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Vedanta: Voice of Freedom
Vivekananda once said, "I have a message to the West, as Buddha had a message to the East." And the message was Vedanta. Culled from his collected works, this volume presents in a clear and concise form the tenets of a religion which has evolved over the course of five thousand years. This is a living Vedanta put forth by an extraordinary mind.
If you want to know India, study Vivekananda. In him everything is positive and nothing negative.
- Rabindranath Tagore
...Swami Vivekananda’s writings need no introduction from anybody. They make their own irresistible appeal.
- Mahatma Gandhi
REVIEWS:
Swami Chetanananda has selected 104 powerful essays from Swami Vivekananda’s mature period, 1893 until his death in 1902. No Vivekananda reader to date has done better.
- Religious Studies Review
It should be enough to whet the intellectual, spiritual, and moral appetite of every thinking individual.
- Indian and Foreign Review
Judiciously compiled from the works of the most articulate expounder of Vedanta, Vivekananda...He proved that the grandeur of India’s ancient wisdom-tradition has not lost its appeal, in fact can fuel the search for profounder values and meanings in contemporary theology, psychology, and philosophy.
- Kurt F. Leidecker
- Professor Emeritus, University of Virginia
. . . a master religious educator. He [Vivekananda] is a pedagogue who uses story and illustration, human experience and common sense, to articulate philosophical and religious insight. A large bibliography now exists for a study of the Hindu tradition – all by western scholars, usually Christian or Jewish, but here is a study of a Hindu articulating his own faith experience. As such it cannot be ignored. It should be recommended as an introductory text to students of the Hindu philosophical and religious traditions.
- Horizons
This volume consists of a series of lectures that reflect the essence of the Vedanta message. The selection, taken from the collected works of Vivekananda, is broad in scope. . . . enhancing the value of the book are photographs, an extensive glossary, and an index. Recommended as a useful addition to libraries and personal collections that deal with Indian religion, comparative religion, and the cultural interaction between American and Indian cultures.
- South Asia in Review
If you want to know India, study Vivekananda. In him everything is positive and nothing negative.
- Rabindranath Tagore
...Swami Vivekananda’s writings need no introduction from anybody. They make their own irresistible appeal.
- Mahatma Gandhi
REVIEWS:
Swami Chetanananda has selected 104 powerful essays from Swami Vivekananda’s mature period, 1893 until his death in 1902. No Vivekananda reader to date has done better.
- Religious Studies Review
It should be enough to whet the intellectual, spiritual, and moral appetite of every thinking individual.
- Indian and Foreign Review
Judiciously compiled from the works of the most articulate expounder of Vedanta, Vivekananda...He proved that the grandeur of India’s ancient wisdom-tradition has not lost its appeal, in fact can fuel the search for profounder values and meanings in contemporary theology, psychology, and philosophy.
- Kurt F. Leidecker
- Professor Emeritus, University of Virginia
. . . a master religious educator. He [Vivekananda] is a pedagogue who uses story and illustration, human experience and common sense, to articulate philosophical and religious insight. A large bibliography now exists for a study of the Hindu tradition – all by western scholars, usually Christian or Jewish, but here is a study of a Hindu articulating his own faith experience. As such it cannot be ignored. It should be recommended as an introductory text to students of the Hindu philosophical and religious traditions.
- Horizons
This volume consists of a series of lectures that reflect the essence of the Vedanta message. The selection, taken from the collected works of Vivekananda, is broad in scope. . . . enhancing the value of the book are photographs, an extensive glossary, and an index. Recommended as a useful addition to libraries and personal collections that deal with Indian religion, comparative religion, and the cultural interaction between American and Indian cultures.
- South Asia in Review
420 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 1986
225 people are currently reading
1531 people want to read
About the author
Vivekananda
1,657 books1,581 followers"Arise Awake and Stop not til the goal is reached"
Vivekananda left a body of philosophical works (see Vivekananda's complete works). His books (compiled from lectures given around the world) on the four Yogas (Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Jnana Yoga) are very influential and still seen as fundamental texts for anyone interested in the Hindu practice of Yoga. His letters are of great literary and spiritual value. He was also considered a very good singer and a poet.By the time of his death, He had composed many songs including his favorite Kali the Mother. He used humor for his teachings and was also an excellent cook. His language is very free flowing. His own Bengali writings stand testimony to the fact that he believed that words - spoken or written - should be for making things easier to understand rather than show off the speaker or writer's knowledge.
