Wangu Pavilion

                                         Welcome
                                             to
                          Swami Vivekananda Youth Association (SVYA) 

Welcome to the Swami Vivekananda Youth Association's Wikipedia. As Yorkshire's youth work charity, we've been working with young people since 1st August 2012.

Working across the county, we provide a wide range of opportunities for young people, from fun activities to life-changing skills development. Throughout the site you will find information on what we do, how we help and how you can help us.

We are led by young people, both in the work we do and the way we are run. Working closely with our trustees, volunteers and staff, young people have an important voice in the Association.

The Youth Association’s history stretches right back to the early years of youth work and our long story of survival is made up of thousands of successes, failures, experiments and innovations, told by generations of young people and youth workers. In all that time, the important things we believe about good youth work have never changed; we call that being ‘progressive but rooted’.

We are lucky that we have been able to going right back to our founding in 2012. They make interesting reading for anyone interested in the history of youth work and society’s changing attitudes to work with young people. Some attitudes and ideas have long since changed, but It’s surprising how many discussions and debates are still current today.

Our mission is to champion good youth work; by delivering it, experimenting with it, promoting it and supporting others who share our beliefs about it.

We think that good youth work is a way of understanding young people and the world they live in and approaching things from their point of view. We also think that good youth work is built on a wide set of skills and tools; we see these as the ‘craft’ of being a good youth worker.

We believe that the combined approach and craft of good youth work is something to be defended, supported and developed. A positive future for good youth work is something to campaign for.

Good youth work creates positive changes in the lives of all young people. It is a constructive process that aims to give young people chances to lead happier and more fulfilling lives. It can be of benefit to all and should not be confined solely to tackling disadvantage; although it will always recognise the disadvantaged starting points society imposes on some young people.

Good youth work will speak up for young people and always remind adult society that they are most often the victims of society’s problems and not the cause of them.

Good youth work challenges discrimination and promotes inclusion because it values and celebrates the uniqueness of individuals, championing both cohesion and difference.

Good youth work is always relevant because it is centred on the needs of young people and encourages them to express those needs. Young people set the agenda for good youth workers.

Good youth work must be voluntary and its power to grow mutual respect between young people and adults comes from the right to walk away from the youth work process. It must be a positive choice.

Good youth work enables young people to understand and own their rights and responsibilities as citizens, and how to form and maintain good relationships that are built on self-respect and respect for the rights and responsibilities of others.

Good youth work is primarily a group process of social education, enjoyed in the most informal and accessible ways. It can help support families and young people’s growth and transition to independent adulthood.

Good youth work is a powerful force for positive social change and good youth workers, alongside the young people they support, are its best and most credible advocates.

Associates

Helping and supporting our Associates is a really important part of what we do. Our Associates are people who care about work with young people and the values of good youth work.

We have many Associates who are trained and paid youth workers in other organizations, who value the extra support and information that we can provide.

Often, they are volunteers in youth work projects or they are concerned residents who want support in launching new voluntary youth work programmes, just like Rachael Hattersley (our 1,000th Associate), pictured here. Support

We try to support our Associates by providing information and advice, offering a free CRB checking service, providing training, making accreditation of youth work available and promoting our Associates’ own youth work through this website and our other publications.

Associates have told us that they would welcome the chance to create new local forums where they could meet with other youth workers and talk about the issues they face and good youth work practice, and we are going to help to bring such forums together.

Early life (1863–1888) Birth and childhood A Bengali woman , sitting Swami Vivekananda as a wandering monk (left) Bhuvaneswari Devi (1841–1911);"I am indebted to my mother for the efflorescence of my knowledge."[6] – Swami Vivekananda (right) 3, Gourmohan Mukherjee Street, birthplace of Swami Vivekananda, now converted into a museum and cultural centre

Vivekananda was born Narendranath Datta (shortened to Narendra or Naren)[7] at 3, Gourmohan Mukherjee Street in Calcutta, the capital of British India, on 12 January 1863 during the Makar Sankranti festival.[8] He belonged to a traditional Bengali Kayastha family and was one of nine siblings.[9] His father, Vishwanath Datta, was an attorney at the Calcutta High Court.[10][11] Durgacharan Datta, Narendra's grandfather, was a Sanskrit and Persian scholar[12] who left his family and became a monk at age twenty-five.[13] Narendra's mother, Bhuvaneswari Devi, was a devout housewife.[12] The progressive, rational attitude of Narendra's father and the religious temperament of his mother helped shape his thinking and personality.[14][15]

Narendra was interested in spirituality from a young age, and used to pray at meditating before the images of deities such as Shiva, Rama, and Sita.[16] He was fascinated by wandering ascetics and monks.[15] Narendra was naughty and restless as a child, and his parents often had difficulty controlling him. His mother said, "I prayed to Shiva for a son and he has sent me one of his demons".[13] Education

