Views

No other religion preaches the dignity of humanity in such a lofty strain as Hinduism and no other religion on earth treads upon the poor and the low in such a fashion as Hinduism.

—Swami Vivekananda

A country where millions have nothing to eat and where few thousand holy men and brahmins suck the blood of the poor and do nothing at all for them, is not a country but a living hell. Is this religion or a dance of death?

—Swami Vivekananda

Forget not that the lower classes, the ignorant, the poor, the illiterate, the cobbler, the sweeper are thy flesh and blood, thy brothers. —Swami Vivekananda

At the Parliament of Religions held at Chicago in 1893, Swami Vivekananda made a great impression on people by his learned interpretations. The keynote of his opening address was the need for a healthy balance between spiritualism and materialism. Envisaging a new culture for the whole world, he called for a blend of the materialism of the West and the spiritualism of the East into a new harmony to produce happiness for mankind. Vivekananda gave several lectures on Vedanta in the USA and in London before returning to India in 1897.

In India he delivered a series of lectures, the focus of which were to infuse into the new generation a sense of pride in India’s past, a new faith in India’s culture, and a rare sense of confidence in India’s future; to bring about a unification of Hinduism by pointing out the common foundation of its sects; to make the educated people see the misery of the downtrodden and work for their uplift by the application of practical Vedanta principles. His emphasis was not only on personal salvation, but also on social good and reform.

In 1897 he founded the Ramakrishna Mission. Vivekananda was a great humanist and used the Ramakrishna Mission for humanitarian relief and social work. The Mission stands for religious and social reform. Vivekananda advocated the doctrine of service—the service of all beings. The service of jiva (living objects) is the worship of Siva. Life itself