Sacred Heart Seminary, Philippines
Asian Philosophy; Anthropology
I. INTRODUCTION
Man, animals and plants are all earthly realities; all of these have existence. They are all
created by someone who is Supreme, for Christians, the Supreme is called God or Father or
Yahweh in Jews and for Muslims Allah. In philosophy, several terms are applied to Him, such
terms are: the Supreme Being, the Universal Essence, the Absolute, God, The Infinite, etc. With
the eternal God, we are all created as distinct creatures. But with all the earthly creatures, the
highest of them all is man. In the Hierarchy of Beings of Aristotle, man is the highest being in
the physical world. What makes man the highest? Obviously, it’s his rationality. His rationality
has led him to the quest for truth specifically about himself. The sense of wonder has directed
him to question his existence. Furthermore, other philosophical questions bothered their minds
and different beliefs (the poet theologians) led their faith to give unexplained reason of how
things work for the satisfaction of their awe and wonder.
One of the several subjects that bothered the minds of the philosophers whether ancient
or modern is about man. Particularly, in the ancient period, we have Plato and Aristotle who had
different ideas about man. In modern, Descartes and Locke had theories about the existence of
man. Different questions about man was asked that led people to contemplate and search for its
true meaning.
But the search for the truth about man did not only happen in the Western side of the
world, but also on the east or the oriental side of it. Particularly, Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tzu,
etc. They focused on the metaphysical, cosmological and ethical nature of man. But one
philosopher whom I chose because of his unique idea was Swami Vivekananda, a Hindu monk
and philosopher. His philosophy has a great distribution on the Hindu philosophy particularly the
Vedanta Philosophy. His teachings about morality is not only applicable for the Hindus but for
everyone who is aiming for true kindness. This is not only for theistic persons but for the atheist
also, because his view of ethics does not depend on God but to our free will.
1|Page
, What I am going to discuss here is his philosophy of man. I will focus on his view of
man, its nature and its morality in a metaphysical and ethical view. The Divinity of man and its
relation with the Divine will be tackled in this research paper. My research is not just about man
in its physical nature but we will journey to the deeper knowledge about man according to
Swami Vivekanandi.
II. LIFE AND WORKS
Early Life
Swami Vivekananda was born with a name Narendranath Dutta, into a wealthy Bengali
family in Calcutta, Vivekananda was one of the eight children of Vishwanath Dutta and
Bhuvaneshwari Devi. He was born on January 12, 1863, on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.
Father Vishwanath was a successful attorney with considerable influence in society.
Narendranath’s mother Bhuvaneshwari was a woman endowed with a strong, God-fearing mind
who had a great impact on her son. As a young boy, Narendranath displayed sharp intellect. His
mischievous nature contradicted his interest in music, both instrumental as well as vocal. He
excelled in his studies as well, first at the Metropolitan institution, and later at the Presidency
College in Calcutta. By the time he graduated from the college, he had acquired a vast
knowledge of different subjects. He was active in sports, gymnastics, wrestling and body
building. He was an avid reader and read up on almost everything under the sun. He examined
the Hindu scriptures like the Bhagvad Gita and the Upanishads on one hand, while on the other
hand he studied western philosophy, history and spirituality by David Hume, Johann Gottlieb
Fichte and Herbert Spencer. Although Narendranath’s mother was a devout woman and he had
grown up in a religious atmosphere at home, he underwent a deep spiritual crisis at the start of
his youth. His intelligence has led him to question the existence of God. He became associated
with Brahmo, movement led by Keshab Chandra Sen for some time. The Bramho Samaj
recognized one God unlike the idol-worshipping, superstition-ridden Hinduism. The host of
philosophical questions regarding the existence of God roiling through his mind remained
unanswered. During this spiritual crisis, Vivekananda first heard about Sri Ramakrishna from
William Hastie, the Principal of the Scottish Church College. Vivekananda approached every
spiritual leader in a temple and asking “Have you seen God?” Each time he came away without a
satisfying answer. He put forward the same question to Sri Ramkrishna at his residence in
2|Page
, Dakshinewar Kali Temple compounds. Without a moment's hesitation, Sri Ramakrishna replied:
"Yes, I have. I see God as clearly as I see you, only in a much deeper sense." Vivekananda,
initially unimpressed by the simplicity of Ramkrishna, was astonished with Ramakrishna's reply.
