Description
Book SynopsisWith historical-critical analysis and dialogical even-handedness, the essays of this book re-assess the life and legacy of Swami Vivekananda, forged at a time of colonial suppression, from the vantage point of socially-engaged religion at a time of global dislocations and international inequities. Due to the complexity of Vivekananda as a historical figure on the cusp of late modernity with its vast transformations, few works offer a contemporary, multi-vocal, nuanced, academic examination of his liberative vision and legacy in the way that this volume does. It brings together North American, European, British, and Indian scholars associated with a broad array of humanistic disciplines towards critical-constructive, contextually-sensitive reflections on one of the most important thinkers and theologians of the modern era.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Abbreviations
Vivekananda’s Life, Legacy, and Liberative Ethics: An Introduction
Rita D. Sherma
PART I: VIVEKANANDA IN RELATION TO HINDU PHILOSOPHIES & MAJOR THINKERS
- Swami Vivekananda and Adi Śaṅkarācārya: Similarities and Differences
T. S. Rukmani
- Swami Vivekananda’s Interpretation of Brahmasūtra 1.1.19 as a Hermeneutic Basis for Samanvayī Vedānta
Ayon Maharaj
- Kuṇḍalinī Yoga in the Spirituality of Swami Vivekananda and in Modern Yoga
Michael Stoeber
- Vivekananda in the History of Vedānta: Continuities and Contradictions
Andrew J. Nicholson
- Flavors of Ādvaita in Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, and Sri Aurobindo
Debashish Banerji
PART II: A LEGACY OF SERVICE
- Vivekananda and his Organizational Legacy with Particular Reference to Seva within the Ramakrishna Movement
Gwilym Beckerlegge
- “This Prema Dwells in the Heart of Them All:” Swami Vivekananda on Love and Compassion
Kusumita Pedersen
- Swami Vivekananda’s Legacy of Service: A Critical Assessment
Shrinivas Tilak
- “Perfect Independence”: Swami Vivekananda, Women and Freedom
Pravrajika Vrajaprana
PART III: REVISITING APPRAISALS OF VIVEKANANDA
- Complementarity, not Contradiction: Swami Vivekananda’s Theology of Religions
Jeffery D. Long
- Neglected Advaitas: The Genealogy of Swami Vivekananda’s Cosmopolitan Theology
James Madaio | Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Oriental Institute
- De-subjugating Timeless Vocabularies – Swami Vivekananda as Intellectual Catalyst Kapil Kapoor
- Swami Vivekananda and Muscular Hinduism
Sharada Sugirtharajah
Epilogue
- What Is Hinduism? A Reflection on Vivekananda’s Legacy in Relation to the Definition of Hinduism
Arvind Sharma
About the Contributors
