The Path of Enlighted Will
An interpretation of:
“This world is not for cowards. Do not try to fly. Look not for success or failure. Join yourself to the perfectly unselfish will and work on. Know that the mind which is born to succeed joins itself to a determined will and perseveres. … Live in the midst of the battle of life. Anyone can keep calm in a cave or when asleep. Stand in the whirl and madness of action and reach the Centre. If you have found the Centre, you cannot be moved.”
– Swami Vivekananda
CW; Vol 6, Notes of Class Talks & Lectures
To read in PDF format
About author
Srinivas Venkatram is the founder of Illumine – an “ideas in action” Lab that focuses on translating Swami Vivekananda’s ideas into new social, institutional and educational models.
Illumine’s projects and interventions have reached more than 2 million users/ beneficiaries in society.
He offers an interpretation of Vivekananda’s ideas, through the lens of Citizenship and Nation-building.
He can be reached on ideas@illumine.info
About this Channel: Interpreting Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda matters to us.
More than 100 years ago, Swami Vivekananda foresaw a world that was global, integrated, and rapidly transforming. And he offered a set of prescriptions for not just surviving but thriving in such a changing world.
His prescriptions addressed a range of human and social maladies, chief among which was the challenge of empowerment of the weak & oppressed, of women, and of those caught on the wrong side of the power & wealth divide in society.
His principles were less understood 100 years ago, but are likely to be better understood in today’s world, and include within their scope many ideas with contemporary relevance such as a new vision of education built around infinite human potential,meaning and fulfillment in human life, citizenship in Indian society, enlightened work along the lines of the Bhagavad Gita, enlightened institutions that server larger societal purposes, and a focus on human beings beyond technology and economic considerations.