Swami Quotes

Whether we fear pain and suffering or not, pain and suffering will come to everyone. Why not keep our minds focused on where we want to go? ~ Radhanath Swami

Chanting is a significant and mysterious practice. It is the highest nectar, a tonic that fully nourishes our inner being. Chanting opens the heart and makes love flow within us. It releases such intoxicating inner bliss and enthusiastic splendor, that simply through the nectar it generates, we can enter the abode of the Self. ~ Swami Muktananda

When one's eyes are anointed with the salve of prema, spiritual love then we could see Vrindavan. ~ Radhanath Swami

The mistake is that we cling to the body when it is the spirit that is really immortal. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Whether you bathe in the Ganga for a thousand years or live on vegetable food for a like period, unless it helps towards the manifestation of the Self, know that it is all of no use. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Work hard, be steady, and have faith in the Lord. Set to work. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Curiously enough, it seems that at times the spiritual side prevails, and then the materialistic side - in wave-like motions following each other. ...At one time the full flood of materialistic ideas prevails, and everything in this life - prosperity, the education which procures more pleasures, more food - will become glorious at first and then that will degrade and degenerate. Along with the prosperity will rise to white heat all the inborn jealousies and hatreds of the human race. Competition and merciless cruelty will be the watchword of the day. To quote a very commonplace and not very elegant English proverb, "Everyone for himself, and the devil take the hindmost", becomes the motto of the day. Then people think that the whole scheme of life is a failure. And the world would be destroyed had not spirituality come to the rescue and lent a helping hand to the sinking world. Then the world gets new hope and finds a new basis for a new building, and another wave of spirituality comes, which in time again declines. As a rule, spirituality brings a class of men who lay exclusive claim to the special powers of the world. The immediate effect of this is a reaction towards materialism, which opens the door to scores of exclusive claims, until the time comes when not only all the spiritual powers of the race, but all its material powers and privileges are centered in the hands of a very few; and these few, standing on the necks of the masses of the people, want to rule them. Then ~ Swami Vivekananda

Practice makes us what we shall be. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Put God behind everything-human beings, animals, food, and work. Make this a habit. ~ Swami Vivekananda

All truth is eternal. Truth is nobody's property; no race, no individual can lay any exclusive claim to it. Truth is the nature of all souls. ~ Swami Vivekananda

We must also remember that in every little village-god and every little superstitious custom is that which we are accustomed to call our religious faith. But local customs are infinite and contradictory. Which are we to obey, and which not to obey? The Brāhmin of Southern India, for instance, would shrink in horror at the sight of another Brahmin eating meat; a Brahmin in the North thinks it a most glorious and holy thing to do - he kills goats by the hundred in sacrifice. If you put forward your custom, they are equally ready with theirs. Various are the customs all over India, but they are local. The greatest mistake made is that ignorant people always think that this local custom is the essence of our religion. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Holy name alone is sufficient to take you back home back to godhead. However to cultivate the mood of surrender You need a Guru. ~ Bhakti Charu Swami

As the cause is, so the effect will be. ~ Swami Vivekananda

The Soul is not composed of any materials. It is unity indivisible. Therefore it must be indestructible. ~ Swami Vivekananda

The moment you think creed and form and ceremony the "be-all" and "end-all", then you are in bondage. Take part in them to help others, but take care they do not become a bondage. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Each nation has a theme: everything else is secondary. India's theme is religion. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Remember you are everything, or you are nothing. If you are everything, then your heart is so big it can hold all of humanity within itself, you have no jealousy or narrowness. You are in the heart of every creature and every creature is in your heart. There is only bliss.
Intro to Part 2, Chapter 4. Credit given to Swami Purna. ~ Deborah Moggach

Since one cannot visually experience the presence of the Supersoul, He appears before us as a liberated devotee. Such a spiritual master is none other than Krishna himself. ~ A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Real responsibility means to live and speak in such a way as to help peoples faith and not to disturb it. ~ Radhanath Swami

What is the world that is to be given up? It is here. I am carrying it all with me. My own body. It is all for this body that I put my hand voluntarily upon my fellow human beings, just to keep it nice and give it a little pleasure. It is all for the body that I injure others and make mistakes. ~ Swami Vivekananda

I am neither man nor angel. I have no sex nor limit. I am knowledge itself. I am He. I have neither anger nor hatred. I have neither pain nor pleasure. Death or birth I never had. For I am Knowledge Absolute, and Bliss Absolute. I am He, my soul, I am He! ~ Swami Vivekananda

Each man is perfect by his nature; prophets have manifested this perfection, but it is potential in us. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Mind you, there is no value in learning. You are all mistaken in learning. The only value of knowledge is in the strengthening, the disciplining, of the mind. ~ Swami Vivekananda

