ABOUT SWAMI VIVEKANAND

Swami Vivekanand was born on 12th January 1863 as Narendrenath Dutta and was an Indian
Hindu Monk. He was a follower of nineteenth century Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He played a
major role in the introduction of Indian philosophies of Yoga and Vedanta to the western world
and is appreciated for raising interfaith awareness and making Hinduism as one of the major
world’s religion in 19th century. From his very childhood, his behavior consist mainly two
aspects. One was his pious and kind nature and the other was his readiness to any act of wisdom.
He gained proper religious upbringing because of the inclination of his family towards spiritual
sets. He was the main force in discovery of Hinduism in India, and donated to the concept of
Indian nationalism as a weapon to fight against the britishers. He also founded the Ramakrishna
Math and the Ramakrishna mission. Vivekananda disseminated that the essence of Hinduism
was best dictated in Adi Shankara’s Advaita Vedanta Philosophy. Nationalism was an essential
theme in Swami’s thoughts. He connected kindness and morality with control of the mind,
considering, purity and unselfishness as the quality that strengthened it. Swami was also the
major representative of Neo-Vedanta, a modern idea of aspects of Hinduism in queue with
western esoteric traditions, especially Transcendentalism, New thoughts and Theosophy.

Swami, attracted attention to the poverty in country, and managed that addressing such issue was
a prerequisite for national awakening. His nationalist connotations inspired many Indian
thinkers and leaders.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Said, “the greatest man in India produced in recent Centuries was not
Gandhi but Vivekananda”. Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, the first and foremost governor-general
of independent India said that Vivekananda had saved Hinduism and India. According to a
prominent proponent of armed struggle for India’s independence that is Subhas Chandra Bose,
Vivekananda was the maker of India and for Gandhi, Swami’s influence increased Mahatma’s
love for his country. Vivekananda’s writings influenced independence activitists and intellectuals
like Aurobindo Ghose, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Christopher Isherwood, Aldous Huxley, etc.

During his youth Swami had to go through spiritual crisis when he was attacked by various
doubts about the God’s existence. At this time he came across Sh. RamaKrishna, an English
professor. He one day asked his professor at Kali Tempe in Dakshieshwar about the existence of
God. The answer by his professor allowed him to believe what he thought of since the time when
this question arrived in his mind. Sh. Ramakrishna threw his pure and unselfish love to Swami
apart from curtailing doubts from Swami’s mind. This allowed Swami to make rapid strides on
the spiritual path.

After coming to a new monastic order, Swami Vivekananda heard the inner voice for a greater
mission of his life. While most of Sh. Ramakrishna’s followers looked for him in relation to
their own life, Swami had a different perspective. He thought of his professor in relation to India
and the entire world. In 1890, after gaining the blessings of Sh. Ramakrishna and Sh. Sarada
Devi, his divine mate, known to the world as holy mother, Swami left Baranagar Math and went
to explore the long journey of discovery of India in real sense of spirituality.

Inspiring personality of Swami Vivekananda was much known both in India and America during
the last and first decade of nineteenth and twentieth century respectively. The unknown monk of
India came across the fame at the parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893, where he
represented Hinduism. His colossal knowledge of culture of East and West along with his deep
spiritual sense, enthusiastic oratory skills, flawless conversation, wide human sympathy and
vibrant personality made a tempting appeal to all types of Americans who came across his
thoughts. People cherished his memories even after the lapse of half a century.
 WORLD PARLIAMENT OF RELIGIONS
THE WORLD'S FIRST PARLIAMENT of religions, in an attempt to bring together a plethora
of religious ideas and creeds, stirred a wave of new awareness in the Western world of
profundity and exuberance of eastern thought. An Indian monk, named Swami Vivekananda, left
an undying impression on the youth attending the parliament, through his unconventional
psychological step of addressing, and appropriate highly-cultured rhetoric techniques. The
audience was captivated by Swami Vivekananda; one of the accounts described him as an orator
by divine right and undoubtedly the greatest figure at the Parliament. Much of the speech on
Hinduism is taken up with explaining the major teachings of the Vedas, which Vivekananda sees
as revelation, but not revelation in the sense of a book; rather revelation as 'the accumulated
treasury of spiritual laws' discovered by different persons in different times. The gist of this
revelation is caught in four major points: creation is without beginning or end, the human being
is not body, but an eternal spirit, this spirit is subject to multiple births and deaths in its quest for
perfection, and that perfection, mukti, means freedom from the bonds of imperfection, death, and
misery.
 SWAMI JI’S JOURNEY TO WORLDS PARLIAMENT OF
RELIGIONS
One night, half asleep, Swami Vivekananda saw a supernatural dream in which his professor Sh.
Ramakrishna in a blazing form was moving ahead over the ocean, gesticulating Swami to follow
him. When Swami woke up from his miraculous dream, his heart was filled with inexpressible
rapture. A holy voice was motivating and asking him to “Go” all of which resulted in Swami’s
decision to visit Chicago for which he made arrangements within a day or two.

