Www biography of swami vivekananda

Indian Hindu monk and philosopher (–)

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Swami Vivekananda (12 January – 4 July ), born Narendranath Datta was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world. He is credited with raising interfaith awareness and bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion in the late nineteenth century.

Born into an aristocratic Bengali Kayastha family in Calcutta, Vivekananda was inclined from a young age towards religion and spirituality. At the age of 18 he met Ramakrishna, later becoming a devoted follower and sannyasin (renunciate). After the death of Ramakrishna, Vivekananda toured the Indian subcontinent as a wandering monk and acquired first-hand knowledge of the often terrible living conditions of Indian people in then British India. In he traveled to the United States where he participated in the Parliament of Religions in Chicago. Here he delivered a famous speech beginning with the words: "Sisters and brothers of America " introducing the ancient Hindu religious tradition to Americans and speaking forcefully about the essential unity of all spiritual paths, and the necessity of embracing tolerance and renouncing fanaticism. The speech made an extraordinary impression. One American newspaper described him as "an orator by divine right and undoubtedly the greatest figure at the Parliament".

After the great success of the Parliament, Vivekananda delivered hundreds of lectures across the United States, England, and Europe, disseminating the core tenets of Hindu philosophy. He founded the Vedanta Society of New York and the Vedanta Society of San Francisco (now Vedanta Society of Northern Cali

Born into an aristocratic Bengali Kayastha family of Calcutta, Vivekananda was born as Narendranath Datta on 12 January, He was inclined towards spirituality since beginning and later became an Indian Hindu monk. He was a chief disciple of the 19th-century Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world, and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the late 19th century.

He was a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India, and contributed to the concept of Indian nationalism as a tool to fight against the British empire in colonial India. Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. He is perhaps best known for his speech which began with the words “Sisters and brothers of America ,” in which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago in

He believed that all living beings were an embodiment of the divine self; therefore, service to God could be rendered by service to humankind. He conducted hundreds of public and private lectures and classes. He summarized the Vedanta as follows, giving it a modern and Universalistic interpretation:

‘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 mental discipline, or philosophy—by one, or more, or all of 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.’

In India, Vivekananda is regarded as a patriotic saint, and his birthday is celebrated as National Youth Day. According to his disciples, Vivekananda attained mahasamādhi on 4 July,

To study the origin of the Vedanta movement in America is to study Swami Vivekananda and his travels across the US. We like to put the spotlight on him since his message about self-effort, strength, and freedom of the soul is especially favored by the Western mind. But who was he? What was the magic in his message that made him so popular in America and his homeland of India? We shall only attempt a brief sketch here.

or Narendra as he was called then, was born on January 12, Bright and full of energy, his mother found him extremely restless and hard to control. "I prayed to God for a son, but he sent me one of his demons," she would sometimes say in frustration. But he was not a bad boy. He had an early fascination for the wandering monks that are so common in India and would practice meditation for fun.

As he grew older, Narendra excelled at his studies and amazed his teachers. At college he mastered Western philosophy and logic and seriously questioned the orthodox beliefs of Hinduism. Reason, he felt, was the surest guide in life. Yet reason didn't satisfy the yearnings of his soul. About this time, he met a holy man by the name of Sri Ramakrishna. The holy man was in many ways from quite a different background than Narendra, yet Narendra was drawn to him. On the one hand, Ramakrishna seemed to be a madman and a monomaniac, yet, the holy man radiated a holy atmosphere unlike anything he had experienced elsewhere. The more Narendra saw him, the more he saw an extraordinary holiness and a most uncommon sanity.

As their relationship grew, Narendra was fired by the ideals of renunciation, the concept that the only important thing in life was to realize God. After Ramakrishna died, Narendra took the vows of a monk and became Swami Vivekananda. For two years he wandered throughout India growing spiritually and experiencing many hardships. He saw the great poverty of India and pondered deeply the role of religion and