26 June : REMINISCENCES OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA, IDA ANSELL

ॐ वीरेश्वराय विद्महे विवेकानन्दाय धीमहि । तन्नो वीर: प्रचोदयात् । 

Swamiji always attracted attention wherever he went. He had a majestic bearing which everybody recognized. As he would walk down Market Street, people would stand aside to let him pass or turn around and ask. "Who is the Hindu prince?" It was in this way that he was able to see a ship launched from the actual launching platform. Tom was working in one of the big iron works of San Francisco at the time. and when Swamiji expressed a wish to see a launching, he invited a little group to the shipyard. The launching platform was closed except to the invited guests of the management who had tickets, and the ramp leading to the platform was guarded by two attendants. Swamiji decided he would have a better view from the launching platform, so he just calmly walked past the guards, who made no protest. When he came down, after the launching, he said. "It is like the birth of a child."
Swamiji emphasized the fact that spiritual people are not fanatical or severe. "They are not long-faced and thin." he said. "They are fat, like me."
During one of the talks in Miss Bell's tent at Camp Irving. Miss Bell remarked that the world is a school where we come to learn our lesson. Swamiji asked. "Who told you that the world is a school?"
Miss Bell was silent. Swamiji went on, "This world is a circus, and we are clowns come to tumble." Miss Bell asked, "Why do we tumble. Swamiji?" Swamiji replied. "Because we like to tumble. When we get tired of tumbling, we quit."
Tom and Edith had an apartment in San Francisco which was permeated with the atmosphere of Swamiji. All the Swamis of the Ramakrishna Order in this country loved to visit them when they went to San Francisco, and some of them said or wrote. "You, more than anybody else in the West, are able to make Swamiji real to us." One of my friends said of them when she and her son visited the Allans a few years ago that their account of Swami Vivekananda was so full of joy and so vivid, it seemed as though he himself could walk into the room. There was a beautiful picture of him in the dining room, and the guests were always seated facing it. Chanting always preceded the meal, and there was little talk of anything during it other than of Swamiji, his Master, and his work. All his books were there, and the Allans had an enormous collection of pictures which they enjoyed showing to their guests. One particular favourite was taken in a garden. Swamiji was lying on the grass, enjoying a conversation with some friends, when someone came and wanted to take his picture. He did not want to get up but, urged by all to do so, he stood up, just as he was, without turban or robe, against a background of flowering vines, looking as if about to speak, and the result is one of his best portraits.
Edith had a nice contralto voice, and sometimes she would sing, with deep feeling, some of the songs associated with Swamiji. A favourite was the song of the nautch-girl, which she adapted from Swamiji's translation of a song sung by a courtesan in the palace of a Raja where he was staying just before leaving for America the first time. Although he left the room when he learnt that this girl was about to sing, he heard the song from outside and was so moved by the words and her manner of singing that he returned and spoke most beautifully to her, even thanking her for the lesson she had given him, thus removing the last vestige of a possible spiritual pride, and completing the preparation for his work in the West.
Never since the day Swamiji perceived Edith's need for help has he been out of her mind. Many times in the last fifty years she has remembered the words spoken at their last meeting: "It ever you are in trouble, you can call on me. No matter where I am, I'll hear you." Many ordeals she has met bravely, sustained by that promise.
In one of his lectures Swamiji said, "If a bad time comes, what of that? The pendulum must swing back to the other side. But that is no better. The thing to do is to stop it." Then he uttered an American expression which children used to use when swinging, when they would stop pumping and let the swing slow down to a halt: "Let the old cat die."
To have seen and heard Swamiji and to have felt his words of power flow through me on to paper and thence to print for many to read, thereby receiving courage and inspiration, is a rare privilege and is compensation for all ills of life. It makes me almost ready to let the old cat die.

 Todays-Special 26-June in Swami Vivekananda Life

Letter To the Hale Sisters

Date: 

Wed, 2013-06-26

26 June
To the Hale Sisters...26th June, 1894.
"Fool! whom art thou bending thy tottering knees before, in awe and fear? I took my necklace and put it round His neck; and, tying a string to it as a collar, I am dragging Him along with me, for fear He may fly away even for a moment that necklace was the collar of love; that string the ecstasy of love. Fool! you know not the secret — the Infinite One comes within my fist under the bondage of love." "Knowest thou not that the Lord of the Universe is the bond slave of love?" "Knowest thou not that the Mover of the Universe used to dance to the music of the ringing bracelets of the shepherdesses of Vrindaban?" 26 June 1895 to Mary Hale :
 I am enjoying this place immensely. Very little eating and good deal of thinking and talking and study. A wonderful calmness is coming over my soul. Every day I feel I have no duty to do; I am always in eternal rest and peace. It is He that works. We are only the instruments. Blessed be His name! The threefold bondage of lust and gold and fame is, as it were, fallen from me for the time being, and once more, even here, I feel what sometimes I felt in India, "From me all difference has fallen, all right or wrong, all delusion and ignorance has vanished, I am walking in the path beyond the qualities." What law I obey, what disobey? From that height the universe looks like a mud-puddle. Hari Om Tat Sat. He exists; nothing else does. I in Thee and Thou in me. Be Thou Lord my eternal refuge! Peace, Peace, Peace!

Religion

25 June : And let Shyama Dance There

ॐ वीरेश्वराय विद्महे विवेकानन्दाय धीमहि । तन्नो वीर: प्रचोदयात् ।

Beaut'ous blossoms ravishing with perfume,
 Swarms of maddened bees buzzing all around;
 The silver moon--a shower of sweet smile,
 Which all the dwellers of heaven above
 Shed lavishly upon the homes of earth;
 The soft Malaya breeze, whose magic touch
 Opens to view distant memory's folds;
 Murmuring rivers and brooks, rippling lakes
 With restless Bhramaras wheeling over
 Gently waving lotuses unnumbered;
 Foaming flow cascades--a streaming music--
 To which echo mountain caves in return;
 Warblers, full of sweet-flowing melody,
 Hidden in leaves, pour hearts out--love discourse;
 The rising orb of day, the painter divine,
 With his golden brush but lightly touches
 The canvas earth and a wealth of colours
 Floods at once o'er the bosom of nature,
 --Truly a museum of lovely hues--
 Waking up a whole sea of sentiments.


 The roll of thunder, the crashing of clouds,
 War of elements spreading earth and sky;
 Darkness vomiting forth blinding darkness,
 The Pralaya wind angrily roaring;
 In quick bursts of dazzling splendour flashes
 Blood-red terrific lightning, dealing death;
 Monster waves roaring like thunder, foaming,
 Rush impetuous to leap mountain peaks;
 The earth booms furious, reels and totters,
 Sinks down to its ruin, hurled from its place;
 Piercing the ground, stream forth tremendous flames,
 Mighty ranges blow up into atoms.


