Swami Vivekananda - His idea of Vedanta brain and Islam body

"I see in my mind's eye the future perfect India rising out of this chaos and strife, glorious and invincible, with Vedanta brain and Islam body." This was how Swami Vivekananda envisioned India in His letter addressed to Mohammed Sarfaraz Hussain on 10th June 1898. Swamiji continued "We want to lead mankind to the place where there is neither the Vedas, nor the Bible, nor the Koran; yet this has to be done by harmonising the Vedas, the Bible and the Koran. Mankind ought to be taught that religions are but the varied expressions of the religion, which is Oneness, so that each may choose that path that suits him best."
  In recent times, we are witnessing, a political appropriation of Swami Vivekananda by Right Wing of India. Swami Vivekananda's pluralistic ideology is ignored, selective passages from Swamiji's speeches and lectures is quoted out of context and being propagated to project a chauvinistic image of Vivekananda! It is done very cleverly in such a way as to distort its intended meaning. 
 I have grown up reading Swami Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, to this days I spend most of my weekends in sacred premises of Ramakrishna Mission, reading the gospel of Ramakrishna or contemplating the mystical life of the master. It infuriates to see this gross manipulation and distortion of, perhaps, the most revolutionary figure in Indian spirituality! The right wing has reduced Swami Ji into a vote bank, to claim the legacy of Swamiji, the right wing is using His pictures in their rather blasphemous and shoddy campaigning. As an admirer of Swamiji, I felt it is my spiritual - responsibility to place my dissent in my own capacity.
 A closer look at the life of this revolutionary Monk of 19th Century will give an altogether different picture of Swamiji, very different from what the right wing wants us to believe.
 Let's discuss some of His messages and contemplate on the relevance in present societal scenario.
Naren ( the given name of Vivekananda ), in His very tender age questioned the caste system, by trying the hookah kept separate for 'lower caste', mockingly asking his father, if he is out casted.
  Let us take a quantum leap to later phase of His life. His master Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was an unique figure in the history of Indian mysticism. He, not only preached universal brotherhood but practiced various religions - Islam and Christianity and established the TRUTH that different paths lead to same goal ! Vivekananda was deeply influenced by the presence of Ramakrishna in His life, He was awakened into the state of oneness, when the master gently touched his forehead, all divisions of self. religions, caste dissolved into the altered state of bliss and love. Later we have seen, as a true torch bearer of Ramakrishna, Swamiji emphasised on universality of faith, on communal harmony. He waged a war against obscurantism and fanaticism. In His famous speech in Chicago He said " 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." 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..." 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. " Swamiji wished " I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor 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."
  On the other hand all the icons of Right wing groups in India like Savarkar and Golwalkar preached a militant take on religion, for example Savarkar in one of his speeches said " Hinduise all politics and militarise Hindudom" While Vivekananda declared " Assimilation and not Destruction," "Harmony and Peace and not Dissension." as sine qua non for the collective spiritual growth of India
Golwalkar, in his book We orOur Nationhood Defined said " To keep up the purity of the Race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the Semitic races--the Jews. Race pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well nigh impossible it is for Races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by" He declared followers of Islam and Christianity as enemies in the holy land of India, while Swamiji in his Chicago speech emphasized the core value of India lies in her plurality and inclusiveness, the Monk declared " 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: "
I find these speeches and realisation of Swami Vivekananda extraordinarily relevant today in the context of global - intolerance, which is mainly because of religious bigotry. As our first Prime Minister eloquently said in one of speeches on Swami ji " If you read Swami Vivekananda's writings and speeches, the curious thing you will find is that they are not old. It was told fifty-six years ago, and they are fresh today because, what he wrote or spoke about dealt with certain fundamental matters and aspects of our problems or the world's problems. Therefore they do not become old. They are fresh even though you read them now." It is not entirely fault of the right wing that they are using Swamiji for their petty political gains, it is our irresponsibility that we have not cared to go back to His teachings, to understand and imbibe them in our lives. It is our shallowness that we have allowed them the advantage to appropriate and distort the messages of such a gem of a sages.
This is the high time to stand up against the assault of Vivekananda's philosophy, which is unmistakably based on the oneness! As we approach to the155th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, let us take a sacred pledge of restoring the ideologies of Swamiji, in our lives and in our society !

