语录与言说
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中文
言论与语录
缩写说明
本节中，仅辨喜（Vivekananda）斯瓦米的直接引语置于引号之内。参考资料以下列缩写标注：
ND → 伯克，玛丽·路易丝。《辨喜斯瓦米在西方：新发现》，共六卷。加尔各答：不二论道场，1983-87年。
CWSN → 尼维迪塔修女。《尼维迪塔修女全集》，第一卷。加尔各答：不二论道场，1982年。
LSN → 尼维迪塔修女。《尼维迪塔修女书信集》，共二卷。班卡里·普拉萨德·巴苏编校。加尔各答：纳巴巴拉特出版社，1982年。
VIN → 班卡里·普拉萨德·巴苏与苏尼尔·比哈里·戈什合编。《辨喜在印度报刊中：1893—1902》。加尔各答：迪内什钱德拉·巴苏，巴苏·巴塔查里亚公司，1969年。
1. 摘自普林斯·伍兹夫人对辨喜斯瓦米于1893年8月离开马萨诸塞州塞勒姆市伍兹家中的描述。辨喜斯瓦米将他的拐杖——他最珍贵的财物——赠予当时还是年轻医学生的伍兹博士，又将行李箱和毯子赠予凯特·T·伍兹夫人，并说道：
「唯有最珍贵之物，方当赠予那些在这泱泱大国中待我如家的友人。」（ND 1: 42）
2. 摘自辨喜斯瓦米1894年2月11日抄录路易·鲁塞莱著作《印度及其土邦：中印度及孟买、孟加拉总督辖区游记》一书背面所写：
「我说，对于那些过度忧虑未来之人，唯有一剂良方——跪下祈祷。」（ND 1: 225）
3. 辨喜斯瓦米在芝加哥世界宗教议会所作祈祷之节录：
「您是承担宇宙重担者；求您助我承担此生之微薄重担。」（ND 2: 32）
4. 辨喜斯瓦米在芝加哥世界宗教议会所献另一祈祷之节录：
「在这一切法则之首，贯穿每一物质与力量的微粒之中，有一存在，奉其命令，风才吹拂，火才燃烧，云才降雨，死亡才行走于大地之上。其本性为何？祂无处不在，纯洁无形，全能而悲悯。您是我们的父。您是我们挚爱的友朋。」（ND 2: 33）
5. 摘自玛丽·T·赖特1894年5月12日（周六）日记：
他说，印度高种姓的寡妇不得再嫁；唯有低种姓的寡妇才可再婚，可以饮食，可以歌舞，可以随意择偶，可以与所有丈夫离婚，一言以蔽之，可以享受这个国家上流社会的一切权益……
「当我们狂热时，」他说，「我们折磨自己，将自己投身于巨车之下，割破自己的喉咙，躺在钉床之上；而当你们狂热时，你们却割断他人的喉咙，以烈火折磨他们，将他们置于钉床！你们对自己的皮肉倒是照顾得极为周全！」（ND 2: 58-59）
6. 摘自1894年《绿亩之声》，引述斯瓦米在缅因州绿亩所传授的教义：
「你、我以及宇宙中的一切，都是那绝对本体，非其部分，乃其全体。你即是那绝对本体的全部。」（ND 2: 150）
7. 摘自尼维迪塔修女1899年3月5日致约瑟芬·麦克劳德小姐的信函：
「玛戈，我内心深处是一位神秘主义者，这一切推理不过是表象——我实际上总是在寻觅征兆与异象——因此我从不为自己传授戒法之结果而烦恼。如果他们真心渴望成为游方僧（Sannyasin），我便觉得其余之事非我所能左右。当然，此中自有其弊端。我有时不得不为自己的失误付出沉重代价——但此中亦有一利。它使我在这一切历练中依然保持为一名游方僧——而这正是我的志向：像罗摩克里希纳（Ramakrishna）帕拉玛汉萨那样，真正作为一名游方僧而辞世——超越情欲，超越对财富的贪婪，以及对名声的渴求。对名声的渴求，是一切污秽中最为深重的。」（ND 3: 128-29）
8. 摘自约翰·亨利·赖特1896年3月27日致玛丽·塔潘·赖特的信函，信中辨喜斯瓦米指出英国如同印度，同样存在种姓制度：
「我不得不为两个种姓分别开设课程。对于高种姓之人——某某夫人、某某勋爵、某某荣誉阁下——我在上午开课；对于鱼龙混杂的低种姓之人，我在晚间开课。」（ND 4: 73）
9. 1896年夏，辨喜斯瓦米在瑞士一处小礼拜堂向圣母玛利亚脚下献花时，说道：
「因为她亦是母亲。」（ND 4: 276）
10. 摘自J·J·古德温先生1896年10月23日致奥莱·布尔夫人的信函，引述辨喜斯瓦米在伦敦格雷科特花园的谈话：
「拥有崇高理想固然甚好，但切勿使其高不可攀。崇高的理想提升人类，而不可能实现的理想，则因其本身的不可能性而使人类堕落。」（ND 4: 385）
11. 摘自斯瓦米·阿比达南达1896年11月20日日记，引述辨喜斯瓦米对英国人的观察：
「若不了解他们的风俗习惯、举止行为、政治立场，便无法与他们结交朋友。你必须熟悉富人、文化人与穷人各阶层的礼仪规范。」（ND 4: 478）
12. 摘自J·J·古德温先生1896年11月11日致奥莱·布尔夫人的信函，引述辨喜斯瓦米在《实践吠檀多（Vedanta）——第四讲》结尾处的未刊声明：
「一个个体灵魂（Jiva）在摩耶（Mâyâ）尚未完全消散之前，绝无可能彻底回归于梵（Brahman）。只要摩耶中尚存一个个体灵魂，便没有任何一个灵魂能够得到绝对的解脱（Moksha）……吠檀多论者在此问题上存在分歧。」（ND 4: 481）
13. 摘自斯瓦米·萨拉达南达致一位师兄弟的信函，涉及辨喜斯瓦米的最后时光：
有时他会说：「死亡已来到我的床边；我已经历了足够的劳作与欢娱；就让世人认识我所作出的贡献吧；要真正理解这一点，尚需相当漫长的时日。」（ND 4: 521）
14. 摘自尼维迪塔修女1898年10月13日在克什米尔致阿什顿·乔恩森夫人的信函，信中描述辨喜斯瓦米的灵性心境：
此刻对他而言，「行善」似乎令人厌恶。「唯有母亲在做任何事。爱国主义是一种错误。一切皆是错误。这一切都是母亲……所有人都是善良的，只是我们无法触及所有人……我再也不打算教导任何人了。我算什么，有什么资格去教导任何人？……斯瓦米吉已经死去，烟消云散了。」（ND 5: 3-4）
15. 摘自萨钦德拉纳特·巴苏先生的信函，记述辨喜斯瓦米1899年6月19日在贝鲁尔修道院向聚集的斯瓦米们及见习僧所发表谈话的结束语：
「我的孩子们，你们每一位都要做顶天立地的人。这是我所渴望的！若你们能有丝毫成就，我便会感到此生没有虚度。」（ND 5: 17）
16. 摘自1899年春与斯瓦米·萨拉达南达的一次晚间谈话：
「应当教人做到务实，身体强健。十几头这样的雄狮便可征服世界，而非千百万只绵羊。不应教人去模仿某个人格典范，无论那典范多么伟大。」（ND 5: 17）
17. 摘自玛丽·C·芬克夫人对1899年8月与辨喜斯瓦米及图里亚南达斯瓦米同船赴美的回忆：
「如果这一切摩耶已然如此美丽，试想那摩耶背后的实相（Reality）该有多么惊人的美丽！」（ND 5: 76）
「当那里」（手指大海与天空）「就是诗歌的精髓所在，何必还要吟诵诗句？」（同上）
18. 摘自约瑟芬·麦克劳德小姐1899年9月3日致奥莱·布尔夫人的信函：
「在人生最需要他人的时刻，一个人往往只能孤身独立。」（ND 5: 122）
19. 摘自尼维迪塔修女1899年10月27日在里奇利庄园的日记，记述辨喜斯瓦米对奥莱亚·布尔·沃恩表达的关切：
「噩梦总是以美好开始——唯在最糟糕的关头，梦境才会破碎——死亡亦如是，打破了生命之梦。热爱死亡吧。」（ND 5: 138）
20. 摘自约瑟芬·麦克劳德小姐1899年12月致尼维迪塔修女的信函：
「加利福尼亚人对我的一切印象，皆源自芝加哥。」（ND 5: 179）
21. 摘自爱丽丝·汉斯布鲁夫人的回忆，记述辨喜斯瓦米告知鲍姆加特先生的话：
「我可以就同一主题再作演讲，但那将不是同一场演讲。」（ND 5: 230）
22. 摘自爱丽丝·汉斯布鲁夫人的回忆，记述辨喜斯瓦米对其观光游览邀请的回应：
「不要带我去观光。我已见过喜马拉雅山！我不会迈出十步去看风景；但我愿意跋涉千里去见一位〔伟大的〕人！」（ND 5: 244）
23. 摘自爱丽丝·汉斯布鲁夫人的回忆，记述辨喜斯瓦米对儿童教育问题的关切：
他不相信惩罚。他说惩罚从未对他有所裨益，并补充道：「我绝不会做任何让孩子感到恐惧的事。」（ND 5: 253）
24. 摘自爱丽丝·汉斯布鲁夫人的记录，记述辨喜斯瓦米向十七岁的拉尔夫·怀科夫解释上帝：
「你能看见自己的眼睛吗？上帝就如同那样。祂与你自己的眼睛一般近。祂是你的至亲，尽管你无法看见祂。」（ND 5: 254）
25. 摘自爱丽丝·汉斯布鲁夫人的回忆，记述辨喜斯瓦米对占领印度的低种姓英国士兵的看法：
「若有人掠夺英国人的家园，英国人会将其杀死，这是正当的。而印度教徒却只是坐在那里哀叹！
「若我们有一种尚武精神，你以为区区一把英国人能统治印度吗？我在印度各地宣扬肉食，就是希望我们能培育出一种尚武精神！」（ND 5: 256）
26. 摘自爱丽丝·汉斯布鲁夫人的回忆，记述在加利福尼亚州帕萨迪纳野餐时，一位基督科学派女士向辨喜斯瓦米建议应当教人向善：
「我为何应该渴望成为'善人'？这一切都是祂的造化」（挥手示意树木与田野）。「难道我要为祂的造化而道歉吗？若你想改变约翰·多伊，就去与他同住；不要试图去改变他。若你身上有神圣之火，他自会被点燃。」（ND 5: 257）
27. 摘自爱丽丝·汉斯布鲁夫人的回忆：
「一旦你决意采取某一行动，便不要让任何事物动摇你。听从你内心的声音，而非他人之言，然后遵循内心的指引。」（ND 5: 311）
28. 摘自弗兰克·罗德哈默尔先生在1900年3月加利福尼亚州奥克兰讲座期间所作笔记：
「丈夫爱妻子，从来不是因为妻子本身；妻子爱丈夫，也从来不是因为丈夫本身。丈夫所爱的，是妻子中的上帝；妻子所爱的，是丈夫中的上帝。（参见《广林奥义书》（Brihadâranyaka Upanishad）II.4.5。）正是每一个人身上的上帝，使我们以爱与之相连。是万物、众人之中的上帝，使我们生发爱意。上帝是唯一的爱……每一个人之中皆有上帝，皆有真我（Atman）；其余一切不过是梦幻，是幻象。」（ND 5: 362）
29. 摘自弗兰克·罗德哈默尔先生在1900年3月加利福尼亚州奥克兰讲座期间所作笔记：
哦，若你们能认识你们自己！你们是灵魂；你们是神明。若我曾感到有所亵渎，那便是在我称你们为人的时候。」（ND 5: 362）
30. 摘自托马斯·J·阿兰先生对辨喜斯瓦米1900年3月在旧金山关于印度系列讲座的回忆：
「请派遣技工来教我们如何使用双手，而我们将派遣传教士去教导你们灵性之道。」（ND 5: 365）
