Spirituality and Ethics for Everyday Life

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The above book has been published online as Kindle e-book at Amazon.com. Paperback version is also available.

This book is a collection of morals, good thoughts, and great ideals. These are the seeds to be planted in our minds. Sowing one or as many seeds as time permits, every day, will strengthen one’s belief in being good and doing good.

Here are some excerpts from the book....

The book emphasizes the importance of spirituality, secular thinking, and virtues such as purity, truth, honesty, and kindness.

The struggles of life put to test our strength of character, our spirit of philanthropy, and whether we have the courage of a lion. People of truly great character will never succumb to the tests of life.

The purpose of this book is to highlight the path as well as the methods to be followed to strengthen character.

...

If you want to judge the character of a man, look not at his great performances. Every fool may become a hero at one time or another. Watch a man do his most common actions; those are indeed the things which will tell you the real character of a great man. Great occasions rouse even the lowest of human beings to some greatness, but he alone is the really great man whose character is great always, the same wherever he be.  – Swami Vivekananda

Messages of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda have been used throughout the book to highlight the ideas.

Pain and Misery

On 6th February this year, we received a comment on the blog titled, Teachings of Sri Sarada Devi - Part 1: The Mystery of Life and God Consciousness (posted on 10 June 2010). That blog contains Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi's answer to the question "If there is a God, why is there so much misery in this world? Does He not see? Or hasn't He the power to remove these evils?" 

Mother says: "The creation itself is full of grief. How can one understand joy if there is no sorrow? And how can everyone be happy at the same time? There is a story that once Sita said to Rama, 'Why do you not remove everybody's miseries? Make everyone in your kingdom—all your subjects—happy. You can do it if you like.' Rama answered, 'Can everyone be happy at the same time? Well, they can, if you so desire. Why not satisfy all their needs from the royal treasury? Just as you wish.' 

"Then Rama called Lakshmana and said, 'Go and tell everyone in my kingdom that all their needs will be supplied from my treasury.' When the people heard this, they came and explained their needs. The treasury was laid open. Everyone lived in happiness. But such was the dispensation of Rama that soon the roof of the royal palace showed cracks and water seeped through. Masons were sent for to repair the crack. But there were none to be found. Where was any labourer to be found? The subjects also came and complained that because there were no masons or workmen, their houses and buildings were falling to pieces. Then, seeing no other way, Sita said to Rama, 'We cannot suffer in the wet like this! Let everything be as it was. Then we can get workmen again. Everybody cannot be happy at the same time.' 'So be it,' answered Rama. In the twinkling of an eye everything was as it used to be. One could get workmen again. 'Lord, it is true that this life is only a game of yours!' said Sita." 

"No one can suffer for all time. No one will spend all his days on this earth in suffering. Every action brings its own result, and one gets one's opportunities accordingly." 

Disciple: "Then is everything the fruit of Karma?" 

Mother: "What else, if not Karma?"

I was reminded of the words of Swami Vivekananda:

It is misery that teaches more than happiness;
It is poverty that teaches more than wealth;
It is blows that bring out the inner fire, more than praise.

My personal experiences so far have been such that every time I experienced intense misery I turned to God and got immediate solace. Miracles happened. And they strengthened my faith in the Almighty.

God hears our call. And it is 100% true that He comes running towards us as Sri Ramakrishna explains through the child-mother parable: 

So long as the child remains engrossed with its toys, the mother looks after her cooking and other household duties.  But when the child no longer relishes the toys, it throws them aside and yells for its mother,  then the mother takes the rice-pot down from the hearth, runs in haste, and takes the child in her arms.

Pain and misery are temporary as also happiness and peace. May the God give us the wisdom not lose heart in the case of the former nor get carried away by the latter. 

More on 'Solitude'

We received a comment for the blog, ‘Message from the Gospel – 19. Solitude Is Necessary’ from Club106 on August 15, 2012. It said, “Very interesting thoughts.

I would be interested to hear what you and your readers think of a similarly themed article I just had published at Elephant Journal. ‘The Lost Art of Being Alone with God’  bit.ly/Qy1cm4.”

