It was during his wanderings too that he came to develop a fierce patriotism that has never been equaled by any living being since. This was not a patriotism that excluded others for later he clearly said that he belonged to the whole world not India alone, but he regarded it as wrong not to love your country. His entire spiritual life in fact was diverted to finding a solution to India's ills within the ambit of its native genius and he made the extraordinary statement that liberation could wait, service of the country and its suffering people was the real religion. He keenly felt that his influence was not great enough and he broke out once into this impassioned speech, "I am going away now and will not return until I can burst upon society like a bomb and make it follow me like a dog." This after his return from America he was able to do. He was not yet known as Swami Vivekananda, as he used to follow the practice of changing his name in every new city so that attachments do not develop. He symbolically finished his tour of India at the southern tip of the subcontinent, Cape Comorin, by swimming out to a rock in the middle of the sea and meditating upon what he had learnt from so many years of wandering. He had a great vision of India's history on that rock and he also came away with the beginnings of a plan to regenerate the country. He had heard that there was going to be a great Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in the autumn of 1893. He would attend, not as a representative of any sect but as Indian religion itself and ask for monetary help for his country so that its immense spiritual resources and legacy was not lost to the world. His journey to America is a triumph of the faith he had in his mission. For he had no idea as to how to register, not when it was going to begin, no notion of how he would gain entry and no credentials or references. For him it was enough that he appear and god would take care of the rest. It was know that he formally took on the name of Vivekananda, which means the ability to discriminate between the true and false. His journey took him through China and Japan and he predicted great things for them in the next century. Japan especially fascinated him and he earnestly wrote to his friends back in India that this was the model they ought to follow instead of looking to the west. In America he managed to find friends who vouched for him to the committee of the Parliament and he was finally accepted as a delegate. The energy and bustle of American women exerting themselves on his behalf struck Vivekananda forcefully and he never ceased to be grateful and admiring of them. On September 11,1893 the Parliament was formally opened. The Swami in his bright flame-colored robe was a great source of interest - the more so as nervousness caused him to pass up his turn to speak more than once. When he did speak however, his simple opening words, " Sisters and Brothers of America…" there was an outburst of applause and approval that lasted for over three minutes! Somehow he had touched the core of the issue the parliament was about and he was an instant hero and celebrity. He refused to speak for Hinduism alone insisting that men had from now on to speak for all those who have faith. These speeches are remarkable in their own right as they are the first statement of a principle that would soon sweep the world, what mattered was how your spiritual life was developing not what you called your god. "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…holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character." He swept the Parliament before him and become an extremely prominent speaker and teacher in America for the next few years. This was not to the liking of all the faiths represented and the usual scurrilous and futile attempts to blacken his name were made. He made a host of friends there, including the philosopher William James and the eccentric inventor Nikolai Tesla. Tesla was interested in Hindu ideas and he was especially interested in the fact that Vivekananda was probably the only man who did not think him a freak for living a life of unbroken chastity and actually attributing his genius to it. Many of his lecture notes were transcribed and became the basis of his significant and seminal contributions to the Yoga-Vedanta philosophy of India. When he went to Europe he made friends with the same easy facility. Prominent amongst them were the philosopher scholar Paul Deussen, friend of Nietzche and even Bernard Shaw came to hear him speak. Max Muller of course was instantly captivated by the young Swami, the direct disciple of the man (Ramkrishna) he had admired so much that he had even written a pamphlet about him called A True Mahatman. Vivekananda made a major acquisition in England with Miss Margaret Noble, who became the famous Sister Nivedita. But he wanted to return to India and he did so on January 15, 1897. Europe and America had exhausted him, but the triumphs of India very nearly killed him. Not even the Caesers of Rome had ever received such triumphal receptions before but this was the spontaneous outpouring of a people who were feeling vindicated in their faith, not a state-managed show. The whole country went mad with joy and the poor man could not call a moment his own again. He tried to use his new found influence to get people to shrug off their indolence and work for the alleviation of society's ills. He found however that while many were willing to cheer him, few were willing to put their shoulders to the wheel. What is undeniable is that after two centuries of denigration of themselves as worthless, their religions as lies and their culture as decadent, Indians were feeling proud of themselves again because of this one man. India's legacy in all fields was seen to be the equal of anything the world could offer and far better than a great many countries that were now strutting about as conquerors. Vivekananda gave his people their self-respect back, and fired them with a spirit of daring. He preached the message of the Vedanta and the Upanishads tirelessly, urging his people to be up and doing, to find an active religion, to be proud of their ancestors and use that pride to outstrip the ancients. The nationalist upsurge that followed soon after is a direct consequence of the emotions unleashed by the swami. Before him the Indian did not think he was fit enough for independence from foreign rule. But there was the swami with American and European disciples, an inversion of the racist point of view. The British knew that this man was dangerous for he was not an active agitator and plotter they could throw in jail and be done with. This man was actually inspiring people to resist racial discrimination, to insist on their own capabilities and the swami was in constant danger of being imprisoned. He would have welcomed it but the social explosion that would have followed if this national hero were put in jail was not worth the risk. In that sense Vivekananda was also the first pan-Indian figure of modern India, acceptable to both the elite as well as to the common man. Previously most prominent people had influence only in their own provinces. Realizing that the transformation of India would not tale place as fast as he would like he organized his brother disciples into an organization that works to ameliorate the ills of society, provide health care and education as well as keep up the task of propagating Vedanta and Indian culture. T his is the famous Ramkrishna Mission, an organization that is still in the forefront of Indian social life, though as a policy they keep away from all political interactions. In many ways the mission is his true legacy. For Vivekananda introduced a new concept of spirituality to the Hindus, a radical and revolutionary belief that service of the needy is as valid a path of salvation as isolating oneself in caves and meditating. The great swami died on July 4th 1902, worn out by his untiring travel and endless speeches. To classify his multifaceted legacy is futile. The man was like Proteus, god of a thousand faces. So vast and comprehensive is his writing that you can constantly find enough material to justify almost any point of view. The great swami however would not take a tunnel vision view of anything. For him all of these points of view are right, in their own context and he made an absolutely amazing statement that no other religious figure has ever made. It is a statement that proceeds from his belief in strength, in freedom and the ability to be true to oneself. ( Click here to read more about Swami Vivekananda's Ashram. ) "May the numbers of religions upon the earth multiply until each man has a religion of his own." - Rohit Arya <<back Archive