 A lovely villa, on a lake of blue--
 Festooned with clusters of water-lilies;
 The heart-blood of ripe grapes capped with white foam
 Whispering softly tells tale of passion;
 The melody of the harp floods the ears,
 And by its air, time, and harmony rich,
 Enhances desire in the breast of man;
 What stirring of emotions! How many
 Hot sighs of Love! And warm tears coursing down!
 The Bimba -red lips of the youthful fair,
 The two blue eyes--two oceans of feelings;
 The two hands eager to advance--love's cage--
 In which the heart, like a bird, lies captive.
 The martial music bursts, the trumpets blow,
 The ground shakes under the warriors' tread;
 The roar of cannon, the rattle of guns,
 Volumes of smoke, the gruesome battlefield,s
 The thundering artillery vomits fire
 In thousand directions; shells burst and strike
 Vital parts of the body; elephants
 And horses mounted are blown up in space;
 The earth trembles under this infernal dance;
 A million heroes mounted on steeds
 Charge and capture the enemy's ordnance,
 Piercing through the smoke and shower of shells
 And rain of bullets; forward goes the flag,
 The emblem of victory, of heroism
 With the blood, yet hot, streaming down the staff,
 Followed by the rifles, drunk with war-spirit;
 Lo! the ensign falls, but the flag proceeds
 Onwards on the shoulder of another;
 Under his feet swell heaps of warriors
 Perished in battle; but he falters not.
 The flesh hankers for contacts of pleasure,
 The senses for enchanting strains of song,
 The mind hungers for peals of laughter sweet,
 The heart pants to reach realms beyond sorrow;
 Say, who cares exchange the soothing moonlight
 For the burning rays of the noontide sun?
 The wretch whose heart is like the scorching sun,
 --Even he fondly loves the balmy moon;
 Indeed, all thirst for joy. Breathes there the wretch
 Who hugs pain and sorrow to his bosom?
 Misery in his cup of happiness,
 Deadly venom in his drink of nectar,
 Poison in his throat--yet he clings to hope!
 Lo! how all are scared by the Terrific,
 None seek Elokeshi whose form is Death.
 The deadly frightful sword, reeking with blood,
 They take from Her hand, and put a lute instead!
 Thou dreaded Kali, the All-destroyer,
 Thou alone art true; Thy shadow's shadow
 Is indeed the pleasant Vanamali.
 O Terrible Mother, cut quick the core,
 Illusion dispel--the dream of happiness,
 Rend asunder the fondness for the flesh.


 True, they garland Thee with skulls, but shrink back
 In fright and call Thee, "O All-merciful!"
 At Thy thunder peal of awful laughter,
 At Thy nudeness--for space is thy garment--
 Their hearts sink down with terror, but they say,
 "It is the demons that the Mother kills!"
 They only pretend they wish to see Thee,
 But when the time comes, at Thy sight they flee.
 Thou art Death! To each and all in the world
 Thou distributest the plague and disease
 --Vessels of venom filled by Thine own hands.
 O thou insane! Thou but cheatest thyself,
 Thou dost not turn thy head lest thou behold,
 Ay, the form terrible of the Mother.
 Thou courtest hardship hoping happiness,
 Thou wearest cloak of Bhakti and worship,
 With mind full of achieving selfish ends.
 The blood from the severed head of a kid
 Fills thee with fear--thy heart throbs at the sight--
 Verily a coward! Compassionate?
 Bless my soul! A strange state of things indeed!
 To whom shall I tell the truth?--Who will see?
 Free thyself from the mighty attraction--
 The maddening wine of love, the charm of sex.
 Break the harp! Forward, with the ocean's cry!
 Drink tears, pledge even life--let the body fall.
 Awake, O hero! Shake off thy vain dreams,
 Death stands at thy head--does fear become thee?
 A load of misery, true though it is--
 This Becoming --know this to be thy God!


 His temple--the Shmashan among corpses
 And funeral pyres; unending battle--
 That verily is His sacred worship;
 Constant defeat--let that not unnerve thee;
 Shattered be little self, hope, name, and fame;
 Set up a pyre of them and make thy heart
 A burning-ground.
 And let Shyama dance there.

- Swami Vivekananda's Poetry Rendered from Bengali, CW-IV, p:506

Todays-Special 25-June in Swami Vivekananda Life

25 June, 1895 - Tuesday :  Inspired Talks

After every happiness comes misery; they may be far apart or near. The more advanced the soul, the more quickly does one follow the other. What we want is neither happiness nor misery. Both make us forget our true nature; both are chains — one iron, one gold; behind both is the Atman, who knows neither happiness nor misery. These are states and states must ever change; but the nature of the Soul is bliss, peace, unchanging. We have not to get it, we have it; only wash away the dross and see it.

Stand upon the Self, then only can we truly love the world. Take a very, very high stand; knowing out universal nature, we must look with perfect calmness upon all the panorama of the world. It is but baby's play, and we know that, so cannot be disturbed by it. If the mind is pleased with praise, it will be displeased with blame. All pleasures of the senses or even of the mind are evanescent but within ourselves is the one true unrelated pleasure, dependent upon nothing. It is perfectly free, it is bliss. The more our bliss is within, the more spiritual we are. The pleasure of the Self is what the world calls religion.

The internal universe, the real, is infinitely greater than the external, which is only a shadowy projection of the true one. This world is neither true nor untrue, it is the shadow of truth. "Imagination is the gilded shadow of truth", says the poet.

