Text size
Excerpt
We have seen already that in helping the world we help ourselves. The main effect of work done for others is to purify ourselves. By means of the constant effort to do good to others we are trying to forget ourselves; this forgetfulness of self is the one great lesson we have to learn in life. Man thinks foolishly that he can make himself happy, and after years of struggle finds out at last that true happiness consists in killing selfishness and that no one can make him happy except himself. Every act of charity, every thought of sympathy, every action of help, every good deed, is taking so much of self-importance away from our little selves and making us think of ourselves as the lowest and the least, and, therefore, it is all good.
Source Vivekananda, Karma-Yoga, Non-attachment is complete self-abnegation, §5 · 📖 Read the full passage
✨ To meditate on today
According to Swami Vivekananda, every act of kindness towards others purifies us and lightens the little self, the “me” that believes it is the centre of everything: it is by helping that we are helped. Today, do a discreet act of help without telling anyone, and notice the lightness it leaves in you.
Receive a lesson of this teaching every day by email or Telegram
Subscribe for free →