Love Is the Highest Ideal
“The third is a still higher test… When one has thrown off all shopkeeping and cast off all fear, one then begins to realize that love is always the highest ideal.” — Swami Vivekananda What does ideal love want? The answer is nothing. The ideal love doesn’t care about heaven, about anything in this world, […]
Love Conquers Fear
“The second test is that love knows no fear… Does the lamb love the lion? The mouse, the cat? The slave, the master?… With love never comes the idea of fear.” — Swami Vivekananda Swamiji gives the example of a young mother. If a dog barks at her on the street, she flees into the […]
True Love Sets You Free
“The first test of love is that it knows no bargaining. So long as you see a man love another only to get something from him, you know that it is not love; it is shopkeeping.” — Swami Vivekananda People get upset when they can’t find “true love.” What they really mean is, “I can’t […]
For the Love of Your Craft
“By knowing how to work, one can obtain the greatest results. You must remember that all work is simply to bring out the power of the mind which is already there, to wake up the soul. The power is inside every man, so is knowing; the different works are like blows to bring them out, […]
Getting Out of the Whirlpool of Life
“A man must be active in order to pass through activity into perfect calmness.” — Swāmi Vivekānanda The Hindu scriptures describe two ways to attain peace: “Neti, Neti” (not this, not this), and “Iti, iti” (this, this). Neti is difficult; most people cannot control their minds to stop thinking about something they renounce. For instance, […]
How You Treat People Says A Lot About You
“We should always try to see the duty of others through their own eyes, and never judge the customs of other people by our own standards.” — Swami Vivekananda The visitor who bellows at the security guard who asks for his details. The woman who constantly haggles with vegetable vendors. The man who shouts at […]
Let Go of Fear and Doubt
“Everything in this life is fraught with fear. It is renunciation alone that makes one fearless.” — Swāmi Vivekānanda At age 16, Ghanshyam Das (GD) Birla set up his jute trading company in India. Come the First World War, the demand for jute soared, and GD and his family members made a handsome fortune. After […]
Resist What Holds You Back
“Resist all evils, mental and physical; and when you have succeeded in resisting, then calmness will come.” — Swāmi Vivekānanda Discipline is working on your goal when your friends are hanging out at the bar. It’s hitting the gym when you’re tempted to watch reruns of your favorite Netflix series. It’s sticking to your diet instead of breaking it […]
Improve Your Concentration, It Holds the Key
“How has all the knowledge in the world been gained but by the concentration of the mind? The world is ready to give up its secrets if we only know how to knock, how to give it the necessary blow. . . The more concentrated [the mind] is, the more power is brought to bear […]
A Life That’s Worse Than Death
“Death is better than a vegetating or ignorant life; it is better to die on the battlefield than to live a life of defeat.” — Swāmi Vivekānanda Before the Māhābhārata war begins, Arjuna is shrouded in doubt. He doesn’t want to fight his brothers, cousins, uncles, and relatives in the Kaurava army. He casts aside […]