never existed anywhere else. Perhaps you are astonished at my assertion, but show me any idea of God from any other sciiptuies equal to ours; they have only clan- Gods, the God of the Jews, the God of the Arabs, and of such and such a race, and theii Ck)d is fighting the Gods of the other races. But the idea of that bene- ficent, most meiciful God, our father, our mother, our friend, the friend of our friends, the soul of our souls, is here and here alone. And may lie who is the Siva of the Sivaites, the Vishnu of the Vaisnavites, the Karma of the Kannis, the Buddha of the Buddhists, the Jina of the Jains, the Jehovah of the Chiistians and the Jews, the Allah of the Mohammedans, the Lord of every sect, the Brahman of the Ved^ntists, He, the all-pervading, whose glory has been known only in this land, — may He bless us, may He help us, may He give strength unto us, energy unto us, to carry this idea into practice. May that which we have listened to and studied become food to us, may it become strength in us, may it become energy in us to help each other; may we, the teacher and the taught, nojt be jealous of each other I Peace, peace, peace, In the fiame of Hari. 3 § ^ 'T REPLY TO THE ADDRESS OF^J^LCOME AT PAKAMAKUDI. ^ Paramakudi was the first stopping-place after leaving Ramna<i, and there was a demonstration on a large scale, including the presentation of the following address: — SrEEMAT VlVEKANANDA SwAMI.
We, the citizens of Paramakudi, respectfully beg to accord to your Holiness a most hearty welcome to this place after your successful spiritual campaign of nearly four years in the Western woild.
We share with our countiymen the feelings of joy and pride at the philanthropy which prompted you to attend the Pailiament of Religions held at Chicago, and lay before the representatives of the religious world the sacred but hidden treasures of our ancient land. You have by your wide exposition of the sacred truths con- tained in the Vedic literature, disabused the enlightened minds ot the West of the prejudices enleilaincd by them against our ancient faith, and convinced them of its universality and adaptability for intellects of all shades and in all ages.
The presence amongst us of your Western disciples is proof positive that your religious teachings have not only been understood in theoiy but have also borne practical fruits. The magnetic influence of your august person reminds us of our ancient holy Rishis, whose lealisalion of the Self by asceticism and self-control made them the tiuc guides and preceptois of the human lace.
In conclusion we most earnestly pray to the All-Merciful, that your^ollncss may long be spaied to continue to bless and spiiitualise the whole of mankind.
With best regards, We beg to subsciibc ourselves, Your Holiness’s most obedient and devoted Disciples and Servants.
In the course of his reply the Swami said, — It is almost impossible to express my thanks for the kindness and cordiality with which you have leceived me. But, if I may be permitted to say so. I will add that love for my country, and especially for my countrymen, will be the same whether they receive me with the ulmost coidiality, or spuiii me from the country. For we read in the Gita that Sn Krishna says — men should work for work’s sake only, and love for love’s sake. The woik that has been done by me in the Western world has been very little; there is no one present here who could not have done a hundred times more work in the West than has been done by me. And I am anxiously waiting for the day when mighty minds will arise, gigantic spiiitual minds, who will be ready to go forth from India to the ends of the world, to leach spiritual- ity and renunciation, those ideas which came,from the forests of India, and belong to Indian soil alone. There come periods in the history of the human race when, as it were, whole nations are seized with a sort of world-weariness, when they find that all their plans are slipping between their fingers, that old institutions and systems are crumbling into dust, that their hopes are all blighted, and everything seems to be out of joint. Two attempts have been made in the world to found social life; the 3* LECTURES—FROM COLOMBO TO ALMORA one was upon religion, and the other was upon social necessity. The one was founded upon spnitualily, the other upon mateiialism, the one upon transcendental- ism, liie oihcr upon realism. The one looks beyond the horizon of this little inatciial woild and is bold enough to begin life there, even apart from ’ other. The other, the second, is content to take its stand on the things of the w ^ and expects to find a fiim footing. Cuiiously enough, it seems that at times the. ritual side prevails, and then the