The readers may get the article by clicking on the link:

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2012/08/the-lost-art-of-being-alone-with-god/

The above-mentioned article has many beautiful quotes on solitude and brings out the main goal of solitude in these words: “How can we speak what we need to speak, what we want to speak,… if we can’t hear our own inner voice, and if we can’t hear the voice of God within us?

The purpose of meditation is just that – to hear our own inner voice, the voice of God within us. If we learn to listen to that voice, we will never take even a single wrong step.

It is worthy to ponder over the following words of Swami Vivekananda:

The ideal man is he who, in the midst of the greatest silence and solitude, finds the intensest activity, and in the midst of intensest activity finds the silence and solitude of the desert. He has learned the secret of restraint, he has controlled himself. He goes through the streets of a big city with all its traffic, and his mind is as calm as if he were in a cave, where not a sound could reach him; and he is intensely working all the time. That is the ideal of Karma-Yoga, and if you have attained to that you have really learned the secret of work.

Not only to commune with God, but also to achieve mental peace and balance, solitude is necessary. I have seen two types of people – one type gets irritated in a crowd and the other type becomes restless when left alone. But, according to Swami Vivekananda, the ideal man is the one who has self-control, one whose mind is calm.

Solitude gives us the best opportunity to calm our mind; and to realize and practice the presence of God within us. Therefore, the next time we are alone, let us not feel lonely or bored. Rather, let us rejoice that we have some time to be with ourselves. And make an effort to listen to the voice of God within.

Swami Vivekananda – Tests Made Him the Best

When I think about brahmacharya, I can’t help thinking about Swami Vivekananda. There might have been many fine men in the past, many may exist now, and lot more may come in the future who may all be categorized as role models of blemish-free brahmacharya. But the qualities that make Swami Vivekananda the best are his burning fire of renunciation and his extreme compassion, love for his fellow beings. In this blog, I will try to bring out both those aspects.

In his early 20s, Narendra (Swami Vivekananda’s pre-monastic name) lost his father who, unfortunately, had left several unsettled debts. As the eldest son of the family, all the responsibility fell on Narendra. Many times he attended classes without having eaten and was often faint with hunger and weakness. In the later years he recalled, “Various temptations came my way. A rich woman sent me an ugly proposal to end my days of penury, which I rejected with scorn. Another woman also made similar overtures to me. I said to her, ‘You have wasted your life seeking the pleasures of flesh. The dark shadows of death are before you. Have you done anything to face that? Give up all these filthy desires and remember God.’”

In 1893, Swami Vivekananda attended the World’s Parliament of Religions at Chicago and gave his famous speech. Mrs. S.K. Blodgett, an American lady who first saw him at the Parliament said later, “I was at the Parliament of Religions at Chicago in 1893 and when that young man [Swami Vivekananda] got up and said, ‘Sisters and Brothers of America,’ nearly 7000 people rose to their feet as a tribute to something, they know not what. When it was over, I saw scores of women walking over the benches to get near him, and I said to myself, ‘Well, my lad, if you can resist that onslaught, you are indeed a god.’”

He was indeed able to resist the onslaught and that’s what made him what he was and exactly that’s the reason why we are celebrating his 150th birth anniversary this year, and I am thinking and writing about him today.

Another interesting incident was recalled by Madame Calve. It happened at Cairo in 1900. One day, she was walking with Swami Vivekananda and they lost their way as they were talking too intently. Suddenly, they found themselves in a squalid, ill-smelling street, where half-clad women lolled from windows and sprawled on doorsteps. The swami [Vivekananda] noticed nothing until a particularly noisy group of women on a bench began laughing and calling to him. “Poor children!” he said. “Poor creatures! They have put their divinity in their beauty. Look at them now!” He began to weep. The women were silenced and abashed. One of them leaned forward and kissed the hem of his robe, murmuring brokenly in Spanish, “Hombre de Dios, hombre de Dios! [Man of God].”

