Swami Vivekananda

A SEEKER OF truth who never had any faith in religion, Swami Vivekananda was born in Calcutta on January 9, 1862. Vivekananda studied law after graduating and when he stepped out into the world in quest of truth, his young mind was brimming with questions about nature of life, death and human consciousness. Soon after , he came into contact with intellectuals of Brahmo Samaj like Maharshi Debandranath Tagore and Keshab Chandra Sen, who helped him organize his spiritual energies.
Wherever he went Vivekananda searched for somebody who had seen God and who could guide him to him. In 1882, he found Sri Ramakrishna the man who had seen God. Yong Vivekananda was overjoyed when he great Sri Ramakrishna entrusted him to carry on his work. He toured north India of several years as a preacher. In 1893 he joined the Parilament Of Religious in Chicago to preach the Vedanta, but was not allowed to speak because he did not have any credentials. Eventually, he was accepted as a delegate on the recommendation of Professor J. H. Wright.
Vivekananda, who had a universal view of the world, went to the UK where he developed friendships with Max Mueller and Paul Robeson. He returned to India as a world famous figure to establish the Ramakrishna Mission.
Swami Vivekananda’s teachings are contained in The complete Works Of Swami Vivekananda and seekers of truth are still his faithful followers. They flock of the two monastries he founded at Belur and Mayavati. Althogh he was spiritualist, Swami Vivekananda’s lectures had deeper messages for the Indian freedom fighters and he swayed an entire nation to shake off British rule. When he died on July 4, 1902, the nation felt that it had lost its spiritual consciousness.