Strength

24 June : The Recurrence of Cosmic Cycles

ॐ वीरेश्वराय विद्महे विवेकानन्दाय धीमहि । तन्नो वीर: प्रचोदयात् । 

In his jnana yoga class "The Atman: Its Bondage and Freedom," held on the evening of January 8, 1896 (see chapter six, section six), Swamiji introduced the subject of the cyclic recurrence of forms, time without end, with these words: "The vast mass of mankind are content with material things, but there are some who become awakened and want to get back, who have had enough of the playing down here [Complete Works, 2: 259]. Along with this comes a very important question, and because I may forget it, I will discuss it now." He then went on (and with the kind permission of the Vedanta Centre, Cohasset, Massachusetts, I quote from Goodwin's transcript, which differs in spots from the same passage in the Complete Works):
     The question is why should we attempt to get our and get back to the centre. Suppose we have all come from God, but we find this world is pleasurable and nice; then we would rather try to get more and more of this. Why should we try to get out of it? The alpha and omega of Vedanta philosophy is to "give up the world"; that is the idea with which we started, giving up the unreal and taking the real. [But] why should we not turn towards enjoyment and not away from it?... The answer is this, that all these forms that we are seeing now are being manifested again and again, and we know that this world in which we live has been here many times before. I have been here and talking to you.... And many times more it will be the same.... This world has been here many times. We are all certain that this world will die and will be broken to pieces. Secondly, we see that these things periodically occur. Suppose there are three or four dice, and when we throw them one comes up five, and another four, and another three, and another two, and you keep on throwing and throwing. There must come times when those very same numbers will recur. Go on throwing, and no matter how long may be the interval, those numbers must come again. It can be mathematically asserted in how many throws they will come again; this is the law of chance. So with souls. However distant may be the period, these things are happening again and again, all these combinations and dissolutions. There is only a short rest, and then - and then this eating and drinking here comes back, and then death again....
     Along with this [idea] of throwing dice, comes [the] very interesting (view) that it was not the same soul, that this body is one link in the whole chain, and that the whole chain is composed of many links, beginning from the little worm, and let us hope ending in man, and these links form a circle, and this circle is revolving like the Ferris wheel at Chicago, the carriages of which are rolling forward all the time, but the occupants are changed. A soul goes into a carriage, goes through the circle, and comes out again. The wheel still goes on and on. All these forms are what is called permanent; cyclically the wheel revolves, showing all these forms, but you and I must get out. Different souls are riding in this wheel. This is how it can be explained that a man can read the past and future life of another man. The most astonishing powers of reading the past and the future have been known in every country and every age....
     This last sentence occurs in volume two of the Complete Works, at the beginning of paragraph two of page 261. It should be noted here that the remainder of the paragraph does not appear in Goodwin's transcript, according to which Swamiji went on to say that everything within the Ferris wheel - even the struggle to be free - acts according to law and is predictable.

- Appendix B : Swami Vivekananda in The West - New Discoveries [Vol-III; Page:555]

Today's-Special : 24-June in Swami Vivekananda Life

24th June, 1896 : To Swami Ramakrishnananda from London
DEAR SHASHI,
Max Müller wants all the sayings of Shri Ramakrishna classified, that is, all on Karma in one place, on Vairagya in another place, so on Bhakti, Jnana, etc., etc. You must undertake to do this forthwith. ... We must take care to present only the universal aspect of his teachings. . . .
Sharat starts for America tomorrow. The work here is coming to a head. We have already got funds to start a London Centre. .. — This London is the hub of the world. The heart of India is here. How can I leave without laying a sure foundation here? Nonsense! For the present, I shall have Kali here, tell him to be ready. ...
We want great spirit, tremendous energy, and boundless enthusiasm, no womanishness will do. Try to go on exactly as I wrote to you in my last. We want organisation. Organisation is power, and the secret of this is obedience.
24th June 1899 : Swami Vivekananda on his second voyage to West reached Madras

Renunciation

23 June : Swami Vive Kananda Here on a Mission

ॐ वीरेश्वराय विद्महे विवेकानन्दाय धीमहि । तन्नो वीर: प्रचोदयात् ।

One of the Delegates to the Parliament of Religions at the World's Fair Visits Minneapolis - enthusiastic over the Beauties of Minnehaha - a Benefactor to the Masses of India - projects for the Betterment of the Condition of His People - an Interesting Talk to The Tribune - lecture for the Peripatetic Literary Club.

A foreigner of dignified position, a Brahmin priest, Swami Vive Kananda, is a guest in the city for a few days. He was one of the delegates to the Parliament of Religions at Chicago and arrived in Minneapolis Tuesday [November 21] to remain over Friday, when he is to give a lecture in the evening at the First Unitarian Church for the Peripatetic Literary Club. He is stopping with friends during his stay.

Vive Kananda is an oriental in everything but dress, and this he will be tomorrow evening when he will give his lecture in the native priest costume. He is a man of little more than 30 years, with dark brown skin, coal black hair and jetty eyes. He is of medium height, compactly built, and with a highly intelligent cast of countenance from which beams kindliness and interest when in pleasant conversation. When Vive Kananda was found by THE TRIBUNE yesterday afternoon he was smoking a cigar, and he blew the smoke in grateful enjoyment far above his head. He had just returned from a trip to Minnehaha, and his frequent lapses into silence were interrupted by the emphatic expression "Hiawatha." He had read Long -fellow's poem far over in his Indian home in Calcutta, and he was delighted to have visited the scene of the legend. Kananda is not merely a casual visitor to this part of the world. He comes with a purpose strong, deep and earnest. He comes in the guise of a benefactor to the masses of India, the lower class people who dwell in ignorance and poverty.

In his native land he is one of thousands of mendicant monks who travel from village to town preaching the Brahmin faith. As a priest Vive Kananda is above all caste, and, in his own words, "I am my own man. I have no church. I bow to no one." His official title, "Swami" a word of Sanscrit origin, designates his position as "master," or as rabbi in other nations. He uses the English language with happy ease, and his speech is slow and dignified, while he speaks in low musical tones. His mission to this country is to obtain funds by his lectures, to return to India and establish an institute of learning for the ignorant masses who swarm through the country. In this errand he is an evangel, for no one has ever yet endeavored to better the condition of the lower classes.

Told by Vive Kananda, the story of his mission and his, coming to America is pleasing to hear. "I am, as you know " he says, "a monk, who with thousands of others travels about the land speaking to the people. As I traveled I was called to do a work that no one else had even attempted. I was called to journey into the new world. The people of India are a depressed race, and there are two reasons for their condition their ignorance and political oppression. They can never relieve themselves of the second calamity until they have overcome the first. So I undertake a pilgrimage to interest distant people, and when the time comes I shall return to establish a school for the masses."

Pressed further for details of his plan and for the location of his school, Kananda smiled. "It is in my brain yet, and I do not know where it will be," he said.

"I shall have thousands of workers to help me in the cause. India has her universities, and one of them contains 20,000 students, but it is only the higher class people who reap their benefit. The poor people work in the fields and labor, but education and the practical things of life are not their reward. I wish to start a school, and this is how I shall do it. These brother missionaries who are traveling about the country I shall call upon them and they will help. When the people gather in the fields at night and sit smoking after the toil of the day, a missionary will join their number, and little by little they will learn some of the things it will be good for them to know. In this way my school will be started. Then I shall have a training college, where sons of farmers will learn to be missionaries, and soon they, too, shall teach and by and by there will be a group of schools and colleges."

Vive Kananda grew more earnest as he dwelt upon his plans, and when accused in a friendly way of being an apostle in his work, he replied: "Apostle or no apostle, I do the work and the people of my land will be aided to help themselves." Kananda turns to America when he cannot and will not look to England, and his stay in this country will be regulated by the sympathy with which he meets.

