Guru to the World
A Book Review by G Venkatesh
‘We believe not only in universal toleration, but also that all religions
are true.’ – Swami Vivekananda
Think back briefly
to Donald Trump’s mispronunciation of Swami Vivekananda’s name when he had
visited India during his first term as the President of the USA. Stay there
for a while if you must, and then slowly return to understanding more about
‘The Life and Legacy of Vivekananda’ brilliantly sketched by American
historian and academic Ruth Harris
in the three-part (India, the West,
India and the World), 16-
For this book,
Harris has travelled around the world, and interacted with a host of
individuals who have shed light on several aspects of Swami Vivekananda’s
life, work and legacy, and read voraciously, as the Notes at the end of the
book will testify.
Rammohan to Ramakrishna
Born on 12th January 1863,
to Vishvanath and Bhuvaneshwari Dutta, Narendranath (as he was christened at
birth) was a benediction from Lord Shiva to the Duttas. He himself grew up
devoted to Lord Shiva. This devotion, coupled with immersion in rational
Brahmoism and its concomitant cosmopolitanism, adulation of Raja Rammohan
Roy, aversion to polytheism, idol worship, the caste system and the practice
of sati, and reverence for women, were among the many initial steps
on the ladder to his becoming a ‘Guru to the world’. Multi-talented, endowed
with supernatural abilities, extremely service-oriented (an active doer,
conscious as an Advaitist that the God within him – the Absolute
residing in his soul – was the actual actor), an ascetic who defied
conventions and focussed on, and encouraged holistic – physical, mental,
emotional, intellectual and spiritual – development, this Master of many
trades would, within the short span of time allotted to him on Terra
Firma, ascend to spiritual mastery. The soul after all, is housed within
the mental-physical envelope which needs to be attended to.
He was destined to meet Ramakrishna
Paramahansa – a vital step on the aforementioned ladder – unlearn and
relearn a lot after painstaking introspection, en route to leaving
behind a rich legacy, which will continue to guide, inspire, counsel and
encourage humans, be they Hindus or otherwise. ‘Arise, awake, and stop
not till the goal is reached,’ is enough to goad the uninspired onward
to purposeful action.
Man-God shapes the God-Man
Harris contends that knowing
Ramakrishna Paramahansa (the Man-god, incarnation of God) is indispensable
for the understanding of the path Vivekananda (the God-man who elevated
himself by dint of spiritual practices) followed after 1882, and takes
readers through a (semi-)hagiographical account of the mystic’s life,
detailing his radical experientialism, his ‘playing’ out of curiosity with a
host of spiritual practices, and thereby concluding that all religions and
spiritual practices lead to the same end-goal – understanding the Divine.
Ramakrishna’s ‘celibate, spiritual
marriage’ to Sarada Devi, his emphasis on the need for lived experiences as
a true seeker of the Truth, his fierce, unparalleled determination, and his
ability to elucidate and simplify complex truths by resorting to metaphors
of common daily-use objects, were among the attractors which drew
Vivekananda towards Ramakrishna. The latter adhered to Bhakti Yoga (being a
mystic, that is quite obvious), while the former was more of a
Karma/Jnana-Yogi. This difference simply served to consolidate their
Guru-shishya bond. After Ramakrishna’s passing-away, Sarada Devi became
the Holy Mother to Vivekananda, blessing, advising and instructing him in
his efforts to unite spiritual endeavours (Jnana Yoga and subsequent
transcendence), and public service (the Karma Yoga part of realising self
and thereby God). Indeed, both Ramakrishna and Vivekananda supported
universalism, with the former having also ‘experienced’ and ‘lived’ Islam
and Christianity, to ascertain that all paths converged to the same end-goal
referred to earlier. Harris’ account, one must say, tends to bring
Ramakrishna back to life in the mind’s inner eye.