31. 摘自伊迪丝·阿兰夫人对辨喜斯瓦米在特克街公寓烹饪时所发哲学感悟的回忆：
「『主啊，阿周那，凭借祂的幻力，令一切众生旋转，如同安置于陶轮之上。』〔《薄伽梵歌》（Bhagavad-Gitâ）XVIII.61〕这一切以前已经发生过，如同骰子之掷，人生亦如是；轮盘旋转，同样的组合终将重现；那个水壶与那个杯子以前也曾如此摆放，那个洋葱与那个土豆亦然。夫人，我们能做什么？祂让我们在生命的轮盘上旋转。」（ND 6: 17）
32. 摘自伊迪丝·阿兰夫人对午后谈话的回忆：
「导师（Guru）说他将在约两百年后再度降临——而我将与他同来。当一位导师降临，他会带来他自己的人。」（ND 6: 17）
33. 摘自伊迪丝·阿兰夫人对辨喜斯瓦米1900年旅居加利福尼亚州旧金山期间在「厨房」中所作教诲的回忆：
「若我认为自己比地上爬行的蚂蚁更为高贵，那我便是无知的。」（ND 6: 19）
「夫人，要心胸宽广——始终从两个角度看问题。当我处于高处时，我说：『湿婆（Shiva）即我，湿婆即我：我即是祂，我即是祂！』而当我腹痛难忍时，我说：『母亲，请垂怜我！』」（同上）
「学会做一个见证者。若街上有两条狗在争斗，我走出去，便会卷入争斗之中；但若我静静地待在屋内，便可从窗口见证那场争斗。所以，学会做一个见证者。」（同上）
34. 摘自托马斯·J·阿兰先生对1900年在加利福尼亚州旧金山与辨喜斯瓦米私下谈话的回忆：
「我们的进步并非从谬误走向真理，而是从真理走向真理。因此，我们必须认识到，没有任何人应该为其当下的行为受到指责，因为他们在此时此刻正在尽其所能地做到最好。若一个孩子拿着一把打开的剃刀，不要试图从他手中夺走，而是给他一个红苹果或一件色彩鲜艳的玩具，他自会放下剃刀。但将手伸入火中者必遭灼伤；我们只能从经验中学习。」（ND 6: 42）
35. 摘自爱丽丝·汉斯布鲁夫人对1900年在旧金山听完辨喜斯瓦米一场讲座后同行回家的回忆：
「你们听说过基督所言：'我的话语是灵，也是生命'。我的话语同样是灵，也是生命；它们将如火炬般燃入你们的脑海，你们将永远无法摆脱它们！」（ND 6: 57-58）
36. 摘自爱丽丝·汉斯布鲁夫人1900年在旧金山的回忆——涉及辨喜斯瓦米宽广无垠的胸怀：
「我或许将不得不再度转生，因为我已深深爱上了人类。」（ND 6: 79）
37. 摘自乔治·鲁尔巴赫夫人对辨喜斯瓦米1900年5月在加利福尼亚州泰勒营地的回忆：
「在我于这个国家发表的第一篇演讲中，在芝加哥，我称台下听众为'美国的姐妹们和兄弟们'，你们知道他们全都站了起来。或许你们会疑惑，是什么使他们如此，或许你们会疑惑我是否拥有某种奇异的力量。让我告诉你们，我确实拥有一种力量，那便是——在我一生中，我从未允许自己生出哪怕一个关乎情欲的念头。我训练我的心智与思想，将人们通常用于那一方面的力量引入了更高的渠道，这种力量由此培育出一种强大的能量，任何事物都无法抗拒。」（ND 6: 155）
38. 摘自与图里亚南达斯瓦米的一次谈话，很可能发生在纽约：
「来自上天的呼唤已至：'来吧，快来吧——不必费心去教导他人'。如今这位大老太太（「大老太太」是儿童游戏中的一个角色，被其触碰者即退出游戏。）已经意旨游戏该当结束了。」（ND 6: 373）
39. 摘自1902年7月《觉醒印度》杂志的一篇悼念文章，「一位西方弟子」写道：
斯瓦米对破除偶像者几乎没有什么同情，因为他曾睿智地指出：「真正的哲学家致力于什么都不破坏，而是帮助一切。」（VIN: 638）
40. 摘自尼维迪塔修女1899年10月9日致约瑟芬·麦克劳德小姐信函中对辨喜斯瓦米的回忆：
他已转身背离了如此之多——「让你在世间的生命，不过是对自己内心的思索。」（LSN I: 213）
41. 摘自辨喜斯瓦米在午宴上对奥莱·布尔夫人所说的话，由尼维迪塔修女记录于1899年10月18日致约瑟芬·麦克劳德小姐的信函中：
「你看，有一种东西叫做爱，还有一种东西叫做合一。而合一高于爱。
"我并不热爱宗教。我已与它融为一体。它就是我的生命。因此，没有人会热爱那个已耗尽其生命、真正有所成就的事物。我们所热爱的，尚未成为我们自身。您的丈夫并不热爱他一贯坚守的音乐。他热爱工程学——在那个领域他所知尚浅。这便是虔信（Bhakti）与智慧（Jnana）的区别；也正因如此，智慧高于虔信。"（《尼维蒂达书信集》第一卷，第216页）
42. 辨喜（Vivekananda）关于其灵性使命的谈话，见于尼维蒂达修女1904年10月15日致约瑟芬·麦克劳德女士的信：
"只有当他们离去之后，他们才会知道自己曾领受了多少。"（《尼维蒂达书信集》第二卷，第686页）
43. 尼维蒂达修女在1904年11月5日致阿尔贝塔·斯特吉斯（三明治夫人）的信中，追忆辨喜在里奇利庄园留居期间谈及弃绝的一段话：
"在印度，我们从不说应以较低之物舍弃较高之物。沉醉于音乐或文学，胜于沉溺于安逸与享乐，我们从不作别论。"（《尼维蒂达书信集》第二卷，第690页）
44. 尼维蒂达修女1909年11月19日致约瑟芬·麦克劳德女士的信：
"火若燃烧，将手探入便会灼伤——无论我们是否感觉——念诵神名者亦然。"（《尼维蒂达书信集》第二卷，第1030页）
45. 辨喜对罗摩克里希纳（Ramakrishna）尊者的追忆，见于尼维蒂达修女1910年7月6日致T·K·谢内博士的信：
"他根本无法想象自己是任何人的导师（Guru）。他犹如一个人玩弄着五彩缤纷的球，任由他人自行选择。"（《尼维蒂达书信集》第二卷，第1110页）
46. 尼维蒂达修女追忆与辨喜在里奇利庄园的一次谈话，见于1899年在里奇利庄园写给约瑟芬·麦克劳德女士的一封信：
我从未听过先知如此多地谈及室利·罗摩克里希纳。他向我们讲述了我此前已听闻的关于〔他师父〕辨识人才之眼光无误的话语……
"所以"，斯瓦米说，"你看，我的虔诚是狗的虔诚。我曾多次出错，而他从未有误，如今我已盲目信赖他的判断。"随后他讲述了罗摩克里希纳如何能令任何来访者入定，在两分钟内洞悉其一切，斯瓦米说，由此他学会了将我们的意识视为极为渺小之物。（《尼维蒂达书信集》第二卷，第1263页）
47. 尼维蒂达修女1900年1月27日致克里斯汀修女的信：
斯瓦米今日说，他开始以截然不同的眼光审视人类的需求——他已确信那有助于人类的基本原则，却每日花费数小时探索实施方法。他所了解的一切，迄今不过是为独居洞穴、与世隔绝之人而设——但今后他将赋予"人类某种足以在日常生活重压中锻造力量的东西"。（《尼维蒂达书信集》第二卷，第1264页）
48. 尼维蒂达修女在1902年7月7日致克里斯汀修女的信中，记录了辨喜于1902年7月4日在贝鲁尔修道院向僧侣们授课时的一段话：
"不要模仿我。踢走那个效仿者。"（《尼维蒂达书信集》第二卷，第1270页）
49. 斯瓦米就灵魂自由的理想发表一番言论后，此言论似与西方视服务人类为个人目标的观念相悖，他随即补充道：
"你们将会说，这对社会毫无裨益。但在承认这一反对意见之前，你们首先须证明维护社会本身即是一个目的。"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第19页）
50. 尼维蒂达修女写道：
他谈及自身作为游方导师的处境，表达了印度人对宗教组织的惯常保留态度，或如某人所言，"对以教会终结信仰的保留"。"我们相信"，他说，"组织总是滋生新的弊端。"
他预言，当时在西方盛行的某些宗教发展，将因金钱的贪欲而迅速消亡。他宣称，"人类从真理走向真理，而非从谬误走向真理"。（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第19-20页）
51. "宇宙如同一张蛛网，心灵便是蜘蛛；因为心灵既是一，又是多。"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第21页）
52. "愿无人因难以信服而抱憾！我曾与我的导师搏斗六年，结果是我熟知每一寸路途！每一寸路途！"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第22页）
53. 辨喜正在阐述爱的道路将人引向何等高度的无私境界，以及它如何激发出灵魂最深处的才能：
"假设有一个婴儿横卧在老虎的去路上！你们的位置将在何处？在那只老虎的口前——你们每一个人——我对此深信不疑。"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第24页）
54. "以此遍满一切者，知其即为主自身！"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第27页）
55. 关于辨喜对宗教的态度：
宗教是个人成长之事，"永远是存在与成为的问题"。（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第28页）
56. "当你亦能轻而易举地召来天使大军取得胜利时，方可言宽恕。"然而，在胜败尚未分明之际，在他看来，只有懦夫才会转身让另一面脸颊受打。（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第28-29页）
57. "我当然愿意犯罪、永堕地狱——倘若藉此真能帮助一个人！"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第34页）
58. 一次演讲后，辨喜对包括尼维蒂达修女在内的一小群人说：
"我有一个迷信——它不过是一个私人迷信，你们明白——即曾以佛陀之身降临者，其后又以基督之身降临。"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第35页）
59. 当辨喜被告知尼维蒂达修女愿意为印度服务时，他说：
"就我自身而言，为了在我所承担的、为我民族所做的工作中，我愿意转世两百次，如若必要的话。"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第36页）
60. 尼维蒂达修女对一件往事的追忆：
