Qualities of an Ideal Student by Swami Vivekananda

Introduction

Ideal Student

Swami Vivekananda 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta , was an Indian Hindu monk, a chief disciple of the 19th-century Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the late 19th century.

He was a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India, and contributed to the concept of nationalism in colonial India. Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. He is perhaps best known for his speech which began, “Sisters and brothers of America  in which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago in 1893.

Qualities of an Ideal Student

One has to follow certain basic things in order to become an ideal student.

1. • Respect: Respect your parents, your teachers and your elders. Respect is foundation for love, and one of the best ways to show your parents that you love them is to treat them with respect. Small habits that you can incorporate into your daily routine, and a loving and positive attitude will make them feel loved and respected, and proud.

1. • Self- control: Control your words, your thoughts and your actions. Our words create action. Our words can create intimacy or separation. With our words we can motivate ourselves to do things we never thought we could do, and our words can also move others to step forward into their own personal power so they can be of service to their community. Words can calm us or excite us.

1. • Service: Serve the poor, the illiterate and the diseased. A general man is social being. He has some duties to society. A social worker is selfless. His considers social service as a service to the God. He does not need any reward for his service. He never likes to take advantage of it. Mahatma Gandhi also says, ‘What the vast mass of mankind does for self or at best for family, a social servant does for general good’.

1. • Love: Love your country, your culture and your ancestors.“Heritage” is a property, something that is inherited, passed down from previous generations. In the case of “cultural heritage,” the heritage doesn’t consist of money or property, but of culture, values and traditions. Cultural heritage implies a shared bond, our belonging to a community.

1. • Truthfulness: Be truthful in words, thoughts and actions.

1. • Hard work: Work hard to acquire knowledge, skills and wisdom.

1. • Faith: Have faith in yourself, in others and in god.

1. • Conviction: Have conviction in the power of goodness, purity and honesty.

1. • Strength: Be strong physically, mentally, intellectually, morally and spiritually.

1. • Habits: Cultivate regular habits of prayer, mediation and reading inspiring and strengthening literature.

1. • Same Sightedness: Feel the presence of the divine in all beings and treat them with the same standard as you treat yourself.

1. • Devotion: Have devotion for duty, scriptures, holy people and god.

1. • Discrimination: Discriminate between good and bad , real and unreal and vice and virtue.

1. • Firm determination: Have firm determination and strong will power to cultivate good habits in order to achieve permanent happiness, peace, success and fulfillment in life.