Category: Thought of the day

He who has no faith in himself can never have faith in God.

The idea of duty varies much among different nations. In one country, if a man does not do certain things, people will say he has acted wrongly; while if he does those very things in another country, people will say that he did not act rightly–and yet we know that there must be some universal idea of duty. In the same way, one class of society thinks that certain things are among its duty, while another class thinks quite the opposite and would be horrified if it had to do those things. Two ways are left open to us–the way of the ignorant, who think that there is only one way to truth and that all the rest are wrong, and the way of the wise, who admit that, according to our mental constitution or the different planes of existence in which we are, duty and morality may vary. The important thing is to know that there are gradations of duty and of morality–that the duty of one state of life, in one set of circumstances, will not and cannot be that of another.

To illustrate: All great teachers have taught, “Resist not evil,” that non resistance is the highest moral ideal. We all know that, if a certain number of us attempted to put that maxim fully into practice, the whole social fabric would fall to pieces, the wicked would take possession of our properties and our lives, and would do whatever they like with us. Even if only one day of such nonresistance were practised, it would lead to disaster. Yet, intuitively, in our heart of hearts we feel the truth of the teaching “Resist not evil.” This seems to us to be the highest ideal; yet to teach this doctrine only would be equivalent to condemning a vast portion of mankind. Not only so, it would be making men feel that they were always doing wrong, and cause in them scruples of conscience in all their actions; it would weaken them, and that constant self-disapproval would breed more vice than any other weakness would. To the man who has begun to hate himself the gate to degeneration has already opened; and the same is true of a nation. Our first duty is not to hate ourselves, because to advance we must have faith in ourselves first and then in God. He who has no faith in himself can never have faith in God. Therefore, the only alternative remaining to us is to recognise that duty and morality vary under different circumstances; not that the man who resists evil is doing what is always and in itself wrong, but that in the different circumstances in which he is placed it may become even his duty to resist evil.

-Swami Vivekananda

Sweetness, calmness, and gentleness, which are due to the balancing of both action and inaction. According to the Sankhya philosophy, nature is composed of three forces called, in Sanskrit, Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. These as manifested in the physical world are what we may call equilibrium, activity, and inertness. Tamas is typified as darkness or inactivity; Rajas is activity, expressed as attraction or repulsion; and Sattva is the equilibrium of the two. In every man there are these three forces. Sometimes Tamas prevails. We become lazy, we cannot move, we are inactive, bound down by certain ideas or
by mere dullness. At other times activity prevails, and at still other times that calm balancing of both. Again, in different men, one of these forces is generally predominant. The characteristic of one man is inactivity, dullness and laziness; that of another, activity, power, manifestation of energy; and in still another we find the sweetness, calmness, and gentleness, which are due to the balancing of both action and inaction. So in all creation–in animals, plants, and men–we find the more or less typical manifestation of all these different forces.

-Swami Vivekananda

All newspaper compilation from Economic times, Live mint & Financial express on Entrepreneurship, Taxation, Personal Finance & Succession planning. Refer link:

1. *Tax optimiser: NPS, perks can help Kohli reduce tax by Rs 62,000*

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/tax/tax-optimiser-nps-perks-can-help-kohli-reduce-tax-by-rs-62000/articleshow/84703441.cms

2. *What to do if you have defaulted on a home loan*

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/borrow/what-to-do-if-you-have-defaulted-on-a-home-loan/articleshow/84704041.cms

3. *Can a registered, conditional gift deed be treated as a will?*

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/legal/will/can-a-registered-conditional-gift-deed-be-treated-as-a-will/articleshow/84704878.cms

4. *What is a succession certificate? 5 things to know*

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/legal/will/what-is-a-succession-certificate-5-things-to-know/articleshow/84704244.cms

5. *Realty hot spot series: An established residential market in Pune*

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/real-estate/realty-hot-spot-series-an-established-residential-market-in-pune/articleshow/84704470.cms

6. *Covid-19 insurance claims to exceed 50% of Q1 health payouts; 16,000 crore cleared*

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/personal-finance-news/covid-19-claims-to-exceed-50-of-q1-health-payouts-16000-crore-cleared/articleshow/84748258.cms

7. *How gold, silver, platinum performed during the week ending July 22, 2021*

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/personal-finance-news/how-gold-silver-platinum-performed-during-the-week-ending-july-22-2021/articleshow/84701006.cms

8. *Equity still good long-term bet; invest in staggered, diversified manner: Harsha Upadhyaya, Kotak AMC*

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/personal-finance-news/equity-still-good-long-term-bet-invest-in-staggered-diversified-manner-harsha-upadhyaya-kotak-amc/articleshow/84703881.cms

9. *Mastercard ban: RBI seeks action plan from banks*

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/personal-finance-news/mastercard-ban-rbi-seeks-action-plan-from-banks/articleshow/84747904.cms

10. *Follow the 5Cs buying model when purchasing life insurance online*

https://www.livemint.com/money/personal-finance/follow-the-5cs-buying-model-when-purchasing-life-insurance-online-11627271397020.html

