A murti of Lord Ganesh from Indonesia, Java Island. See more pictures here.

“Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin: to say that you are weak, or others are weak.”

-Swami Vivekananada

Jai Shri Krishna!

“The question of whether there is a God or truth or reality, or whatever you like to call it, can never be answered by book, by priests, philosophers or saviours. Nobody and nothing can answer the question but you yourself and that is why you must know yourself. Immaturity lies on in total ignorance of self. To understand yourself is the beginning of wisdom.”

- J. Krishnamurti, Freedom From the Known.

“There is not a fellow under the sun who is my disciple. On the contrary, I am everybody’s disciple. All are the children of God. All are His servants. As for me, I consider myself as a speck of the dust of the devotee’s feet.”

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa (1836-1886)

Failure is an opportunity.
If you blame someone else,
there is no end to the blame.
Therefore the Master
fulfills her own obligations
and corrects her own mistakes.
She does what she needs to do
and demands nothing of others.

- Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
-Socrates, in Plato, Dialogues, Apology

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.

~ Lao Tzu

(A variation in translation of the second part of this quote was used as the theme for the recent movie Fearless, featuring Jet Li.)

A number of Swami Vivekananda’s speeches, read out and a video of simple captions are available on Youtube.com. I have read most of his speeches, but it helps sometimes to hear them read out. Their original delivery was as speeches, and it helps convey the feeling better than simple words sometimes. Thank you to the kind soul who went through and made these videos, and uploaded them!

Welcome Address
Why We Disagree

And a man said, “Speak to us of Self-Knowledge.”

And he answered, saying:

Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.

But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart’s knowledge.

You would know in words that which you have always know in thought.

You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams.

And it is well you should.

The hidden well-spring of your soul must needs rise and run murmuring to the sea;

And the treasure of your infinite depths would be revealed to your eyes.

But let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure;

And seek not the depths of your knowledge with staff or sounding line.

For self is a sea boundless and measureless.

Say not, “I have found the truth,” but rather, “I have found a truth.”

Say not, “I have found the path of the soul.” Say rather, “I have met the soul walking upon my path.”

For the soul walks upon all paths.

The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.

The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.

- Khalil Gibran, from The Prophet