Swami Vivekananda

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YOGA, VAIRAGYA, TAPASYA, LOVE

Posted by Bhakta Dhruv

 

Q. †" Does Yoga serve to keep the body in its full health and vitality?

 

Swami Vivekananda †" It does. It staves off disease. As objectification

of one's own body is difficult, it is very effective in regard to

others. Fruit and milk are the best food for Yogis.

 

Q. †" Is the attainment of bliss synchronous with that of Vairagya?

 

Swami Vivekananda †" The first step in Vairagya is very painful. When

perfected, it yields supreme bliss.

 

Q. †" What is Tapasya?

 

Swami Vivekananda †" Tapasya is threefold †" of the body, of speech and

of mind. The first is service of others; the second truthfulness; and

third, control and concentration.

 

Q. †" Why do we not see that the same consciousness pervades the ant as

well as the perfected sage?

 

Swami Vivekananda †" Realising the unity of this manifestation is a

question of time only.

 

Q. †" Is preaching possible without gaining perfection?

 

Swami Vivekananda †" No. May the Lord grant that all the Sannyasin

disciples of my Master and of myself be perfected, so that they may be

fit for missionary work!

 

Q. †" Is the divine majesty expressed in the Universal Form of Shri

Krishna in the Gita superior to the expression of love unattended with

other attributes, embodied in the form of Shri Krishna, for instance,

in His relation with the Gopis?

 

Swami Vivekananda †" The feeling of love, unattended with the idea of

divinity, in respect to the person loved, is assuredly inferior to the

expression of divine majesty. If it were not so, all lovers of the

flesh would have obtained freedom.