Sister Nivedita's book "The Master as I Saw Him" chronicles her spiritual experiences with Swami Vivekananda and describes his teachings. It outlines how Swamiji awakened religious consciousness in Indians and gave them pride in their spiritual heritage. He pointed out strengths of Indian culture and need to contribute globally. This gave India a sense of unity, pride, and mission that strengthened the nationalist movement. Vivekananda's concept of the soul's potential divinity provides an ennobling view of humanity. His teachings emphasized developing both mental and physical strength through dedication and perseverance.

1. BOOK APPRECIATION
WPSG ASSIGNMENT
THE MASTER AS I SAW HIM
- BY SISTER NIVEDITA
PRESENTED BY:
PRIYANSHI JAIN
106072

2. OUTLINE OF THE BOOK
In the book, “THE MASTER AS I SAW HIM”, Sister Nivedita , disciple of swami
Vivekananda describes his teachings and his beliefs for the society. It chronicles
intense spiritual experiences from the life of swami Vivekananda . Swamiji gave
Indians proper understanding of their country’s great spiritual heritage and
thus gave them pride in their past. Furthermore, he pointed out to Indians the
drawbacks of Western culture and the need for India’s contribution to overcome
these drawbacks. In this way Swamiji made India a nation with a global mission.
Sense of unity, pride in the past, sense of mission – these were the factors which
gave real strength and purpose to India’s nationalist movement. Several eminent
leaders of India’s freedom movement have acknowledged their indebtedness to
Swamiji. Vivekananda’s concept of ‘potential divinity of the soul’ gives a new,
ennobling concept of man. The present age is the age of humanism which holds
that man should be the chief concern and centre of all activities and thinking.
Through science and technology man has attained great prosperity and power,
and modern methods of communication and travel have converted human
society into a ‘global village’.

3. SWAMIVIVEKANANDA
Narendra Nath Datta (now known as Swami Vivekananda) , was brought into the world in a
princely family in Kolkata on 12 January 1863. His dad, Vishwanath Datta, was a fruitful
lawyer with interests in a wide scope of subjects, and his mother, Bhuvaneshwari Devi, was
blessed with profound dedication, solid person and other
characteristics. A gifted kid, Narendra dominated in music, vaulting and studies. When he
moved on from Calcutta University, he had gained a tremendous information on various
subjects, particularly Western way of thinking and history. Brought into the world with a
yogic disposition, he used to rehearse contemplation even from his childhood, and was
related with Brahmo Movement for quite a while. He was a devoted peruser in a wide scope
of subjects, including theory, religion, history, social science, workmanship and writing. He
was likewise inspired by Hindu sacred writings, including the Vedas, the Upanishads, the
Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas. Narendra was prepared in
Indian old style music, and consistently took an interest in actual exercise, sports and
coordinated exercises. Narendra concentrated on Western rationale, Western way of
thinking and European history at the General Assembly's Institution (presently known as the
Scottish Church College). In 1881 he finished the Fine Arts assessment, and finished a
Bachelor of Arts degree in 1884. While concentrating on Western rationalists, he additionally
scholarly Sanskrit sacred writings and Bengali writings . Social reform became a prominent
element of his thought, and he joined the Brahmo Samaj (Society of Brahma), dedicated to
eliminating child marriage and illiteracy and determined to spread education among women
and the lower castes. His spiritual quest led him to various people to whom he asked the
question “Have you seen God?” He found such a person in Sri Ramakrishna who
demonstrated the essential unity of all religions. Ramakrishna became his master, allayed his
doubts, gave him God vision, and transformed him into sage and prophet with authority to
teach.

4. HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SOCIETY
1. To awaken the religious consciousness of the people and create in them
pride in their cultural heritage.
2. To bring about unification of Hinduism by pointing out the common
bases of its sects.
3. To focus the attention of educated people on the plight of the
downtrodden masses, and expound his plan for their uplift by the
application of the principles of Practical Vedanta
4. He said that education must make the students self-reliant and help them
face the challenges of life. He was highly critical of the so-called educated
who do not care for the poor and downtrod. He urged youth to have
dedication to the cause to attain success. Pursuing a challenge with utmost
dedication is really the road to success, for our youth.
Hence Swamiji called upon the youth to not only build up their mental
energies, but their physical ones as well. He wanted ‘muscles of iron’ as well
as ‘nerves of steel’.
His birthday on January 12 is celebrated as National Youth Day and the
week commencing from that day is known as the National Youth Week.

5. LIFE LEARNINGS FROM HIM
•Whatever you think, that you will be. If you think yourselves weak, weak you
will be; if you think yourselves strong, strong you will be.
• If you have faith in all the three hundred and thirty million of your mythological
gods, and still have no faith in yourselves, there is no salvation for you.
•Have faith in yourselves, and stand up on that faith and be strong; that is what
we need. Strength, strength it is that we want so much in this life, for what we
call sin and sorrow have all one cause, and that is our weakness.
• With weakness comes ignorance, and with ignorance comes misery.
•The older I grow, the more everything seems to me to lie in manliness. This is
my new Gospel.
•Purity, patience, and perseverance are the three essentials to success, and above
all, love.