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Vivekananda-A Harbinger of Harmony
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Vivekananda: A Harbinger of Harmony
Swami Chetanananda
Prayer for harmony from the Rig Veda: May we be united in action,
in speech, in mind. May we perform our duties, as did the wise men of
old. May we be united in our prayer, in our goal, in our resolve, in
our understanding, in our offering, in our feelings, in our hearts,
in our thoughts. May there be perfect unity amongst us.
We are assembled here to celebrate the centenary of the Parliament
of Religions in Chicago in 1893, where Swami Vivekananda represented
Hinduism and Vedanta and created a beautiful harmony among all
religions. This Parliament was part of the Columbian Exposition that
was held in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s
discovery of America. The magnitude of that Parliament is noteworthy:
It continued for seventeen days of three sessions each and each
session averaged more than two and a half hours. There were 115
speakers from all over the world and Vivekananda spoke six times at
the Parliament. The Congress of Religions took place in a hall that
combined Columbus Hall and Washington Hall, which had a combined
capacity of seven thousand people.
In spite of opposition from the leaders of various Christian
denominations, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, the advisory
committee adopted ten objectives for the Parliament of Religions.
Some of these were: 1. To bring together in conference, for the first
time in history, the leading representatives of the great Historic
Religions of the world. 2. To show to men, in the most impressive
way, what and how many important truths the various Religions hold
and teach in common. 7. To inquire what light each Religion has
afforded, or may afford, to the other Religions of the world. 9. To
discover, from competent men, what light Religion has to throw on the
great problems of the present age.... 10. To bring the nations of the
earth into a more friendly fellowship, in the hope of securing
permanent international peace.1
I sincerely believe that these objectives are as pertinent today
as they were one hundred years ago. When we open our newspapers in
the morning, we see that there is so much unrest and violence all
over the world -- often in the name of religion. I offer my humble
appreciation to the organizers of this present parliament that has
given us a chance to imbibe the spirit of mutual love and
understanding, peace and harmony, which is badly needed in this
present strife-stricken world.
Nowadays many people have poor ideas about true religion. To most
of us, religion is only an intellectual assent, mere talk, mere show
or social status. Compared to the atheist, we are not sincere. We
often consider a person religious who can give a nice sermon. But
that is not religion. Religion begins when one experiences the Self
or God within.
Swami Vivekananda made this comment on religion: “Religion, the
great milch cow, has given many kicks; but never mind -- it also
gives a great deal of milk. The milkman does not mind the kick of the
cow which gives much milk.”2 Science does so many good things for
mankind, and the same science has been used again and again for the
destruction of human life. Similarly we find that so many good things
have been achieved in this world in the name of religion, and again
so much bloodshed! Is religion at fault? No. Swamiji said: “Now in my
little experience I have collected this knowledge: that in spite of
all the deviltry that religion is blamed with, religion is not at all
at fault; no religion ever persecuted men, no religion ever burnt
witches, no religion ever did any of these things. What then incited
people to do these things? Politics, but never religion.”3 We are to
blame. We talk about religion but do not practise it -- that is why
religion declines and turns into lifeless mockeries.
Hindu scripture says: “Those who talk about God, but do not do
their duties and practise religion, they are enemies of God. Because
God has to incarnate to demonstrate religion to those hypocrites.”
In this present age, Vivekananda redefined religion: “Religion
does not consist in talk, or doctrines, or books, but in
realization.” “Religion is the manifestation of Divinity already in
man.” “The old religion said that he was an atheist who did not
believe in God. The new religion says that he is an atheist who does
not believe in himself.” “Religion is the idea which raises the brute
unto man, and man unto God.” Swamiji cautioned: “Take religion from
human society and what will remain? Nothing but a forest of brutes.”
Origin of Vivekananda’s Concept of Harmony
Vivekananda’s concept of harmony is rooted in four sources: the
scriptures, his guru, his motherland, and his own realization.
1. The Scriptures
He came across the seeds of harmony of religions in Hindu
scriptures such as:
“Truth is one, sages call It by various names” (Rig Veda).
