In the spirit of "Youth for Global Harmony," National Youth Day 2024 commemorates Swami Vivekananda's birth anniversary, emphasizing the role of young people in fostering peace, tolerance, and understanding across cultures and borders. This annual celebration, initiated by the Government of India in 1984, has evolved into a dynamic platform for youth empowerment, celebrating diversity, and igniting positive change.
Choosing January 12th, Swami Vivekananda's birth anniversary, was intentional, as his message of self-reliance, character building, and service to humanity deeply resonates with the youth. This day serves as both a celebration and reflection, inspiring young minds to embrace Vivekananda's ideals.
Initially centered around Vivekananda's teachings, National Youth Day expanded its horizons over the years. The themes now encompass contemporary challenges like environmental conservation, social inclusion, and skill development. The day has become a powerful platform for young voices to discuss and address pressing issues, empowering them to contribute meaningfully to society.
National Youth Day pays homage to Swami Vivekananda, an icon of youth empowerment and spiritual awakening. His teachings on universal brotherhood, self-reliance, and service to humanity resonate across generations, guiding young minds on their journeys of personal growth and societal contribution.
Celebrating the dynamism, passion, and boundless potential of young people, National Youth Day aims to inspire positive change. It recognizes the youth as agents of innovation and champions their ability to shape a better future. The day encourages the youth to believe in their dreams, pursue passions, and actively participate in community and nation-building.
Beyond a single narrative, National Youth Day embraces the rich tapestry of cultures, backgrounds, and experiences that young people represent. Promoting inclusivity, the day encourages dialogue, understanding, and collaboration, fostering a sense of global citizenship and breaking down barriers to collective progress.
Swami Vivekananda, born Narendranath Datta in 1863, was not only a monk and philosopher but a dynamic force dedicated to awakening individual potential. His encounter with Ramakrishna Paramahamsa in 1881 shaped his monastic journey, leading to a commitment to social reform and youth empowerment upon his return to India in 1897.
Vivekananda's impact extends globally, inspiring millions with his message of universal brotherhood, interfaith dialogue, and individual potential. Through the establishment of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, he left a lasting legacy of spiritual practice and social service.
Vivekananda was more than a spiritual leader; he was a poet, writer, humorist, and nature lover. His life challenges traditions and encourages independent thinking, making him a relatable figure for modern seekers. His legacy reminds us of the transformative power of spiritual awakening and the limitless potential within each individual.
"Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached."
"In a conflict between the heart and the brain, follow your heart."
"The greatest sin is to think yourself weak."
"Take risks in your life. If you win, you can lead. If you lose, you can guide."
"You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself."
"Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you cannot, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their own way."
"All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark."
"You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul."
"Stand up, be bold, and take the blame on your own shoulders. Do not go about throwing mud at other; for all the faults you suffer from, you are the sole and only cause."
"The fire that warms us can also consume us; it is not the fault of the fire."
"Do not wait for anybody or anything. Do whatever you can, build your hope on none."
"The world is the great gymnasium where we come to make ourselves strong."
"To devote your life to the good of all and to the happiness of all is religion. Whatever you do for your own sake is not religion."
"The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves."
"The more we come out and do good to others, the more our hearts will be purified, and God will be in them."
"Purity, patience, and perseverance are the three essentials to success and, above all, love."
"You are the creator of your own destiny."
"The best thermometer to the progress of a nation is its treatment of its women."
"Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity by controlling nature, external and internal."
"It is our own mental attitude which makes the world what it is for us."
"The whole life is a succession of dreams. My ambition is to be a conscious dreamer, that is all."
"Neither seek nor avoid; take what comes."
"Do not be afraid of a small beginning. Great things come afterwards."
"The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him—that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free."
"If faith in ourselves had been more extensively taught and practiced, I am sure a very large portion of the evils and miseries that we have would have vanished."
"They alone live who live for others."
"The will is not free—it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect—but there is something behind the will which is free."
"Learn everything that is good from others, but bring it in, and in your own way adsorb it; do not become others."
"He who sees Shiva in the poor, in the weak, and in the diseased, really worships Shiva; and if he sees Shiva only in the image, his worship is but preliminary."
"All the strength and succor you want is within yourselves."
"Meditation can turn fools into sages, but unfortunately fools never meditate."
"The first sign of your becoming religious is that you are becoming cheerful."
"The greatest truths are the simplest things in the world, simple as your own existence."
"Where can we go to find God if we cannot see Him in our own hearts and in every living being?"
"The brain and muscles must develop simultaneously. Iron nerves with an intelligent brain—and the whole world is at your feet."
"If you think that you are bound, you remain bound. You make your own bondage."
"Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life; dream of it; think of it; live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone."
