SWAMIJI AT WORLD PARLIAMENT OF RELIGIONS AT CHICAGO: The 1893 Worlds Parliament of Religions—held in conjunction with the Columbian Exposition in Chicago—took place at the Permanent Memorial Art Palace, now known as the Art Institute of Chicago. The original U-shaped structure framed an open court that had been converted to two assembly halls for the occasion. (The museums Fullerton Hall and Womans Board Grand Staircase now occupy the site.) The Parliament opened on September 11, 1893, with international representatives of the worlds religions present. An Indian delegate, Swami Vivekananda, riveted the audience with his call for religious tolerance and an end to fanaticism. Over the next several weeks, thousands of attendees came to hear Swami Vivekananda and other leaders speak, making the Parliament a watershed moment in interfaith dialogue. Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) is best known in the United States for his groundbreaking speech to the 1893 Worlds Parliament of Religions in which he introduced Hinduism to America and called for religious tolerance and an end to fanaticism. Born Narendranath Dutta, he was the chief disciple of the 19th-century mystic Ramakrishna and the founder of Ramakrishna Mission. Swami Vivekananda is also considered a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga to the West and is credited with raising the profile of Hinduism to that of a world religion. (Downloaded from Art Institute of Chicago website) Swami Vivekananda of Bombay, India, arose, a magnificent figure of manly beauty, in his orange robe and turban, with striking, strong, and reposeful countenance, and said: “Sisters and Brothers of America,” whereupon there arose a peal of applause in acknowledgement of the originality of the salutation, and perhaps not less as testifying interest in the personality of the speaker. (Vivekananda in Chicago: New Findings by Asim Chaudhury. ....the impelling force that drove him (Swami Vivekananda) out to foreign lands was the great personality of One at whose feet he had sat and whose life he had shared for many years. Yet in the West he spoke of no personal teacher, he gave the message of no limited sect. `The religious ideas of the Hindus’ were his theme at Chicago; and similarly, thereafter, it was those elements which were common to and characteristic of orthodox Hinduism in all its parts, that formed the burden of his teaching. Thus for the first time in history, Hinduism itself formed the subject of the generalisation of a Hindu mind of the highest order. (The Master As I Saw Him by Sister Nivedita)
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 14:30:30 +0000