Strength.

 

STRENGTH
The Gift the Upanishads Give Us

There are times in life when what we need most is not advice, sympathy or even knowledge.

We need strength.

Strength to stand when life pushes us down.
Strength to face failure without losing faith.
Strength to remain steady when circumstances are beyond our control.
And above all, the inner strength to know that we are more than our fears and weaknesses.

This was the message that Swami Vivekananda drew again and again from the Upanishads.

He did not see them merely as ancient philosophical texts meant for scholars. He saw them as a tremendous source of power for ordinary human beings.

His famous call was simple:

“Strength, strength, and every time strength.”

The Upanishads tell us that our deepest nature is not weak, helpless or insignificant. The Ātman is described as eternal and untouched by the changes that affect the body and mind.

If we could truly understand even a little of this, how differently we might face life!

We would still experience sorrow.
We would still encounter failure.
We would still have moments of fear and uncertainty.

But somewhere within us there would be a quiet centre that says:

“I can face this.”

That is the strength Swami Vivekananda wanted India—and indeed the whole world—to discover.

He believed that the Upanishads could awaken people who had forgotten their own inner power. They called upon the weak, the miserable and the downtrodden to rise, stand upon their feet and become free.

And freedom, for Vivekananda, was not merely political freedom.

It was physical freedom, mental freedom and spiritual freedom.

Perhaps this is why his words remain so powerful even today.

We often search outside ourselves for strength—in possessions, position, praise, money or the approval of others.

The Upanishadic vision points us in another direction.

Look within.

There is something within us that is deeper than success and failure, praise and criticism, gain and loss.

To discover that inner strength is not to become arrogant or aggressive. True strength can be quiet. It can be compassionate. It can endure without complaining and act without seeking applause.

Perhaps the greatest lesson is this:

Faith does not make us weak.
Faith gives us the courage to be strong.

And when strength is joined with humility, compassion and faith, it becomes a force that can transform a life.

That was Swami Vivekananda's great gospel of strength.

And perhaps it is a message we need just as much today.