IMPORTANCE OF 11TH SEPTEMBER

Today is the day : 11th September. In recent years this day is remembered by many for other reason which has left a negative impression and impact on the human civilization. But this day needs to be remembered with due importance and with a high positive spirit; for this motivating and encouraging fact, on this day of 1893, Swami Vivekananda, the great Soul of Modern Humanity/World, delivered his historic, immortal and world-famous speech at The World’s  Parliament of Religions in Chicago starting with "Sisters and Brothers of America ...."  My absolute pleasure to share the text of this everlasting speech.

Hope this enlightens and motivates all of us and make us a better human being with happiness, love, peace, prosperity and unity.

11th September, 1893

"Sisters and Brothers of America,

 (followed by huge applaud from the audience of approximately 7000 people, which lasted for 2 minutes)

It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. l thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world; I thank you in the name of the mother of religions; and I thank you in the name of the millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects. My thanks, also, to some of the speakers on this platform who, referring to the delegates from the Orient, have told you that these men from far-off nations may well claim the honor of bearing to different lands the idea of toleration. 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. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to the southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: 

 As the different streams having there sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to thee.

The present convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world, of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Geeta:

Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to me. 

Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization, and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal."

 

27th September, 1893

(Addressing at the Final Session, Swamiji provided the great Solution to the unity of world human civilization, the end portion of the speech goes as follows)

If the Parliament of Religions has shown anything to the world it is this: It has proved to the world that holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this evidence, if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be written, in spite of resistance: ‘Help and not Fight’, ‘Assimilation and not Destruction’, ‘Harmony and Peace and not Dissension’.

To explore more - please visit:

- COMPLETE WORKS of SWAMI VIVEKANANDA: Complete Works - Index - Volumes

- Ramakrishna Math & Mission:  http://www.belurmath.org/swamivivekananda.htm

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