His lecture tomorrow evening will be on the subject, "Brahminism," and while the audience will be limited to members and friends of the Peripatetics, he will probably remain in the city for a few days, since both Rev. Mr. Simpsons and Dr. Tuttle are desirous that the people of their churches shall hear him speak. In his travels through this country he conforms himself to the customs of the people with whom he is, and at table, in dress or conversation he is an agreeable and interesting person to meet. With one phase of missionary work as conducted in foreign lands he is not in sympathy, since he believes that the men who are most frequently employed as foreign missionaries are not always the worthiest for the position and place they are called upon to fill.

From Minneapolis Tribune, Thursday, November 23, 1893 A PRIEST OF BRAHMA [Swami Vivekananda in The West - New Discoveries, Vol-1, p489]

Todays-Special 23-June in Swami Vivekananda Life

23rd June, 1894 : To The Maharaja of Mysore - from -CHICAGO
No other nation applies so much machinery in their everyday work as do the people of this country.....
Nowhere on earth have women so many privileges as in America ...
No country on earth has so many laws, and in no country are they so little regarded...
...
My noble Prince, this life is short, the vanities of the world are transient, but they alone live who live for others, the rest are more dead than alive. One such high, noble-minded, and royal son of India as your Highness can do much towards raising India on her feet again and thus leave a name to posterity which shall be worshipped.

23 June 1900 : To Mary Hale on
I am determined to get rid of all sentimentalism, and emotionalism, and hang me if you ever find me emotional. I am the Advaitist; our goal is knowledge — no feelings, no love, as all that belongs to matter and superstition and bondage. I am only existence and knowledge.
.... "Mother" looks after me. She is bringing me fast out of the hell of emotionalism, and bringing me into the light of pure reason.

Starvation

22 June : world will always be a mixture of good and evil

ॐ वीरेश्वराय विद्महे विवेकानन्दाय धीमहि । तन्नो वीर: प्रचोदयात् ।

Dear Sister (Mary Hale),

The letters from India and the parcel of books reached me safe. I am so happy to know of Mr. Sam's arrival. I am sure he is "bewaring of the vidders" nicely. I met a friend of Mr. Sam's one day on the street. He is an Englishman with a name ending in "ni". He was very nice. He said he was living in the same house with Sam somewhere in Ohio.
I am going on pretty nearly in the same old fashion. Talking when I can and silent when forced to be. I do not know whether I will go to Greenacre this summer. I saw Miss Farmer the other day. She was in a hurry to go away, so I had but very little talk with her. She is a noble, noble lady.
How are you going on with your Christian Science lessons? I hope you will go to Greenacre. There you will find quite a number of them and also the Spiritualists, table turnings, palmists, astrologers, etc., etc. You will get all the "cures" and all the "isms" presided over by Miss Farmer.
Landsberg has gone away to live in some other place, so I am left alone. I am living mostly on nuts and fruits and milk, and find it very nice and healthy too. I hope to lose about 30 to 40 lbs. this summer. That will be all right for my size. I am afraid I have forgotten all about Mrs. Adam's lessons in walking. I will have to renew them when she comes again to N.Y. Gandhi has gone to England en route  to India from Boston, I suppose.
I would like to know about his "chaperon" Mrs. Howard and her present bereaved state. I am very glad to hear that the rugs did not go down to the bottom of the Atlantic and are at last coming.This year I could hardly keep my head up, and I did not go about lecturing. The three great commentaries on the Vedanta philosophy belonging to the three great sects of dualists, qualified dualists, and monists are being sent to me from India. Hope they will arrive safe. Then I will have an intellectual feast indeed. I intend to write a book this summer on the Vedanta philosophy. This world will always be a mixture of good and evil, of happiness and misery; this wheel will ever go up and come down; dissolution and resolution is the inevitable law. Blessed are those who struggle to go beyond. Well, I am glad all the babies are doing well but sorry there was no "catch" even this winter, and every winter the chances are dwindling. down. Here near my lodgings is the Waldorf - hotel, the rendezvous of lots of titled but penniless Europeans on show for "Yankee" heiresses to buy. You may have any selection here, the stock is so full and varied. There is the man who talks no English; there are others who lisp a few words which no one can understand; and others are there who talk nice English, but their chance is not so great as that of the dumb ones -- the girls do not think them enough foreign who talk plain English fluently.
I read somewhere in a funny book that an American vessel was being foundered in the sea; the men were desperate and as a last solace wanted some religious service being done. There was "Uncle Josh" on board who was an elder in the Presbyterian Church. They all began to entreat, "Do something religious, Uncle Josh! We are all going to die." Uncle Joseph took his hat in his hand and took up a collection on the spot!
That is all of religion he knew. And that is more or less characteristic of the majority of such people . Collections are about all the religion they know or will ever know. Lord bless them. Good - bye for present. I am going to eat something; I feel very hungry.
Yours affectionately,
Vivekananda
54 W. 33rd Street
New York,  22nd June, 1895

[From EPISTLES (Fourth Series), Letter XLVI, CW-VIII, page340]

Todays-Special 22-June in Swami Vivekananda Life

22nd June, 1895 : Letter To Kidi (Singaravelu Mudaliar), NEW YORK

DEAR KIDI,

I will write you a whole letter instead of a line. I am glad you are progressing. You are mistaken in thinking that I am not going to return to India; I am coming soon. I am not giving to failures, and here I have planted a seed, and it is going to become a tree, and it must. Only I am afraid it will hurt its growth if I give it up too soon. . . .

Work on, my boy. Rome was not built in a day. I am guided by the Lord, so everything will come all right in the end.

22nd June, 1895 : Letter To Mary Hale

22nd June, 1898 : Reached Srinagar

Duty

21 June : Swami Vivekananda on Shivaji

ॐ वीरेश्वराय विद्महे विवेकानन्दाय धीमहि । तन्नो वीर: प्रचोदयात् ।

“Shivaji was the greatest Hindu king that India had produced within the last thousand years; one who was the very incarnation of lord Siva, about whom prophecies were given out long before he was born; and his advent was eagerly expected by all the great souls and saints of Maharashtra as the deliverer of the Hindus from the hands of the Mlecchas, and as one who succeeded in the reestablishment of Dharma which had been trampled underfoot by the depredations of the devastating hordes of the Moghals. ”

“ Shivaji was one of the greatest national saviors who emancipated our society and our Dharma when they were faced with the threat of total destruction. He was a peerless hero, a pious and God-fearing king and verily a manifestation of all the virtues of a born leader of men described in our ancient scriptures. He also embodied the deathless spirit of our land and stood as the light of hope for our future.”

