Laws of Life by Swami Vivekananda

What You Need to Keep in Mind :

1. Love Is The Law Of Life: All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who loves lives, he who is selfish is dying. Therefore, love for love's sake, because it is law of life, just as you breathe to live.
2. It's Your Outlook That Matters: It is our own mental attitude, which makes the world what it is for us. Our thoughts make things beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our own minds. Learn to see things in the proper light.
3. Life is Beautiful: First, believe in this world - that there is meaning behind everything. Everything in the world is good, is holy and beautiful. If you see something evil, think that you do not understand it in the right light. Throw the burden on yourselves!
4. It's The Way You Feel: Feel like Christ and you will be a Christ; feel like Buddha and you will be a Buddha. It is feeling that is the life, the strength, the vitality, without which no amount of intellectual activity can reach God.
5. Set Yourself Free: The moment I have realised God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him - that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.
6. Don't Play The Blame Game: Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you cannot, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their own way.
7. Help Others: If money helps a man to do good to others, it is of some value; but if not, it is simply a mass of evil, and the sooner it is got rid of, the better.
8. Uphold Your Ideals: Our duty is to encourage every one in his struggle to live up to his own highest idea, and strive at the same time to make the ideal as near as possible to the Truth.
9. Listen To Your Soul: You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.
10. Be Yourself: The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves!
11. Nothing Is Impossible: Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin - to say that you are weak, or others are weak.
12. You Have The Power: All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark.
13. Learn Everyday: The goal of mankind is knowledge... now this knowledge is inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside: it is all inside. What we say a man 'knows', should, in strict psychological language, be what he 'discovers' or 'unveils'; what man 'learns' is really what he discovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge.
14. Be Truthful: Everything can be sacrificed for truth, but truth cannot be sacrificed for anything.
15. Think Different: All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything.

Laws of the memory

YOUR MEMORY IS YOUR PAST.
NEGATIVE THINGS RECORDED BY THE EGO ARE THE MOST VISIBLE DATA YOU CAN RECALL EASILY.
READING NEWPAPER IS AN EXAMPLE OF DEVELOPING VERY NEGATIVE MEMORY.
RECALLING GOOD THINGS FROM THE PAST IS VERY DIFFICULT.

Laws of the ego

EGO IS THE IDENTIFICATION OF MIND WITH A PERSON, THING, SITUATION OR CONCEPT.
EGO THRIVES ON NEGATIVITY.
EGO RECORDS.
EGO WILL NOT RECORD ANYTHING IF YOU ARE HAVING GOOD TIME.
EGO WILL RECORD EVERYTHING IF YOU ARE HAVING BAD TIME.

Laws of the mind

MIND IS BUSY FEELING FEAR, GUILT, ANXIETY, ANGER AND TENSIONS.
MIND NEEDS SUPPORT TO FEEL GOOD AND CONFIDENT ABOUT ITSELF.
MIND FINDS SUPPORT IN PEOPLE, THINGS, SITUATIONS AND CONCEPTS.
MIND CAN NOT FIND LASTING SUPPORT IN PEOPLE, THINGS, SITUATIONS AND CONCEPTS AS THEY CHANGE WITH TIME.
MIND KNOWS THE LAWS OF THE BODY AND THE BREATH.
MIND KEEPS ITSELF BUSY TO FORGET THE LAWS OF THE BODY AND THE BREATH.
MIND LIVES EITHER IN THE PAST OR IN THE FUTURE.

Laws of the breath

ONE LIVES AS LONG AS THE BREATH IS FLOWING.
ONE DIES THE MOMENT BREATH STOPS
YOGIC TECHNIQUES CAN MAKE YOU REALIZE THAT YOU CAN EXIST EVEN WITHOUT BREATHING.

Laws of the body

BIRTH, GROWTH, MATURITY, DECAY AND DEATH HAPPEN TO ALL PERSONS AND THINGS IN THE UNIVERSE.
DEATH, DISEASE AND ACCIDENT MAY HAPPEN ANY TIME TO ANYONE.

