ABSTRACT
Before we can understand the message of Swami Vivekananda—or of any other great spiritual leader or prophet—we must understand the true spirit of religion. If a man becomes convinced that he should devote himself to the attainment of God-realization, naturally he will ask: ‘Are there any exemplars of divine knowledge in this present age who can say: “I have known the truth of God. I have reached immortal life. I have overcome the fear of death”?’ This question arose in the heart of young Naren, the future Swami Vivekananda. Naren was born with the ability to discriminate between the eternal and the non-eternal. Then Swami Turiyananda told a story which proved how rightly Sri Ramakrishna had estimated Vivekananda’s capacity to follow the path of non-dualism. There is another similarity between these two great teachers: both Buddha and Vivekananda had a message for their own time as well as for all ages.