When I read the above anecdote in the book God Lived Them by Swami Chetanananda, I wondered, “In Treta Yuga, Lakshman severed the nose of Soorpanaka for making advances to Ram which led to Sita’s abduction, her subsequent suffering, and Ram–Ravan war. But in this Kali Yuga, which is supposed to be the worst Yuga (Age), here is a man who simply shed tears of sympathy at the condition of those women and made them realize their mistake.” Sword kills but tears of compassion (remember, it is not tears of self-pity) could change minds. So, we are indeed living at a better time than Ram and Sita! 

I would like to conclude this blog with the following words of Swami Vivekananda:

“What do I care if Mohammed was a good man, or Buddha! Does that alter my own goodness or evil? Let us be good for own sake on our own responsibility!”

Won’t you agree?

Get Stronger Everyday

I have often seen people expressing their displeasure in carrying out tasks assigned to them. “Why should I do this?” “This is not my job.” “Oh, what I have been reduced into?”

My mother used to tell us, her children, “No work is degrading. As long as you are cooking food or cleaning vessels in your house, or mopping the floor of your house, or as long as you are cleaning the toilets of your house, you don’t have to feel bad. If you are doing these in someone else’s house, then you have to feel bad.” According to her, one must study well and become an engineer, doctor, or scientist. Household activities and other such jobs are meant for the uneducated. But I go one step ahead and believe that even if all the above-mentioned jobs are performed for a living (i.e. to earn money), there is no need to feel bad or ashamed. As long as we are not earning by cheating somebody or doing heinous crimes such as murder, etc., there is no reason to feel bad.

Everybody is not fortunate enough to get a good education and get into good jobs. In spite of all our limitations, if we can still hold on to values such as truth and honesty, we have nothing to regret, and I feel one may live with peace of mind.

In fact, what is more important is the attitude with which we perform the task. There is a beautiful story which most of you may be aware of. There was a saint who had mastered the holy scriptures and was revered by everybody in his neighborhood as a holy man. In the house opposite to his, lived a prostitute. The saint used to sit outside his house to meditate on God and would see the men entering and leaving the prostitute’s house. He would curse the woman and think what kind of life she is living. He used to put one stone every time he saw a man enter her house. In course of time, a heap of stones piled up in front of his house. The prostitute, on the other hand, used to see this saint with reverence and pray to God everyday to forgive her for the life she has chosen to live. When they died, the saint went to hell and the prostitute went to heaven. The saint was furious and wanted to know what crime he had committed. He was told that the number of his crimes equaled the number of stones of the heap collected in front of his house.

Never ever regret that you have been reduced to perform a low profile job. Remember, nobody can reduce you. Take it as a test from the Almighty. Perform every task that comes your way with the utmost sincerity. That sincerity will qualify you for bigger and better jobs. Here are the words of Swami Vivekananda:

            By doing well the duty which is nearest to us,

            the duty which is in our hands,

            we make ourselves stronger.

Get stronger everyday, both physically and mentally. Every work performed with sincerity and dedication takes us one step closer to the goal.


R. Padma

Lessons to learn from the lives of Sri Ramakrishna’s disciples – Part 9

Sri Ramakrishna often used to say, “Bhagavatha, Bhaktha, Bhagwan” to mean that the holy scripture, the devotee, and the God, all the three are equal. Therefore, service to devotees is service to God. Sri Ramakrishna’s disciples followed this teaching of the Master (Sri Ramakrishna). Here is an anecdote from the life of Swami Premananda displaying this quality.

Once during the birth anniversary of Sri Ramakrishna, M. (Mahendranath Gupta, the recorder of the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna) came to Belur Math to pay his homage to the Master. He was not well. After saluting the Master in the shrine, M. sat under the mango tree in the courtyard. He carried some puffed rice for refreshment and enquired if there is any curd (yogurt) in the storeroom. A young monk went to check and found a pot of curd that had not yet been offered to the Master; for that reason, it could not be given to M. (The usual procedure followed in temples and other Hindu religious institutions is to offer everything to God and then distribute the offerings to the devotees. Nothing is consumed without offering it at the feet of God.)

