Dr. V.K.Maheshwari, M.A. (Socio, Phil) B.Sc. M. Ed, Ph.D.
Former Principal, K.L.D.A.V.(P.G) College, Roorkee, India.
“Swamiji harmonized the East and the West, religion and science, past and present. And that is why he is great. Our countrymen have gained unprecedented self-respect, self-reliance and self-assertion from his teachings.” Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
Swami Vivekananda (1863 – 1902), a great thinker and reformer of India, embraces education, which for him signifies ‘man-making’, as the very mission of his life
Free India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wrote: “Rooted in the past, full of pride in India’s prestige, Vivekananda was yet modern in his approach to life’s problems, and was a kind of bridge between the past of India and her present … he came as a tonic to the depressed and demoralized Hindu mind and gave it self-reliance and some roots in the past.”
Swami Vivekananda came as a dynamic force in the rise of a New India. His words and works continue to be a force even after half a century of his passing away and will continue to be same till the end of time, for all seekers of Truth.
Amongst the contemporary Indian philosophers of education, Swami Vivekananda is one of those who revolted against the imposition of British system of education in India. He criticized the pattern of education introduced by the British in India. He pointed out that the current system of education only brings about an external change without any reflective inner force.
Swamiji defines education as ‘the manifestation of the perfection already in man.’The end of all education, all training, should be man-making. The end aim of all training is to make the man grow. The training by which the current and expression of will are brought under control and become fruitful, is called education.
By his philosophy of education, Swamiji thus brings it home that education is not a mere accumulation of information but a comprehensive training for life. To quote him: ‘Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and runs riot there undigested, all your life.
The education which does not help the common mass of people to equip themselves for the struggle for life, which does not bring out strength of character, a spirit of philanthropy, and the courage of a lion – is it worth the name? Real education is that which enables one to stand on one’s own legs (CW, vol. VII, pp. 147–148.
Vivekanand- The Goal or Objectives of Education
Vivekananda points out that the defect of the present-day education is that it has no definite goal to pursue. A sculptor has a clear idea about what he wants to shape out of the marble block; similarly, a painter knows what he is going to paint. But a teacher, he says, has no clear idea about the goal of his teaching
All-round development of human beings.
The present education system has overemphasized the cultivation of the intellect at the cost of the general well-being of humanity. To check this dangerous trend, Vivekananda strongly recommended all-round development of human beings. In one of his lectures he expressed the desire ‘that all men were so constituted that in their minds all these elements of philosophy, mysticism, emotion, and of work were equally present in full! That is the ideal, my ideal of a perfect man’ (CW, vol. II, p. 388).
A harmonious development of the body, mind and soul ( Man making )
Swamiji attempts to establish, through his words and deeds, that the end of all education is man making At this stage, man becomes aware of his self as identical with all other selves of the universe, i.e. different selves as manifestations of the same self. Hence education, in Vivekananda’s sense, enables one to comprehend one’s self within as the self everywhere. Therefore, man making for him means a harmonious development of the body, mind and soul.
To manifest the perfection in our lives
The aim of education is to manifest in our lives the perfection, which is the very nature of our inner self. This perfection is the realization of the infinite power which resides in everything and every-where-existence, consciousness and bliss (satchidananda). After understanding the essential nature of this perfection, we should identify it with our inner self. For achieving this, one will have to eliminate one’s ego, ignorance and all other false identification, which stand in the way.
Physical Development-.
In his scheme of education, Swamiji often quotes the Upanishadic dictum ‘nayamatma balahinena labhyah’; i.e. the self cannot be realized by the physically weak. Physical weakness is the cause of at least one third of our miseries. We are lazy; we cannot combine.. First of all our young men must be strong. What our country now wants are muscles of iron and nerves of steel, gigantic wills which nothing can resist, which can penetrate into the mysteries and secrets of the universe and will accomplish their purpose in any fashion, even if it meant going down to the bottom of the ocean, meeting death face to face Religion will come afterwards. Be strong, my young friends, that is my advice to you. You will be nearer to Heaven through football than through the study of the Gita.