“Whosoever comes to me, through whatsoever form, I reach him. All men
are struggling through paths which in the end lead to me” (Gita). “As
the different streams, having their sources in different places, all
mingle their water in the sea, so, 0 Lord, the different paths which
men take through different tendencies, various though they appear,
crooked or straight, all lead to Thee” (Sivamahimnah). “Each human
body is a tabernacle of God, and each soul is nothing but God”
(Upanishad). It is to be noted that thousands of years ago, when
these messages of harmony were declared, there was no Buddhism,
Christianity, or Islam.
2. The Guru
Sri Ramakrishna, Vivekananda’s guru, was the prophet of harmony in
this age. His every little act and all his teachings demonstrated the
principle of harmony. Ramakrishna harmonized the life of a true
sannyasin with the life of a true householder. He was unique in the
religious history of the world: he realized God in the Hindu way, and
then practised Christianity and Islam and experienced the goal of
those faiths also. In so doing, he demonstrated the harmony of
religions in this present age. Finally he declared the message of
harmony for this present age: yata mat tata path -- as many faiths so
many paths.
Vivekananda mentioned in his lecture “My Master”: “I learnt from
my Master that the religions of the world are not contradictory or
antagonistic. They are but various phases of one eternal religion.
That one eternal religion is applied to different planes of
existence, is applied to the opinions of various minds and various
races. There never was my religion or yours, my national religion or
your national religion; there never existed many religions, there is
only one. One Infinite Religion existed all through eternity and will
ever exist, and this Religion is expressing itself in various
countries, in various ways. Therefore we must respect all religions
and we must try to accept them all as far as we can.... For years I
lived with that man, but never did I hear those lips utter one word
of condemnation for any sect. He had the same sympathy for all sects;
he had found the harmony between them.”4
3. The Motherland
During his itinerant days, Vivekananda travelled all over India
and noticed that although Hindus are diverse -- their languages,
social customs, religious practices, dress, food habits, physical
formations and skin colour are all different -- they are all Hindus.
He discovered the common bases of Hinduism: (a) all Hindus believe in
the authority of the Vedas; (b) the concept of God may differ among
the Hindus, but all believe in God; (c) all believe creation moves in
a wavelike motion through eternity; (d) all believe in the immortal
nature of the Atman, which is pure and perfect, beyond the body and
the mind; and (e) all believe in the doctrine of karma and
reincarnation.
Once, in Madras, Vivekananda said that the three main schools of
Vedanta -- dualism, qualified nondualism, and nondualism -- are not
contradictory but complementary. Finally all merge into One without a
second. When someone remarked that nobody had ever said that before,
Vivekananda replied, “Because I was born for this, and it was left
for me to do.”
4. Vivekananda’s Realization
One day at Dakshineswar Vivekananda mocked the Vedantic experience
of oneness:
“How can this be? This jug is God, this cup is God, and we too are
God! Nothing can be more preposterous!” At that moment Sri
Ramakrishna touched him. Vivekananda later said: “The magic touch of
the Master that day brought a wonderful change over my mind. I was
stupefied to find that there was really nothing in the universe but
God!” Later, in Cossipore, he attained nirvikalpa Samadhi, the
culmination of Vedantic experience. In addition, during his itinerant
days in the Himalayas, he realized that the microcosm (the internal
world) and the macrocosm (the external world) are built on the same
plan. The experiences of both these worlds should be in perfect
harmony with Truth.
The Balance between Matter and Spirit
Nature is the mother of variety, yet she functions harmoniously.
Day and night alternate, the seasons change. Moisture accumulates
from the ocean and becomes clouds, which turns into snow when it
reaches the snowclad mountains; again it melts and becomes a river,
which flows over the hill and dale and ultimately returns to the
ocean. Thus the mountain and the ocean are harmonized by the river.
On television we see how the air current adjusts high-pressure and
low-pressure zones of different regions of the globe.
We are really unbalanced now. Science and technology reached their
culmination in the industrialized nations, and made people very
materialistic. In 1896 Vivekananda told the American people:
“Machines never made mankind happy and never will. He who is trying
to make us believe this will claim that happiness is in the machine;
but it is always in the mind.”5 Now, most nations are fighting for
material advancement, neglecting the environment and other people.
People have slowly begun to think: if we destroy nature, then nature
will destroy us. People have forgotten their divine nature and have
been reduced to money-making machines. What is the result? Physical
and mental sickness.
