Swami Vivekananda Quotes on Meditation

“It is meditation that brings us nearer to truth than anything else.”

“Meditation means the mind is turned back upon itself.”

“In meditation we divest ourselves of all material conditions and feel our divine nature. We do not depend upon any external help in meditation.”

“The moment you stand upon something else, you run the risk of being miserable. This is what I mean by meditation—the soul trying to stand upon itself. That state must surely be the healthiest state of the soul, when it is thinking of itself, residing in its own glory. No, all the other methods that we have—by exciting emotions, prayers, and all that—really have that one end in view. In deep emotional excitement the soul tries to stand upon itself.”

“In the long run this power of meditation separates ourselves from the body, and then the soul knows itself as it is—the unborn, the deathless, and birthless being.”

“Permanence is nowhere except in yourself. There is the infinite joy, unchanging. Meditation is the gate that opens that to us.”

“Every meditation is direct superconsciousness. In perfect concentration the soul becomes actually free from the bonds of the gross body and knows itself as it is. Whatever one wants, that comes to him.”

“The power of meditation gets us everything.”

“Divine wisdom is to be got by devotion, meditation, and chastity.”

“Brahman is omnipresent in the universe as is butter in milk, but friction makes It manifest in one place. As churning brings out the butter in the milk, so Dhyāna (Meditation) brings the realisation of Brahman in the soul.”

“I try to concentrate my mind upon this glass, excluding every other object from my mind except this glass. But the mind is wavering... When it has become strong and does not waver so much, it is called Dhyāna, meditation.”

““Meditation again is a constant remembrance (of the thing meditated upon) flowing like an unbroken stream of oil poured out from one vessel to another.” When this kind of remembering has been attained (in relation to God) all bondages break.”

“Meditation consists in this practice of dissolving everything into the ultimate Reality—spirit. The solid melts into liquid, that into gas, gas into ether, then mind, and mind will melt away. All is spirit.”

“Every time you meditate you will keep your growth.”

“Holy meditation helps to burn out all mental impurities.”

“When the breath is flowing through the left nostril, it is the time for rest; when through the right, for work; and when through both, the time to meditate. When we are calm and breathing equally through both nostrils, we are in the right condition for quiet meditation.”

“Practise meditation and concentration with the utmost care. Place fragrant flowers in front and burn incense. At the outset take such external help as will make the mind pure. As you repeat the name of your Guru and Ishta, say, “Peace be to all creatures and the universe!” First send impulses of these good wishes to the north, south, east, west, above, below—in all directions, and then sit down to meditate. One has to do this during the early stages.”

“Sit upright; the body must be kept straight. The spinal cord, although not attached to the vertebral column, is yet inside of it. If you sit crookedly you disturb this spinal cord, so let it be free. Any time that you sit crookedly and try to meditate you do yourself an injury. The three parts of the body, the chest, the neck, and the head, must be always held straight in one line. You will find that by a little practice this will come to you as easy as breathing.”

“Meditate on the earth; think of the earth and at the same time know that we have That which is in the earth, that both are the same. Identify the body with the earth, and identify the soul with the Soul behind. Identify the air with the soul that is in the air and that is in me. They are all one, manifested in different forms. To realise this unity is the end and aim of all meditation.”

“Think of a space in your heart, and in the midst of that space think that a flame is burning. Think of that flame as your own soul and inside the flame is another effulgent light, and that is the Soul of your soul, God. Meditate upon that in the heart.”

“Take some holy person, some great person whom you revere, some saint whom you know to be perfectly non-attached, and think of his heart. That heart has become non-attached, and meditate on that heart; it will calm the mind.”

“Sometimes a man dreams that he has seen angels coming to him and talking to him, that he is in an ecstatic condition, that he has heard music floating through the air. He is in a blissful condition in that dream, and when he wakes, it makes a deep impression on him. Think of that dream as real, and meditate upon it. If you cannot do that, meditate on any holy thing that pleases you.”

“There is one soul which is the greatest of all. This is Ishvara, Lord of Yoga [God as Creator, with attributes]. He is the individual. He is omnipotent. He resides in every heart. There is no body. He does not need a body. All you get by the practice of meditation etc., you can get by meditation upon Ishvara, Lord of Yogis.”

“You must keep the mind fixed on one object, like an unbroken stream of oil. The ordinary man’s mind is scattered on different objects, and at the time of meditation, too, the mind is at first apt to wander. But let any desire whatever arise in the mind, you must sit calmly and watch what sort of ideas are coming. By continuing to watch in that way, the mind becomes calm, and there are no more thought-waves in it. These waves represent the thought-activity of the mind. Those things that you have previously thought deeply, have transformed themselves into a subconscious current, and therefore these come up in the mind in meditation. The rise of these waves, or thoughts, during meditation is an evidence that your mind is tending towards concentration. Sometimes the mind is concentrated on a set of ideas—this is called meditation with Vikalpa or oscillation. But when the mind becomes almost free from all activities, it melts in the inner Self, which is the essence of infinite Knowledge, One, and Itself Its own support. This is what is called Nirvikalpa Samâdhi, free from all activities.”

“What is the meditation of the Jnāni? He wants to rise above every idea of body or mind, to drive away the idea that he is the body. For instance, when I say. “I Swami,” immediately the idea of the body comes. What must I do then? I must give the mind a hard blow and say, “No, I am not the body, I am the Self.” Who cares if disease comes or death in the most horrible form? I am not the body. Why make the body nice? To enjoy the illusion once more? To continue slavery? Let it go, I am not the body. That is the way of the Jnāni.”

“The Jnāni’s meditation is of two sorts: (1) to deny and think away everything we are not; (2) to insist upon what we really are—the Atman, the One Self—Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss. The true rationalist must go on and fearlessly follow his reason to its farthest limits. It will not answer to stop anywhere on the road. When we begin to deny, all must go until we reach what cannot be thrown away or denied, which is the real “I.” That “I” is the witness of the universe, it is unchangeable, eternal, infinite. Now, layer after layer of ignorance covers it from our eyes, but it remains ever the same.”

“What fear is there? Always discriminate—your body, your house, these Jivas and the world are all absolutely unreal like a dream. Always think that this body is only an inert instrument. And the self-contained Purusha within is your real nature. The adjunct of mind is His first and subtle covering, then, there is this body which is His gross, outer covering. The indivisible changeless, self-effulgent Purusha is lying hidden under these delusive veils, therefore your real nature is unknown to you. The direction of the mind which always runs after the senses has to be turned within. The mind has to be killed. The body is but gross—it dies and dissolves into the five elements. But the bundle of mental impressions, which is the mind, does not die soon. It remains for some time in seed-form and then sprouts and grows in the form of a tree—it takes on another physical body and goes the round of birth and death, until Self-knowledge arises. Therefore I say, by meditation and concentration and by the power of philosophical discrimination plunge this mind in the Ocean of Existence- Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. When the mind dies, all limiting adjuncts vanish and you are established in Brahman.”

“Work a little harder, more and more, and meditation comes. You do not feel the body or anything else. When you come out of it after the hour, you have had the most beautiful rest you ever had in your life. That is the only way you ever give rest to your system. Not even the deepest sleep will give you such rest as that. The mind goes on jumping even in deepest sleep. Just those few minutes in meditation your brain has almost stopped. Just a little vitality is kept up. You forget the body. You may be cut to pieces and not feel it at all. You feel such pleasure in it. You become so light. This perfect rest we will get in meditation.”

“It is through the power of meditation all scientific facts are discovered today. They study the subject and forget everything, their own identity and everything, and then the great fact comes like aflash.”

“Meditate every day alone. Everything will open up of itself.”