Swami Vivekananda Jayanti is celebrated on 12 January

Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam - the world is one family. Through our growing years, we are taught to avoid selfish pursuits and prioritise our families’ well-being. However, thinking beyond our families can become a struggle.

Swami Vivekananda says each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity. According to him, worship of God should not be confined to temples. The starting point of Swamiji’s teaching was that we are all divine, and there is the same divinity in everyone.

“Divinity of man for him was a continuous spiritual experience.”

Swami Vivekananda sayings

 “Like the caterpillar that takes the thread from its own mouth and builds its cocoon and at last finds itself caught inside the cocoon, we have bound ourselves by our actions.”

“Expansion is Life. Contraction is death. The more unselfish we become, the more peace pours into us. When we are selfish, we contract, bringing misery into our lives.”

“Everything that is strong, good, and powerful in human nature is the outcome of that divinity. To every man, this is taught: Thou art one with this Universal Being, and, as such every soul that exists is your soul, and everybody that exists is your body; and in hurting anyone, you hurt yourself, in loving anyone, you love yourself.”

“Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached” - if we can manifest even a little of this oneness in our lives, it will do wonders to human relationships. Spontaneity will flow from our hearts. Feelings for others will magnify. Gradually, we can transform the world into one family, truly living the ideal of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.