Swami Vivekananda
Namaste everyone,
I am motivated to start a new thread on Swamiji since I was interested in reading about him in another thread (Murti puja is not idol worship) and only some partial information is given there, I want to know more about swamiji. This is not the wikipedia type of information I need, rather, an intellectual appreciation or lack thereof of swamiji's life and mission with reasons.
I studied in Ramakrishna Mission schools and when young, great amount of respect was instilled in my young mind for swamiji. The way he took to renunciation while still young, the way he was the chosen disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, who upon giving initiation to Swami Vivekananda, is said to have placed his right hand over Vivekananda's head which immediately took Swami Vivekananda to a state of deep meditation, the way Swami's opening address at USA gained a roaring applause immediately, etc, have all been given adequate stress when at school that in my mind Swamiji is nothing short of a 'LION' of a man. Very importantly, I was greatly touched by Swamiji's response to Sri Ramakrishna's advanced throat Cancer when one day when Sri Ramakrishna was about to throw up, Swami Vivekananda caught it in his very own hands. I am also touched by the emotional turmoil and sorrow that sisters such as Sister Niveditha (sorry if incorrect) took to , upon Swamiji's demise.
That is the reason why I want to hear both factors about him - factors that applaud Swamiji as a great spiritualist as well as factors that seem to suggest he watered down Sanathana Dharma to fit the needs of a Western audience so as to gain more converts or popularity or both.
If you are one of those who knows Swamiji well either way, please respond!
TIA!
Last edited by Viraja; 16 July 2013 at 07:35 PM.
jai hanuman gyan gun sagar jai kapis tihu lok ujagar
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