Swami Vivekananda left for Chicago on 31st May 1893, boarding the ship, ‘Peninsular’. On 15th
July 1893, he reached Vancouver port in Canada from where he travelled by train to reach
Chicago in America. There he came across the fact that the world Parliament of Religion was
going to be held on 11th September 1893.

Swami didn’t require any invite to participate in this conference; furthermore the date to register
for it as a representative had passed. Yet, he participated. Wherever Swami went, people were
intrigued by his personality, his soft behavior, his impactful talks and much more. On the very
first day he met Professor J.H. Wright, who was a Greek professor at Harward University, to
whom Swami conversed for about four hours. The professor was so impressed by Swami’s
intellect and impactful talks that he assured Swami of giving him admittance to the World
Parliament of Religions as a representative from India.

Swami Vivekananda showed that he is the best and true representative of Hinduism as he made
his vehement appeal for tolerance to the world from the stage of World Parliament of Religions
at Chicago on 11th September 1893. It definitely have been the holy objective to allow saint like
Swami Vivekananda to introduce the world to the great and enriched with divine aspects, the
Hindu Dharma. This conference was inaugurated with melodious beginning of singing of various
religious hymns.

Swami Vivekananda was not there to represent any particular sect. He was there just as the
representative of the Sanantan Hindu Vaidik Dharma of all Bharatvarsha. This conference was
attended by six to seven thousands of people and as per the instructions; each speaker was to
read out his/her prepared speech on religion.
At that time Swami was not prepared with any written speech. Finally, when his name was called
upon, he walked towards the stage murmuring a silent prayer to his Guru. His addressing style to
the people at conference was so impactful that each one from audience of thousands was
memorized. He addressed the audience with words, “Sisters and Brothers of America” which led
such a miraculous strength in audience that all of them stood up and gave Swami a continuous
applause of two to three minutes. Those compassionate words by Swami generated an emotional
approach between Swami and his audience and stirred every heart. It was for the first time ever
in the history that a speaker had used words like such to the whole mankind. Further he started
his words with his brilliant and powerful oration.

According to Swami Vivekananda, Hindu Samaj has the capability to emerge as the spiritual
teacher to the world. After many decades someone that is Swami Vivekananda had shown to the
Hindu Society its own broaden horizons. Even praising his own religion and culture, Swami
didn’t criticize or abase any other religion. He only cleared the grime that had piled on the Hindu
Dharma owing to its maltreatment and aspersed at the hands of its invaders.

He showed Hindu Dharma its own refulgent self and placed it on the apex pedestal of the World
Parliament of Religions. Swami talks about Hindusthan as a sacred land with a divine purpose.
According to him, Hindusthan is a land of introspection and spirituality. In Swami’s belief, from
the very ancient ages, founders of every religious doctrine were born on this land and satiated the
heating earth with cooling waters of the Eternal truth that is Sanatan Satya. Swami also states
that Hindusthan is the only land where a person can experience not only tolerance but also love
and kindness for other religions.
 SWAMI VIVEKANAND CHICAGO’S SPEECH

Response to Welcome (11 September 1893)

The World's Parliament of Religions started on 11 September 1893 at the Permanent Memorial
Art Palace (also identified as the World's Congress Auxiliary Building), now the Art Institute of
Chicago, as part of the World's Columbian Exposition. Vivekananda gave his first lecture on that
day. Towards the afternoon his turn came, after so much of procrastination. Though initially
nervous, he bowed to Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of learning, and he felt he got new energy in
his body; he felt someone or something else had occupied his body– "The Soul of India, the echo
of the Rishis, the voice of Ramakrishna, the mouthpiece of the resurgent Time spirit". [3] Then
began his speech with salutation, “Sisters and brothers of America!”. To these words, he got a
standing ovation from a crowd of seven thousand, which lasted for two minutes. When silence
was restored he began his address. He greeted the youngest of the nations on behalf of "the most
ancient order of monks in the world, the Vedic order of sannyasins, a religion which has taught
the world both tolerance and universal acceptance!"

Why we disagree (15 September 1893)

Vivekananda received a standing ovation at the end of his speech from an astonished audience,
who were impressed with his immense clarity and vision, as well as his ability to speak without
any prepared speech, Vivekananda’s astounding first speech prompted the organizers to invite
him to give five more speeches over the next fortnight. On September 15, 1893, Vivekananda
spoke on the topic, “Why we disagree?”, ‟ The major point he made in the speech was that
religious harmony could be possible if we came to the understanding that all religions were, in
essence, the same. In this speech Vivekananda tried to explain the reason of disagreement
between each other and different sects and religions. He told a story of a frog,which is popularly
known as (kuor bang). And in the story he told, a frog used to live in a well. It was born there
and brought up there and it used to think his well was the biggest water land of the world. One
day, a frog from a sea came to that well. When the frog from the sea told the frog of the well that
sea is much bigger than that well, the frog of the well did not believe it and drove the frog of the
sea away from his well. “I am a Hindu”, he said. “I am sitting in my own little well and thinking
that the whole world is my little well. The Christian sits in his little well and thinks the whole
world is his well. The Mohammedan sits in his little well and thinks that is the whole world.”
These words helped espouse his cause for harmony, and cautioned that to do otherwise would
lead to a world of religious strife.

