Swami Vivekananda [12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902]was both profoundly particular and uniquely universal in his vision for mankind - he saw both the good and the bad in what religion had to offer and spoke out very strongly on issues when confronted by blatant hypocrisies.
Today on Swamiji's Mahasamadhi Day, it is worth recalling how he celebrated the best of Hindu Dharma and called for strength, not weakness.
India still suffers from the dubious methods of the conversion industry and this quote of Swamiji is still relevant today:
He responded to Christian missionaries saying
"You train and educate and pay men to do what? To come over to my country to curse and abuse all my forefathers, my religion, and everything.
They walk near a temple and say, 'You idolators, you will go to hell.' But they dare not do that to the Mohammedans of India; the sword would be out. But the Hindu is too mild... And then you who train men to abuse and criticise, if I just touch you with the least bit of criticism, with the kindest purpose, you shrink and cry: 'Don't touch us; we are Americans. We criticise all the people in the world, curse them and abuse them, say anything, but do not touch us, we are sensitive plants?'... And whenever your ministers criticise us let them remember this:
If all India stands up and takes all the mud that is at the bottom of the Indian ocean and throws it up against the Western countries, it will not be doing an infinitesimal part of that which you are doing to us. And what for? Did we ever send one missionary to convert anybody in the world? We say to you: 'Welcome to your religion, but allow me to have mine?'... With all your brags and boastings, where has Christianity succeeded without the sword? Show me one place in the whole world. One I say, throughout the history of the Christian religion – one; I do not want two. I know how your forefathers were converted. They had to be converted or killed; that was all. What can you do better than Mohammedanism, with all your bragging?"
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