11. *SBI will allow access through Yono only if you do this*

https://www.livemint.com/money/personal-finance/sbi-will-allow-access-through-yono-only-if-you-do-this-11627264100806.html

12. *What a personal loan costs you*

https://www.livemint.com/money/personal-finance/what-a-personal-loan-costs-you-11627244430272.html

13. *Tax only on employee PF share over ₹2.5L*

https://www.livemint.com/money/personal-finance/tax-only-on-employee-pf-share-over-25l-11627243979719.html

14. *Navigating the venture capital product matrix*

https://www.livemint.com/money/personal-finance/navigating-the-venture-capital-product-matrix-11627243598391.html

15. *IDFC Mutual Fund plans to launch US equity fund of funds*

https://www.livemint.com/money/personal-finance/idfc-mutual-fund-plans-to-launch-us-equity-fund-of-funds-11627243183631.html

16. *Before you invest in NPS, understand its risks, liquidity and cost*

https://www.livemint.com/money/personal-finance/before-you-invest-in-nps-understand-its-risks-liquidity-and-cost-11627242132669.html

17.  *Your Money – Mortgage Loan: Default risk and pre-payment speed*https://www.financialexpress.com/money/your-money-mortgage-loan-default-risk-and-pre-payment-speed/2296635/

We have to begin from the beginning, to take up the works as they come to us and slowly make ourselves more unselfish every day. We must do the work and find out the motive power that prompts us; and, almost without exception, in the first years, we shall find that our motives are always selfish; but gradually this selfishness will melt by persistence, till at last will come the time when we shall be able to do really unselfish work. We may all hope that some day or other, as we struggle through the paths of life, there will come a time when we shall become perfectly unselfish; and the moment we attain to that, all our powers will be concentrated, and the knowledge which is ours will be manifest.

-Swami Vivekananda

The ideal man is he who, in the midst of the greatest silence and solitude, finds the intensest activity, and in the midst of the intensest activity finds the silence and solitude of the desert.

Intense activity is necessary; we must always work. We cannot live a minute without work. What then becomes of rest? Here is one side of the life struggle–work, in which we are whirled rapidly round. And here is the other–that of calm, retiring renunciation: everything is peaceful around, there is very little of noise and show, only nature with her animals and flowers and mountains. Neither of them is a perfect picture. A man used to solitude, if brought in contact with the surging whirlpool of the world, will be crushed by it; just as the fish that lives in the deep sea water, as soon as it is brought to the surface, breaks into pieces, deprived of the weight of water on it that had kept it together. Can a man who has been used to the turmoil and the rush of life live at ease if he comes to a quiet place? He suffers and perchance may lose his mind. The ideal man is he who, in the midst of the greatest silence
and solitude, finds the intensest activity, and in the midst of the intensest activity finds the silence and solitude of the desert. He has learnt the secret of restraint, he has controlled himself. He goes through the streets of a big city with all its traffic, and his mind is as calm as if he were in a cave, where not a sound could reach him; and he is intensely working all the time. That is the
ideal of Karma- Yoga, and if you have attained to that you have really learnt the secret of work.

-Swami Vivekananda

“To work we have the right, but not to the fruits thereof.” Leave the fruits alone. Why care for results? If you wish to help a man, never think what that man’s attitude should be towards you. If you want to do a great or a good work, do not trouble to think what the result will be.

Even the lowest forms of work are not to be despised. Let the man, who knows no better, work for selfish ends, for name and fame; but everyone should always try to get towards higher and higher motives and to understand them. “To work we have the right, but not to the fruits thereof.” Leave the fruits alone. Why care for results? If you wish to help a man, never think what that man’s attitude should be towards you. If you want to do a great or a good work, do not trouble to think what the result will be.

-Swami Vivekananda

Work for work’s sake. If a man works without any selfish motive in view, does he not gain anything? Yes, he gains the highest. Unselfishness is more paying, only people have not the patience to practise it. It is more paying from the point of view of health also. Love, truth and unselfishness are not merely moral figures of speech, but they form our highest ideal, because in them lies such a manifestation of power.

Man works with various motives. There cannot be work without
motive. Some people want to get fame, and they work for fame.
Others want money, and they work for money. Others want to
have power, and they work for power. Others want to get to
heaven, and they work for the same. Others want to leave a name
when they die, as they do in China, where no man gets a title until
he is dead; and that is a better way, after all, than with us. When a
man does something very good there, they give a title of nobility
to his father, who is dead, or to his grandfather. Some people work
for that. Some of the followers of certain Mohammedan sects
work all their lives to have a big tomb built for them when they die. I know sects among whom, as soon as a child is born, a tomb
is prepared for it; that is among them the most important work a
man has to do, and the bigger and the finer the tomb, the better off
the man is supposed to be. Others work as a penance; do all sorts
of wicked things, then erect a temple, or give something to the
priests to buy them off and obtain from them a passport to heaven.
They think that this kind of beneficence will clear them and they
will go scot-free in spite of their sinfulness. Such are some of the
various motives for work.

