Part 13 (1/2)
WOMEN OF THE EAST ( As many women as could crowd into Hall 7 yesterday afternoon flocked thither to hear something as to the lives of their sisters of the Orient. Mrs. Potter Palmer and Mrs. Charles Henrotin sat upon the platform, surrounded by turbanned representatives of the women of the East.
It may interest the readers to know that the published addresses of Swami Vivekananda at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago are not exhaustive and many addresses, specially those delivered at the Scientific Section of the Parliament were not all reported. The Scientific Sessions were conducted simultaneously with the open session at the Hall of Columbus. Swami Vivekananda spoke on the following subjects at the Scientific Section:
1. Orthodox Hinduism and the Vedanta Philosophy. - Friday, September 22, 1893, at 10-30 a.m.
2. The Modern Religions of India.
- Friday, September 22, 1893 afternoon session.
3. On the subject of the foregoing addresses. - Sat.u.r.day, September 23, 1893.
4. The Essence of the Hindu Religion. - Monday, September 25, 1893.
The Chicago Daily Inter-Ocean of September 23, 1893 published the following note on the first lecture.
”In the Scientific Section yesterday morning Swami Vivekananda spoke on 'Orthodox Hinduism'. Hall III was crowded to overflowing and hundreds of questions were asked by auditors and answered by the great Sannyasin with wonderful skill and lucidity. At the close of the session he was thronged with eager questions who begged him to give a semi-public lecture somewhere on the subject of his religion. He said that he already had the project under consideration.”) (Report of a lecture in the Chicago Daily Inter-Ocean, September 23, 1893) Swami Vivekananda, at a special meeting, discussed the present and future of the women of the East. He said, ”The best thermometer to the progress of a nation is its treatment of its women. In ancient Greece there was absolutely no difference in the state of man and woman. The idea of perfect equality existed. No Hindu can be a priest until he is married, the idea being that a single man is only half a man, and imperfect. The idea of perfect womanhood is perfect independence. The central idea of the life of a modern Hindu lady is her chast.i.ty. The wife is the centre of a circle, the fixity of which depends upon her chast.i.ty. It was the extreme of this idea which caused Hindu widows to be burnt. The Hindu women are very spiritual and very religious, perhaps more so than any other women in the world. If we can preserve these beautiful characteristics and at the same time develop the intellects of our women, the Hindu woman of the future will be the ideal woman of the world.”
CONGRESS OF RELIGIOUS UNITY.
(Report of a lecture in the Chicago Sunday Herald, September 24, 1893) Swami Vivekananda said, ”All the words spoken at this parliament come to the common conclusion that the brotherhood of man is the much-to-be-desired end. Much has been said for this brotherhood as being a natural condition, since we are all children of one G.o.d. Now, there are sects that do not admit of the existence of G.o.d - that is, a Personal G.o.d. Unless we wish to leave those sects out in the cold - and in that case our brotherhood will not be universal - we must have our platform broad enough to embrace all mankind. It has been said here that we should do good to our fellow men, because every bad or mean deed reacts on the doer. This appears to me to savour of the shopkeeper - ourselves first, our brothers afterwards. I think we should love our brother whether we believe in the universal fatherhood of G.o.d or not, because every religion and every creed recognises man as divine, and you should do him no harm that you might not injure that which is divine in him.”
THE LOVE OF G.o.d-I.
(Report of a lecture in the Chicago Herald, September 25, 1893) An audience that filled the auditorium of the Third Unitarian Church at Laflin and Monroe streets heard Swami Vivekananda preach yesterday morning. The subject of his sermon was the love of G.o.d, and his treatment of the theme was eloquent and unique. He said that G.o.d was wors.h.i.+pped in all parts of the world, but by different names and in different ways. It is natural for men, he said, to wors.h.i.+p the grand and the beautiful, and that religion was a portion of their nature. The need of G.o.d was felt by all, and His love prompted them to deeds of charity, mercy, and justice. All men loved G.o.d because He was love itself. The speaker had heard since coming to Chicago a great deal about the brotherhood of man. He believed that a still stronger tie connected them, in that all are the offsprings of the love of G.o.d. The brotherhood of man was the logical sequence of G.o.d as the Father of all. The speaker said he had travelled in the forests of India and slept in caves, and from his observation of nature he had drawn the belief that there was something above the natural law that kept men from wrong, and that, he concluded, was the love of G.o.d. If G.o.d had spoken to Christ, Mohammed, and the Ris.h.i.+s of the Vedas, why did He not speak also to him, one of his children?