Laws of the world

THE WORLD IS LIKE A TEN DIMENTIONAL INTERACTIVE MOVIE.
YOUR WORLD REFLECTS YOU ALONE.
YOU ARE THE HERO/HEROINE OF YOUR STORY.
PEOPLE, THINGS & SITUATIONS WILL KEEP APPEARING AND DISAPPEARING IN YOUR STORY.
EVERYONE WANTS TO WIN/GAIN ALL THE TIME.
EVERYONE BELIEVES IN ONE’S CONVICTIONS AND NOT IN ONESELF.
IN THE END, DEATH/DESTRUCTION TAKES AWAY WHATEVER ONE GAINS HERE.
IN THE END, ONE FEELS LIKE A LOST GAMBLER.
HELPLESSNESS BEFORE DEATH MAKES EVERYONE FORGET THE FINAL REALITY.
THIS HELPLESSNESS IS THE CAUSE FOR PEOPLE IMMERSING THEMSELVES IN SENSE ENJOYMENTS AND TEMPORARY WORLDLY PURSUITS.
MANY GREAT PEOPLE INCLUDING INCARNATIONS OF GOD CAME TO THIS WORLD AND DEPARTED BUT THE WORLD HAS NOT CHANGED.
THE WORLD HAS BEEN PERFECTLY DESIGNED TO BE LIKE THIS.

Mind and its subtle internal processes

YOUR SYSTEM CAN BE DIVIDED INTO THE FOLLOWING SUBSYSTEMS:

1. BODY
2. BREATH
3. MIND

BODY

THE SYSTEM OF BODY CAN FURTHER BE DIVIDED INTO THE FOLLOWING SUBSYSTEMS:

SENSORY: EYES (SEE), EARS (HEAR), NOSE (SMELL), TONGUE (TASTE), SKIN (TOUCH)

ACTION : HANDS (TO HOLD) , LEGS ( TO CARRY), MOUTH (TO SPEAK), ANUS ( OUTLET FOR WASTE), PRIVATE PARTS ( OUTLET FOR WASTE & PROCREATION

ALL THE BODY PROCESSES ARE AUTOMATIC.

ANY PROBLEMS WITH ANY OF THE BODY PROCESSES IS AN INDICATION OF POOR HEALTH.

BREATH

THE SYSTEM OF BREATH CAN FURTHER BE DIVIDED INTO THE FOLLOWING SUBSYSTEMS:

INHALE

EXHALE

THE BREATHING PROCESS IS AUTOMATIC.

ANY PROBLEMS WITH THE BREATHING PROCESSE IS AN INDICATION OF POOR HEALTH.


MIND

THE SYSTEM OF MIND CAN FURTHER BE DIVIDED INTO THE FOLLOWING SUBSYSTEMS:

YOU, THE INTERFACE BETWEEN YOUR EXTERNAL & INTERNAL WORLDS
MEMORY (YOUR DATABASE)

INTELLECT, YOUR ABILITY TO DISCRIMINATE & UNDERSTAND

ALL THE MIND PROCESSES ARE AUTOMATIC AND ARE CALLED YOUR REFLEXES.

FEAR, ANXIETY, STRESS,TENSIONS ARE INDICATIONS OF LOWER LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING.


OBSERVATIONS:

YOU ARE MORE THAN A SUM TOTAL OF YOUR SUB SYSTEMS.

YOU ARE CONTROLLED BY YOUR INPUTS & SUB SYSTEMS.

Your worlds and your processes

YOU HAVE TWO WORLDS:

* EXTERNAL WORLD
* INTERNAL WORLD

CORRESPONDING TO THESE TWO WORLDS, YOU ARE INVOLVED IN TWO TYPES OF PROCESSES:

** EXTERNAL PROCESSES
** INTERNAL PROCESSES

* EXAMPLES

EXTERNAL WORLD - PEOPLE, THINGS & SITUATIONS

INTERNAL WORLD - MEMORY, THOUGHTS & FEELINGS

EXTERNAL PROCESSES – WITHDRAWING MONEY FROM AN ATM

INTERNAL PROCESSES – UNDERSTANDING A CONCEPT

FACTS

YOUR INTERNAL WORLD REVOLVES AROUND INPUTS FROM YOUR EXTERNAL WORLD.

