Internalise the Message and Work Accordingly

Vice president of Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari Padmashri Sushri Nivedita Bhide feels that the relevance of 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s Chicago Speech lies in the fact how we internalise that message and how we follow it in practical life. Organiser Chief News Coordinator Dr Pramod Kumar spoke to her to know how the people should imbibe the message of that historic speech. Excerpts:

The significance of Swami Vivekananda’s Chicago speech even after 125 years is not only for Bharat and the Bharatiyas, but it is for the whole world. What he propagated or emphasised in Chicago speeches had some salient points. He explained the spirituality trans-individual practices or faiths of various countries or communities. Though we may have different faiths or different ways of worshipping God, all these lead to the vision of one nation. Everything reaches the same Ultimate. What is needed is rejection of none, recognising everything and following the spirituality which is beyond limiting God to only one form or one name, because That Itself is infinite. What is infinite cannot be limited to anything. If we limit, then somewhere we remain only religious, not spiritual. So, the real spiritual benefits that we should get from religious practices may not be received if we limit our conception of God to a specific form or name. This was the first thing related to that historic speech.

The second thing, which Swami Vivekananda himself called, is the distinguishing character of Hindu Dharma. It was for the whole humanity. He said man is not a sinner, he is not born without any purpose, but actually he has the purpose of life and that is to realise to manifest that divinity within. So, he gave a sort of meaning to life. Then life does not remain limited only to fulfilling the desires and acquiring the means for artha and kama. It becomes a driving force for realising one’s full potential or one’s divine nature. If we are born a sinner or if we are a

sinner, then whatever we may do, we can never get over our original nature. That was the second thing.

The third thing that Swamiji beautifully explained in scientific terms was that the search of science would come to an end when they find the one thing from which everything is born. For example, suppose in Physics if they find one energy or one force from which all other forces come whether it is magnetism, electricity, gravitational force, nuclear force, whatever it is, then the search of Physics is over. If we find one such material in Chemistry from which all other materials can be produced then the search of Chemistry is over or it is the culmination of Chemistry. Hence, the culmination of spirituality or the spiritual practices is in realising the oneness. Even the science is today realising that oneness. Whether it is in Nuclear Physics, Quantum Physics or Ecology, everywhere man is realising the interconnectedness, interrelatedness and interdependence of the existence. Therefore, the inculcation of the vision of oneness is essential. That will help even in the protection of the environment going hand in hand with the science and protection of the collectives like family, society and the whole creation. So, the basis of the human life is oneness.

The fourth thing which he boldly said in Chicago was that a Christian imagines that one day the whole world will be Christian. I petty him from the bottom of my heart. If any Muslim imagines or a Hindu imagines, he said, that is not possible because variety is the plan of nature. And therefore there cannot be only one God or only one path for the whole humanity. So, our efforts should be that a Christian becomes a better Christian, Hindu becomes a better Hindu and Muslim becomes a better Muslim. And we all should only become better in our traditions.

When Swamiji delivered that speech in 1893, Bharat had almost lost confidence in its own culture, dharma or even a purpose. When he propounded Hindu Dharma, the purpose of Bharat’s existence also became clear. Bharat has to help the world in spirituality because it is only in Bharat where we have nurtured the vision of oneness. We have even fashioned our life on that. That has been our approach to the nature. When he came back to India after the speech he said this nation has a mission to accomplish, a purpose to fulfill, a message to deliver. So, inspiration contributes for the progress of humanity. And Bharat’s contribution is spirituality i.e. getting rooted in oneself and leading the life in such a way that we bring harmony wherever we are whether in individual life, family life, social life or organisational life. This message of Swami Vivekananda invigorated Bharat so much that the nation, which was witnessing fast downfall, gradually started rising. It still continues. That was a great turning point for India and Indians. In a way it was also a great turning point for the whole humanity or for the human evolution. If we see the problems of mankind all over the world, the real problem is that our consciousness is not evolved and somewhere we limit ourselves. That is the work that Bharat has to do i.e. the evolution of the consciousness. That is what Bharat can do. It is a big task that Swamiji gave to us. And to do that we should first acquire the strength to be respected all over the world. Then only what we say or what we do will be followed.

What Swamiji said in Chicago speeches or what really fascinated any thinking person present there from any country or religion was somehow not internalised by the mankind. He had then said that we in the name of religion may have very violent bloodsheds and wars. If we insist that only my religion is true and all other religions are false, it will lead to further bloodsheds. The warning that Swamiji had given then was only witnessed on September 11, 2001.

We celebrate September 11 as Universal Brotherhood Day every year, because Swamiji gave the real message for universal brotherhood. Universal brotherhood is not the idea that if you become like me then only we will be brothers. Though we are different, let us understand what connects us and that is the reason of oneness. That is the fact that we all come from the same Divine Principle. We celebrate it every year. But this year we are celebrating it on a higher scale. The Kendra karyakartas generally take something for study every year. This year the Chicago speeches will be studied and discussed.

Not as a message, I can urge all the people especially in India that Swamiji’s way of putting forward the essential principles of Hinduism was so perfect. We should study even his style or choice of words explaining the eternal principles in contemporary context. We should all study his Chicago speeches. He presented the paper on Hinduism addressing the Western audience. After returning from the US he delivered a speech at Lahore on the topic of “Common Message of Hinduism”. We should study that speech also. More than what divides us, we have to see what connects us. And that is what Swamiji said in the common message of Hinduism. That was we need to internalise. Just celebration is of no use, we have to internalise his message and work accordingly.

Our experience has been different. It is not that they are not interested. We have to, sometime, go in a different way. For example, they study a particular book for examination. It is too difficult, because they have to appear in the exams on that book. But we tell the youth that after reading this particular book you will get the chance to stay together and learn the leadership techniques. Every year about 40-50,000 students study books that we prescribe them. Sometimes we also conduct quiz. We prescribe a syllabus and organise a quiz on that. Sometimes we ask for a street play on the portion we give them. Many youths respond very well.