"The great secret of true success, of true happiness, is this: the man or woman who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish person, is the most successful."
"If the mind is intensely eager, everything can be accomplished—mountains can be crumbled into atoms."
"He who has no faith in himself can never have faith in God."
"Anything that makes weak—physically, intellectually, and spiritually, reject it as poison."
"The world is ready to give up its secrets if we only know how to knock, how to give it the necessary blow. The strength and force of the blow come through concentration."
"Help and not fight. Assimilation and not destruction. Harmony and peace and not dissension."
"Do not lower your goals to the level of your abilities. Instead, raise your abilities to the height of your goals."
"All power is within you; you can do anything and everything. Believe in that, do not believe that you are weak; do not believe that you are half-crazy lunatics, as most of us do nowadays."
"The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him—that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free."
"When an idea exclusively occupies the mind, it is transformed into an actual physical or mental state."
"The cause of all the miseries we have in the world is that men foolishly think pleasure to be the ideal to strive for."
"In one word, this ideal is that you are divine."
"The less passion there is, the better we work. The calmer we are, the better for us, and the more the amount of work we can do."
"The great secret of true success, of true happiness, is this: the man or woman who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish person, is the most successful."
"All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark."
"You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul."
"The greatest sin is to think that you are weak."
"The first sign of your becoming religious is that you are becoming cheerful."
"Man is to become divine by realizing the divine. Idols or temples, or churches or books, are only the supports, the help of his spiritual childhood."
"What I want is muscles of iron and nerves of steel, inside which dwells a mind of the same material as that of which the thunderbolt is made."
"In a conflict between the heart and the brain, follow your heart."
"It is our own mental attitude which makes the world what it is for us."
"To be good and do good—that is the whole of religion."
"Do not hate anybody, because that hatred which comes out from you must, in the long run, come back to you. If you love, that love will come back to you, completing the circle."
"Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin—to say that you are weak, or others are weak."
"You have to remember the words of Christ more and more every day: 'I and my Father are one.'"
"The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him—that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free."
"Everything that is excellent will come when this sleeping soul is aroused to self-conscious activity."
"The goal of mankind is knowledge. Now this knowledge is inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside; it is all inside. What we say a man 'knows,' should, in strict psychological language, be what he 'discovers' or 'unveils'; what a man 'learns' is really what he discovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge."
"Believe in yourself and the world will be at your feet."
"The world is ready to give up its secrets if we only know how to knock, how to give it the necessary blow. The strength and force of the blow come through concentration."
"Anything that makes you weak—physically, intellectually, and spiritually, reject it as poison."
"Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you cannot, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their own way."
"Even the greatest fool can accomplish a task if it were after his or her heart. But the intelligent ones are those who can convert every work into one that suits their taste."
"The will is not free—it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect—but there is something behind the will which is free."
"All knowledge that the world has ever received comes from the mind; the infinite library of the universe is in our own mind."
"We reap what we sow. We are the makers of our own fate. The wind is blowing; those vessels whose sails are unfurled catch it, and go forward on their way, but those which have their sails furled do not catch the wind. Is that the fault of the wind? We make our own destiny."
"The world is the great gymnasium where we come to make ourselves strong."
"All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark."
"The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him—that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free."
"Do not wait for anybody or anything. Do whatever you can, build your hope on none."
"Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life; dream of it; think of it; live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone."
"He who has no faith in himself can never have faith in God."
"The best thermometer to the progress of a nation is its treatment of its women."
"Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity by controlling nature, external and internal."
"It is our own mental attitude which makes the world what it is for us."
"The whole life is a succession of dreams. My ambition is to be a conscious dreamer, that is all."
"Neither seek nor avoid; take what comes."
"Do not be afraid of a small beginning. Great things come afterwards."
"The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him—that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free."
"When an idea exclusively occupies the mind, it is transformed into an actual physical or mental state."
"The cause of all the miseries we have in the world is that men foolishly think pleasure to be the ideal to strive for."
"In one word, this ideal is that you are divine."
"The less passion there is, the better we work. The calmer we are, the better for us, and the more the amount of work we can do."
"The great secret of true success, of true happiness, is this: the man or woman who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish person, is the most successful."
"All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark."
"You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul."
"The greatest sin is to think that you are weak."
"All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who loves lives, he who is selfish is dying. Therefore, love for love's sake, because it is the law of life, just as you breathe to live."
"The first sign of your becoming religious is that you are becoming cheerful."
"Man is to become divine by realizing the divine. Idols or temples, or churches or books, are only the supports, the help of his spiritual childhood."
"What I want is muscles of iron and nerves of steel, inside which dwells a mind of the same material as that of which the thunderbolt is made."
