In honour of Swami Vivekananda

[Guest guest]

Light and Love

Swami Vivekananda, the great soul of humanity was born at 6:33, a few

minutes before sunrise, on Monday, January 12,1863. It was the day of the

great Hindu festival Makarasamkranti, (Makara Sankranti) when special worship

is offered to the Ganga by millions of devotees.

Swami has turned in His Works to Vivekananda as the great soul of humanity

innumerous times.

"Note that Buddha, Jesus Christ, Sankaracharya and Vivekananda, great Sages

and Saints and Devotees of the Lord, all these are treasured in the memory of

man even unto this day. What quality made them all memorable for all time? I

say, it is the character of each one of them. It is the fragrance of the

flower; it gives value and worth. Among the qualities that make up a flawless

character, Love, Patience, Forbearance, Steadfastness, Charity - these are the

highest, these have to be revered." (Excerpts from: Sathya Sai Baba. Prema

Vahini. Noble Qualities from the Path for the Aspirant. Page 1).

Brief testimonials from his life and mission of the great saint has

represented.

 

Before Vivekananda was born, his mother, like many other pious Hindu

mothers, had observed religious vows, fasted, and prayed so that she might be

blessed with a son who would do honour to the family. She requested a relative

who was living in Varanasi to offer special worship to the Vireswara Siva of

that holy place and seek His blessings; for Siva, the great god of

renunciation, dominated her thought. One night she dreamt that this supreme

Deity aroused Himself from His meditation and agreed to be born as her son.

When she woke she was filled with joy.

The mother, Bhuvaneswari Devi, accepted the child as a boon from Vireswara

Siva and named him Vireswara. The family, however, gave him the name of

Narendranath Datta, calling him, for short, Narendra, or more endearingly,

Naren. The family of naren was well known for its affluence, philanthropy,

scholarship, and independent spirit.

Born Narendranath Dutta, in Kolkata, India, he became famous as Swami

Vivekananda, when he became the chief disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

He studied philosophy at the Scottish Church College, Calcutta. He examined the

histories of different countries and various philosophical systems. Aristotle

and Plato, Kant and Hegel, together with Sankaracharya and Buddha, Ramanuja and

Madhva, Chaitanya and Nimbarka, were thoroughly discussed. The Hindu

philosophical systems of Jnana, Bhakti, Yoga, and Karma, each received a due

share of attention, and their apparent contradictions were reconciled in the

light of Sri Ramakrishna's teachings and experiences.

During the life, he never let them forget the goal of the monastic life: the

complete control of the lower nature, the realization of God within as Oneness

with Atmic reality and equality of all things and objects in Maya reality.

"Before realising the need for equal mindedness, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa*

was attaching importance to things like wealth and position. On one occasion,

with a view to test Ramakrishna, a disciple called Narendra or Vivekananda kept

gold coins under the bed of Ramakrishna. Immediately Ramakrishna got up because

he felt as if his body was burning. The inner meaning of this story is that

Ramakrishna was still seeing the distinction between gold on the one hand and

mud on the other and so on. It means that he had not got over these

differences. At that moment he was still distinguishing one thing from another,

but later, Ramakrishna held mud in one hand and gold in the other and kept on

exchanging them, till he lost the sense of distinction between them. He had

then realised the equality or the oneness of them." (Excerpts from: Sathya Sai

Baba. Divine Discourses "Seek Work, Worship and Wisdom-Avoid Wealth, Wine and

Women." Summer Showers in Brindavan, May 1973). (* Sri Ramakrishna

Paramhansa (1836 - 1886) was a great teacher of Advaita Vedanta Hinduism. He

declared that all religions lead to the same goal, placing spiritual religion

above blind ritualism).

Still today Vivekananda (1863 - 1902) has remained in the memory of

spiritual seekers as one of the most famous and influential saint of the Hindu

religion of the nearest past.

He delivered innumerable lectures, wrote inspired letters in his own hand to

his many friends and disciples, composed numerous poems, and acted as spiritual

guide to the many seekers who came to him for instruction. He also organized

the Ramakrishna Order of monks, which is the most outstanding religious

organization of India. It is devoted to the propagation of the Hindu spiritual

culture not only in India, but also in America and in other parts of the world.

