THE SELF

The Self - Vivekananda

The following excerpt was taken from: "Swami Vivekananda, Inspired Talks". Ramakrishna-
Vivekanda Center of New York: Second edition, 1987.

After every happiness comes misery; they may be far apart or near. The more advanced the soul,
the more quickly does the 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 you truly love the world. Take a very, very high stand.
Knowing our 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 we enjoy inner bliss, the more spiritual we are. The pleasure
of the Self is what is called 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. It is
imagination—the gilded shadow of truth—says the poet.

We enter into creation, and then for us it becomes living. Things are dead in themselves; only we
give them life and then, like fools, we turn around and are afraid of them or run after them. But
be not like certain fishwives who, caught in a storm on their way home from market, took refuge
in the house of a florist. They were lodged for the night in a room next to the garden, where the
air was full of the fragrance of flowers. In vain did they try to rest, until one of their number
suggested that they wet their fish-baskets and place them near their heads. As soon as they got
the smell of fish, they all fell into a sound sleep.

The world is our fish-basket. We must not depend upon it for enjoyment. Those who do are the
tamasikas, the bound. Then there are the rajasikas, the egotistical, who talk always about "I," "I."
They do good work sometimes and may become spiritual. But the highest are the sattvikas, the
introspective, those who live only in the Self. These three qualities—tamas, rajas, and sattva—are
in everyone, and different ones predominate at different times.

Creation is not a "making" of something; it is the struggle to regain equilibrium—as when bits of
cork, thrown to the bottom of a pail of water, rush to the top, singly or in clusters. Life is and
must be accompanied by evil. A little evil is the source of life. The little wickedness that is in the
world is very good; for when the balance is regained, the world will end, because sameness and
destruction are one. As long as this world exists, good and evil exist with it; but when we can
transcend this world, we get rid of both good and evil and have bliss.
There is no possibility of ever having pleasure without pain, good without evil; for life itself is just
lost equilibrium. What we want is freedom—not life, nor pleasure, nor good. Creation is infinite,
without beginning and without end, the ever moving ripples on an infinite lake. There are,
however, unreached depths in this lake, where equilibrium has been regained; but the ripples on
the surface are always there; the struggle to regain the balance is eternal. Life and death are only
different names for the same fact, the two sides of the one coin. Both are maya, the inexplicable
state of striving at one time to live, and a moment later having to die. Beyond this is our true
nature, the Atman. What we call God is really only the Self, from which we have separated
ourselves and which we worship as outside us; but it is our true Self, all the time, the one and
only God.

To regain the balance we must counteract tamas by rajas, then conquer rajas by sattva, the calm,
beautiful state that will grow and grow until all else is gone. Give up bondage, become a son of
God; be free, and then you can "see the Father" as did Jesus. Infinite strength is religion and God.
Avoid weakness and slavery. You are the Soul only if you are free; there is immortality for you
only if you are free; there is a God only if He is free.

- Swami Vivekananda

The Power of the Mind

The Power of the Mind

by Swami Vivekananda

LOS ANGELES, JANUARY, 1900

In every country, you will find individuals of extraordinary mental or psychic

powers, bordering on the miraculous. The ancients of India studied these powers
systematically, and showed that they could be acquired by practice. They embodied
their findings in a science called Raja Yoga. One of their conclusions was that the
minds of individuals were parts of an external continuum which they called the
Universal Mind. It was this that made seemingly miraculous phenomena like
telepathy possible. They held that such phenomena were not super-natural but
natural. (Today, we take for granted waves that enable us not only to see and hear,
but also burn, melt, cut, penetrate and carry information across space; we still do
not know whether thought waves can do these or more ! )

Yet beyond mental or intellectual power lies another distinct dimension that
gives extraordinary power to individuals to influence people. This can be simply
stated as
power of the personality.

"Compare the great leaders of religion with the great philosophers. The
philosophers scarcely influenced anyone's inner man, and yet they wrote most
marvellous books. The religious teachers on the other hand, moved countries in
their lifetime. In the one case ...... it is a flash of light ...... In the other, it is like a
torch that goes around quickly, lighting up the others"

The science of Yoga addresses the laws and methods which help man to grow and
strengthen his personality. These laws indicate that behind the gross level of power
that we can physically sense, lie sources of power of increasing sutlety, the ultimate
one being the spirit. Man, both as an individual and as a race, is progressing, not
only towards acquiring these deeper powers, but to an ideal beyond.