You will understand Gita better with your biceps, your muscles, a little stronger. You will understand the mighty genius and the mighty strength of Krishna better with a little strong blood in you Keep aside for the present the Vrindavan aspect of Sri Krishna and spread far and wide the worship of Sri Krishna roaring out the Gita with the voice of a lion, and bring into daily use the worship of Shakti the Divine Mother, the source of all power.
Acquisition of Truthfulness.-
Tell the truth boldly. All truth is eternal. Truth is the nature of all souls. Truth is purity, truth is all knowledge. Truth must be strengthening, must be enlightening, must be invigorating. Go back to your Upanishads, the shining, the strengthening, the bright philosophy. Take up this philosophy. The greatest truths are the simplest things in the world, simple as your own existence.
Acquisition of knowledge-
In his words: ‘Thus Vedanta says that within man is all knowledge even in a boy it is so and it requires only an awakening and that much is the work of a teacher.’ To drive his point home, he refers to the growth of a plant. Just as in the case of a plant, one cannot do anything more than supplying it with water, air and manure while it grows from within its own nature, so is the case with a human child
Social and Cultural Development
In Vivekananda’s view, educational concerns related to a person’s interaction with society should receive due attention.
Every society has its outer aspect called ‘civilization’, and also its inner aspect called ‘culture’. In both of these a child is molded and educated so that the beliefs and practices of his forefathers are carried on and not forgotten. Nevertheless, as Knowledge is only skin-deep, as civilization is, and a little scratch brings out the old savage (CW,vol. III, p. 291).
Self-Development
In contrast to the contemporary system of education, Vivekananda advocated education for self-development. Education according to most of the Western educationalists, aims at man’s adjustment with the environment. According to the Indian philosophical tradition true knowledge does not come from outside, it is discovered with the individual, in the self which is the source of all knowledge. According to Vivekananda, the function of education is the uncovering of the knowledge hidden in our mind.
Fulfillment of Swadharma:
Vivekananda supported the idea of Swadharma in education. Every one has to grow like himself. No one has to copy others. External pressure only creates destructive reactions leading to stubbornness and disorderliness. In an atmosphere of freedom, love and sympathy alone, the child will develop courage and self-reliance. He should be talked to stand on his own, to be himself. Each child should be given opportunities to develop according to his own inner nature.
Each man in his childhood runs through stages through which his race has come up ; only the race took thousands of years to do it while the child takes a few years. The child is at first like the primitive ancestors of his race. As he grows, he passes through different stages until he reaches the development of his race. Only he does it swiftly and quickly. Now, take the whole of humanity as a race, or take the whole of the animal creation, man and the lower animals, as one whole. There is an end towards which the whole is moving. Let us call it perfection.
Morality and Character-building
Character-building was fundamental in Vivekananda’s educational scheme.The character of any man is but the aggregate of his tendencies, the sum total of the bent of his mind. As pleasure and pain pass before his soul, they leave upon it different pictures, and the result of these combined impressions is what is called a man’s character. We are what our thoughts have made us. Each thought is a little hammer blow on the lump of iron which our bodies are, manufacturing out of it what we want it to be. Words are secondary. Good and evil have an equal share in molding character and in some cases misery is a greater teacher than happiness.
Acquisition of Strength
Strength is goodness, weakness is sin. All sins and all evil can be summed up in that one word : weak strength. It is weakness that is the motive power in all evil doing. It is weakness that is the source of all selfishness. It is weakness that makes man injure others.
Therefore, my friends, as one of your blood, as one that lives and dies with you, let me tell yo strength. that we want strength, strength, every time strength.
The weak have no place here, in this life or in any other life. Weak- ness leads to slavery. Weakness leads to all kinds of misery, physical and mental. Weakness is death. There are hundreds of thousands of microbes surrounding us, but they cannot harm us unless we become weak, until the body is ready and predisposed to receive them. There may be a million microbes of misery, floating about us. Never mind ! They dare not approach us, they have no power to get a hold on us, until the mind is weakened. This is the great fact : strength is life, weakness is death. Strength is felicity, life eternal, immortal ; weakness is constant strain and misery; weakness is death.