Swami Vivekananda [ স্বামী বিবেকানন্দ ] (1863 – 1902), born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, and bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion.
Born in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India (present-day Kolkata, West Bengal, India)
Vivekananda left a body of philosophical works (see Vivekananda's complete works). His books (compiled from lectures given around the world) on the four Yogas (Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Jnana Yoga) are very influential and still seen as fundamental texts for anyone interested in the Hindu practice of Yoga. His letters are of great literary and spiritual value. He was also considered a very good singer and a poet.By the time of his death, He had composed many songs including his favorite Kali the Mother. He used humor for his teachings and was also an excellent cook. His language is very free flowing. His own Bengali writings stand testimony to the fact that he believed that words - spoken or written - should be for making things easier to understand rather than show off the speaker or writer's knowledge.
Swami Vivekananda [ স্বামী বিবেকানন্দ ] (1863 – 1902), born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, and bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion.
Born in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India (present-day Kolkata, West Bengal, India)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
April 28, 2020
Swami Vivekananda was one of the most dynamic and vibrant personalities to have walked this earth. His words leave one astounded. This book is no different. His ideas on religion and spirituality are still refreshing 120 years later. Swami Vivekananda has made it abundantly clear that fear and worry are the enemies of realizing our true nature. Following religious doctrine without finding out for oneself what is the truth through subjective experience is the most dangerous way to live. His ideas on an impersonal God and self-misery caused by ignorance of the True self (one of freedom, without bondage and limitations) always leave me feeling inspired. Every time I read Swami Vivekananda I feel uplifted and encouraged. His words remind me of my higher-self, and I am always left vibrating higher.
April 30, 2017
This Book is the compilation of insightful commentary by the outstanding mind of Swami Vivekananda about Vedanta, outcome of millenia of spiritual evolution. He boldly speaks, time and again, of Strength and Freedom. This is one book that I read, from time to time. My homage to Swami Vivekananda.
May 2, 2014
every home should have this book !!!
no more fear ... no more superstition !
no more fear ... no more superstition !
November 8, 2019
If you are lazy like me and dont want to go through volumes of work that Vivekananda produced during his 37 years of life then this is your book.
You obviously need prior knowledge of Indian philosophy otherwise this will prove to be a tough read, but if you do then this is 300 pages of eternal wisdom.
You realize how contemporary his understanding is about our current reality, even after more than 100 years of this being written.
He clearly marks a guide-path for us to make us realize the divinity within. This could be "The book" that will give you all the wisdom and enlightenment that you need in this life and next!
You obviously need prior knowledge of Indian philosophy otherwise this will prove to be a tough read, but if you do then this is 300 pages of eternal wisdom.
You realize how contemporary his understanding is about our current reality, even after more than 100 years of this being written.
He clearly marks a guide-path for us to make us realize the divinity within. This could be "The book" that will give you all the wisdom and enlightenment that you need in this life and next!
January 12, 2026
I lost Caesar Bose, a very close friend of mine, to cancer in the year 2017. He was three years my senior and one of the ace scholars I have had the privilege of knowing. We had started a project in 2009, wherein we sought to make a judiciously curated list of the toughest, most intellectually demanding, dense, or conceptually challenging books ever written — across philosophy, literature, science, mathematics, theology, psychoanalysis, linguistics, and critical theory. In this list would be books known for difficulty of language, abstraction, structure, or depth. We grouped them by category so the list was useful and not random. These books find a place in my ‘Toughest Read Shelf’. It is my obeisance to Caesar.
Today, January 12 marks the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda and is observed across India as National Youth Day. The day commemorates his enduring legacy, celebrates his ideals, and inspires young people to take an active role in nation-building, recognizing him as a seminal spiritual leader and philosopher who carried Vedanta and Yoga to the West.
What is this book all about?
Vedānta: Voice of Freedom is not a systematic treatise; it is a chorus. A gathering of lectures, essays, and declarations in which Swami Vivekananda distills the core of Vedānta into a language that is simultaneously ancient and insurgently modern. This is not Vedānta as scholastic metaphysics. This is Vedānta as existential revolt.