Work for work’s sake. There are some who are really the salt of
the earth in every country and who work for work’s sake, who do
not care for name, or fame, or even to go to heaven. They work
just because good will come of it. There are others who do good to
the poor and help mankind from still higher motives, because they
believe in doing good and love good. The motive for name and
fame seldom brings immediate results, as a rule; they come to us
when we are old and have almost done with life. If a man works
without any selfish motive in view, does he not gain anything?
Yes, he gains the highest. Unselfishness is more paying, only
people have not the patience to practise it. It is more paying from
the point of view of health also. Love, truth and unselfishness are
not merely moral figures of speech, but they form our highest
ideal, because in them lies such a manifestation of power. In the
first place, a man who can work for five days, or even for five
minutes, without any selfish motive whatever, without thinking of
future, of heaven, of punishment, or anything of the kind, has in
him the capacity to become a powerful moral giant. It is hard to do
it, but in the heart of our hearts we know its value, and the good it
brings. It is the greatest manifestation of power–this tremendous
restraint; self-restraint is a manifestation of greater power than all
outgoing action. A carriage with four horses may rush down a hill
unrestrained, or the coachman may curb the horses. Which is the
greater manifestation of power, to let them go or to hold them? A cannon-ball flying through the air goes a long distance and falls. Another is cut short in its flight by striking against a wall, and the
impact generates intense heat. All outgoing energy following a
selfish motive is frittered away; it will not cause power to return to
you; but if restrained, it will result in development of power. This
self-control will tend to produce a mighty will, a character which
makes a Christ or a Buddha. Foolish men do not know this secret;
they nevertheless want to rule mankind. Even a fool may rule the
whole world if he works and waits. Let him wait a few years,
restrain that foolish idea of governing; and when that idea is
wholly gone, he will be a power in the world. The majority of us
cannot see beyond a few years, just as some animals cannot see
beyond a few steps. Just a little narrow circle–that is our world.
We have not the patience to look beyond, and thus become
immoral and wicked. This is our weakness, our powerlessness.

-Swami Vivekananda

The Gita says that it is doing work with cleverness and as a science; by
knowing how to work, one can obtain the greatest results.

No one can get anything unless he earns it. All this is determined by Karma, work. This is an eternal law. We may sometimes think it is not so, but in the long run we become convinced of it. A man may struggle all his life for riches; he may cheat thousands, but he finds at last that he did not deserve to become rich, and his life becomes a trouble and a nuisance to him. We may go on accumulating things for our physical enjoyment, but only what we learn is really ours. A fool may buy all the books in the world, and they will be in his library; but he will be able to read only those that he deserves to; and this deserving is produced by Karma. Our Karma determines what we deserve and what we can assimilate. We are responsible for what we are; and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act. You will say,

“What is the use of learning how to work? Everyone works in
some way or other in this world.”

But there is such a thing as frittering away our energies. With regard to Karma-Yoga, the Gita says that it is doing work with cleverness and as a science; by
knowing how to work, one can obtain the greatest results. You must remember that all work is simply to bring out the power of the mind which is already there, to wake up the soul. The power is inside every man, so is knowing; the different works are like blows to bring them out, to cause these giants to wake up.

All the actions that we see in the world, all the movements in human society, all the works that we have around us, are simply the display of thought, the manifestation of the will of man.
Machines or instruments, cities, ships, or men-of-war, all these are
simply the manifestation of the will of man; and this will is caused by character, and character is manufactured by Karma. As is Karma, so is the manifestation of the will. The men of mighty will the world has produced have all been tremendous workers– gigantic souls, with wills powerful enough to overturn worlds, wills they got by persistent work, through ages, and ages. Such a gigantic will as that of a Buddha or a Jesus could not be obtained
in one life, for we know who their fathers were. It is not known that their fathers ever spoke a word for the good of mankind. Millions and millions of carpenters like Joseph had gone; millions are still living. Millions and millions of petty kings like Buddha’s father had been in the world. If it was only a case of hereditary transmission, how do you account for this petty prince, who was
not, perhaps, obeyed by his own servants, producing this son, whom half a world worships? How do you explain the gulf between the carpenter and his son, whom millions of human beings worship as God? It cannot be solved by the theory of heredity. The gigantic will which Buddha and Jesus threw over the world, whence did it come? Whence came this accumulation of power? It must have been there through ages and ages, continually growing bigger and bigger, until it burst on society in a Buddha or a Jesus, even
rolling down to the present day.

Karma in its effect on character is the most tremendous power than man has to deal with. Man is, as it were, a centre, and is attracting all the powers of the universe towards himself, and in this centre is fusing them all and again sending them off in a big current. Such a centre is the real man–the almighty, the omniscient–and he draws the whole universe towards him. Good and bad, misery and happiness, all are running towards him and clinging round him; and out of them he fashions the mighty stream of tendency called character and throws it outwards. As he has the power of drawing in anything, so has he the power of throwing it out.

-Swami Vivekananda