Blending responsible ‘householderism’
(devotion and service to his biological mother)
with his spiritual quest, Vivekananda became the legatee of
Ramakrishna’s ‘words and deeds’, in the interest of an ‘expansive
spirituality’. As Harris details in the chapters that follow, he would go on
to accomplish a great deal to sustain Ramakrishna’s spiritual passion for
the sake of ‘redemption of the world’ ( he would refer to Jesus Christ here,
while exhorting the disciples to understand their true calling in their
lives), in the 16 years between Ramakrishna’s passing-away and his own
Samadhi. Harris ends
the first part with a chapter focusing on Vivekananda’s travels within the
Indian sub-continent and his interactions with Dalits, Sadhus, princes,
Buddhists, Muslims, Sikhs and Jains…‘experientialism’ and ‘spiritual
universalism’ as sound and reliable foundations to base one’s spiritual
ascension and self/God-realisation on. (Mahama Gandhi would likewise learn
more about the plight of the poor and underprivileged in India by travelling
around the country, and find impetus therein, for India’s freedom struggle)
Travelled, observed, contemplated, spoke…
Julius Caeser’s ‘Veni,
Vidi, Vici’, can be recast thus, in the case of the imprints Vivekananda
has left behind on and for humankind. One may add many more constructive
verbs to the mix, and note, as Harris has done, that Vivekananda encouraged
the disciples (sons of his Master Ramakrishna, as he referred to them often)
to read books outside of their traditions, and expand the scope of their
knowledge, to appreciate the fact that all things were somehow interlinked,
the interlinkages revealing themselves to the discerning eye. His assumed
spiritual name ‘Vivekananda’ in Sanskrit, translates to Bliss from
Discernment! (The author informs that en route from Narendranath to
Vivekananda, there were ‘Vividishananda’ and ‘Satchitadananda’ in the
name-train.). Harris points out that though he travelled extensively for
sure, he always held the view that ‘There is no greater tirtha (holy
place with a history and a mythological connection which is considered to be
an intersection of the physical /terrestrial and the spiritual realms) than
the body of man.’ This links to
his aforesaid insistence on holistic personal development, and solicitude
for the mortal cage of the spirit soul.
Supported by,
inter alia, his Tamilian disciple Alasinga Perumal, inspired by dreams
of Ramakrishna (who had blessed him and foretold his voyage out of India),
and motivated by encouragement from Sarada Devi who urged him to travel to
the World Parliament on Religions (WPR) in Chicago (USA), Vivekananda
set sail for the North American Pacific coast. Harris narrates how
Providence was always by the Swami’s side, with help manifesting
unexpectedly, and cementing some strong bonds of friendship in the process.
Harris introduces readers to different speakers at the WPR, and
thereby to varying perspectives on religion, spirituality and life on earth,
whom Vivekananda had the opportunity to listen to. The ‘listening’ enabled
the ‘speaking’ later on, to clear misunderstandings and suspicions about
Hinduism and Vedanta, through, inter alia,
the simile of the banyan tree with its branches to indicate the 330
million gods and goddesses linked to One Reality, and parables
‘Jesus-style’.
…and influenced
Vivekananda’s
eloquence magnified by the power of his ‘musical, deep-baritone, resonant
voice’, and his quick-wittedness and wry humour, endeared him to audiences
whenever he spoke/lectured, particularly women in the West, many of whom
helped him to disseminate his messages about Vedanta and universalism.
Harris has a separate chapter titled ‘Women East and West’, to bring out the
importance Vivekananda assigned to women as potential transformers of
humankind, with the ability to direct humans onto the path of spirituality
to commune with Godhead and arouse faith in an otherwise disenchanted
populace. He wanted to rid the world of chivalry and assign a new meaning to
the reverence for womanhood, by making women aware of their inherent
strengths, and the fact that if they got rid of socio-religious
conditioning, they would at once realise that they had it in them to stand
on their own two feet, and lead, preach and teach.
Harris has
referred to him as a ‘representative of an enlightened ancient culture, and
the future of a universal spiritual tendency, the Guardian of the Threshold
and the door to new spiritual climes / muscle-building, man-making warrior
monk of renunciation, both for the poor and the nation / magnetic
personality embodying a set of ideas, sentiments and principles and
engendering faith.’ This set of ideas included, among several others,
Advaita (monism), the power of Raja Yoga, and a belief in the
fact that modern science and religion/spirituality are veritably
comrades-in-arms, and do not work at cross-purposes with each other.