At its heart, the book proclaims one thesis, repeated with relentless conviction: human beings are not sinners to be saved, but divine beings who have forgotten themselves. Everything else—ethics, religion, social reform, education—follows from this axiom.
Vivekananda’s Vedānta is primarily Advaita, but not the ivory-tower Advaita of armchair metaphysics. It is Advaita with muscle. Brahman is not an abstract principle; it is the ground of dignity. If the same Self shines in all, exploitation becomes metaphysical ignorance, and fear becomes a philosophical error.
The book moves fluidly across themes: the nature of the Self (Ātman), the illusion of separateness (māyā), the unity of religions, the critique of superstition, the necessity of strength, the spiritual destiny of humanity. Vivekananda does not argue timidly; he declares.
One hears the Upaniṣads vibrating beneath every paragraph:
śṛṇvantu viśve amṛtasya putrāḥ
“Hear, O children of immortality.”
This is Vedānta’s opening address to humanity—and Vivekananda makes it personal. Freedom, he insists, is not a future attainment. It is an ontological fact. Bondage exists only because of ignorance. Salvation is not a transaction with God but self-recognition.
Comparatively, Vivekananda’s Vedānta occupies a fascinating space between Śaṅkara and Nietzsche, between the Upaniṣads and Emerson. Like Śaṅkara, he affirms non-duality. Like Nietzsche, he despises weakness masquerading as virtue. But unlike Nietzsche, Vivekananda roots strength in compassion, not domination.
Shakespeare’s “We know what we are, but know not what we may be” becomes, in Vivekananda’s hands, a Vedāntic provocation: what we may be is already what we are.
The book is also unapologetically universalist. Vivekananda rejects religious exclusivity with near impatience. All religions, he argues, are attempts to express the same truth under different conditions. Dogma fossilizes; experience liberates.
This universality does not flatten difference; it transcends hierarchy. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism—all are seen as pedagogical routes toward realization. Vedānta is not another religion competing for converts; it is the philosophical grammar underlying all genuine spirituality.
Crucially, Vivekananda connects metaphysics to social reality. If divinity dwells in all, then hunger, caste oppression, and ignorance are not merely social evils—they are spiritual contradictions. His Vedānta demands education, service, and fearlessness.
Thus, Vedānta: Voice of Freedom is a manifesto for spiritual humanism, centuries ahead of its time. It does not ask humanity to kneel—it asks humanity to stand.
Why, then, does the book feel overwhelming—even intimidating?
1) Because Vivekananda removes the comfort of smallness. Most religious systems begin by telling you what is wrong with you. Vivekananda begins by telling you what is right—and then demands that you live up to it. That reversal alone is destabilizing. So, the first source of intimidation is ontological responsibility. If you are divine, excuses evaporate. Weakness can no longer be romanticized. Fear becomes ignorance. Victimhood loses metaphysical legitimacy. Vivekananda does not deny suffering—but he refuses to absolutize it.
2) Second, the book overwhelms by collapsing familiar binaries: sacred/secular, East/West, religion/science, philosophy/action. Vivekananda moves across these divisions without apology. For readers trained to compartmentalize, this feels dizzying.
3) Third, Vivekananda’s language itself intimidates. He speaks in absolutes. He does not hedge metaphysical claims. In an age of irony and relativism, such certainty can feel aggressive—even authoritarian. Yet his certainty is not dogmatic; it is experiential.
4) Fourth, the book challenges both religious orthodoxy and secular cynicism. Traditional believers may feel attacked by his rejection of fear-based piety. Skeptics may feel unsettled by his confidence in spiritual experience. There is no safe ideological shelter.
5) Fifth, the idea of māyā itself becomes psychologically overwhelming. If the world of names, forms, identities, and achievements is provisional, then what remains solid? Vivekananda answers: consciousness itself. But reaching that understanding requires intellectual and emotional disarmament.
6) Finally, the book intimidates because it refuses consolation. Vedānta does not promise that life will be easier—only that fear will be unnecessary. That is a harder bargain than comfort-based religion offers.
And now we arrive at the unavoidable reckoning. Why is it tough? And even if it is, what makes this text worth reading time and again?