While the monk was returning from the storeroom, Swami Premananda learned from him that M. needed curd. Swami Premananda immediately took the pot and, standing in front of the Master’s picture, offered it to him with closed eyes. He then gave it to the monk to serve M.

Afterwards Premananda told a monk with emotion, “Today the Master saved me from a grave error. Do you know M. was an immediate companion of the Master? The master eats food through the mouths of these devotees. Have you not read in the Gospel, where the Master says that if you feed one of them, you will attain virtue equivalent to feeding one thousand monks? In the Ramakrishna incarnation, M. is the Sage Vyasa [the recorder] and again the Sage Narada [the singer]. Day and night the gospel of the Master comes from his lips like a fountain. The Master saved me today from a serious mistake.”

Service to devotees is service to God. From the advaita point of view, God manifests in every living being. That’s why Swami Vivekananda went one step further and emphasized the importance of serving the poor and destitute.

Once, in 1901, some laborers were engaged in leveling the grounds of the monastery. One day, he arranged a feast for them and, when the meal was over, he told them, “You are Narayanas. Today I have entertained the Lord Himself by feeding you.”

Later, addressing the inmates of Belur Math, he said, “See how simple-hearted these poor, illiterate people are! Will you be able to relieve their misery to some extent at least? …Let us go from village to village, devoting ourselves to the service of the poor. … Let us, through the force of our character and spirituality and our austere living, convince the rich about their duties to the masses, and get money and the means wherewith to serve the poor and the distressed. …Unless they are elevated, the Great Mother India will never awake! What are we good for if we cannot provide facilities for their food and clothing? Alas, they are ignorant of the ways of the world and hence fail to eke out a living though laboring hard day and night for it. Gather all your forces together to remove the veil from their eyes. What I see clear as daylight is that the same Brahman, the same Sakti, is in them as in me! Only there is a difference in the degree of manifestation— that is all.”

A little later he said: 'After so much tapasya, austerity, I have known that the highest truth is this: "He is present in all beings. These are all the manifested forms of Him. There is no other God to seek for! He alone is worshipping God, who serves all beings."'

Anyone who exploits a fellow human, near or distant, offends God and will pay for it sooner or later. All of us are children of the same God, and the same God is residing in the heart of each one of us. Hence service to fellow humans is service to God.

Lessons to learn from the lives of Sri Ramakrishna’s disciples – Part 2

In this blog we narrate an interesting episode from the life of Swami Brahmananda, who was revered as the spiritual son of Sri Ramakrishna. Swami Brahmananda was a spiritual giant and President of the Ramakrishna Mission for more than 20 years.

After the passing away of Sri Ramakrishna in 1886 and until the formation of the Ramakrishna Order in 1897, Sri Ramakrishna's monastic disciples went to various holy places of India as wandering monks to practise sadhana. Sometime in 1893, Swami Brahmananda was on pilgrimage to Brindavan and other holy places of north India. He was accompanied by Swami Turiyananda. One day, when they were in Ayodya, Swami Turiyananda went to beg for food and was given some boiled kachu (an edible root). As soon as they had eaten, their throats began to sting and burn, and gradually their mouths and tongues swelled. Swami Turiyananda ran in search of lemon, an antidote for the allergy. It was out of season, but still he found a lime grove and after careful searching found a lemon in one of the trees and with the permission of the owner of the grove, took the fruit and ran to Swami Brahmananda. It immediately relieved his painful throat.

That night Brahmananda lamented, addressing Sri Ramakrishna, “Master, why did you take me from home if you could not provide a morsel of food? Tomorrow morning if I get hot kichuri [rice and lentils cooked together] and pickles, I shall understand that you are with me.”

