One of the more ubiquitous word acquisitions from Sanskrit, its meaning can roughly be translated as “he who knows and is master of himself” – or herself – as the case may be, for swami is an honorific designation for men as well as women. Often indicative of one who has chosen the path of renunciation, it is more often than not attributed to someone who has achieved mastery of a particular Yogic system or demonstrated profound devotion to a god or gods. While there are a multitude of lineages, with a dizzying array of beliefs, perspectives, and loyalties, swami is a pan-traditional designation that tends to mean, simply, “master.”
Perhaps the most well-known representative of Indian religion in the West to bear this moniker is Swami Vivekananda. The chief disciple of the Bengali saint and mystic Ramakrishna, the man born Narendranath Dutt, was one of the early mediators between the religious traditions of the Occident and Orient, appearing before a spellbound audience at Chicago’s...
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Boeving, N.G. (2014). Swamis. In: Leeming, D.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_673
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