Swami Vivekananda : His immortal teachings.

150th Birthday of Swami Vivekananda

On the 12th of January 2012, 150th birthday of Swami Vivekananda was celebrated all over the country with great enthusiasm and reverence. Kolkata born Swami Vivekananda in 39 years ( 12th January 1863 - 4th July 1902 ) of his life became famous for the greatness of his thoughts and high moral outlook. His magnetic personality inspired great men like Subhash Chandra Bose, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Gandhiji, foreigners like Sister Nevedita and many more who were amazed by his writings and speech.

Swami Vivekananda taught to mankind, the importance of hard labour for the achievement of results and goal. He said that one should not stop labouring hard till the accomplishment of a particular mission he has planned. He was a great man to understand the weakness of the women folk of the society. He was deeply pained to see their position in the society and at home. He wanted the women to gain strength in the society by getting educated, doing social work and by making handicrafts. He encouraged the women to become independent. He believed in female empowerment.

His teachings have described the discrimination among the Indians on the basis of sex (gender), religion, caste and creed as the biggest curse of the society. Swami Vivekanada had wonderful ability and energy. He walked almost all parts of India on foot on his journey as a monk. He believed and taught that human life was a supreme and superior thing that we have, and that every human should make the best use of his life. His teachings says that the human beings should lead life with brotherly love, dignity, sincerity and honesty.

Who was Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda was well known for his simplicity with which he could mix well with people both Indians and foreigners. He had a wonderful personality and his calm commanded love and respect from everyone. Many people became his followers who loved to follow his said words in practical life.

Swami Vivekananda was an inspiring spiritual guru. His real name was Narendra Nath Datta. He was born in an affluent family in Kolkata. His father was an attorney, named Vishwanath Datta. He was very intelligent since childhood and was interested in gymnastics and also music. He could sing very well. His songs gathered huge crowds. People loved to hear him sing, he had a melodious voice. He became a follower of Ramakrishna Paramhans. At the age of 25 years he surrendered his life to work for mankind. He laid the foundation of Ramakrishnan Mission on 1st May 1897. He was moved to see the poverty, backwardness in the society. His teachings laid stress on self confidence, he wanted people to have faith in themselves. He wanted them to improve the financial or economic conditions.

The teachings of Swami Vivekananda were very powerful, he wanted to awaken the people of the country. He wanted them to know that India had rich cultural heritage. He taught unity in the diversity of religion and the different races of people. He spread Vedanta and its teachings with great effort and love. He believed in social service without distinction of religion, caste or creed. He saw the needy, downtrodden and people in poverty and his heart melted for them, he was filled with love, concern and care. Ramakrishnan Mission works for these downtrodden people since the time the Mission was formed.

From 1890- 1893 he travelled all over India as a monk. To spread the teachings of the Vedanta he sailed to America, Chicago, he travelled to Paris. He was known as, 'Messenger of Indian wisdom to the Western world'. The people of the west loved him and became his followers. He continued his foreign tour from 1899-1900, he travelled to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vienna, Greece, Cairo in Europe. He influenced people in the West with his dedication, hard work and simplicity. Many people became sanyasis, monks. His teachings guided people. His health deteriorated and on 4th July 1902, he bid final farewell to the world.

Swami Vivekananda's Teachings

The teachings of Swami Vivekananda cannot be enumerated in numbers. His teachings are vast, immortal and precious.

His teachings were powerful, he taught his followers about the inner and deeper meaning of education.

He spread the message of love and taught how to get freedom from the religious, caste, social and economical prejudices.

His teachings stated how to throw away hatred and intolerance from ones personality and why to concentrate on brotherly love for mankind.

His teachings laid stress on sincerity and truthfulness in thoughts, deeds and actions.

He believed that ones service towards mankind should be full of love and honesty, it should be devoid of political influences.

He taught that education led to independence that helped in performing ones task better.

He believed in equality of mankind.

His teachings stated that patience, perseverence and purity of thought and action are the keys to ones success in life.

His teachings said that man is the manifestation of his own believes and that one should keep confidence and faith in him above all things.

He taught about the rich cultural heritage of the country and awakened people.

How Ramakrishnan Mission works.

The Ramakrishnan Mission works for the welfare of the society through the public donations and government grants. The Misson runs schools, colledges, hostels, healthcare centres, hospitals, rural development centres to help the needy and the downtrodden. The Ramakrishnan Mission does relief work in times of National calamities like earthquakes, cyclones, floods, typhoons, cloud bursts etc, with brotherly love and without any differentiation.

For the followers of Swami Vivekananda there are a lot of places for pilgrimage worship, do visit the following :

Belur Math

Jayrambati

Kamarpukur

Dakshineshwar and many more.

To know more about the cultural value do visit : Belur Math : Art and Photo Gallery.aspx

Conclusion

Many statues have been installed all over the country in reverence of Swami Vivekananda. This year Art and Culture will have a special place, the governments willingness to promote the cultural value of the country can clearly be seen. The youth of today need to follow the principles of life as taught by Swami Vivekananda to achieve success in all spheres of life.