APRIL 2015

POINT
OUT
SPiRitUal toUCH
taKe uP an Ideal and GIve
your Whole lIFe to It
take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think
of it, live on that idea. let the brain, 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 vIvEKANAND
G
ive
up, once for all, this
nibbling at things. Take up one
idea. Make that one idea your
life – think of it, live on that
idea. Let the brain, 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.
Others are mere talking machines. If
we really want to be blessed, and make
others blessed, we must go deeper.
This is the time to decide your future –
while you possess the energy of youth,
not when you are worn and jaded, but
in the freshness and vigour of youth.
Work – this is the time; for the freshest,
the untouched, and unsmelled flowers
alone are to be laid at the feet of the Lord,
and such He receives. Rouse yourselves,
therefore, or life is short. There are
greater works to be done than aspiring
to become lawyers and picking quarrels
and such things. A far greater work is this
sacrifice of yourselves for the benefit of
your race, for the welfare of humanity.
What is in this life? You are Hindus, and
there is the instinctive belief in you that
life is eternal. Sometimes I have young
men come and talk to me about atheism;
I do not believe a Hindu can become an
atheist. He may read European books,
and persuade himself he is a materialist,
but it is only for a time. It is not in your
blood. You cannot believe what is not in
your constitution; it would be a hopeless
task for you. Do not attempt that sort of
thing. I once attempted it when I was a
boy, but it could not be. Life is short, but
the soul is immortal and eternal, and
one thing being certain, death, let us
therefore take up a great ideal and give
up your whole life to it. Let this be our
determination, and may He, the Lord,
who “comes again and again for the
salvation of His own people”, to quote
from our scriptures – may the great
Krishna bless us and lead us all to the
fulfilment of our aims!
Let me remind you again, “Thou hast
the right to work but not to the fruits
thereof.” Stand firm like a rock. Truth
always triumphs. We may not live to see
the outcome, but as sure as we live, it will
come sooner or later. What India wants is
a new electric fire to stir up a fresh vigour
in the national veins. This was ever, and
always will be, slow work. Be content to
work, and, above all, be true to yourself.
Be pure, staunch, and sincere to the very
backbone, and everything will be all
right.
As the great King Bhartrihari says, “Let
the sages blame or let them praise; let
the goddess of fortune come or let her
go wherever she likes; let death come
today, or let it come in hundreds of
years; he indeed is the steady man who
does not move one inch from the way of
truth.” Have you got that steadfastness?
You need not write in newspapers, you
need not go about lecturing; your very
face will shine. If you live in a cave, your
thoughts will permeate even through
the rock walls, will go vibrating all over
the world for hundreds of years, maybe,
until they will fasten on to some brain
and work out there. Such is the power
of thought, of sincerity, and of purity of
purpose.
66
aPrIl 2015