Hinduism [Paperback]

Swami Vivekananda (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1989

Five lectures by the great Swami Vivekananda that explain Hinduism as a universal religion, its common bases and philosophy, and its four yogas.

TOPICS:
Hinduism - A Universal Religion,
Hinduism - Of the Vedas,
Hinduism - Its Common Bases,
Hinduism - Its Philosophy,
Hinduism - Its Four Yogas

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Swami Vivekananda is regarded as the great patriot-saint of India. He brought Vedanta to the West and in the process opened up America to Hinduism and Buddhism.

Product Details

• Paperback: 73 pages
• Publisher: Vedanta Press & Bookshop (March 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 817120001X
• ISBN-13: 978-8171200016
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 4.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,660,923 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!, June 4, 2000

By 

Dhiman Bhattacharya (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hinduism (Paperback)

This book is as powerful as all Vivekanda's writings. Huge stress is given on Karma Yoga. As he himself, says Buddhism is a fulfilment of Hinduism - this book reflects that mindset.

Also, when reading this book one needs to keep in mind that Swami Vivekanda was a Hindu Monk and ALSO a reformer.

Overall, an excellent introduction to 'Mordern' Hinduism.

5.0 out of 5 stars FIVE LECTURES FROM THE MOST FAMOUS EXPOSITOR OF VEDANTA TO THE WEST, August 16, 2011

By 

Steven H. Propp (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hinduism (Paperback)

Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) was the chief disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, as well as the founder of the Ramakrishna Mission. After his famous 1893 speech at the Parliament of the World's Religions at Chicago, he established the Vedanta societies in America and England.

This book consists of five lectures given in the West (during the 1890s), about different aspects of Hinduism.

Here are some quotations from the book:

"(H)ow is it that I do not remember anything of my past life? This can be easily explained. I am now speaking English. It is not my mother-tongue, in fact no words of my mother-tongue are now present in my consciousness; but let me try to bring them up, and they rush in. That shows that consciousness is only the surface of the mental ocean, and within its depths are stored up all of our experiences. Try and struggle, they would come up, and you would be conscious even of your past life." (Pg. 4)

"(T)he Hindu ... does not want to take shelter under sophistry... his answer is: 'I do not know how the perfect being, the soul, came to think of itself as imperfect, as joined to and conditioned by matter.' ... The Hindu does not attempt to explain why one thinks one is the body. The answer that it is the will of God is no explanation. This is nothing more than what the Hindu says, 'I do not know.'" (Pg. 5)

"The Hindus have their faults, they sometimes have their exceptions; but mark this, they are always for punishing their own bodies, and never for cutting throats of their neighbors. If the Hindu fanatic burns himself on the pyre, he never lights the fire of Inquisition. And even this cannot be laid at the door of his religion any more than the burning of witches can be laid at the door of Christianity." (Pg. 13)

"Some of you, perhaps, are surprised to think that India is the only country where there never has been a religious persecution, where never was any man disturbed for his religious faith. Theists or atheists, monists, dualists, monotheists, are there, and always live unmolested. Materialists were allowed to preach from the steps of Brahmanical temples, against the gods, and against God Himself..." (Pg. 21)

"The second point we all believe in is God, the creating, the preserving Power of the whole universe, unto whom it periodically returns... We may differ as to our conception of God. One may believe in a God who is entirely personal, another may believe in a God who is personal and yet not human, and yet another may believe in a God who is entirely impersonal... Still we are all believers in God... One idea may be better than another, but mind you, not one of them is bad... Therefore, may the Lord bless them all who preach the name of God in whatever form they like!" (Pg. 37-38)