Editing Swami Vivekananda (section)

===Vedanta and yoga===

Vivekananda thought that the essence of Hinduism was best expressed in [[Adi Shankara]]'s Advaita Vedanta philosophy.{{Sfn|Jackson|1994|pp=33–34}} He adhered to Ramakrishna's teaching that the Absolute is both immanent and transcendent.{{refn|group=note |According to Michael Taft, Ramakrishna reconciled the dualism of form and formless,{{sfn|Taft|2014}} regarding the Supreme Being to be both Personal and Impersonal, active and inactive.<ref name="GM" /> Ramakrishna: "When I think of the Supreme Being as inactive – neither creating nor preserving nor destroying – I call Him Brahman or Purusha, the Impersonal God. When I think of Him as active – creating, preserving and destroying – I call Him Sakti or Maya or Prakriti, the Personal God. But the distinction between them does not mean a difference. The Personal and Impersonal are the same thing, like milk and its whiteness, the diamond and its lustre, the snake and its wriggling motion. It is impossible to conceive of the one without the other. The Divine Mother and Brahman are one."<ref name="GM">{{cite book |title=Sri Ramakrisha The Great Master |author=Swami Saradananda |translator=Swami Jagadananda |edition=5th |volume=1 |pages=558–561 |publisher=Sri Ramakrishna Math |location=Madras. |isbn=978-81-7823-483-0 |url= http://www.chennaimath.org/istore/product/sri-ramakrishna-the-great-master/ |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304103006/http://www.chennaimath.org/istore/product/sri-ramakrishna-the-great-master/ |archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref>}} According to Anil Sooklal, Vivekananda's neo-Vedanta "reconciles Dvaita or dualism and Advaita or non-dualism," viewing [[Brahman]] as "one without a second" yet both ''saguna'' (qualified) and ''nirguna'' (qualityless).{{sfn|Sooklal|1993|p=33}}{{refn|group=note |Sooklalmquoytes Chatterjee: "Sankara's Vedanta is known as Advaita or [[non-dualism]], pure and simple. Hence it is sometimes referred to as Kevala-Advaita or unqualified monism. It may also be called abstract monism in so far as Brahman, the Ultimate Reality, is, according to it, devoid of all qualities and distinctions, nirguna and nirvisesa [...] The Neo-Vedanta is also Advaitic inasmuch as it holds that Brahman, the Ultimate Reality, is one without a second, ''ekamevadvitiyam''. But as distinguished from the traditional Advaita of Sankara, it is a synthetic Vedanta which reconciles Dvaita or dualism and Advaita or non-dualism and also other theories of reality. In this sense it may also be called concrete monism in so far as it holds that Brahman is both qualified, ''saguna'', and qualityless, ''nirguna'' (Chatterjee, 1963 : 260)."{{sfn|Sooklal|1993|p=33}}}} According to Jackson, the Vedanta acquires a modern and Universalistic form in Vivekananda's summary, showing also the influence of classical yoga:{{sfn|Jackson|1994|pp=33–34}}
{{blockquote|Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this Divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or mental discipline, or philosophy—by one, or more, or all of these—and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details.}}

Vivekananda's emphasis on ''nirvikalpa samadhi'' was preceded by medieval yogic influences on Advaita Vedanta.{{sfn|Madaio|2017|p=5}} In line with Advaita Vedanta texts like ''[[Dŗg-Dŗśya-Viveka]]'' (14th century) and ''[[Vedantasara (of Sadananda)]]'' (15th century), Vivekananda saw [[samadhi]] as a means to attain liberation.{{sfn|Comans|1993}}{{refn|group=note|The Advaita Vedanta tradition in medieval times was influenced by, and incorporated elements from, the yogic tradition and texts like the ''[[Yoga Vasistha]]'' and the ''Bhagavata Purana''.{{sfn|Madaio|2017|p=4-5}} The ''Yoga Vasistha'' became an authoritative source text in the Advaita vedanta tradition in the 14th century, while Vidyāraņya's ''Jivanmuktiviveka'' (14th century) was influenced by the ''(Laghu-) Yoga-Vasistha'', which in turn was influenced by [[Kashmir Shaivism]].{{sfn|Madaio|2017|p=4}}}}

An important element in his adaptation of Hindu religiosity was the introduction of his four yogas model, which includes [[Raja yoga]], his interpretation of Patanjali's ''[[Yoga sutras]]''.{{sfn|Michelis|2004|p=123-126}} This offered a practical means to realise the divine force within, a central idea in modern Western esotericism.{{sfn|Michelis|2004|p=119–123}} His book ''[[Raja Yoga (book)|Raja Yoga]]'' was highly influential in the Western understanding of yoga.{{sfn|Michelis|2004|p=125–126}}{{sfn|Michelis|2004|p=149–180}}