mateiialistic side, in wavelike motions following each other. In the same countiy there will be different tides; at one time the full flood of materi- alistic ideas prevails; and everything in this.life — prospeiity, the education w'hich procuies more pleisiirc, more food — will become gloiious at first and then, that will degrade and degenerate. Along with the prosperity, will rise to white heat all the inboin jealousies and hatreds of the human race. Competition and merciless cruelty will be the watchword of the day. To quote a very commonplace and not veiy elegant English proveib, Eveiyone for himself, and the devil take the hind- most ” becomes the motto of the day. Then people think that the whole scheme of life is a failure. And the vvoi Id would be destroyed did not sphiiualily come to the rescue, and lend a helping hand to the sinking world. Then the world gels new hope, and finds a new basis lor a new budding, and another wave of spirituality comes, which in lime again declines. As a lule, spirituality brings a class of men who lay exclusive claim to the special poweis of the woild. The immediate effect of this is a reaction towaids inaleiialism, which opens the door to scoies of exclusive claims, until llie Lime comes when not only all the spiritual poweis of the race, but all its mateiial poweis and piivileges are centered in the hands of a very few; and these few, standing on Uie necks of the masses of the people, want to rule them. Then society has to help itself, and materialism comes to the rescue. If you look at India, our motherland, you will see that the same thing is going on now. That you are here to-day to welcome one who went to Europe to preach Vedanta, would have been impossible had not the mateiialisrn of Europe opened the way for it. Materialism has come to the lescue of India in a ceitain sense, by throwing open the doors of life to eveiyone, by destroying the exclusive privileges of caste, by opening up to discus- sion the inestimable treasures which were hidden away in the hands of a very few, who have even lost the use of them. Half has been stolen and lost, and the other half which lemains, is in the hands of men who, like dogs in the manger, do not eat themselves and will not allow others to do so. On the other hand, the political systems that we aie stiugglmg for in India, have been in Europe for ages, have been tried for centuiies, and have been found wanting. One after another, the institutions, systems, and everything connected with political goveinments have been condemned as useless, and Europe is restless, does not know where to turn. The material tyranny is tremendous. The wealth and power of a country are in the hands of a few men who do not work, but manipulate the work of millions of human beings. By this power they can deluge the whole earth with blood. Religion and all things are under their feet; they rule and stand supreme. The western world is governed by a handful of Shylocks. All those things that you hear about — constitutional govern- ment, freedom, liberty and parliaments — are but jokes. The West is groaning under the tyranny of the Shylocks, and the East is groaning under the tyranny of the Priests; each must keep the other in check. Do not think that one alone is to help the world. In this creation of the impartial Lord, He has made equal every particle in the universe. The worst, most demoniacal man, has some virtues which the tlEPtV TO THE ADEEESS OE WELCOME AT PAEAMAKVDt greatest saint has not, and the lowest worm may have certain things which the highest man has not. The poor labouier, who you think has so llUle enjoyment in life, has not yoiH intellect, cannot understand the Vedanta Phdo-'Opliy and so foith, but compare your body to his, and you Will see, his body is nothing like so sensitive to pain as yours. If he gets severe cuts on his body, they heal up more quickly than yours would. His life IS in the senses, and he enjoys there. His life is one of equilibrium and balance. Whether on the ground of materialism, oi of intellect, or of spirituality, the com- pensation that is given by the Lord to cvciy one impaitiallv, is esactly the same. Therefore we must not think that wcare the fl.iviouis of the world. We tan leach the world a good many things, and we can Icain a good many things from it, too. We can teach the world, only w'hat it is w'aiting for. The whole of westein civilisation will ciumble to pieces in the next fifty years if there is no spiritual foundation. It is hopeless and perfectly useless to attempt to govern m.inkind with the sword. You will find that the very centres from which such ideas as government by force sprang up, arc the very fust centies to degrade and degenerate and crumble to pieces.
