fruitless.
'Sir,' the young man said, 'I sit still in meditation, shutting the door of my room, and
keep my eyes closed as long as I can, but I do not find peace of mind. Can you show
me the way?'
'My boy,' replied the Swami in a voice full of loving sympathy, 'if you take my word,
you will have first of all to open the door of your room and look around, instead of
closing your eyes. There are hundreds of poor and helpless people in your
neighbourhood; you have to serve them to the best of your ability. You will have to
nurse and procure food and medicine for the sick. You will have to feed those who
have nothing to eat. You will have to teach the ignorant. My advice to you is that if
you want peace of mind, you shall have to serve others to the best of your ability.'
Another day a well-known college professor, who was a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna,
said to the Swami: 'You are talking of service, charity, and doing good to the world;
these, after all, belong to the domain of maya. Vedanta says that the goal of man is the
attainment of mukti, liberation, through breaking the chain of maya. What is the use of
preaching about things which keep one's mind on mundane matters?'
The Swami replied: 'Is not the idea of mukti in the domain of maya? Does not Vedanta
teach that the Atman is ever free? Why should It, then, strive for mukti?'
He said on another occasion: 'When I used to roam about all over India, practising
spiritual disciplines. I passed day after day in caves absorbed in meditation. Many a
time I decided to starve myself to death because I could not attain mukti. Now I have
no desire for mukti. I do not care for it as long as a single individual in the universe
remains in bondage.'
Swami Vivekananda often used to say that different forms of spiritual discipline were
especially efficacious for different ages. At one period it was the practice of austerities,
at another period, the cultivation of divine love; and at a third period, it was
philosophical discrimination accompanied by renunciation. But in modern times, he
emphasized, unselfish service of others, karma-yoga, would quickly bring spiritual
results. Therefore he advocated the discipline of selfless action. He particularly
advocated this discipline for the Indians because they were under the spell of tamas,
inertia. The Swami realized that only after cultivating rajas would they be able to
acquire sattva and attain liberations. As regards himself, the Swami had already known
mukti through the realization of oneness with Brahman in nirvikalpa samadhi. But by
the will of God he had brought himself down to consciousness of the phenomenal
world, and lived like a bodhisattva, devoting himself to the welfare of humanity.
Swami Vivekananda found it most difficult to convert some of his own brother
disciples to his new conception of religion and its discipline and method. These brother
disciples were individualists, eager for their personal salvation. They wanted to
practise austerities and penances, enjoy peaceful meditation, and lead a quiet life of
detachment from the world. To them God was first, and next the world. At least that