The next morning the swamis went to bathe in Sarayu River. A monk arrived and said to Brahmananda: “Swami, I understand that both of you fasted yesterday. Please come to my cottage and have some prasad which I offered to Lord Rama.” The monk served hot kichuri and pickle to the swamis. They greatly enjoyed the meal. The monk then said: “Blessed am I! For the last 24 years I have been practicing sadhana here to have a vision or hear the voice of Lord Rama. Today the Lord has blessed me.” Tears trickled from the eyes of the monk. At Brahmananda’s request, the monk elaborated: “While I was sleeping last night, I saw Lord Rama touched my body with his soft hand and said: ‘Get up. I am hungry. Cook kichuri and offer it to me. Tomorrow morning you will see two devotees bathing at the ghat of Sarayu River. They are fasting. Offer my prasad to them.’ It is by your grace I had the vision of Lord Rama.”

While returning to their cottage, Brahmananda related to Turiyananda the mystery behind the incident.

This anecdote is mentioned in the book God lived with them by Swami Chetanananda (published by Advaitha Ashrama). God, indeed, lives with the devotees and answers their earnest prayers.

The devotee, in turn, should have unshakable faith -- not only in God but also in his/her abilities. As Swami Vivekananda says, “Faith, faith, faith in ourselves, faith in God - this is the secret of greatness. If you have faith in three hundred and thirty million of your mythological gods, and in all the gods which foreigners have introduced into your midst, and still have no faith in yourselves, there is no salvation for you. Have faith in yourselves and stand upon that faith and be strong.”

Lessons to learn from the lives of Sri Ramakrishna’s disciples – Part 1

Ganappa is one-year old today! In celebration of the first anniversary, we wish to present a series of articles providing interesting episodes from the lives of Sri Ramakrishna’s disciples.

Humility is the hallmark of nobility. It is the greatest of all the noble virtues. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa practiced humility in his life and also instilled this noble quality in the lives of his disciples. When Keshab Chandra Sen asked him how he looked upon himself, he told, “I am the dust of the dust of your feet.” Every one of his monastic disciples without exception had imbibed this quality of their master.

Swami Vivekananda, the foremost disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, stated about the uniqueness of his guru: “The man at whose feet I sat all my life – and it was only a few ideas of his I try to teach – could [hardly] write his name at all. All my life I have not seen another man like that, and I have travelled all over the world. When I think of that man, I feel like a fool, because I wanted to read books and he never did… He was his own book.”

Swami Vivekananda once paid a touching tribute to Sri Ramakrishna as follows: “my teacher, my master, my hero, my ideal, my God in life.” “If there has been anything achieved by me,” he said with deep feeling, “by thoughts, or words or deeds, if from my lips has ever fallen one word that has ever helped anyone in this world, I lay no claim to it; it was his. But if there have been curses falling from my lips, if there has been hatred coming out of me, it is all mine, and not his. All that has been weak has been mine; all that has been life-giving, strengthening, pure and holy has been his inspiration, his words, and he himself. Yes, my friends, the world has yet to know that man.”

There may be many students who think highly of their teachers. But for a world-renowned saint as Swami Vivekananda (about whom John Wright, a professor of Harvard University, wrote  “Here is a man more learned than all our learned professors put together.”) to think and say such words, it shows his extraordinary humility.

Invaluable Values

Truth, Honesty, Courage, Faith, Marital fidelity – values that one must cherish – the basis for all these is mental strength and not physical strength.

There is so much talk these days about nourishing food –– that a healthy diet should contain vitamins, iron, lot of protein, fiber, etc. But nobody seems to be concerned about mental strength. Physical strength alone will produce only brutes, cowards.

Read the complete article: Invaluable Values

Swami Vivekananda on Love

Here is a beautiful interpretation of love by Swami Vivekananda:

"I once had a friend who grew to be very close to me. Once when we were sitting at the edge of a swimming pool, she filled the palm of her hand with some water and held it before me, and said this: 'You see this water carefully contained on my hand? It symbolizes Love.' This was how I saw it: As long as you keep your hand caringly open and allow it to remain there, it will always be there. However, if you attempt to close your fingers round it and try to possess it, it will spill through the first cracks it finds. This is the greatest mistake that people do when they meet love... they try to posses it, they demand, they expect... and just like the water spilling out of your hand, love will retrieve from you. For love is meant to be free, you cannot change its nature. If there are people you love, allow them to be free beings. Give and don't expect. Advise, but don't order. Ask, but never demand. It might sound simple, but it is a lesson that may take a lifetime to truly practice. It is the secret to true love. To truly practice it, you must sincerely feel no expectations from those whom you love, and yet an unconditional caring."