- Swami Vivekananda in an Evening-talk on Shivaji

 

It was a beautiful moonlit night and Swamiji was sitting in the verandah of the bungalow of the late Mr. Bhattacharjee on the South Beach of Madras (already referred to), conversing in Hindi with Mr. Munshi Jagamohanlal, the private secretary of the Maharajah of Khetri. This gentleman had been sent by the Maharajah to trace out the whereabouts of the Swamiji and to fetch him back to Khetri to bless the newly born son and heir to the State. When Swamiji was at Khetri about a year previously, the Maharajah of Khetri had begged of him to confer the boon of a son and Swamiji while he was in one of his higher moods had actually blessed him saying that God had granted his prayer. So the Maharajah wanted Swamiji back in his palace at any cost and could not remain contented until he saw him. When I went over there after my office work I prostrated before Swamiji and took my seat; and suddenly Swamiji began to sing a Hindi song in praise of Sivaji in his own masterly way, the last two lines of which were:—

दावा द्रुमदंड पर चित्ता मृग झुंड पर, भूषण बितंड पर जैसे मृगराज हैं ।
तॆज तम अंशपर काह्न जिम कंसपर, त्यॊंमिलेच्छवंसपर शर शिवराज हैं ॥

(As forest-fire is to the forest trees, a leopard to the deer-herds and a lion to the stately elephants; as the sun is to the darkness of the night, as Krishna was to Kansa, so was king Sivaji, a lion, towards the hordes of Mlechchas.)

It was a long song as I learnt it afterwards; but I who had learnt in my school days that Shivaji was a cunning unprincipled freebooter, ‘an upstart robber,’ a marauder and a treacherous murderer, suddenly interrupted Swamiji and asked him how that praise and those lines were justified in the case of Shivaji. Was he not a mere child of fortune, a marauder who collected similar men like himself and succeeded in establishing a kingdom by sheer cunning and treachery? Swamiji immediately gave up his singing and saw me full in the face, his face being lit up with the fire of indignation and said, “Shame on you, Doctor. You are a Mahratta and still that is all you know of the greatest king that India had produced within the last three hundred years; one who was the very incarnation of Siva, about whom prophecies were given out long before he was born; and his advent was eagerly expected by all the great souls and saints of Maharashtra as the deliverer of the Hindus from the hands of the Mlechchas and one who succeeded in the establishment of the Dharma which had been trampled under foot by the depredations of the devastating hordes of the Moghals. This is what comes of your reading Indian History written by foreigners who could have no sympathy with you, nor could they have any respect for your culture, traditions, manners and customs which they could not understand. Is there a greater hero, a greater saint, a greater bhakta and a greater king than Shivaji? Shivaji was the very embodiment of a born ruler of men as typified in your great Epics. He was the type of the real son of India representing the true consciousness of the nation. It was he who showed what the future of India is going to be sooner or later, a group of independent units under one umbrella as it were, i.e., under one supreme imperial suzerainty.” I was simply thunderstruck and seemed to myself so small, so foolish and so ignorant; still the spirit of enquiry in me could not be put down even by those eloquent and fiery words of indigna-tion which Swamiji gave expression to, for I thought whatever might be said of Shivaji there could be no explanation for his treacherous conduct towards Afzul Khan, the great Pathan commander sent from the court of Bijapur, whom he is said to have killed under circumstances which any one who has a spark of morality in him could not but abhor. Still with some amount of hesitation but with a mischievous curiosity to find out how Swamiji could condone this treacherous deed of Shivaji, I begged of him to tell us something about the real life-history of Shivaji and what he thought of his one act which had been considered the greatest blot in his life and on account of which his character had been painted so black.

Then Swamiji began to give a brief account of the life of Shivaji, with great feeling and enthusiasm and we listened to the same with great eagerness and rapt attention; for so engrossing and interesting it was to listen to those soul-stirring words of Swamiji who spoke at the time with so great an earnestness and yet with so much pity and kindness. It was a pity there was no one to take down all that he spoke that evening in shorthand, nor did I make any notes at the time either, for my mind was so absorbed in following his narrative that the idea of taking down any notes never entered my brain. Yet the indelible impressions he made on even our callous hearts that memorable evening do still persist though somewhat dimmed, and the following is but an imperfect reproduction of those impressions.

“Doctor,” began Swamiji, “it is a pity that in our schools, History of India written by foreigners alone is taught to our boys. The foreign writers of the Mahratta History can never shake off their bias nor understand the real character and greatness and the inner motive of the actions of Sivaji. We cannot blame them for their beliefs which more or less depended on the writings of the Mussalman chroniclers who out of spite and hatred, denounced Sivaji as a falim or freebooter. On the other hand there are many Mahratta bakhars or chroniclers who have written about him but who, true to their ancient puranic ideal, looked upon Sivaji as an incarnation of God born to relieve His devotees from the oppressions of Mahomedan fanaticism and to re-establish the Dharma. Naturally the foreign writers leaned on the side of the Mussalman chroniclers and considered the account given by the Mahrattas as mere superstition. But fortunately there are many independent Persian manuscripts dealing with the history of Aurangzeeb, Shivaji and the Bijapur kings. They corroborate the account of the Mahratta chroniclers so far as facts are concerned, though they do not share in their belief of the superhuman nature of the exploits of Shivaji. And if young men who have any patriotic feeling towards the history of their motherland were to make researches in finding out and translating these manuscripts much truer light may be thrown on the greatness of the doings of Sivaji and of many others who helped in the formation of the great Mahratta Confederacy and it will be a valuable addition to our knowledge of the real His-tory of India.” (Vedanta Kesari : November 1914, p. 218-219)

Todays-Special 21-June in Swami Vivekananda Life

21 Jun 1896 : Lecture: "The real and apparent man" at Royal Institute of Painters In Water Colours, 191 Picadilly, London. Transcribed by Goodwin and brought out in pamphlet form by Mr. Sturdy. Subsequently, included in the book, Jnana Yoga.

In this the task that Swami Vivekananda gives to us is :
If one millionth part of the men and women who live in this world simply sit down and for a few minutes say, "You are all God, O ye men and O ye animals and living beings, you are all the manifestations of the one living Deity!" the whole world will be changed in half an hour. Instead of throwing tremendous bomb-shells of hatred into every corner, instead of projecting currents of jealousy and evil thought, in every country people will think that it is all He. He is all that you see and feel. How can you see evil until there is evil in you? How can you see the thief, unless he is there, sitting in the heart of your heart? How can you see the murderer until you are yourself the murderer? Be good, and evil will vanish for you. The whole universe will thus be changed.

Think : Can I be in that one millionth part of d men n women which Swamiji wanted?

Law of Karma

20 June : Letter To Shri Haridas Viharidas Desai

ॐ वीरेश्वराय विद्महे विवेकानन्दाय धीमहि । तन्नो वीर: प्रचोदयात् ।

CHICAGO,
20th June, 1894.

