1.
Thou art He that beareth the burdens of the universe; help me to bear the little burden of this life.
Said at the Chicago World’s Parliament of Religions September 1893.
2.
That Mother who is manifest in all beings—Her we salute.
She whom the world declares to be the great Maya. Her we salute.
Thou Giver of all Blessings, Thou the Giver of Strength,
Thou the Giver of Desires, Thou the Merciful One,
To Thee our salutation, Thee we salute Thee we salute,.
Thou terrible black night—Thou the night of Delusion,
Thou the night of Death.
To Thee our salutation—Thee we salute, Thee we salute.
(Ridgely Manor, November, 1899, Sister Nivedita heard Swami Vivekananda say this prayer (and the one below #3); she wrote it down and sent it to Josephine MacLeod)
3.
The breeze is making for righteousness. The seas are showering blessings on us— Our Father in Heaven is blissful, The trees in the forest are blissful, so are the cattle. The very dust of the earth is luminous with bliss-It is all bliss,—all bliss—all bliss.
4.
Take us by the hand as a father takes his sons and leave us not.
I do not want wealth or beauty, this world or another, but Thee, O God!
Lord! I have become weary. Oh, take me by the hand, Lord, I take shelter with Thee. Make me Thy servant. Be Thou my refuge.
Thou our Father, our Mother, our dearest Friend! Thou who bearest this universe, help us to bear the little burden of this our life. Leave us not. Let us never be separated from Thee. Let us always dwell in Thee.
5.
Thou art Our Father, our Mother, our dear Friend. Thou bearest the burden of the world. Help us to bear the burden of our lives. Thou art our Friend, our Lover, our Husband, Thou art ourselves!
(Notes from a lecture On Jnana Yoga)
6.
My God, my Love! Thou art here, I see Thee. Thou art with me, I feel Thee. I am Thine, take me. I am not the world’s but Thine —leave Thou not me.’
From a letter written from Greenacre July 1894
7.
Thou art Energy, impart energy unto me. Thou art Strength, impart strength unto me. Thou art Spirituality, impart spirituality unto me. Thou art Fortitude, impart fortitude unto me!
8.
Lord, I do not want wealth, nor children, nor learning. If it be Thy will, I shall go from birth to birth, but grant me this, that I may love Thee without the hope of reward — love unselfishly for love’s sake
Lines from a hymn* he said he repeated as a child:
As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.
The Great Benediction After Mourning
(The Swami rendered this fragment of the Hindu sacrament on June 12, 1898)
The blissful winds are sweet to us.
The seas are showering bliss on us.
May the corn in our fields bring bliss to us
May the plants and herbs bring bliss to us
May the cattle give us bliss.
O Father in Heaven be Thou Blissful unto us!
The very dust of the earth is full of bliss,
(And then, the voice dying down into meditation)It is all bliss—all bliss—all bliss.
(Notes of some wanderings with the Swami Vivekananda by Sister Nivedita)
*Swami Vivekananda said this to his audience at the Parliament of Religions: I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: “As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.”