Dr. Kevin Grold, of the Mental Health Referral Services of
Southern California, wrote to Dear Abby (a syndicated newspaper
columnist) on 4 May 1993:
May is Mental Health Month -- and is, therefore, a time to
recognize the millions of Americans suffering from mental
illness. In any six month period, nearly thirty-six million
adults and twelve million children are afflicted with a mental
illness. More than six thousand older Americans commit suicide
each year, and suicide is the second-leading cause of death among
children age fifteen to nineteen.
At a time when our nation [America] is focused on the economy,
it is disturbing to note that the direct costs of mental illness
account for more than 55 billion dollars; and the indirect costs,
including lost employment, reduced productivity, accidents,
substance-abuse programs and social-welfare programs, increase
the amount to nearly 273 billion dollars each year. But the real
cost is in the vast amount of needless suffering of the afflicted
and their families. It’s OK to have a broken arm, but it is not
OK to be depressed, or to have an anxiety disorder. This attitude
leads to so much fear and denial that we are now at the point
where only one in five Americans who suffers from mental disorder
seeks help. On the brighter side, America is the richest nation
of the world and the most advanced in science and technology.
Americans are slowly learning that peace and happiness are not in
money or material prosperity. As a bird cannot fly with one wing,
so human beings cannot function only with money and material
goods, thus neglecting the Spirit, the essence of all beings.
Harmony or balance is extremely important in human life.
One hundred years ago Vivekananda observed this disharmony in
America and in other Western nations, and he reminded them, “Today,
man requires one more adjustment on the spiritual plane.”6 “The whole
of Western civilization will crumble to pieces in the next fifty
years if there is no spiritual foundation.”7 Again, on 4 July 1902
(the day of his passing away), at 5:30 p.m., Vivekananda said to the
monks of Belur monastery: “India is immortal, if she persists in her
search for God. But if she goes in for politics and social conflict,
she will die.”8
Unity in Diversity
Unity in diversity is an important theme of Hinduism, or Vedanta.
Brahman, or God, has become many through His incomprehensible power
of maya. God transcends space and time; He is also immanent in space
and time. In God contraries meet and stand synthesized into a grand
harmony. Vivekananda taught nondual Vedanta, where one can find true
unity. Brahman, the Absolute, has no parts. The creator is Brahman,
the creature is also Brahman. The Spirit is Brahman, matter is also
Brahman. The sentient, the conscious is Brahman, the insentient, the
unconscious is also Brahman. The static, the unchanging is Brahman,
the dynamic, the ever-changing is also Brahman. Being is Brahman,
becoming is also Brahman. He is greater than the greatest and at the
same time smaller than the smallest. He is the Life of all life and
He is also Death, the great dissolver. “I am immortality and also
death; being and non-being am I, 0 Arjuna,” says Krishna in the Gita.
Thousands of years ago, the sages of Vedanta discovered the unity
in multiplicity by experiencing God in every thing and every being.
They realized that the knowledge of oneness leads to liberation and
the knowledge of plurality that is caused by ignorance leads to
bondage. When a person attains the knowledge of Oneness, he becomes
free from grief and delusion, free from hatred and jealousy, free
from violence and vindictiveness. Freedom is the goal of life; the
attainment of freedom demands a moral and intellectual discipline
that helps the individual to harmonize differences. Sarvepalli
Radhakrishnan quoted the biting words of Swift in his The Hindu View
of Life: “We have enough religion to hate one another but not enough
to love one another.”9
However, Vivekananda, who had the unitive knowledge, said:
“Vedanta formulates, not a universal brotherhood, but universal
oneness. I am the same as any other man, as any other animal -- good,
bad, anything. It is one body, one mind, one soul throughout... One
leaf may fall -- does the tree die? The universe is my body. See how
it continues. All minds are mine. With all feet I walk. Through all
mouths I speak. In every body I reside.”10
According to Vivekananda, only this realization of unity can wipe
out the violence, narrowness, bigotry, and superstition of the world.
There is so much fighting, misgiving, misunderstanding, ill-
feeling, and competition among the organized religions of the world
-- yet all claim “God is one,” and preach “universal brotherhood.” We
find the golden rule in all major religions of the world. In
Buddhism: “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find
hurtful” (Udana-Varga 5.18). In Christianity: “Do for others what you
want them to do for you; this is the meaning of the Law of Moses and
the teaching of the prophets” (Matthew 7:12). In Hinduism: “Whatever
you consider injurious to yourself, never do to others. This is the
essence of dharma” (Mahabharata. Udyoga Parvan 39:71). In Islam: “No
one of you is a believer until he desires for his brothers that which
he desires for himself (Sunnah). In Judaism: “What is hateful to you,
do not do to your fellowmen. That is the entire Law; all the rest is
commentary” (Talmud. Shabbat 3id).
