I am He (excerpt)

There was a lioness, heavy with young, going about in search of prey, and there was a flock of sheep, and the lioness jumped upon the flock. She died in the attempt and a little baby lion was born, motherless. It was taken care of by the sheep and the sheep brought it up and it grew with the sheep, lived on grass like the sheep, bleated like the sheep, and although it became a big full-grown lion, to all intents and purposes it thought it was a sheep.

In course of time another big lion came in search of prey, and what was its astonishment to find that in the midst of this flock was this lion flying like the sheep at the approach of danger. He tried to get near to teach it that it was not a sheep, but a lion, but at the very approach of the other lion the sheep fled, and with it the sheep-lion. But the other lion was rather kind, he watched, and one day found the big sheep-lion sleeping. He jumped on it and said, “You are a lion.” “I am a sheep,” cried the other lion. He would not believe, but bleated. The lion dragged him towards a lake and said, “Look there, there is my reflection and yours.” Then came the comparison. He looked at this lion and then at his own reflection, and in a moment came the idea that he was a lion. The lion roared, the bleating was gone.

You are the lions, you are souls, pure, infinite and perfect. The might of the universe is in you. “Why weepest thou, my friend? There is neither birth nor death for thee. Why weepest thou? There is no disease nor misery for thee, but thou art like the infinite sky, clouds of various colors come over it, play for a moment, then vanish. It is the same eternal blue.”

Why do we see wickedness? There was a stump of a tree in the dark at night. A thief came that way and said, “That is a policeman.” A young man waiting for his beloved came that way and thought that was his sweetheart. A child who had been told ghost stories came out and began to shriek that it was a ghost. But it was the stump of a tree. We see the world as we are. Put on the table a bag of gold and let a baby be here. Let a thief come and take the gold. Would the baby know it was stolen? That which we have inside we see outside. The baby has no thief inside and sees no thief outside.

So with all knowledge. Do not talk of the wickedness of the world and all its sins. Weep that you are bound to see wickedness yet. Weep that you are bound to see sin everywhere, and if you want to help the world do not condemn it. Do not weaken it all the more. For what is sin and what is misery, and what are all these, but the results of weakness? The world has been made weaker and weaker every day by such teachings. Men are taught from childhood that they are weak and are sinners. Teach them that they are all glorious children of immortality, even those who are the weakest in manifestation. Let positive, strong, helpful thought, enter into their brains from very childhood and not weakening and paralyzing thought. Lay yourselves open to those thoughts. Tell your own minds “I am He.” Let it ring day and night in your minds like a song, and at the point of death declare: “I am He.” That is the truth, the infinite strength of the world is yours. Drive out the superstition that has covered your minds. Let us be brave. Know the truth and practise the truth. The goal may be distant, but awake, arise, and stop not till that goal is reached.

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Jnana Yoga (Part I) - 1902
Vivekananda