ॐ वीरेश्वराय विद्महे
विवेकानन्दाय धीमहि । तन्नो वीर: प्रचोदयात् ।
For in the Gitâ Shri Krishna says — men
should work for work's sake only, and love for love's sake. The
work that has been done by me in the Western world has been very
little; there is no one present here who could not have done a
hundred times more work in the West than has been done by me.
And I am anxiously waiting for the day when mighty minds will
arise, gigantic spiritual minds, who will be ready to go forth
from India to the ends of the world to teach spirituality and
renunciation — those ideas which have come from the forests of
India and belong to Indian soil alone.
Two attempts have been made in the world to found social life:
the one was upon religion, and the other was upon social
necessity. The one was founded upon spirituality, the other upon
materialism; the one upon transcendentalism, the other upon
realism. The one looks beyond the horizon of this little
material world and is bold enough to begin life there, even
apart from the other. The other, the second, is content to take
its stand on the things of the world and expects to find a firm
footing there. Curiously enough, it seems that at times the
spiritual side prevails, and then the materialistic side — in
wave-like motions following each other.
If you look at India, our motherland, you will see that the same
thing is going on now. That you are here today to welcome one
who went to Europe to preach Vedanta would have been impossible
had not the materialism of Europe opened the way for it.
Whether on the ground of materialism, or of intellect, or of
spirituality, the compensation that is given by the Lord to
every one impartially is exactly the same. Therefore we must not
think that we are the saviours of the world. We can teach the
world, a good many things, and we can learn a good many things
from it too. We can teach the world only what it is waiting for.
The whole of Western civilisation will crumble to pieces in the
next fifty years if there is no spiritual foundation. It is
hopeless and perfectly useless to attempt to govern mankind with
the sword. You will find that the very centres from which such
ideas as government by force sprang up are the very first
centres to degrade and degenerate and crumble to pieces. Europe,
the centre of the manifestation of material energy, will crumble
into dust within fifty years if she is not mindful to change her
position, to shift her ground and make spirituality the basis of
her life. And what will save Europe is the religion of the
Upanishads.
Apart from the different sects, philosophies, and scriptures,
there is one underlying doctrine — the belief in the soul of
man, the Âtman — common to all our sects: and that can change
the whole tendency of the world.....Only ignorance. What is the
difference between the highest man and the lowest worm that
crawls under your feet? Ignorance. That makes all the
difference. For inside that little crawling worm is lodged
infinite power, and knowledge, and purity — the infinite
divinity of God Himself. It is unmanifested; it will have to be
manifested.
Strength. Strength is goodness, weakness is sin. If
there is one word that you find coming out like a bomb from
the Upanishads, bursting like a bomb-shell upon masses of
ignorance, it is the word fearlessness. And the only
religion that ought to be taught is the religion of
fearlessness...This idea of oneness is the great lesson
India has to give, and mark you, when this is
understood, it changes the whole aspect of things, because you
look at the world through other eyes than you have been doing
before.
Join the year long 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda : sv150.org Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari
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