajaprana

Be Happy

Lecture by Swami Atmajnanananda

Pre-Internet Brain

Remembering to seek that still small voice of God in our daily meditation practice may be the hardest challenge facing modern spiritual seekers. Perhaps our reliance on electronic devices has become so en grained that it over shadows our need for a relationship with God. Our meditation practice squeezed out between our busy lives and new instantly accessible information. Our electronic devices, a buzz with rampant activity, a dizzying distraction of sound bytes that have little lasting meaning. Yes! Some days I do miss my Pre-Internet brain. It can be very challenging to be a spiritual being in an age of distraction. Therefore, we must set aside time and silence our personal electronics. Vow to unplug them for the weekend and form a lasting connection with our true divine nature. That understood, I whole heartily believe we can use the World Wide Web to the glory of the Supreme Godhead. Digital media is the future and it's here to stay. It's not going away! Its value being one of the first ways many of today’s young people will ever hear the harmonious message of Vedanta. Prompting some to take action and reach out in face to face fellowship with other devotees. Some may be drawn to learn meditation, read spiritual ebooks, hear a lecture online, or even attend a puja at their local Vedanta Society. Through Internet and its power to inform and transform our spiritual universe expands exponentially. May the new digital media be used to the glory of Brahman!

The Supreme Connection

Lecture by Pravrajika Virajaprana

Artist and writer Douglas Coupland (see photo) probes the way that contemporary life and digital technologies affect our understanding of the world around us.

Inner Light

"You are the light of the world."
Matthew 5:14 

Illumination cannot be described in words, it must be experienced. There are many glimpses of smaller awakenings on the way towards spiritual enlightenment. The awakening of the self depends on the ripening of the perfect conditions. The seed will not sprout until the ground is prepared. Repeat your given mantra and fertilize the ground of your mind and heart. Go on repeating until you take your last breath. It may take many, many, lifetimes of being reincarnated before we experience freedom. The Vedanta Society Swami's tell us everyone will awaken one day at their own destined time into a greater consciousness. Wake up... drop all desires and experience a moment when the veil of ignorance is dissolved and suddenly the love of infinite oneness presents itself... as the breath of the Eternal.

Inner Light 
Article by Swami Shraddhananda

Waking Up

Lecture by Swami Mahayogananda

The Light Within
Lecture by Swami Tyagananda

Bring all light into the world; light, bring light! 

Let light come unto everyone; the tasks will not be finished 

Till everyone has reached the Lord. 

Bring light to the poor, and bring more light to the rich, 

For they require it more than the poor; 

Bring light to the ignorant and more light to the educated 

For the vanities of the education of our time are tremendous! 

Thus bring light to all and leave the rest unto the Lord.

– Swami Vivekananda

Transit of Venus

Everyone enjoys a rare celestial show!

Hindu holy men used cardboard glasses to watch from the banks of 

the Ganges River in Varanasi, India on June, 6, 2012.

Next showing: December 2117 and 2125

Photos by: NASA/SDO & Rajesh Kumar Singh

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120611.html

"Each soul is a star, and all stars are set in that infinite azure, that eternal sky, the Lord.  There is the root, the reality, the real individuality of each and all. Religion began with the search after some of these stars that had passed beyond our horizon, and ended in finding them all in God, and ourselves in the same place."  

- Swami Vivekananda -

Like Drops in the Ocean

The soul lives and forever expands 

Worlds must come into the soul 

Worlds must disappear into the soul like drops in the ocean.

Swami Vivekananda


http://www.vivekananda.net/BooksBySwami/PracticalVedanta/10_SoulNatureGod.html

Chant the Name

Chant the name of the Lord and His glory unceasingly 

That the mirror of the heart may be wiped clean

And quench that mighty forest fire, 

Worldly lust, raging furiously within.

Oh name, stream down in moonlight on the lotus heart,

Opening its cup to knowledge of thyself. 

Oh self, drown deep in the waves of His bliss,

Chanting His name continually,

Tasting His nectar at every step, 

Bathing in His name, that bath for weary souls.