Passing thought... Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take; but by the moments that take our breath away... Life is beautiful!!!
Keep the faith !

Contributed by Poonam

Suggested reading: "On Love" by Khalil Gibran in The Prophet.

Discipline and Punctuality

If you think discipline and punctuality are practiced only in the armed forces, you will be surprised on reading the following account from the biography of Swami Vivekananda that mentions how he inculcated strict discipline and punctuality at the main branch of Ramakrishna Math at Belur near Calcutta, India.

He kept a stern watch on the practice of daily meditation on the part of the inmates of the monastery. The bell sounded at fixed hours for meals, study, discussion, and meditation. About three months before his death he made it a rule that at four o'clock in the morning a hand-bell should be rung from room to room to awaken the monks. Within half an hour all should be gathered in the chapel to meditate. But he was always before them. He got up at three and went to the chapel, where he sat facing the north, meditating motionless for more than two hours. No one was allowed to leave his seat before the Swami set the example. As he got up, he chanted softly, 'Siva! Siva!' Bowing to the image of Sri Ramakrishna, he would go downstairs and pace the courtyard, singing a song about the Divine Mother or Siva. Naturally his presence in the chapel created an intense spiritual atmosphere. Swami Brahmananda said: 'Ah! One at once becomes absorbed if one sits for meditation in company with Naren! I do not feel this when I sit alone.'

Once, after an absence of several days on account of illness, he entered the chapel and found only two monks there. He became annoyed; in order to discipline the absentees he forbade them to eat their meals at the monastery. They had to go out and beg their food. He did not spare anyone, even a beloved brother disciple for whom he cherished the highest respect and who happened to be absent from the chapel that morning.

Another day, he found a brother disciple, Swami Shivananda, in bed at the hour of meditation. He said to the latter 'Brother! I know you do not need meditation. You have already realized the highest goal through the grace of Sri Ramakrishna. But you should daily meditate with the youngsters in order to set an example to them.'

From that day on, Shivananda, whether ill or well, always communed with God during the early hours of the morning. In his old age, when it became physically impossible for him to go to the chapel, he used to sit on his bed for meditation.

The tradition he set up is followed even today in all branches of Ramakrishna Math. The evening prayer always starts at 7 pm sharp as also the other programs at the Math.

That which exists is One; sages call It by various names

If we watch the growth and development of religions in different races, we shall always find this that each tribe at the beginning has a god of its own. In course of time, you will find that one of these tribes becomes superior to the rest, and lays claim to its own king as the king over all. Therefrom it naturally follows that it also wants to preserve its own god as the god of all the races.
In India also the same competing gods had been struggling with each other for supremacy, but the great good fortune of this country and of the world was that there came out in the midst of the din and confusion a voice which declared:एकं सद्विप्रा बहुधा वदन्ति — "That which exists is One; sages call It by various names."

It is not that Shiva is superior to Vishnu, not that Vishnu is everything and Shiva is nothing, but it is the same God whom you can call either Shiva, or Vishnu, or by a hundred other names. The names are different, but it is the same one God. The whole history of India you may read in these few words. The whole history has been a repetition, with tremendous power, of that one central doctrine. It was repeated in the land till it had entered into the blood of the nation, till it began to tingle with every drop of blood that flowed in its veins, till it became one with the life, part and parcel of the material of which it was composed; and thus the land was transmuted into the most wonderful land of toleration, giving the right to welcome the various religions as well as all sects into the old mother-country.