"Let us call it (this ideal) perfection. Some men and women are born who can
anticipate the whole progress of mankind. Instead of waiting ..... they rush through
them (all the processes) in a few short years of their life. And we know that we can
hasten these processes, if we can be true to ourselves. ....... And this is what the
Yogis say, that all great incarnations and prophets are such men. We have had such
men at all periods of the world's history, at all times ..... Even this hastening of the
growth must be under laws. Suppose we investigate these laws and understand
their secrets and apply them to our own needs; it follows that we grow. We hasten
our growth, we hasten our development, and we become perfect, even in this life.
This is the higher part of our life, and the study of the science of the mind and it's
powers has this perfection as it's real end."

"This science calls for more application that any business can ever require. ..... It
challenges comparison with any other science. There have been charlatans, there
have been magicians, there have been cheats, more here than any other field. Why ?
For the same reason, that the more profitable the business, the greater the number
of charlatans and cheats. But that is no reason why the business should not be
good"

- Swami Vivekananda

Experience
Experience

Dear seekers, dear spiritual brothers and sisters, I wish to give a short talk on inner experience.
In the spiritual life there are few things as important and significant as inner experience. To have
an inner experience is to have many millions of spiritual dollars. Inner experience is a seeker's
most precious wealth. Since we are all seekers here, what is of paramount importance in our lives
is inner experience.
An inner experience is the seeker's conscious awareness of his Immortality.

An inner experience is the seeker's conscious expansion of his Infinity.

An inner experience is the seeker's conscious fulfilment of his Eternity.

There are three things that we have to experience in our inner life, our life of aspiration and
dedication. These things are: Light, divine Light; Power, divine Power; and Peace, divine Peace.
Ordinary light will expose us if we do something wrong, but divine Light never exposes us. On the
contrary, it illumines us and tries to perfect us.

Human power is the power that urges us to break and destroy, to dominate and crush others.
Human power is the power of separativity. But divine Power inspires us to create and build. It is
the power of oneness.

Human peace is usually a forced compromise. But divine Peace is our fulfilment in the
perfection-song of the Universal Consciousness, the all pervading Consciousness that abides deep
within us.

When we experience the divine Light, we feel that the soul seed within us begins to germinate.

When we experience the divine Power, we see our life plant growing slowly, steadily, unerringly,
convincingly and fruitfully.

When we experience the divine Peace, we see the blossoming of the perfection flower of our life
plant.

When we have the soul's need for inner experience, we grow into true seekers. But before we feel
the necessity for inner experience, we are all ordinary human beings. For an ordinary human
being, what is necessary is progress. And this comes through outer experience.

An outer experience is the insecurity of our human heart.

An outer experience is the obscurity of our human mind.
An outer experience is the immaturity of our human vital.
An outer experience is the impurity of our human body.

A human being at times represents his own divine qualities and at times represents his human
qualities. At times, unfortunately, he even represents the animal qualities that still remain within
him.

Destruction night is the animal experience.

Aspiration height is the human experience. Perfection light is the divine experience.

In our spiritual life, there is something infinitely more important than experience, and that is
called realisation. When we have an experience of the highest magnitude, we feel that we are
touching or are about to touch God the Tree. But when we have the highest realisation, we feel
that we are not only touching the God Tree but also climbing up the Tree and reaching the
highest bough, where we then enjoy the nectar fruits.

An experience of God can be denied and rejected by the doubting mind, but the realisation of God
far transcends the domain of doubt and the judgement of the mind. It goes far beyond the
jurisdiction of the human mind. Realisation has the power to remain constantly in tune with the
highest Source, so the human mind cannot disturb its poise, confidence and certainty.

Man's inner experience of God makes man aware of the possibility of God becoming. That is to
say, when man has an iota of God experience, he begins to feel that sooner or later he will be able
to grow into the very image of God. God's experience in man makes God feel that the perfection
of His Manifestation Light on earth is not only possible and practicable, but also inevitable. In
man, God is a dream. This experience both man and God achieve. In God, man is a reality. This
experience man and God simultaneously receive. In man, God is a dream. In God, man is a
reality.

With God, man smiles. He smiles the smile of Perfection, transcendental Perfection. With man,
God cries. He cries the cry that has been inside the human heart from time immemorial.

God's Compassion experience and man's Liberation experience are inseparable. When God's
Compassion descends, the meshes of ignorance dissolve and man's Liberation dawns.

When we have an inner experience, we spontaneously learn something higher, something deeper,
something more soulful and more fruitful than any ordinary human learning. One inner
experience will teach us how to run towards the Goal, how to discover our higher and deeper
reality. Another inner experience will teach us how to unlearn everything that has caught our
mind in the outer world-everything undivine, unillumined, unaspiring, unfulfilled. The things
that are fulfilling, we shall learn from our ever evolving experience. And the things that are
discouraging and destructive, these we shall unlearn. Every day, on the strength of our inner
experience, we have the opportunity to learn the higher Truth and unlearn the many hostile and
undivine things that our mind has mistaken for Truth. When we are in the process of learning
and unlearning, there comes a time when we achieve perfection both in our inner life and in our
outer life. Today's experience grows into tomorrow's realisation. For a seeker, inner experience is
the precursor of God realisation, which is the most important, most significant experience. Then
tomorrow's realisation grows into the perfection of the following day. Experience is the first rung,
realisation is the second rung and perfection is the third rung of the Cosmic Ladder.

