Showing results by author "Swami Vivekananda" in All Categories

Karma Yoga (the yoga of action) is a book of lectures by Swami Vivekananda, as transcribed by Joseph Josiah Goodwin. It was published in February 1896 in New York City. Swami Vivekananda delivered a number of lectures in his rented rooms at 228 W 39th Street in New York City from December 1895 to January 1896. In 1895, friends and supporters of Swami Vivekananda hired Goodwin, a professional stenographer, who transcribed some of the lectures which were later published as this book. Goodwin later became a follower of Vivekananda.

In this concise series of lectures, famed Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda answers the important question: How can Vedanta be made practical in our daily lives? Though intended for Western audiences, Vivekananda's idea of sacralizing every moment has transformed the lives of generations of spiritual seekers.

The Swami Vivekananda was sent by his friends and co-religionists to present their belief at the Congress of Religions that was held in connection with the World’s Fair in Chicago. This he did in a way to win general interest and admiration.

He is the Soul of the Universe; he is immortal. His is the Rulership. He is the all-knowing, the all-pervading, the Protector of the Universe, the Eternal Ruler. None else is there efficient to govern the world eternally.

This is the message of Shri Ramakrishna to the modern world: “Do not care for doctrines, do not care for dogmas, or sects, or churches, or temples; they count for little compared with the essence of existence in each man which is spirituality; and the more this is developed in a man, the more powerful is he for good. Earn that first, acquire that, and criticize no one, for all doctrines and creeds have some good in them. Show by your lives that religion does not mean words, or names, or sects, but that it means spiritual realization."

This book contains the prophetic and epochal lectures delivered by Swami Vivekananda at the Parliament of Religions, Chicago, in 1893.

The late 19th Century was a time of liberation. After the collapse of empires, people of all creeds demanded their equality. We begin with two speeches that represent the old order, by Bismarck. Between the two speeches he went from being Prussia’s last Minister President to being the Germany’s first Chancellor. A statesman in the oldest mold, he argues for nationalist dominance against forces temporal and religious.

Swami Vivekananda made an unforgettable impression upon religious minds in America at the Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893. He spoke of the harmony of religions and the innate divinity of every human soul. The swami taught that true harmony of religions is based on the spiritual oneness of existence. There is one life that pulsates in the whole universe. Spiritual oneness transcends the limitations of race, culture, creed, and dogma.