Swami Vivekananda
Narendranath Datta (1862-1902), who later came to be known as Swami Vivekananda spread Ramakrishna’s message and tried to reconcile it to the needs of contemporary Indian society.
- He emerged as the preacher of neo- Hinduism. He subscribed to the Vedanta which he considered a fully rational system with a superior approach. Vivekananda believed in the fundamental oneness of God.
- The term Neo-Hinduism is generally used to describe Hindu thinkers who typically:
- have been concerned with the relationship between religion and nationalism.
- have been exposed to western ideas and education, and have confessed to having undergone a crisis of confidence in the value of Hinduism.
- have been willing to re-interpret concepts and traditional philosophies, particularly Advaita Vedanta, in the light of new circumstances and influences external to Hinduism.
- have been committed to organize, practical service to humanity.
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He envisaged a new culture for the whole world at the Parliament of Religions held at Chicago in 1893. 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.
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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.
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The Mission has developed into a worldwide organisation. It is a deeply religious body, but it is not a proselytising body. It does not consider itself to be a sect of Hinduism.
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In fact, one of the strong reasons for the success of the Mission was that unlike the Arya Samaj, the Mission recognised the utility and value of image worship in developing spiritual fervour and worship of the eternal omnipotent God, although it emphasises on the essential spirit and not the symbols or rituals.