...so said Swami Vivekananda at the begining of his mission.
I want no name - I want to be a voice without form....Through the Lord's will, the desire for name and fame has not yet crept into my heart and I dare say never will. I am an instrument and HE is the operator. A brilliant life that lived to its fullest potential, Swamiji was and (I would say) still is a great inspiration to us Indians.
His was a life conveying complete surrender to the Divine and yet so rooted to the ground realities of India of those days. He represented limitless energy and tireless action with a serene mind devoid of any feverishness or sense of attachment.
His appeal crossed all boundaries but to us Indians he foresaw the rise of this giant more than a hundred and ten years back. He was a live wire and sought to awaken a mass which seemed to be in very deep slumber for over a millenia. He awakened Indian society to the new realities and inspired them to be strong and purposeful.
As I read more about this divine soul, I am awe struck by an amazing clarity of thought and an ability to pinpoint to where we as a society had gone astray. His advice to our society is so apt and relevant (even today).
We seem to have all the wisdom and knowledge within our culture and somewhere it is ingrained in our psyche. The question which keeps repeating in my mind is why inspite of all these treasures we seem to be constantly looking outside for inspiration and direction. Why is it that our society appears so fractured and where have we forgotten this noble way of living?
It is tempting to presume that our society has descended into a black-hole never to recover or are we just being too pessimistic?
I would like to share some examples of this "Eternal Wisdom" in the following posts and hope to reflect on our current state. I have liberally referred to various books and published material and would refer them in quotes with appropriate acknowledgements.
With this, I dedicate my fiftieth post to the blogging world.
His was a life conveying complete surrender to the Divine and yet so rooted to the ground realities of India of those days. He represented limitless energy and tireless action with a serene mind devoid of any feverishness or sense of attachment.
His appeal crossed all boundaries but to us Indians he foresaw the rise of this giant more than a hundred and ten years back. He was a live wire and sought to awaken a mass which seemed to be in very deep slumber for over a millenia. He awakened Indian society to the new realities and inspired them to be strong and purposeful.
As I read more about this divine soul, I am awe struck by an amazing clarity of thought and an ability to pinpoint to where we as a society had gone astray. His advice to our society is so apt and relevant (even today).
We seem to have all the wisdom and knowledge within our culture and somewhere it is ingrained in our psyche. The question which keeps repeating in my mind is why inspite of all these treasures we seem to be constantly looking outside for inspiration and direction. Why is it that our society appears so fractured and where have we forgotten this noble way of living?
It is tempting to presume that our society has descended into a black-hole never to recover or are we just being too pessimistic?
I would like to share some examples of this "Eternal Wisdom" in the following posts and hope to reflect on our current state. I have liberally referred to various books and published material and would refer them in quotes with appropriate acknowledgements.
With this, I dedicate my fiftieth post to the blogging world.
11 comments:
Glad to see a post about Swamijee . I believe that he , along with many others , are the lost Heroes of India . His life teachings should be a part of our curriculum . Thank you for initiating this series .
Swami Vivekananda was indeed an illuminated soul. The multi-volume 'Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda' needs to be in every progressive home.
This disease of looking outside for inspiration and direction has its roots in the fact that atheists and Leftists took control of the intellectual and academic space after Independence and took great pains to ignore and belittle India's great and timeless heritage. That disease is only growing. Let us hope things change. I think the net is going to be the prime agent of that badly needed change.
Very timely post- if ever we needed to remember Swamiji's teachings, it is now, with Indian society having lost direction to a great extent.
Looking forward to further posts...
Very profound post and looking forward to more on these lines.. I just found out that I have missed a few of your previous posts.. Will go back to read them now.
Kislay - Thanx. Hope I can do justice. Swamiji has been a towering personality and undoubtedly one of the tallest figures on the world stage.
Vinod - Yes, we have strayed from our roots. Unfortunately, nowadays any talk of returning to our roots is greeted with the "Communal" gibberish and you are made to feel like a criminal.
I guess "Pink Chaddi" is their idea of our ancient culture and values.
I think we have underestimated the power of Swami Vivekanand's works. I read a book by him when i was in 10th and it shaped my thinking a lot!
PS: congrats for the 50th post.
Manju
A toehold in spiritual matters (as distinct from religion) is certainly helpful. With the rise in "Americanisation", I also see a similar rise in spiritualism. The only difference is that this is silent and not prominent in media nor is there tom-toming about this.
Smitha
Welcome again.
Hi Priyank,
We have not only underestimated him but to a large extent forgotten him.
The beauty of his thoughts / talks and writings has to be experienced. They are so simple and act as guide posts to us.
"education is the manifestation of the perfection we already have " Vivekananada said.
some british guy once said to the indians " we are not afraid of your vices, we are afraid of your virtues". so that's what the british set out to do - indoctrination.
But I must credit woman's emanicipation to the west. Many of the indian writings were manipulated by the so called shastras, that the people controlled information by making it in unaccessible. if indian literature were as available to the indians of that age than the free proliferation of english literature india would not have lost much as we did today.
Constructive evaluation and analysis were stubbed by controllers of power such as the religious priests. when ego takes over, wisdom, rationality and authenticity is lost.
Vivekananda was a man beyond all borders - that is why he still reigns.
Keep blogging mavin
Hi,
I am new to your blog and did like the article you posted here. Very well written!
I am into Spirituality, Divine Love, Meditation and a little bit of Journalism.
http://voicewithin-roh.blogspot.com
Please do visit my blogs when free. Love to see you in my blog as well as my friend.
Good Luck!
Congratulations on your 50th post, Mavin and hope to see future posts light up the dark alleys of our minds!
Post a Comment