Guest guest Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 Jai Maa, beloved family of light! As many of us know, Jan.21st was the anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's earhly embodiment;[as well as our own Steve ji! :<)] In honor of His uncompromising, powerful teachings, i am sharing with us all the Swamiji's "15 Laws for Life". i humbly thank Melodyji who posted these on another site. May we all learn to live by these beautiful "Laws". The 15 LAWS OF LIFE by Swami Vivekananda: 1. LOVE IS THE LAW OF LIFE All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who loves lives, he who is selfish is dying. Therefore, love for love's sake, because it is law of life, just as you breathe to live. 2. IT IS YOUR OUTLOOK THAT REALLY MATTERS It is our own mental attitude, which makes the world what it is for us. Our thoughts make things beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our own minds. Learn to see things in the proper light. 3. LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL First, believe in this world - that there is meaning behind everything. Everything in the world is good, is holy and beautiful. If you see something evil, think that you do not understand it in the right light. Throw the burden on yourselves! 4. IT IS THE WAY YOU FEEL Feel like Christ and you will be a Christ; feel like Buddha and you will be a Buddha. It is feeling that is the life, the strength, the vitality, without which no amount of intellectual activity can reach God. 5. SET YOURSELF FREE The moment I have realised God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him - that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free. 6. DON'T PLAY THE BLAME GAME Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you cannot, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their own way. 7. HELP OTHERS If money helps a man to do good to others, it is of some value; but if not, it is simply a mass of evil, and the sooner it is got rid of, the better. 8. UPHOLD YOUR IDEALS Our duty is to encourage every one in his struggle to live up to his own highest ideal, and strive at the same time to make the ideal as near as possible to the Truth. 9. LISTEN TO YOUR SOUL You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul. 10. BE YOURSELF The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves! 11. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin - to say that you are weak, or others are weak. 12. YOU HAVE THE POWER All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark. 13. LEARN EVERYDAY The goal of mankind is knowledge... now this knowledge is inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside: it is all inside. What we say a man 'knows', should, in strict psychological language, be what he 'discovers' or 'unveils'; what man 'learns' is really what he discovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge. 14. BE TRUTHFUL Everything can be sacrificed for truth, but truth cannot be sacrificed for anything. 15. THINK DIFFERENTLY All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything. Jai Maa! Jai Swamiji! Jai Thakur Ramakrishna Deva! [who of course was Swami Vivekanandaji's Gurudeva!] Jai Swami Vivekanandaji! Your sister beyond forever, muktimaa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 25, 2006 Report Share Posted January 25, 2006 Dear Muktimaa, Thank you for sharing the Vivekananda quotes. He is important for us because our linage extends backward through Sri Maa to Sri Ramakrishna, and, in that generation, Vivekananda was the disciple whom the Master deputed to carry His message to the world, both East and West. Recently, one of Maa's Indian disciples said that Vivekananda is now universally regarded in India as an avatara of Shiva. Unfortunately, he has been mostly forgotten in America. When the spiritual history of our nation is finally written, we will know what it is that he has done for us. Sri Ramakrishna describes how Swami Vivekananda was born on Earth in the following: "One day I found that my mind was soaring high in samadhi along a luminous path. It soon transcended the stellar universe and entered the subtler region of ideas. "As it ascended higher and higher, I found on both sides of the way ideal forms of gods and goddesses. The mind then reached the outer limits of that region, where a luminous barrior separated the sphere of relative existence from that of the Absolute. "Crossing that barrior, the mind entered the transendental realm, where no corporeal being was visible. Even the gods dared not peek into that sublime realm, and were content to keep their seats far below. "But the next moment, I saw seven venerable sages seated in samadhi. It occurred to me that these sages must have surpassed, not only men, but even the gods in knowledge and holiness, in renunciation and love. "Lost in admiration, I was reflecting on their greatness when I saw a portion of that undifferentiated