DEAR DIWANJI SAHEB,

Your very kind note came today. I am so sorry that I could have caused pain to such a noble heart as yours with my rash and strong words. I bow down to your mild corrections. "Thy son am I, teach me thus bowing" — Gita. But you well know, Diwanji Saheb, it was my love that prompted me to say so. The backbiters, I must tell you, have not indirectly benefited me; on the other hand, they have injured me immensely in view of the fact that our Hindu people did not move a finger to tell the Americans that I represented them. Had our people sent some words thanking the American people for their kindness to me and stating that I was representing them! . . . have been telling the American people that I have donned the Sannyasin's garb only in America and that I was a cheat, bare and simple. So far as reception goes, it has no effect on the American nation; but so far as helping me with funds goes, it has a terrible effect in making them take off their helping hands from me. And it is one year since I have been here, and not one man of note from India has thought it fit to make the Americans know that I am no cheat. There again the missionaries are always seeking for something against me, and they are busy picking up anything said against me by the Christian papers of India and publishing it here. Now you must know that the people here know very little of the distinction in India between the Christian and the Hindu.

Primarily my coming has been to raise funds for an enterprise of my own. Let me tell it all to you again.

The whole difference between the West and the East is in this: They are nations, we are not, i.e., civilisation, education here is general, it penetrates into the masses. The higher classes in India and America are the same, but the distance is infinite between the lower classes of the two countries. Why was it so easy for the English to conquer India? It was because they are a nation, we are not. When one of our great men dies, we must sit for centuries to have another; they can produce them as fast as they die. When our Diwanji Saheb will pass away (which the Lord may delay long for the good of my country), the nation will see the difficulty at once of filling his place, which is seen even now in the fact that they cannot dispense with your services. It is the dearth of great ones. Why so? Because they have such a bigger field of recruiting their great ones, we have so small. A nation of 300 millions has the smallest field of recruiting its great ones compared with nations of thirty, forty, or sixty millions, because the number of educated men and women in those nations is so great. Now do not mistake me, my kind friend, this is the great defect in our nation and must be removed.

Educate and raise the masses, and thus alone a nation is possible. Our reformers do not see where the wound is, they want to save the nation by marrying the widows; do you think that a nation is saved by the number of husbands its widows get? Nor is our religion to blame, for an idol more or less makes no difference. The whole defect is here: The real nation who live in cottage have forgotten their manhood, their individuality. Trodden under the foot of the Hindu, Mussulman, or Christian, they have come to think that they are born to be trodden under the foot of everybody who has money enough in his pocket. They are to be given back their lost individuality. They are to be educated. Whether idols will remain or not, whether widows will have husbands enough or not, whether caste is good or bad, I do not bother myself with such questions. Everyone must work out his own salvation. Our duty is to put the chemicals together, the crystallisation will come through God's laws. Let us put ideas into their heads, and they will do the rest. Now this means educating the masses. Here are these difficulties. A pauper government cannot, will not, do anything; so no help from that quarter.

Even supposing we are in a position to open schools in each village free, still the poor boys would rather go to the plough to earn their living than come to your school. Neither have we the money, nor can we make them come to education. The problem seems hopeless. I have found a way out. It is this. If the mountain does not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain. If the poor cannot come to education, education must reach them at the plough, in the factory, everywhere. How? You have seen my brethren. Now I can get hundreds of such, all over India, unselfish, good, and educated. Let these men go from village to village bringing not only religion to the door of everyone but also education. So I have a nucleus of organising the widows also as instructors to our women.

Now suppose the villagers after their day's work have come to their village and sitting under a tree or somewhere are smoking and talking the time away. Suppose two of these educated Sannyasins get hold of them there and with a camera throw astronomical or other pictures, scenes from different nations, histories, etc. Thus with globes, maps, etc. — and all this orally — how much can be done that way, Diwanji? It is not that the eye is the only door of knowledge, the ear can do all the same. So they would have ideas and morality, and hope for better. Here our work ends. Let them do the rest. What would make the Sannyasins do this sacrifice, undertake such a task? — religious enthusiasm. Every new religious wave requires a new centre. The old religion can only be revivified by a new centre. Hang your dogmas or doctrines, they never pay. It is a character, a life, a centre, a God-man that must lead the way, that must be the centre round which all other elements will gather themselves and then fall like a tidal wave upon the society, carrying all before it, washing away all impurities. Again, a piece of wood can only easily be cut along the grain. So the old Hinduism can only be reformed through Hinduism, and not through the new-fangled reform movements. At the same time the reformers must be able to unite in themselves the culture of both the East and the West. Now do you not think that you have already seen the nucleus of such a great movement, that you have heard the low rumblings of the coming tidal wave? That centre, that God-man to lead was born in India. He was the great Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, and round him this band is slowly gathering. They will do the work. Now, Diwanji Maharaj, this requires an organisation, money — a little at least to set the wheel in motion. Who would have given us money in India? — So, Diwanji Maharaj, I crossed over to America. You may remember I begged all the money from the poor, and the offers of the rich I would not accept because they could not understand my ideas. Now lecturing for a year in this country, I could not succeed at all (of course, I have no wants for myself) in my plan for raising some funds for setting up my work. First, this year is a very bad year in America; thousands of their poor are without work. Secondly, the missionaries and the Brahmo Samajists try to thwart all my views. Thirdly, a year has rolled by, and our countrymen could not even do so much for me as to say to the American people that I was a real Sannyasin and no cheat, and that I represented the Hindu religion. Even this much, the expenditure of a few words, they could not do! Bravo, my countrymen! I love them, Diwanji Saheb. Human help I spurn with my foot. He who has been with me through hills and dales, through deserts or forests, will be with me, I hope; if not, some heroic soul would arise some time or other in India, far abler than myself, and carry it out. So I have told you all about it. Diwanji, excuse my long letter, my noble friend, one of the few who really feel for me, have real kindness for me. You are at liberty, my friend, to think that I am a dreamer, a visionary; but believe at least that I am sincere to the backbone, and my greatest fault is that I love my country only too, too well. May you and yours be blessed ever and ever, my noble, noble friend. May the shadow of the Almighty ever rest on all those you love. I offer my eternal gratitude to you. My debt to you is immense, not only because you are my friend, but also because you have all your life served the Lord and your motherland so well.

Ever yours in gratitude,

VIVEKANANDA.

Todays-Special 20-June in Swami Vivekananda Life

20 June 1894 : Swami Vivekananda wrote to Sri Haridas Viharidas Desai from Chicago... A very imp letter...

Primarily my coming has been to raise funds for an enterprise of my own. Let me tell it all to you again.