In 1871 Narendra enrolled at Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's Metropolitan Institution, where he studied until his family moved to Raipur in 1877.[17] In 1879, after his family's return to Calcutta, he received first-division marks in the Presidency College entrance examination. That year, he was the only student at his college who received first-division marks.[17] Narendra was an avid reader[18] and was interested in a wide range of subjects, including philosophy, religion, history, social science, art and literature.[19] He was also interested in Hindu scriptures, including the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas. Narendra was trained in Indian classical music,[20] and regularly participated in physical exercise, sports and organised activities.[19]

Narendra studied Western logic, Western philosophy and European history at the General Assembly's Institution (now known as the Scottish Church College).[21] In 1881 he passed the Fine Arts examination, and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1884.[22][23] Narendra studied the works of David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Baruch Spinoza, Georg W. F. Hegel, Arthur Schopenhauer, Auguste Comte, John Stuart Mill and Charles Darwin.[24][25] He became fascinated with the evolutionism of Herbert Spencer and corresponded with him,[26][27] translating Spencer's book Education (1861) into Bengali.[28] While studying Western philosophers, he also learned Sanskrit scriptures and Bengali literature.[25] William Hastie (principal of General Assembly's Institution) wrote, "Narendra is really a genius. I have travelled far and wide but I have never come across a lad of his talents and possibilities, even in German universities, among philosophical students".[24] Some accounts have called Narendra a srutidhara (a person with a prodigious memory).[29][30][31] Spiritual apprenticeship See also: Swami Vivekananda and meditation

Narendra became a member of a Freemasonry lodge and a breakaway faction of the Brahmo Samaj led by Keshub Chandra Sen and Debendranath Tagore.[21][32][33] His initial beliefs were shaped by Brahmo concepts, which included belief in a formless God and the deprecation of idolatry.[16][34]

At this time, Narendra met Debendranath Tagore (the leader of Brahmo Samaj) and asked if he had seen God. Instead of answering his question, Tagore said "My boy, you have the Yogi's eyes."[32][28] Not satisfied with his knowledge of philosophy, Narendra wondered if God and religion could be made a part of one's growing experiences and deeply internalised. He asked several prominent Calcutta residents if they had come "face to face with God", but none of their answers satisfied him.[35][23] With Ramakrishna Main article: Relationship between Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda See also: Swami Vivekananda's prayer to Kali at Dakshineswar

Narendra's first introduction to Ramakrishna occurred in a literature class in General Assembly's Institution when he heard Professor William Hastie lecturing on William Wordsworth's poem, The Excursion.[34] While explaining the word "trance" in the poem, Hastie suggested that his students visit Ramakrishna of Dakshineswar to understand the true meaning of trance. This prompted some of his students (including Narendra) to visit Ramakrishna.[36][37][38] Image of Ramakrishna, sitting. Image of Swami Vivekananda, sitting in meditative posture, eyes opened (left) Ramakrishna, guru of Vivekananda (right) Swami Vivekananda in Cossipore 1886

In November 1881,[a]. when Narendra was preparing for his upcoming F. A. examination, Ram Chandra Datta accompanied to Surendra Nath Mitra's, house where Ramakrishna was invited to deliver a lecture.[40] At this meeting, Ramakrishna asked young Narendra to sing. Impressed by his singing talent, he asked Narendra to come to Dakshineshwar.[41] Narendra did not consider this their first meeting, and neither man mentioned this meeting later.[36]

In late 1881 or early 1882, Narendra went to Dakshineswar with two friends and met Ramakrishna.[36] This meeting proved to be a turning point in his life.[42] Although he did not initially accept Ramakrishna as his teacher and rebelled against his ideas, he was attracted by his personality and began frequently visiting him at Dakshineswar.[43] He initially saw Ramakrishna's ecstasies and visions as "mere figments of imagination"[14] and "hallucinations".[44] As a member of Brahmo Samaj, he opposed idol worship, polytheism and Ramakrishna's worship of Kali.[45] He even rejected the Advaita Vedanta of "identity with the absolute" as blasphemy and madness, and often ridiculed the idea.[44] Narendra tested Ramakrishna, who faced his arguments patiently: "Try to see the truth from all angles", he replied.[43]

Narendra's father's sudden death in 1884 left the family bankrupt; creditors began demanding the repayment of loans, and relatives threatened to evict the family from their ancestral home. Narendra, once a son of a well-to-do family, became one of the poorest students in his college.[46] He unsuccessfully tried to find work and questioned God's existence,[47] but found solace in Ramakrishna and his visits to Dakshineswar increased.[48]

One day Narendra requested Ramakrishna to pray to goddess Kali for their family's financial welfare. Ramakrishna suggested him to go to the temple and pray it himself. Following Ramakrishna's suggestion, he went to the temple thrice, but failed to pray for any kind of worldly necessities and ultimately prayed for true knowledge and devotion from the goddess.[49][50][51] Narendra gradually grew ready to renounce everything for the sake of realising God, and accepted Ramakrishna as his guru.[43]

