Vedantham : ( 07/11/2012. )

(On the occasion of his visit to Kumbakonam, the Swamiji was presented with the following address by the local Hindu community:) They little dream that that is the very argument with which we prove out religion, because it does not make for this world.  Ours is the only true religion because, according to it, this little sense-world of three days' duration is not to be made the end and aim of all, is not to be our great goal.  This little earthly horizon of a few feet is not that which bounds the view of our religion.  Ours is away beyond, and still beyond; beyond the senses, beyond space, and beyond time, away, away beyond, till nothing of this world is left and the universe itself becomes like a drop in the transcendent ocean of the glory of the soul. Ours is the true religion because it teaches that God alone is true, that this world is false and fleeting, that all your gold is but as dust, that all your power is finite, and that life itself is oftent...

(On the occasion of his visit to Kumbakonam, the Swamiji was presented with the following address by the local Hindu community:) Ay, in other countries religion is only one of the many necessities in life.  To use a common illustration which I am in the habit of using, my lady has many things in her parlour, and it is the fashion nowadays to have a Japanese vase, and she must procure it; it does not look well to be without it.  So my lady, or my gentleman, has many other occupations in life, and also a little bit of religion must come in to complete it.  Consequently he or she has a little religion.  Politics, social improvement, in one word, this world, is the goal of mankind in the West, and God and religion come in quietly as helpers to attain that goal.  Their God is, so to speak, the Being who helps to cleanse and to furnish this world for them; that is apparently all the value of God for them.  Do you not know how for the last hund...

(On the occasion of his visit to Kumbakonam, the Swamiji was presented with the following address by the local Hindu community:) Where, therefore, their interest is, there they are as eager for information as any other race; and religion is the one and sole interest of the people of India. I am not just now discussing whether it is good to have the vitality of the race in religious ideals or in political ideals, but so far it is clear to us that, for good or for evil, our vitality is concentrated in our religion. You cannot change it. You cannot destroy it and put in its place another. You cannot transplant a large growing tree from one soil to another and make it immediately take root there. For good or for evil, the religious ideal has been flowing into India for thousands of years; for good or for evil, the Indian atmosphere has been filled with ideals of religion for shining scores of centuries; for good or for evil, we have been born and brought up in the very mid...

(On the occasion of his visit to Kumbakonam, the Swamiji was presented with the following address by the local Hindu community:) A very small amount of religious work performed brings a large amount of result. If this statement of the Gita wanted an illustration, I am finding every day the truth of that great saying in my humble life. My work has been very insignificant indeed, but the kindness and the cordiality of welcome that have met me at every step of my journey from Colombo to this city are simply beyond all expectation. Yet, at the same time, it is worthy of our traditions as Hindus, it is worthy of our race; for here we are, the Hindu race, whose vitality, whose life-principle, whose very soul, as it were, is in religion. I have seen a little of the world, travelling among the races of the East and the West; and everywhere I find among nations one great ideal which forms the backbone, so to speak, of that race. With some it is politics, with others it is soc...

221. It has further been said: “He who does not see anything in the waking state as in sound sleep; who though seeing duality does not really see it as he sees only the Absolute; who though engaged in work is really inactive; he, and none other is the knower of the Self. This is the Truth.” (Upadesha-sahasri 5). 222. In the case of such a liberated soul, only good desires persist, as do his habits of eating, moving, etc., which existed before the dawn of knowledge. Or he may become indifferent to all good or evil. 223. Thus it has been said: “If a man who has known the truth of Oneness acts according to his whims, then where is the difference between a knower of Truth and a dog as regards eating impure stuff?” (Naiskarmyasiddhi IV-62). Further, “One who has given up the conceit that he has realized Brahman, is alone the knower of the Self and none else” (Upadesha-sahasri 115). 224. After realization, humility and other attributes which are steps to the attainment of kn...

210. Torpidity (Laya) is the lapse of the mental state into sleep because of the failure to rest on the Absolute. 211. Distraction (Vikshepa) is the resting of the mental state on things other than the Absolute, because of the failure to rest on It. 212. Attachment (Kasaya) is the failure of the mental state to rest on the Absolute, owing to the numbness brought on by impressions due to attachment even when there is no torpidity or distraction. 213. Enjoyment (Rasasvada) is the tasting by the mental state of the bliss of Savikalpa Samadhi owing to the failure to rest on the Absolute. Or it may mean continuing to taste the bliss of Savikalpa Samadhi while taking up the Nirvikalpa Samadhi. 214. When the mind, free from these four obstacles, rests unmoved, like the flame of a lamp sheltered from the wind, as one with Absolute Consciousness, it is called the Nirvikalpa Samadhi. 215. Thus it has been said: “When the mind is torpid, rouse it; when it is distracted, bring it ...

201. General discipline (Yama) consists of non-injury, truthfulness, non-stealing, continence and non-acceptance of gifts.  202. Particular discipline (Niyama) consists of cleanliness, contentment, austerity, study of the scriptures and meditation on God.  203. Posture (Asana) means the placing of the hands, feet, etc., in particular positions, such as Padmasana, Svastikasana etc.,  204. Control of the vital force (Pranayama) refers to exhalation, inhalation and retention of breath, which are means to the control of  the vital force.  205. Self-withdrawal (Pratyahara) is the withdrawing of the sense-organs from their respective objects.  206. Concentration (Dharana) means the fixing of the mind on Brahman, the One without a second.  207. Meditation (Dhyana) is the intermittent resting of the mental state on Brahman, the One without a second.  208. Absorption (Samadhi) is what has already been described as attended with self-co...

V. THE STEPS TO SELF-REALIZATION:  181. Till such realization of the Consciousness which is one’s own Self, it is necessary to practise hearing, reflection, meditation and absorption (Samadhi). Therefore these are also being explained.  182. Hearing is the ascertainment through the six characteristic signs that the entire Vedanta philosophy establishes the one Brahman without a second.  183. the characteristic signs are: the beginning and the conclusion, repetition, originality, result, eulogy and demonstration.  184. Thus it has been said: “In ascertaining the meaning, the characteristic signs are – the beginning and the conclusion, repetition, originality, result, eulogy and demonstration.” 185. The beginning and the conclusion mean the presentation of the subject-matter of a section at its beginning and end. As, for instance, in the sixth chapter of the Chandogya Upanishad, Brahman, the One without a second, which is the subject-matter of...