”Indeed, he does speak to me”, the Swami continued, ”and to all His children. We see Him all around us and are impressed continually by the boundlessness of His love, and from that love we draw the inspiration for our well-being and well-doing.”
THE LOVE OF G.o.d-II.
(A lecture delivered in the Unitarian Church of Detroit on February 20, 1894 and reported in the Detroit Free Press) Vivekananda delivered a lecture on ”The Love of G.o.d” at the Unitarian Church last night before the largest audience that he has yet had. The trend of the lecturer's remarks was to show that we do not accept G.o.d because we really want Him, but because we have need of Him for selfish purposes. Love, said the speaker, is something absolutely unselfish, that which has no thought beyond the glorification and adoration of the object upon which our affections are bestowed. It is a quality which bows down and wors.h.i.+ps and asks nothing in return. Merely to love is the sole request that true love has to ask.
It is said of a Hindu saint that when she was married, she said to her husband, the king, that she was already married. ”To whom?” asked the king. ”To G.o.d”, was the reply. She went among the poor and the needy and taught the doctrine of extreme love for G.o.d. One of her prayers is significant, showing the manner in which her heart was moved: ”I ask not for wealth; I ask not for position; I ask not for salvation; place me in a hundred h.e.l.ls if it be Thy wish, but let me continue to regard Thee as my love.” The early language abounds in beautiful prayers of this woman. When her end came, she entered into Samdhi on the banks of a river. She composed a beautiful song, in which she stated that she was going to meet her Beloved.
Men are capable of philosophical a.n.a.lysis of religion. A woman is devotional by nature and loves G.o.d from the heart and soul and not from the mind. The songs of Solomon are one of the most beautiful parts of the Bible. The language in them is much of that affectionate kind which is found in the prayers of the Hindu woman saint. And yet I have heard that Christians are going to have these incomparable songs removed. I have heard an explanation of the songs in which it is said that Solomon loved a young girl and desired her to return his royal affection. The girl, however, loved a young man and did not want to have anything to do with Solomon. This explanation is excellent to some people, because they cannot understand such wondrous love for G.o.d as is embodied in the songs. Love for G.o.d in India is different from love for G.o.d elsewhere, because when you get into a country where the thermometer reads 40 degrees below zero, the temperament of the people changes. The aspirations of the people in the climate where the books of the Bible are said to have been written were different from the aspirations of the cold-blooded Western nations, who are more apt to wors.h.i.+p the almighty dollar with the warmth expressed in the songs than to wors.h.i.+p G.o.d. Love for G.o.d seems to be based upon a basis of ”what can I get out of it?” In their prayers they ask for all kinds of selfish things.
Christians are always wanting G.o.d to give them something. They appear as beggars before the throne of the Almighty. A story is told of a beggar who applied to an emperor for alms. While he was waiting, it was time for the emperor to offer up prayers. The emperor prayed, ”O G.o.d, give me more wealth; give me more power; give me a greater empire.” The beggar started to leave. The emperor turned and asked him, ”Why are you going?” ”I do not beg of beggars”, was the reply.
Some people find it really difficult to understand the frenzy of religious fervour which moved the heart of Mohammed. He would grovel in the dust and writhe in agony. Holy men who have experienced these extreme emotions have been called epileptic. The absence of the thought of self is the essential characteristic of the love for G.o.d. Religion nowadays has become a mere hobby and fas.h.i.+on. People go to church like a flock of sheep. They do not embrace G.o.d because they need Him. Most persons are unconscious atheists who self-complacently think that they are devout believers.