The universe is something like a powerful radar system that is set up from all sides to record every action and every event that may take place anywhere, even of the least intensity or momentum. Meditation, when it is properly done, is not a silent and non-interfering process of thinking by some individual in some undisturbed corner, but a positive interference with the very structure of the universe and, sometimes, a directly employed system starts working at once and the forces around receive a warning, as it were, that someone is in a state of meditation. Immediately, counter-forces are gathered by what is generally known as the lower nature and the meditation receives a setback. ~ Swami Krishnananda

Enlightenment is the realization that all is as it should be. Everything is perfect as it is. Enlightenment is not an effort to achieve. Enlightenment is a state of non-doing, of effortlessness. Enlightenment is the feeling that you are at home in existence. You are part of the whole. You don't exist separately, all separation has disappeared. Enlightenment is the understanding that all is good and that all is an tremendous harmony. ~ Swami Dhyan Giten

Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and runs riot there, undigested all your life. We must have life-building, man-making, character-makin g, assimilation of ideas. If you have assimilated five ideas and made them your life and character, you have more education than any man who has got by heart a whole library. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Essence of humility is unity. ~ Radhanath Swami

Faith, sympathy - fiery faith and fiery sympathy! Life is nothing, death is nothing, hunger nothing, cold nothing. Glory unto the Lord - march on, the Lord is our General. Do not look back to see who falls - forward - onward! Thus and thus we shall go on, brethren. One falls, and another takes up the work ~ Swami Vivekananda

We are ever free if we would only believe it, only have faith enough. You are the soul, free and eternal, ever free, ever blessed. Have faith enough and you will be free in a minute. ~ Swami Vivekananda

See here, how fresh is the air, there is the Ganga, and the Sadhus (holy men) are practising meditation, and holding lofty talks! While the moment you will go to Calcutta, you will be thinking of nasty stuff. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Purity, perseverance, and energy- these three I want. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Have faith in yourselves, and stand up on that faith and be strong; that is what we need. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Bullies are always cowards. ~ Swami Vivekananda

The moment you understand yourself as the true Self, you find such peace and bliss that the impressions of the petty enjoyments you experienced before become as ordinary specks of light in front of the brilliant sun. ~ Swami Satchidananda

Arrogance repels the Lord; humility attracts the Lord. ~ Radhanath Swami

Honor your self. Worship your self. Meditate on your self. God dwells within you as you. ~ Swami Muktananda

The body is the external coating and the mind is the internal coating of the Atman who is the real perceiver, the real enjoyer, the being in the body who is working the body by means of the internal organ or the mind. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Society cannot but depend to a disproportionate degree on its capable few to develop and flourish. ~ Swami Kriyananda

Through our heart, we gain access to a psychological and emotional experience of abundance that, at times for me, is overwhelming it is so beautiful. There is beauty in each of us that is truly astonishing, a beauty that expresses itself on one level as abundance and on another level as endless healing, and finally a perspective that is so peaceful, so restful, that we can reside in it even in the face of this lunatic world that we live in. ~ Swami Chetanananda

The mind of the man who receives gifts is acted on by the mind of the giver, so the receiver is likely to become degenerated. Receiving gifts is prone to destroy the independence of the mind, and make us slavish. Therefore, receive no gifts. ~ Swami Vivekananda

In truth, he who is not content with what he has would not be content with whatever he acquires. ~ Swami Parthasarathy

Humility is a natural symptom of those who love God. ~ Radhanath Swami

Amidst all your cries and laughter let your mind take a moment off, and go still. Look at this moment, this moment alone, and go still. ~ Swami Veda Bharati

The sky never changes: it is the cloud that is changing. ~ Swami Vivekananda

How many sepoys were brought by the Musalmans? How many Englishmen are there? Where, except in India, can be had millions of men who will cut the throats of their own fathers and brothers for six rupees? Sixty millions of Musalmans in seven hundred years of Mohammedan rule, and two millions of Christians in one hundred years of Christian rule - what makes it so? ~ Swami Vivekananda

Highest love for God can never be achieved without renunciation. ~ Swami Vivekananda

There is, however, only one idea of duty which has been universally accepted by all mankind, of all ages and sects and countries, and that has been summed up in a Sanskrit aphorism thus: "Do not injure any being; not injuring any being is virtue, injuring any being is sin." ~ Swami Vivekananda

Compassion brings fulfillment to the heart. Selfish desires simply agitate the heart. ~ Radhanath Swami

The secret of success in life is time rightly used. ~ Swami Sivananda Saraswati

One thing I must tell you. Idolatry in India does not mean anything horrible. It is not the mother of harlots. ~ Swami Vivekananda

There is no happiness higher than what a man obtains by this attitude of non-offensiveness, to all creation. ~ Swami Vivekananda

One may gain political and social independence, but if one is a slave to his passions and desires, one cannot feel the pure joy of real freedom ~ Swami Vivekananda

Sending out the Disciples

Luke 10

1: AFTER THESE THINGS THE LORD APPOINTED OTHER SEVENTY DISCIPLES AND HE SENT THEM TWO AND TWO BEFORE HIS FACE INTO EVERY CITY AND PLACE; WHITHER HE HIMSELF WOULD COME

God is here and now.

