Always say I have no fear

BUDDHA POORNIMA - 27TH MAY 2010 Taking a last look at his new-born son and implanting a kiss on the feet of his wife, a prince of 29 years old came out of his palace at the dead of night and mounted on his dear horse in search of real happiness. The next 6 years of extreme spiritual exercises costed the body of the prince heavily thus making him to forego the path of extreme hardships and choose the middle path between self-indulgence and self-mortification by accepting rice porridge from a village girl. The prince sat under a pipal tree with a firm resolve to realize the truth. What was his resolve? “ Let my body dry up, as it were on this seat, let the flesh thereof and the bone sink into dissolution; without realizing that Enlightenment which is difficult to attain even in aeons, this body shall not rise from its seat ". 49 days thus rolled off. On the 50th day, the 35 years old prince became the enlightened one, the Buddha. T...

NEWS IN ENGLISH: Hyderabad: The 500-year-old Gali Gopuram (temple tower) at the Sri Kalahasti temple in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh collapsed on Wednesday evening. The tower, a heavy concrete structure, fell on a neighbouring guest house meant for pilgrims. However, there were no casualties. The structure had been developing cracks for over a decade. Religious groups in the temple area brought this to the government’s notice several times. However, only minor repairs were made. The tower’s cracks widened when Cyclone Laila caused a heavy downpour in the area, forcing the temple authorities to evacuate it on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, archaeologists visited the temple to strategise on rebuilding the tower. In the afternoon, endowments minister G Venkat Reddy told the media that there was no negligence on the part of the government or the temple authorities in restoring the structure. “It is not right to blame the government. We are taking all measure...

"Does God listen to our prayers?" Sri Ramakrishna: "What are you saying? You will call on God and He will not listen? He is omnipresent and omniscient. How do you know that He does not listen to your prayers? You have no faith, so you are doubting Him." "Do you know how to pray?" Sri Ramakrishna taught from his own experience, not through knowledge acquired through books. Gangadhar (later Swami Akhandananda) recalled: "Once I spent a night at Dakshineshwar with several other disciples, and the Master had us all sit for meditation. While communing with our Chosen Deities, we often laughed and wept in ecstasy. The pure joy we experienced in those boyhood days cannot be expressed in words. Whenever I approached the Master he would invariably ask me, "Did you shed tears at the time of prayer or meditation? And one day when I answered yes to this, how happy he was!" The Master said: "Tears of repentance or sorrow flow from the corne...

Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this Divinity within, by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy  by one or more or all of these  and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details. In doing evil we injure ourselves and others also. In doing good we do good to ourselves and to others as well. According to Karma-Yoga, the action one has done cannot be destroyed until it has borne its fruit; no power in nature in nature can stop it from yielding its results. If I do an evil action, I must suffer for it; there is no power in this universe to stop or stay it. Similarly, if I do a good action, there is no power in the universe which can stop its bearing good results. 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 ...

On another occasion, Sri Ramakrishna put Narendra(later swami vivekananda) to a difficult test. He said to him, Sri Ramakrishna: " As a result of the austerities I have practised, I have possessed all the supernatural powers for a long time. I am thinking of asking the Mother to transfer them all to you. She has told me that you will be able to use them when necessary. What do you say? " Narendra: " Will they help me to realize God? " Sri Ramakrishna: " No, they won’t help you to do that. But they might be very useful after you have realized God and when you start doing His work. "   Narendra: " Then let me realize God first. After that, it will be time enough to decide if I need them or not. If I accept them now, I may forget God, make selfish use of them, and thus come to grief. " Sri Ramakrishna was greatly pleased to see Narendra’s single minded devotion. Sri Ramakrishna said about him: " Narendra is a great soul – perfect in medita...

Que: Why did you have to practise [spiritual disciplines] so hard? Sri Ramakrishna: You know, there is eternal union of Hara[Shiva] with gouri, still why did she practise so much austerity? It was to set an example to others. If i do so much, others will do at least one-sixteenth part of it, isn't that so?

A word for you. Remember always, I may not see you again. Be moral. Be brave. Be a heart-whole man. Strictly moral, brave unto desperation. Don't bother your head with religious theories. Cowards only sin, brave men never, no, not even in mind. Try to love anybody and everybody. Be a man and try to make those immediately under your care, namely Ram, Krishnamayi, and Indu, brave, moral, and sympathising. No religion for you, my children, but morality and bravery. No cowardice, no sin, no crime, no weakness the rest will come of itself. . . . And don't take Ram with you ever or ever allow him to visit a theatre or any enervating entertainment whatever. Yours affectionately, VIVEKANANDA.