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“Later on we read what Krishna says, “Even those who worship other deities are really worshipping me” (note 31). It is God incarnate whom man is worshipping. Would God be angry if you called Him by the wrong name? He would be no God at all! Can’t you understand that whatever a man has in his own heart is God — even if he worships a stone? What of that! We will understand more clearly if we once get rid of the idea that religion consists in doctrines. One idea of religion has been that the whole world was born because Adam ate the apple, and there is no way of escape. Believe in Jesus Christ — in a certain man’s death! But in India there is quite a different idea. [There] religion means realisation, nothing else. It does not matter whether one approaches the destination in a carriage with four horses, in an electric car, or rolling on the ground. The goal is the same. For the [Christians] the problem is how to escape the wrath of the terrible God. For the Indians it is how to become what they really are, to regain their lost Selfhood. ...”
― Lectures on Bhagavad Gita
― Lectures on Bhagavad Gita
“The human mind is like that monkey, incessantly active by its own nature; then it becomes drunk with the wine of desire, thus increasing its turbulence. After desire takes possession comes the sting of the scorpion of jealousy at the success of others, and last of all the demon of pride enters the mind, making it think itself of all importance.”
― Raja-Yoga & Patanjali Yoga-Sutra by Swami Vivekananda
― Raja-Yoga & Patanjali Yoga-Sutra by Swami Vivekananda
“Of one hundred persons who take up the spiritual life, eighty turn out to be charlatans, fifteen insane, and only five, maybe, get a glimpse of the real truth. Therefore beware.”
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“It is better not to love, if loving only means hating others. That is no love. That is hell! If loving your own people means hating everybody else, it is the quintessence of selfishness and brutality, and the effect is that it will make you brutes. Therefore, better die working out your own natural religion than following another’s natural religion, however great it may appear to you”
― Lectures on Bhagavad Gita
― Lectures on Bhagavad Gita
Discovering Russian Literature
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Whether you are a newbie or an expert or simply love Russian literature... Welcome! This is a friendly group where you can share your thoughts an ...more
50 books to read before you die
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These are the named books: 1 The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien 2 1984 by George Orwell 3 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 4 The Gra ...more
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