Vivekanand Concept of Student
You cannot teach a child any more than you can grow a plant. The plant develops its own nature. The child also teaches Self-education itself. But you can help it to go forward in its own way. What you can do is not of a positive nature but negative. You can take away the obstacles, and knowledge comes out of its own nature. Loosen the soil a little so that it may come out easily. Put a hedge round it ; see that it is not killed by anything
You can supply the growing seed with the materials for the making up of its body, bringing to it the earth, the water, the air that it wants. And there your work stops. It will take all that it wants by its own nature. So with the education of the child. A child educates itself.
In true with his philosophy, Swamiji defines education as ‘the manifestation of the perfection already in man.’ The aim of education is to manifest in our lives the perfection, which is the very nature of our inner self. This perfection is the realization of the infinite power which resides in everything and every-where-existence, consciousness and bliss (satchidananda) . For achieving this, one will have to eliminate one’s ego, ignorance and all other false identification, which stand in the way. Meditation, fortified by moral purity and passion for truth, helps man to leave behind the body, the senses, the ego and all other non-self elements, which are perishable. He thus realizes his immortal divine self, which is of the nature of infinite existence, infinite knowledge and infinite bliss
Similarly, the Swami also wanted students to cultivate will-power. According to him, will-power is developed when ‘the current and expression of will are brought under control and become fruitful’ (CW, vol. IV, p. 49
Brahmacharya, in a nutshell, stands for the practice of self-control for securing harmony of the impulses However, along with physical culture, he harps on the need of paying special attention to the culture of the mind. According to Swamiji, the mind of the students has to be controlled and trained through meditation, concentration and practice of ethical purity. All success in any line of work, he emphasizes, is the result of the power of concentration. Concentration, which necessarily implies detachment from other things, constitutes a part of Brahmacharya, which is one of the guiding mottos of his scheme of education.
Vivekanand –Concept of Teacher
When the lotus opens, the bees come of their own accord to seek honey so let the lotus of your character be full blown and the results will follow.
The educator should present high ideals before the educands. The best way to develop a character is the personal example of high character set by the teacher. In ancient Indian system of education, the teachers used to present high ideals before the pupils, who in their turn imitated these ideals according to their capacities
The person from whose soul such impulse comes is called the Guru – the teacher; and the person to whose soul the impulse is conveyed is called the Shishya – the student. To convey such an impulse to any soul, in the first place, the soul from which it proceeds must possess the power of transmitting it, as it were, to another; and in the second place, the soul to which it is transmitted must be fit to receive it. The seed must be a living seed, and the field must be ready ploughed. And when both these conditions are fulfilled, a wonderful growth of genuine religion takes place.
But nowadays, as formal education has become more and more institutionalized. Teachers are expected to play a more significant role. A teacher needs to help a student learn how to think, what to think, how to discriminate and how to appreciate things. This is not just a matter of intellectual manipulation. This kind of teaching requires moral conviction and the courage to continuously pursue one’s own course at all costs .
The teacher must not only possess the knowledge he is to transmit to the student, but he must also know how to transmit it. And, in addition to the content of the teaching, what the teacher gives or transfers, to be truly effective, must possess some other elements. For instance, the teacher should share with the student the conviction that they are both truly one in Spirit – at the same time cultivating in the student a feeling of dignity and self-respect.
The old system of education in India was very different the modern system. The students had not to pay. It was thought that knowledge is so sacred that no man ought to sell it. Knowledge should be given freely and without any price. The teachers used to take students without charge and not only so, most of them gave their students food and clothes ,to support these teachers, the wealthy families made gifts to them and they in their turn had to maintain their students. The disciple of old used to repair the hermitage of the Guru, fuel in hand, and the Guru, after ascertaining his competence, would teach him , fastening round his waist the threefold filament of Munja, a kind of grass as the emblem of his vow to keep his body, mind and speech in control.
