SWAMI VIVEKANANDA: The first work that demands our attention is that the most wonderful truths confined in our Upanishads, in our scriptures, in our Purânas must be brought out from the books, brought out from the monasteries, brought out from the forests, brought out from the possession of selected bodies of people, and scattered broadcast all over the land, so that these truths may run like fire all over the country from north to south and east to west, from the Himalayas to Comorin, from Sindh to the Brahmaputra.
Everyone must know of them, because it is said, “This has first to be heard, then thought upon, and then meditated upon.”
Let the people hear first, and whoever helps in making the people hear about the great truths in their own scriptures cannot make for himself a better Karma today.
Says our Vyasa, “In the Kali Yuga there is one Karma left. Sacrifices and tremendous Tapasyâs are of no avail now. Of Karma one remains, and that is the Karma of giving.” And of these gifts, the gift of spirituality and spiritual knowledge is the highest; the next gift is the gift of secular knowledge; the next is the gift of life; and the fourth is the gift of food.
Look at this wonderfully charitable race; look at the amount of gifts that are made in this poor, poor country; look at the hospitality where a man can travel from the north to the south, having the best in the land, being treated always by everyone as if he were a friend, and where no beggar starves so long as there is a piece of bread anywhere!
In this land of charity, let us take up the energy of the first charity, the diffusion of spiritual knowledge. And that diffusion should not be confined within the bounds of India; it must go out all over the world.
SOURCE: Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol 3, Lecture: My Plan of Campaign
MORAL: Spreading the spiritual knowledge of our Rishis is the best karma we can do. The words of these Rishis are so powerful that they get embedded in the minds of people like seeds (Samskaras), and these seed-Samskaras of noble thoughts germinate and travel with the person from birth to birth, slowly growing and orienting the person Godward, until they attain to God-realization (Moksha).For this reason, spreading the spiritual teachings of our Rishis is the best karma to perform. Such work helps a person not just in this life, but in life after life until they attain Moksha.
How do we know we are progressing spiritually? One way to gauge is by the spiritual experiences we begin to have. But what do genuine spiritual experiences feel like? What distinguishes them from our imagination? Find out by subscribing to our Yogic Powers Monthly Podcast where we discuss the spiritual experiences that God-realized sages and their direct disciples had. by learning what constitutes genuine spiritual experiences, you will be able to gauge whether you are on the right path or not.