Kuropc, the centre of the manifestation of material energy, will crumble into dust within fifty years, if she is not mindful to change her position, to shift her ground and make spirituality the basis of her life. And what will save Kuropc is the religion ot the Upanishads. Apart from the different sects, philosophies and senptmes, there, IS one underlying doctrine, the belief in the saul of man, the Atman, common to all our sects, and that can cliangc the whole tendency of the world. With' Hindus, jams and ILuldhists, in fact evciywhcie in India, there is the idea of a spiritual soul which is the icceptacle of all power. And you know full well, that there is not one system of philosophy in India which fcachc". vou that you can get power, or purity, oi perfection from outside, but they all tell } ou that those are v our birt'^iright. your naluie. Impmity is a mere sui>er-imposition, under which your real nature has become hidden. Ibit the real i is alre.idy perfect, alieady strong. You do not require any assistance to govern yourself; you are alreadv self-icstrained. The only difference is in knowing it or not knowing it. Therefore the one difficulty has been summed up in the woid, avtdya. What makes the difference between Hod and man, between the saint and the sinner? Only ignoiance. What is the difference between the highest man and the lowest worm that crawls under your feet? Igno- rance, that makes all the difference. For inside that little crawling worm is lodged infinite power, and knowledge, and purity, the infinite divinity of God Himself. It is unmanifestcd; it will have to be nianifoted. This is the one great truth India has to teach to the woi Id, bet ausc it KS nowhere else. This is spirituality, the science of the soul. Wh.at makes a man stand up and work? Strength. Strength is goodness, weakness is sm If theie is one woul that you find come out like a bomb from the Upanishads, bursting like a bombshell upon masses of ignoiancc, it is the w'ord, fearlessness, And the only religion that ought to be taught, is the religion of fearless- ness. Either in this world or in the woild of religion, it is tine that fear is the.sure cause of degiadation and sin. It is teir that brings misery, fear that I'rings death, fear that breeds evil. And what causes fear? Ignoiance of our own nature. Each of us is heir-apparent to the Emperor of Emperois; we arc of the substance of God Himself. Nay, according to the Advaita vou are (iod Himself and you have forgotten your own nature in thinking of yourselves as little men. We have fallen from that nature and thu.s make differences — -I am a little better than you, or you than 1, and so on. This idea of oneness is the great lesson India has to give, and, 3+ LECTURES~~FROM COLOMBO TO ALMORA mark you, when thia is understood it changes the whole aspect of things, because you look at the world thiough other eyes than you have been doing before. And this world is no more a battle-field wheie each soul is born to struggle with every other soul, and the strongest gets the victory and the weakest goes to death. It •'omes a play-giound wheie the Loid is playing like a child, and we are His playi. s, His fellow-woikeis. This is only a play, however terrible, hideous and dangeros "^it may appear. We have mistaken its aspect. When we have known the nature of the soul, hope comes to the weakest, to the most degraded, to the most miserable sinner. Only, declares your Shastia, despair not. For you are the same whatever you do, and you cannot change your nature. Nature itself cannot destroy nature. Your nature is pure. It may be hidden for millions of aeons, but at last it will conquer and come out. Therefore the Advaita brings hope to every one and not despair. Its teaching is not through fear; it teaches, not of devils who are always on the watch to snatch you if you miss your footing,— it has nothing to do with devils, — but says that you have taken your fate in your own hands. Your own Karma lias manufactured tor you this body, and nobody did it for you. The Omnipresent Lord has been hidden through ignorance, and the responsibility is on youiself. You have not to think that you were brought into the world without your choice, and left in this most horrible place, but to know that you have yourself manufaclured your body, bit by bit, just as you are doing it this veiy moment. You yourself eat; nobody cats for you. You assimilate what you cat; no one does it for you. You make blood, and muscles and body out of the food; nobody does it for you. So you have done all the time. One link in a chain explains the infinite chain. If it is true for one moment that you manufacture your body, it is tiue for every moment, that has been or will come. And all the responsibility of good and evil is on you. This is the gieat hope. What I have done, that 1 can undo. And at the same time our leligion docs not lake away from mankind, the meicy of the Lord. That is always there. On the other hand. He stands besides this tremendous current of good and evil; He the bondless, the ever-merciful, is always ready to help us to the other shore, for His mercy is great, and it always comes to the pure in heart.
