Swami Vivekananda's master, Sri Ramakrishna, reminded his disciples over and over:
"Discernment, or discrimination, is the knowledge of what is real and what is unreal.
"Discrimination is the reasoning by which one knows that God alone is real and all else is unreal, and unreal means impermanent.
"One who has acquired discrimination knows that God is the only Substance and all else is non-existent.
"Discrimination is the reasoning by which one knows that God alone is real and all else is unreal. Real means eternal, and unreal means impermanent. He who has acquired discrimination knows that God is the only Substance and all else is non-existent. With the awakening of this spirit of discrimination a man wants to know God."
Swami Vivekananda (born Narendranath Datta) received his name before traveling to the United States. Vivekananda means viveka = discern, and ananda = bliss. Throughout his life, Swami Vivekananda's teachings connected with the source of his power, awareness of what is real, what is of God.
Unity being real, division is unreal.
Acceptance being real, segregation is unreal.
Fearlessness being real, fear is unreal.
Finally, once more from Sri Ramakrishna:
"By turning the mind within oneself one acquires discrimination and through discrimination one thinks of Truth."
In this way, training the mind for discrimination leads one to truth, the next step on the Path of Peace. In the next blog post, we'll explore Gandhi's understanding and commitment to Truth, it's reliance on the principle of ahisma, and how it leads one to action in the political realm.