Swami Vivekananda was a social reformer of the late 19th and early 20th century. He had vast knowledge about Vedic scriptures, and with this knowledge and wisdom, he challenged the social evils like class, class and gender discrimination. He wished to spread the actual Hinduism which unites people, not the so- called Hinduism which creates discrimination. He understood and spread the philosophies of Vedanta and yogic ideals of Jnana, Bhakti, Karma, and Raja Yoga through the entire world. For this purpose, he founded the Ramakrishna Mission which has become one of the important institutions of spiritual and academic knowledge. Therefore, its important to know the teachings of this mahatma. So, lets learn them in few points- Be courageous while facing the trouble This is considered as one of his greatest teachings. Life can’t go on the same way as you expect. In some days, there will be hurdles that you must overcome with courage and honesty. If you want to live your life to the fullest, don't just run away from the hard times, you need to face everything and overcome it no matter how hard or impossible it is. Here, I want to quote him, “If you ever feel afraid of anything, always turn around and face it. Never think of running away.” Giving up is not the solution How often do you think of giving up when you face hard times? Probably this is the easiest thing to do, right? But have you ever thought about what you will achieve by giving up? Nothing but a bunch of limits that will stop you throughout your future. Here Swamiji rightly advised that giving up may be easy but won’t get anything by giving up, whereas, fighting for the situation will make you strong, courageous and fearless. “Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached.” Real happiness lies in selflessness Plato rightly said that happiness is not a state of mind, it’s an activity. The activity which a selfless man can do. Swamiji also went in the same track by saying that if you don't always think of yourself and, importantly, your profit and if you can share your resources for the well being of others, then only you can truly be happy. Only selfless acts can lead you to happiness. “The great secret of true success, of true happiness, is this: the man or woman who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish person, is the most successful.” Lastly, we should always remember to follow his path of honesty, hope and dedication.