This explains the most remarkable phenomenon that is only witnessed in India— all the various sects, apparently hopelessly contradictory, yet living in such harmony. You may be a dualist, and I may be a monist. You may believe that you are the eternal servant of God, and I may declare that I am one with God Himself; yet both of us are good Hindus. How is that possible? Read then एकं सद्विप्रा बहुधा वदन्ति — "That which exists is One; sages call It by various names." This is the one grand truth that India has to teach to the world. Even the most educated people of other countries call Hinduism as idolatry. They never stop to think what a mass of superstition is there in their own heads. It is still so everywhere, this tremendous sectarianism, the low narrowness of the mind. The thing which a person has is the only thing worth having; the only life worth living is their own little life of dollar-worship or devil-worship; the only little possession worth having is their own property, and nothing else. That is the case over the whole world in spite of education and learning. We may hear of toleration in religion and all that, but very little of it is there yet in the world. Ninety-nine per cent do not even think of it. There is tremendous religious persecution yet in every country. It is in India that Hindus build temples for Mohammedans and Christians. It is here that Mohammedans or people of other religions will build a temple for Hindus. (The wooden table on which I have kept the idols of my Hindu Gods in my house was made by a muslim, named Shahid. He took special care to make this table when we told him the purpose for which the table was made.)

The one great lesson, therefore, that the world wants most, that the world has yet to learn from India, is the idea not only of toleration, but of sympathy. Well has it been said in the Mahimnah-stotra: "As the different rivers, taking their start from different mountains, running straight or crooked, at last come unto the ocean, so, O God (Shiva), the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead unto These." (highlighted is author’s change)

Though different people may take various roads, all are on the way. Some may run a little crooked, others may run straight, but at last they will all come unto the Lord, the One.

If I am a worshiper of Shiva, I must see Him not only in the Linga, but see Him everywhere, then and then alone is my Bhakti of Shiva complete.

You are a sage, you are a lover of Hari if you see Hari in everything and in everyone. If you are a real lover of Shiva, you must see Him in everything and in everyone.

You may call God by any name or imagine any form, but you must see that every worship is given unto the same God; that all knees bending towards the Mecca, or kneeling in a Christian church, or in a Buddhist temple are kneeling to the same God whether they know it or not, whether they are conscious of it or not; that in whatever name or form they are offered, all the flowers are laid at the feet of the same God; for God is the one Lord of all, the one Soul of all souls. God knows infinitely better what this world wants than you or I.

Do you have difficulty in understanding this? Consider this simple example: There is a lake containing water. Some call the water in the lake as ‘pani’, some call it ‘jal’ and others say ‘water’. Whatever way it is called, it is the same H2O. The same way, by whatever name we may refer to, God is One.

It is impossible that all difference can cease; it must exist; without variation life must cease. It is this clash, the differentiation of thought that makes for light, for motion, for everything. Differentiation, infinitely contradictory, must remain, but it is not necessary that we should hate each other therefore; it is not necessary therefore that we should fight each other. Therefore we have to learn this one central truth.

The lessons of mildness, gentleness, forbearance, toleration, sympathy, and brotherhood, everyone may learn, whether man, woman, or child, learned or unlearned, irrespective of race, caste, or creed.

"O God! They call You by various names; You are One."

PS: The above is the essence of the first public lecture delivered by Swami Vivekananda at Colombo on January 15, 1897.

Englishmen who died for Indians!

Surprised?

We have studied in our history books that many Indians died in India’s freedom struggle and also in the World Wars (43,000 Indian soldiers died in the First World War fighting for Britain). We have read how badly the Englishmen treated the Indians when they ruled India and also about the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in which British Indian Army soldiers opened fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children that killed more than 350 and wounded more than 1500. All these remind us of the sufferings of people during the British rule in India before Independence.

This is our understanding of pre-Independence India that Indians were made to suffer lot of hardships by the Britishers. Therefore I was surprised when I read the biography of Swami Vivekananda, which mentions about some Englishmen who died for India. Here is the passage:

When Swami Vivekananda returned to India from Europe on December 9, 1900, he was told about the passing away of his beloved disciple Mr. Sevier at Mayavati in the Himalayas. He was greatly distressed, and on December 11 wrote to Miss MacLeod: 'Thus two great Englishmen (The other was Mr. Goodwin.) gave up their lives for us – us, the Hindus. This is martyrdom, if anything is.' Again he wrote to her on December 26: 'He was cremated on the bank of the river that flows by his ashrama, a la Hindu, covered with garlands, the brahmins carrying the body and the boys chanting the Vedas. The cause has already two martyrs. It makes me love dear England and its heroic breed. The Mother is watering the plant of future India with the best blood of England. Glory unto Her!'