It is tough because it insists that freedom is not granted—it is recognized.
Vedānta: Voice of Freedom dismantles the spiritual economy of reward and punishment. There is no heavenly salary for good behavior, no cosmic surveillance system keeping score. There is only ignorance and knowledge—bondage and freedom.
That is terrifying. Because ignorance cannot be blamed on anyone else.
The toughness lies in its demand for inner revolution. Vivekananda does not ask for belief; he asks for transformation. To read him seriously is to risk destabilizing one’s moral frameworks, religious identities, and emotional dependencies.
And yet—this is precisely why the book refuses to age.
Every era invents new forms of bondage: consumerism, nationalism, algorithmic identity, performative virtue. Vivekananda’s Vedānta cuts through all of them with the same scalpel: you are not what you cling to.
Each rereading reveals new resonances. In youth, it feels empowering. In crisis, stabilizing. In later years, quietly luminous. The text does not exhaust itself because self-knowledge does not exhaust itself.
Milton’s line—“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven”—could be Vedānta’s psychological footnote. Vivekananda goes further: the mind itself is not the Self. Freedom lies beyond even heaven and hell.
The book is worth rereading because it restores philosophical courage. In a world addicted to reassurance, Vivekananda offers truth. In a culture of fragmentation, he offers unity without uniformity. In an age of exhaustion, he offers strength without cruelty.
Sanskrit seals the verdict:
nāyaṁ ātmā bala-hīnena labhyaḥ
“The Self is not attained by the weak.”
That line explains everything.
This book is tough because it demands strength.
It is worth rereading because it teaches where strength comes from.
Not belief.
Not obedience.
But the radical, unrepeatable realization: You were never bound.
And once that idea enters the bloodstream, it never quite leaves.
Most recommended.
Today, January 12 marks the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda and is observed across India as National Youth Day. The day commemorates his enduring legacy, celebrates his ideals, and inspires young people to take an active role in nation-building, recognizing him as a seminal spiritual leader and philosopher who carried Vedanta and Yoga to the West.
What is this book all about?
Vedānta: Voice of Freedom is not a systematic treatise; it is a chorus. A gathering of lectures, essays, and declarations in which Swami Vivekananda distills the core of Vedānta into a language that is simultaneously ancient and insurgently modern. This is not Vedānta as scholastic metaphysics. This is Vedānta as existential revolt.
At its heart, the book proclaims one thesis, repeated with relentless conviction: human beings are not sinners to be saved, but divine beings who have forgotten themselves. Everything else—ethics, religion, social reform, education—follows from this axiom.
Vivekananda’s Vedānta is primarily Advaita, but not the ivory-tower Advaita of armchair metaphysics. It is Advaita with muscle. Brahman is not an abstract principle; it is the ground of dignity. If the same Self shines in all, exploitation becomes metaphysical ignorance, and fear becomes a philosophical error.
The book moves fluidly across themes: the nature of the Self (Ātman), the illusion of separateness (māyā), the unity of religions, the critique of superstition, the necessity of strength, the spiritual destiny of humanity. Vivekananda does not argue timidly; he declares.
One hears the Upaniṣads vibrating beneath every paragraph:
śṛṇvantu viśve amṛtasya putrāḥ
“Hear, O children of immortality.”
This is Vedānta’s opening address to humanity—and Vivekananda makes it personal. Freedom, he insists, is not a future attainment. It is an ontological fact. Bondage exists only because of ignorance. Salvation is not a transaction with God but self-recognition.
Comparatively, Vivekananda’s Vedānta occupies a fascinating space between Śaṅkara and Nietzsche, between the Upaniṣads and Emerson. Like Śaṅkara, he affirms non-duality. Like Nietzsche, he despises weakness masquerading as virtue. But unlike Nietzsche, Vivekananda roots strength in compassion, not domination.
Shakespeare’s “We know what we are, but know not what we may be” becomes, in Vivekananda’s hands, a Vedāntic provocation: what we may be is already what we are.
The book is also unapologetically universalist. Vivekananda rejects religious exclusivity with near impatience. All religions, he argues, are attempts to express the same truth under different conditions. Dogma fossilizes; experience liberates.