The teacher must throw his whole force into the tendency of the taught. Without real sympathy we can never teach well. Do not try to disturb the faith of any man. If you can, give him something better, but do not destroy what he has. The only true teacher is he who can convert himself, as it were, into a thousand persons at a moment’s notice. The true teacher is he who can immediately come down to the level of the student, and transfer his soul to the student’s soul and see through and understand through his mind. Such a teacher can really teach and none else.
In regard to the teacher, we must see that he knows the spirit of the scriptures. The whole world reads Bibles, Vedas and Korans; but they are all only words, syntax, etymology, philology, the dry bones of religion. The teacher who deals too much in words, and allows the mind to be carried away by the force of the words, loses the spirit. It is the knowledge of the spirit of the scriptures alone that constitutes the true religious teacher. The network of the words of the scriptures is like a huge forest, in which the human mind often loses itself and finds no way out.
From Katha Upanishad, I.ii.5: “Fools dwelling in darkness, wise in their own conceit, and puffed up with vain knowledge, go round and round staggering to and fro, like blind men led by the blind.”The world is full of these. Every one wants to be a teacher. Every beggar wants to make a gift of a million dollars! Just as these beggars are ridiculous, so are these teachers.
How are we to know the teacher then? The sun requires no torch to make him visible. We need not light a candle in order to see him. When the sun rises, we instinctively become aware of the fact, and when a teacher of men comes to help us, the soul will instinctively know that truth has already begun to shine upon it. Truth stands on its own evidence. It does not require any other testimony to prove it true; it is self-effulgent. It penetrates into the innermost corners of our nature, and in its presence, the whole universe stands up and says, “This is truth”.
The teachers whose wisdom and truth shine like the light of the sun are the very greatest the world has known, and they are worshiped as God by the major portion of mankind. But we may get help from comparatively lesser ones also; only we ourselves do not possess intuition enough to judge properly of the man from whom we receive teaching and guidance.
”Another condition necessary in the teacher is – sinless the question is often asked, “Why should we look into the character and personality of a teacher? We have only to judge of what he says, and take that up.” This is not right. If a man wants to teach me something of dynamics, of chemistry, or any other physical science, he may be anything he likes, because what the physical sciences require is merely intellectual equipment; but in the spiritual sciences it is impossible from first to last that there can be any spiritual light in the soul that is impure.
Hence with the teacher of religion we must see first what he is, and then what he says. He must be perfectly pure, and then alone comes the value of his words, because he is only then the true “”transmitter”. What can he transmit if he has not spiritual power in himself? There must be the worthy vibration of spirituality in the mind of the teacher, so that it may be sympathetically conveyed to the mind of the taught.
Another essential condition is in regard to the motive. The teacher must not teach with any ulterior selfish motive – for money, name or fame. His work must be simply out of love, out of pure love for mankind at large. The only medium through which spiritual force can be transmitted is love. Any selfish motive, such the desire for gain or for name, will immediately destroy this conveying medium. God is love, and only he who has known God as love, can be a teacher of godliness and God to man.
When you see that in your teacher these conditions are all fulfilled, you are safe. If they are not, it is unsafe to allow yourself to be taught by him, for there is the great danger that, if he cannot convey goodness to your heart, he may convey wickedness. This danger must by all means be guarded against.
“He who is learned in the scriptures, sinless, unpolluted by lust, and is the greatest knower of the Brahman (Supreme Reality)” is the real teacher.”
With the teacher, therefore, our relationship is the same as that between an ancestor and his descendant. Without faith, humility, submission, and veneration in our hearts towards our religious teacher, there cannot be any growth of religion in us; and it is a significant fact that, where this kind of relation between the teacher and the taught prevails, there alone gigantic spiritual men are growing.
“You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.”
Vivekanand – concept of discipline
Vivekananda is a staunch champion in education. Freedom is the first requirement for self development. The child should be given freedom to grow according to his own nature. The teacher should not exert any type of pressure on the child. The child should be helped in solving his problems himself. The teachers should have an attitude of service and worship.