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa - Embracing of all faiths !

“I was meditating under the banyan tree when I was shown a Mussalman (a Muslim). He came to me with rice in an earthen plate. The Mother (Kali) showed me that there exists only One and not two. It is Satchidananda (Absolute, Brahman) alone that has taken various forms; He alone has become the world and its living beings.” This was the experience of ONENESS of the mystic saint Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the experience - where all the traces of duality and divisions dissolves; the observer, the observed and the observation becomes one - Ekamevadvitiyam !
             That's precisely the ultimate goal of all the religions, the rituals, the holy books, the sacred shrines are but various means and never the goal itself. Ultimately we have to go beyond all these symbols and means, these symbols and means too can prove to be stumbling blocks if we fail to realise the limitations of these external authorities and transcend them. As Swami Vivekananda, the disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa has said " We want to lead mankind to the place where there is neither the Vedas nor the Bible nor the Koran; yet this has to be done by harmonising the Vedas, the Bible, and the Koran." We can see this harmonisation and going beyond of all religions, in the life of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. In His life, the master traveled all the paths ( religions and sects ) and declared '' Joto moth, toto poth '', various paths lead to the same God !
             The life and the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, becomes very relevant at this point in time when the religious fundamentalism is rising around the globe. The problem, if we bother to scrutinise it closely, is not the religions and faiths but it is the political manifestations of religions and political usage of faiths that is problematic. Religions and religious beliefs have produced great artists, politicians, thinkers, poets, authors and singers; Tagore's poetry was born out of his deeper mystical - realisations, Mahatma Gandhi's idea or if I may say his political weapon - nonviolence was the result of his spiritual understanding. Tolstoy's splendorous work was outcome of his compassion and believe ! The great ruler Ashoka's 'Just - State' came from his comprehension of Buddhism. So we can't blame religion for the mayhem across the globe, don't forget an atheist is equally capable of brutality.
Let us see some of the interesting events of the master's life, which is not only awe-inspiring but equally relevant for the spiritual seeker as well as one who is trying to understand the social fabric of a multi - religious society like India.
      
Ramakrishna and Islam: It was 1866, when the master was helplessly drawn toward the Sufism and Islam. A Sufi master, Govind Rai initiated Ramakrishna into Islam. Ramakrishna said that he "devoutly repeated the name of Allah, wore a cloth like the Arab Muslims, said their prayer five times daily ( Life of Ramakrishna by Swami Nikhilananda ). According to Ramakrishna, after three days of practice he had a vision of a "radiant personage with grave countenance and white beard resembling the Prophet and merging with his body" ( In Rollan Romain book on Ramakrishna's life )

Ramakrishna and Christianity: To this days, Ramakrishna Mission celebrates the Christmas Day with great gusto. Mid night prayers in front of the photograph of Mother Mary holding the infant Jesus is offered with utmost devotion.
This streak back to the life of the master himself. At the end of 1873 he started the practice of Christianity, when his devotee Shambu Charan Mallik read the Bible to him. Ramakrishna said that for several days he was filled with Christian thoughts and no longer thought of going to the Kali temple. Ramakrishna described a vision in which a picture of the Madonna and Child became alive and he had a vision in which Jesus merged with his body. In his own room amongst other divine pictures was one of Christ, and he burnt incense before it morning and evening. There was also a picture showing Jesus Christ saving St Peter from drowning in the water. 

Today on the sacred land of India, where the master was born, walked, penance, meditated and experimented with His idea of inclusive religiosity; a violent obscurantism in the name of Hinduism is being propagated by a political ideology, in disguise of Hinduism. Hence reading and understanding of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa becomes extraordinarily important. If we could do a little to prevent and preserve the universality of  Hinduism as propagated and demonstrated by Ramkrishna Paramahamsa, it would be the greatest homage to the master !