The author brings
in several characters (and their ‘nano-biographies’, if such a term could be
used) – William James, Sara Bull, Sarah Farmer, Max Mueller, Christine
Greenstidel, Josephine MacLeod, Leon Landsberg, Edward Sturdy, Charlotte and
Henry Sevier, Margaret Noble (more popular later as Sister Nivedita, after
she arrived in India in 1898, to lead a life of service till 1911, the year
she passed away), among others -
when she discusses the post-WPR experiences and interactions of Vivekananda
with people in the USA (especially New York, New England and California) and
Great Britain, and the differences/similarities among his ideas and beliefs
and those of others. Vivekananda’s influence on those he met and spoke with,
as well as those who read his works later on, is communicated both
implicitly and explicitly in different chapters.
While he found
followers and supporters, there were also detractors who fell out owing to
differences and misunderstandings (due to Vivekananda’s habit of smoking and
tendency to over-eat, both of which were deemed to be unbecoming of an
ascetic).
Homecoming…as foretold by his Guru
After leaving his
‘soul-prints’ and ‘mind-prints’ in the West, Vivekananda returned to India
in 1897, and travelled tirelessly across the ‘Motherland’s’ length and
breadth doing what he had always resolved to do – infuse ‘practical Vedanta’
into the minds and hearts of Indians (Hindus rather), cultivate self-belief
and self-acceptance among them, develop their lost individuality, and
democratise/universalise Advaita, so that it would be open to all. ‘Uplift
from the bottom instead of destruction from the top’ was what he advocated,
in order to realise the practical and spiritual (‘soteriological’) purpose
latent in the ‘diversity and dynamism’ of the caste system in Hinduism.
‘You must give
your body, mind and speech to the welfare of the world. Spread ideas, go
from village to village, door to door, only then can you do real work,’ he
used to remind disciples and audiences in general, and advocated doing this
disinterestedly, not for name or fame, but in the true spirit of the ethical
activism of Karma Yoga – worshipping God in His universal as well as
individual aspect, through service. He was of the view that ‘service to the
poor, illiterate, ignorant and afflicted is the highest religion.’
Service for him was the primary sacrifice, not the practice of
austerities. He urged his followers to combine immense idealism with immense
practicality – paradoxical but something one can very well strive towards.
Harris notes that Vivekananda ardently wished that India woke up from her
age-long slumber and took her true rank in the hierarchy of nations, and
describes the roles played by fellow-disciples of Ramakrishna
(Trigunatitananda, Akhandananda, Turiyananda, Ramakrishnananda among
others), alongwith and after Vivekananda. A large chunk of the third part of
the book is devoted to Sister Nivedita – the ‘Celtic lioness’ in
Vivekananda’s words - who quite
like her Guru, in a short span of time, contributed a lot to the causes
espoused by Vivekananda (the Ramakrishna Math and Sri Sarada Math), and left
behind a beautiful legacy to treasure and honour. (Sister Nivedita at once
reminds this reviewer of Mother Teresa (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu), who came
later to the very same city (Calcutta) to serve the diseased and
downtrodden.) Both Vivekananda and Sister Nivedita were prolific writers –
Harris has referred to their works contextually - and their writings/books
continue to teach and inspire, mould and enlighten.
Vivekananda’s last
conversation with Margaret Noble is redolent of that of Jesus’s with the
apostles at the Last Supper! The leonine-heart, lofty soul and brilliant
mind, had to endure the limits of the mortal frame which bore the brunt of
‘the years of wandering and ferocious schedule’…eternal peace came his way
when he was a little over 39 years of age, on the 4th of July
1902…his soul bid adieu to the terrestrial plane. His Atman lives on,
and his work and teachings continue to guide and inspire anyone willing to
take heed, like beacons in the rough seas of worldly existence.
This review must
end here, and serve the purpose of motivating readers to fetch a copy of
Ruth Harris’s Guru to the World…not merely to read and relegate to the
book-shelf, but ponder and apply whatever they can, in their quotidian
existence...to make it a little more special!
Title:
Guru To The World: The Life and Legacy of
Vivekananda
Author: Ruth Harris
Available:
Amazon