有一次，他与克特里王公同乘马匹，突然发现王公的手臂鲜血淋漓，原来是王公为让他通行而拨开一根带刺的树枝，伤了自己。当斯瓦米表示抗议时，这位拉杰普特王公却一笑置之。"我们难道不总是信仰的守护者吗，斯瓦米吉？"他说。
"然后"，斯瓦米讲述这个故事时说，"我正要告诉他，他们不应对游方僧（Sannyasin）表示如此荣敬，忽然间我想到，也许他们毕竟是对的。谁知道呢？也许我也被你们现代文明这道闪光所迷——它不过是转瞬即逝的。"
"——我已陷入纠缠，"他平静地对一位表示异议的人说——那人认为昔日辨喜四处游历、随处播撒智慧、行走中更换名号的游方岁月，远比身负诸多工作与忧虑的贝鲁尔修道院住持更为伟大。"我已陷入纠缠。"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第43页）
61. 尼维蒂达修女写道：
有一天，他在西方谈及米拉·拜——那位曾经贵为奇托尔王后的圣女——以及她的丈夫曾许诺给予她自由，条件是她留在王室深宫之中。然而她无法被束缚。"但她为何不愿呢？"有人惊讶地问。"她为何应当如此？"他反问道。"难道她是生活在这污泥浊水之中吗？"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第44页）
62. 随着岁月流逝，斯瓦米越来越不敢制定确定的计划，或对未知之事妄加断言：
"毕竟，我们又能知道什么呢？母亲运用着一切。而我们不过是在摸索前行。"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第44页）
63. 尼维蒂达修女引述辨喜的话，追忆道：
爱若非"无缘由"或无"动机"，便不是真爱，他坚持如此……（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第52页）
64. 尼维蒂达修女写到辨喜：
当他自己的同胞问他，在亲历英国人的本土之后，他认为英国人最大的成就是什么，他回答说，"是他们懂得了将服从与自尊结合起来"。（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第54页）
65. 萨达南达斯瓦米记载，辨喜每于天色未明之时便起身，呼唤众人，高声歌唱：
"觉醒吧！觉醒吧！所有渴饮神圣甘露者！"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第56页）
66. 尼维蒂达修女追忆道：
在此期间〔斯瓦米云游岁月，在阿尔莫拉附近〕，他曾在俯瞰山村的一处洞穴中居住数月。我仅知他两度提及这段经历。一次他说："我生平从未有任何经历如此使我充满了须去完成工作的感召。那仿佛是我从洞穴生活中被抛出，去游荡于山下平原之间。"另一次他对某人说："使人成为苦行者（Sadhu）的，并非其生活方式。因为一个人完全可以端坐洞穴之中，而满脑子想的不过是晚饭会送来几块面包！"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第61页）
67. 关于他自己的诗作《迦梨母亲》：
"播撒瘟疫与哀愁"，他引述自己的诗句，
疯狂起舞，欢乐无边，
来吧，母亲，来吧！
因为恐惧即汝之名！
死亡——在汝的呼息之中。
每一颤抖的脚步
永远摧毁一个世界。
"这一切都成真了，每一个字，"他打断自己说。
谁敢热爱苦难，
在毁灭之舞中起舞，
并拥抱死亡之形……
"对他，母亲确实降临。我已证明了这一点。因为我已拥抱过死亡之形！"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第98-99页）
68. 尼维蒂达修女谈及她为女子学校所作的计划：
唯有一点，他〔辨喜〕毫不妥协。他愿将自己的名字赋予印度女子教育事业，而这一事业可以是我所愿意的那般具有宗派性。"你希望通过一个教派超越所有教派。"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第102页）
69. 评论尼维蒂达修女拜访戈帕勒尔玛的居所——一间小室——时：
"啊！这便是你所见到的古老印度，祈祷与泪水、守夜与斋戒的印度，她正在消逝，永不复返！"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第109页）
70. 关于罗摩克里希纳僧团的宗旨：
同样的目的在他对罗摩克里希纳僧团宗旨的阐述中再度彰显——"促成东西方最高理想的交流，并将其付诸实践"……（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第113页）
71. 在教导尼维蒂达修女礼拜湿婆（Shiva）之后，辨喜以在佛陀足前献花作为圆满收尾。他说，仿佛在对每一个将来向他求道的灵魂言说：
"去吧，追随他——那在证悟佛果之前，已转世降生、为众生舍命五百次者！"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第114页）
72. 从克什米尔朝圣归来时：
"这些神祇并非仅仅是象征！他们是虔信者所亲见的形象！"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第120页）
73. 尼维蒂达修女追忆昔日聆听辨喜所言：
"透过感官的迷雾所见的无人格之梵（Brahman），即是有人格的神。"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第120页）
74. 有人提醒辨喜印度极少出现犯罪现象，他回应道：
"愿神使我的国度并非如此，因为这实是死亡般的守德！"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第123页）
75. 辨喜说：
"整个生命不过是一曲天鹅绝唱！永远不要忘记那些诗句：
狮子，当心脏被刺穿，
发出其最雄壮的吼声。
当眼镜蛇被击于头顶，它昂起镰头。
而灵魂的威严才会显现，
唯当一个人被伤至灵魂深处。"
（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第124页）
76. 闻悉室利·杜尔迦·恰兰·纳格（纳格·摩诃夏）辞世后：
"〔他〕是罗摩克里希纳·帕拉马汉萨最伟大的事业之一。"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第129页）
77. 谈及室利·罗摩克里希纳的转化之力，辨喜说：
"罗摩克里希纳·帕拉马汉萨的一个触碰，岂是一件玩笑之事？他当然使那些来到他身边的人——即便只是短暂的接触——蜕变成了崭新的男男女女！"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第130页）
78. 辨喜谈及游方僧的真正精神时说：
"我在里诗凯诗见过许多大人物。我记得其中一例，那是一个看似疯癫的人。他赤身裸体地走在街上，一群孩子追赶着他，向他扔石头。他满脸笑声，而血流正从他的脸和颈项淌下。我将他扶住，为他清洗伤口，以灰烬敷于其上以止血。在此期间，他满怀爽朗的笑声，向我讲述他与那群孩子互掷石头的趣事。'父如此嬉戏，'他说。
"这些人中许多人躲藏起来，以防外人打扰。人群对他们是一种负担。有人将人骨散落于洞穴周围，声称以尸为食。另一人则向人投石。如此种种……
"有时，顿悟会在一瞬之间降临。例如，有一个男孩曾来跟随阿贝达南达研习奥义书（Upanishads）。一日，他转身问道：'先生，这一切真的是真的吗？'
"'哦，是的！'阿贝达南达说，'实现它或许艰难，但它确实是真的。'
"而第二天，那个男孩已是一名沉默的游方僧，赤身裸体，踏上前往凯达纳特的路途！
"他怎么了？你问。他变得沉默了！
"但游方僧已无须礼拜，无须朝圣，也无须苦行。那么，这一切从朝圣到朝圣、从圣地到圣地、从苦行到苦行的动机究竟何在？他是在积累功德，施予世界！"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第133页）
79. 提及希比·拉纳的故事：
"啊，是的！这些故事深植于我们民族的心底！永远不要忘记，游方僧立下两个誓愿：一是证悟真理，一是济助世界——而最为严苛的要求，是他应当舍弃对天堂的一切念想！"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第134页）
80. 对尼维蒂达修女说：
"薄伽梵歌（Gita）说，施舍有三种：答磨悉（Tamasic）施舍、罗阇悉（Rajasic）施舍与萨埵悉（Sattvic）施舍。答磨悉施舍凭一时冲动而行，总是出差错。施者只想着自己行善的冲动。罗阇悉施舍是人为自身荣耀而为。萨埵悉施舍，是将施予施于正当之人、以正当之方式、于适当之时机……
"谈到萨埵悉施舍，我越来越想到一位伟大的西方女性，在她身上我见到了那种宁静的施予，总是施于正当之人、以正当方式、于恰当时机，且从不出错。
"就我自身而言，我已学到，即便是施舍也可以过分……
"随着年岁渐长，我发现自己越来越在细微小事中寻找伟大。我想知道一个伟人吃什么、穿什么，以及他如何与仆人说话。我想找到菲利普·西德尼爵士（Sir Philip Sidney，1554-1586年，英国诗人、军人与政治家）那样的伟大！很少有人能在临死一刻还记挂他人的干渴。
"但任何人在显赫地位上都会显得伟大！即便懦夫在舞台灯光的照耀下也会变得勇敢。世界在凝视。谁的心不会激动？谁的脉搏不会加速，直至他能竭尽全力？
"真正的伟大越来越在我看来，是如蠕虫般默默、坚定地履行其职责，刻刻时时，不懈不辍。"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第137页）
81. 提及伟大的个人——神圣的化身、导师（Guru）与先知：
"你们尚未了解印度！我们印度人归根结底是崇拜人的！我们的神就是人！"（《尼维蒂达全集》第一卷，第144页）
82. 另有一次，辨喜以截然不同的含义使用了"崇拜人者"一词：
「这种崇拜人的理念在印度已有雏形，但从未得到充分发展。你们必须将其发扬光大。以此为题创作诗歌、创作艺术。建立起对乞丐双足的礼敬之道，正如中世纪欧洲所行之法。培育崇人之者。」（《全集》1：144-45）
