Big Pigeon

“…Why do we see wickedness? There was a stump of a tree, and in the dark, a thief came that way and said, "That is a policeman." A young man waiting for his beloved saw it and thought that it was his sweetheart. A child who had been told ghost stories took it for a ghost and began to shriek. But all the time it was the stump of a tree. We see the world as we are. Suppose there is a baby in a room with a bag of gold on the table and a thief comes and steals the gold. Would the baby know it was stolen?

That which we have inside, we see outside. The baby has no thief inside and sees no thief outside. So with all knowledge. Do not talk of the wickedness of the world and all its sins. Weep that you are bound to see wickedness yet. Weep that you are bound to see sin everywhere, and if you want to help the world, do not condemn it. Do not weaken it more. For what is sin and what is misery, and what are all these, but the results of weakness? The world is made weaker and weaker every day by such teachings.

Men and women are taught from childhood that they are weak and sinners. Teach them that they are all glorious children of immortality, even those who are the weakest in manifestation. Let positive, strong, helpful thought enter into their brains from very childhood. Lay yourselves open to these thoughts, and not to weakening and paralyzing ones.

Say to your own minds, "I am the Atman. I am the Infinite." Let it ring day and night in your minds like a song, and at the point of death declare, "I am the Atman." That is the Truth; the infinite strength of the world is yours. Drive out the superstition that has covered your minds. Let us be brave. Know the truth and practice the truth. The goal may be distant, but awake, arise, and stop not till the goal is reached.” ~ Swami Vivekananda, lecture on Jnana Yoga, London 1896

“…Narendra (Vivekananda) started accepting Ramakrishna as his spiritual teacher and remained with him till Ramakrishna's death in 1886. In the five years since 1882, he closely observed Ramakrishna and took spiritual teachings from him. Ramakrishna found Narendra a Dhyana-siddha (expert in meditation). Narendra as an apprentice of Ramakrishna, took meditation lessons from him, which made his expertise on meditation more firm. Narendra was desirous to experience Nirvikalpa Samadhi (the highest stage of meditation) and requested Ramakrishna to help him to attain that state. But, Ramakrishna wanted to prepare young Narendra and devote him for the service of mankind and told him that wishing to remain absorbed in Samadhi was a small-minded desire.



Ramakrishna loved Narendra as an embodiment of God (Narayana). He himself explained the reason to Narendra— "Mother says that I love you because I see the Lord in you. The day I shall not see Him in you, I shall not be able to bear even the sight of you. He compared Narendra with "a thousand-petalled lotus", "a jar of water", "a red-eyed carp" and "a very big receptacle". He asked others not to attempt to assess or judge Narendra as he felt people would never be able to understand or judge him. He also compared Narendra to a big pigeon...”
~ Wikipedia, Relationship between Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda

"Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836 – 1886), was an Indian mystic and yogi during the 19th-century. Ramakrishna was given to spiritual ecstacies from a young age, and was influenced by several religious traditions, including devotion toward the goddess Kali, Tantra, Vaishnava bhakti, and Advaita Vedanta. Admiration for him amongst Bengali elites led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda.

Swami Vivekananda (1863 – 1902), born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindu monk, a chief disciple of the 19th-century Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world. Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. He is perhaps best known for his speech which began, "Sisters and brothers of America ...," in which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893." ~ Wikipedia