Saturday, April 03, 2010

Seek the science of the maker and not that of the made.

Do all as a sacrifice or offering to the Lord. Be in the world, but not of it, like the lotus leaf whose roots are in the mud but which remains always pure. Let your love go to all, whatever they do to you. .... Do not want this world, because what you desire you get. Seek the Lord and the Lord only. The more power there is, the more bondage, the more fear. How much more afraid and miserable are we than the ant! Get out of it all and come to the Lord. Seek the science of the maker and not that of the made.

Swami Vivekananda in Complete Works Vol 7: Inspired talks

If in this hell of a world...

If in this hell of a world one can bring a little joy and peace even for a day into the heart of a single person, that much alone is true. This I have learnt after suffering all my life. All else is mere moonshine.

Swami Vivekananda in a Letter to Swami Brahmananda. Written in Bengali from Benares on February 18, 1902. Complete Works, 5.177.