VSC
Vedanta Study Circle @ UIUC
Born Narendranath Dutta, Swami Vivekananda was the first Hindu Monk and preacher in the West. He represented Hinduism at the Parliament of Religions, held as part of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, where he was an instant success. Subsequently he was invited to speak all over America and Europe. He was a man with a great spiritual presence and tremendous intellect.
The Swami, a lover of mankind, strove to promote peace and human brotherhood on the spiritual foundation of the Vedantic Oneness of Existence. A mystic of the highest order, 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 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. 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.
In the course of a short life of thirty-nine years (1863-1902), of which only ten were devoted to public activities - and those too, in the midst of acute physical suffering - he left for posterity his four classics: Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga and Raja Yoga, all of which are outstanding treatises on Vedanta philosophy. In addition, 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.
Swami Vivekananda
Here is what some illustrious people said about Swami Vivekananda:
“His words are great music, phrases in the style of Beethoven, stirring rhythms like the march of Handel choruses. I cannot touch these sayings of his, scattered as they are through the pages of books, at thirty years' distance, without receiving a thrill through my body like an electric shock. And what shocks, what transports, must have been produced when in burning words they issued from the lips of the hero!”
Romain Rolland-
“The book by Vivekananda is more than a pleasure; it is a broadening of the soul.”
Leo Tolstoy-
"The paragon of all Unity systems is the Vedanta philosophy of India, and the paragon of Vedanta missionaries was the late Swami Vivekananda. The man is simply a wonder for oratorical power. The Swami is an honor to humanity.”
William James ,Harvard philosopher and psychologist-
“It is very difficult to evaluate his [Swami Vivekananda's] importance in the scale of world history. It is certainly far greater than any Western historian or most Indian historians would have suggested at the time of his death. The passing of the years and the many stupendous and unexpected events which have occurred since then suggest that in centuries to come he will be remembered as one of the main molders of the modern world, especially as far as Asia is concerned, and as one of the most significant figures in the whole history of Indian religion.”
A.L.Basham, Historian-
“One of the very greatest historical figures that India has ever produced.”
Christopher Isherwood-