We read, we listen, we appreciate these wonderful sayings of the
scriptures, but we do not practise them. That is why the world is in
turmoil. Pointing to the unity of mankind, the German poet Goethe
wrote: “Let none be like another; yet each be like the Highest. How
can that be? Let each be perfectly himself.”11
Religious sects are not bad, but sectarianism is horrible. A
sectarian is one who thinks that his or her religion is the only true
one, clings to it fanatically, and regards all other religions as
false. Can such a person ever attain the Truth? At present there are
296 Christian denominations in the U.S.A. and Canada. There are many
sects amongst the Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, and Hindus. Many people
denounce religious sects, but it is amazing how Vivekananda defended
them:
I am not against any sect. I am glad that sects exist, and I only
wish they may go on multiplying more and more. Why? Simply because
of this: If you and I and all who are present here were to think
exactly the same thoughts, there would be no thoughts for us to
think. We know that two or more forces must come into collision in
order to produce motion. It is the clash of thought, the
differentiation of thought, that awakes thought. Now, if we all
thought alike, we would be like Egyptian mummies in a museum
looking vacantly at one another’s faces-no more than that!12
Variety is the sauce of life. A restaurant that lists various
kinds of food in its menu attracts many people, because people get
bored if they eat the same food every day. Sri Ramakrishna did not
care for one-sidedness. He said, “In order not to become monotonous,
I eat a variety of dishes.”13 We know from our own experience that
monotony is boring and disgusting. Although I am not a connoisseur of
Western music, I sometimes go to the symphony. I watch one hundred
musicians on stage with their instruments: each one of them
contributes music and thus all create the symphony. If the
violinists, or flutists, or drummers, or any individual group thinks
that only it should be on stage, then it would be a solo performance,
which might be appreciated by a few but not the majority. It is the
duty of the conductor to arrange the music in such a way that each
musician will take part in the symphony and give joy to the audience.
To me, God is the great conductor in the symphony of life. He created
all religions; He manifests in all religions; He listens to the
prayers of the people of all religions; and He bestows grace on all
His children. We would not care for a God who was only for the
Hindus, or Muslims, or Christians, or Buddhists, or Jews, or any
other individual faith.
On 1 January 1881, listening to the nahabat music in the
Dakshineswar temple garden, Ramakrishna said to the Brahmo leader
Keshab Chandra Sen:
Do you hear how melodious that music is? One player is producing
only a monotone on his flute, while another is creating waves of
melodies in different ragas and raginis. That is my attitude. Why
should I produce only a monotone when I have an instrument with
seven holes? Why should I say nothing but, “I am He, I am He?” I
want to play various melodies on my instrument with seven holes.
Why should I say only, “Brahma, Brahma?” I want to call on God
through all the moods -- through santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya,
and madhur. I want to make merry with God. I want to sport with
God.14
Universal Religion
Vivekananda got this idea of harmony from his Master. In the West,
Swami Vivekananda talked about the ideal of a universal religion:
“What I want to propagate is a religion that will be equally
acceptable to all minds. It must be equally philosophic, equally
emotional, equally mystical, and equally conducive to action.”15 Thus
Swamiji synthesized the four yogas: jnana, bhakti, raja, and karma.
He said: “Everyone who has only one or two of these elements of
character I consider one-sided. This world is almost full of such
onesided men, who possess knowledge of that one road only in which
they move, and to whom anything else is dangerous and horrible. To
become harmoniously balanced in all these four directions is my ideal
of religion.”16
Remain Holland wrote: “In the two words equilibrium and
synthesis Vivekananda’s constructive genius may be summed up. He
embraced all the paths of the spirit... As in a quadriga, he held the
reins of all four ways of truth, and he travelled towards Unity along
them all simultaneously. He was the personification of the harmony of
all human Energy.”17
Vivekananda visualized the religion of the future, where science
and religion will meet and shake hands; poetry and philosophy will
become friends; reason and faith will embrace each other; and heart
and intellect will forget their conflict forever. He remarked: “In
the old Upanishads we find sublime poetry; their authors were poets.
