Real Baptism

        We attend lectures and read books, argue and reason about God and soul, religion and salvation. These are not spirituality, because spirituality does not exist in books or theories  or in philosophies. It is not in learning or reasoning, but in actual inner growth. Even parrots can learn things by heart and repeat them. If you become learned, what of it? Asses can carry whole libraries. So when real light will come, there will be no more of this learning from books — no book-learning. The man who cannot write even his own name can be perfectly religious, and the man with all the libraries of the world in his head may fail to be. Learning is not a condition of spiritual growth; scholarship is not a condition. The touch of the Guru, the transmittal of spiritual energy, will quicken your heart. Then will begin the growth. That is the real baptism by fire. No more stopping. You go on and go on………………

The Guru must teach me and lead me into light, make me a link in that chain of which he himself is a link. The man in the street cannot claim to be a Guru. The Guru must be a man who has known, has actually realised the Divine truth, has perceived himself as the spirit. A mere talker cannot be the Guru. A talkative fool like me can talk much,but cannot be the Guru. A true Guru will tell the disciple, “Go and sin no more”; and no more can he sin, no more has the person the power to sin……………………………………….. 

  The power that can transform life in a moment can be found only in the living illumined souls, those shining lights who appear among us from time to time. They alone are fit to be Gurus. (VIII, 115-116)  

Self Realisation through Knowledge

The soul is also sexless; we cannot say of the Atman that it is a man or a woman. Sex belongs to the body alone. All such ideas, therefore, as man or woman, are a delusion when spoken with regard to the Self, and are only proper when spoken of the body. So are the ideas of age. It never ages; the ancient One is always the same. How did It come down to earth? There is but one answer to that in our scriptures. Ignorance is the cause of all this bondage. It is through ignorance that we have become bound; knowledge will cure it by taking us to the other side. How will that knowledge come? Through love, Bhakti; by the worship of God, by loving all beings as the temples of God. He resides within them. Thus, with that intense love will come knowledge, and ignorance will disappear, the bonds will break, and the soul will be free. (III, 128)

Above is quoted a continuation of Swamiji’s lecture at Jafna titled Vedantism. It was for the first time that the world, as also Bharat, was listening to the wonderful ideals enshrined in Upanishads in such a precise scientific and rational language. No wonder he earned for himself the meaningful title of ‘Vedanta Kesari’. 

He wanted the Upanishadic ideals to become part of the upbringing of the Indian child. He used to say, ‘from childhood make your children strong. Weaknesses of any kind and meaningless rituals should not be taught to them. Teach them to stand on their own feet. Let them learn of the glory of the soul. That you get alone in the. Vedanta.t. Vedanta also has the ideals to grow up as courageous, full of magnanimity. First of all let them be centered in the Self of love, worship, etc. found in the other religions, but the idea of the Self within is the most inspiring, the most wonderful. Vedantic religion alone can hormonise the material universe with the highest Truths of religion.