Swami Vivekananda's Ground-Breaking Speech At The 1893 World’s Parliament Of Religions
By
Swami Vivekananda
15
September 2021
Swami
Vivekananda (1863–1902) Is Best Known in the United States for His Ground-breaking
Speech To The 1893 World’s Parliament Of Religions In Which He Introduced Hinduism
To America And Called For Religious Tolerance
Important
Points:
1. Swami
Vivekananda introduced Hinduism to America.
2. We believe
not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true.
3. Born
Narendranath Dutta, he was the chief disciple of the 19th-century mystic
Ramakrishna.
4. I am proud
to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the
remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation.
-----
Photo of Swami Vivekananda in Chicago in 1893 with the handwritten words
“one infinite pure and holy—beyond thought beyond qualities I bow down to thee”
------
Swami
Vivekananda (1863–1902) is best known in the United States for his
groundbreaking speech to the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions in which he
introduced Hinduism to America and called for religious tolerance and an end to
fanaticism. Born Narendranath Dutta, he was the chief disciple of the
19th-century mystic Ramakrishna and the founder of Ramakrishna Mission. Swami
Vivekananda is also considered a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and
Yoga to the West and is credited with raising the profile of Hinduism to that
of a world religion.
Speech
delivered by Swami Vivekananda on September 11, 1893, at the first World’s
Parliament of Religions on the site of the present-day Art Institute
Sisters
and Brothers of America,
It fills my
heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome
which you have given us. I thank you in the name of the most ancient order of
monks in the world, I thank you in the name of the mother of religions, and I
thank you in the name of millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes
and sects.
My thanks,
also, to some of the speakers on this platform who, referring to the delegates
from the Orient, have told you that these men from far-off nations may well
claim the honor of bearing to different lands the idea of toleration. I am
proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and
universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we
accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has
sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of
the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest
remnant of the Israelites, who came to Southern India and took refuge with us
in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman
tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still
fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to you,
brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my
earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: “As
the different streams having their sources in different paths which men take
through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight,
all lead to Thee.”
The present
convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself
a vindication, a declaration to the world of the wonderful doctrine preached in
the Gita: “Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men
are struggling through paths which in the end lead to me.” Sectarianism,
bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this
beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often
and often with human blood, destroyed civilization and sent whole nations to
despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far
more advanced than it is now? But their time is come; and I fervently hope that
the bell that tolled this morning in honour of this convention may be the
death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the
pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the
same goal.
-------------------------------------------------------
Also Read: Swami Vivekananda Was Certainly Not Anti-Islam
-------------------------------------------------------
Original
Headline: Swami
Vivekananda and His 1893 Speech
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/books-documents/swami-vivekananda-chicago-religions/d/125361