Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda was born on January 12th, 1863. Every year, this day is celebrated all over India and across the world as National Youth Day in reminiscence of Swami’s motivating message to the youth of India. Growing up as a young man, Narendranath Dutta (as he was known at birth), acquired many attributes of a strong leader and quickly commanded the respect of many of his peers. Curious about whether God could be known intimately, Narendranath found himself seeking the sage of Dakshineshwar, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
Many youths, including Narendranath were deeply inspired by Sri Ramakrishna’s teachings, and eventually when Sri Ramakrishna passed away, Narendranath was instructed to look after the group of youth who began following Sri Ramakrishna’s teachings of spirituality. As Narendranath’s group of youth began to grow in strength, a monastery was established and Narendranath under monastic vows took his name as Swami Vivekananda.
Wandering all over India, Swami Vivekananda touched the hearts of many people. He reached the Himalayas and from there travelled south until he reached the southernmost tip of India. There he meditated for three days straight on top of Kanya-Kumari.  Heartbroken, Swami Vivekananda met the poverty-stricken and illiterate as well, and saw the effects of Hinduism’s social caste system. However, Swami Vivekananda understood that religion was the backbone of mother India and that it must also be the foundation of modern India. What Swami Vivekananda meant by religion did not portend to the Brahminical customs of the day, but rather to the perpetual scriptures of the Vedas, which held the many Vedantic truths. Seeking to spread this message to the world, Swami Vivekananda travelled to the United States to represent Hinduism at the Parliament of Religions on September 11th, 1893. On this famous day, many say the West was finally connected to the East and many ideas such as Yoga, Zen, Meditation, and Eastern Studies began to spread... [continues]

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