That system which aims at educating our boys in the same manner as that of the man who battered his ass, being advised that it re grow .Could thereby be turned into horse, should be abolished. Owing to undue domination exercised by the parents, our boys do not get free scope for growth. In every one there are infinite tendencies which require proper scope for satisfaction.
Violent attempt sat reform always end by retarding reform. If you do not allow one to become a lion, one will become a fox. We should give positive ideas. Negative thoughts only weaken men.
The chief objection raised by Vivekananda against the contemporary educational system was that it turned men into slaves, capable of slavery and nothing else. About the prevailing university education, he remarked that it was not better than an efficient machine for rapidly turning out clerks. It deprived people of their faith and belief.
Vivekananda was very critical about this scheme of education. He compared it to the person who wanted to turn his ass into a horse, was advised to thrash the ass in order to achieve this transformation and killed his ass in this process.
You cannot teach a child any more than you can grow a plant. The plant develops its own nature. The child also teaches Self-education itself. But you can help it to go forward in its own way. What you can do is not of a positive nature but negative. You can take away the obstacles, and knowledge comes out of its own nature. Loosen the soil a little so that it may come out easily. Put a hedge round it ; see that it is not killed by anything. You can supply the growing seed with the materials for the making up of its body, bringing to it the earth, the water, the air that it wants. And there your work stops. It will take all that it wants by its own nature. So with the education of the child. A child educates itself.
The teacher spoils everything by thinking that he is teaching. Within man is all knowledge, and it requires only an awakening, and that much is the work of the teacher. We have only to do so much for the boys that they may learn to apply their own intellect to the proper use of their hands, legs, ears and eyes.
The child should be allowed to commit mistakes in the process of character formation. He will learn much by his mistakes. Errors are the stepping stones to our progress in character. Strong will, is the sign of great character.
Vivekanand-Education of women
“There is no chance of the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly on one wing.” - Swami Vivekananda
Vivekanand strongly believes that “All nations have attained greatness by paying proper respect to women. That country and that nation which do not respect women Real Shakti have never become great, nor will ever be in future.
There is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. Swami Vivekananda ,rightly observed that the condition of women in Mughalruled and British-ruled India was deplorable. Swamiji said, “It is very difficult to understand why in this country so much difference is made between men and women, whereas the Vedanta declares that one and the same conscious self is present in all beings. You always criticize the women, but what have you done for their enlistment?” Swami Vivekananda glorified Indian women of the past for their great achievements as leaders in various walks of life. He proudly states that “Women in statesmanship, managing territories, governing countries, even making war, have proved themselves equal to men, if not superior. In India I have no doubt of that. Whenever they have had the opportunity, they have proved that they have as much ability as men, with this advantage – that they seldom degenerate. They keep to the moral standard, which is innate in their nature. And thus as governors and rulers of their state, they prove-at least in India far superior to men..” Vivekanand strongly reasoned the cause of such degradation of Indian women “ The principal reason why our race has so degenerated is that we had no respect for these living images of Shakti. Manu says,” Where women are respected, there the Gods delight, and where they are not, there all work and efforts come to naught.’’
Vivekananda repeatedly told that India’s downfall was largely due to her negligence of women. The great images of Brahmavadinis like Maitreyi and Gargi of the Upanishad age, and women missionaries like Sanghamitra carrying Buddha’s message to Syria and Macedonia, all were laying buried deep due to millennium of foreign domination. You will find in the Vedic and Upanishadic age Maitreyi, Gargi and other ladies of revered memory have taken the place of Rishis.In an assembly of a thousand Brahmanas who were all erudite in the Vedas, Gargi boldly challenged Yajnavalkya in a discussion about Brahman, Swami Vivekananda was of the firm opinion that women should be put in positions of power to solve their own problems in their own way. The welfare of the world is dependent on the improvement of the condition of the women. The idea of perfect womanhood is perfect independence.
