While
reading Shashi Tharoor’s latest book, Why
I am a Hindu, I got stuck at a quote from Swami Vivekananda. “Unity in
variety is the plan of nature, and the Hindu has recognised it,” goes the quote
from a speech delivered by the great Hindu in Chicago. “Every other religion
lays down certain fixed dogmas and tries to compel society to adopt them.”
Swami Vivekananda then went on to compare religious teachings to a coat. Truth
is like a coat of a fixed size for most religions. The size is fixed by the Rabbi
or Pope or Mullah or Godman. Whoever you are, you have to wear that coat. Never
mind the hilarious look it may give you because it just doesn’t suit you. You
have to wear it if you want to belong to this religion. The meaning of religion
is accepting the given truths blindly. Don’t question. Don’t dispute. Don’t
doubt. Just accept. Accept what is shoved down your throat.
“The
Hindus have discovered that the absolute can only be realized, or thought of,
or stated through the relative, and the images, crosses, and crescents are
simply so many symbols – so many pegs to hang spiritual ideas on.” Swami
Vivekananda told his American “Sisters and brothers.” [Yes, he addressed them
as Sisters and brothers, giving prominence to women long before the West
thought of doing it.]
The
Hindu can cut the cloth and stitch the coat that suits him. In other words, the
Hindu can worship any god. She can worship Rama or Ravana. He can worship Durga
or Mahishasura. She can worship Jesus or Allah. Hinduism is all about
liberating people to their own gods and not at all about enslaving them to a
monolithic creed as most other religions do.
No
wonder the Americans sat down and listened to Swami Vivekananda with
admiration. The British were later stupefied by Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas of
tolerance and non-violence. The Swami and the Mahatma are the real spirits of
Hinduism. What do we find today, however?
Hollow
speeches. Empty promises. Hatred. Violence. Mounting discontent. And glittering
dresses, foreign trips with a retinue of chefs topped with the usual logorrhoea.
Can
we not change this?
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Did not understand swami s words.a Hindu doesn't worship ravana
ReplyDelete"Ravana is also worshiped by Hindus in some part of the India, Sri Lanka and Bali (Indonesia.)[4][5][6] He is considered to be the most revered devotee of Shiva. Images of Ravana are seen associated with Shiva at some places. He also appears in Buddhist Mahayana text Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, and Buddhist Ramayanas and Jatakas, as well as in Jain Ramayanas."
DeleteThat's from Wikipedia. Well, Vivekananda didn't use all those names; I did, having understood the Swami's spirit.