Wisdom of Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda (January 12, 1863–July 4, 1902) was an Indian Hindu philosopher and religious teacher who was instrumental in introducing yoga to the Western world. He was also partly responsible for the rise of Hinduism to a major world religion.

Below we list some words of wisdom from Hermann Swami Vivekananda

“The will is not free - it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect - but there is something behind the will which is free.”

“We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.”

“That man has reached immortality who is disturbed by nothing material.”

“External nature is only internal nature writ large.”

“When an idea exclusively occupies the mind, it is transformed into an actual physical or mental state.”

“Arise! Awake! and stop not until the goal is reached.”

“The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed.”

“Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you cannot, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their own way.”

“All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark.”

“May He who is the Brahman of the Hindus, the Ahura-Mazda of the Zoroastrians, the Buddha of the Buddhists, the Jehovah of the Jews, the Father in Heaven of the Christians give strength to you to carry out your noble idea.”

“The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him - that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.”

“You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.”

“The more we come out and do good to others, the more our hearts will be purified, and God will be in them.”

“Truth can be stated in a thousand different ways, yet each one can be true.”

“The Vedanta recognizes no sin it only recognizes error. And the greatest error, says the Vedanta is to say that you are weak, that you are a sinner, a miserable creature, and that you have no power and you cannot do this and that.”

“God is to be worshipped as the one beloved, dearer than everything in this and next life.”

“If faith in ourselves had been more extensively taught and practiced, I am sure a very large portion of the evils and miseries that we have would have vanished.”

“The world is the great gymnasium where we come to make ourselves strong.”

“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.”

Copyright © Scott Petullo, Stephen Petullo