Swami Vivekananda — Advaita for the Modern World
Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) brought Advaita Vedanta to the Western world and synthesized it with social ethics — arguing that recognizing the divinity of every human being is the foundation of genuine service.
Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902 — born Narendranath Datta) was Ramakrishna Paramahamsa's foremost disciple and the first Hindu teacher to systematically present Advaita Vedanta to Western audiences — his famous 1893 speech at the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago, beginning 'Sisters and Brothers of America,' was received as a revelation. Vivekananda's synthesis: (1) Advaita Vedanta is the most rational and universally applicable spiritual philosophy; (2) its ethics requires the recognition of divinity in all beings, particularly the poor ('Daridra Narayan' — God in the poor); (3) Karma Yoga (selfless service) performed with the recognition of divine identity in the one served is itself a form of Brahman-realization. His four Yoga books (Raja Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga) remain influential introductions to Vedantic practice. He founded the Ramakrishna Math and Mission — integrating contemplative life with active social service.
Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within, by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, worship, psychic control, or philosophy — by one or more or all of these — and be free.
Sociologist Max Weber's study of Indian religion ('The Religion of India') missed Vivekananda's synthesis of contemplative non-dualism with active social ethics, leading to his incorrect characterization of Hinduism as world-rejecting — Vivekananda demonstrated that Advaita Vedanta could generate as powerful a this-world ethic as Weber found in Protestantism.
Raja Yoga