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Guru to the World: The Life and Legacy of Vivekananda Hardcover – October 18, 2022

by Ruth Harris (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 54 ratings
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From the Wolfson History Prize–winning author of The Man on Devil’s Island, the definitive biography of Vivekananda, the Indian monk who shaped the intellectual and spiritual history of both East and West.

Few thinkers have had so enduring an impact on both Eastern and Western life as Swami Vivekananda, the Indian monk who inspired the likes of Freud, Gandhi, and Tagore. Blending science, religion, and politics, Vivekananda introduced Westerners to yoga and the universalist school of Hinduism called Vedanta. His teachings fostered a more tolerant form of mainstream spirituality in Europe and North America and forever changed the Western relationship to meditation and spirituality.

Guru to the World traces Vivekananda’s transformation from son of a Calcutta-based attorney into saffron-robed ascetic. At the 1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago, he fascinated audiences with teachings from Hinduism, Western esoteric spirituality, physics, and the sciences of the mind, in the process advocating a more inclusive conception of religion and expounding the evils of colonialism. Vivekananda won many disciples, most prominently the Irish activist Margaret Noble, who disseminated his ideas in the face of much disdain for the wisdom of a “subject race.” At home, he challenged the notion that religion was antithetical to nationalist goals, arguing that Hinduism was intimately connected with Indian identity.

Ruth Harris offers an arresting biography, showing how Vivekananda’s thought spawned a global anticolonial movement and became a touchstone of Hindu nationalist politics a century after his death. The iconic monk emerges as a counterargument to Orientalist critiques, which interpret East-West interactions as primarily instances of Western borrowing. As Vivekananda demonstrates, we must not underestimate Eastern agency in the global circulation of ideas.

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  1. Print length
    560 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press
  4. Publication date
    October 18, 2022
  5. Dimensions
    6.12 x 1.75 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0674247477
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0674247475
  8. See all details
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From the Publisher

Wolfson prize notation and author of Devil's Island mention

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“This is a deeply researched and compellingly argued biography of Swami Vivekananda, one of the first Indian religious thinkers to become known in the west, and one of the makers of modern India.”―Rana Mitter, BBC History Magazine

“Guru to the World is a triumph of research and ambition, drawing connections between a dazzling array of philosophies, figures, languages, geographies and religions.”―Abhimanyu Arni, Literary Review

“This will be the standard biography of [Vivekananda] for years to come…Admirable.”―Jon M. Sweeney, Spirituality & Practice

“Vivekananda’s life was an embarrassment of epiphanies and contradictions, and Harris exhaustively uncovers all of them.”―Pratinav Anil, History Today

“Vivekananda was many things to many people: the first global religious celebrity, an apostle of Indian nationalism, a man whose message was heard, and heard differently, in salons as well as slums. It’s not just any biographer who can do justice to such a complex life. He’s fortunate to have found a perfect interpreter in Ruth Harris.”―Benjamin Moser, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Sontag: Her Life and Work

“In Ruth Harris’s vivid portrait of India’s Vivekananda, we discover a compelling story of interconnected lives―the guru, his disciple, the international followers, his own teacher―that sheds new light on religion, race, gender, colonialism, and nationalism. This impressive book introduces us to some important but half-forgotten cultural currents in the life of India, Europe, and America at the end of the nineteenth century. To understand contemporary India, we need to pay more attention to these currents, and Harris is a sure-footed guide.”―Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury

“In Guru to the World, Ruth Harris gives us riveting accounts of both the Indian and the international sides of Swami Vivekananda, one of the most provocative personalities of the nineteenth century. The connections between tradition and modernity forged by him over a century ago continue to influence culture, politics, and religion worldwide. A brilliant read.”―Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, author of An Aesthetic Education in the Era of Globalization

“An inspired blend of religion, politics, and biography, Guru to the World takes a novel approach to the history of empire and cross-cultural encounters that foregrounds the workings of love, friendship, and faith. In the lives of Vivekananda and his associates, Ruth Harris delivers insight into topics ranging from yoga to anticolonial nationalism that should interest any readers curious to understand the workings of what might be called globalized culture.”―Maya Jasanoff, author of The Dawn Watch

About the Author

Ruth Harris is the author of Lourdes and The Man on Devil’s Island, which won the Wolfson Prize and the National Jewish Book Award. She is Senior Research Fellow at All Soul’s College, University of Oxford, Fellow of the British Academy, and Professor of European History at the University of Oxford.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press (October 18, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 560 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0674247477
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0674247475
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.25 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.12 x 1.75 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 54 ratings

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Ruth Harris

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
54 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

BrennaMoore
5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary book
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2022
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Guru to the World is an incredible book - a gripping story about Vivekandanda, the late 19th-century Hindu monk and philosopher who brought Hinduism to the West and influenced scores of intellectuals around the world. Although today he is often marshaled for nationalistic causes, Harris shows that in his own lifetime Vivekananda advocated for a universalist version of Hinduism, which Harris illustrates with great skill. Best of all, his life is made real in the book by Harris's fabulous writing on the many loves of his life, especially with his own teacher Ramakrishna and his student, Sister Nivedita. My students and I loved learning about this - if you're interested in the global 20th century, Hinduism, the turn toward the "East" in the West, the role of women and other surprising figures in the globalizing of spiritual ideals in modernity, you will not be able to put it down.
2 people found this helpful
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W S Haine
5.0 out of 5 stars Illuminates the history of American Religion in a global perspective
Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2023
Swami to the World reveals the deep roots of Eastern spirituality in American history and culture. Over a hundred years ago Swami Vivekananda dazzled the audience at the World Council of Religions held in Chicago (coinciding with the 1893 World's Fair). He helped to found and inspire the Vedanta centers that still thrive across the USA and continue to influence the worlds of scholarship, cinema, and culture.