83. 致妮韦蒂塔修女：
「据说有一个特殊的伊斯兰教派，其信徒极为狂热，每逢新生婴儿降生，便将其置于野外，口称：'若是安拉所造，则汝当灭！若是阿里所造，则汝当存！'如今，他们对孩子所说的这番话，我今夜也要说给你听，但含义恰恰相反：'走向这个世界吧，若你是我所造，则你当消亡！若圣母所造，则你当长存！'」（《全集》1：151）
84. 美国南方权贵在获知辨喜（Vivekananda）曾被误认为黑人，因而遭拒于旅馆门外之后，纷纷向他致歉，而大师事后独自感慨道：
「什么！以他人为代价而崛起！我来到这世上可不是为了这个！……若我感激我那白肤的雅利安祖先，我对黄肤的蒙古族祖先则更为感激，而最令我感激的，是黑肤的尼格利陀祖先！」（《全集》1：153）
85. 大师在圣米歇尔山参观中世纪囚犯的地牢时感叹道：
（《全集》1：154）
「哦，我知道自己曾游历天下，但在印度，我所寻求的，从来只是一处可供冥想的洞窟！」（同上）
86. 尽管辨喜认为罗马帝国的后裔粗蛮，也对日本的婚俗深感惊骇，然而他仍一贯以建设性的眼光看待各民族，称颂其理想，而非揭其短处：
「论爱国精神，日本！论纯洁高尚，印度！论阳刚之气，欧洲！世界上无人能比英格兰人更懂得，何为男儿之光荣！」（《全集》1：160）
87. 辨喜于1893年赴美前夕，自述其志：
「我此去，是为弘扬一种宗教——佛教不过是它的叛逆之子，而基督教，不管自诩多高，也不过是它遥远的回声！」（《全集》1：161）
88. 辨喜描述佛陀别妻出家、舍离尘世的那一夜时说：
「是什么问题令他深感困扰？正是为了世界而必须舍弃的那个人啊！这才是真正的挣扎所在！他对自身的舍弃，根本无所挂怀！」（《全集》1：172）
89. 大师在描述佛陀与妻子动人的诀别之后说道：
「你们可曾想过英雄们的内心？他们是何等伟大、伟大、伟大——却又柔软得如同酥油？」（《全集》1：172）
90. 辨喜描述佛陀圆寂经过，并将其与罗摩克里希纳（Ramakrishna）的辞世相提并论：
他讲述了如何在大树下铺设毡毯，讲述了世尊如何「以狮子卧的姿势，右侧卧下」，静待死亡的降临。就在此时，忽有一人奔来求法。弟子们本欲拦阻此人，以免扰乱师旁的宁静，但世尊已然听见，遂言：「不，不！如来（大师解释道，此词「与你们的'弥赛亚'颇为相近」）随时准备教化众生。」他支起手肘，起身说法。如此反复四次，而后，世尊方才从容就死。「但他临终前先训斥了因哭泣而悲戚的阿难。佛陀并非一个人，而是一种证悟，他们中的任何人皆可臻于此境。他以最后一口气，嘱咐他们不得礼拜任何人。」
这个不朽的故事就此讲完。然而对于一位聆听者而言，最令人难以忘怀的，是讲述者在说到「支起手肘、起身说法」这几个字时，骤然停顿，以简短的补语说道：「你们知道，我在罗摩克里希纳·帕拉玛汉萨身上亲眼目睹了这一幕。」于是，一个故事浮现于心中——某人注定要从那位导师（Guru）处获得传授，他跋涉百里，赶到科西坡时，老师已然病危弥留。弟子们本欲拒其入内，但罗摩克里希纳坚持，执意接见这位新来者，并向他传法。（《全集》1：175-176）
91. 评论佛教教义的历史意义与哲学意义：
「色、受、想、行、识，五蕴相互流动交融，永无止息，幻象（Maya）即寓于其中。任何一朵浪花皆无本质可言，因为它并不存在，它只是曾经存在，转瞬即逝。知晓啊，人啊，你就是那大海！啊，这正是迦毗罗的哲学，然而他那伟大的弟子【佛陀】以心灵的力量，使这哲学得以鲜活起来！」（《全集》1：176）
92. 论及佛教第一次结集及其会长归属之争：
「你们可曾想象他们的气节是何等之强？有人提议当选阿难，因为他对佛陀的爱最为深挚。但另有人站出来说：不！因为阿难曾在师的临终病榻前失声痛哭。于是阿难被略过了！」（《全集》1：177）
93. 将轮回（Samsara）视为「科学推测」而非信仰条文：
「唉，身处肉身的一生，犹如百万年的囚禁，而他们还想唤醒对无数前世的记忆！当日之苦，当日承担便够了！……是的！佛教必是正确的！轮回不过是一场幻影！但这境界唯有走不二（Advaita）之路，方可抵达！」（《全集》1：180-81）
94. 「若我曾生活在巴勒斯坦，生活在拿撒勒人耶稣的年代，我当以我心头之血洗濯他的双足，而非以眼泪！」（《全集》1：189）
95. 「因此，对于不二论者（Advaitin）而言，唯一的动机便是爱。……应当满怀喜悦上路的，是拯救者，而非被拯救者！」（《全集》1：197-98）
96. 论弟子生活中节制的必要性：
「奋力实现自我，毫无一丝情绪的波动！……观落叶飘零，却在事后于内心独自回味这一幕的意境！」（《全集》1：207）
「谨记！无面包、无鱼获！世间的浮华迷惑，绝无立足之地！这一切都必须被斩断，被连根拔起。那是情感的泛滥——感官的溢出。它以色彩、景象、声音和联想的形式向你袭来。斩断它，学会厌恶它。那是彻头彻尾的毒药！」（同上，207-208）
97. 论类型的价值：
「两种不同的种族相互融合，从中孕育出一种强健而鲜明的类型。一种强健鲜明的类型，始终是开拓视野的物质基础。谈论普世主义固然轻巧，但世界在数百万年内尚未做好准备！
「记住！若你想了解一艘船的性质，就必须如实加以说明——它的长度、宽度、形状和材质。要了解一个国家，亦须同理。印度崇奉偶像。你们必须接受她本来的面貌来帮助她。那些已离她而去的人，对她无能为力！」（《全集》1：209）
98. 辨喜描述印度禁欲修行（Brahmacharya）于学生生命中的理想时说：
「梵行应如燃烧的火焰，炽烈地涌流于血脉之中！」（《全集》1：216）
99. 辨喜论及包办婚姻而非自由恋爱时说：
「这个国家有如此深重的痛苦！如此深重的痛苦！当然，痛苦从来就有一些。但如今看到欧洲人迥异的风俗，便愈发深重了。社会已然知晓，还有另一种方式！
「【对一位欧洲人说】我们推崇母性，而你们推崇妻性；我认为双方若能相互借鉴，皆可有所裨益。
「在印度，妻子对丈夫的爱，甚至不能让自己对儿子的爱有丝毫超越。她必须做贤妻。但丈夫也不应如爱母亲一般地爱妻子。因此，在印度，有所回报的爱并不被视为崇高，唯有无条件付出的爱才是。相互应和之爱被视为'讨价还价'。夫妻相处的欢愉，在印度并不被公然承认。这一点我们必须向西方借鉴。我们的理想需要以你们的理想加以滋养。而你们，反过来，也需要我们对母性之虔信的某些东西。」（《全集》1：221-22）
100. 大师以深切的悲悯对一位弟子说：
「家庭与婚姻的念头偶尔掠过你心头，你无须在意。就连我，有时也会如此！」（《全集》1：222）
101. 听闻一位友人深感孤独时，大师说：
「每一位行道者，有时都会如此感受！」（《全集》1：222）
102. 论印度教与佛教出家与在家两种理想：
「印度教的荣耀，在于它虽界定了诸多理想，却从未敢声称其中任何一种才是唯一的真道。在此，它与佛教有所不同——佛教将出家修行凌驾于一切之上，视之为所有灵魂趋向完美的必由之路。《摩诃婆罗多》中关于一位年轻圣者的故事足以说明这一点：此人先被引领去向一位已婚女子求取启悟，再被引领去向一位屠夫求取启悟，当他们各自被问及时，皆答道：'是通过在我自身的处境中尽职尽责，我才证得了这份智慧（Jnana）。'由此可见，凡间任何一种志业，皆可成为通往神圣的道路。而能否证悟，归根结底，唯取决于灵魂渴望的深浅。」（《全集》1：223）
103. 辨喜谈及恋人在所爱之人身上看到理想化身的观念，并回应一位女孩新生的爱情：
「紧紧守护这份愿景！只要你们双方都能在对方身上看到那个理想，你们的礼敬与喜悦便只会与日俱增，而非消减。」（《全集》1：224）
104. 「最高的真理，永远是最简朴的。」（《全集》1：226）
105. 辨喜评论美国降神会时说：
「永远是用最简单的手段行最大的骗局。」（《全集》1：233）
106. 论东西方对人究竟是肉身还是灵魂的不同看法：
「西方语言说，人是一个有灵魂的肉身；东方语言说，人是一个有肉身的灵魂。」（《全集》1：236-37）
107. 关于辨喜对其导师（Guru）的虔敬：
「我可以对一位阿梵陀罗（Avatar，神圣化身）进行批评，而毫不减损我对他的爱！但我深知，大多数人并非如此；对他们而言，最稳妥的，是守护好自己的虔信（Bhakti）！」（《全集》1：252）
「我的虔信如同犬之忠诚！我不想知道为什么！我心满意足，只愿追随！」（同上，252-53）
108. 「罗摩克里希纳·帕拉玛汉萨每天都以在室内踱步两个小时为始，口中默念着'萨奇达南达！'或'湿婆（Shiva）哈姆！'或其他圣名。」（《全集》1：255）
109. 辨喜在辞世前数月说：
「一个人若始终与弟子为伴，往往会毁了他们！当弟子们一旦经过训练，导师离开对他们而言是不可或缺的；因为没有导师的缺席，他们便无法自我成长！」（《全集》1：260）
110. 大师在辞世前数日说：
「我正在为死亡做准备。一种巨大的苦行（Tapasya）与冥想已然降临于我，我正在为死亡做准备。」（《全集》1：261-62）
111. 辨喜在克什米尔养病后，捡起两块鹅卵石，感慨道：
「每当死亡向我走来，一切软弱便荡然无存。我既无恐惧，亦无疑惑，也无对外物的任何思念。我只是默默地准备好去死。我如同这鹅卵石一般坚硬【他手中的鹅卵石相互碰击】——因为我曾触摸过神的双足！」（《全集》1：262）
English
SAYINGS AND UTTERANCES
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
In this section, only Swami Vivekananda's direct words have been placed within quotation marks. References have been identified by the following abbreviations:
ND → Burke, Marie Louise. Swami Vivekananda in the West: New Discoveries. 6 vols. Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1983-87.
