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1. A Hindu monk named Swami Vivekananda had a major influence on the spread of yoga and vedanta in Europe and America.

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2. He was got the name Narendra Nath Datta when he was born on January 12, 1863 in Calcutta, India.

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3. Vivekananda is regarded as being of the most significant spiritual leaders of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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4. His lectures at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893 helped spread awareness of Hinduism in the West.

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5. He played a vital part in the revival of Hinduism in India and in encouraging colonial India to embrace nationalism. 

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6. Vivekananda studied Western philosophy, religion, and history in addition with Bengali and Sanskrit literature.

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7. He was a member of the Ramakrishna Mission and a follower of Sri Ramakrishna, an Indian saint who lived in the 19th century.

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8. He also founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission to spread his guru's teachings.

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9. Vivekananda stressed the need of meditation and direct contact with spiritual realities.