Swami Vivekanand belonged to a rare group of intelligent. Though he himself was a very religious and philosophical man, but he never underestimated the importance of science and technology in today’s world. He always instigated logics and reasons behind every problem, be it Indian society or any mechanical one. He was a great admirer of Dr. Jagdish Chandra Basu.

In this episode, we will listen about the reminiscences of Sister Christine about her guru Swami Vivekanand. She recollects the memories of different aspects of her guru’s character. Swamiji had a deep knowledge of history and was a great fan of Mughals, especially Akbar. He used to narrate Akbar’s and other prominent historical persons’ life stories to his foreign disciples.

Representatives from all religions had come to America for the World Congress on Religions. Sister Christine who was in America due to health reasons, recalls the memories of her guru. Swami Vivekanand gave lectures to those who had every material pleasure in life but a grave philosophical vacuum in life. In this episode, she recalls her memories.

In this episode, we will listen about Sister Christine. She was an American woman who had dedicated her life to Swami Vivekanand and his missions. After her death in 1930, her works were published an year after as “Reminiscences of Swami Vivekanand”. She was born Christine Greenstide in Nurenburg, Germany on 17th August, 1866. She heard Swami Vivekanand’s lecture for the first time in her life on 14th February, 1894 in Detroit and became his disciple on 22nd July, 1895.

Character is the most important aspect of human being. He believed in equality – social, religious, and educational. He stressed on the value education and virtues like sacrifice and selflessness. There should be no disparity between a man and a woman. His expectations were high from the youth. He asked them to render as much as possible to the nation as they reflected the character and future of the nation. 

Swami Vivekanand was aware of all the problems that the Indian society was facing. Education was the most important tool to eradicate the poverty from India though it was not an easy task to impart education to all those times. He emphasized on the training of heart and mind along with the reading of books. Specially, educating a woman meant educating a family, society, generation and nation.

Swami Vivekanand believed in the immortality of the Sanatan Dharma but strongly condemned untouchability. He believed that only through the revival of casteism and then Hinduism could we achieve what is best for our nation. Building the nation could be done through family, society and the both should be revived through Dharma. Hence, Dharma should be apt, noble and meaningful for everybody. India for ages had been engrossed in Dharma, and so it should always be.

During his lifetime, Swami Vivekanand had written memorable pieces of work. He used to recognize Dharma as one of the most significant features of India and thus, saw every reform through the channel of Dharma. He despised casteism and appreciated the sincerity of those who would take up the tasks which we considered to be low. Though he believed in retaining the caste system, he always favored timely reforms it its structure for the betterment of society. 

As Swamiji had traveled extensively, he was also inspired by the different civilizations he had come across. He had understood that the fundamentals of all civilizations are no matter, the same. The reason why India had always survived the tests of the time was its belief in the thoughts and thoughtfulness. He understood well that every civilization was evolved as a result of its geographical, climatic, physical and political parameters. But he also believed in logics not in just blindly following the west.

Swamiji was a true monk, a patriot and a philanthropist. He wanted India to get rid of its poverty from taking benefits from the Western Science and technical education. But the most he believed was in Vedanta. He wanted that the youth should come forward to build up the nation by providing self-less service to the poor and the needy. He had contemplated a lot over the vices and the strength of India.