Plato says that inspiration comes to people through poetry, and it
seems as if these ancient rishis, seers of truths, were raised above
humanity to show these truths through poetry. Music came out of their
hearts.... When a scientist makes the assertion that all objects are
the manifestation of one force, does it not remind you of the God of
whom you hear in the Upanishads: ‘As the one fire entering into the
universe expresses itself in various forms, even so that one Soul is
expressing Itself in every soul and yet is infinitely more besides?’
Do you not see whither science is tending? The Hindu nation proceeded
through the study of the mind, through metaphysics and logic. The
European nations start from external nature, and now they too are
coming to the same results.”18
East Meets West
People are people-whether one belongs to the East or the West.
Features, skin colour, language, culture, religion may be different,
but the same red blood flows in the veins of all human beings. When
we talk about the East and the West, we must remember that Truth has
no geographical limits; it is the same at all points of the compass.
The law of gravitation does not function more in America than in
Africa or Asia; the facts of chemistry are as true in an Indian as in
an Italian or Canadian laboratory.
A knower of Truth is a universal person. He or she transcends
all geographical, social, and religious barriers. Vivekananda
experienced the Truth. He wrote to an English disciple from New York
on 9 August 1895: “Every day my sight grows clearer. What is India or
England, or America to us? We are the servants of that God who by the
ignorant is called Man. He who pours water at the root, does he not
water the whole tree? There is but one basis of well-being, social,
political, or spiritual-to know that I and my brother are one. This
is true for all countries and all people.”19
As a lover of humanity, Vivekananda voiced what was good for the
West as well as for the East. No society is perfect. He tried to
shape an ideal society based on the law of give and take. Discussing
Vivekananda’s mission to the West, Christopher Isherwood said:
He was not just arriving from India to say, “Now, all you
sinners out here in America, you are all going to be converted,
and the cure for everything is Ramakrishna.” As a matter of
fact, he hardly preached directly about Ramakrishna at all. To
the West he said, “Yes, you are hopelessly materialistic. It is
disgusting, the way you are enslaved by money, fame and power.”
He taught them that India was an extremely spiritual country,
and that they should not look down on India simply because India
had been invaded and conquered, and because India had not got
the same technological standards that America had.
On the other hand, he returned to India and told them, “My
goodness! If you had some of the energy that they have in the
West, then maybe you would get somewhere.” “You cannot
manufacture a pin, and you dare to criticize the English,” he
said on one occasion. You see, in other words, he balanced the
whole thing, and what he was really crusading for was an
interchange of what the East had to give to the West and what
the West had to give to the East. That was the whole meaning of
his mission.20
After the Parliament of Religions of Chicago in 1893, many
interfaith and interreligious councils evolved in American and
Canadian cities. Today, the different religions are slowly learning
to hold out hands of friendship to each other in every part of the
world. Most of the swamis in America are involved with these
interfaith groups to promote mutual understanding and harmony.
Comparative religion is in the curriculum of many schools and
universities in America, which helps to develop an unprejudiced
attitude towards other religions. Vivekananda’s catholic approach
towards religion directly and indirectly influenced many thinkers of
the Western world. Swamiji revealed the secret of harmony in the
final session of the Parliament: A seed becomes a plant by
assimilating the earth, air, and water, without becoming earth, air,
and water. Similarly each person can assimilate the spirit of others
and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law
of growth.
Variety must continue to exist: it is the law of creation.
Perfect balance or perfect harmony means dissolution. In the symphony
of religions, each religion has its own place, and each plays its own
role. In the Chicago Parliament, each representative was busy
representing his or her own faith, but Swamiji spoke on behalf of all
religions. The universal religion has no location in time and space.
