Vivekananda always believes that
“Strength is Life,
Weakness is Death.
Expansion is Life,
Contraction is Death.
Love is Life,
Hatred is Death
Swami Ji summarised the Vedanta as follows, giving it a modern and Universalistic interpretation:
Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this Divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or mental discipline, or philosophy—by one, or more, or all of these—and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details.
Nationalism was a prominent theme in Vivekananda’s thought. He believed that a country’s future depends on its people, and his teachings focused on human development.[168] He wanted “to set in motion a machinery which will bring noblest ideas to the doorstep of even the poorest and the meanest”.
Vivekananda linked morality with control of the mind, seeing truth, purity and unselfishness as traits which strengthened it. He advised his followers to be holy, unselfish and to have shraddha (faith). Vivekananda supported brahmacharya, believing it the source of his physical and mental stamina and eloquence. He emphasized that success was an outcome of focused thought and action; in his lectures on Raja Yoga he said, “Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is the way great spiritual giants are produced”
Quotes of Swami Ji
- “Take risks in your life, If you win, you can lead! If you lose, you can guide!