Swami Vivekananda on Liberation, Compassion and Love

This paper reflects on the indivisibility of Swami Vivekananda's concept of liberation through knowledge of God and his teaching of universal love. Love is a central theme throughout Vivekananda's writings and encompasses compassion understood as sympathetic, merciful love aiming to relieve suffering. Vivekananda's fervent commitment to aid others arose from his years as a wandering monk; he held that in knowledge of the true nature of all beings as forms of God, selfless love is expressed as service. Rather than dayā or "compassion" as possibly "dualistic," he prefers to speak of prema or Love – declaring that God is Love, Love is "the motive power of the universe," and love for all beings, realizing that they are God, is the fullest path. He ultimately affirms that self-offering Love for all beings leads to complete spiritual freedom. The paper also touches on Vivekananda's devotion to the Buddha and his knowledge of Buddhism.