CWSN → Nivedita, Sister. The Complete Works of Sister Nivedita. Vol. 1. Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1982.
LSN → Nivedita, Sister. Letters of Sister Nivedita. 2 vols. Compiled and edited by Sankari Prasad Basu. Calcutta: Nababharat Publishers, 1982.
VIN → Basu, Sankari Prasad and Ghosh, Sunil Bihari, eds. Vivekananda in Indian Newspapers: 1893-1902. Calcutta: Dineshchandra Basu, Basu Bhattacharya and Co., 1969.
1. From Mrs. Prince Woods's description of Swami Vivekananda's departure from the Woods's residence in Salem, Massachusetts, in August 1893. Swami Vivekananda gave his staff, his most precious possession, to Dr. Woods, who was at that time a young medical student, and his trunk and his blanket to Mrs. Kate T. Woods, saying:
"Only my most precious possessions should I give to my friends who have made me at home in this great country." (ND 1: 42)
2. On the back of Swami Vivekananda's transcription from Louis Rousselet's book India and Its Native Princes —Travels in Central India and in the Presidencies of Bombay and Bengal, dated February 11, 1894:
"I say there is but one remedy for one too anxious for the future — to go down on his knees." (ND 1: 225)
3. An extract from a prayer Swami Vivekananda delivered at the Chicago World's Parliament of Religions:
"Thou art He that beareth the burdens of the universe; help me to bear the little burden of this life." (ND 2: 32)
4. An extract from another prayer offered by Swami Vivekananda at the Chicago World's Parliament of Religions:
"At the head of all these laws, in and through every particle of matter and force, stands One through whose command the wind blows, the fire burns, the clouds rain, and death stalks upon the earth. And what is His nature? He is everywhere the pure and formless One, the Almighty and the All Merciful. Thou art our Father. Thou art our beloved Friend." (ND 2: 33)
5. From Mary T. Wright's journal entry dated Saturday, May 12, 1894:
The widows of high caste in India do not marry, he said; only the widows of low caste may marry, may eat, drink, dance, have as many husbands as they choose, divorce them all, in short enjoy all the benefits of the highest society in this country. . . .
"When we are fanatical", he said, "we torture ourselves, we throw ourselves under huge cars, we cut our throats, we lie on spiked beds; but when you are fanatical you cut other people's throats, you torture them by fire and put them on spiked beds! You take very good care of your own skins!" (ND 2: 58-59)
6. An 1894 extract from the Greenacre Voice, quoting one of the Swami's teachings delivered at Greenacre, Maine:
"You and I and everything in the universe are that Absolute, not parts, but the whole. You are the whole of that Absolute." (ND 2: 150)
7. In a March 5, 1899 letter from Sister Nivedita to Miss Josephine MacLeod:
"I am at heart a mystic, Margot, all this reasoning is only apparent — I am really always on the lookout for signs and things — and so I never bother about the fate of my initiations. If they want to be Sannyâsins badly enough I feel that the rest is not my business. Of course it has its bad side. I have to pay dearly for my blunder sometimes — but it has one advantage. It has kept me still a Sannyasin through all this — and that is my ambition, to die a real Sannyasin as Ramakrishna Paramahamsa actually was — free from lust — and desire of wealth, and thirst for fame. That thirst for fame is the worst of all filth." (ND 3: 128-29)
8. From John Henry Wright's March 27, 1896 letter to Mary Tappan Wright, in which Swami Vivekananda stated that England is just like India with its castes:
"I had to have separate classes for the two castes. For the high caste people — Lady This and Lady That, Honourable This and Honourable That — I had classes in the morning; for the low caste people, who came pell-mell, I had classes in the evening." (ND 4: 73)
9. While Swami Vivekananda was offering flowers at the feet of the Virgin Mary in a small chapel in Switzerland in the summer of 1896, he said:
"For she also is the Mother." (ND 4: 276)
10. From Mr. J. J. Goodwin's October 23, 1896 letter to Mrs. Ole Bull, quoting Swami Vivekananda's conversation at Greycoat Gardens in London
"It is very good to have a high ideal, but don't make it too high. A high ideal raises mankind, but an impossible ideal lowers them from the very impossibility of the case." (ND 4: 385)
11. A November 20, 1896 entry from Swami Abhedananda's diary, quoting Swami Vivekananda's observation of the English people:
"You can't make friends here without knowing their customs, behaviour, politics. You have to know the manners of the rich, the cultured and the poor." (ND 4: 478)
12. In Mr. J. J. Goodwin's November 11, 1896 letter to Mrs. Ole Bull, quoting Swami Vivekananda's unpublished statement toward the end of "Practical Vedanta — IV":
"A Jiva can never attain absolutely to Brahman until the whole of Mâyâ disappears. While there is still a Jiva left in Maya, there can be no soul absolutely free. . . . Vedantists are divided on this point." (ND 4: 481)
13. From Swami Saradananda's letter to a brother-disciple, concerning Swami Vivekananda's last days:
Sometimes he would say, "Death has come to my bedside; I have been through enough of work and play; let the world realize what contribution I have made; it will take quite a long time to understand that". (ND 4: 521)
14. In an October 13, 1898 letter to Mrs. Ashton Jonson, written from Kashmir, Sister Nivedita described Swami Vivekananda's spiritual mood:
To him at this moment "doing good" seems horrible. "Only the Mother does anything. Patriotism is a mistake. Everything is a mistake. It is all Mother. . . . All men are good. Only we cannot reach all. . . . I am never going to teach any more. Who am I that I should teach anyone? . . . Swamiji is dead and gone." (ND 5: 3-4)
15. From Mr. Sachindranath Basu's letter recounting Swami Vivekananda's closing remarks in his talk to swamis and novices assembled at Belur Math, June 19, 1899:
"My sons, all of you be men. This is what I want! If you are even a little successful, I shall feel my life has been meaningful." (ND 5: 17)
16. During an evening talk with Swami Saradananda in the spring of 1899:
"Men should be taught to be practical, physically strong. A dozen such lions will conquer the world, not millions of sheep. Men should not be taught to imitate a personal ideal, however great." (ND 5: 17)
17. From Mrs. Mary C. Funke's reminiscences of her August 1899 voyage to America with Swamis Vivekananda and Turiyananda:
"And if all this Maya is so beautiful, think of the wondrous beauty of the Reality behind it!" (ND 5: 76)
"Why recite poetry when there [pointing to sea and sky] is the very essence of poetry?" (Ibid.)
