Vivekananda Mailing List-12/12/02

[Guest guest]

There is a still higher state than having this good tendency, and that

is the desire for liberation. You must remember that freedom of the

soul is the goal of all Yogas, and each one equally leads to the same

result. By work alone men may get to where Buddha got largely by

meditation or Christ by prayer. Buddha was a working Jnâni, Christ was

a Bhakta, but the same goal was reached by both of them. The difficulty

is here. Liberation means entire freedom — freedom from the bondage of

good, as well as from the bondage of evil. A golden chain is as much a

chain as an iron one. There is a thorn in my finger, and I use another

to take the first one out; and when I have taken it out, I throw both

of them aside; I have no necessity for keeping the second thorn,

because both are thorns after all.