God is not something outside you, God is within you.

God is the innermost core of existence.

That is what Jesus means with: "Repent, for the kingdom of God is near".

God is not separate from the creation. He is one with the creation.

When you understand this, your life becomes a prayer.

When you understand this, you will understand that existence is a family. You will understand that life is togetherness.

When we discover our authentic inner being, the kingdom of God, we understand that everybody is a messenger. We discover that the divine source expands, and we spread love to all with whom we interact.

Jesus sent out his disciples two and two, so that they did not have to go alone. They went two and two in friendship, in love, in trust, so that they could help each other.


THEREFORE SAID HE UNTO THEM, THE HARVEST TRULY IS GREAT, BUT THE LABORERS ARE FEW

The harvest is great, but there are not many laborers.

People are deaf and blind.

Somebody like Jesus comes, and you do not want to listen.

It has always been like this.

Rather than listening to Jesus, ~ Swami Dhyan Giten

So never mind these failures, these little backslidings. Hold the ideal a thousand times, and if you fail a thousand times, make the attempt once more ... There is infinite life before the soul. Take your time and you will achieve your end. ~ Swami Vivekananda

you should work like a master and not as a slave; work incessantly, but do not do slave's work. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Let him who has courage in his mind and love in his heart come with me. I want none else. ~ Swami Vivekananda

It is the Prana that is manifesting as motion. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Who shall make me perfect? I am perfect already. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Hindus believe Buddha to be an Avatara. ~ Swami Vivekananda

When you take a position, you have to accept responsibilities. ~ Radhanath Swami

There is salvation only for the brave. ~ Swami Vivekananda

With the attraction for lust and lucre working the other way, how many long for the realisation of God? ~ Swami Vivekananda

Throw aside your scriptures in the Ganga and teach the people first the means of procuring their food and clothing, and then you will find time to read to them the scriptures. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Greatness is in not what you do but how you are an instrument in the hands of God. ~ Radhanath Swami

Who can break the law? If I break this glass, it will fall down. If anyone succeeds in throwing one atom out of place, every other atom will go out of balance ... The law can never be broken. Each atom is kept in its place. Each is weighed and measured and fulfils its [purpose] and place. Through His command the winds blow, the sun shines. Through His rule the worlds are kept in place. Through His orders death is sporting upon the earth. Just think of two or three Gods having a wrestling match in this world! It cannot be. ~ Swami Vivekananda

The older I get, the less I know. It's wonderful--it makes the world so spacious. ~ Swami Chetanananda

Some may be helped by images, some may not. Some require an image outside, others one inside the brain. ~ Swami Vivekananda

To love someone in the spiritual sense is not based on how I want to love you; its based on what you want. ~ Radhanath Swami

It is the greatest manifestation of power to be calm. ~ Swami Vivekananda

If you are not being attacked by materialist, you must be doing something wrong ~ Radhanath Swami

In the joy of others, lies our own. ~ Pramukh Swami Maharaj

If a person who can [give a blow] forbears, there is merit in that. ~ Swami Vivekananda

When you talk and think of the Absolute, you have to do it in the relative; so all these logical arguments apply. ~ Swami Vivekananda

flying from work is never the way to find peace. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Arise! Arise! A tidal wave is coming! Onward! Men and women, down to the Chandala (Pariah) - all are pure in his eyes. Onward! Onward! There is no time to care for name, or fame, or Mukti, or Bhakti! We shall look to these some other time. Now in this life let us infinitely spread his lofty character, his sublime life, his infinite soul. This is the only work - there is nothing else to do. ~ Swami Vivekananda

What Jesus meant was that whoever is attached to the worldly life and this earthly body will lose them in death. But whoever lets go of attachments to this worldly life and this earthly body and identifies with the permanence or God-consciousness that Jesus represented, will never die. ~ Rama Swami

Maturity is the ability to relate appropriately to other realities than one's own. ~ Swami Kriyananda

Have faith in your destiny ~ Swami Vivekananda

For a devotee death opens door for liberation but for a non-devotee death is end of everything. ~ Radhanath Swami

Jesus in the Temple of God in Jerusalem

Matthew 21

12: AND JESUS WENT INTO THE TEMPLE OF GOD, AND CAST OUT ALL THEM THAT SOLD AND BOUGHT IN THE TEMPLE, AND OVERTHROW THE TABLES OF THE MONEY-CHANGERS, AND THE SEATS OF THEM THAT SOLD DOVES

Rebellion is individual. It comes out of the truth of one being.