18. In Miss Josephine MacLeod's September 3, 1899 letter to Mrs. Ole Bull:
"In one's greatest hour of need one stands alone." (ND 5: 122)
19. From Sister Nivedita's October 27, 1899 diary entry at Ridgely Manor, in which Swami Vivekananda expressed his concern for Olea Bull Vaughn:
"Nightmares always begin pleasantly — only at the worst point [the] dream is broken — so death breaks [the] dream of life. Love death." (ND 5: 138)
20. In a December 1899 letter from Miss Josephine MacLeod to Sister Nivedita:
"All the ideas the Californians have of me emanated from Chicago." (ND 5: 179)
21. From Mrs. Alice Hansbrough's reminiscences which quoted Swami Vivekananda as telling Mr. Baumgardt:
"I can talk on the same subject, but it will not be the same lecture." (ND 5: 230)
22. Mrs. Alice Hansbrough's reminiscences relating Swami Vivekananda's response to her sight-seeing attempts:
"Do not show me sights. I have seen the Himalayas! I would not go ten steps to see sights; but I would go a thousand miles to see a [great] human being!" (ND 5: 244)
23. From Mrs. Alice Hansbrough's reminiscences relating Swami Vivekananda's interest in the problem of child training:
He did not believe in punishment. It had never helped him, he said, and added, "I would never do anything to make a child afraid". (ND 5: 253)
24. Mrs. Alice Hansbrough's record of Swami Vivekananda's explanation of God to seventeen-year-old Ralph Wyckoff:
"Can you see your own eyes? God is like that. He is as close as your own eyes. He is your own, even though you can't see Him." (ND 5: 254)
25. Mrs. Alice Hansbrough's reminiscences regarding Swami Vivekananda's opinion of the low-caste English soldiers who occupied India:
"If anyone should despoil the Englishman's home, the Englishman would kill him, and rightly so. But the Hindu just sits and whines!
"Do you think that a handful of Englishmen could rule India if we had a militant spirit? I teach meat-eating throughout the length and breadth of India in the hope that we can build a militant spirit!" (ND 5: 256)
26. Mrs. Alice Hansbrough's reminiscences of a picnic in Pasadena, California when a Christian Science woman suggested to Swami Vivekananda that one should teach people to be good:
"Why should I desire to be 'good'? All this is His handiwork [waving his hand to indicate the trees and the countryside]. Shall I apologize for His handiwork? If you want to reform John Doe, go and live with him; don't try to reform him. If you have any of the Divine Fire, he will catch it." (ND 5: 257)
27. From Mrs. Alice Hansbrough's reminiscences:
"When once you consider an action, do not let anything dissuade you. Consult your heart, not others, and then follow its dictates." (ND 5: 311)
28. From Mr. Frank Rhodehamel's notes taken during a March 1900 lecture in Oakland, California:
"Never loved a husband the wife for the wife's sake, or the wife the husband for the husband's sake. It is God in the wife the husband loves, and God in the husband the wife loves. (Cf. Brihadâranyaka Upanishad II.4.5.) It is God in everyone that draws us to that one in love. [It is] God in everything, in everybody that makes us love. God is the only love. . . . In everyone is God, the Atman; all else is but dream, an illusion." (ND 5: 362)
29. From Mr. Frank Rhodehamel's notes taken during a March 1900 lecture in Oakland, California:
Oh, if you only knew yourselves! You are souls; you are gods. If ever I feel [that I am] blaspheming, it is when I call you man." (ND 5: 362)
30. An excerpt from Mr. Thomas J. Allan's reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda's March 1900 San Francisco lecture series on India:
"Send us mechanics to teach us how to use our hands, and we will send you missionaries to teach you spirituality." (ND 5: 365)
31. Mrs. Edith Allan's reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda's philosophical observations while cooking at the Turk Street flat:
"'The Lord dwells in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna, by His illusive power causing all beings to revolve as though mounted on a potter's wheel.' [Bhagavad-Gitâ XVIII.61] This has all happened before, like the throw of a dice, so it is in life; the wheel goes on and the same combination comes up; that pitcher and glass have stood there before, so, too, that onion and potato. What can we do, Madam, He has us on the wheel of life." (ND 6: 17)
32. From Mrs. Edith Allan's reminiscences of an after-lunch conversation:
"The Master said he would come again in about two hundred years — and I will come with him. When a Master comes, he brings his own people." (ND 6: 17)
33. Mrs. Edith Allan's reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda's "kitchen" counsel while he was staying in San Francisco, California, in 1900:
"If I consider myself greater than the ant that crawls on the ground I am ignorant." (ND 6: 19)
"Madam, be broad—minded; always see two ways. When I am on the heights I say, 'Shivoham, Shivoham: I am He, I am He!' and when I have the stomachache I say, 'Mother have mercy on me!'" (Ibid.)
"Learn to be the witness. If two dogs are fighting on the street and I go out there, I get mixed up in the fight; but if I stay quietly in my room, I witness the fight from the window. So learn to be the witness." (Ibid.)
34. From Mr. Thomas J. Allan's reminiscences of a private talk with Swami Vivekananda in San Francisco, California, 1900:
"We do not progress from error to truth, but from truth to truth. Thus we must see that none can be blamed for what they are doing, because they are, at this time, doing the best they can. If a child has an open razor, don't try to take it from him, but give him a red apple or a brilliant toy, and he will drop the razor. But he who puts his hand in the fire will be burned; we learn only from experience." (ND 6: 42)
35. From Mrs. Alice Hansbrough's reminiscences of a walk home with Swami Vivekananda after one of his lectures in San Francisco in 1900:
"You have heard that Christ said, 'My words are spirit and they are life'. So are my words spirit and life; they will burn their way into your brain and you will never get away from them!" (ND 6: 57-58)
36. From Mrs. Alice Hansbrough's reminiscences in San Francisco, 1900 — referring to Swami Vivekananda's great heart:
"I may have to be born again because I have fallen in love with man." (ND 6: 79)
37. From Mrs. George Roorbach's reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda at Camp Taylor, California, in May 1900:
"In my first speech in this country, in Chicago, I addressed that audience as 'Sisters and Brothers of America', and you know that they all rose to their feet. You may wonder what made them do this, you may wonder if I had some strange power. Let me tell you that I did have a power and this is it — never once in my life did I allow myself to have even one sexual thought. I trained my mind, my thinking, and the powers that man usually uses along that line I put into a higher channel, and it developed a force so strong that nothing could resist it." (ND 6: 155)
38. In a conversation with Swami Turiyananda, which probably took place in New York:
"The call has come from Above: 'Come away, just come away — no need of troubling your head to teach others'. It is now the will of the Grand Old Lady (The “Grand Old Lady” was a figure in a children’s game, whose touch put one outside the game.) that the play should be over." (ND 6: 373)
39. In a July 1902 Prabuddha Bharata eulogy, "a Western disciple" wrote:
The Swami had but scant sympathy with iconoclasts, for as he wisely remarked, "The true philosopher strives to destroy nothing, but to help all". (VIN: 638)
40. Sister Nivedita's reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda in an October 9, 1899 letter to Miss Josephine MacLeod:
He has turned back on so much — "Let your life in the world be nothing but a thinking to yourself". (LSN I: 213)
41. Swami Vivekananda's luncheon remarks to Mrs. Ole Bull, recorded by Sister Nivedita in an October 18, 1899 letter to Miss Josephine MacLeod:
"You see, there is one thing called love, and there is another thing called union. And union is greater than love.
"I do not love religion. I have become identified with it. It is my life. So no man loves that thing in which his life has been spent, in which he really has accomplished something. That which we love is not yet ourself. Your husband did not love music for which he had always stood. He loved engineering in which as yet he knew comparatively little. This is the difference between Bhakti and Jnana; and this is why Jnana is greater than Bhakti." (LSN I: 216)
42. Swami Vivekananda's remarks on his spiritual ministry, recorded in Sister Nivedita's October 15, 1904 letter to Miss Josephine MacLeod:
"Only when they go away will they know how much they have received." (LSN
II: 686)
43. Sister Nivedita's reminiscences in a November 5, 1904 letter to Alberta Sturges (Lady Sandwich) of Swami Vivekananda's talk on renunciation while he was staying at Ridgely Manor:
"In India we never say that you should renounce a higher thing for a lower. It is better to be absorbed in music or in literature than in comfort or pleasure, and we never say otherwise." (LSN II: 690)
44. In Sister Nivedita's November 19, 1909 letter to Miss Josephine MacLeod:
"The fire burns if we plunge our hand in — whether we feel it or not — so it is with him who speaks the name of God." (LSN II: 1030)
45. Swami Vivekananda's reminiscences of Shri Ramakrishna, recorded in Sister Nivedita's July 6, 1910 letter to Dr. T. K. Cheyne:
"He could not imagine himself the teacher of anyone. He was like a man playing with balls of many colours, and leaving it to others to select which they would for themselves." (LSN II: 1110)
46. Sister Nivedita's reminiscences of a conversation with Swami Vivekananda at Ridgely Manor, recorded in an 1899 letter written from Ridgely Manor to Miss Josephine MacLeod:
I have never heard the Prophet talk so much of Shri Ramakrishna. He told us what I had heard before of [his master's] infallible judgement of men. . . .
"And so", Swami said, "you see my devotion is the dog's devotion. I have been wrong so often and he has always been right, and now I trust his judgement blindly". And then he told us how he would hypnotize anyone who came to him and in two minutes know all about him, and Swami said that from this he had learnt to count our consciousness as a very small thing. (LSN
II: 1263)
47. From Sister Nivedita's January 27, 1900 letter to Sister Christine:
Swami said today that he is beginning to see the needs of humanity in quite a different light — that he is already sure of the principle that is to help, but is spending hours every day in trying to solve the methods. That what he had known hitherto is for men living in a cave — alone, undisturbed — but now he will give "humanity something that will make for strength in the stress of daily life". (LSN II: 1264)
48. In a July 7, 1902 letter to Sister Christine, Sister Nivedita recorded one of Swami Vivekananda's remarks made while giving a class to the monks at Belur Math on July 4, 1902:
"Do not copy me. Kick out the man who imitates." (LSN II: 1270)
49. The Swami's comment after he made a statement concerning the ideal of the freedom of the soul, which brought it into apparent conflict with the Western conception of the service of humanity as the goal of the individual:
"You will say that this does not benefit society. But before this objection can be admitted you will first have to prove that the maintenance of society is an object in itself." (CWSN 1: 19)
50. Sister Nivedita wrote:
He touched on the question of his own position as a wandering teacher and expressed the Indian diffidence with regard to religious organization or, as someone expresses it, "with regard to a faith that ends in a church". "We believe", he said, "that organization always breeds new evils".
