28 March :
28 March 1894 : 'The New Era' Newspaper Report: "Personalities"
28 Mar 1896 : "Upanishad" Class at Procopeia Club, Boston
Lecture: "The Vedanta: Its Practical Bearings" ("The Spirit and
Influence of Vedanta") at Twentieth Century Club, Boston : the Vedanta
claims, is to be found in every religion in the world--that man is
divine, that all this which we see around us is the outcome of that
consciousness of the divine. Everything that is strong, and good, and
powerful in human nature is the outcome of that divinity, and though
potential in many, there is no difference between man and man
essentially, all being alike divine. There is, as it were, an infinite
ocean behind, and you and I are so many waves, coming out of that
infinite ocean; and each one of us is trying his best to manifest that
infinite outside. So, potentially, each one of us has that infinite
ocean of Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss as our birthright, our real
nature; and the difference between us is caused by the greater or lesser
power to manifest that divine. Therefore the Vedanta lays down that
each man should be treated not as what he manifests, but as what he
stands for. Each human being stands for the divine, and, therefore,
every teacher should be helpful, not by condemning man, but by helping
him to call forth the divinity that is within him.
28 Mar 1900 :
Letters: Sister Nivedita - Things have got to come round — the seed must
die underground to come up as the tree. The last two years were the
underground rotting. I never had a struggle in the jaws of death, but it
meant a tremendous upheaval of the whole life. One such brought me to
Ramakrishna, another sent me to the U.S., this has been the greatest of
all. It is gone — I am so calm that it astonishes me sometimes!! I work
every day morning and evening, eat anything any hour — and go to bed at
12 p.m. in the night — but such fine sleep!! I never had such power of
sleeping before!
Letter to Mary Hale - Things are beginning to hum
for me; they will presently roar. I shall remain quiet though, all the
same. Things are not humming for you just now. I am so sorry, that is, I
am trying to be, for I cannot be sorry for anything and more. I am
attaining peace that passeth understanding, which is neither joy nor
sorrow, but something above them both. Tell Mother that. My passing
through the valley of death, physical, mental, last two years, has
helped me in this. Now I am nearing that Peace, the eternal silence. Now
I mean to see things as they are, everything in that peace, perfect in
its way. "He whose joy is only in himself, whose desires are only in
himself, he has learned his lessons." This is the great lesson that we
are here to learn through myriads of births and heavens and hells — that
there is nothing to be asked for, desired for, beyond one's Self. "The
greatest thing I can obtain is my Self." "I am free", therefore I
require none else for my happiness. "Alone through eternity, because I
was free, am free, and will remain free for ever." This is Vedantism. I
preached the theory so long, but oh, joy! Mary, my dear sister, I am
realising it now every day. Yes, I am — "I am free." "Alone, alone, I am
the one without a second."
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