Ramakrishna gradually won over this argumentative young man with his patience and love. The
more Narendranath visited Dakshineshwar, the more his questions were answered. In 1884,
Naredranath’s father died and was bankrupted. He asked Ramakrishna to pray to the Goddess for
the financial welfare of his family. On Ramakrishna’s suggestion he himself went to the temple
to pray. But once he faced the Goddess he could not ask for money and wealth, instead he asked
for ‘Vivek’ (conscience) and ‘Bairagya’ (reclusion). That day marked the complete spiritual
awakening of Narendranath and he found himself drawn to an ascetic way of life. During the
middle of 1885, Ramakrishna, who had been suffering from throat cancer, fell seriously ill. In
September 1885, Sri Ramakrishna was moved to Shyampukur in Culcutta, and a few months
later Narendranath took a rented villa at Cossipore. Here, he formed a group of young people
who were ardent followers of Sri Ramakrishna and together they nursed their Guru with devoted
care. On 16 August 1886, Sri Ramakrishna gave up his mortal body. After the demise of Sri
Ramakrishna, around fifteen of his disciples including Narendranath began to live together in a
dilapidated building at Baranagar in North Calcutta, which was named Ramakrishna Math, the
monastic order of Ramakrishna. Here, in 1887, they formally renounced all ties to the world and
took vows of monkhood. The brotherhood rechristened themselves and Narendranath emerged as
Vivekananda meaning "the bliss of discerning wisdom". Vivekananda left the Math in 1886 and
went on a tour of India on foot as a ‘Parivrajak’. He travelled the breadth of the country,
absorbing much of the social, cultural and religious aspects of the people he came in contact
with. He witnessed the adversities of life that the common people faced, their ailments, and
vowed to dedicate his life to bring relief to these suffering.
Lecture at the World Parliament of Religions
During the course of his wanderings, he came to know about the World Parliament of
Religions being held in Chicago, America in 1893. He was keen to attend the meeting, to
represent India, Hinduism and his Guru Sri Ramakrishna’s philosophies. He found assertion of
his wishes while he was meditating on the rocks of Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of India.
Money was raised by his disciples in Madras (now Chennai) and Ajit Singh, Raja of Khetri, and
3|Page
Asian Philosophy; Anthropology
I. INTRODUCTION
Man, animals and plants are all earthly realities; all of these have existence. They are all
created by someone who is Supreme, for Christians, the Supreme is called God or Father or
Yahweh in Jews and for Muslims Allah. In philosophy, several terms are applied to Him, such
terms are: the Supreme Being, the Universal Essence, the Absolute, God, The Infinite, etc. With
the eternal God, we are all created as distinct creatures. But with all the earthly creatures, the
highest of them all is man. In the Hierarchy of Beings of Aristotle, man is the highest being in
the physical world. What makes man the highest? Obviously, it’s his rationality. His rationality
has led him to the quest for truth specifically about himself. The sense of wonder has directed
him to question his existence. Furthermore, other philosophical questions bothered their minds
and different beliefs (the poet theologians) led their faith to give unexplained reason of how
things work for the satisfaction of their awe and wonder.
One of the several subjects that bothered the minds of the philosophers whether ancient
or modern is about man. Particularly, in the ancient period, we have Plato and Aristotle who had
different ideas about man. In modern, Descartes and Locke had theories about the existence of
man. Different questions about man was asked that led people to contemplate and search for its
true meaning.
But the search for the truth about man did not only happen in the Western side of the
world, but also on the east or the oriental side of it. Particularly, Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tzu,
etc. They focused on the metaphysical, cosmological and ethical nature of man. But one
philosopher whom I chose because of his unique idea was Swami Vivekananda, a Hindu monk
and philosopher. His philosophy has a great distribution on the Hindu philosophy particularly the
Vedanta Philosophy. His teachings about morality is not only applicable for the Hindus but for
everyone who is aiming for true kindness. This is not only for theistic persons but for the atheist
also, because his view of ethics does not depend on God but to our free will.
1|Page
, What I am going to discuss here is his philosophy of man. I will focus on his view of
man, its nature and its morality in a metaphysical and ethical view. The Divinity of man and its
relation with the Divine will be tackled in this research paper. My research is not just about man
in its physical nature but we will journey to the deeper knowledge about man according to
Swami Vivekanandi.
