Swami Vivekananda’s birth anniversary: 8 life lessons taught by him

Swami Vivekananda was a scholar, spiritual leader and a philosopher. The man, who put India on world’s map and introduced the empathy and love put forward by Hinduism to the world’s forum through his speech “My brothers and sisters of America” at the World Parliament of Religion in Chicago in 1893, was an intellect.

Swami Vivekananda, after the death of his guru Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, gave up on all of his worldly pleasures and became a monk, who was later to become one of the most intellectual philosophers of the world, to have known and taught life through the art of love and knowledge of the soul. As Swami Vivekananda travelled on foot throughout the country, he picked up knowledge about life, journey and the soul – he saw the world through the eyes of love and empathy and passed on the knowledge to his followers as well.

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Swami Vivekananda left us a long time back, but the life lessons live on through our actions, care and the being of selflessness. As we pass the trying times in life, it is important to remember the philosophies taught by Vivekananda which will give us a better perception of the world.

“Arise! Awake! and stop not until the goal is reached” – Vivekananda taught us the importance of striving every day to reach our goals, to convert our dreams to reality. And the first step starts at wanting it bad enough to keep going.

“In a conflict between the heart and the brain, follow your heart” – Vivekananda believed in the power of the soul. He preached that our soul always knows what it wants and hence, it is important to follow the decisions of the heart.

“Comfort is no test of truth. Truth is often far from being comfortable” – Truth is uncomfortable but also necessary and inevitable. Vivekananda taught us to strive to reach the truth, for that will give us the ultimate freedom.

“Ask nothing; want nothing in return. Give what you have to give; it will come back to you, but do not think of that now” – Vivekananda believed that when we put our heart to something and do our actions selflessly, it often comes back to us in a different time and different form.

“In a day, when you don’t come across any problems” – you can be sure that you are travelling in a wrong path” – Problems, troubles, hurdles are synonymous with a path that leads to success. Vivekananda taught us to keep striving and struggling to reach success.

“The great secret of true success, of true happiness, is this: the man or woman who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish person, is the most successful” – Vivekananda preached that the most successful way of living a life is to live a one helping others and being unselfish.

“The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves” – Swami Vivekananda taught us that the greatest religion and way of life of everything is humanity. He believed that serving humans is the nearest to serving god.

“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life; dream of it; think of it; live on that idea. Let the brain, the body, muscles, nerves, every part of your body be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, and this is the way great spiritual giants are produced” – Swami Vivekananda taught us the importance of focus, dedication and the persistence of reaching the goal that our heart desires.