Oct 12, 2007

Swami Vivekananda

“Sisters and Brothers of America”

These words of Swami Vivekananda, with which he began his welcome address to The World Parliament of Religions in Chicago on September 11, 1893, drew a round of thunderous applause that lasted for minutes. They highlighted a core concept of Hinduism, that the world is one family. That this concept touched the hearts of the august audience demonstrates the universality of its nature.

In his speeches Vivekananda highlighted those aspects of Hinduism that I find are attracting many to the various blog sites on the subject. People raised in exclusive faiths express surprise in the Hindu tolerance of other religions and accepting them as true. Yet this has always been true of Hinduism. Whichever faith has come to India, whether to seek shelter or as the faith of invaders, has flourished. Vivekananda gives two examples of the former. Israelites took refuge in Southern India when their holy temple was shattered by the Romans. Zoroastrianism too came to India when it was forced to flee from Persia and has flourished ever since. Islam came to India with the invading Muslim armies and Christianity came a second time around with the European traders. Both today are an integral part of the culture of India.

Vivekananda highlighted that the different religions are like different rivers that flow their different courses but ultimately become one in the sea, which is symbolic of God. He stressed the importance of the different religions to maintain their own identities. He did not want a Christian to convert to Hinduism nor a Hindu to Christianity, but he wanted both to live in harmony. In his concluding address he pointed out that if any religion aimed for its own survival with the destruction of others then it was an objective doomed to fail.