The tender plant of spirituality will die if exposed too early to the action of a constant change of ideas and ideals. Many people, in the name of what may be called religious liberalism, may be seen feeding their idle curiosity with a continuous succession of different ideals. With them, hearing new things grows into a kind of disease, a sort of religious drink-mania. They want to hear new things just by way of getting a temporary nervous excitement, and when one such exciting influence has had its effect on them, they are ready for another. Religion is with these people a sort of intellectual opium-eating, and there it ends.

According to his disciples Vivekananda attained Mahasamadhi. He belonged to a traditional Bengali Kayastha (a caste of Hindus) family and was one of the nine siblings. He was the principal reason behind the enthusiastic reception of yoga transcendental meditation and other forms of Indian spiritual self-improvement in the West.

He was the chief disciple of the 19th century saint Ramakrishna and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. After the death of his guru Vivekananda toured the Indian subcontinent extensively and acquired a first-hand knowledge of the conditions that prevailed in British India. In India Vivekananda is regarded as a patriotic saint and his birthday is celebrated as the National Youth Day.