What was the way out to save and elevate Indian woman? Education was the answer. ‘Daughters should be supported and educated with as much Care and attention as the sons.’ As sons should be married after observing Brahmacharya up to the thirtieth year, so daughters also should observe Brahmacharya and be educated by their parents Vivekananda was against the early marriage.. “ Women – I should very much like our woman to have your intellectuality, but not if it must be at the cost of purity.” Our Hindu women easily understand what chastity means, because it is their heritage. First of all intensify that ideal within them above everything else, so that they may develop a strong character by the force of which, in every stage of their lives, whether married or single if they prefer to remain so they will not be in the least afraid even to give up their lives rather than flinch an inch from their chastity.
“In India the mother is the centre of the family and our highest ideal. She is to us the representative of God, as God is the mother of the universe. It was a female sage who first found the unity of God, and laid down this doctrine in one of the first hymns of the Vedas. Our God is both personal and absolute, the absolute is male, the personal, female,” he said.
Swami Vivekananda glorified Indian women of the past for their great achievements as leaders in various walks of life. India’s reverence for women as the symbol of chastity brought such words from Vivekananda’s lips: “I know that the race that produced Sita – even if it only dream of her – has a reverence for woman that is unmatched on the earth.” The women of India must grow and develop in the footprints of Sita. Sita is unique. She is the Very type of the true Indian woman. She has gone into the very vitals of our race.
Female education should be spread with religion as its centre. All other training should be secondary to religion. Religious Training, the formation of character and observance of the vows of celibacy these should be attended to Brahmacharinis of education and character should take up the task of teaching. In villages and towns they must open centres and strive for the spread of female education. Along with other things they should acquire the spirit of velour and heroism. In the present day it has become necessary for them also to learn self-defense how grand was the Queen of Jhansi! Women – “Be Emboldened”; “Embodiment of Goddess of Mother” Vivekananda declared that the western ideal of womanhood is wife, while the eastern ideal is mother. Women worthy to continue the traditions of Sanghamitta, Lila, and Ahalya Bai and Mira Bai women fit to be mothers of heroes, because they are pure and fearless.If you do not allow one to become a lion, he will become a fox. Women are a power, only now it is more evil because man oppresses woman; she is the fox, but when she is no longer oppressed, she will be the lion (CW vol.7,p.22)
Vivekananda– Thoughts on Mass Education
Swami Vivekananda strongly believe that a nation is advanced in proportion as education and intelligence spread among the masses. The chief cause of India’s ruin has been the- monopolizing of the whole education and intelligence of the land among a handful of men. If we are to rise again, we shall have to do it by spreading education among the masses. The only service to be done for our lower classes is to give them education to develop their individuality. They are to be given ideas. Their eyes are to be opened to what is going on in the world around them, and then they will work out their own salvation.
Swamiji’s most unique contribution for the creation of new India was to open the minds of Indians to their duty towards the downtrodden masses. Long before the ideas of Karl Marx were known in India, Swamiji spoke about the role of the laboring classes in the production of the country’s wealth. Swamiji was the first religious leader in India to speak for the welfare of masses, formulate a definite philosophy of service, and organize large-scale social service
As a true patriot Swami Vivekananda was too emotional about the condition of poor and down trodden masses of contemporary India, he once express his deep sorrow- My heart aches to think of the condition of the poor, the low in India. They sink lower each day. They feel the blow showered upon them by a cruel society, but they do not know when the blow comes. They have forgotten that they too are men. My heart is too full to express my feelings. So long as the millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold every man a traitor who ,having been educated at their expense, pays not the least heed to them. Our great national sin is the neglect of the masses and that is the cause of our downfall. No amount of politics would be of any avail until the masses in India are once more well educated, well fed and well cared for.
Vivekananda, however, was a genuine friend of the poor and the weak, particularly the helpless masses of India, and he was the first Indian leader who sought a solution to their problems through education. He argued that a nation was advanced to the extent the education and culture reached the masses. Unless there is uniform circulation of national blood all over the body, the nation could not rise. He insisted that it was the duty of the upper classes, who had received their education at the expense of the poor, to come forward and uplift the poor through education and other means. In fact, the Swami’s mission was for the poor. He once said, ‘there must be equal chance for all – or if greater for some and for some less – the weaker should be given more chance than the strong’ .
