Interesting Incidents from the Life of Swami Vivekananda – Part 4

There is a famous Hindi proverb, "होनहार बिरवान के होत चीकने पात” meaning: Even the childhood of great personalities shows signs of their inherent greatness. This perfectly applies to the childhood of Swami Vivekananda. Swamiji was very brave and fearless even as a small child. Here is one interesting incident from his childhood that stands testimony to this claim:

When Swami Vivekananda was only 8 years old, he used to visit the home of one of his friends for playing. There was a Champaka tree in the compound of the friend’s home. The leaves of the Champaka tree are said to be liked by Lord Shiva; incidentally, young Narendra also liked these leaves. This tree in the friend’s courtyard was the favorite tree of Narendra for playing. He used to dangle upside down on this tree along with several friends and enjoy this activity very much. There was an old man in the family who didn’t like the children playing around the tree and dangling on it. His main concerns were that he would lose his beautiful Champaka flowers or worse that the children would get hurt if they fell from the tree. So, he fabricated a story of a Brahmdaitya (a Brahmin ghost). The old man said to the children that there lives a Brahmadaitya on the Champaka tree. He further said that the ghost is very frightening and dangerous, and if the children dangle from the tree, the ghost would become angry and break their neck. On listening to this horrific explanation about the ghost, the children became quite terrified and decided not to climb the tree or to play around it. Narendra also nodded and stood aside. The old man felt victorious and thought what a good storyteller he is. But to his dismay, as he went to some distance, agile Narendra jumped and climbed the tree again, and dangled from it upside down. Seeing this, Narendra’s friends shouted and urged him to dismount from the tree lest the Brahmadaitya would break his neck. Young Narendra just laughed heartily and said to his friends, silly fellows don’t you see that if the grandpa’s story were true, the Brahmadaitya would have broken my neck long ago!

Narendra further said that don’t believe anything just because someone has told it to you, you should apply your brain!

This incident from Swamiji’s life clearly shows how fearless he was even as a little child; it also reflects the keen intellect of Swamiji.

Interesting Incidents from the Life of Swami Vivekananda – Part 3

Swamiji has had a very peculiar experience since his very boyhood; he occasionally felt that certain events or circumstances that come in his life were a repetition of something he was already acquainted with. Here is the account of the same in his words:

From my very boyhood, whenever I came in contact with a particular object, man or place, it would sometimes appear to me as if I had been acquainted with it beforehand. But all my efforts to recollect the particulars were unsuccessful, and yet the impression persisted. I will give you an instance: One day I was discussing various topics with my friends at a particular place. Suddenly something was said, which at once reminded me that in some time past in this very house I had talked with these friends on that very subject and that the discussion had even taken the same turn. Later on I thought that it might be due to the law of transmigration. But soon I decided that such definite conclusions on the subject were not reasonable. Now I believe that before I was born I must have had visions somehow, of those subjects and people with whom I would have to come in contact in my present birth. Such memories have come every now and then throughout my life.

Interesting Incidents from the Life of Swami Vivekananda – Part 2

Swami Vivekananda used to see two contradictory ideals as soon as he went to bed at night; given below is the complete description in Swamiji’s words:

As soon as I went to bed, two ideals appeared before me every night ever since I had reached my youth. One vision presented me as a person of endless wealth and prosperity, innumerable servants and dependants, high rank and dignity, great pomp and power. I thought that I was seated at the head of those who were called big men in the world. I felt I certainly had the power to achieve this end. Again, the next moment, I felt as if I had given up everything of the world and was leading a life of renunciation, putting on a loincloth, eating whatever was available without effort, spending nights under trees, and depending solely on God’s will. I felt I could live the life of the Rishis and the Munis if I wanted. These two opposite pictures, according to which I could mould my life, thus arose in my mind. But the latter would grip the mind in the end. I thought that it was in this way alone that man could attain real bliss, and that I should follow this path and not the other. Brooding on the happiness of such a life, my mind would then merge in the contemplation of God and I would fall asleep. It is a matter of astonishment that this happened every night, for a long time.