region condense into the form of a divine Child. The Child came to one of the sages, tenderly clasped his neck with His lovely arms, and, addressing him in a sweet voice, tried to drag his mind down from the state of samadhi. "That magic touch roused the sage from the superconscious state, and he fixed his half opened eyes upon the wonderous Child. His beaming face showed that the Child was the the treasure of his heart. "In great joy the strange Child spoke to him, 'I am going down, you too must go with me'. The sage remained silent, but his tender look expressed his assent. As he kept gazing at the Child, he was again immersed in samadhi. "I was suprised to find that a fragment of the mind and body of the sage was descending to Earth in the form of a bright light. No sooner had I seen Narendra [the young Swami Vivekananda] than I recognized him as that sage.'" At another time, Sri Ramakrishna admitted that He Himself had been the Child in his vision. With Love, Kumari > > Jai Maa, beloved family of light! > As many of us know, Jan.21st was the anniversary of Swami > Vivekananda's earhly embodiment;[as well as our own Steve ji! :<)] In > honor of His uncompromising, powerful teachings, i am sharing with us > all the Swamiji's "15 Laws for Life". i humbly thank Melodyji who > posted these on another site. May we all learn to live by these > beautiful "Laws". > > The 15 LAWS OF LIFE by Swami Vivekananda: > > > 1. LOVE IS THE LAW OF LIFE > > All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is > therefore the only law of life. He who loves lives, he who is selfish > is dying. Therefore, love for love's sake, because it is law of life, > just as you breathe to live. > > > 2. IT IS YOUR OUTLOOK THAT REALLY MATTERS > > It is our own mental attitude, which makes the world what it is for > us. Our thoughts make things beautiful, our thoughts make things > ugly. The whole world is in our own minds. Learn to see things in the > proper light. > > > > 3. LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL > > First, believe in this world - that there is meaning behind > everything. Everything in the world is good, is holy and beautiful. > If you see something evil, think that you do not understand it in the > right light. Throw the burden on yourselves! > > > > 4. IT IS THE WAY YOU FEEL > > Feel like Christ and you will be a Christ; feel like Buddha and you > will be a Buddha. It is feeling that is the life, the strength, the > vitality, without which no amount of intellectual activity can reach > God. > > > > 5. SET YOURSELF FREE > > The moment I have realised God sitting in the temple of every human > body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and > see God in him - that moment I am free from bondage, everything that > binds vanishes, and I am free. > > > 6. DON'T PLAY THE BLAME GAME > > Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you > cannot, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their > own way. > > > > 7. HELP OTHERS > > If money helps a man to do good to others, it is of some value; but > if not, it is simply a mass of evil, and the sooner it is got rid of, > the better. > > > > 8. UPHOLD YOUR IDEALS > > Our duty is to encourage every one in his struggle to live up to his > own highest ideal, and strive at the same time to make the ideal as > near as possible to the Truth. > > > > 9. LISTEN TO YOUR SOUL > > You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can > make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul. > > > > 10. BE YOURSELF > > The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in > yourselves! > > > > 11. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE > > Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the > greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin - > to say that you are weak, or others are weak. > > > > 12. YOU HAVE THE POWER > > All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have > put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark. > > > > 13. LEARN EVERYDAY > > The goal of mankind is knowledge... now this knowledge is inherent in > man. No knowledge comes from outside: it is all inside. What we say a > man 'knows', should, in strict psychological language, be what > he 'discovers' or 'unveils'; what man 'learns' is really what he > discovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of > infinite knowledge. > > > > 14. BE TRUTHFUL > > Everything can be sacrificed for truth, but truth cannot be > sacrificed for anything. > > > > 15. THINK DIFFERENTLY > > All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because > oneness is the secret of everything. > > Jai Maa! Jai Swamiji! Jai Thakur Ramakrishna Deva! [who of course was > Swami Vivekanandaji's Gurudeva!] Jai Swami Vivekanandaji! > > Your sister beyond forever, > muktimaa > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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