Quote from Swami Vivekananda

Welcome to Mohanji Speaks.

Hello friends! Hope you’re doing well. Today, let’s talk about a very famous quote by Swami Vivekananda, which goes like this,

“We can forsake anything in the world, for the sake of truth; but we should not forsake truth, for the sake of anything.”

This is a very deep and profound statement.

What does it mean?

You can forsake anything in the world, the sake of truth. You should not forsake the truth for the sake of anything.

What is the ultimate truth that you are born with; that exists with you and travels with you, or stays with you until death, and it survives death as well?

That’s your soul principle. S -o -u- l soul principle or ‘Atma tattva’. That is the real truth that we always live with.

When you say, or when Vivekananda said that we can forsake anything in the world – they are all temporary; the places, the time, the people, the relationships, the materials, the possessions, and positions are all temporary.

Atma tattva – the soul principle is permanent.

If you sell your soul, for the sake of the world, you lose your soul and you will anyway lose the world because the world is impermanent or temporary. But if you forsake anything in the world, for the sake of your soul, or you invest your time in your soul, you have the soul forever.

Let’s talk about the other side of it.

How do you forsake your soul for the things of the world?

Usually, when the conscience is affected, the connection with the soul is challenged. How can the conscience be affected? When we cheat, steal, betray, lie, and do acts that disturb people or the world, our conscience dies.

Conscience is like a bridge between your conscious state and your soul.

Your conscious state includes your body, mind, intellect, ego, the senses, and all that are part of your conscious state. So when you abandon or forsake your conscious character by betraying others, taking things from others, or stealing what belongs to others, and doing negative actions in the world, then the bridge called conscience is burnt and you disconnect from your soul.

That’s what Vivekananda says; burning the bridge is not worth it. So don’t cheat, don’t steal, don’t betray, don’t gossip, don’t talk bad about anybody. In other words, character assassination, gossips, betrayals, all these, burn the bridge called conscience. That’s your connection with your own soul.

You can forsake all things in life, but not the soul, not the truth.

Truth is permanent. Soul exists with you all through your life, survives your death.

If you forsake the permanent in you, for the sake of the temporary, such as body, mind, intellect, ego, senses, materials outside of you; when you attach yourself to all those things and forsake your soul, you miss the opportunity to invest in your permanent aspect.

I hope you understood this point. You can forsake anything in life, but not the truth. Likewise, never forsake truth for anything in life. If you remember this clearly, that will lead you forward, in a very effective and efficient way for the rest of your life.

I leave these thoughts on your plate today. Think about it, ponder over it and think about how many things you have done so far, which have detached you from this truth factor, from the conscience factor, the bridge. And if you think that you have been chasing things without ethics, you’ve been chasing things for the sake of yourself, selfishly, it means that you have swapped selflessness, which is normal in us, natural in us, for the sake of selfishness, selfish desires; then it’s time to change; it’s a good time to change.

Our nature is pure consciousness.

Our true nature is the soul factor. Let the nature be natural. Our external nature also is the same. Let the nature be natural. Then it is effective. Think about it.

• Do not leave ethics.
• Do not leave purity.
• Do not leave selflessness.
• Do not leave compassion and kindness.
• Do not leave yourself.

 You are the only truth that you need to know, need to understand and need to connect with; everything else is relative. Wish you success.

Lots of love.

This is Mohanji, for you.

Here is an excerpt of this podcast.

Transcribed by Ulla Bernholdt

Proofread by Vidya Rajagopalan

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