PEOPLE IN YOUR EXTERNAL WORLD DO NOT KNOW YOUR INNER WORLD.

YOU DO NOT KNOW THE INNER WORLD OF PEOPLE AROUND YOU.

YOU ARE ALSO NOT FAMILIAR WITH YOUR INNER PROCESSES.

YOU ONLY KNOW THE OUTPUTS FROM YOUR INNER PROCESSES.

YOUR EXTERNAL OUTPUTS (EXPRESSIONS, ACTS, WORDS) ARE INPUTS TO THE PEOPLE AROUD YOU AND THESE GET RECORDED IN THEIR MEMORY.

OUTPUTS (EXPRESSIONS, ACTS, WORDS) FROM PEOPLE AROUND YOU ARE INPUTS TO YOU AND THESE GET RECORDED IN YOUR MEMORY.

OBSERVATIONS
YOUR MEMORY CONTAINS PAST INFORMATION.

YOU PERCEIVE PEOPLE, THINGS & SITUATIONS AROUND YOU BASED ON THEIR OUTPUTS AND THEIR PAST IMPRESSSIONS ALREADY STORED IN YOUR MEMORY.
THE OUTPUTS OF YOUR INNER PROCESSES MAY ALSO BECOME INPUTS TO YOUR FURTHER INNER PROCESSES.
EXTERNAL & INTERNAL PROCESSES MAY WORK TOGETHER OR INDEPENDENTLY.

You and your processes

Process approach for YOU can be depicted as :

INPUT(S) → YOU → OUTPUT(S)

Where,

INPUTS : PEOPLE, THINGS,SITUATIONS

YOU : THE SYSTEM OF MANY INTERRELATED SUB SYSTEMS

OUTPUT(S): ACTIONS AND EXPRESSIONS

System and processes

• OUR UNIVERSE IS A SYSTEM.
• THE SUB SYSTEMS OF UNIVERSE ARE CALLED GALAXIES.
• OUR PLANETERY SYSTEM IS AGAIN A SUB SYSTEM OF A GALAXY CALLED THE MILKY WAY.
• EARTH IS A SUB SYSTEM OF THE PLANETARY SYSTEM.
• YOU ARE A SUB SYSTEM OF THE LIFE ON EARTH.
• MANY PROCESSES ARE TAKING PLACE ON EARTH.
• YOU ARE PARTICIPATING IN MANY PROCESSES.
• YOU KNOW MANY PROCESSES.
• YOU DO NOT KNOW MANY PROCESSES.
• A BIG PROCESS HAVING MANY SUB PROCESSES IS CALLED A SYSTEM.
• A SYSTEM HAS MANY INTERRELATED SUB SYSTEMS.
• A SUB SYSTEM HAS MANY PROCESSES WITHIN IT.
• A PROCESS HAS MANY SUB PROCESSES IN IT.
• OUTPUT OF A SUB SYSTEM(S) CAN BE THE INPUT OF ANOTHER SUB SYSTEM.
• OUTPUT OF A PROCESS(S) CAN BE THE INPUT OF ANOTHER PROCESS.

WHAT IS A PROCESS?

