Vivekananda was born to an orthodox Hindu family in Bengal 1863. From an early age, he displayed signs of great compassion and also the qualities of a natural leader. Vivekananda had a sharp intellect and devoured literature from both East and West this included Western philosophy and the great English poets. Vivekananda particularly liked the rational reasoning of the West and was easily dismayed by many of the religious superstitions and the cultural decline that Indian society found itself in. From this background Vivekananda was drawn to join the Brahmo Samaj. The Brahmo Samaj was a modern Hindu movement who sought to revitalise Indian life and spirituality through a rationalistic approach and abandonment of image worship.
However the rationality of the Brahmo Samaj could not satisfy the latent spiritual hunger of Vivekananda. From an early age he began to have spiritual experiences and at the age of 18 felt an overwhelming desire to ‘See God’. With a directness that was typical of Vivekananda he asked those around whether they had seen God. All affirmed in the negative. This included the great Devendranath Tagore (father of Rabindranath Tagore) However Devendranath told Vivekananda that he saw in him the eyes of a Yogi and surely he would realise God in this lifetime. Although none could satisfy his question, he came to hear of the name Ramakrishna Paramhansa who was reputed to be a great spiritual personality and had realised God.
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