Swami Vivekananda

Vivekananda was born Narendranath Dutta in Calcutta to a traditional Bengali Kayastha family
on 12 January 1!"#$ %fter his education he became a member of a &reemason lodge and a
breakaway faction of the Brahmo 'ama( led by Keshab Chandra 'en and Debendranath )agore$
*n 1!!" he became a disci+le of ,amakrishna +aramahamsa and took over his activities after his
death in 1!!-$ )hen evolved and emerged the reformer 'wami Vivekananda$
.e travelled to different +arts of *ndia like Varanasi /ucknow u+ to the south to
Kanyakumari s+reading the message of ,amakrishna and his teachings$
.e chided casteism and untouchability vehemently during his travails and also gathering
followers$
.e also stood for girl0s education as he and his disci+le Sister Nivedita established in
Kolkata$
.e refurbished a dila+idated Baranagar 1ath to the first ,amakrishna 1ath$
.e also established the ,amakrishna 1ission head2uartered at Belur which carries to this
day his treatises and +salms$
.e was the first great +hiloso+her from *ndia who re+resented and e3em+lified *ndian
+hiloso+hy and the .indu religion before the world at the 4arliament of the 5orld6s
,eligions o+ened on 11 'e+tember 1!7# at the %rt *nstitute of Chicago as +art of the
5orld6s Columbian 83+osition$ .is famous Chicago s+eech still imbibed in the laurels of
history and still remains one of *ndia0s greatest moment till death$
Ramakrishna Math and Mission
established in 1!79 By 'wami Vivekananda headquartered in Belur near Kolkata$:)he
1otto of the organisation is ;Atmano Mokshartham Jagad-hitaya Cha which means
means For one's own salvation, and for the good of the world
*t has become an organisation which forms the core of a worldwide s+iritual movement
known as the Ramakrishna Movement or the Vedanta Movement which has branches
here as well as abroad$
%lso referred to as the Ramakrishna Order the 1ath is the movement6s monastic
organisation$ &ounded by ,amakrishna in 1!!- the 1ath +rimarily focuses on s+iritual
training and the +ro+agation of the movement6s teachings$
)he mission works against the caste system and orthodo3y to s+read the message of
harmony and s+iritual transformation$
*t also has established a number of educational institutions for s+reading education
*t is also involved in the s+reading of *ndian culture abroad $
*t is also involved in running destitute old age homes and also involved in disaster relief$
*ts libraries hel+ s+read the knowledge of .induism to all$
)he mission activities include<
1$ 8ducation
2$ .ealth care
#$ Cultural activities
=$ ,ural u+liftment
"$ )ribal welfare
-$ >outh movement etc
*t after its ince+tion has resulted in a harmonious socio?religious movement and that of
s+irituality and is one the largest organisation working in this front: in the country$
Swami Vivekananda as Hindu reformer - 17th century
Vivekananda as a student was educated in contem+orary 5estern thought$ .e (oined Brahmo
'ama( briefly before meeting ,amakrishna who was a +riest in the tem+le of the goddess Kali in
Calcutta and who was to become his guru$
@nder the influence of Arientalism 4erennialism and @niversalism Vivekananda re?
