The essential teachings of Vedanta, as stated by Swami Vivekananda is: "Each soul is potentially divine, the goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature: external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy -- by one, or more, or all these -- and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details."

हमारी उन्नति का एकमात्र उपाय यह है कि हम पहले वह कर्तव्य करें जो हमारे हाथ में है और इस प्रकार धीरे-धीरे शक्ति संचय करते हुए क्रमशः हम सर्वोच्च अवस्था को प्राप्त कर सकते हैं ~ स्वामी विवेकानंद