In 1885, Ramakrishna developed throat cancer, and was transferred to Calcutta and (later) to a garden house in Cossipore. Narendra and Ramakrishna's other disciples took care of him during his last days, and Narendra's spiritual education continued. At Cossipore, he experienced Nirvikalpa samadhi.[52] Narendra and several other disciples received ochre robes from Ramakrishna, forming his first monastic order.[53] He was taught that service to men was the most effective worship of God.[14][52] Ramakrishna asked him to care for the other monastic disciples, and in turn asked them to see Narendra as their leader.[54] Ramakrishna died in the early-morning hours of 16 August 1886 in Cossipore.[54][55] Founding of first Ramakrishna Math at Baranagar Main article: Baranagar Math

After Ramakrishna's death, his devotees and admirers stopped supporting his disciples. Unpaid rent accumulated, and Narendra and the other disciples had to find a new place to live.[56] Many returned home, adopting a Grihastha (family-oriented) way of life.[57] Narendra decided to convert a dilapidated house at Baranagar into a new math (monastery) for the remaining disciples. Rent for the Baranagar Math was low, raised by "holy begging" (mādhukarī). The math became the first building of the Ramakrishna Math: the monastery of the monastic order of Ramakrishna.[42] Narendra and other disciples used to spend many hours in practising meditation and religious austerities every day.[58] Narendra later reminisced about the early days of the monastery:[59]

   We underwent a lot of religious practice at the Baranagar Math. We used to get up at 3:00 am and become absorbed in japa and meditation. What a strong spirit of detachment we had in those days! We had no thought even as to whether the world existed or not.

In 1887, Narendra compiled a Bengali song anthology named Sangeet Kalpataru with Vaishnav Charan Basak. Narendra collected and arranged most of the songs of this compilation, but could not finish the work of the book for unfavourable circumstances.[60] Monastic vows

In December 1886, the mother of Baburam[b] invited Narendra and his other brother monks to Antpur village. Narendra and the other aspiring monks accepted the invitation and went to Antpur to spend few days. In Antpur, in the Christmas Eve of 1886, Narendra and eight other disciples took formal monastic vows.[58] They decided to live their lives as Jesus Christ lived.[58] Narendranath took the name "Swami Bibidishananda".[61] Travels in India (1888–1893)

In 1888, Narendra left the monastery as a Parivrâjaka— the Hindu religious life of a wandering monk, "without fixed abode, without ties, independent and strangers wherever they go".[62] His sole possessions were a kamandalu (water pot), staff and his two favourite books: the Bhagavad Gita and The Imitation of Christ.[63] Narendra travelled extensively in India for five years, visiting centres of learning and acquainting himself with diverse religious traditions and social patterns.[64][65] He developed sympathy for the suffering and poverty of the people, and resolved to uplift the nation.[64][66] Living primarily on bhiksha (alms), Narendra travelled on foot and by railway (with tickets bought by admirers). During his travels he met, and stayed with Indians from all religions and walks of life: scholars, dewans, rajas, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, paraiyars (low-caste workers) and government officials.[66] North

In 1888 Narendra's first destination was Varanasi, where he visited the places where Gautama Buddha and Adi Shankara preached[67][68] and met Bengali writer Bhudev Mukhopadhyay and Hindu saint Trailanga Swami.[69] After meeting Vivekanandra, Mukhopadhyay said "Such vast experience and insight at such an early age! I am sure he will be a great man".[67] Narendra also met Sanskrit and Vedic scholar Babu Pramadadas Mitra,[70] with whom he corresponded on the interpretation of Hindu scriptures.[70][69] After leaving Varanasi, he visited Ayodhya, Lucknow, Agra, Vrindavan, Hathras and Rishikesh.[68] When he was staying in Vrindavan, one day, he saw a man smoking a hookah. He asked to the man to give him a tobacco bowl, but the man refused to do so explaining he was a man of lower caste. Narendra initially accepted his point and started walking, but within few minutes, he started feeling ashamed, as he had been practising "non-duality of soul" for a long time. He returned to the man, once again requested him to give him tobacco boil and despite of his reluctance, he took hookah from him and started smoking.[71] Swami Vivekananda sitting, black and white image Swami Vivekananda as a wandering monk After Ramakrishna's death, in January 1887 Vivekananda (then Narendranath Datta) and eight other disciples of Ramakrishna took formal monastic vows in Baranagar Math. In 1888, Narendra left the math and began life as a wandering monk. Both photos were taken at this time.[72]

While on the way to Haridwar, in September 1888,[73] Narendra stayed at Hathras. There in the railway waiting room Narendra met Sharat Chandra Gupta, a railway station master.[74] Gupta went to Narendra and asked if he was hungry to which he got a reply in positive. He took Narendra to his home. When Narendra asked him what food he was going to offer, Gupta quoted a Persian poem in reply: "Oh beloved, I shall prepare the most delic