conclusion of his speech:

'The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor is a Hindu or

a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of
the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his
own law of growth. If the Parliament of Religions has shown any thing 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".'
The Parliament of Religions offered Swami Vivekananda the long desired
opportunity to present before the Western world the eternal and universal
truths of his Aryan ancestors. And he rose to the occasion. As he stood on the
platform to give his message, he formed, as it were, the confluence of two great
streams of thought, the two ideals that had moulded human culture. The vast
audience before him represented exclusively the Occidental mind young, alert,
restless, inquisitive, tremendously honest, well disciplined, and at ease with t
he
physical universe, but sceptical about the profundities of the supersensuous
world and unwilling to accept spiritual truths without rational proof. And behin
d
him lay the ancient world of India, with its diverse religious and philosophical
discoveries, with its saints and prophets who investigated Reality through selfc
ontrol
and contemplation, unruffled by the passing events of the transitory life
and absorbed in contemplation of the Eternal Verities. Vivekananda's education,
upbringing, personal experiences, and contact with the God-man of modern
India had pre-eminently fitted him to represent both ideals and to remove their
apparent conflict.
To Vivekananda the religion of the Hindus, based upon the teachings of the
Vedas, appeared adequate to create the necessary synthesis. By the Vedas he did
not mean any particular book containing the words of a prophet or deriving
sanction from a supernatural authority, but the accumulated treasure of
spiritual laws discovered by various Indian seers in different times. Just as th
e
law of gravitation existed before its discovery, and would continue to exist eve
n
if all humanity forgot it, so do the laws that govern the spiritual world exist
independently of our knowledge of them. The moral, ethical, and spiritual
relations between soul and soul, and between individual spirits and the Father
of all spirits, were in existence before their discovery, and will remain even i
f we
forget them. Regarding the universal character of the Hindu faith the Swami
said: 'From the high spiritual flights of the Vedanta philosophy, of which the
latest discoveries of science seem like echoes, to the low ideas of idolatry wit
h its
multifarious mythology, the agnosticism of the Buddhists, and the atheism of
the Jains, each and all have a place in Hindu religion.'
The young, unknown monk of India was transformed overnight into an
outstanding figure of the religious world. From obscurity he leapt to fame. His
life-size portraits were posted in the streets of Chicago, with words 'The Monk
Vivekananda' written beneath them and many passers-by would stop to do
reverence with bowed heads.
Dr. J.H. Barrows, Chairman of the General Committee of the Parliament of
Religions, said: 'Swami Vivekananda exercised a wonderful influence over his
auditors,' and Mr. Merwin-Marie Snell stated, more enthusiastically: 'By far the
most important and typical representative of Hinduism was Swami
Vivekananda, who, in fact, was beyond question the most popular and
influential man in the Parliament....He was received with greater enthusiasm
than any other speaker, Christian or pagan. The people thronged about him
wherever he went and hung with eagerness on his every word. The most rigid of
orthodox Christians say of him, "He is indeed a prince among men!"'
Newspapers published his speeches and they were read with warm interest all
over the country. The New York Herald said: 'He is undoubtedly the greatest
figure in the Parliament of Religions. After hearing him we feel how foolish it
is
to send missionaries to this learned nation.' The Boston Evening Post said: 'He
is
a great favourite at the Parliament from the grandeur of his sentiments and his
appearance as well. If he merely crosses the platform he is applauded; and this
marked approval of thousands he accepts in a childlike spirit of gratification
without a trace of conceit....At the Parliament of Religions they used to keep
Vivekananda until the end of the programme to make people stay till the end of
the session....The four thousand fanning people in the Hall of Columbus would
sit smiling and expectant, waiting for an hour or two to listen to Vivekananda
for fifteen minutes. The chairman knew the old rule of keeping the best until th
e
last.'
It is one of the outstanding traits of Americans to draw out the latent greatnes
s
of other people. America discovered Vivekananda and made a gift of him to India
and the world.
The reports of the Parliament of Religions were published in the Indian
magazines and newspapers. The Swami's vindication of the Hindu faith filled
with pride the hearts of his countrymen from Colombo to Almora, from Calcutta
to Bombay. The brother monks at the Baranagore monastery were not, at first,
clear about the identity of Vivekananda. A letter from the Swami, six months
after the Parliament, removed all doubts, however, and how proud they felt at
the achievement of their beloved Naren!
But how did Vivekananda himself react to this triumph, which had been the
fulfilment of his long cherished desire? He knew that his solitary life as a mon
k
in constant communion with God was at an end; he could no longer live in
obscurity with his dreams and visions. Instead of dwelling in peace and serenity
,
he was thrown into the vortex of a public career with its ceaseless turmoil and
demands. When he returned to his hotel the night after the first meeting of the
Parliament, he wept like a child.
After he had delivered his message in the Parliament, the Swami suffered no
longer from material wants. The doors of the wealthy were thrown open. Their
lavish hospitality made him sick at heart when he remembered the crushing
poverty of his own people. His anguish became so intense one night that he
rolled on the floor, groaning: 'O Mother, what do I care for name and fame when
my motherland remains sunk in utmost poverty? To what a sad pass have we
poor Indians come when millions of us die for want of a handful of rice, and her
e
they spend millions of rupees upon their personal comfort! Who will raise the
masses of India? Who will give them bread? Show me, O Mother, how I can help
them.' While addressing one session of the Parliament, the Swami had said that
what India needed was not religion, but bread. Now he began to study American
life in its various aspects, especially the secret of the country's high standar
d of
living and he communicated to his disciples in India his views on the promotion
of her material welfare.
Swami Vivekananda was invited by a lecture bureau to tour the United States,
and he accepted the offer. He wanted money in order to free himself from
obligation to his wealthy friends and also to help his various philanthropic and
religious projects in India. Further, he thought that through a lecture bureau h
e
could effectively broadcast his ideas all over the American continent and thus
remove from people's minds erroneous notions regarding Hindu religion and
society. Soon he was engaged in a whirlwind tour covering the larger cities of t
he
East and the Middle West. People called him the 'cyclonic Hindu'. He visited,
among other places, Iowa City, Des Moines, Memphis, Indianapolis,
Minneapolis, Detroit, Buffalo, Hartford, Boston, Cambridge, New York,