11th September, 1893, just
a hundred and twenty years down memory lane, was a memorable day in the history
of India & America, and for that matter, for humanity at large. On this day
Swami Vivekananda, the ‘cyclonic Hindoo monk’ delivered his famous speech at
the Parliament of Religions at Chicago, which swept the American audience off
their feet. His oft quoted address,’ Sisters and Brothers of America’ went straight to
the heart of all Americans there, as evident from the legendary standing
ovation & applause for long two minutes from an audience of seven thousand.
The Swami’s short and crisp speech conveyed a clear message of love and
universality of eternal relevance. Swamiji, the epitome of love, strength and
fearlessness, proclaimed with vigour “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”. This
enigmatic personality portrayed the message of oneness and condemned all
feelings of hatred and intolerance with his clear pronouncement, “Sectarianism,
bigotry, and it’s horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this
beautiful earth…. 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.” Despite the brevity of his speech, it voiced
the spirit and sense of universality of the parliament. The impact of this first delivery was overwhelming.
Now 120 years later, what impact do we feel in the
West of the tide Swamiji had then brought in? This question plagues many an
admirer of the great monk and his ideology. Do we remember him as a name, as a
picture from history or something more? The first impression is disheartening.
The fast life buried in consumerism, and infiltrated by anger, greed, violence
and terror bears no testimony to an impact of Swamiji’s message of universal
love and tolerance. His is not a well-known name in the West, rarely is he
mentioned in history either.
Take a second look, friends, and delve in a bit
deeper—you can feel a different pulse, a throb resonating from a wave raised back
in the 1890s. Astonishingly, the impulse is sometimes stronger in distant
zones, far-away from home!
I take immense pleasure in sharing a unique
experience of feeling the lively presence of Swamiji in a quaint little
American town, Annisquam in Massachusetts. What a wonderful experience to find
him thriving with full fervour in this remote corner of America, in the year
2013, remembered and honoured by Americans, as their own.
Annisquam is a picturesque, quaint little
waterfront town near Boston, founded way back in 1631. The Annisquam village
church, founded in 1728, also has a history to boast of. Shaped out
of a Protestant heritage, this church is a part of the “Community Church
Movement” through affiliation with the International Council of Community
Churches (ICCC), an
interracial, international fellowship composed of congregations and church
bodies with a global vision expressed through local ministries.
It was at
this Universalist church that Swamiji delivered his first public lecture in the
USA, on the 27th of August, 1893 on ‘Customs and life in India’. He
was introduced to the local New England audience by Prof John Wright, the
renowned Professor of Greek Philology at Harvard. He was a great friend and
ardent admirer of Swamiji and had proclaimed, “He is more learned than all our
professors together”. Swamiji had stayed at Annisquam for 3days on his first
visit (25th-27th August 1893), from where he proceeded to
Chicago with a letter of introduction to the World Congress of Religions, from
Prof Wright (who had then commented, "To ask you, Swami, for your
credentials is like asking the sun to state its right to shine!”). He later again
visited this beautiful coastal town in 1894 from 17th August to 5th
September as a guest of Mrs Bagley, staying at the Hyatt’s residence.
This is all history. But how Annisquam remembers
Swamiji today was a wonder awaiting us! It all began with an invitation to
attend the 150th birth anniversary celebration of Swami Vivekananda
at Annisquam on the 28th July, 2013. This event was being organised
by the historical Annisquam Village Church, along-with the Vedanta Society of
Boston, MA and Providence, RI, in the form of a special inter-faith service.
The Annisquam Village Church is a small dainty
shrine on the shoreline, very serene and peaceful. On this summer afternoon of
the 28th July, the chapel was full-- people from all walks of life,
with varying colour, creed, language and nationality, but with a common
countenance of enthusiasm and interest had gathered to take part in this
historical event. This was not a ritualistic annual celebration as we often
see, it was an event with full participation, to share feelings of common
interest—Swamiji and his message.
The first look at the chancel was breath taking! There stood Swamiji, confidently smiling at us from the pulpit, as he had stood 120 years back. Very aptly, the pastor of the church, Rev. White mentioned in her speech, “There he is amongst us”.
The first look at the chancel was breath taking! There stood Swamiji, confidently smiling at us from the pulpit, as he had stood 120 years back. Very aptly, the pastor of the church, Rev. White mentioned in her speech, “There he is amongst us”.
The Rev. Deirdre White sat with the two revered monks
from the RK Mission Vedanta Societies, Swami Tyaganandaji and Swami Yogatmanandaji
on the dais, as the program began with Indian classical music on sitar, as a
prelude.
The easy blend of the eastern and western culture
was striking through-out the program.
The Vedic chanting and devotional Indian songs were complemented by the church
choir led by Ms Kathleen Adams, as well as contemporary Rap music presented by Ms Hannah Resseger. They
all seemed to fit into each other seamlessly, with that invisible binding
force-the eternal message of love and universality.
Vedic chanting by monks of the Ramakrishna order
from the podium of a church, before an Indo-American crowd was unique itself;
but when the village church choir sang out loud,
”What words came down to grace his lips on
that September day!
The hall was large, but larger still his voice rang
out strong until
The farthest corner it did fill, and no one quite
could say
What raised the list’ners to their feet or made
them cheer that way.”.....it was awesome!
To hear a
familiar Bengali song on Swamiji (Moder
Vivekananda tumi go, Viswa Vivekananda) being sung in perfect tune by a
group of Bengalee professionals, 12,000 miles away from their homeland in this
church was thrilling enough, but, the Rap that followed with “Stop not till the
goal is reached “ as its core-line, sung in chorus, was simply breath-taking.
Dearest Hannah, how did you imbibe the spirit of Swamiji so perfectly? What
divine force helped you overcome the barriers of time, distance and culture?
The
interfaith service with speeches from both monks and Rev White were all very
apt and thought provoking. Rev White talked of universality and one-ness,
quoting Sri Ramakrishna fluently from The Gospel. In the same line came in
Swami Tyaganandji and Swami Yogatmanandaji, talking of the relevance of
Swamiji’s message in today’s world. All the speakers emphasised on the message
of
We were
also treated with a wonderfully lyrical poem by the honoured poet laureate of
Annisquam, a professor of English Literature at UMass, Boston, portraying Swamiji’s visit to the West and its
relevance in the lives of Americans.
The
greatest surprise still awaited the audience. The last event was a skit played
by the local school children, portraying Swamiji’s arrival in Massachusetts.
This was Swamiji for this generation, for this Western world, and we have truly accepted him!
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