This universality does not flatten difference; it transcends hierarchy. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism—all are seen as pedagogical routes toward realization. Vedānta is not another religion competing for converts; it is the philosophical grammar underlying all genuine spirituality.
Crucially, Vivekananda connects metaphysics to social reality. If divinity dwells in all, then hunger, caste oppression, and ignorance are not merely social evils—they are spiritual contradictions. His Vedānta demands education, service, and fearlessness.
Thus, Vedānta: Voice of Freedom is a manifesto for spiritual humanism, centuries ahead of its time. It does not ask humanity to kneel—it asks humanity to stand.
Why, then, does the book feel overwhelming—even intimidating?
1) Because Vivekananda removes the comfort of smallness. Most religious systems begin by telling you what is wrong with you. Vivekananda begins by telling you what is right—and then demands that you live up to it. That reversal alone is destabilizing. So, the first source of intimidation is ontological responsibility. If you are divine, excuses evaporate. Weakness can no longer be romanticized. Fear becomes ignorance. Victimhood loses metaphysical legitimacy. Vivekananda does not deny suffering—but he refuses to absolutize it.
2) Second, the book overwhelms by collapsing familiar binaries: sacred/secular, East/West, religion/science, philosophy/action. Vivekananda moves across these divisions without apology. For readers trained to compartmentalize, this feels dizzying.
3) Third, Vivekananda’s language itself intimidates. He speaks in absolutes. He does not hedge metaphysical claims. In an age of irony and relativism, such certainty can feel aggressive—even authoritarian. Yet his certainty is not dogmatic; it is experiential.
4) Fourth, the book challenges both religious orthodoxy and secular cynicism. Traditional believers may feel attacked by his rejection of fear-based piety. Skeptics may feel unsettled by his confidence in spiritual experience. There is no safe ideological shelter.
5) Fifth, the idea of māyā itself becomes psychologically overwhelming. If the world of names, forms, identities, and achievements is provisional, then what remains solid? Vivekananda answers: consciousness itself. But reaching that understanding requires intellectual and emotional disarmament.
6) Finally, the book intimidates because it refuses consolation. Vedānta does not promise that life will be easier—only that fear will be unnecessary. That is a harder bargain than comfort-based religion offers.
And now we arrive at the unavoidable reckoning. Why is it tough? And even if it is, what makes this text worth reading time and again?
It is tough because it insists that freedom is not granted—it is recognized.
Vedānta: Voice of Freedom dismantles the spiritual economy of reward and punishment. There is no heavenly salary for good behavior, no cosmic surveillance system keeping score. There is only ignorance and knowledge—bondage and freedom.
That is terrifying. Because ignorance cannot be blamed on anyone else.
The toughness lies in its demand for inner revolution. Vivekananda does not ask for belief; he asks for transformation. To read him seriously is to risk destabilizing one’s moral frameworks, religious identities, and emotional dependencies.
And yet—this is precisely why the book refuses to age.
Every era invents new forms of bondage: consumerism, nationalism, algorithmic identity, performative virtue. Vivekananda’s Vedānta cuts through all of them with the same scalpel: you are not what you cling to.
Each rereading reveals new resonances. In youth, it feels empowering. In crisis, stabilizing. In later years, quietly luminous. The text does not exhaust itself because self-knowledge does not exhaust itself.
Milton’s line—“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven”—could be Vedānta’s psychological footnote. Vivekananda goes further: the mind itself is not the Self. Freedom lies beyond even heaven and hell.
The book is worth rereading because it restores philosophical courage. In a world addicted to reassurance, Vivekananda offers truth. In a culture of fragmentation, he offers unity without uniformity. In an age of exhaustion, he offers strength without cruelty.
Sanskrit seals the verdict:
nāyaṁ ātmā bala-hīnena labhyaḥ
“The Self is not attained by the weak.”
That line explains everything.
This book is tough because it demands strength.
It is worth rereading because it teaches where strength comes from.
Not belief.
Not obedience.
But the radical, unrepeatable realization: You were never bound.
And once that idea enters the bloodstream, it never quite leaves.
Most recommended.
