Great Throughts Treasury

"Personally I take as much of the Vedas as agrees with reason. Parts of the Vedas are apparently contradictory. They are not considered as inspired in the Western sense of the word, but as the sum total of the knowledge of God, omniscience. This knowledge comes out at the beginning of a cycle and manifests itself; and when the cycle ends, it goes down into minute form. When the cycle is projected again, that knowledge is projected again with it. So far the theory is all right. But that only these books which are called the Vedas are His knowledge is mere sophistry. Manu says in one pace that that part of the Vedas which agrees with reason is the Vedas and nothing else. Many of our philosophers have taken this view."

"Please everyone without becoming a hypocrite or a coward."

"Pleasure is not the goal of man, but knowledge. Pleasure and happiness comes to an end. It is a mistake to suppose that pleasure is the goal. The cause of all the miseries we have in the world is that men foolishly think pleasure to be the ideal to strive for. After a time man finds that it is not happiness, but knowledge, towards which he is going, and that both pleasure and pain are great teachers;"

"Out of purity and silence comes the word of power."

"Perfect sincerity, holiness, gigantic intellect and an all-conquering will---let only a handful of men work with these, and the whole world will be revolutionised."

"Perfection does not come from belief or faith. Talk does not count for anything. Parrots can do that. Perfection comes through selfless work."

"Perfection is always infinite. We are the Infinite already. You and I, and all beings, are trying to manifest that infinity."

"Put God behind everything—human beings, animals, food, and work. Make this a habit."

"Purity, patience, and perseverance are the three essentials to success, and above all, love."

"Pray all the time, read all the scriptures in the world, and worship all the Gods there are ...but unless you realize the Truth, there is no freedom."

"Plunge into the world and learn the secret of work, and that is the way of the Karma-Yoga. Do not fly away from the wheels of the world-machine, but stand inside it and learn the secret of work. Through proper work done inside, it is possible to come out. Through this machinery itself is the way out."

"Practical patriotism means not a mere sentiment or even emotion of love of the motherland but a passion to serve our fellow-countrymen."

"Prayer is divine love alone. When this highest ideal of love is reached, philosophy is thrown away. Who will then care of it? Freedom, salvation, nirvana- all are thrown away. Who cares to become free while in the enjoyment of divine love?"

"Put the good before them, see how eagerly they take it, see how the divine that never dies, that is always living in the human..."

"Q--How is it that desires rise even after mental concentration is acquired? A--Those are the outcomes of the previous Samskaras (deep-rooted impressions or tendencies). When Buddha was on the point of merging in Samadhi (superconsciousness), Mara made his appearance. There was really no Mara extraneous to the mind; it was only the external reflection of the mind's previous Samskaras."

"Real activity, which is the goal of Vedanta, is combined with eternal calmness, the calmness which cannot be ruffled, the balance of mind which is never disturbed, whatever happens. And we all know from our experience in life that that is the best attitude for work."

"Real education is that which enables one to stand on his own legs."

"Realize yourself. That is all there is to do. Know yourself as you are—infinite spirit. That is practical religion. Everything else is impractical, for everything else will vanish."

"Real freedom is not merely doing what you like, but also NOT doing what you like."

"Religion begins with a tremendous dissatisfaction with the present state of things, with our lives, and a hatred, an intense hatred, for this patching of life. an unbounded disgust for fraud and lies."

"Religion as a science, as a study, is the greatest and healthiest exercise that the human mind can have."

"Realize your true nature. That is all there is to do. Know yourself as you are—infinite spirit. That is practical religion. Everything else is impractical, for everything else will perish."

"Religion is a question of being and becoming, not of believing."

"Religion is being and becoming. Religion is the manifestation of the Divinity already in man."

"Religion can be realized. Are you ready? Do you want it? You will get the realization if you do, and then you will be truly religious. Until you have attained realization, there is no difference between you and atheists. The atheists are sincere, but the man who says that he believes in religion and never attempts to realize it is not sincere."

"Religion deals with the truths of the metaphysical world, just as chemistry and other natural sciences deals with the truth of the physical world."

"Religion has no business to formulate social laws and insist on the difference between beings, because its aim and end is to obliterate all such fictions and monstrosities."

"Religion is realization; not talk, nor doctrine, nor theories, however beautiful they may be. It is being and becoming, not hearing or acknowledging; it is the whole soul becoming changed into what it believes."

"Religion is its own end. That religion which is only a means to worldly well-being is not religion, whatever else it may be."

"Religion is the greatest motive power for realizing that infinite energy which is the birthright and nature of every man. In building up character, in making for everything that is good and great, in bringing peace to others, and peace to one's own self, religion is the highest motive power, and therefore, ought to be studied from that standpoint."

"Religion is one, but its application must be various."

"Religion is the manifestation of the Divinity already in man."

"Religion is the idea which is raising the brute unto man, and man unto God."

"Religion is not a thing of imagination but of direct perception. He who has seen even a single spirit is greater than many a book-learned Pandit."

"Religion is the realizing of God."

"Religion must be studied on a broader basis than formerly. All narrow, limited, fighting ideas of religion have to go. All sect ideas and tribal or national ideas of religion must be given up. That each tribe or nation should have its own particular God, and think that every other is wrong, is a superstition that should belong to the past. All such ideas must be abandoned."

"Religion, the great milk cow, has given many kicks, but never mind,"

"Religions of the world have become lifeless mockeries. What the world wants is character. The world is in need for those whose life is one burning love, selfless. That love will make every word tell like thunderbolt."

"Religious movements come in groups. Each one of them tries to rear itself above the rest. But as a rule only one of them really grows in strength, and this, in the long run, swallows up all the contemporary movements."

"Religious quarrels are always over the husks. When purity, when spirituality goes, leaving the soul dry, quarrels begin, and not before."

"Renounce and give up. What did Christ say? He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. Again and again did he preach renunciation as the only way to perfection. There comes a time when the mind awakes from this long and dreary dream—the child gives up its play and wants to go back to its mother."

"Renunciation is the background of all religious thought wherever it be, and you will always find that as this idea of renunciation lessens, the more will the senses creep into the field of religion, and spirituality will decrease in the same ratio."

"Renunciation is the very basis of our true life. Every moment of goodness and real life that we enjoy is when we do not think of ourselves."

"Say So'ham, So'ham whatever comes. Tell yourself this even in eating, walking, suffering. Tell the mind this incessantly—that what we see never existed, that there is only I. Flash--the dream will break! Think day and night, this universe is zero, only God is. Have intense desire to get free."

"Say to your own minds, I am He, I am He. Let it ring day and night in your minds like a song, and at the point of death declare : I am He. That is truth; the infinite strength of the world is yours."

"Salvation means knowing the truth. We do not become anything; we are what we are. Salvation by faith and not by work. It is a question of knowledge! You must know what you are, and it is done."

"Samadhi is the property of every human being -- nay, every animal. From the lowest animal to the highest angel, some time or other, each one will have to come to that state, and then and then alone, will real religion begin for him. Until then we only struggle towards that stage."

"Say to your soul in regard to vanities, weakness, etc., This does not befit thee. This does not befit thee."

"Sectarianism, bigotry, and it's horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful Earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization, and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now."

"Say, ‘This misery that I am suffering is of my own doing, and that very thing proves that it will have to be undone by me alone.’ That which I created, I can demolish; that which is created by someone else, I shall never be able to destroy. Therefore, stand up, be bold, be strong. Take the whole responsibility on your own shoulders, and know that you are the creators of your own destiny. All the strength and succour you want is within ourselves."