Swami Vivekananda
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
Breathing exercises have been very popular in India from the most ancient times, so much so [that] they form a part of their religion, just as going to church and repeating certain prayers. ...I will try to bring those ideas before you.
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
Whether it was fear or mere inquisitiveness which first led man to think of powers superior to himself, we need not discuss. ...These raised in the mind peculiar worship tendencies, and so on. There never have been [times in the history of mankind] without [some ideal] of worship.
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
This is a story from one of the books of India, called "Lives of Saints". There was a young man, a Brahmin by birth, in a certain village. The man fell in love with a bad woman in another village. There was a big river between the two villages, and this man, every day, used to go t
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
( Delivered on March 25, 1990, in the San Francisco Bay Area )
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
Arjuna asks: "You just advised action, and yet you uphold knowledge of Brahman as the highest form of life. Krishna, if you think that knowledge is better than action, why do you tell me to act?"
Karma Yoga
Based on lectures the Swami delivered in his rented rooms at 228 W 39th Street in December, 1895 and January, 1896. The classes were free of charge. Generally the Swami held two classes daily- morning and evening.
Buddhism, the fulfillment of Hinduism 26th September, 1893
I am not a Buddhist, as you have heard, and yet I am. If China, or Japan, or Ceylon follow the teachings of the Great Master, India worships him as God incarnate on earth. You have just now heard that I am going to criticise Buddhism, but by that I wish you to understand only this.
On Bhakti Yoga - Teachings of Swami Vivekananda by Topic
Bhakti-Yoga is the path of systematised devotion for the attainment of union with the Absolute. It is the easiest and surest path to religion or realisation. Love to God is the one essential to be perfect in this path. There are five stages of love. First, man wants help and has a little fear. Sec
On Bhakti Yoga - Teachings of Swami Vivekananda by Topic
The dualist thinks you cannot be moral unless you have a God with a rod in His hand, ready to punish you. How is that? Suppose a horse had to give us a lecture on morality, one of those very wretched cab-horses who move only with the whip, to which he has become accustomed. He begins to speak ab
NARADA BHAKTI SUTRAS - Translated by Swami Vivekananda...
The Bhakti Sutras is a classic work of Hinduism, and consists of connected aphorisms (or sutras) on Bhakti - and purportedly composed in Sanskrit by Narada Muni, an ancient, and, perhaps, mythological sage.
THE YOGA THROUGH DEVOTION
(These lessons are from class notes preserved in England.)
Complete books online by the Swami
The theory of Ishta, which I briefly referred to before, is a subject requiring careful attention because with a proper understanding of this, all the various religions of the world can be understood. The word Ishta is derived from the root Ish, to desire, choose. The ideal of all religions, all