Interesting Incidents from the Life of Swami Vivekananda – Part 1

Swamiji was not an ordinary person right from his childhood. Almost his whole life, starting from his childhood till his last day on earth, was full of many interesting and inspirational incidents, which not only teach us certain important lessons about life, but also inspire us. Here, I am presenting a series of unusual and interesting experiences of Swami Vivekananda and incidents from his life in his own words. I hope the readers will admire the series and learn from it.

Swamiji used to have a certain peculiar kind of experience when he went to sleep. Given under is the account in Swamiji’s own words:

Swami Vivekananda in Meditation

 

I used to see all my life a wonderful point of light between my eyebrows, as soon as I shut my eyes in order to go to sleep, and I used to observe attentively its various changes. So that it might be convenient to see it, I used to lie on my bed in the way people bow down touching the ground with their foreheads. The extraordinary point keep changing its colours and increasing in size, became gradually converted into the form of a ball, and bursting at last, covered my body from head to foot with white liquid light. As soon as that happened, I lost consciousness and fell asleep. I believed that all people went to sleep that way. I was long under that impression. When I grew up and began to practise meditation, that point of light used to come before me as soon as I closed my eyes, and then I concentrated my mind on it. In those days I daily practised meditation with a few friends according to the instructions of Maharishi Devendranath. We talked among ourselves about the nature of visions and experiences that each of us had. At that time I came to know from what they said that they never had the vision of such a light and that none of them went to sleep in that way.

Swami Vivekananda to the Youth of India

• Men, men, these are wanted: everything else will be ready, but strong, vigorous, believing young men, sincere to the backbone, are wanted. A hundred such and the world become revolutionized.

• Come out and be men! India wants the sacrifice of at least a thousand of her young men — men, mind you, and not brutes.
• Chastity is the first virtue in man or woman.
• He who has no faith in himself can never have faith in God.
• Faith, faith, faith in ourselves, faith, faith in God this is the secret of greatness.
• He is an atheist who does not believe in himself.
• Whatever you think, that you will be. If you think yourselves weak, weak you will be; if you think yourselves strong, strong you will be.
• All the strength and succor you want is within yourselves. Therefore make your own future.
• Whatever we shall be in the future will be the result of what we think and do now.
• The remedy for weakness is not brooding over weakness, but thinking of strength.
• Anything that makes you weak physically, intellectually and spiritually, reject as poison.
• It is character that cleaves its way through adamantine walls of difficulties.
• Character is repeated habits, and repeated habits alone can reform character.
• What I want is muscles of iron and nerves of steel, inside which dwells a mind of the same material as that of which the thunderbolt is made.
• Let us all work hard, my brethren, this is no time for sleep. On our work depends the coming of the India of the future.
• Utter no words of condemnation. Close your lips, and let your hearts open.
• All condemnation of others really condemns ourselves.
• Religion and religion alone is the life of India, and when that goes India will die.
• Purity in thought, speech and act is absolutely necessary for anyone to be religious.
• The Indian nation cannot be killed, so long as her people do not give up their spirituality.
• The mainspring of the strength of every race lies in its spirituality, and the death of that race begins the day that spirituality wanes and materialism gains ground.
• Purity, patience and perseverance are the three essentials of success and above all – LOVE.
• He who struggles is better than he who never attempts.
• It is a privilege to serve mankind, for this is the worship of God.
• Even thinking of the least good of others gradually instils into the heart, the strength of a lion.
• They alone live who live for others, the rest are more dead than alive.
• Arise! Awake! And Stop Not till the goal is reached.

Sri Ramakrishna Ashram Delhi Organizing Special Programme on Swami Vivekananda’s 150th Birth Anniversary

In the line of the events arranged by the Ramakrishna Mission in connection with Swami Vivekananda’s 150^th Birth Anniversary, Sri Ramakrishna Ashram, Delhi is organizing a special programme on the auspicious occasion of Swamiji’s 150^th Birthday that is going to arrive. Following are the details regarding the same:

Event: 150^th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda

Date: January 12, 2012 (National Youth Day)

Time: 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Venue: Ramakrishna Mission, Ramakrishna Ashram Marg
           New Delhi, Delhi
           India 110055

           Phone: (91) (011) 23587110/23580091/23580092

Chief Guests: H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Dr. Kiran Bedi

Note:

• The programme will be arranged in the Vivekananda Auditorium which has a limited capacity of 750 seats. So, visitors are advised to arrive one hour in advance.

