Sandeha Nivarini - Post 23

46 Maxims

Devotee: Swami, tell me how we should, generally, conduct ourselves. What qualities should we possess? Which type of subjects should we try to understand? To receive divine grace and attain Your Holy Presence, what acts should we perform? Please tell me the more important of these, the essential things, the chosen jewels.

Swami: Oh! It seems, Parvathi asked Iswara once, “It is difficult to retain in memory the thousand names of God; it takes a long time to learn them and repeat them; so, please tell me one single name that is the essence of all the thousand.” 

Similarly, you perhaps find it difficult to grasp all that I write and explain, so you are asking me to tell you about the most important, right? But you see, Names have their essence, and the subjects you ask about are different. Though their objective and final result are one, the practices, the paths of activity, cannot be one. They cannot all be summarised in one word! 

Still, I’ll give you now some selected jewels, maxims of conduct, that are very important. Collect and treasure them well. Experience them well, put them into practice, and derive joy therefrom. Wear these jewels and beautify yourself. 

Devotee: Exactly what I wanted! How lucky I am! 

Swami: Then listen carefully, I shall tell you.

1. Divine love (prema) should be considered as the very breath of life.

2. The love (prema) that is manifest in all things equally —believe that that love is Supreme Atma (Param- atma).

3.The one Supreme Atma is in everyone, in the form of divine love.

4.More than all other forms of love, one’s first effort should be to fix one’s love on the Lord. 

5.Such love directed toward God is devotion (bhakthi); the fundamental test is the acquisition of devotion. 

6.Those who seek the bliss of the Atma should not run after the joys of sense objects.

7.Truth (sathya) must be treated as life-giving as breathing itself. 

8.Just as a body that has no breath is useless and begins to rot and stink within a few minutes, so life without truth is useless and becomes the stinking abode of strife and grief. 

9.Believe that there is nothing greater than truth, nothing more precious, sweeter, more lasting. 

10. Truth is the all-protecting God. There is no mightier guardian than truth.

11. The Lord, who is the embodiment of truth (sathya), grants His sight (darshan) to those of truthful speech and loving heart.

12. Have undiminished kindness toward all beings and also the spirit of self-sacrifice.

13. You must possess control of the senses, an unruffled character, and non-attachment.

14. Be always on the alert against the four sins that the tongue is prone to commit: (1) speaking falsehood, (2) speaking ill of others, (3) back-biting, and (4) talking too much. It is best to attempt to control these tendencies.

15. Try to prevent the five sins that the body commits: killing, adultery, theft, drinking intoxicants, and the eating of flesh. It is a great help for the highest life if these are kept as far away as possible.

Continued.......

Swami Vivekananda