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Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

 

Swami Vivekananda's message is universal

 

CHENNAI, JAN. 19. A few years ago, a young man started with the

postulate that if there is a God, it should be possible for him

to see Him. Luckily, he met a great visionary and missionary who

told him that not only had he seen Him, but he (the young man)

can also enjoy this privilege if he followed the necessary

discipline. Under the latter's careful tutelage, the former was

able to get a glimpse of the Supreme, after which he underwent

arduous spiritual exercises. Next he felt that he share with

others, the illumination he had received. For this, he travelled,

mostly by foot, the length and breadth of his sacred motherland,

mixing with aristocrats and peasants, he could understand the

rich cultural heritage of India and also the misery and ignorance

in which the masses were weltering. His heart throbbed with pity.

The youth was none else than Narendra who turned famous as

Vivekananda and the former who took him into his fold was Saint

Ramakrishna.

 

Swami Vivekananda was not so much a personality as a phenomenon.

He saved Hinduism and India. But for him we would have lost our

religion and would not have gained our freedom. He was able to

achieve so much in his all-too-brief life of 39 years because his

preparation was thorough and his message, crystal clear and

powerful. He underlind that each soul is potentially divine,

which has to be made dynamic. The divinity should be manifested,

which is the main purpose of religion. Neither Vedanta nor Yoga

was new but what the Swami did was to make the abstruse

philosophy and complicated technique of spiritual discipline

readily understandable and easy to practise, said Swami

Asutoshananda in a lecture on Vivekananda's birthday.

 

In the scheme of the Divine, there is no accident. Vivekananda's

mission was to enable others to attain the ineffable Bliss. It

was not a fortuitous coincidence that the Swami was born on a day

of all-round joy and enthusiasm. He regretted that man does not

know that he is divine and infinite. Man invariably identified

himself with the finite body-mind complexes and thereby suffered.

The realisation that everyone is divine enables him to love every

creation and feel at home with everyone, and every where.

Vivekananda's this message is universal, meeting the needs of all

sections. All can attain perfection by practising one of the four

``Yogas'' or a suitable combination of them. Man should make the

mind take a U-turn and delve into the ``self'' within. Where the

inner self is thus discovered, he will find the same divine in

the external world as well, said Swami Gautamananda on the

occasion.

 

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