• For security reasons entry to the premises will be restricted to the invitation card^* holders.

For further information about the programme and to know the schedule, click here.

* For getting invitation card contact the mission office.

Swami Vivekananda’s Thoughts on Self Confidence

• Faith, faith, faith in ourselves, faith, faith in God – this is the secret of greatness. If you have faith in all the three hundred and thirty million of your mythological gods, and still have no faith in yourselves, there is no salvation for you.

• He is an atheist who does not believe in himself. The old religions said that he was an atheist who did not believe in God. The new religion says that he is an atheist who does not believe in himself.

• What makes the difference between man and man is the difference in this Shraddha (faith) and nothing else. What makes one man great and another weak and low is this Shraddha.

• The remedy for weakness is not brooding over weakness, but thinking of strength. Teach men of strength that is already within them.

• You must not say that you are weak. How do you know what possibilities lie behind that degradation on the surface? You know but little of that which is within you. For behind you is the ocean of infinite power and blessedness.

• We can overcome the difficulty by constant practice. We must learn that nothing happen to us, unless we make ourselves susceptible to it.

• It is the coward and the fool who says, “This is fate” – so says the Sanskrit proverb. But it is the strong may who stands up and says, “I will make my fate”. It is people who are getting old who talk of fate. Young men generally do not come to astrology.

• Ekalavya, an ideal for modern students, learnt archery without any external help. By self-effort and faith in one’s power, longing for knowledge and by self-reliance, one can do miracles.

• You have in you a thousand times more than is in all the books. Never lose faith in yourself, you can do anything in this universe. Never weaken, all power is yours.

• Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin? To say that you are weak, or others are weak.

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

• You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself.

Selected Thoughts of Swami Vivekananda on Education:

• Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man.
• What is education? Is it book learning? No. Is it diverse knowledge? Not even that. The training by which the current and expression of will are brought under control and become fruitful is called education.
• The very essence of education is concentration of mind.
• Complete continence gives great intellectual and spiritual power.
• No one was ever really taught by another; each of us has to teach himself. The external teacher offers only the suggestion which rouses the internal teacher to work to understand things.
• We may read books, hear lectures, and talk miles, but experience is the one teacher, the one eye-opener. It is best as it is. We learn, through smiles and tears we learn.
• 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-making, 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.
• Books are infinite in number and time is short; therefore the secret of knowledge is to take what is essential. Take that and try to live up to it.
• The education that you are getting now has some good points, but it has a tremendous disadvantage which is so great that the good things are all weighed down. In the first place it is not a man-making education, it is merely and entirely a negative education. A negative education or any training that is based on negation is worse than death.
• The present system of education is all wrong. The mind is crammed with facts before it knows how to think.
• We must have the whole education of our country, spiritual and secular, in our own hands, and it must be on national lines, through national methods as far as practical. Of course this is a very big scheme, a very big plan. I do not know whether it will ever work out. But we must begin the work.
• It is man-making education all round that we want.
• Our part of the duty lies in imparting true education to all men and women in society. As an outcome of that education, they will of themselves be able to know what is good for them and what is bad, and will spontaneously eschew the latter. It will not be then necessary to pull down or set up anything in society by coercion.
• Educate our people, so that they may be able to solve their own problems. Until that is done, all these ideal reforms will remain ideals only.
• It is one of the evils of your Western civilization that you are after intellectual education alone, and take no care of the heart. It only makes men ten times more selfish, and that will be your destruction.
• I would a hundred times rather have a little heart and no brain, than be all brains and no heart, ... he who has no heart and only brains dies of dryness.