He prophesied that certain religious developments then much in vogue in the West would speedily die, owing to love of money. And he declared that "Man proceeds from truth to truth, and not from error to truth". (CWSN 1: 19-20)
51. "The universe is like a cobweb and minds are the spiders; for mind is one as well as many." (CWSN 1: 21)
52. "Let none regret that they were difficult to convince! I fought my Master for six years with the result that I know every inch of the way! Every inch of the way!" (CWSN 1: 22)
53. Swami Vivekananda was elucidating to what heights of selflessness the path of love leads and how it draws out the very best faculties of the soul:
"Suppose there were a baby in the path of the tiger! Where would your place be then? At his mouth — any one of you — I am sure of it." (CWSN 1: 24)
54. "That by which all this is pervaded, know That to be the Lord Himself!" (CWSN 1: 27)
55. Concerning Swami Vivekananda's attitude toward religion:
Religion was a matter of the growth of the individual, "a question always of being and becoming". (CWSN 1: 28)
56. "Forgive when you also can bring legions of angels to an easy victory." While victory was still doubtful, however, only a coward to his thinking would turn the other cheek. (CWSN 1: 28-29)
57. "Of course I would commit a crime and go to hell forever if by that I could really help a human being!" (CWSN 1: 34)
58. To a small group, including Sister Nivedita, after a lecture:
"I have a superstition — it is nothing, you know, but a personal superstition! — that the same soul who came once as Buddha came afterwards as Christ." (CWSN 1: 35)
59. After Swami Vivekananda was told of Sister Nivedita's willingness to serve India:
"For my own part I will be incarnated two hundred times, if that is necessary, to do this work amongst my people that I have undertaken." (CWSN 1: 36)
60. Sister Nivedita's memory of an incident:
He was riding on one occasion with the Raja of Khetri, when he saw that his arm was bleeding profusely and found that the wound had been caused by a thorny branch which he had held aside for himself to pass. When the Swami expostulated, the Rajput laughed the matter aside. "Are we not always the defenders of the faith, Swamiji?" he said.
"And then", said the Swami, telling the story, "I was just going to tell him that they ought not to show such honour to the Sannyasin, when suddenly I thought that perhaps they were right after all. Who knows? Maybe I too am caught in the glare of this flashlight of your modern civilization, which is only for a moment".
" — I have become entangled", he said simply to one who protested that to his mind the wandering Sâdhu of earlier years, who had scattered his knowledge and changed his name as he went, had been greater than the abbot of Belur, burdened with much work and many cares. "I have become entangled." (CWSN 1: 43)
61. Sister Nivedita wrote:
One day he was talking in the West of Mirâ Bâi — that saint who once upon a time was Queen of Chitore — and of the freedom her husband had offered her if only she would remain within the royal seclusion. But she could not be bound. "But why should she not?" someone asked in astonishment. "Why should she?" he retorted. "Was she living down here in this mire?" (CWSN 1: 44)
62. As years went by, the Swami dared less and less to make determinate plans or dogmatize about the unknown:
"After all, what do we know? Mother uses it all. But we are only fumbling about." (CWSN 1: 44)
63. Quoting Swami Vivekananda, Sister Nivedita remembered:
Love was not love, it was insisted, unless it was "without a reason" or without a "motive" . . . . (CWSN 1: 52)
64. About Swami Vivekananda, Sister Nivedita wrote:
When asked by some of his own people what he considered, after seeing them in their own country, to be the greatest achievement of the English, he answered "that they had known how to combine obedience with self-respect". (CWSN 1: 54)
65. Swami Sadananda reported that early in the morning, while it was still dark, Swami Vivekananda would rise and call the others, singing:
"Awake! Awake! all ye who would drink of the divine nectar!" (CWSN 1: 56)
66. Sister Nivedita remembered:
At this time [during the Swami's itinerant days, near Almora] he passed some months in a cave overhanging a mountain village. Only twice have I known him to allude to this experience. Once he said, "Nothing in my whole life ever so filled me with the sense of work to be done. It was as if I were thrown out from that life in caves to wander to and fro in the plains below". And again he said to someone, "It is not the form of his life that makes a Sadhu. For it is possible to sit in a cave and have one's whole mind filled with the question of how many pieces of bread will be brought to one for supper!" (CWSN 1: 61)
67. About his own poem "Kali the Mother":
"Scattering plagues and sorrows", he quoted from his own verses,
Dancing mad with joy,
Come, Mother, come!
For terror is Thy name!
Death — is in Thy breath.
And every shaking step
Destroys a world for e'er.
"It all came true, every word of it", he interrupted himself to say.
Who dares misery love.
Dance in Destruction's dance,
And hug the form of death, . . .
"To him the Mother does indeed come. I have proved it. For I have hugged the form of Death!" (CWSN 1: 98-99)
68. Sister Nivedita, referring to her plans for a girls' school:
Only in one respect was he [Swami Vivekananda] inflexible. The work for the education of Indian women, to which he would give his name, might be as sectarian as I chose to make it. "You wish through a sect to rise beyond all sects." (CWSN 1: 102)
69. Commenting on Sister Nivedita's visit to Gopaler-Ma's dwelling — a small cell:
"Ah! this is the old India that you have seen, the India of prayers and tears, of vigils and fasts, that is passing away, never to return!" (CWSN 1: 109)
>70. About the aims of the Ramakrishna Order:
The same purpose spoke again in his definition of the aims of the Order of Ramakrishna — "to effect an exchange of the highest ideals of the East and the West and to realize these in practice" . . . . (CWSN 1: 113)
71. After teaching Sister Nivedita the worship of Shiva, Swami Vivekananda then culminated it in an offering of flowers at the feet of the Buddha. He said, as if addressing each soul that would ever come to him for guidance:
"Go thou and follow Him, who was born and gave His life for others five hundred times before He attained the vision of the Buddha!" (CWSN 1: 114)
72. Upon returning from a pilgrimage in Kashmir:
"These gods are not merely symbols! They are the forms that the Bhaktas have seen!" (CWSN 1: 120)
73. Sister Nivedita's reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda's words heard long before:
"The Impersonal God seen through the mists of sense is personal." (CWSN 1: 120)
74. Swami Vivekananda's comment when he was reminded of the rareness of criminality in India:
"Would God it were otherwise in my land, for this is verily the virtuousness of death!" (CWSN 1: 123)
75. Swami Vivekananda said:
"The whole of life is only a swan song! Never forget those lines:
The lion, when stricken to the heart,
gives out his mightiest roar.
When smitten on the head, the cobra lifts its hood. And the majesty of the soul comes forth,
only when a man is wounded to his depths."
(CWSN 1: 124)
76. After hearing of the death of Shri Durga Charan Nag (Nag Mahashay):
"[He] was one of the greatest of the works of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa." (CWSN 1: 129)
77. About Shri Ramakrishna's transformative power, Swami Vivekananda said:
"Was it a joke that Ramakrishna Paramahamsa should touch a life? Of course he made new men and new women of those who came to him, even in these fleeting contacts!" (CWSN 1: 130)
78. While speaking on the true spirit of a Sannyasin, Swami Vivekananda said:
"I saw many great men in Hrishikesh. One case that I remember was that of a man who seemed to be mad. He was coming nude down the street, with boys pursuing and throwing stones at him. The whole man was bubbling over with laughter while blood was streaming down his face and neck. I took him and bathed the wound, putting ashes on it to stop the bleeding. And all the time with peals of laughter he told me of the fun the boys and he had been having, throwing the stones. 'So the Father plays', he said.
"Many of these men hide, in order to guard themselves against intrusion. People are a trouble to them. One had human bones strewn about his cave and gave it out that he lived on corpses. Another threw stones. And so on. . . .
"Sometimes the thing comes upon them in a flash. There was a boy, for instance, who used to come to read the Upanishads with Abhedananda. One day he turned and said, 'Sir, is all this really true?'
"'Oh yes!' said Abhedananda, 'It may be difficult to realize, but it is certainly true'.
"And next day, that boy was a silent Sannyasin, nude, on his way to Kedarnath!
"What happened to him? you ask. He became silent!
"But the Sannyasin needs no longer to worship or to go on pilgrimage or perform austerities. What then is the motive of all this going from pilgrimage to pilgrimage, shrine to shrine, and austerity to austerity? He is acquiring merit and giving it to the world!" (CWSN 1: 133)
79. Referring to the story of Shibi Rana:
"Ah yes! These are the stories that are deep in our nation's heart! Never forget that the Sannyasin takes two vows: one to realize the truth and one to help the world — and that the most stringent of stringent requirements is that he should renounce any thought of heaven!" (CWSN 1: 134)
80. To Sister Nivedita:
"The Gitâ says that there are three kinds of charity: the Tâmasic, the Râjasic and the Sâttvic. Tamasic charity is performed on an impulse. It is always making mistakes. The doer thinks of nothing but his own impulse to be kind. Rajasic charity is what a man does for his own glory. And Sattvic charity is that which is given to the right person, in the right way, and at the proper time. . . .
"When it comes to the Sattvic, I think more and more of a certain great Western woman in whom I have seen that quiet giving, always to the right person in the right way, at the right time, and never making a mistake.
"For my own part, I have been learning that even charity can go too far. . . .
"As I grow older I find that I look more and more for greatness in little things. I want to know what a great man eats and wears, and how he speaks to his servants. I want to find a Sir Philip Sidney (Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586): English poet, soldier and politician.) greatness! Few men would remember the thirst of others, even in the moment of death.
"But anyone will be great in a great position! Even the coward will grow brave in the glare of the footlights. The world looks on. Whose heart will not throb? Whose pulse will not quicken till he can do his best?