The whole difference between the West and the East is in this: They are nations, we are not, i.e., civilisation, education here is general, it penetrates into the masses. The higher classes in India and America are the same, but the distance is infinite between the lower classes of the two countries. Why was it so easy for the English to conquer India? It was because they are a nation, we are not. When one of our great men dies, we must sit for centuries to have another; they can produce them as fast as they die..... Why so? Because they have such a bigger field of recruiting their great ones, we have so small. A nation of 300 millions has the smallest field of recruiting its great ones compared with nations of thirty, forty, or sixty millions, because the number of educated men and women in those nations is so great....Educate and raise the masses, and thus alone a nation is possible....The real nation who live in cottage have forgotten their manhood, their individuality. Trodden under the foot of the Hindu, Mussulman, or Christian, they have come to think that they are born to be trodden under the foot of everybody who has money enough in his pocket. They are to be given back their lost individuality. They are to be educated.

Power of The Universe

19 June : SANNYASA: ITS IDEAL AND PRACTICE

ॐ वीरेश्वराय विद्महे विवेकानन्दाय धीमहि । तन्नो वीर: प्रचोदयात् ।

A parting Address was given to Swamiji by the junior Sannyâsins of the Math (Belur), on the eve of his leaving for the West for the second time. The following is the substance of Swamiji's reply as entered in the Math Diary on 19th June 1899:

This is not the time for a long lecture. But I shall speak to you in brief about a few things which I should like you to carry into practice. First, we have to understand the ideal, and then the methods by which we can make it practical. Those of you who are Sannyasins must try to do good to others, for Sannyasa means that. There is no time to deliver a long discourse on "Renunciation", but I shall very briefly characterise it as "the love of death". Worldly people love life. The Sannyasin is to love death. Are we to commit suicide then? Far from it. For suicides are not lovers of death, as it is often seen that when a man trying to commit suicide fails, he never attempts it for a second time. What is the love of death then? We must die, that is certain; let us die then for a good cause. Let all our actions — eating, drinking, and everything that we do — tend towards the sacrifice of our self. You nourish your body by eating. What good is there in doing that if you do not hold it as a sacrifice to the well-being of others? You nourish your minds by reading books. There is no good in doing that unless you hold it also as a sacrifice to the whole world. For the whole world is one; you are rated a very insignificant part of it, and therefore it is right for you that you should serve your millions of brothers rather than aggrandise this little self.

सर्वतः पाणिपादं तत् सर्वतोऽक्षिशिरोमुखम्‌ ।
सर्वतः श्रुतिमल्लोके सर्वमावृत्य तिष्ठति ॥

"With hands and feet everywhere, with eyes, heads, and mouths everywhere, with ears everywhere in the universe, That exists pervading all." (Gita, XIII. 13)

Thus you must die a gradual death. In such a death is heaven, all good is stored therein — and in its opposite is all that is diabolical and evil.

Then as to the methods of carrying the ideals into practical life. First, we have to understand that we must not have any impossible ideal. An ideal which is too high makes a nation weak and degraded. This happened after the Buddhistic and the Jain reforms. On the other hand, too much practicality is also wrong. If you have not even a little imagination, if you have no ideal let guide you, you are simply a brute. So we must not lower our ideal, neither are we to lose sight of practicality. We must avoid the two extremes. In our country, the old idea is to sit in a cave and meditate and die. To go ahead of others in salvation is wrong. One must learn sooner or later that one cannot get salvation if one does not try to seek the salvation of his brothers. You must try to combine in your life immense idealism with immense practicality. You must be prepared to go into deep meditation now, and the next moment you must be ready to go and cultivate these fields (Swamiji said, pointing to the meadows of the Math). You must be prepared to explain the difficult intricacies of the Shâstras now, and the next moment to go and sell the produce of the fields in the market. You must be prepared for all menial services, not only here, but elsewhere also.

The next thing to remember is that the aim of this institution is to make men. You must not merely learn what the Rishis taught. Those Rishis are gone, and their opinions are also gone with them. You must be Rishis yourselves. You are also men as much as the greatest men that were ever born — even our Incarnations. What can mere book-learning do? What can meditation do even? What can the Mantras and Tantras do? You must stand on your own feet. You must have this new method — the method of man-making. The true man is he who is strong as strength itself and yet possesses a woman's heart. You must feel for the millions of beings around you, and yet you must be strong and inflexible and you must also possess Obedience; though it may seem a little paradoxical — you must possess these apparently conflicting virtues. If your superior order you to throw yourself into a river and catch a crocodile, you must first obey and then reason with him. Even if the order be wrong, first obey and then contradict it. The bane of sects, especially in Bengal, is that if any one happens to have a different opinion, he immediately starts a new sect, he has no patience to wait. So you must have a deep regard for your Sangha. There is no place for disobedience here. Crush it out without mercy. No disobedient members here, you must turn them out. There must not be any traitors in the camp. You must be as free as the air, and as obedient as this plant and the dog.

Todays-Special 19-June in Swami Vivekananda Life

1895, June 19,  WEDNESDAY,  from Inspired Talks -(RECORDED BY MISS S. E. WALDO, A DISCIPLE (This day marks the beginning of the regular teaching given daily by Swami Vivekananda to his disciples at Thousand Island Park.)

The Perfect never becomes imperfect. It is in the darkness, but is not affected by the darkness. God's mercy goes to all, but is not affected by their wickedness. The sun is not affected by any disease of our eyes which may make us see it distorted. In the twenty-ninth verse, "taketh away the sin of the world" means that Christ would show us the way to become perfect. God became Christ to show man his true nature, that we too are God. We are human coverings over the Divine; but as the divine Man, Christ and we are one.

19 June 1898 : Traveling toward Baramulla by Tonga. Some Disciples took turns driving with the Swami in his tonga.

                           Evening: Stopped at Uri Dak bungalow

Everything is Possible

18 : June : TO MY OWN SOUL

ॐ वीरेश्वराय विद्महे विवेकानन्दाय धीमहि । तन्नो वीर: प्रचोदयात् ।

(Composed at Ridgely Manor, New York, in 1899.)

Hold yet a while, Strong Heart,
Not part a lifelong yoke
Though blighted looks the present, future gloom.

And age it seems since you and I began our
March up hill or down. Sailing smooth o'er
Seas that are so rare —
Thou nearer unto me, than oft-times I myself —
Proclaiming mental moves before they were!

Reflector true — Thy pulse so timed to mine,
Thou perfect note of thoughts, however fine —
Shall we now part, Recorder, say?

In thee is friendship, faith,
For thou didst warn when evil thoughts were brewing —
And though, alas, thy warning thrown away,
Went on the same as ever — good and true.

(CWSV : 8 / Writings: Poems )

Todays-Special 18-June in Swami Vivekananda Life

1894 : To Professor John Henry Wright

Dear Adhyapakji,

... Mrs. Bagley seems to be unsettled by that article in the Boston paper against me. She sent me over a copy from Detroit and has ceased correspondence with me. Lord bless her. She has been very kind to me.

