Swamy Vivekananda's birthday

[Tyrannosauraus_Rex]

If there was one person who single handedly rescued me from my depths of despair, who has given me hope, strength and a sense of resurgence it is Swamy Vivekananda and it is incredible to think that a person who has passed away such a long time back could leave such an indelible impression on my pysche. A small book - a compilation of Swamy's quotes - I bought at Ramakrishna Math in Hyderabad some years ago changed my life.

I feel duty-bound to share some of his quotes and even if one person reading this can absorb an iota of inspiration or gain strength - I'd feel I've done my tiniest bit in spreading Swamy's eternal message of strength, faith and hope.

This is the great fact: Strength is life, weakness is death. Strength is felicity, life eternal, immortal; weakness is constant strain and misery, weakness is death. 

Strength is the medicine for the world’s disease. Strength is the medicine which the poor must have when tyrannised over by the rich. Strength is the medicine that the ignorant must have when oppressed by the learned

The weak have no place here, in this life or in any other life. Weakness leads to slavery. Weakness leads to all kinds of misery, physical and mental. Weakness is death. There are hundreds of thousands of microbes surrounding us, but they cannot harm us unless we become weak, until the body is ready and predisposed to receive them. There may be a million microbes of misery floating about us. Never mind! They dare not approach us, they have no power to get a hold on us, until the mind is weakened. This is the great fact: strength is life, weakness is death. Strength is felicity, life eternal immortal; weakness is constant strain and misery; weakness is death.

Stand and die in your own strength; if there is any sin in the world, it is weakness ; avoid all weakness, for weakness is sin, weakness is death.

Anything that makes you weak physically, intellectually and spiritually, reject as poison.

 

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.

Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin – to say that you are weak.

Be strong! …… The sign of life is strength and growth.

 

 

• If there is no strength in body and mind, the Atman cannot be realised. First you have to build the body by good nutritious food—then only will the mind be strong.

• Stand up, be bold, be strong. Take the whole responsibility on your own shoulders, and know that you are the creator of your own destiny. All the strength and succour you want is within yourself. Therefore make your own future.

 

 

 

 

 

[dasari4kntr]

నా చిన్నప్పుడు…రామకృష్ణ మిషన్ వాళ్ళు వ్యాసరచనా పోటిలు జరిపితే…వివేకానంద చికాగో ఉపన్యాసాల్లో ఒక ఉపన్యాసం వ్రాసా…దాని పేరు “బావిలో కప్ప” …దానికి నాకు second prize వచ్చింది…అంతే కాదు నాకు గోప్ప జీవిత సత్యం నేర్పించింది..

https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complete_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda/Volume_1/Addresses_at_The_Parliament_of_Religions/Why_we_disagree

 

Vivekananda, Why we disagree 1893

I will tell you a little story. You have heard the eloquent speaker who has just finished say, "Let us cease from abusing each other," and he was very s0rry that there should be always so much variance.

But I think I should tell you a story which would illustrate the cause of this variance. A frog lived in a well. It had lived there for a long time. It was born there and brought up there, and yet was a little, small frog. Of course the evolutionists were not there then to tell us whether the frog lost its eyes or not, but, for our story's sake, we must take it for granted that it had its eyes, and that it every day cleansed the water of all the worms and bacilli that lived in it with an energy that would do credit to our modern bacteriologists. In this way it went on and became a little sleek and fat. Well, one day another frog that lived in the sea came and fell into the well.

"Where are you from?"

"I am from the sea."

"The sea! How big is that? Is it as big as my well?" and he took a leap from one side of the well to the other.

"My friend," said the frog of the sea, "how do you compare the sea with your little well?”

Then the frog took another leap and asked, "Is your sea so big?"

"What nonsense you speak, to compare the sea with your well!"

"Well, then," said the frog of the well, "nothing can be bigger than my well; there can be nothing bigger than this; this fellow is a liar, so turn him out."

That has been the difficulty all the while.

I am a Hindu. I am sitting in my own little well and thinking that the whole world is my little well. The Christian sits in his little well and thinks the whole world is his well. The Mohammedan sits in his little well and thinks that is the whole world. I have to thank you of America for the great attempt you are making to break down the barriers of this little world of ours, and hope that, in the future, the Lord will help you to accomplish your purpose.

[Thokkalee]

A positive post in the middle of all posts in this db… we need more of this.. 👍

[JAMBALHOT_RAJA]

Sometimes strength is the problem 

a criminal thinks his strength is to do criminal activities with out being caught 

for example, there are very good hackers out there whose strength is their hacking skills and they use it to hack big financial IT systems and demand ransom 

The world is no longer same as in Vivekananda’s time 

[dasari4kntr]

7 minutes ago, Thokkalee said:

A positive post in the middle of all posts in this db… we need more of this.. 👍

https://anonymfile.com/6NQlA/chicago-nagara-upanyasamulu.pdf

i had this book in my childhood...recently found pdf in internet...

just 70 pages...read it if you are interested...you can finish in couple of hours...

[Thokkalee]

11 minutes ago, dasari4kntr said:

https://anonymfile.com/6NQlA/chicago-nagara-upanyasamulu.pdf

i had this book in my childhood...recently found pdf in internet...

just 70 pages...read it if you are interested...you can finish in couple of hours...

Thanks Anna 🙏

[RachaRambob]

3 hours ago, JAMBALHOT_RAJA said:

Sometimes strength is the problem 

a criminal thinks his strength is to do criminal activities with out being caught 

for example, there are very good hackers out there whose strength is their hacking skills and they use it to hack big financial IT systems and demand ransom 

The world is no longer same as in Vivekananda’s time 

All of us have different strengths. First achievement is to realize ones strengths and weaknesses thorugh self or from others.  When the strengths are identified via Positive means and outlook, then the strengths are always used for the greater good. 

The world largely stays the same most of the time, its just that we all look at it through different lens and perspectives. We as a species evolve with time, but our needs, strengths and weakness stay pretty much the same.