Energizing and Inspiring Words of Swami Vivekananda:

• All power is within you..... Believe in that; do not believe that you are weak.... Stand up and express the divinity within you.
• What makes you weep, my friend? In you is all power. Summon up your all-powerful nature, O mighty one, and this whole universe will lie at your feet. It is the Self alone that predominates, and not matter.
• Despondency is not religion, whatever else it may be. By being pleasant always and smiling, it takes you nearer to God, nearer than any prayer.
• Our power, and blessedness, and wisdom, cannot but grow into the Infinite. Infinite power and existence and blessedness are ours, and we have not to acquire them; they are our own, and we have only to manifest them.
• Man has infinite power within himself, and he can realize it.... It can be done; but you do not believe it.
• You are strong, omnipotent, omniscient. No matter that you have not expressed it yet, it is in you. All knowledge is in you, all power, all purity, and all freedom – why cannot you express this knowledge? Because you do not believe in it.... Believe in it, and it must and will come out.
• If you can think that infinite power, infinite knowledge and indomitable energy lie within you, and if you can bring out that power, you also can become like me.
• Arise, awake, sleep no more; within each of you there is the power to remove all wants and all miseries. Believe this, and that power will be manifested.
• The infinite power of the spirit, brought to bear upon matter evolves material development, made to act upon thought evolves intellectuality, and made to act upon itself makes of man a god.
• I have committed many mistakes in my life; but mark you, I am sure of this that without everyone of those mistakes I should not be what I am today, and so am quite satisfied to have made them. I do not mean that you are to wilfully commit mistakes; do not misunderstand me in that way. But do not mope because of the mistakes you have committed....
• What is done is done.... Do not repent, do not brood over past deeds.... You cannot undo, the effect must come, face it, but be careful never to do the same thing again.
• Character has to be established through a thousand stumbles.
• Perseverance will finally conquer. Nothing can be done in a day.
• Mountain-high though the difficulties appear, terrible and gloomy though all things seem, they are but Maya. Fear not and it is banished. Crush it and it vanishes. Stamp upon it, and it dies. Be not afraid. Think not how many times you fail. Never mind.... Go forward: assert yourself again and again, and light must come.
• The more opposition there is, the better. Does a river acquire velocity unless there is resistance? The newer and better a thing is, the more opposition it will meet with at the outset. It is opposition which foretells success. Where there is no opposition there is no success either.
• Truth, purity, and unselfishness – wherever these are present, there is no power below or above the sun to crush the possessor thereof. Equipped with these, one individual is able to face the whole universe in opposition.
• So long as you have love for God and Guru, and faith in truth, nothing can hurt you, my son.
• If you are pure, if you are strong, you, one man are equal to the whole world.
• What the world wants is character. The world is in need of those whose life is one burning love, selfless. That love will make every word tell like thunderbolt.... Bold words and bolder deeds are what we want. Awake, awake, great ones!
• Men, men, these are wanted: everything else will be ready, but strong vigorous, believing young men, sincere to the backbone, are wanted. A hundred such and the world becomes revolutionised.
• Give up criticism altogether. Help all as long as you find they are doing all right, and in cases where they seem to be going wrong, show them their mistakes gently. It is criticising each other that is at the root of all mischief. That is the chief factor in breaking down organisations.
• Is there a greater strength than that of Brahmacharya – purity, my boy?

Practical Hints on Practising Brahmacharya:

• Keep away from bad habits such as smoking, drinking, drugs, etc., which excite the nervous system and stimulate sexual desire.
• Maintain internal (of mind) and external (of body) cleanliness.
• Get up in the Brahma Muhurata (starts 96 minutes before sunrise, and ends 48 minutes before sunrise; it is the second last muhurata before sunrise. So, if we suppose the time of sunrise at 6:00 a.m. someday, brahma muhurata would be from 4:24 a.m. to 5:11 a.m.), and do some meditation and prayer after bathing. This habit will help in increasing your satva, which is indispensable for the practice of Brahmacharya.
• Be moderate in everything. Over-exertion – mental as well as physical – should be avoided.
• You must have heard this famous proverb “It is better to be alone than in bad company.” Idle gossip and indecent talk leads to distractions of mind. Therefore, keep yourself away from such useless gossip.
• If free mixing with the opposite sex gives rise to your lustful thoughts causing sexual excitement in your mind, it is better to keep away from such associations.
• Our Ahara (food) should be pure, if we want to purify our mind. Here one thing should be kept in mind, ahara or food does not only mean the intake that we take from mouth, but as Sri Sankracharya observed: whatever we take in through our sense organs is ahara. So, we should see, hear, smell, taste, and touch only that which is conducive to the purification of our mind.
• Always talk about elevating topics, listen to lofty subjects; and entertain only noble and sublime thoughts in your mind. Sublime thoughts are the food for mind.
• Be in the company of noble persons and whenever possible associate with holy men.
• Keep away from circumstances that will sexually excite you. At least turn away your eyes and ears in such situations.
• Observe fasts from time to time. Fasting at regular intervals is an unfailing step to subdue passion.
• Regular practice of moderate pranayama (breathing exercise) must be made a habit. Pranayama is an effective measure in regulating mind.
• Think about the filth with which this body is filled, the fragility and vulnerability of this body; it will help in detaching the mind from the body. When one truly feels disgust for his body (through discrimination and thought), he/she also losses attraction towards other people’s bodies.
• Be humble and give up pride. Humility and modesty are the prerequisites for the practice of Brahmacharya.
• Do not compare yourself with worldly people or with those who are the puppets of passion, but rather compare yourself with great souls if you want to succeed on this path.
• Despite all the above measures, there is possibility of one being duped by his/her mind; such is the power of lust. But despair not; the most effective way to succeed in the practice of Brahmacharya is to fervently and earnestly pray to the lord (perhaps your Ishta Devta). God is omnipotent, omniscient, almighty, and the ocean of mercy. Strict observance of Brahmacharya might be an arduous and herculean task for us, but for the all powerful God it is not so. He is capable of ameliorating even the most lustful creatures in no time. What is required is praying to him with a sincere heart full of love for him, by repeating the divine name again and again. There is immense power in sincere prayers done with the core of the heart and it is the safest and infallible way to succeed in fulfilling such a superhuman task as observance of absolute and unbroken Brahmacharya.

Glory of Brahmacharya/Benefits of Brahmacharya:

• Brahmacharya is the basis for morality.
• It is the basis for eternal life.
• It is a spring flower that exhales immortality from its petals.
• It is the substratum for a life of peace in Atman.
• It is the firm support for Brahma-Nishtha, which is eagerly longed for by sages, aspirants and Yogic students.
• It is the shield for waging war against the internal Asuras—lust, anger and greed.
• It opens the door of liberation (Moksha).
• It contributes to perennial joy, to the uninterrupted and undecaying bliss. Even Rishis, Devas, Gandharvas and Kinnaras serve at the feet of a true Brahmachari.
• Brahmacharya is the only key to open the Sushumna and awaken Kundalini.
• It brings glory, fame, virtue and Mana-Pratishtha. The eight Siddhis and the nine Riddhis roll under the feet of the true celibate. They are ever ready to obey his command.
• Just as the oil comes up in a wick and burns with glowing light, so also, the Veerya or semen flows up by the practice of Yoga Sadhana and is converted into Tejas or Ojas. The Brahmachari shines with Brahmic aura in his face.
• By the practice of Brahmacharya, longevity, glory, strength, vigour, knowledge, wealth, undying fame, virtues and devotion to the truth increase.
• Lord Siva said: "Celibacy alone is the supreme penance. Of course, other penances (such as keeping fast and silence etc ...) are good in their place, but they are all inferior to Brahmacharya. That Urdhvareta saint who has done penance over the restraint of the sexual organ is not a human-being but God."
• Atharva Veda declares: "Celibacy is the supreme religious observance."
• Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa said: “One should strive to totally eradicate lust; if somebody succeeds in doing so, then a new fine nerve named ‘medha’ gets awakened in him/her. That nerve makes the sexual energy, which was earlier flowing downwards, to flow upwards (towards the brain). After this nerve gets opened, one attains the supreme knowledge of the God or God-Realization.”

Swami Vivekananda on Chastity (Brahmacharya):

• Chastity in thought, word and deed always and in all conditions is what is called Brahmacharya. Unchaste imagination is as bad as unchaste action. The Brahmacharin must be pure in thought, word and deed.

