1. Martial discipline calls for absolute and unquestioning obedience, and that is the prime national need irrespective of political considerations. Valour and the spirit of sacrifice must be the guiding attributes of the citizenry.
2. 12th January, 1863 is a landmark day for our country and we, especially the youth of India, must fully realise its significance and act on it. Upon the awakening of its intent in the minds of our youth lies the possibility of the widespread active fruition of Swamiji's message and the renaissance of our national spiritual culture in consequence.
3. When hard times come, friends of happier times vanish and the true benefactors of humanity emerge from nowhere to shed their lustre on the drooping soul. Then the lengthening shadows shorten till they vanish altogether and the despondent soul smiles again in the sunshine of life and glory.
4. Those who are hard hearts, consider it their birthright to insult the unfortunate with empty advice but care not to mitigate their misery in any manner whatsoever. Words come easy to these unsympathetic souls but their true colour is apparent in their refusal to participate in any worthwhile project where sacrifice of their self-interest is due. Such patriots are unwelcome. Such empty drummers of easy advice must seek their habitat in the deserts that resemble their dead hearts.
5. If the youth today are misdirected, it becomes the responsibility of the wise ones of society, the saints and the savants, to show them the right path. Preaching Vivekananda constantly can cure a large portion of the evils that afflict society today and this should be the prime priority of all renunciates who have left home and hearth in the name of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda.
6. It is the individual of earnestness who can alone make a movement for the multitudes to follow. Cowardly is this stance that waits for a movement to begin and gain in momentum before joining in to contribute its mite. The brave initiate proceedings for the welfare of the world and wait not for others to do so.
7. It is a laudable to lead from the front but a cowardly act to fire from the shoulders of the commoners and, so, sacrifice their lives under the crushing wheel of karma. Better self-sacrifice than coaxing the masses to die an uneven death for a cause confusing, an intent unknown.
8. Make the best use of your leisurely hour to strengthen yourself to face square on the dead end that will confront you in your direst hour of desperation.
9. True it is that the soul expands and the soul shrinks as and how one acts in life. Or, perhaps, it is the thinning out and the thickening of the coarse covers of matter that hide the Self. Strange, indeed, are the workings of Maya that so rigidly hold the soul in karmic bonds from where there is no escape. And yet, there must be loopholes in Maya through which exit to the Absolute is possible, that is, somehow this inflexible network of Maya drops its hold and the soul emerges in its native state as the glorious Self that transcends all limitations, all apparent bondage in this apparition of a universe of space-time and causality.
10. The youth should deepen their knowledge of the life and message of Swami Vivekananda. Only then will they be transformed personalities with the capacity to become conduits of the Divine force that can in turn alter lives and send them careering towards God and Truth and all that is worthwhile in life.
11. The country seems to be in turmoil over issues and non-issues. This is the consequence of a loss of spiritual mooring and downright conspiracy by forces threatening to break up the country in collusion with foreign agencies, institutions and nations. We, who vow by Vivekananda, must make special efforts to restore sanity to the nation by spreading the Swami's gospel of spiritual democracy and social raising up among the people at large. This is the crying call of the hour and this, above all, is our foremost spiritual duty at this critical juncture of our nation when it seems that its spiritual rudder has been lost and and a renewed understanding of Vivekananda's message is the way out.
Written by Sugata Bose
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