Be Not Discouraged by Difficulties, Persevere And You Shall Succeed | Vivekananda’s Teachings (VIDEO)
In the enclosed video we visit Swami Vivekananda’s teachings on perseverance, on the importance of possessing patience and an indomitable will, in order to attain to success in the spiritual domain, as well as in the material. Swamiji highlights this truth through a wonderful story found in the Kurma Purana, which has been translated by […]
Happy in Good Times and Depressed in Bad – This Behaviour is Wrong! (Hindi AUDIO)
Dear Readers, This audio podcast constitutes the first of a new Hindi broadcast series that I am launching on a trial basis. For the next few months, I shall publish a new Hindi audio/video on the 15th of every month. English videos/posts shall continue to be published on the 1st of every month. Therefore if […]
Why is Life So Hard and Full of Difficulties?
Why is life so hard and full of difficulties? A sadhak (spiritual aspirant) once asked Swami Shivananda, who was one of the 16 direct monastic disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. Here is the answer Swamiji gave: “Life without struggles is no life at all. If a man has a continuous flow of happiness and sense-enjoyment, then […]
Don’t Be Jealous When Others Succeed | Teachings of Swami Vivekananda
“Nobleness is to refuse all personal calculation. Generosity is to find one’s own satisfaction in the satisfaction of others.” – The Mother (Sri Aurobindo Ashram) A powerful teaching of Swami Vivekananda, on how to progress to a higher spiritual consciousness by cutting out the tumor of jealousy from within us. Swami Vivekananda: “I once read […]
How to Get Peace of Mind? An Answer from the Holy Mother
The following teaching of the Holy Mother, Sarada Ma, has been taken from the book: Spiritual Talks by the First Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. About the Holy Mother: Sarada Ma was the spiritual counterpart of Sri Ramakrishna and a God-realized yogi just like him. Regarding her spiritual stature, Swami Turiyananda, a direct-disciple of Sri Ramakrishna […]
Help Others, But Don’t Expect Gratitude in Return | Nishkama Karma of the Gita
Many times when we help others but don’t get so much as a thank you in return, we get terribly disappointed. In our mind we start making sweeping generalizations – “This age is not one where you can do good to others. There is no gratitude left in people.” Thinking such things we withdraw our […]
The #1 Secret to a Happy Marriage
The following story has been taken from the Hindi writings of Pandit Shriram Sharma (Vangmay # 50 pages 2.56-2.57). It is presented here in an adapted and translated form. A married youth once approached Saint Kabir with a deeply troubled heart. All was not well with his marriage. The young man and his wife often […]
Part 2: How to Deal With Bullying and Harassment?
In the previous post, we learnt from Swami Vivekananda that the best way to handle insults is to remain detached and to not react. In this way our mind stays established in inner peace and its conserved energies can then be directed towards attaining loftier goals. Now the above teaching of Swamiji works well when […]
Part 1: How to Deal With Insults and Slander?
We live in acrimonious times. All around us we see people trying to rise up by pulling another down. Personal success at the expense of the other seems to be the mantra of today. Everywhere we look this saga is being played out. We see it in the corporate world, in national and international politics, […]
Why We Must Be Thankful for Difficult Times
Many years ago, I came across a saying in a Chinese fortune cookie: “A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner.” In those days, I was facing some difficult times and so these words bolstered my spirits considerably. Still later, I chanced upon the same wisdom, expressed in even greater detail in the writings of […]
How to Increase Your Willpower? The Secret to Succeeding Like Never Before!
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” – Mahatma Gandhi The secret to achieving any kind of success lies in an indomitable will. Here by success is not just meant a narrow kind of business or academic success, but a much broader victory over the ills of life itself. […]
2-Minute Spirituality – A Prayer to Elevate the Mind and Soul
The goal of prayer is not to reduce ourselves to the position of a beggar, asking God to fulfill our trifling material wants and desires; but it is to elevate the mind and spirit, to build out our inner character and to cultivate an indomitable courage that allows us to sail through life’s worst storms […]
Beautiful Life Poem – Life is Short, Keep that in Mind and Rejoice
Nothing lasts forever. It is this very fact that lends beauty to life. We treasure our joys and find the strength to lightly bear our sorrows, knowing this great truth. The garden of earth is kept eternally fresh and desirable because death is as much a part of it, as life. NONE lives for ever, […]
2-Minute Spirituality – If You Met God Today, How Would You Introduce Yourself?
“Greatness is not found in possessions, power, position or prestige, but in goodness, humility, service and character.” – William Arthur Ward Imagine if you had to go up and introduce yourself to God – how would you describe yourself? Would you say “God I am the person who works as a vice president in a […]
Spiritual Courage – The Boldness which Believes in the Truth and Dares to Practice It
“He indeed is the steady man who does not move one inch from the way of truth.” – King Bharthari (1 BC) If you wish to change the world, cultivate the boldness that does not quake, that does not budge one inch from the path of truth! There are two sorts of courage. One is […]
Powerful Motivational Words that Renew Your Spirit and Bring Solace during Life’s Difficult Stretches
“The entire purpose of manifest existence is simply to facilitate the realization of who and what you really are.” – Metta Zetty It is a great truth, that in our journey across the waters of life, from the shores of birth to the shores of death, we have all to sail through many a turbulent […]