Stout hearts like yours are not common, my brother. This is a queer place this world of ours. On the whole I am very very thankful to the Lord for the amount of kindness I have received at the hands of the people of this country I, a complete stranger here without even "credentials".

1898 : Left Muree for Kashmir

Traveling: One of the party was ill; went only a short distance and stopped at Dulai, just across the border. Spoke to his disciples against Vamachara

Immortality

17 June : Letter to Miss Mary Hale

To Miss Mary Hale
1921 W. 21 STREET,
LOS ANGELES,
17th June, 1900.
MY DEAR MARY,
It is true I am much better, but not yet completely recovered; anyway, the complexion of the mind is one belonging to everyone that suffers. It is neither gas nor anything else.
Kâli worship is not a necessary step in any religion. The Upanishads teach us all there is of religion. Kali worship is my special fad; you never heard me preach it, or read of my preaching it in India. I only preach what is good for universal humanity. If there is any curious method which applies entirely to me, I keep it a secret and there it ends. I must not explain to you what Kali worship is, as I never taught it to anybody.
You are entirely mistaken if you think the Boses are rejected by the Hindu people. The English rulers want to push him into a corner. They don't of course like that sort of development in the Indian race. They make it hot for him, that is why he seeks to go elsewhere.
By the "anglicised" are meant people who by their manners and conduct show that they are ashamed of us poor, old type Hindus. I am not ashamed of my race or my birth or nationality. That such people are not liked by the Hindus, I cannot wonder.
Ceremonials and symbols etc. have no place in our religion which is the doctrine of the Upanishads, pure and simple. Many people think the ceremonial etc. help them in realising religion. I have no objection.
Religion is that which does not depend upon books or teachers or prophets or saviours, and that which does not make us dependent in this or in any other lives upon others. In this sense Advaitism of the Upanishads is the only religion. But saviours, books, prophets, ceremonials, etc. have their places. They may help many as Kali worship helps me in my secular work. They are welcome.
The Guru, however, is a different idea. It is the relation between the transmitter and the receiver of force — psychic power and knowledge. Each nation is a type, physically and mentally. Each is constantly receiving ideas from others only to work them out into its type, that is, along the national line. The time has not come for the destruction of types. All education from any source is compatible with the ideals in every country; only they must be nationalised, i.e. fall in line with the rest of the type manifestation.
Renunciation is always the ideal of every race; only other races do not know what they are made to do by nature unconsciously. Through the ages one purpose runs sure. And that will be finished with the destruction of this earth and the sun! And worlds are always in progress indeed! And nobody as yet developed enough in any one of the infinite worlds to communicate with us! Bosh! They are born, show the same phenomena, and die the same death! Increasing purpose! Babies! Live in the land of dreams, you babies!
Well, now about me. You must persuade Harriet to give me a few dollars every month, and I will have some other friends do the same. If I succeed, I fly off to India. I am dead tired of the platform work for a living. It does not please me any more. I retire and do some writing if I can do some scholarly work.
I am coming soon to Chicago, hope to be there in a few days. Say, would not Mrs. Adams be able to get up a class for me to pay my passage back?
Of course I shall try different places. So much of optimism has come to me, Mary, that I should fly off to the Himalayas if I had wings.
I have worked for this world, Mary, all my life, and it does not give me a piece of bread without taking a pound of flesh.
If I can get a piece of bread a day, I retire entirely; but this is impossible — this is the increasing purpose that is unfolding all the devilish inwardness, as I am getting older!
Ever yours in the Lord,
VIVEKANANDA.
PS. If ever a man found the vanity of things, I have it now. This is the world, hideous, beastly corpse. Who thinks of helping it is a fool! But we have to work out our slavery by doing good or evil; I have worked it out, I hope. May the Lord take me to the other shore! Amen! I have given up all thoughts about India or any land. I am now selfish, want to save myself!
"He who revealed unto Brahmâ (the first of the gods) the Vedas, who is manifest in every heart, unto Him I take refuge, hoping deliverance from bondage." 

Todays-Special 17-June in Swami Vivekananda Life

Letter To Miss Mary Hale

Date: 

Mon, 2013-06-17

To Miss Mary Hale, 17th June, 1900.
MY DEAR MARY,
It is true I am much better, but not yet completely recovered; anyway, the complexion of the mind is one belonging to everyone that suffers. It is neither gas nor anything else.
Kâli worship is not a necessary step in any religion. The Upanishads teach us all there is of religion. Kali worship is my special fad; you never heard me preach it, or read of my preaching it in India. I only preach what is good for universal humanity. If there is any curious method which applies entirely to me, I keep it a secret and there it ends. I must not explain to you what Kali worship is, as I never taught it to anybody.

By the "anglicised" are meant people who by their manners and conduct show that they are ashamed of us poor, old type Hindus. I am not ashamed of my race or my birth or nationality. That such people are not liked by the Hindus, I cannot wonder.
Ceremonials and symbols etc. have no place in our religion which is the doctrine of the Upanishads, pure and simple. Many people think the ceremonial etc. help them in realising religion. I have no objection.
Religion is that which does not depend upon books or teachers or prophets or saviours, and that which does not make us dependent in this or in any other lives upon others. In this sense Advaitism of the Upanishads is the only religion. But saviours, books, prophets, ceremonials, etc. have their places. They may help many as Kali worship helps me in my secular work. They are welcome.
The Guru, however, is a different idea. It is the relation between the transmitter and the receiver of force — psychic power and knowledge. Each nation is a type, physically and mentally. Each is constantly receiving ideas from others only to work them out into its type, that is, along the national line. The time has not come for the destruction of types. All education from any source is compatible with the ideals in every country; only they must be nationalised, i.e. fall in line with the rest of the type manifestation.
Renunciation is always the ideal of every race; only other races do not know what they are made to do by nature unconsciously. Through the ages one purpose runs sure. And that will be finished with the destruction of this earth and the sun! And worlds are always in progress indeed! And nobody as yet developed enough in any one of the infinite worlds to communicate with us! Bosh! They are born, show the same phenomena, and die the same death! Increasing purpose! Babies! Live in the land of dreams, you babies!

I have worked for this world, Mary, all my life, and it does not give me a piece of bread without taking a pound of flesh.
If I can get a piece of bread a day, I retire entirely; but this is impossible — this is the increasing purpose that is unfolding all the devilish inwardness, as I am getting older!

PS. If ever a man found the vanity of things, I have it now. This is the world, hideous, beastly corpse. Who thinks of helping it is a fool! But we have to work out our slavery by doing good or evil; I have worked it out, I hope. May the Lord take me to the other shore! Amen! I have given up all thoughts about India or any land. I am now selfish, want to save myself!
"He who revealed unto Brahmâ (the first of the gods) the Vedas, who is manifest in every heart, unto Him I take refuge, hoping deliverance from bondage."

 

God