Your spirituality, in a certain sense, will have to form the basis of the new orders of society. If I had more time, I could show you how the West has yet more to learn from some of the conclusions of the Advaita, for in these days of mateiialislic science the ideal of the Peisonal God does not count for much. But yet, even if a man has a very crude foini of leligion, and waris temjiles and forms, he can have as many as he likes; if he wants a Peisonal God to love, he can find here the noblest ideas of a Personal God such as were never attained anywhere else in the world. If a man wants to be a lalionalist and satisfy his reason — it is also here that he can find the most rational ideas of the Impersonal.
REPLY TO THE ADDRESS OF WELCOME AT SIVAGANGA AND MANAMADURA, At Manamadura, the following address of welcome from the Zemindar* and citizens of Sivaganga and Manamadura, was presented to the Swami: — To Sri Swami Vivekananda.
Most Revered Sir, — We, the Zemindars and citizens of Sivaganga and Manamadura, beg to offer you a most hearty welcome. In the most sanguine moments of our life, in our wildest dreams, we never contemplated that you, who were so near our hearts, would be in such close proximity to our homes. The first wire intimating your inability to come to Sivaganga, cast a deep gloom on our hearts, and but for the subsequent silver lining to the cloud our disappointment would have been extreme. When we first hoard that you had consented to honour our town with your presence, we thought wc had realised our highest ambition. The mountain promised to come to Mahomet, and our joy knew no bounds. But when the mountain was obliged to withdraw its consent, our worst fears were roused that we might not be able even to go to the mountain, you were graciously pleased to give way to our importunities.
Despite the almost insurmountable difficulties of the voyage, the noble self* sacrificing spirit with which you have conveyed the grandest message of the East to the West, the masterly way in wliich the mission has been executed and the marvel- lous and unpaialleled success which has crowned your philanthrophic efforts, have earned for you an undying glory. At a time, when Western bread-winning materi- alism was making the strongest imoads on Indian religious convictions, when tha sayings and wiitings of our sages were beginning to l>e numbered, the advent of a. new master like you has already marked an cia in the annals of religious advance- ment, and we hope that in the fulness of time you will succeed in disintegrating tha dross that is temporarily covering the geniune gold of Indian Pliilosophy, and casting it in the poweiful mint of your intellect will make it current coin throughout the whole globe. The Catholicity with which you were able triumphantly to bear the flag of Indian Philosophic thought among the heterogeneous religionists assembled in the Parliament of Religions, enables us to hope that at no distant date you, just like your contemporary in the political sphere, will rule an empire over which* the sun never sets, only with this difference, that hers is an empire over matter, and yours will be over mind. As she has beaten all records in political history by the length and beneficence of her reign, so we earnestly pray to the Almighty that you* will be spared long enough to consummate the labour of love that you have so dis- interestedly undertaken, and thus to outshine all your predecessors in spiritual history.
We are, Most Revered Sir, Your most dutiful and devoted Servant*.