Outer experiences we can share with others when we are suffering and also when we are in a
cheerful frame of mind. Whether we have something to be proud of or whether we have inner
pangs, we can easily share these experiences. But if we share our inner experiences with others,
we are just inviting doubt to snatch them away. And once we allow others to inject doubt into our
mind and heart, our progress stops. No seeker will be able to go further if he prematurely shares
his inner experiences with others. But once a seeker has reached the highest Height or has at
least achieved something solid and concrete in his spiritual life, then he can share his experiences
with others without the risk of losing the inspiration and illumination of those experiences.
Indeed, at that time, his inner experiences will inspire and illumined his friends.

One may have hundreds and thousands of experiences during his life of aspiration. But two or
three major experiences are more than enough for a seeker to realise the Highest, the Absolute.
Now, we have to be careful about our inner experiences; we have to know whether these deeper
experiences are real or not. When a seeker gets an experience, he has to go deep within in order
to get a still higher and deeper experience so that he can know the true meaning of his previous
experience. Or, if he has a spiritual Master, the Master can tell him the true meaning of his
experience.

Let us start our journey with aspiration. If we have sincere aspiration, we are bound to have inner
experiences, and then our realisation cannot remain a far cry. And once realisation dawns,
perfect Perfection is bound to blossom in our life of aspiration on earth. We have to aspire to
bring down the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. The Kingdom of Heaven automatically descends to
earth when we grow into Perfection, when we dive into the Heart of the highest Absolute
Supreme.

January 22nd, 1974

Commons Room, Graduate School Princeton University
Princeton, New Jersey

Time
Time

Dear brothers and sisters, dear spiritual seekers, this morning I wish to give a talk on time.

Time is love.
If we love time,
Then time gives us what we want: pleasure.

Time is love.
If we love time,
Then time gives us what we need: joy.

Time is love.
If we love time,
Then God accepts from us what we have: Ignorance.

Time is love.
If we love time,
Then God gives us what He has: Light.

Pleasure. Pleasure on the physical plane, the vital plane and the mental plane is very short lived,
but during its brief span pleasure injures the real in us. The real in us is our cry for God, for
Truth, or Light-our cry for Infinity's heart, Eternity's body and Immortality's soul. Today's
pleasure ends in tomorrow's frustration and destruction. Tomorrow's frustration and destruction
end in the total eclipse of our inner divinity. Therefore, a sincere seeker of the transcendental
Truth tries to avoid pleasure.

Joy. In the spiritual life, joy is of paramount importance.

Joy grows, joy flows and joy soars.

God the climbing Tree grows with our joy, our inner joy.

God the dancing River flows with our joy, our fulfilling joy.

God the flying Bird soars with our joy, our illumining joy.

If a spiritual seeker remains in a cheerful frame of mind he makes very fast progress. Joy means
confidence in his life of aspiration. Joy is self-discovery and self fulfilment.
Ignorance. When we go deep within, we see that we have nothing to give to God but ignorance.
This ignorance God accepts from us most gladly, my devotedly and most unconditionally. Our life
of ignorance we offer to God, and in return God offers to us a life of beauty, a life of plenitude, a
life of infinitude.

Light. Light is self revelation. Self revelation grows into self manifestation, and self manifestation
grows into self perfection. Self perfection and God perfection are one and the same thing,
operating on two different levels. We notice self perfection in the heart of the finite. We notice
God perfection in the body of the infinite.

Time is our oneness with God, our conscious oneness with God. We establish our conscious
oneness with God on the strength of our inner cry. Mother Earth offers us her wealth: patience,
sacrifice and compassion. Father Heaven offers us His wealth: love, wisdom and illumination.
With the help we get from Mother Earth, we prepare ourselves for salvation. With the help we get
from Father Heaven, we prepare ourselves for divine glorification. Salvation we get from earth,
and divine glorification we get from Heaven. When we receive salvation, we feel that we are
growing into the very image of our Beloved Supreme. When we are offered glorification, we feel
that our Beloved Supreme is playing in and through us. In the finite He is singing His Song
Celestial, His song of infinite Beauty, Light, Melody and Harmony. The animal in us does not care
to know about time. The human in us knows that there exists something called time, but it does
not value time. The divine in us utilises time most effectively and divinely. The Supreme in us, the
Inner Pilot, fulfils His dream and His reality here on earth through time.