"More and more the true greatness seems to me that of the worm doing its duty silently, steadily, from moment to moment and from hour to hour." (CWSN 1: 137)
81. Referring to the great individual — the divine incarnation, the Guru, and the Rishi:
"You do not yet understand India! We Indians are man — worshippers, after all! Our God is man!" (CWSN 1: 144)
82. On another occasion, Swami Vivekananda used the word "man-worshippers" in an entirely different sense:
"This idea of man—worship exists in nucleus in India, but it has never been expanded. You must develop it. Make poetry, make art, of it. Establish the worship of the feet of beggars as you had it in Mediaeval Europe. Make man-worshippers." (CWSN 1: 144-45)
83. To Sister Nivedita:
"There is a peculiar sect of Mohammedans who are reported to be so fanatical that they take each newborn babe and expose it, saying, 'If God made thee, perish! If Ali made thee, live!' Now this, which they say to the child, I say, but in the opposite sense, to you tonight: 'Go forth into the world and there, if I made you, be destroyed! If Mother made you, live'!" (CWSN 1: 151)
84. Long after Southern magnates in America had apologized to Vivekananda when they learned that he had been mistaken for a Negro and was thus refused admission into hotels, the Swami remarked to himself:
"What! rise at the expense of another! I didn't come to earth for that! . . . If I am grateful to my white-skinned Aryan ancestor, I am far more so to my yellow-skinned Mongolian ancestor and, most so of all, to the black-skinned Negritoid!" (CWSN 1: 153)
85. Commenting on the dungeon-cages of mediaeval prisoners on Mont-Saint-Michel:
(CWSN 1: 154)
"Oh, I know I have wandered over the whole earth, but in India I have looked for nothing save the cave in which to meditate!" (Ibid.)
86. Though he considered offspring of the Roman Empire to be brutal and the Japanese notion of marriage a horror, Swami Vivekananda nevertheless summed up the constructive ideals, never the defects, of a community:
"For patriotism, the Japanese! For purity, the Hindu! And for manliness, the European! There is no other in the world who understands, as does the Englishman, what should be the glory of a man!" (CWSN 1: 160)
87. Swami Vivekananda said of himself before he left for America in 1893:
"I go forth to preach a religion of which Buddhism is nothing but a rebel child and Christianity, with all her pretensions, only a distant echo!" (CWSN 1: 161)
88. Describing the night Buddha left his wife to renounce the world, Swami Vivekananda said:
"What was the problem that vexed him? Why! It was she whom he was about to sacrifice for the world! That was the struggle! He cared nothing for himself!" (CWSN 1: 172)
89. After describing Buddha's touching farewell to his wife, the Swami said:
"Have you never thought of the hearts of the heroes? How they were great, great, great — and soft as butter?" (CWSN 1: 172)
90. Swami Vivekananda's description of Buddha's death and its similarity with that of Shri Ramakrishna's:
He told how the blanket had been spread for him beneath the tree and how the Blessed One had lain down, "resting on his right side like a lion" to die, when suddenly there came to him one who ran for instruction. The disciples would have treated the man as an intruder, maintaining peace at any cost about their Master's death-bed, but the Blessed One overheard, and saying, "No, no! He who was sent (Lit., “the Tathâgata”. “A word”, explained Swami Vivekananda, “which is very like your ‘Messiah’”.) is ever ready", he raised himself on his elbow and taught. This happened four times and then, and then only, Buddha held himself free to die. "But first he spoke to reprove Ananda for weeping. The Buddha was not a person but a realization, and to that any one of them might attain. And with his last breath he forbade them to worship any."
The immortal story went on to its end. But to one who listened, the most significant moment had been that in which the teller paused — at his own words "raised himself on his elbow and taught" — and said, in brief parenthesis, "I saw this, you know, in the case of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa". And there rose before the mind the story of one, destined to learn from that teacher, who had travelled a hundred miles, and arrived at Cossipore only when he lay dying. Here also the disciples would have refused admission, but Shri Ramakrishna intervened, insisting on receiving the new-comer, and teaching him. (CWSN 1: 175-176)
91. Commenting on the historic and philosophic significance of Buddhistic doctrine:
"Form, feeling, sensation, motion and knowledge are the five categories in perpetual flux and fusion. And in these lies Maya. Of any one wave nothing can be predicated, for it is not. It but was and is gone. Know, O Man, thou art the sea! Ah, this was Kapila's philosophy, but his great disciple [Buddha] brought the heart to make it live!" (CWSN 1: 176)
92. Concerning the Buddhist First Council and the dispute as to its President:
"Can you imagine what their strength was? One said it should be Ananda, because he had loved Him most. But someone else stepped forward and said no! for Ananda had been guilty of weeping at the death-bed. And so he was passed over!" (CWSN 1: 177)
93. Considering reincarnation a "scientific speculation" rather than an article of faith:
"Why, one life in the body is like a million years of confinement, and they want to wake up the memory of many lives! Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof! . . . Yes! Buddhism must be right! Reincarnation is only a mirage! But this vision is to be reached by the path of Advaita alone!" (CWSN 1: 180-81)
94. "Had I lived in Palestine, in the days of Jesus of Nazareth, I would have washed his feet, not with my tears, but with my heart's blood!" (CWSN 1: 189)
95. "For the Advaitin, therefore, the only motive is love. . . . It is the Saviour who should go on his way rejoicing, not the saved!" (CWSN 1: 197-98)
96. On the necessity of restraint in a disciple's life:
"Struggle to realize yourself without a trace of emotion! . . . Watch the fall of the leaves, but gather the sentiment of the sight from within at some later time!" (CWSN 1: 207)
"Mind! No loaves and fishes! No glamour of the world! All this must be cut short. It must be rooted out. It is sentimentality—the overflow of the senses. It comes to you in colour, sight, sound, and associations. Cut it off. Learn to hate it. It is utter poison!" (Ibid., 207-208)
97. On the value of types:
"Two diffferent races mix and fuse, and out of them rises one strong distinct type. A strong and distinct type is always the physical basis of the horizon. It is all very well to talk of universalism, but the world will not be ready for that for millions of years!
"Remember! if you want to know what a ship is like, the ship has to be specified as it is — its length, breadth, shape, and material. And to understand a nation, we must do the same. India is idolatrous. You must help her as she is. Those who have left her can do nothing for her!" (CWSN 1: 209)
98. Describing the Indian ideal of Brahmacharya in the student's life, Swami Vivekananda said:
"Brahmacharya should be like a burning fire within the veins!" (CWSN 1: 216)
99. Concerning marriage by arrangement instead of choice, Swami Vivekananda said:
"There is such pain in this country! Such pain! Some, of course, there must always have been. But now the sight of Europeans with their different customs has increased it. Society knows that there is another way!
[To a European] "We have exalted motherhood and you, wifehood; and I think both might gain by some interchange.
"In India the wife must not dream of loving even a son as she loves her husband. She must be Sati. But the husband ought not to love his wife as he does his mother. Hence a reciprocated affection is not thought so high as one unreturned. It is 'shopkeeping'. The joy of the contact of husband and wife is not admitted in India. This we have to borrow from the West. Our ideal needs to be refreshed by yours. And you, in turn, need something of our devotion to motherhood." (CWSN 1: 221-22)
100. Speaking to a disciple with great compassion:
"You need not mind if these shadows of home and marriage cross your mind sometimes. Even to me, they come now and again!" (CWSN 1: 222)
101. On hearing of the intense loneliness of a friend:
"Every worker feels like that at times!" (CWSN 1: 222)
102. Concerning the Hindu and Buddhist monastic and non-monastic ideals:
"The glory of Hinduism lies in the fact that while it has defined ideals, it has never dared to say that any one of these alone was the one true way. In this it differs from Buddhism, which exalts monasticism above all others as the path that must be taken by all souls to reach perfection. The story given in the Mahâbhârata of the young saint who was made to seek enlightenment, first from a married woman and then from a butcher, is sufficient to show this. 'By doing my duty', said each one of these when asked, 'by doing my duty in my own station, have I attained this knowledge'. There is no career then which might not be the path to God. The question of attainment depends only, in the last resort, on the thirst of the soul." (CWSN 1: 223)
103. With reference to the idea that the lover always sees the ideal in the beloved, Swami Vivekananda responded to a girl's newly avowed love:
"Cling to this vision! As long as you can both see the ideal in one another, your worship and happiness will grow more instead of less." (CWSN 1: 224)
104. "The highest truth is always the simplest." (CWSN 1: 226)
105. Swami Vivekananda's remarks on American séances:
"Always the greatest fraud by the simplest means." (CWSN 1: 233)
106. On Western and Eastern views of a person as a body or a soul:
"Western languages declare that man is a body and has a soul; Eastern languages declare that he is a soul and has a body." (CWSN 1: 236-37)
107. Concerning Swami Vivekananda's reverence for his Guru:
"I can criticize even an Avatâra [divine incarnation] without the slightest diminution of my love for him! But I know quite well that most people are not so; and for them it is safest to protect their own Bhakti!" (CWSN 1: 252)
"Mine is the devotion of the dog! I don't want to know why! I am contented simply to follow!" (Ibid., 252-53)
108. "Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to begin every day by walking about in his room for a couple of hours, saying 'Satchidânanda!' or 'Shivoham!' or some other holy word." (CWSN 1: 255)
109. A few months before his passing away, Swami Vivekananda said:
"How often does a man ruin his disciples by remaining always with them! When men are once trained, it is essential that their leader leaves them; for without his absence they cannot develop themselves!" (CWSN 1: 260)
110. A few days before his passing away, the Swami said:
"I am making ready for death. A great Tapasyâ and meditation has come upon me, and I am making ready for death." (CWSN 1: 261-62)
111. In Kashmir after an illness, Swami Vivekananda said as he lifted a couple of pebbles:
"Whenever death approaches me, all weakness vanishes. I have neither fear, nor doubt, nor thought of the external. I simply busy myself making ready to die. I am as hard as that [the pebbles struck one another in his hand] — for I have touched the feet of God!" (CWSN 1: 262)
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