Swami Vivekanand was not like any common swami or monk who would wander into solitary jungles or hills. He was a traveller and he went across the entire world in search of knowledge, which he shared right back with the world. He was born on 12 January 1863 as Narendra Nath Dutta. After he met his Guru, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, he remained devoted to his Guru. In 1893, he took the name ‘Vivekanand’ after Maharaja Ajit Singh of the Khetri State requested him to do so, changing from ‘Sachidananda’ that he used before. In the same year, on September 11, Swami Vivekanand changed the world when he introduced the multiple concepts of Hinduism for the very first time at the Chicago Convention of the Parliament of Religions. Swami Vivekanand granted incredible significance to youth power towards the development of the country and universal brotherhood. Today, the National Youth Day is celebrated on January 12 every year to mark the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanand, who is also considered as an influential Indian youth icon. He considered education to be an extended process in which all aspects of life, such as intellectual, physical, emotional, spiritual and moral should be involved. Vivekanand conveyed his message through his speeches and writings, and some soul-touching words from his writings are given below:

12 Life-Changing Quotes by Swami Vivekanand:

1. All power is within you, you can do anything and everything. Believe in that, do not believe that you are weak; do not believe that you are half-crazy lunatics, as most of us do nowadays. You can do anything and everything, without even the guidance of anyone. Stand up and express the divinity within you.

2. Comfort is no test of truth. Truth is often far from being comfortable.

3. Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life; dream of it; think of it; live on that idea. Let the brain, the body, muscles, nerves, every part of your body be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, and this is the way great spiritual giants are produced.

4. In a day, when you don't come across any problems, you can be sure that you are travelling in a wrong path.

5. Do one thing at a time, and while doing it put your soul into it to the exclusion of all else.

6. Ask nothing; want nothing in return. Give what you have to give; it will come back to you, but do not think of that now.

7. Each work has to pass through these stages, ridicule, opposition, and then acceptance. Those who think ahead of their time are sure to be misunderstood.

8. All differences in this world are of degree, and not of a kind because oneness is the secret of everything.

9. We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in the future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act.

10. Whatever you think that will be. If you think yourself weak, weak you will be.

11. The fire that warms us can also consume us; it is not the fault of the fire.

12. Dare to be free, dare go as far as your thought leads, and dare to carry that out in your life.

Swami Vivekanand's great words were dedicated to conveying his knowledgeable, religious and realistic thoughts. He founded the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897 and he likewise established the Belur Math two years later, which became his permanent home. On 4th July 1902, when Vivekanand went to his room in Belur Math to meditate, he died at 9:20 p.m. His followers believe that he attained Mahasamadhi, the act of consciously and intentionally leaving one's body at the moment of death while meditating. Some experts also say that he died due to a rupture in the blood vessels of his brain, at the age of 39. At such an early age, Swami Vivekanand obtained great knowledge and wisdom in the various aspects of spirituality. Even before his death, Swami Vivekanand wrote to his western follower, “It may be that I shall find it good to her outside my body, to cast it off like a worn-out garment. But I shall not cease to work. I shall inspire men everywhere until the whole world shall know that it is one with God”.

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Reference:

• www.wikipedia.org
• www.goodreads.com