Vivekananda felt that alienation of any kind from the masses of society, who are mostly poor – whether it be alienation through learning, through wealth or through force of arms – weakens the leadership of a country.
Therefore, for a sustainable regeneration of India, if not for anything else, top priority must be given to educating the masses and restoring to them their lost individuality. They should not only be given education to make them self-reliant, but also ideas, moral training and an understanding of their own historical situation so that they can work out their own salvation. Furthermore, they must be given culture, without which there can be no hope for their long-term progress
An ideal society, according to Vivekananda, should provide the resources as well as the opportunity for each of its members to develop his or her potential to the maximum. Education must embrace the whole society, with special attention to those who are most in need of it and who, for one reason or another, are unable to avail themselves the existing facilities.
The trend in recent years has been to shift the responsibility for education from the family, religious institutions, private charities and so forth, to public authorities ,particularly the State. Yet, in spite of this shift to the State, education has hardly reached the most underprivileged. As they are often victims of malnutrition, poor hygienic conditions and overcrowded housing, they can hardly take advantage of any half hearted opportunity that is offered.
Vivekananda suggests the importance and usage of ancient scripture for the upliftment of down trodden masses of India “My idea is first of all to bring out the gems of spirituality that are stored up in our books and in the possession of a few only, hidden Bring the as it were in monasteries and forests 1 to brine them out ; to brines the reach of all. knowledge out of them, not only from the hands where it is hidden, but from the still more inaccessible chest, the language in which it is preserved, the incrustation of centuries- of Sanskrit words. In one word, I want to make them popular. I want to bring out these ideas and let them be the common property of all, of every man in India, whether he knows the Sanskrit language or not.
Remember that the nation lives in the cottage. Your duty at present is to go from one part of the country to another, from village to village and make the people understand that mere sitting about idly won’t do any more. Make them understand their real condition and say,‘ O ye Brothers, all arise ! awake ! How much longer would you remain asleep !’ Go and advise them how to improve their own condition and make them comprehend the sublime truths of the shastras. Impress upon their minds that they have the .same right to religion as the Brahmanas. Initiate, even down to the Chandalas, in these fiery mantras.
The one thing that is at the root of all evils in India is the condition of the poor .Suppose you provide a free school in every village, reach everywhere still it would do no good, for the me’ poverty in India is such that the poor boys would rather go to help their fathers in the fields or otherwise try to make a living than come to the school. Now if the mountain does not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain. If the poor boy cannot come to education, education must go to him .They have worked so long like machines and the clever educated section have taken the substantial part of the fruits of their labor. But times have changed. The lower classes are gradually awakening to this fact, and making a united front against this. The upper classes will no longer be able to repress the lower, try they ever so much. The well being of the higher classes now lies in helping the lower to get their legitimate rights. Therefore I say : set yourself to the task of spreading education among the masses. Tell them and make them understand, ‘You are our brothers, a part and parcel of our bodies.’ If they receive this sympathy from you, their enthusiasm for work will be increased a hundredfold.
Vivekananda on Personality development
The metaphysics in which Vivekananda strongly believes, hold that, every soul is destined to be perfect, and every being, in the end, will attain a state of perfection. Whatever we are now is the result of our acts and thoughts in the past; and whatever one shall be in the future will be the result of what one think and do now.
Vivekananda concept of development of personality is very much influenced by this philosophical notion.
Vivekananda believes that a human being is not simply a composite of body and mind. He is something more. According to the Vedanta philosophy, a human being has five sheaths, or coverings: the physical sheath, the vital sheath, the mental sheath, the intellectual sheath, and the blissful sheath.
Today’s education can at best touch the first four sheaths, but not the last one. Secular knowledge, skills and moral values may take care of the first four sheaths, but spiritual knowledge is essential for the fifth. Moreover, it should be noted that the fifth sheath is the reservoir of bliss, knowledge and strength, and all the other sheaths are activated by the fifth.
