Swami Vivekananda and Non-Hindu Traditions

Swami Vivekananda and Non-Hindu Traditions
Author: Stephen E. Gregg
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 269
Release: 2019-03-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1317047443

The Hindu thinker Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) was and remains an important figure both within India, and in the West, where he was notable for preaching Vedanta. Scholarship surrounding Vivekananda is dominated by hagiography and his (mis)appropriation by the political Hindu Right. This work demonstrates that Vivekananda was no simplistic pluralist, as portrayed in hagiographical texts, nor narrow exclusivist, as portrayed by some modern Hindu nationalists, but a thoughtful, complex inclusivist. The book shows that Vivekananda formulated a hierarchical and inclusivistic framework of Hinduism, based upon his interpretations of a four-fold system of Yoga. It goes on to argue that Vivekananda understood his formulation of Vedanta to be universal, and applied it freely to non-Hindu traditions, and in so doing, demonstrates that Vivekananda was consistently critical of ‘low level’ spirituality, not only in non-Hindu traditions, but also within Hinduism. Demonstrating that Vivekananda is best understood within the context of ‘Advaitic primacy’, rather than ‘Hindu chauvinism’, this book will be of interest to scholars of Hinduism and South Asian religion and of South Asian diaspora communities and religious studies more generally.

The Ships of Vivekananda

The Ships of Vivekananda
Author: Somenath Mukherjee
Publisher: Advaita Ashrama (A publication branch of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math)
Total Pages: 123
Release:
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 8175059044

The book published by Advaita Ashrama, a publication house of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, presents a broad canvas wherein the history, akin to biography, of all the eleven ships which took Swami Vivekananda around the seven seas during his two Western visits are threaded together with the sequence of events in his life in between those voyages.

Makers of Modern Indian Religion in the Late Nineteenth Century

Makers of Modern Indian Religion in the Late Nineteenth Century
Author: Torkel Brekke
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2002-12-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0191530867

This is a book about religious transformation in South Asia in the nineteenth century. On the one hand, a fundamental conceptual transformation in the world of religion among people who were exposed to English language and culture took place. This transformation crystallized religious communities with sharp boundaries and distinct histories. On the other hand, the emerging feeling of religious-communal identity motivated religious and lay leaders to work in the interest of the community. This book is about both of these interrelated developments: the conceptual change and the application of the new ideas to political discourse; the construction and the politics of religious identity.

Swami Vivekananda and Non-Hindu Traditions

Swami Vivekananda and Non-Hindu Traditions
Author: Stephen E. Gregg
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2019-03-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1317047435

The Hindu thinker Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) was and remains an important figure both within India, and in the West, where he was notable for preaching Vedanta. Scholarship surrounding Vivekananda is dominated by hagiography and his (mis)appropriation by the political Hindu Right. This work demonstrates that Vivekananda was no simplistic pluralist, as portrayed in hagiographical texts, nor narrow exclusivist, as portrayed by some modern Hindu nationalists, but a thoughtful, complex inclusivist. The book shows that Vivekananda formulated a hierarchical and inclusivistic framework of Hinduism, based upon his interpretations of a four-fold system of Yoga. It goes on to argue that Vivekananda understood his formulation of Vedanta to be universal, and applied it freely to non-Hindu traditions, and in so doing, demonstrates that Vivekananda was consistently critical of ‘low level’ spirituality, not only in non-Hindu traditions, but also within Hinduism. Demonstrating that Vivekananda is best understood within the context of ‘Advaitic primacy’, rather than ‘Hindu chauvinism’, this book will be of interest to scholars of Hinduism and South Asian religion and of South Asian diaspora communities and religious studies more generally.

India after the 1857 Revolt

India after the 1857 Revolt
Author: M. Christhu Doss
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2022-11-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 1000785114

Weaving together the varied and complex strands of anti-colonial nationalism into one compact narrative, Christhu Doss takes an incisive look at the deeper and wider historical process of decolonization in India. In India after the 1857 Revolt, Doss brings together some of the most cutting-edge thoughts by challenging the cultural project of colonialism and critically examining the multi-dimensional aspects of decolonization during and after the 1857 revolt. He demonstrates that the deep-rooted popular discontent among the Indian masses followed by the revolt generated a distinctive form of decolonization movement—redemptive nationalism that challenged both the supremacy of the British Raj and the cultural imperatives of the controversial proselytizing missionary agencies. Doss argues that the quests for decolonization (of mind) that got triggered by the revolt were further intensified by the Indocentric national education; the historic Chicago discourse of Swami Vivekananda; the nonviolent anti-colonial struggles of Mahatma Gandhi; the seditious political activism displayed by the Western Gandhian missionary satyagrahis; and the de-Westernization endeavours of the sandwiched Indian Christian nationalists. A compelling read for historians, political scientists and sociologists, it is refreshingly an indispensable guide to all those who are interested in anticolonial struggles and decolonization movements worldwide.

Handbook of Hinduism in Europe (2 vols)

Handbook of Hinduism in Europe (2 vols)
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 1677
Release: 2020-07-27
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004432280

Handbook of Hinduism in Europe portrays and analyses how Hindu traditions have expanded across the continent, and presents the main Hindu communities, religious groups, forms, practices and teachings. The Handbook does this in two parts, Part One covers historical and thematic topics which are of importance for understanding Hinduism in Europe as a whole and Part Two has chapters on Hindu traditions in every country in Europe. Hindu traditions have a long history of interaction with Europe, but the developments during the last fifty years represent a new phase. Globalization and increased ease of communication have led to the presence of a great plurality of Hindu traditions. Hinduism has become one of the major religions in Europe and is present in every country of the continent.

Letters of Swami Vivekananda

Letters of Swami Vivekananda
Author: Swami Vivekananda
Publisher:
Total Pages: 522
Release: 1960
Genre:
ISBN: 9780874810936

Excerpt: "Liberty is the first condition of growth. Just as man must have liberty to think and speak, so must he have liberty in food, dress, and marriage, and in every other thing as long as he does not injure others."

Vivekananda Reader

Vivekananda Reader
Author: Swami Vivekananda
Publisher: Advaita Ashrama (A publication branch of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math)
Total Pages: 430
Release: 2016-05-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 8175058358

This book published by Advaita Ashrama, a publication house of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, India is a representative compilation of Swami Vivekananda’s teachings from the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda covering the wide spectrum of his teachings. We hope the present volume gives the reader an idea of the vastness of Swami Vivekananda's mind and also inspires the reader to realize the divine within through knowledge, devotion, mind-control and service to fellow beings.