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Seven lectures delivered by the author at different occasions.
In the whole range of religious biography, we hardly come across a personality more dynamic and forceful than Swami Vivekananda. The book published by Advaita Ashrama, a publication house of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, India, contains seventeen articles revealing different aspects of Swami Vivekananda’s multi-faceted genius. These articles are mainly from the book Swami Vivekananda in East and West published by the Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre of London. Some articles from the Swami Vivekananda Birth Centenary Memorial Volume have also been included.
The Hindu thinker Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) was and remains an important figure both within India, and in the West, where he was notable for preaching Vedanta. Scholarship surrounding Vivekananda is dominated by hagiography and his (mis)appropriation by the political Hindu Right. This work demonstrates that Vivekananda was no simplistic pluralist, as portrayed in hagiographical texts, nor narrow exclusivist, as portrayed by some modern Hindu nationalists, but a thoughtful, complex inclusivist. The book shows that Vivekananda formulated a hierarchical and inclusivistic framework of Hinduism, based upon his interpretations of a four-fold system of Yoga. It goes on to argue that Vivekananda understood his formulation of Vedanta to be universal, and applied it freely to non-Hindu traditions, and in so doing, demonstrates that Vivekananda was consistently critical of ‘low level’ spirituality, not only in non-Hindu traditions, but also within Hinduism. Demonstrating that Vivekananda is best understood within the context of ‘Advaitic primacy’, rather than ‘Hindu chauvinism’, this book will be of interest to scholars of Hinduism and South Asian religion and of South Asian diaspora communities and religious studies more generally.
Arguably, the greatest achievement of Swami Vivekananda, one of the most celebrated icons of modern India, was the reconstruction of Hinduism. This he accomplished by reforming the religion in India and changing its image in the West. Indeed, the Hinduism that Vivekananda expounded at the Parliament of World's Religions in Chicago was a new, progressive version of an ancient tradition, devoid of the superstitions and distortions with which it had come to be associated. He revolutionized Hindu faith traditions by turning them into a repository of rational, universal philosophy. This book tries to get to the heart of Swami Vivekananda's legacy and his relevance in the contemporary world. It examines hitherto lesser-known aspects of Swamiji's life and work including his contributions to practical Vedanta, universal religion, science-spirituality and inter-religious dialogue, dharmic secularism, educational philosophy, poetry, and, above all, to the problem of Indian modernity. Despite the abundance of literature available on him, Swami Vivekananda is still not understood adequately, remaining somewhat of an enigma. A fresh reading of the life and times of the Swami by someone who has studied him closely, Makarand R. Paranjape's detailed, thought-provoking account shows that in Vivekananda's visionary thoughts lay the seeds of the creation of a modern India. This book reclaims Swami Vivekananda's stature as a pioneer of contemporary Hindu thought and nationalism.
Among the galaxy of scholars, Swami Vivekananda stands out as a majestic tower of light who has given a new tempo to the building up of a new sense of nationalism in modern India. The uniqueness of Vivekananda was his endeavour to translate every ounce of Vedanta into a social living and was never a cold theoretician or an abstract metaphysician. He was aware that India's life is governed by her sovereign sense of the infnite and inclusiveness which nourished her national life and India has been a spiritual strength for her people, implanting the seeds that have continuously sprouted and flowered in her art, literature, religion, philosophy, science and politics. It is a civilization that should be seen, not as a closed system or as a finished product, but as a dynamic and unfolding process. Whatever the differences, India's spiritual heritage should be recognized as the focal point and to be appropriated in the conception of a new resurgent India. Regrettably, what we had been glorifying as the central value of this culture and civilization is disorientated today due to the brutal exhibition of barbarous instincts which were exhibited through the rivalry between religious groups. What is being experienced is the loss of inherited values and our inability in reinventing new values. By virtue of its characteristic pluralism and its continuously evolving synthesis, India represents a nation which is continuously unfolding its civilizational potentialities. In making of such an Indian ethos, the foundational ideal which has been the basis of Indian culture and civilization is the concept of Dharma and Vivekananda was able to comprehend and articulate the relation between morality (dharma) and human affairs which are the concerns of practical Vedanta.
There has always been an ongoing dispute between the realists and the idealists as to what is ultimate and fundamental. The realists see matter as absolute, whereas the idealists see mind as absolute. Swami Vivekananda sees both mind and matter as aspects of a larger reality. The human soul is not separate from other souls, but is an expression of one singular, spiritual Ocean out of which the whole of creation arises. Our problem is that we are clinging to the waves rather than opening out and resting in the Ocean or Source Itself. This is all explained in the ancient Sankhyan model of perception and evolution, which Swami Vivekananda empowers with the philosophy of non-dualism. Among other things, Vivekananda puts the traditional Sankhyan idea of the gunas into a familiar psychological context: tamas being attraction, rajas being aversion, and sattva being balance. Almost a century earlier, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, the German philosopher framed this dynamic as thesis or status quo (tamas), antithesis or breaking free, (rajas), and synthesis or ongoing levels of integration (sattva). In light of Swami Vivekananda's message, the Vedic position gives this process a higher evolutionary direction, that direction being an experience of a spiritual Reality that is omnipresent and ever-free.
“The Powers Of The Mind” is a speech delivered at Los Angeles, California, on January 8, 1900 by Swami Vivekananda explained his thoughts on the Powers of the Mind. This book brings together that speech for followers everywhere in his exact words.
If one asks, how Vedanta can be made practical in our day-to-day life, here is a book published by Advaita Ashrama, a publication centre of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, India, which provides the answer. It contains some of the most important lectures delivered by Swami Vivekananda in London regarding the application of Vedanta in our daily lives. Highly practical, this book helps the readers to bring about a deep transformation in their lives by spiritualizing their every moment and movement.