Birthday Celebration of Swami Vivekananda at Belur Math, Howrah, West Bengal on 3rd February, 2013.
Rishihood, the power of supersensuous perception of the Vedas, is real religion. Until this develops in the life of an initiate, religion is a mere empty word to him or her, and it is to be understood that the initiate has not taken yet the first step in religion.
Swami Vivekananda
From “Hinduism and Sri Ramakrishna,” originally written in Bengali. Complete Works, 6. 181
From “Hinduism and Sri Ramakrishna,” originally written in Bengali. Complete Works, 6. 181
Neither we in the East nor they in the West understand how the One became the many. We have offered the solution of this question by saying that it is beyond our understanding, as our understanding is limited. But the variations that the One has undergone, the different sorts of species and individuality it is assuming—this can be understood, and the enquiry into this is called science.
Swami Vivekananda
From “The East and the West,” originally written in Bengali. Complete Works, 5. 520
From “The East and the West,” originally written in Bengali. Complete Works, 5. 520

