Once Swami Vivekananda had made a prophetic statement when he said: 'I have a message to the West as Buddha had a message to the East'. What was his message? It was Vedanta. And by compiling this selection from the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda the compiler has performed a most valuable task in keeping before the readers that grand message. Moreover, nothing need be mentioned about the electrifying words of the great Swami that have been resounding that voice of freedom ever since they were first uttered.
Those who have succeeded in attaching or detaching their minds at will have succeeded in Pratyahara, which means gathering towards, checking the outgoing powers of the mind, freeing it from the thralldom of the senses. When we can do this, we shall really possess character; then alone we shall have taken a long step towards freedom. Before that, we are mere machines.
-Swami Vivekananda
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