#10 All You Need To Know About Swami Vivekananda

Hey Infinities, this time you will get to know about the 'Unforgettable Monk' - "Swami Vivekananda". He was an eminent personality of India. Without wasting your time, let's focus on his whole life & teachings below :

About Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda, (12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindu Monk, 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 nationalism 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 1893.

In India, Vivekananda is regarded as a patriotic saint, and his birthday is celebrated as National Youth Day.

Narendranath was interested in spirituality from a young age and used to meditate before the images of deities such as Shiva, Rama, Sita, and Mahavir Hanuman. He was fascinated by wandering ascetics and monks. Naren was naughty and restless as a child, and his parents often had difficulty controlling him. His mother said, "I prayed to Shiva for a son and he has sent me one of his demons".

With his Guru Ramakrishna Paramhans

In 1881 Narendra first met Ramakrishna, who became his spiritual focus after his own father had died in 1884.

Narendra's first introduction to Ramakrishna occurred in a literature class at General Assembly's Institution when he heard Professor William Hastie lecturing on William Wordsworth's poem, The Excursion. While explaining the word "trance" in the poem, Hastie suggested that his students visit Ramakrishna of Dakshineswar to understand the true meaning of trance. This prompted some of his students (including Narendra) to visit Ramakrishna.

Vivekananda's Guru

Narendra's father's sudden death in 1884 left the family bankrupt; creditors began demanding the repayment of loans, and relatives threatened to evict the family from their ancestral home. Narendra, once a son of a well-to-do family, became one of the poorest students in his college. He unsuccessfully tried to find work and questioned God's existence,but found solace in Ramakrishna and his visits to Dakshineswar increased.
His guru Ramakrishna Paramhans died in the early-morning hours of 16 August 1886 in Cossipore.

Religion for Him
Religion played a major role in Vivekananda's ideas. To Vivekananda religion was not only talk or doctrine or theory, but realization of the best and strongest powers within oneself. He said,

"It is being and becoming, not hearing or acknowledging; it is the whole soul becoming changed into what it believes." He also felt religion is the gist of all worship is to be pure and to do good."

 His Role in Indian Nationalism
Vivekananda played a major role in the growing Indian nationalism in the late 19th and the 20th century, encouraging many Indians with his success and appeal in the west. His example helped to build pride in India's cultural and religious heritage, and to stand up against the British colonial system. He participated a lot during major movements against the British.

Swami Vivekananda believed that India is the blessed punyabhumi, the "land of virtue". He said,

".. the land where humanity has attained its highest towards generosity, towards purity, towards calmness, above all, the land of introspection and of spirituality - it is India."

His Teachings & Philosophy
Swami Vivekananda realized three things are necessary to make every man great, every nation great :

• Conviction of the powers of goodness;
• Absence of jealousy and suspicion;
• Helping all who are trying to be and do good.

His 10 Teachings

• Strength, strength it is that we want so much in this life, for what we call sin and sorrow have all one cause, and that is our weakness. With weakness comes ignorance, and with ignorance comes misery.
• Whatever you think, that you will be. If you think yourselves weak, weak you will be; if you think yourselves strong, strong you will be.
• Purity, patience, and perseverance are the three essentials to success, and above all, love.
• It is love and love alone that I preach, and I base my teaching on the great Vedantic truth of the sameness and omnipresence of the Soul of the Universe.
• We want that education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded, and by which one can stand on one's own feet.
• This is the gist of all worship – to be pure and to do good to others.
• My ideal, indeed, can be put into a few words, and that is: to preach unto mankind their divinity, and how to make it manifest in every movement of life.
• If you have faith in all the three hundred and thirty millions of your mythological gods, … and still have no faith in yourselves, there is no salvation for you. Have faith in yourselves, and stand up on that faith and be strong; that is what we need.
• So long as the millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold every man a traitor who, having been educated at their expense, pays not the least heed to them.
• Religion is the manifestation of the Divinity already in man.

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