Dear
friends I would like to draw your attention to a speech that was delivered by a
Hindu monk, Swami Vivekananda, several years ago in the year 1893 in the Parliament
of World’s Religions in Chicago, USA. This speech, I think teaches us many
things to live a happy life.
I can
tell you that you will not only enjoy but you would love reading through the
lines of this beautiful speech which was delivered way back in 1893, in English
in a country where you find the maximum population from the native speakers of
the English language. This is not an ordinary speech; rather there are many
things that one can find out from this speech of Swami Vivekananda, which might
help us realize the importance of the spiritual aspect of our life.
SWAMI
VIVEKANANDA, AT the Art Institute of
Chicago , IN
THE WORLD PARLIAMENT OF
RELIGION, USA, 1893.
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 honour 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 remnant 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 places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the
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 it’s 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.
The Speech :
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