A PROCESS CAN BE DESCRIBED AS HAVING THE FOLLOWING:

INPUT(S)

ARRANGEMENT OF INTERRELATED ACTIVITIES

OUTPUT(S)

THE SEQUENCE WOULD BE :

INPUT → ARRANGEMENT OF INTERRELTED ACTIVITIES → OUTPUT

EXAMPLE :

TEA MAKING PROCESS:

INPUTS :

WATER
TEA BAG
MILK
SUGAR
PAN
CUPS
SPOON
GAS STOVE
GAS LIGHTER
&
YOU

PROCESS:

KEEP ALL INPUTS READY

IGNITE THE GAS STOVE WITH THE HELP OF LIGHTER

MEASURE ONE CUP WATER AND POUR INTO THE PAN

KEEP THE PAN ON THE GAS STOVE

LET THE WATER BOIL

NOW POUR ONE SPOON SUGAR

NOW POUR SOME MILK

SWITCH OFF THE GAS STOVE

POUR THE BOILED MILKY WATER INTO THE CUP

DIP THE TEA BAG IN IT

OUTPUT :

ONE CUP OF HOT TEA

Prayer for the Journey of life

Let the journey from darkness to light continue.
Let the journey from confusion to clarity continue.
Let the journey from sorrow to joy continue.
Let the journey from sickness to health continue.
Let the journey from chaos to peace continue.
Let the journey from weakness to strength continue.
Let the journey from ignorance to knowledge continue.
Let the journey from selfishness to sharing continue.

Devotion

Devotion frees.

Bondage

Desires, Inequality & ignorance about self are the three main causes of Bondage.

Direct to home (DTH) technique

Direct to Home Technique


Follow the truth , that has created you, sustaining you and will finally merge you within itself.

Take direct guidance from the truth alone to make you feel at home.

Let the truth be your Guru, Guide, Mentor, Trouble Shooter, Financier and Support.

Follow the only true selfless advice available on earth.

Hold the hand of the truth within and travel on the path of health, everlasting success and bliss.


DIERCT TO HOME (DTH) TECHNIQUE

SIT COMFORTABLY CROSS LEGGED OR IN A CHAIR.

EXPERIENCE YOUR NATURAL BREATH COMING IN AND OUT THROUGH YOUR NOSTRILS.
( 25% OF THE SITING TIME)

THEN TAKE YOUR ATTENTION TO TOP OF YOUR HEAD AND FFEL FOR SENSATIONS THERE. SENSATIONS MAY BE OF ITCHING, WARMTH, PULSATIONS, PLEASANT OR UNPLEASANT ETC.

STAY AT ONE AREA FOR 2 MINUTES FEELING THE SENSATION OR ITS ABSENCE..

NOW MOVE YOUR ATTENTION CLOCKWISE COVERING ALL PARTS , INCH BY INCH , LOOKING FOR THE SENATIONS, IF ANY.

DONOT REACT TO THE SENSATIONS AND REMEMBER THAT ALL THE SENATIONS ARE TEMPORARY BY NATURE.

COMPLETE ONE ROUND FROM TOP OF YOUR HEAD TO YOUR TOE ONCE IN THE MORNING AND ONCE IN THE EVENING.

NOW LET THE SENSATIONS SPEAK TO YOU ANYWHERE FROM YOUR BODY.

FINALLY, REMEMBER TO SAY THE FOLLOWING FOUR LITTLE PRAYERS :
I FORGIVE ALL BEINGS WHO HAVE HURT OR HARMED ME, KNOWINGLY OR UNKNOWINGLY
I SEEK FORGIVENESS FROM ALL BEING TO WHON I MIGHT HAVE HURT KNOWINGLY OR UNKNOWINGLY.
LET MY MERITS BE SHARED BY ALL BEINGS.
LET ALL BE HAPPY. PROSPEROUS AND PEACEFUL.

PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR SENSATIONS AFTER WAKING UP AND BEFORE GOING TO SLEEP.

AFTER PRACTICING, THE DTH TECHNIQUE FOR TEN DAYS, YOU CAN SHARE IT WITH ANY ONE WHOM YOU THINK IS SUFFERING FROM ADDICTIONS, POOR HEALTH, FINANCIAL DIFFFICULTIES OR ANY OTHER PROBLEMS.
JOIN THE DTH YAHOOGROUP TO SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES AND SPREAD HEALTH, HAPPINESS, PEACE AND SUCCESS.

Atheism

I was an atheist till I realized that I was the God.