On reading this passage, I got curious to know more about the two Englishmen, Mr. Sevier and Mr. Goodwin. My search provided me with the following details:

J.J. Goodwin (born 1870, died 1898) was inspired by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda during the latter’s visit to Europe and America. He became Swami Vivekananda’s disciple and came to India. Goodwin was a fast and accurate stenographer and most of Swami Vivekananda's lectures were reported by him. He was simple as a child and wonderfully responsive to the slightest show of kindness. He died, due to enteric fever, at the young age of 28 years.
Swami Vivekananda – on the death of Mr. J. J. Goodwin May 1898 – wrote to Goodwin's mother:

“With infinite sorrow I learn the sad news of Mr. Goodwin's departure from this life, the more so as it was terribly sudden and therefore prevented all possibilities of my being at his side at the time of death. The debt of gratitude I owe him can never be repaid, and those who think they have been helped by any thought of mine ought to know that almost every word of it was published through the untiring and most unselfish exertions of Mr. Goodwin. In him I have lost a friend true as steel, a disciple of never-failing devotion, a worker who knew not what tiring was, and the world is less rich by one of those few who are born, as it were, to live only for others.”

"It is entirely due to his efforts that the Swami's utterances in those countries (England and India) have been preserved." – Sara Ellen Waldo

The other Englishman mentioned in the biography of Swami Vivekananda is Captain James Henry Sevier. The founding of Advaitha Ashrama at Mayavati in the heart of the Himalayas, near Almora, is credited to Mr. Sevier and Mrs Charlotte Sevier. They had met Swami Vivekananda on his second visit to England in 1895, and at once a close relationship formed between them and the Swami. Earlier, Mr. Sevier had served in India for 5 years in the British Indian Army. Almost on the first occasion when he saw Mrs Sevier, the Swami addressed her by the sweet name of "Mother” and to Mr. Sevier he at once manifested a most kind and intimate bond. With these two he felt very much at home, discussing with them all his plans and his troubles, as though he were their own child, for both Mr. and Mrs Sevier were considerably older than him. From the very beginning he chose them, among his other followers of London, as his confidents and future helpers.

When Swami Vivekananda confided in them, in Switzerland, his desire to found a monastery in the Himalayas, they readily consented, and they came to India to carry out his intention. They renounced their worldly life to settle in India, virtually as Sannyasins. The Sevier couple along with Swami Swaroopananda identified a place, purchased it and built an ashram that eventually came to be known as Advaitha Asrama, where the principles of advaitha philosophy are followed and idol (or image) worship is strictly prohibited.

After the sudden death of its first editor, 24-year old B. R. Rajam Iyer at Chennai, the publication of the English journal Prabuddha Bharata was halted for a few months in May 1898. Meanwhile in Almora, Swami Vivekananda asked Mr Sevier and his wife to revive the magazine, and the editorship was given to Swami Swarupananda.

It was the good fortune of Mr. Sevier to pass away while occupied with his heart and soul in his great work, and before his death he had the satisfaction of seeing a monastery started and in efficient working order. On his death, he was cremated according to Hindu traditions, as per his wish.

On reading about Mr Goodwin and Mr Sevier, we are reminded that there are good and bad people in every civilization, every country and every group of people.

Every day we hear about terrorist attacks, bomb blasts, and death of innocents. It is time to understand that these are the handiwork of a very small group of people, misled to the wrong path or who have chosen the wrong path due to misfortune or for monetary gains. It is not right to extrapolate such incidents and nurture bitterness towards any community as such. Discriminating people on the basis of religion, caste, language, wealth, or education is cowardice.

Let the following message of Swami Vivekananda guide our thinking in the right direction:

“Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within, by controlling nature, external or internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy – by one, or more, or all of these – and be free. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary.”