Penguin Swami Vivekananda Reader

On 11 September 1893, Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) made his first public appearance on the world stage as a last-minute, uninvited participant at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago. There he proclaimed his message of tolerance and universal acceptance in the ‘name of millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects’. Speaking against sectarianism and bigotry, this young speaker in flaming robes sounded the death-knell of all fanaticism. In the last nine years of his brief life, Swami Vivekananda taught, lectured, wrote and travelled tirelessly. After his death, his message spread all over India and in many parts of the world through the various activities, efforts and services of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, the monastic order and service institution that he had founded in the name of his guru. The Penguin Swami Vivekananda Reader is the first major independently edited selection of Vivekananda’s works. It includes speeches, essays, letters, poems, conversations and excerpts on subjects that have contemporary relevance: the condition of India, karma, spirituality, reincarnation, and the realization of the Absolute. Swami Vivekananda’s writings do not merely inspire, but propel action. With a detailed biography and a scholarly introduction, the Reader provides a rare insight into one of India’s greatest minds.

Truth Can Be Stated In A Thousand Different Ways, Yet Each One Can Be True. Swami Vivekananda On 11 September 1893, Swami Vivekananda (1863 1902) Made His First Public Appearance On The World Stage As A Last-Minute, Uninvited Participant At The Parliament Of Religions In Chicago. There He Proclaimed His Message Of Tolerance And Universal Acceptance In The Name Of Millions And Millions Of Hindu People Of All Classes And Sects . Speaking Against Sectarianism And Bigotry, This Young Speaker In Flaming Robes Sounded The Death-Knell Of All Fanaticism. In His Brief Life Of Less Than Forty Years, Swami Vivekananda Wrote Four Outstanding Treatises On Hindu Philosophy: Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga And Raja Yoga. He Also Taught, Lectured And Travelled Tirelessly. After His Death, His Message Spread All Over India And In Many Parts Of The World Through The Various Activities, Efforts And Services Of The Ramakrishna Mission And Math, The Monastic Order That He Had Founded In The Name Of His Guru. The Penguin Swami Vivekananda Reader Is The First Major Compilation Of Vivekananda S Selected Works Aimed At A General Audience. It Includes Speeches, Essays, Letters, Poems, Conversations And Excerpts From His Books On Subjects That Have Contemporary Relevance: Celebration Of The Indian Spirit, Karma, Spirituality, Reincarnation, Realization Of The Absolute. Swami Vivekananda S Writings Do Not Merely Inspire, But Propel Action. With A Detailed Biography And A Scholarly Introduction, The Reader Provides A Rare Insight Into One Of India S Greatest Minds.

The Highest Prayer In This World Is Service; The Greatest Devotion Is Loving The People Around Us; And The Noblest Character Trait Is Divine Compassion For All Living Creatures. Swami Chinmayananda One Of The Most Influential Interpreters Of Vedantic Philosophy In Modern Times, Swami Chinmayananda Touched The Minds And Hearts Of Millions With His Message Of Social And Religious Harmony. Several Years After His Death, The Chinmaya Mission, Established In 1953, Continues To Spread His Message Of Universal Brotherhood And Seeks To Realize, Through Spiritual And Secular Activities, The Wisdom Embedded In The Teachings Of Vedanta. This Collection Of Swami Chinmayananda S Discourses, Brought Together By Anita Raina Thapan, Disciple And Active Member Of The Mission, Represents The Seminal Teachings Of The Great Spiritual Master. From The Relevance Of Religion To The Significance Of Appropriate Spiritual Practice And The True Meaning Of Faith, Swamiji Discourses On A Whole Range Of Issues That Are Vital To The Well-Being Of Our Society. Emphasizing, Above All, The Common Essence Of All Religions, He Speaks Of The Values That One Needs To Live By In Order To Become A Self-Reliant Individual With The Motivation And The Means To Help Fashion A Better Society. Lucid And Engaging, Profound And Insightful, The Discourses In This Compilation Take The Reader On A Fascinating Journey Into The World Of Hindu Religion And Philosophy.

This book published by Advaita Ashrama, a publication house of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, India is a representative compilation of Swami Vivekananda’s teachings from the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda covering the wide spectrum of his teachings. We hope the present volume gives the reader an idea of the vastness of Swami Vivekananda's mind and also inspires the reader to realize the divine within through knowledge, devotion, mind-control and service to fellow beings.

Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) popularised Vedanta in the West and reformed Hinduism in India. He also inspired the mass movement that made India a modern nation. In showcasing his life and work, this Reader balances the two main aspects of his life: the religious and the secular, the spiritual and the practical, the devotional and the rational. Included here are the most significant and representative texts from every major genre and phase — selections from his speeches, essays, letters, poems, translations, conversations, and interviews — arranged for easy reading and reference. With a scholarly Introduction highlighting his contemporary relevance, separate section introductions and a detailed biographical Chronology, this volume provides a rare insight into one of India’s greatest minds. This volume will interest scholars and students of modern Indian history, religion, literature, and philosophy as well as general readers.

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.

R.S. Sugirtharajah shows how at the height of European colonialism whilst the colonizers were studying the sacred texts of Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs and Zoroastrians, the Hindus were themselves scrutinizing the invader's book – the Christian Bible. Sugirtharajah examines how these Hindus transformed the Bible into what they deemed fit for and suited to their contexts. The result was that the Bible acquired a totally different form and lost its authority as the Book of the Empire. Sugirtharajah shows how the resistant, subversive and at times antagonistic readings of the Hindus went beyond what the colonizer had intended. Sadly what these Hindus made of the Bible went largely unnoticed and was ignored by Western scholarship. This volume seeks to rectify this regrettable omission and to place both the Hindu reformers and nationalists attitude to the Bible in their own specific context and to allow them to speak on their own terms rather than reading them with Christian preconception. The Hindu reformers covered include figures such as Raja Rammohun Roy, Arumuga Navalar, Keshub Chunder Sen, Swami Vivekananda, Ponnambalam Ramanathan, M. K. Gandhi and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and nationalists such as Dhirendranath Chowdhary, Sita Ram Goel and Ram Swarup. The book contains the interpretative context; the textual negotiation that went on between these Hindus and the missionaries and orientalists; examples of their Hinduization of the Bible; and the hermeneutical impact on mainstream biblical interpretation.