Swami Vivekananda: The Messiah of Tolerance

-
At the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago, 125 years ago, Swami Vivekananda delivered his landmark address, about the need for harmony of religions. He spoke not only about universal toleration but of acceptance of all religions as true; he appealed to all religious and spiritual leaders to shun all forms of religious fanaticism, persecution, and violence. He will be remembered not only in India but throughout the world as the Messiah of Tolerance and India’s Prophet of Harmony of Religions.

Swami Vivekananda’s perspective was inspired by his guru, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, who promoted the doctrine of ‘Jato Mat, Tato Path’ which recognizes the potential of all religions to act as means of attaining spiritual enlightenment: ‘Ekam sad vipraha bahuda vavanti.’

Vivekananda would narrate the story of ‘kupa manduka’, frog-in-the-well, as being illustrative of the closed minds of religious bigots. He believed that holiness, purity, and charity are not exclusive domains of any particular religion and that every religion has produced individuals of exalted character. He further said that if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and destruction of the others, “I pity him from the bottom of my heart.”

Swami Vivekananda turned the universal philosophy of Vedanta into a driver of social change, for he believed that true religion taught people to recognize the divinity of people and the need to engage in selfless service to the needy: Daridra Narayan seva. He had raised money for the construction of Belur Math to feed the famine-hit in 1897 and again in 1898 served plague victims in Kolkata. Belur Math temple incorporates the architecture associated with places of worship of each religion. There are monks in the Ramakrishna Order who are Muslim, Christian, Jew and Hindu; they live together peacefully and engage in service.

All narrow, limited, conflicting ideas of religion have to go, said the Swami. All sectarian ideas must be given up. There is only one, infinite religion that is eternal. Religious quarrels are always over the husks. When purity and spirituality go, leaving the soul dry, quarrels begin, and not before. Therefore he said, “Follow one and respect all because you may be born into any religion but you cannot not die in it.” The essence of religion is God-consciousness.

Swami Vivekananda said our watchword should be acceptance and not exclusion. “Toleration means that I think that you are wrong and I am just allowing you to live, that is, I am tolerating you. 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. I worship God with every one of them, in whatever form they worship him.”

Let us hope that Swami Vivekananda’s call for unity, love, and tolerance is given the importance it deserves so that more people can learn to live in peace and harmony with one another. Swamiji did believe that we need to keep our hopes alive and that the end of fanaticism and intolerance may be at hand- that we do have a choice and that we can do better, and thinking these thoughts and practicing these give us hope for a better world. A world without hate and conflict, where everyone respects the other, for there is enough room for all.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Visiting Mother on her Death Anniversary

-
Dear Ma, It’s been 8 long years without you, No matter how much I try, I know you still won’t come back. I still remember the day you left, I didn’t know how to react. You died on a Friday evening, we had you placed under a tree in that graveyard. I still remember you saying “Dying is part of life." I miss you. I wish you were here. I can tell you a mom is irreplaceable for a child. When a mom dies, her child is no longer whole. The loss makes it hard to breathe. That child flails in the wind like a cottonwood seed. A piece of fluff that gets knocked about the world by the wind. Sometimes I landed on solid ground, sometimes I landed in a pond and almost drowned. But I’m still here. I survived. In the year after your death my dreams plagued me whether they were about your death or when they fooled me into thinking you were still alive. The waking up and again remembering you were dead was the hardest point of each day. I searched for many things to fill mysel...
Read more

I've Learned to Live Without YOU

-
Image
I've learned to live without you, though the scars remain, each mark is a testament, not to loss, but to gain. For in the silent expanse of my heart's lonely shore, I've found the strength to stand, to ache, to adore. The tears that fell like autumn rain, Nurtured a garden where hope would regain. Through the fractures of a love that once was true, I've blossomed, I've grown, I've learned No bitterness lingers, just a soft, healing rain, Washing away the echoes of lingering pain. For in the tapestry of healing, that time will weave I've learned to live, to hope, to believe. In the quietude, I've found a newfound song A melody of resilience, where I belong. So, farewell, with a heart that's renewed I've learned to live without you, and in that, I've been imbued.
Read more

The 6th Dalai Lama: A Journey of Poetry, Rebellion, and Tragedy

-
Image
  Image courtesy-  Rediff.com The life story of the 6th Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, was ordained by many as the most powerful lama in Tibet, who eventually abandoned monastic life. In his early adulthood, he frequented taverns with friends and engaged in romantic relationships with women, earning him the nickname of the " playboy " Dalai Lama. However, a deeper examination reveals a young, sensitive, and intelligent man lacking discipline. After spending his childhood confined in a remote monastery with carefully selected tutors, his desire for independence is understandable. The violent conclusion to his life transforms his narrative from a mere jest into a poignant tragedy. Introduction The story of the 6th Dalai Lama begins with his predecessor, His Holiness Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, the 5th Dalai Lama. Known as the " Great Fifth ," he navigated a period of significant political turmoil and succeeded in unifying Tibet, becoming the first Dalai Lama to hold both...
Read more