36 LECTCRES—FROM COlOMnO TO ALMORA The Swami’s reply was to the following effect * — I i annot express the deep debt of gratitude which you have laid upon me by the kind and warm welcome which has just been accorded to me by you. ^Infortu- natelv I am not just now in a condition to make a veiy big speech, howev may wish it. In spite ot the boauiiful adjectives which our Sanskrit fiicnd has:n so kind as to apply to me, 1 have a body afiei all, foolish though it may be, a i the body always lollows t[»e piomptings, conditions and laws of matter. As such, there is such a thing as fatigue and weariness as legaids the material body. It is a great thing to see the w’onderful amount of joy and appreciation expiessed in every part of the country, for the little w'ork that has been done by mo in the West. 1 look at it only in this way: 1 want to apply it to those gicat souls who are coming in the futiue. If the little bit of work that has been done by me receives such appioba- liou from the naticm, what must be the approbation that the.sjniitual giants, the woild- mo\ers coming after us, will get from this nation t India is the land of religion; the Hindu undei stands religion, »uid religion alone. Centuiics of education have always been in that line, and the result is, that it is the one concern in life, and you all know well that it is so. It is not necessary that eveiy one should be a shopkeeper; it is not necessaiy even that everyone should be a schoolmaster; it is not necessaiy that every one should be a fighlei, but in this woi Id ihcic will be dilYeient nations pio- diicing the harmony of lesult. Well, peihaps we are fated by Divine Providence to play the spiiilual note in this harmony of nations, and it icjoices me to see that we have not yet lost the grand traditions which have been handed dowm to us by the most gloiious foiefaihcrs of whom any nation can be pioud. It gives me hope, it gives me adamantine faith in the destiny of the lacc. It cheeis me, not for the personal attention paid to me, but to know that the heart of the nation is iheie, and is still sound. India is still living; who says she is dead t But the West w'anls to see us active. If they want to see us active on the field of battle they will be disappointed — that is not our field; just as we wmuld be disappointed if we hoped to sec a military nation active on the field of spirituality. But let them come heie and see that w’e are equally active and how the nation is living, and is as alive as ever. We should dispel the idea that we have degenerated at all. So far so good. But now 1 have to say a few haish woids, which 1 hope you will not take unkindly. For the com> plaint has just been made that F'uropean Materialism has w^ell nigh swamjied us. It is not all the fault of the Fairopcans, but a good deal our own. We, as Vedintisls must always look at things fioni an introspective viewpoint, from its subjective relations. We, as Ved.\niisls, know for certain that there is no power in the universe to injure us unless we fust injure ourselves. One-fifth of the population of India have been Mahommedans. Just as before that, going further back, Iwo-thirds of the population in ancient times had become Buddhists; one-fifth are now Mahommedans. Christians arc already more than a million. Whose fault is it? One of our his- torians says, ill ever-meniorablc language — Why should these poor wretches starve and die of thirst when the perennial fountain of life is fiowing by? The question is, what did we do for these people who forsook their own religion? Why should they have become ^lahommedans? I heard of an honest giil in k'ngland who w'as going to become a slieeMvalker. When a lady asked her not to do.so, her reply was, “ Tliat is the only vvay I can get sympathy, I c.m find none to help me now, but let me be a fallen, down-tiodden woman, and then peihaps merciful ladies will come and lake me to a home and do everything they can for me.” We are weeping REPL Y TO THE ADDRESS OF WELCOME AT MANAMADURA 37 for these renegades now, but what did we do for them befnic? Lete\ery one of ns ask ouisebes, what have we learnt; have we taken hold of llie toitii of ti nth, and if so, how far did we cany it? We did not help them then. Thia!>» the question we should ask ourselves. That we did not do so was otir own fault, our own Karma. Let us blame none, let us blame our own Kainia. Mateiialism, 01 Mahommedanism, or Christianity, or any other ism in the woild could never ha\e succeeded but that you allowed them. No bacilli can attack the human tramc until it is degiadcd and degene- lated by vice, bad food, piivalion, and exposuie; the healthy man passes scathle.ss thiough masses of poisonou'. bacilli. And yet there is time to change our ways, (jive up all those old discussions, old lights about things which are meaningless, which aie nonsensical in their very naluie. Think of the la^l six hundred or seven hundied )eais of degradation, when grown-up men by the hundicds have been discussing for \ears, whether we should dunk a glass of watei with the light hand or the lelt, whethei the hand should be washed thiee times 01 foui times, whether we should gaigle five or SIX limes What can you expect from men who pass then lives in discussing such