Vivekananda was a vivid and compelling voice that broadened the American and Western mind! Ruth Harris illuminates this spiritual energy and its universal appeal in an age of worsening technological and political crises.
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Ginny
3.0 out of 5 stars Conclusions fall short.
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2022
The legacy of Vivekananda is his endorsement of the ability of all paths to lead to Realization and the offering of Vedantin understanding as a template. To stop with his hierarchical views (p.418-419) and not acknowledge this broader teaching limits his legacy.
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
Reviewed in India on August 5, 2023
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This book is a two-in-one! Besides giving us a rare insight into one of the most fascinating personalities of modern India - Swami Vivekananda it also sketches Margaret Nobel (Sister Nivedita) who is no less enchanting. The book highlights the complex relationship between the two. I have never seen Swamiji as just a spiritual guru. He is a trailblazer about how one’s life should be lived. This book brings him out of that closet of spirituality and puts him on the podium of great human beings who all have had their strengths and weaknesses.
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priyanshu
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book
Reviewed in India on June 30, 2023
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You'll love the book for sure.
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Subramanian Seshadri
3.0 out of 5 stars Highly biased writing
Reviewed in India on February 3, 2024
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After I finished reading the book I am still not clear what is the premise of the book. One thing is clear the author tried her best to portray the Swami as one who is controversial but unsuccessfully. Every other chapter is about Swami and her women. The author is not even authentic. Most of the words or sentences are in quotes meaning it is ascribed to someone and not her own.
It's a lengthy book written in bad prose trying to portray Swami and his works in poor light.
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Rajagopal Chattopadhyaya
2.0 out of 5 stars A serious, scholarly and updated book
Reviewed in India on May 30, 2023
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'Guru to the World : The Life and Legacy of Vivekananda' (Harvard University Press, 2022) written by Ruth Harris, Professor of European History at the University of Oxford, who ‘had chosen to leave behind three decades of work in French and European history to plunge’ into Indian religion. It is more detailed compared to 'Vivekananda : A Biography' by Swami Nikhilananda, but less detailed compared to 'The Life of Swami Vivekananda', or .other authoritative biographies by Shailendra Nath Dhar, Marie L. Burke, and the present reviewer. The book by Harris is quite scholarly and thoroughly updated.
After describing his early life in chapter 1, Sri Ramakrishna is described in chapter 2 and Narendranath’s interactions with him in chapter 3. Vivekananda and his Indian travels come in chapter 4, these four comprising ‘Part One : India’. In ‘Part Two : The West’, chapter 5 is on ‘The World’s Parliament of Religions’, but the novel chapters are chapters 6 and 9-11 which often describe the role of Indian and Western women associated with the Swami, and the role of men less often. Particularly unusual are chapter 7 ‘Magic, Science and Transcendence’ and chapter 8, ‘Green Acre, William James and Raja Yoga’. ‘Part Three’ starts with chapter 12, ‘Vivekananda Returns’ [to India], while chapters 13-16 describe his life focusing on Nivedita’s life in his association and thereafter till her death in 1911.
The word “guru” means a “Hindu spiritual leader” as its primary meaning, and “respected and influential teacher or authority” as a secondary meaning; both can be applied to Swami Vivekananda. However, the author’s addition of the adjective “global” is not acceptable to this reviewer and should not be acceptable to other Hindus. Hinduism does not proselytize, a Hindu spiritual leader should NOT become a guru to people belonging to other religions, so I think the book title containing the words ‘Global Guru’ associated with Vivekananda is misleading. The term ‘Globalization’ itself has acquired a disparaging meaning in political circles, implying the hegemony of the West. The term ‘universal religion’ is acceptable as it occurs near the end of the Hinduism paper Vivekananda read in the Parliament of Religions though not ‘universal guru’. I may have other issues / criticisms about details presented by this serious study of Ruth Harris, but this is not the place to share those. Congratulations to her.
Prof. Rajagopal Chattopadhyaya, author of <Swami Vivekananda in the West> (1993, 1994, 2012), <World’s Parliament of Religions, 1893 : Participation from the Indian Subcontinent with Photographs of the Exposition> (1995, 2011), <Swami Vivekananda in India : A Corrective Biography> (1999), <Swami Vivekananda : a mental and spiritual biography> (2006), <Ramakrishna : Kali’s Child and Lover> (2011, 2014), <‘Paper Lioness’ : Margaret Noble> (2018), and some Bengali books on these personalities, many available now from ‘Rajagopal Chattopadhyaya Books’ from Amazon within India.
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