Swami Vivekananda
(RECORDED BY MISS S. E. WALDO, A DISCIPLE
MONDAY, July 15, 1895 . Where there is polyandry, as in Tibet, women are physically stronger than the men. When the English go there, these women carry large men up the mountains. In Malabar, although of course polyandry does not obtain there, the women lead in everything. Exceptional cleanliness
(RECORDED BY MISS S. E. WALDO, A DISCIPLE
SUNDAY, July 14, 1895 . Philosophy in India means that through which we see God, the rationale of religion; so no Hindu could ever ask for a link between religion and philosophy. Concrete, generalised, abstract are the three stages in the process of philosophy. The highest abstraction in which al
(RECORDED BY MISS S. E. WALDO, A DISCIPLE
SATURDAY, July 13th, 1895 . Everything we know is a compound, and all sense-knowledge comes through analysis. To think that mind is a simple, single, or independent is dualism. Philosophy is not got by studying books; the more you read books, the more muddled becomes the mind. The idea of unthink
(RECORDED BY MISS S. E. WALDO, A DISCIPLE
FRIDAY, July 12, 1895 . ( Shankara's Commentary .) Fourth Vyasa Sutra. "Âtman (is) the aim of all." Ishvara is to be known from the Vedanta; all Vedas point to Him (Who is the Cause; the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer). Ishvara is the unification of the Trinity, known as Brahmâ, Vishnu, and Shi
(RECORDED BY MISS S. E. WALDO, A DISCIPLE
THURSDAY, July 11, 1895 . Without mother-love no creation could continue. Nothing is entirely physical, nor yet entirely metaphysical; one presupposes the other and explains the other. All Theists agree that there is a background to this visible universe, they differ as to the nature or character
(RECORDED BY MISS S. E. WALDO, A DISCIPLE
WEDNESDAY, July 10, 1895 . There are sixty-five million Mohammedans in India, some of them Sufis. * Sufis identify man with God, and through them this idea came into Europe. They say, "I am that Truth"; but they have an esoteric as well as an exoteric doctrine, although Mohammed himself did not ho
(RECORDED BY MISS S. E. WALDO, A DISCIPLE
TUESDAY, July 9, 1895 . Man as Atman is really free; as man he is bound, changed by every physical condition. As man, he is a machine with an idea of freedom; but this human body is the best and the human mind the highest mind there is. When a man attains to the Atman state, he can take a body, m
(RECORDED BY MISS S. E. WALDO, A DISCIPLE
MONDAY, July 8, 1895 . There is no place for reasoning in Madhva's explanation, it is all taken from the revelation in the Vedas. Ramanuja says, the Vedas are the holiest study. Let the sons of the three upper castes get the Sutra (The holy thread.) and at eight, ten, or eleven years of age begin
(RECORDED BY MISS S. E. WALDO, A DISCIPLE
SUNDAY MORNING, July 7, 1895 . Infinite manifestation dividing itself in portion still remains infinite, and each portion is infinite. * Brahman is the same in two forms — changeable and unchangeable, expressed and unexpressed. Know that the Knower and the known are one. The Trinity — the Knower,
(RECORDED BY MISS S. E. WALDO, A DISCIPLE
SATURDAY, July 6, 1895 . ( Today we had Shankaracharya's commentary on Vyâsa's Vedânta Sutras .) Om tat sat! According to Shankara, there are two phases of the universe, one is I and the other thou; and they are as contrary as light and darkness, so it goes without saying that neither can be der
(RECORDED BY MISS S. E. WALDO, A DISCIPLE
FRIDAY, July 5, 1895 . Until you are ready to change any minute, you can never see the truth; but you must hold fast and be steady in the search for truth. . . . Chârvâkas, a very ancient sect in India, were rank materialists. They have died out now, and most of their books are lost. They claimed
(RECORDED BY MISS S. E. WALDO, A DISCIPLE
WEDNESDAY, July 3, 1895 . Generally speaking, human religion begins with fear. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." But later comes the higher idea. "Perfect love casteth out fear." Traces of fear will remain with us until we get knowledge, know what God is. Christ, being man, had t