July 19, 2007
i'm not sure if it is right version of Bahasa translation ver I'm reading now (Suara Kebangkitan - Voice of Vivekananda)
i just want to share this great mind of Swami Vivekanda (similar to sufi world, comment from my god)...
what do you call for someone who inspired your hero? superhero? :)
wish could get complete series of Vivekanda work (9 vol)
wish could reach a little of concentration when i try to meditate... wish...
i just want to share this great mind of Swami Vivekanda (similar to sufi world, comment from my god)...
what do you call for someone who inspired your hero? superhero? :)
wish could get complete series of Vivekanda work (9 vol)
wish could reach a little of concentration when i try to meditate... wish...
Want to read
October 9, 2012This is the first time I am reading Vivekananda and Vedanta. It is truly a divine experience and I got convincing answers to some unsolved questions about life. I have read a handful of books on self improvement/ self help. Now I can boldly say that the Vedanta is the original work on self improvement and all the other books are only it's shadows. On knowing about Vedanta and the ancient wisdom our country I am proud about being an Indian. A must read to all.
April 3, 2013
confirmed some of what i believed - gave new and interesting dimensions too that further evolved the line of thought that I had clinged to.
October 27, 2017
If vivekananda writes something,you have no other option except undivided attention.A little gem consisting of various speeches by the great soul.
April 10, 2018
The essence of the young monk and spiritual revolutionary's call to us to wake up and manifest our divine nature without fear or limitation. Strength and truth on every page.
Read
December 8, 2024It doesn’t seem right for me to rate a book like Vedanta Voice of Freedom. I’m very glad I read it—a brilliant introduction to the Vedanta flavor of Hinduism. Swami Vivekananda spoke at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 and took the Western world by storm. He ended up speaking in churches and universities throughout the US and Europe. Vivekananda was a brilliant, learned, articulate and engaging young man and spiritual giant. The book is a series of his lectures. Huston Smith wrote the Preface. I will return to this good book on occasion.
December 27, 2019
A great book to get started on, what else, Vedanta. The sections on Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Raja Yoga are a treat to read.
The whole book is readable. The only jarring sections are the ones where there is a comparison to Christianity. This is because many of the lectures were made in the West and it was unavoidable to avoid comparison or part discourse of Christianity.
On the whole a very good book to read.
The whole book is readable. The only jarring sections are the ones where there is a comparison to Christianity. This is because many of the lectures were made in the West and it was unavoidable to avoid comparison or part discourse of Christianity.
On the whole a very good book to read.
Want to read
June 6, 2014how to read online this book
November 6, 2021
This is the book the modern world needs. We are living in times where humanity is in conflict with polarizing views over religion. While some religions are moving ahead with the only motive of expansion, some are struggling to survive and many are on the verge of extinction .
This is a treatise and a potpurrie of different philosophical thoughts primarily based on Sanatana Dharma. Swami Vivekananda tries to separate the inter woven thoughts between Philosphy, Religion and Spirituality and lays emphasis on the Message and not the Messenger.
This is a book that breathes Spirituality with Rationality and does not mince any words when it comes to criticizing Superstitions.
Read this
IF YOU ARE A SPIRITUAL ASPIRANT
IF YOU ARE A SEEKER OF TRUTH
IF YOU WANT TO EXPLORE DIFFERENT THOUGHTS OF PHILOSOPHY
IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A SIMPLE WORK ON PHILOSOPHY
IF YOU BELIEVE IN EXISTENCE OF GOD
IF YOU ARE AN ATHEIST
IF YOU ARE HUMAN BEING
IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR FOOD TO FEED YOUR INNER IMMORTAL SELF
This is a treatise and a potpurrie of different philosophical thoughts primarily based on Sanatana Dharma. Swami Vivekananda tries to separate the inter woven thoughts between Philosphy, Religion and Spirituality and lays emphasis on the Message and not the Messenger.
This is a book that breathes Spirituality with Rationality and does not mince any words when it comes to criticizing Superstitions.