Paper on Hinduism (19 September 1893)

On September 19, 1893, Vivekananda presented a paper on Hinduism. Most of this speech
revolved around the Vedas. He believed that the Vedas were not just some books, but , the
accumulated treasury of spiritual laws discovered by different persons in different times. ‟There
were four major points that explained this: creation is without beginning or end, the human being
is not body, but an eternal spirit, this spirit is subject to multiple births and deaths in its quest for
perfection, and that perfection means freedom from the bonds of imperfection, death, and
misery. ‟ He summarized the essence of  Hinduism in the following manner: “The Hindu
religion does not consist in struggles and attempts to believe a certain doctrine or dogma, but in
realizing not in believing, but in being and becoming. Thus the whole object of their system is by
constant struggle to become perfect, to become divine, to reach God and see God, and this
reaching God, seeing God, becoming perfect even as the Father in Heaven is perfect constitutes
the religion of the Hindus.”
Religion not the Crying need of India (20 September 1893)

During his next speech, on September 20, 1893, Vivekananda criticized the Christians without
offending their sensibilities. In fact, he asked from one of the Christian priests on the stage
whether the Americans were open to criticism, and only then did he continue his speech. He said
that religion was not the crying need of India. Instead of trying to send out missionaries to save
the soul of the heathen, he asked the Christians why they did not try to save their bodies from
starvation.

“In India, a priest that preached for money would lose caste and be spat upon by the people”, he
said. “I came here to seek aid for my impoverished people, and I fully realized how
difficult it was to get help for heathens from Christians in a Christian land.”

Buddhism, the Fulfillment of Hinduism (26 September 1893)

Buddhism, the fulfillment of Hinduism,‟ was the topic of Vivekananda’s next speech that was
delivered on September 26, 1893. He believed that Buddha was misunderstood by his disciples.
He said that Buddha did not preach anything new, but he came to fulfil the truths of the Hindu
religion. “Again, I repeat,” he said, “Shakya

Muni came not to destroy, but he was the fulfillment, the logical conclusion, the logical
development of the religion of the Hindus.”

Buddhism died a natural death in India, and according to Vivekananda, this was mainly due to
the misunderstanding of his teachings by his disciples. Due to this, he believed that Brahminism
lost something that reforming zeal, that wonderful sympathy and charity for everybody.
“Hinduism cannot live without Buddhism, nor Buddhism without Hinduism”, he said. “Let us
then join the wonderful intellect of the Brahmins with the heart, the noble soul, and the
wonderful humanizing power of the Great Master.”

Address at the Final Session (27 September 1893)

Vivekananda‟s address at the final session on September 27, 1893, thanked the organizers for
providing such an amazing platform to shower liberal sentiments. He also thanked the audience
for their uniform kindness and appreciation. According to him, each religion should assimilate
the spirit of the others and yet preserve their individuality and grow according to their own law
of growth. He finished his speech with the following words: “If the Parliament of Religions has
shown anything to the world it is this: It has proved to the world that holiness, purity and
charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every system has
produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this evidence, if anybody
dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him
from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will
soon be written, in spite of resistance: Help and not Fight” “Assimilation and not Destruction”,
and Harmony and Peace and not Dissension.” Much has been said of the common ground of
religious unity. I am not going just now to venture my own theory. But if any one here hopes
that this unity will come by the triumph of any one of the religions and the destruction of the
other, to him I say, "Brother, yours is an impossible hope." Do I wish that the Christian would
become Hindu? God forbid. Do I wish that the Hindu or Buddhist would become Christian?
God forbid. The seed is put in the ground, and earth and air and water are placed around it.
Does the seed become the earth, or the air, or the water? No. It becomes a plant, it develops
after the law of its own growth, assimilates the air, the earth, and the water, converts them into
plant substance, and grows into a plant.

Similar is the case with religion. The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a
Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and
yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth. If the Parliament of
Religions has shown anything to the world it is this: It has proved to the world that holiness,
purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every
system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this
evidence, if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of
the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of
every religion will soon be written, in spite of resistance: "Help and not Fight,""Assimilation
and not Destruction,""Harmony and Peace and not Dissension."
Although he was proud to be a Hindu, Vivekananda’s philosophy transcended religions and he
had little respect for rituals and ceremonies. His speeches were a source of inspiration for many
people across the world over the years, and would continue to remain so and be relevant in the
years to come.