inter+reted %dvaita Vedanta +resenting it as the essence of .indu s+irituality and the +innacle
indeed of the develo+ment of human6s religiosity$ )his +ro(ect started with ,am 1ohan ,oy of
Brahmo 'ama( who collaborated with the @nitarian Church and +ro+agated a strict monotheism$
)his reinter+retation +roduced neo-Vedanta in which %dvaita Vedanta was combined with
disci+lines such as yoga and the one!t of soial servie to attain +erfection from the ascetic
traditions in what Vivekananda called the B"ratial VedantaB$ )he +ractical side essentially
included +artici+ation in soial reform$
.e made .indu s+irituality intellectually available to the 5esterniCed audience$ .is famous
s+eech at the "arliament of the #orld$s Religions at Chicago on 11 'e+tember %&'( followed
huge rece+tion of his thought in the 5est and made him a celebrity in the 5est and subse2uently
in *ndia too$ .is influence can still be discerned in +o+ular western s+irituality such as
nondualism New %ge and the veneration of ,amana 1aharshi$
% ma(or element of Vivekananda6s message was nationalist$ .e saw his effort very much
in terms of a revitaliCation of the .indu nation which carried .indu s+irituality and which could
ounter #estern materialism$ )he notions of 5hite su+remacy and 5estern su+eriority strongly
believed by the coloniCers were to be 2uestioned based on .indu s+irituality$ )his kind of
s!iritual Hinduism was later carried forward by )andhi and Sarve!alli Radhakrishnan$ *t also
became a main ins+iration for the current brand of .indu nationalism today$
Ane of the most revered leaders of the ,ashtriya 'wayamsevak 'angh D,''E Baba
'aheb %+te6s lifelong +et sentence was BVivekananda is like Fita for the ,''$B .istorians have
observed that this hel+ed the nascent *nde+endence movement with a distinct national identity
and ke+t it from being the sim+le derivative function of 8uro+ean nationalisms$
"arliament of the #orld$s Religions
)he 1!7# 4arliament had marked the first formal gathering of re+resentatives of 8astern
and 5estern s+iritual traditions$ )oday it is recogniCed as the occasion of the birth of formal
interreligious dialogue worldwide$ %bsent from this event were Native %merican religious figures
'ikhs and other *ndigenous and 8arth centered religionists$ *t would not be until the 177#
4arliament that these religions and s+iritual traditions would be re+resented$
.e conducted hundreds of +ublic and +rivate lectures and classes disseminating tenets of
.indu +hiloso+hy in %merica 8ngland and 8uro+e$ *n %merica Vivekananda became *ndia6s
s+iritual ambassador$ .is mission there was the inter+retation of *ndia6s s+iritual culture and
heritage$ .e also tried to enrich the religious consciousness of %mericans through the teachings of
the Vedanta +hiloso+hy$ .e established the Vedanta societies in %merica and 8ngland$ .e was a
key figure in the introduction of *ndian +hiloso+hies of Vedanta and Yoga to the western world and
was credited with raising interfaith awareness bringing .induism to the status of a ma(or world
religion in the late 17th century$ %fter a com+rehensive tour of four years in the 5est he returned
to *ndia in 1!79$ /ater he became a ma(or force in the revival of .induism in *ndia and contributed
to the notion of nationalism in colonial *ndia$
%''( "arliament
4arliament convened to celebrate discuss and e3+lore how religious traditions can work together
on the critical issues which confront the world$ )he keynote address was on the state of the
environment$
%''' "arliament
)he 4arliament began with a showing of the *nternational %*D' Guilt to highlight the e+idemic of
%*D' in 'outh %frica and of the role that religious and s+iritual traditions +lay in facing the critical
issues that face the world$ )he event continued with hundreds of +anels sym+osia and
worksho+s offerings of +rayer and meditation +lenaries and +erformances$ )he +rograms
em+hasiCed issues of religious s+iritual and cultural identity a++roaches to interreligious
dialogue and the role of religion in res+onse to the critical issues facing the world today$
*++, "arliament
.aving created the declaration Towards a lo!al "thi# at the 177# 4arliament and attem+ted to
engage guiding institutions at the 1777 4arliament the 2HH= 4arliament concentrated on four
+ressing issues< mitigating religiously motivated violence access to safe water the fate of
refugees worldwide and the elimination of e3ternal debt in develo+ing countries$
*++' "arliament
)he 1elbourne 4arliament addressed issues of aboriginal reconciliation$ )he issues of
sustainability and global climate change were e3+lored through the lens of indigenous
s+iritualities$ 8nvironmental issues and the s+irituality of youth were also be key areas of dialogue$
)he Council for a 4arliament of the 5orld6s ,eligions suggested that the 1elbourne 4arliament
would Beducate +artici+ants for global +eace and (usticeB through e3+loring religious conflict and
globaliCation creating community and cross?cultural networks and addressing issues of religious
violence$ *t su++orted Bstrengthening religious and s+iritual communitiesB by +roviding a s+ecial
focus on indigenous and %boriginal s+iritualities
*+%- "arliament - >et to ha++en