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Swami Vivekananda

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Why do people say that Srila Prabhupada was first in america to spread vedanta when Swami Vivekananda was first?

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I have not heard anyone say he was the first to spread Vedanta. Vivekanda spread Advaita Vedanta and helped pave the way for other eastern Gurus to come west, like Yogananda, and Prabhupada. Prabhupada spread the Gaudiya Vedanta teachings, which have some differences with the Advaita-Vedanta perspective. So they probably mean he was the first to spread Gaudiya Vedanta in the west?

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ah i see.. and what is advaita?

 

Advaita means non-dual. Advaitins say Brahman is all that exists, and Maya (material energy) and invididuality are a total illusion. The invididual souls are all said to come from One Divine Self, and when we become enlightened we merge our awareness with that non-dual Brahman. Of course I am over-simplifying their beliefs but this is a basic summary.

 

The Vedanta as propounded by the Vaishnava sects is different. It says God, individual souls and Maya are eternal. God and souls are One in essence, but we also have an eternal individual existence. We are part of God's Jiva Shakti, and we each eternally exist as atomic particles of God (not the totality of God).

 

Our souls were never created, nor shall we ever cease to exist; we always have and always will exist as part of God's energy; but until we realize the true nature of the Soul and our relationship with the Supreme Lord, we will suffer under the power of Maya (material energy), and continue to take rebirth in these lower universes, being controlled by lower passions, desires and spiritual ignorance. Obviously, Self-Realization and God-Realization are the only answers to our predicament.

 

You can learn more about Vaishnava Vedanta and their teachings on God, Souls and Maya by reading these links:

 

mandala.com.au/jaiva_dharma/index.html

encyclopediaofauthentichinduism.org/

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Yes actually, Vivekananda was the first Indian spiritual leader to travel th wes to spread the vedantic knowledge much before Prabhupada.

 

 

 

Why do people say that Srila Prabhupada was first in america to spread vedanta when Swami Vivekananda was first?

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I think it was almost a century before Srila Prabhupada?

 

Yes, he came to the US in 1893. Before Vivekananda came, many western religionists thought Hindus were nothing more than primitive Indian tribalists, following ancient superstitions. Vivekananda changed that perception! His eloquent speech at the World's Parliament of Religions' gathering in Chicago, showed that Vedanta is a rich philosophical and metaphysical tradition.

 

Vivekananda's missionary work in the west was key in showing many westerners, that Hinduism was a tradition that their soul was being called toward. Vivekananda ended up initiating many westerners into the ancient Hindu religion.. and was really the first to do so, paving the way for many more Hindu swamis to come to the west.

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Yes, he came to the US in 1893. Before Vivekananda came, many western religionists thought Hindus were nothing more than primitive Indian tribalists, following ancient superstitions. Vivekananda changed that perception! His eloquent speech at the World's Parliament of Religions' gathering in Chicago, showed that Vedanta is a rich philosophical and metaphysical tradition.

 

Vivekananda's missionary work in the west was key in showing many westerners, that Hinduism was a tradition that their soul was being called toward. Vivekananda ended up initiating many westerners into the ancient Hindu religion.. and was really the first to do so, paving the way for many more Hindu swamis to come to the west.

 

Thank you for the details. In fact Vivekananda's coming to the west was a very important event. He opened the Vedic road to India's spiritual culture to the modern west. He was an important philosopher and sadhaka having an enlightened saintly Guru Shri Ramakrishna Paramahansa.

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I have not heard anyone say he was the first to spread Vedanta. Vivekanda spread Advaita Vedanta and helped pave the way for other eastern Gurus to come west, like Yogananda, and Prabhupada. Prabhupada spread the Gaudiya Vedanta teachings, which have some differences with the Advaita-Vedanta perspective. So they probably mean he was the first to spread Gaudiya Vedanta in the west?

I do not think Vivekananda's visit helped Prabhupad as quoted here. Srila Prabhupad did not go to the west because Vivekananda had already gone there. Srila Prabhupad was just trying to fulfill the wishes of his spiritual master. Whether Vivekananda had gone or not, Prabhupad would still have gone because it was his guru's order

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I do not think Vivekananda's visit helped Prabhupad as quoted here. Srila Prabhupad did not go to the west because Vivekananda had already gone there. Srila Prabhupad was just trying to fulfill the wishes of his spiritual master. Whether Vivekananda had gone or not, Prabhupad would still have gone because it was his guru's order

 

Vivekananda and Yogananda helped indian swamis gain respect in the west, to the point where openminded spiritual seekers would come and listen to them. Before that, almost everyone in the west was a Christian and eastern religious belief and practices had no place here. That has all changed in the past 100 years of course. Now there are many Hindus, Buddhists, Hare Krishnas, etc. of all ethnicities, living and practicing dharma in the west. We must give some credit to those first few brave pilgrims who came here to share their spiritual knowledge, paving the way for many more swamis and gurus to come and share their knowledge.

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In general regard to Vedanta: the Theosophical Society and the American Transcendentalist writers preceded Vivekananda in America, but their message was clouded and occultish in the case of the Theosophists, and freely poetic-literary-interpretive for the Transcendentalists.

 

IMO, the core geneaology of both Advaita and Dvaita Vedanta in America:

 

Pre-1890's: Transcendentalist writers, Theosophists, minor writers.

 

1890's-today: Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Mission. Advaita.

 

1920's-today: Paramahansa Yogananda and Self-Realization Fellowship. Advaita.

 

1960's-today: Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON. Dvaita.

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Actually, Prabbhupada said, I have smashed Vivekananda Vedanta and Gandhi non-violence!

 

 

hehe. It happened te other way.

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Yes This is the right account indeed!!

 

 

In general regard to Vedanta: the Theosophical Society and the American Transcendentalist writers preceded Vivekananda in America, but their message was clouded and occultish in the case of the Theosophists, and freely poetic-literary-interpretive for the Transcendentalists.

 

IMO, the core geneaology of both Advaita and Dvaita Vedanta in America:

 

Pre-1890's: Transcendentalist writers, Theosophists, minor writers.

 

1890's-today: Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Mission. Advaita.

 

1920's-today: Paramahansa Yogananda and Self-Realization Fellowship. Advaita.

 

1960's-today: Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON. Dvaita.

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