In accordance to a general point of view that Personality is your effect on others Vivekananda also supports this view .
“Now, to take a concrete example: a man comes, you know he is very learned, his language is beautiful and he speaks to you by the hour but he does not make any impression. Another man comes, and he speaks a few words, not well arranged, ungrammatical perhaps; all the same, he makes an immense impression. Many of you have seen that. So it is evident that words alone cannot always produce an impression. Words, even thoughts, contribute only one-third of the influence in making an impression, the man, two-thirds. What you call the personal magnetism of the man that is what comes out and impresses you.”
Vivekananda strongly feels the necessity of presenting an ideal personality for moldings in desired direction .He suggests the personality of great leaders of mankind of thedevelopment of personality in desired format. ‘‘Coming to great leaders of mankind, we always find that it was the personality of the man that counted. Now, take all the great authors of the past, the great thinkers.
The ideal of all education, all training, should be this man-making. But, instead of that, we are always trying to polish up the outside. The end and aim of all training is to make the man grow.
Our actions are but effects. Actions must come when the man is there; the effect is bound to follow the cause. Vivekananda clarify the effect in positive direction He suggests religious leaders as role model for the same.” Compare the great teachers of religion with the great philosophers. The philosophers scarcely influenced anybody’s inner man, and yet they wrote most marvelous books. The religious teachers, on the other hand, moved countries in their lifetime. The difference was made by personality. In the philosopher it is a faint personality that influences ; in the great Prophets it is tremendous.
In the former we touch the intellect, in the latter we touch life. In the one case, it is simply a chemical process, putting certain chemical ingredients together which may gradually combine and under proper circumstances bring out a flash of light or may fail. In the other, it is like a torch that goes round quickly, lighting others.The man who influences, who throws his magic, as it were, upon his fellow-beings, is a dynamo of power, and when that man is ready, he can do anything and everything he likes : that personality put upon anything will make it work.
The science of Yoga claims that it has discovered the laws which develop this personality, and by proper attention to those laws and methods, each one can grow and strengthen his personality.This is one of the great practical things and this is the secret of all education. This has a universal application.
Like Will Durant Vivekananda also believes that ‘Evolution in human personality during recorded time has been social rather than biological: it has proceeded not by heritable variations in the species, but mostly by economic, political, intellectual and moral innovation transmitted to individuals and generations by imitation, custom or education. Some men and women are born who anticipate the whole progress of mankind. Instead of waiting and being reborn over and over again for ages until the whole human race has attained to that perfection, they, as it were, rush through them in a few short years of their life. And we know that we can hasten these processes, if we be true to ourselves.
One day when Narendra(Narendra was Swami Vivekananda’s name before taking sanyas) was on the ground floor, meditating, the Master (Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa) was lying awake in his bed upstairs. In the depths of his meditation Narendra felt as though a lamp were burning at the back of his head. Suddenly he lost consciousness. It was the yearned-for, all-effacing experience of nirvikalpa samadhi, when the embodied soul realises its unity with the Absolute.
After a very long time he regained partial consciousness but was unable to find his body. He could see only his head. “Where is by body?” he cried. The elder Gopal entered the room and said, “Why, it is here, Naren!” But Narendra could not find it. Gopal, frightened, ran upstairs to the Master. Sri Ramakrishna only said: “Let him stay that way for a time. He has worried me long enough.”
After another long period Narendra regained full consciousness. Bathed in peace, he went to the Master, who said: “Now the Mother has shown you everything. But this revelation will remain under lock and key, and I shall keep the key. When you have accomplished the Mother’s work you shall find the treasure again.”
Some days later, Narendra being alone with the master, Sri Ramakrishna looked at him and went into samadhi. Narendra felt the penetration of a subtle force and lost all outer consciousness. Regaining presently the normal mood, he found the Master weeping.
Sri Ramakrishna said to him: “Today I have given you my all and I am now only a poor fakir, possessing nothing. By this power you will do immense good in the world, and not until it is accomplished will you return.”
Henceforth the Master lived in the disciple