Revolutions are organized, but you can not organize a rebellion.

Revolutions becomes establishment, and then they fail.

Rebellion comes out of the truth and authenticity of one being's heart.

Revolution is organized and political, rebellion is spiritual.

A revolution is of the future, rebellion is here and now.

In revolution, you try to change others, in rebellion you change yourself.

Jesus is a rebel.

Christianity is the organized religion, which appeared after Jesus was murdered.

Christianity is established by the same establishment that Jesus rebelled against.

Jesus is a rebel, who lived out of his own love, truth and understanding.

AND HE SAID TO THEM, IT IS WRITTEN, MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED THE HOUSE OF PRAYER

Jesus entered the temple of God in Jerusalem, and saw that the temple had been destryed. It was not a house of prayer.

People were not meditating, people were not praying. The temple was no longer the abode of God.

Priests have always been against God. The talk about God, but they are ~ Swami Dhyan Giten

"I do not want to get material life, do not want the sense-life, but something higher." That is renunciation. Then, by the power of meditation, undo the mischief that has been done. ~ Swami Vivekananda

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. ~ Swami Vivekananda

If you [can realise Brahman] by standing on your head, or on one foot, or by worshipping five thousand gods with three heads each - welcome to it! ... Do it any way you can! Nobody has any right to say anything. Therefore, Krishna says, if your method is better and higher, you have no business to say that another man's method is bad, however wicked you may think it. ~ Swami Vivekananda

The greater is our sphere of influence, the greater the responsibility. ~ Radhanath Swami

Presence is not a question of judging or evaluating a client or a client's situation. Presence is to see the client's situation in a positive and creative light with a vision for how the present situation of the client relates to his further spiritual development. It is to accept a person as he is. It is to understand that the person is exactly where he needs to be in order to take the next step in his spiritual development. It is not about fighting with problems, darkness, drama and defences on the personality level, it is about becoming aware. It is about lighting the light in the inner being of another person. ~ Swami Dhyan Giten

Some people think, Swami calls himself a powerful magnet, but He is unable to attract us. The fault lies in them only. ~ Sathya Sai Baba

Man is man so long as he is struggling to rise above nature, and this nature is both internal and external. ~ Swami Vivekananda

A perfect life is a contradiction in terms. Life itself is a state of continuous struggle between ourselves and everything outside. Every moment we are fighting actually with external nature, and if we are defeated, our life has to go. ~ Swami Vivekananda

You are the Children of God, the sharers of immortal bliss, holy and perfect beings. You divinities on earth. Come up, O lions, and shake off the delusion that you are sheep; you are souls immortal, spirits free, blest and eternal; you are not matter, you are not bodies; matter is your servant,not you the servant of matter. ~ Swami Vivekananda

The greatest force is derived from the power of thought. The finer the element, the more powerful it is. The silent power of thought influences people even at a distance, because mind is one as well as many. The universe is a cobweb; minds are spiders. ~ Swami Vivekananda

The help which tends to make us spiritually strong is the highest help, next to it comes intellectual help and after that comes physical help. ~ Swami Vivekananda

When he has become perfectly satisfied, he has no more cravings ~ Swami Vivekananda

What right has a man to say he has a soul if he does not feel it, or that there is a God if he does not see Him? If there is a God we must see Him, if there is a soul we must perceive it; otherwise it is better not to believe. It is better to be an outspoken atheist than a hypocrite. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Our inner male and female sides are expressed on the outside as relationships. Often our longer and deeper relationships with an outer man or woman are a mirror of our own inner man or woman. ~ Swami Dhyan Giten

There is no help for you, outside yourself; You are the creator of the universe. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Bold has been my message to the people of the west, bolder is my message to you, my beloved countryman. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Never try to follow another's path for that is his way, not yours. When that path is found, you have nothing to do but fold your arms and the tide will carry you to freedom. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Take risks in life, if u win u can lead, if u loose u can guide ~ Swami Vivekananda

The sages are often ignorant of physical science, because they read the wrong book-the book within; and the scientists are too often ignorant of religion, because they too read the wrong book-the book outside. ~ Swami Vivekananda

One who loves Krishna will give Him whatever He wants, and he avoids offering anything which is undesirable or unasked for. Thus, meat, fish and eggs should not be offered to Krishna ... Vegetables, grains, fruits, milk and water are the proper foods for human beings and are prescribed by Lord Krishna Himself. Whatever else you eat, can not be offered to Him, since He will not accept it. ~ A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada