Sanskrit:
स्वामी विवेकानन्द,
Svāmi Vivekānanda) (
January 12,
1863 –
July 4,
1902), whose pre-monastic name was
Narendranath Dutta (
Narendranath Dut-tta), was one of the most famous and influential spiritual leaders of the philosophies of
Vedanta and
Yoga. He was the chief disciple of
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and the founder of
Ramakrishna Math and
Ramakrishna Mission. He is a major figure in the history of the
Hindu reform movements. While he is widely credited with having uplifted his own nation, India, he simultaneously introduced
Yoga and
Vedanta to America and England with his seminal lectures and private discourses on
Vedanta philosophy. Vivekananda was the first known
Hindu Sage to come to the West, where he introduced Eastern thought at the
World's Parliament of Religions, in connection with the
World's Fair in Chicago, in
1893. Here, his first lecture, which started with this line "Sisters and Brothers of America," (
[1] - not his voice) made the audience clap for two minutes just to the address, for prior to this seminal speech, the audience was always used to this opening address: "Ladies and Gentlemen". It was this speech that catapulted him to fame by his wide audiences in Chicago and then later everywhere else in America, including far-flung places such as
Memphis,
Boston,
San Francisco,
New York,
Los Angeles, and
St. Louis
1 comment:
Finally how did Vivekananda end up? He ended up begging American women for dollars for his personal maintenance.
189 blog posts on Vivekananda theory and practice
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