Vivekananda: East Meets West (a Pictorial Biography)

Product Description This pictorial biography celebrates Vivekananda s 150th birth anniversary and his universal message of Vedanta. He reiterated the great Vedantic truth unity in diversity. People, languages, cultures, customs, and religious beliefs may differ, but human consciousness, human nature, and the aspiration for freedom are always the same. Vivekananda called for the acceptance of universal truths common to all humanity; he called for the spiritual awakening of the world. His ability to communicate spiritual ideas in a practical, straightforward way has always appealed to Western minds; his universal message has enriched the spiritual lives of countless Westerners. Vivekananda: East Meets West is an excellent survey of Vivekananda s life and teachings and his encounter with many distinguished Western savants; it reveals where the eastern and western cultures and religions can find a common ground to live in harmony and derive benefit from each other; and finally it provides what the West needs badly today pure spirituality devoid of narrowness and bigotry, commercialism and politics. About the Author Swami Chetanananda is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order, India. Before coming to the United States he worked in the editorial and publication departments of Advaita Ashrama in Mayavati, Himalayas, and also at its Calcutta branch. He served as an assistant minister of the Vedanta Society of Southern California from 1971 to 1978 before taking his present position as the minister of the Vedanta Society of St. Louis.