• Do you see, simply by the observance of strict continence all learning can be mastered in a very short time – one has an unfailing memory of what one hears or knows but once. It is owing to this want of continence that everything is on the brink of ruin in our country.

• Our goal of life is moksha; how can that be ever attained without Brahmacharya or absolute continence? Hence it is imposed upon our boys and youth as an indispensable condition during their studentship.

• Complete continence gives great intellectual and spiritual power. The Brahmacharin must be sexually pure in thought, word and deed. Unchaste imagination is as bad as unchaste action.

• Power comes to him who observes unbroken Brahmacharya for a period of twelve (12) years.

• One man may speak beautiful language and beautiful thought, but they do not impress people; another man speaks neither beautiful language nor beautiful thoughts, yet his words charm. Every moment of his is powerful. That is the power of OJAS.

• It is only the chaste man or woman who can make the OJAS rise and store it in the brain; that is why chastity has always been considered the highest virtue. A man feels that if he is unchaste, spirituality goes away; he loses mental vigour and moral stamina.

• That is why in all the religious orders in the world, which have produced spiritual giants, you will always find absolute chastity insisted upon.

• The chaste brain has tremendous energy and gigantic will power. Without chastity there can be no spiritual strength. Continence gives wonderful control over mankind.

• What we want is Western science coupled with Vedanta. Brahmacharya as the guiding motto and also Shraddha and faith in one’s own self.

• Save the spiritual store in your body by observing continence.

• Is there a greater strength than that of Brahmacharya — purity, my boy?

• Brahmacharya should be like a burning fire within the veins!

• Our motherland requires for her well-being some of her children to become such pure-souled Brahmacharins and Brahmacharinis.

• You have now to make the character of Mahavira (Lord Hanuman) your ideal. He was a perfect master of his senses and wonderfully sagacious.

• Obedience to the Guru without questioning and strict observance of Brahmacharya – this is the secret of success.

• His childhood friend: Whatever you may say, I cannot bring myself to believe in these words. Who can come by that oratorical power of expounding philosophy which you have?

Swamiji: You don’t know! That power may come to all. That power comes to him who observes unbroken Brahmacharya for a period of twelve years, with the sole object of realising God I have practiced that kind of Brahmacharya myself, and so a screen has been removed, as it were, from my brain. For that reason, I need not any more think over or prepare myself for any lectures on such a subtle subject as philosophy. Suppose I have to lecture tomorrow; all that I shall speak about will pass tonight before my eyes like so many pictures; and the next day I put into words during my lecture all those things that I saw. So you will understand now that it is not any power which is exclusively my own. Whoever will practice unbroken Brahmacharya for twelve years will surely have it. If you do so, you too will get it. Our Shâstras do not say that only such and such a person will get it and not others!

Introduction

When we stand under a big and wide-spread banyan tree, could we be able to even imagine that this apparently all encompassing tree was once hidden inside a small seed. Similarly, on Monday, January 12, 1863 (posh Krishna saptami tithi), the child which took birth in the Simla locality of Kolkata in the house of Shri Vishvanath Dutta and Smt. Bhuvneshwari Devi was like that seed. The child was born on the day of Makar Sankranti – a great Hindu festival, at 6:33 a.m. Who could have wondered by seeing that child at that time that in future, in his short lifetime of mere 39 years, such an extraordinary and surprising genius and such irresistible power will get evolved in him, that will transcend the limitations of place and time. And that genius and power of his will: forever evoke the eternal glory of human soul; be the live inspiration of truth, justice and brotherhood; and kindle the sacred fire of fearless and selfless service to the humanity, in the hearts and souls of innumerable men and women, born and bred in different times, different circumstances and different ways. When this divine child gradually grown into a vigorous, versatile, vivacious, and courageous young man, even at that time nobody had wondered that this Narendranath Dutta will become the eminent and highly venerable Swami Vivekananda. But, at seeing the eighteen year old youth Narendranath Dutta, Sri Ramakrishna had recognized him at once. Sri Ramakrishna had become aware about who Narendra is, and why he is born. He had seen the vivid picture of Narendra’s effulgent future life through his divine vision. Sri Ramakrishna had once told about Swami Vivekananda that he was the incarnation of one of the Saptrishis.