Here on earth a child has no time even to eat his candy. A young boy has no time to study. A
young man has no time to think. An old man has no time to rest. But a seeker knows that his God
has the time to eat candy, to study, to think, to rest. His God has time for everything. The seeker
also knows that God has the time to do everything because He takes the help of time. Only with
the cooperation of time can He achieve everything in and through His aspiring, devoted and
surrendered children.

Unaspiring human beings do not enlist the help of time. They do not know the value of time They
think that achievement is of paramount importance, and not the time required for the
achievement. So they do not care for time; they neglect time. They do not realise that time is the
bridge that will carry them to the other shore. If they do not use the bridge, they cannot go on to
the other shore where there is Light, Peace and Bliss in boundless measure. But the aspiring
person, the seeker, appreciates time and utilises it. When it is time to eat, he will eat; when it is
time to think, he will think; when it is time to study spiritual books, he will study; and when it is
time to rest, he will rest. For him, each day is a new challenge, a new opportunity. He enters into
the battlefield of life to conquer darkness, limitation, bondage and death. He has to fight and rest
at the appropriate times. He has to do all the things that are necessary to invoke Peace, Light and
Bliss from above in infinite measure so that he can bring to the fore his inner divinity and offer it
to the world at large.

There are two types of time in the spiritual life: earth time and Heaven time. Earth time is
necessity, and Heaven time is reality, while necessity's reality is God intoxication. The seeker in
us feels that it is of supreme necessity for him to see the face of reality. And when he sees the face
of reality he becomes a God intoxicated soul. Reality on its part enters into our necessity and
fulfils our necessity by illumining us within and without.
A God intoxicated soul comes to realise that he has to achieve the eternal Truth first and then
serve the divinity in humanity. First he has to achieve the Highest, the Absolute, and only then
can he serve the Absolute in mankind. In this way he will be able to grow into the transcendental
reality. God's Reality, on the other hand, feels that since it already is eternal, it must always serve
its own all pervading consciousness. The tree feels that it is its bounden duty to fulfil the needs of
the branches, leaves, flowers and fruits. It also knows that it has the capacity to do this. So Reality
starts serving its infinite manifestations immediately, for it knows that it has what it requires:
consciousness in infinite measure. So the one climbs up the tree and then brings down the fruit to
share it with humanity, while the other, who is already seated on the top of the tree, comes down
immediately and shares the fruit with the aspiring humanity.

In the spiritual life, a sincere seeker knows that there is a God-appointed hour, a God ordained
hour. We call it God's Hour. This hour we can neither pull towards us nor push aside, but we can
expedite it. We can shorten our road to God realisation provided we are ready to sacrifice
ourselves, to offer to the Divine at every moment all that we have within us-our ignorant,
undivine and unaspiring qualities, as well as our aspiring qualities.

There is one thing in our physical that is unwanted now and forever, and that is lethargy.

In the vital there is something that we have to get rid of, and that is aggression, or the feeling of
superiority and supremacy.

In the mind there is something that we must get rid of, and that is doubt. We doubt others and
we doubt ourselves. When we doubt others, nothing happens to them. They go on perfecting
themselves through their daily experiences. It is we who suffer each time we doubt, for we eclipse
our inner sun. This is the sun that is ready to offer us its light in abundant measure; it is ready to
kindle the flame of aspiration within us so that we can climb up high, higher, highest into our
transcendental Divinity.

In the heart we also have something to get rid of, and that is insecurity. Very often we feel that we
are helpless, we are hopeless, we are useless. But this wrong notion we must not cherish. Once we
become sincere seekers on the path of Truth and Light, we know that deep within us is the Inner
Pilot. It was He who inspired us to walk along the road of Infinity, Eternity and Immortality. If
He Himself had not inspired us, we could not have launched into the sea of spirituality. But He
did inspire us, and He continues to inspire us every day. So we can never be helpless, we can
never be insecure. We know there is Light within us. Just because we do not now have the Light
at our disposal, we cannot say that this Light will remain always a far cry. On the contrary,
today's impossibility is tomorrow's destined achievement. There is simply no such thing as
impossibility in our spiritual life.

We know that we are aiming at a Goal, the Goal that has everything divine for us in infinite
measure. We are trying to establish our conscious oneness with Someone who is infinite, eternal
and immortal-our God. Since He is our Source, since He is our Goal, how can our ultimate
achievement be limited? Everything that we want to achieve, everything that we want to grow
into, needs time; and our time is determined by God. We shall not pull God's Hour. We shall not
push God's Hour. We shall simply play our role. We shall pray, we shall meditate the way we feel
best from deep within. And God will select His Hour to illumine us so that He can fulfil Himself
in and through us. In His fulfilment is our real achievement and real perfection.
January 25th, 1974
Happy Valley Common Room
Marlboro College
Marlboro, Vermont