Its area is infinite. Krishna, Buddha, Zarathustra, Confucius,
Christ, Moses, Muhammad, Nanak, Ramakrishna-all have honoured places
in it. The real universal religion is not a creed or a doctrine; it
is an experience. It is God-consciousness, which runs through all
faiths. It is the melting pot of diversity. Vivekananda preached this
universal religion in the West as well as in the East. Pointing to
the universality of Vedanta, Swamiji said:
Our watchword will be acceptance and not exclusion. Not only
toleration, for so-called toleration is often blasphemy and I do
not believe in it. Toleration means that I think that you are
wrong and I am just allowing you to live. Is it not blasphemy to
think that you and I are allowing others to live? I accept all
religions that were in the past, and worship with them all. I
worship God with every one of them, in whatever form they
worship Him. I shall go to the mosque of the Mohammedans; I
shall enter the Christian’s church and kneel before the
crucifix; I shall enter the Buddhist temple, where I shall take
refuge in Buddha and in his Law. I shall go into the forest and
sit down in meditation with the Hindu, who is trying to see the
Light which enlightens the heart of everyone. Not only shall I
do all these, but I shall keep my heart open for all that may
come in the future. Is God’s book finished? The Bible, the
Vedas, the Koran, and all other sacred books are but so many
pages, and an
infinite number of pages remain yet to be unfolded. I shall
leave my heart open for all of them.21
The Religion of the Twenty-First Century
In the nineteenth century, the main focus of religion was on
reason; and in the twentieth century on humanism. If anybody asks me:
What type of religion will play the vital role in the twenty-first
century? My answer will be -- mysticism. Mystics commune with God
through love and contemplation. They are in every religious tradition
and they are a class by themselves. In October 1992 there was a
conference on the Great Contemporary Mystics in Avila, Spain. I was
invited to speak on Sri Ramakrishna. I quoted that famous saying of
Ramakrishna about mystics, “All jackals in the world howl in the same
way.” In other words, the mystics of different religions may speak in
different languages but their experience of Oneness is always the
same. A medieval Indian mystic wrote: “There may be different kinds
of oil in different lamps, the wicks also may be of different kinds,
but when they burn, we have the same flame and illumination.”22
Fanatics and fundamentalists are in all religions and they argue
amongst themselves, but mystics do not quarrel about their faiths,
because they are illumined souls. They know that God is one with
various names. In 1897 at Lahore, Swamiji said to a Hindu
fundamentalist: “I have the power to bring one third of the
population of the world under the banner of Sri Ramakrishna, but I
have no intention to do that. Because that will counteract the great
message of harmony of my guru ‘As many faiths so many paths,’ and a
new sect will originate in India.”23 In 1898, after installing the
relics of Sri Ramakrishna at Belur monastery, Vivekananda said, “All
faiths and sects must be respected and harmonized here; none should
be considered subordinate to any other.”24
In the West nowadays, many people avoid organized religion because
there is too much corruption and politics in it. Monistic Vedanta is
never an organized religion; it depends on experience and is not
confined to any personal God, prophet, or book. When I was in
California in the early 1970s, I remember that a man came to our
Santa Barbara Vedanta temple and asked, “Who is the prophet of this
organization?” One of our nuns answered. “It is a nonprophet
organization.” You see, the Vedantic concept of God is very
democratic: “Each soul is potentially divine.” Vedanta also
proclaims: “Freedom is the song of the soul.” These messages of
Vedanta appeal to many Americans, because they love democracy and
freedom.
Referring to interreligious relations, Swami Nikhilananda wrote:
“Religions as human institutions cannot be absolutely perfect, but
God is perfect. Religion is not God, but shows the way to God. It is
said that Satan was once asked how he would tempt a possessor of pure
truth, and he replied that he would tempt him to organize it. As
clocks should be corrected from time to time by the sun, so also
religions. The correction is made by mystic saints, who directly
commune with God, and not by the theologians, who are only
interpreters of the scriptures.”25
Nowadays some people say: We have read enough, we have heard
many sermons, now we want experience. That is the present popular
sentiment in the West. We live in an age when creeds are shaken,
dogmas are questioned, and traditions are dissolving. Some Western
thinkers have predicted that doctrine, dogma, or ritual will not be
able to sustain religion in the twenty-first century. The external
aspects, such as symbols, doctrines, creeds, and rituals of each
religion differ from one another, but internal aspects, such as
purity, love, compassion, and unselfishness, are the same in all
religions. Swamiji once commented: “‘Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God.’ This sentence alone would save mankind if
all the books and prophets were lost. This purity of heart will bring
the vision of God. It is the theme of music of this universe.”26
Sometimes people complain that religion is dry and difficult. It
is difficult for one who does not try. How can it be dry when
religious practices open the fountain of bliss of God? However, I
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want to tell three short stories that will teach us how we can live
harmoniously in this world with love, relinquishing hatred.