Read this
IF YOU ARE A SPIRITUAL ASPIRANT
IF YOU ARE A SEEKER OF TRUTH
IF YOU WANT TO EXPLORE DIFFERENT THOUGHTS OF PHILOSOPHY
IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A SIMPLE WORK ON PHILOSOPHY
IF YOU BELIEVE IN EXISTENCE OF GOD
IF YOU ARE AN ATHEIST
IF YOU ARE HUMAN BEING
IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR FOOD TO FEED YOUR INNER IMMORTAL SELF
Read
November 10, 2025I'm fairly religiously literate, but I struggled with this book. I found the abrupt and unannounced tonal shifts among historical, homiletic, philosophical, and apologetic materials hard to follow. For a path of undogmatic self-discovery, there is a lot of lecturing here (in the soaring, and distracting, rhetorical style of the nineteenth century), and for all Swami's protestations that Vedanta is a gracious universal philosophy that embraces all creeds, he veers often into (equally grandiloquent and dated) condemnations of "Western man." As when I read Alan Watts, for instance, I was distracted by the sweep of Swami's religious agenda and by the sheer volume of his confidence. Less drawn to gurus than to devotees, I wished for a more down-to-earth and contemporary introduction to the magnificent philosophy of Vedanta.
June 5, 2021
An exceptional work by Swami Chetanananda who beautifully compiled the great lectures of Swami Vivekananda from different places , if you are a beginner in Advait Vedanta then this book will help you to get insight of it , includes a series of references of Swami Vivekananda's work , Swami's language is some times tough to understand the lectures sometimes seems to be given by an ancient sage in the fancy construct of Sanskrit shlokas , you may need help of a teacher of the Ramakrishna order to get the exact meaning of the words and terminology , i personally follow Swami Sarvapriyananda head of Vedanta society New York , his videos on YouTube may help you to get an essence of swami Vivekananda's work and much more .
May 6, 2023
“Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached…” In this book, you will find introduction to vedantic teachings, and an intellectual discourse on the rationale and practical aspects of these teachings. Swami Vivekananda has gone to painstaking lengths to strip away superstitions and materialism, and help mankind realize its own divinity.
Hands down the most life-transforming book that I have ever read.
Hands down the most life-transforming book that I have ever read.
October 1, 2020
Brief description of vedanta
The book gives insight of vedanta knowledge. It also give a brief discussion about hindu philosophy. A lot discussion has been done on all four type of yoga. It has explained four type of yoga in great details. One need not read any scripture. This book alone is sufficient for details understanding of hindu philosophy.
The book gives insight of vedanta knowledge. It also give a brief discussion about hindu philosophy. A lot discussion has been done on all four type of yoga. It has explained four type of yoga in great details. One need not read any scripture. This book alone is sufficient for details understanding of hindu philosophy.
September 1, 2023
A Masterpiece
A masterful expression of spiritual and practical wisdom. I highly recommend reading Vedanta: Voice of Freedom after reading Jnana Yoga by Swami Vivekanada. Jnana Yoga (pronounced Gyana Yoga) goes deep into understanding the illusions that keep us from truly experiencing our true self, the Atman.
A masterful expression of spiritual and practical wisdom. I highly recommend reading Vedanta: Voice of Freedom after reading Jnana Yoga by Swami Vivekanada. Jnana Yoga (pronounced Gyana Yoga) goes deep into understanding the illusions that keep us from truly experiencing our true self, the Atman.
February 23, 2020
An interesting view of one of the most popular Hinduism branches. This book gives a good overview of what is Vedanta, how to practice Vedanta in your everyday yogic experience, what Vedanta stands for and what is the place of this philosophy in the world
January 28, 2020
Utterly Powerful
The most powerful book I gave ever read! Saving it for rereading it. Powerful message from the great thinker of the east.
The most powerful book I gave ever read! Saving it for rereading it. Powerful message from the great thinker of the east.
May 28, 2020
Nice book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2020
Knowledge Based
Great book well presented increases Knowledge Power. This is a keeper. I have always been intrigued by this subject. I enjoyed every page of the book
Great book well presented increases Knowledge Power. This is a keeper. I have always been intrigued by this subject. I enjoyed every page of the book
June 29, 2021
Absolutely stunning. One of the books I closely keep.
August 18, 2022
Good book. It should be read with open mind irrespective of race or religion.
December 3, 2022
I often searched for a spiritual Guru in my life. It ends with Vivekanand. This book has transformed me and it will do the same to anyone seeking truth and liberation.
June 17, 2024
Inspiring and insightful. Needful for today’s society.
December 19, 2024
Not concise or Feely enough
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