He found that it is his duty to teach the youth and develop the broad outlook to

social problems. His main contributions about Advaitin thinking

(consciousness) are not only philosophical but showed how Advaita philosophy

also has social, even political, consequences. His own life was an example of

Advaitin thinking.

"The path that has been described in the context of a monkey and the

path that has been described in the context of a cat, seem to be all right in

common parlance and so far as ordinary persons are concerned and in their daily

life, they are not so in the case of a person who is devoted and who wants to

know the real inner meaning of Atma or the soul. Such a person will have to

find a path which is different from these two and superior to these two. To

give you the meaning and the character of this devotion, Vivekananda had a good

example." (Excerpts from: Sathya Sai Baba. Divine Discourses "Lessons From The

Gita." Summer Showers in Brindavan, May 1972).

 

Vivekananda taught the branch of Vedanta what declared that no one could be

truly free without detachment. Even the desire for personal salvation has to be

given up, and only tireless work for the salvation of others is the true mark of

the enlightened person.

 

"The aspect of Brahman is something which is beyond time and easy reach and

if we want to understand it, we ourselves must adopt methods which are above

and beyond time. It is in this context that our ancients have said 'Brahmavit

Brahmaiva Bhavathi' meaning that one who knows the aspect of Brahman will

himself become Brahman. Vivekananda once said that if anyone wants to

understand his sagacity and his ability, he must first himself become an able

and sagacious person. The result of your effort would depend on the extent of

your effort and your sacrifice. The final result will only correspond to the

effort that you put in. This power of strength which we attempt to describe by

the word Brahman is not something which is external to and is outside you. It

is present in you and is in your own self. If you acquire some good or bad and

if you are in the misapprehension to think that Brahman outside is causing good

or bad to you or that he is giving some punishment to you, this is not the right

attitude." (Excerpts from: Sathya Sai Baba. Divine Discourses "Brahman Denotes

The Totality Of Prajna In The World." Summer Showers In Brindavan, May/June

1974).

Vivekananda's main pinpointers:

Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity

within what is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or

books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details.

His books (compiled from lectures given around the world) on the four Yogas

are still remained as fundamental texts for anyone interested in the Hindu

practice of Yoga.

 

At the 1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago, Vivekananda earned

wild applause.

"When Swami Vivekananda introduced a new form of address at the Congress of

Religions in Chicago, instead of addressing them as 'Ladies Gentlemen', he

addressed them as 'Brothers and Sisters'. It was quite new to the foreigners

and they were so much touched and moved by that gesture that they applauded him

incessantly for 15 minutes. Of course, nowadays too, we are addressing the

audience as sisters and brothers, but that feeling is not there in our heart

even for the time we are on the platform. What we do not feel in our heart

should not be expressed outwardly. We must give place to true feelings in our

heart and we must try to practice good things in our life." (Excerpts from:

Sathya Sai Baba. Divine Discourses "Destiny and Divine Grace." Summer Showers

in Brindavan, May 1972).

Within a few years of the Parliament, he had started Vedantic centres in New

York and London, lectured at major universities and generally kindled western

interest in Hinduism. After this, he returned to India. Swami Vivekananda was

the first Asian to be invited to accept the chair of Oriental Philosophy at the

Harvard University. In his honour the Indian National Youth Day is

celebrated on his birthday.

"If you want to know India, read Vivekananda". Rabindranath Tagore

 

Vivekananda strove to promote peace and human brotherhood on the spiritual

foundation of the Vedantic Oneness of existence. Vivekananda had a direct and

intuitive experience of Reality. He derived his ideas from that unfailing

source of wisdom and often presented them in the soul-stirring language of

poetry. The natural tendency of Vivekananda's mind, like that of his Guru

Ramakrishna, was to soar above the world and forget itself in contemplation of

the Absolute. But another part of his personality bled at the sight of human

suffering in East and West alike. It might appear that his mind seldom found a

point of rest in its oscillation between contemplation of God and service to

man. Be that as it may, he chose, in obedience to a higher call, service to man

as his mission on earth.

 

References and sources of proper information:

http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/

http://www.advaitaonline.com/

Namaste - Reet