II. LIFE AND WORKS
Early Life
Swami Vivekananda was born with a name Narendranath Dutta, into a wealthy Bengali
family in Calcutta, Vivekananda was one of the eight children of Vishwanath Dutta and
Bhuvaneshwari Devi. He was born on January 12, 1863, on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.
Father Vishwanath was a successful attorney with considerable influence in society.
Narendranath’s mother Bhuvaneshwari was a woman endowed with a strong, God-fearing mind
who had a great impact on her son. As a young boy, Narendranath displayed sharp intellect. His
mischievous nature contradicted his interest in music, both instrumental as well as vocal. He
excelled in his studies as well, first at the Metropolitan institution, and later at the Presidency
College in Calcutta. By the time he graduated from the college, he had acquired a vast
knowledge of different subjects. He was active in sports, gymnastics, wrestling and body
building. He was an avid reader and read up on almost everything under the sun. He examined
the Hindu scriptures like the Bhagvad Gita and the Upanishads on one hand, while on the other
hand he studied western philosophy, history and spirituality by David Hume, Johann Gottlieb
Fichte and Herbert Spencer. Although Narendranath’s mother was a devout woman and he had
grown up in a religious atmosphere at home, he underwent a deep spiritual crisis at the start of
his youth. His intelligence has led him to question the existence of God. He became associated
with Brahmo, movement led by Keshab Chandra Sen for some time. The Bramho Samaj
recognized one God unlike the idol-worshipping, superstition-ridden Hinduism. The host of
philosophical questions regarding the existence of God roiling through his mind remained
unanswered. During this spiritual crisis, Vivekananda first heard about Sri Ramakrishna from
William Hastie, the Principal of the Scottish Church College. Vivekananda approached every
spiritual leader in a temple and asking “Have you seen God?” Each time he came away without a
satisfying answer. He put forward the same question to Sri Ramkrishna at his residence in
2|Page
, Dakshinewar Kali Temple compounds. Without a moment's hesitation, Sri Ramakrishna replied:
"Yes, I have. I see God as clearly as I see you, only in a much deeper sense." Vivekananda,
initially unimpressed by the simplicity of Ramkrishna, was astonished with Ramakrishna's reply.
Ramakrishna gradually won over this argumentative young man with his patience and love. The
more Narendranath visited Dakshineshwar, the more his questions were answered. In 1884,
Naredranath’s father died and was bankrupted. He asked Ramakrishna to pray to the Goddess for
the financial welfare of his family. On Ramakrishna’s suggestion he himself went to the temple
to pray. But once he faced the Goddess he could not ask for money and wealth, instead he asked
for ‘Vivek’ (conscience) and ‘Bairagya’ (reclusion). That day marked the complete spiritual
awakening of Narendranath and he found himself drawn to an ascetic way of life. During the
middle of 1885, Ramakrishna, who had been suffering from throat cancer, fell seriously ill. In
September 1885, Sri Ramakrishna was moved to Shyampukur in Culcutta, and a few months
later Narendranath took a rented villa at Cossipore. Here, he formed a group of young people
who were ardent followers of Sri Ramakrishna and together they nursed their Guru with devoted
care. On 16 August 1886, Sri Ramakrishna gave up his mortal body. After the demise of Sri
Ramakrishna, around fifteen of his disciples including Narendranath began to live together in a
dilapidated building at Baranagar in North Calcutta, which was named Ramakrishna Math, the
monastic order of Ramakrishna. Here, in 1887, they formally renounced all ties to the world and
took vows of monkhood. The brotherhood rechristened themselves and Narendranath emerged as
Vivekananda meaning "the bliss of discerning wisdom". Vivekananda left the Math in 1886 and
went on a tour of India on foot as a ‘Parivrajak’. He travelled the breadth of the country,
absorbing much of the social, cultural and religious aspects of the people he came in contact
with. He witnessed the adversities of life that the common people faced, their ailments, and
vowed to dedicate his life to bring relief to these suffering.
Lecture at the World Parliament of Religions
During the course of his wanderings, he came to know about the World Parliament of
Religions being held in Chicago, America in 1893. He was keen to attend the meeting, to
represent India, Hinduism and his Guru Sri Ramakrishna’s philosophies. He found assertion of
his wishes while he was meditating on the rocks of Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of India.
Money was raised by his disciples in Madras (now Chennai) and Ajit Singh, Raja of Khetri, and
3|Page
