Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda

Prominent Indian spiritual leader.

A key figure in the introduction of Indian philosophies to the Western world. He is renowned for his speeches at the Parliament of the World's Religions in 1893, where he spoke on the universality of spirituality and the importance of religious tolerance. His teachings emphasized the need for personal spiritual development and the idea of serving humanity as a form of worship. He played a crucial role in the revival of Hinduism and the promotion of Vedanta philosophy globally. His work inspired many to explore spiritual and philosophical thought.

Swami Vivekananda Quotes about Atman

  • The body is the external coating and the mind is the internal coating of the Atman who is the real perceiver, the real enjoyer, the being in the body who is working the body by means of the internal organ or the mind.
  • One possessing Vairagya does not understand by Atman the individual ego but the All-pervading Lord, residing as the Self and Internal Ruler in all. He is perceivable by all as the sum total.
  • This is the secret of spiritual life: to think that I am the Atman and not the body, and that the whole of this universe with all its relations, with all its good and all its evil, is but as a series of paintings...scenes on a canvas...of which I am the witness.
  • If there is no strength in body and mind, the Atman cannot be realized. First you have to build the body by good nutritious food-then only will the mind be strong.
  • Proclaim the glory of the Atman with the roar of a lion, and impart fearlessness unto all beings by saying, 'Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached'!
  • Jiva (individual soul) is the conscious ruler of this body, in whom the five life principles come into unity, and yet that very Jiva is the Atman, because all is Atman.