Rabia, a Sufi saint, was once asked, “Do you love God?” “Yes,”
she replied. “Do you hate Satan?” “No.” “Why?” “Because God did not
keep any hatred in my heart.”
During his last years, St. John, a direct disciple of Christ,
lived in the city of Ephesus. He had grown old and feeble and was no
longer able to speak from the pulpit of the church where he
worshipped. But the people carried him in every Sunday, and he sat
there through the service with the light on his face which comes from
neither land nor sea. At the end of the service the minister would
ask him to say just a word to the people by way of benediction. He
would rise slowly, look at them with a benign smile and say, “Little
children, love one another.” He always said that. When one of his
friends asked him why he always said the same thing, he replied:
“Because there is nothing more to be said. It is the final word. If
we love one another, that is everything.”27
Finally, three Alwars (South Indian mystics) left their own
ashramas for a distant pilgrimage. The first saint did not get food
for two days and then at night he was caught in a thunderstorm. After
a long and arduous search, he found a cottage. It was closed, but it
had a small veranda, where one person could hardly lie down. The
first saint lay down there. In the meantime, the second saint came
and asked, “I am devastated by the rain. Is there a little room for
me?” The first saint said, “Where one person can lie, there two
persons can sit. Please come in.” Within a short while, the third
saint arrived and asked for shelter. The first two saints said: “You
are welcome. Where two can sit, there three can stand.” Observing
their mutual love, unselfishness, and harmonious living the Lord
blessed them with His vision.28
In this memorable convention, let us listen to the wonderful
music of harmony, and try to practise it in our daily lives. This is
the only way we shall be able to get rid of narrowness, bigotry,
superstition, violence, and disharmony. The nearer we are to God, the
closer we shall feel towards other religions. In God we all meet.
Krishna said in the Gita, “I am the thread that runs through the
pearls, as in a necklace.” Each religion is one of the pearls.
In conclusion, I bow down to all religions and their
representatives on this platform, who have come from different parts
of the world to contribute their precious voices to this symphony.
This symphony will not be sounded in vain. History will record it as
a landmark for posterity.
I. John Henry Barrows, The World’s Parliament of Religions (Chicago, 1893), p. 18
2. Swami Vivekananda, Inspired Talks. Ramakrishna Math (Madras, 1961). p. 102
3. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. Advaita Ashrama (Calcutta. 1966). Vol. IV, p.125
4. Ibid. Vol. IV. p. 178, 180
5. Ibid. Vol. IV, p. 155
6. Ibid. Vol. IV. p. 154
7. Ibid. Vol. III. p. 159
8. Swami Nikhilananda, Vivekananda: The Yogas and Other Works. Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Centre (New York. 1953), p. 178
9. Radhakrishnan, The Hindu view of Life. The MacMillan Company (New York, 1962), p. 44
I0. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (1964), Vol. VIII, p. 129
11. Quoted from Visvabharati Quarterly, Vol. XXV, 3-4. p. 25
12. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (1968). Vol. II, p. 363
13. Swami Nikhilananda, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Centre, (New York, 1969). p. 782
14. Ibid. p. 1009-10
15. Complete Works. Vol. II. p. 387
16. Ibid. Vol. II, p. 388
17. Romain Rolland, The Life of Vivekananda (Advaita Ashrama, 1931). p. 326
18. Complete Works. Vol. II, p. 140
19. Complete Works. Vol. VIII, p. 349-50
20. Swami Chetanananda, Vivekananda: East meets West. Introduction
21. Complete Works. Vol. II. p. 373-74
22. Radhakrishnan, Occasional Speeches and Writings. Publications Division Government of India, 1960, p. 542
23. Bharate Vivekananda. Udbodhan. p. 477-78 and Udbodhan magazine. Vol. 25, p. 731
24. Swami Chetanananda. Swami Adbhutananda: Teachings and Reminiscences. Vedanta Society of St. Louis, 1980, p. 85
25. Swami Nikhilananda, Hinduism. Harper and Brothers (New York, 1958), p. 180
26. Inspired Talks, p. 195
27. C. R. Brown, These Twelve, p. 64
28. Swami Ramakrishnananda, Ramanuj Charit. Udbodhan, p. 20-22
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