Impact of Swami Vivekananda:s Voyage To The West

Press Release 07/10/2003

Swami Vivekananda became a torchbearer of Indian spiritual traditions during

and after his visit to Chicago in 1893 at the World Parliament of Religions. His
message continues to resonate in India and rest of the world for its sharpness,
forthrightness, and above all its universality to humanity. For these reasons an
International Conference on "Impact of Swami Vivekananda�s Voyage to the
West" was organized by the Center for Indic Studies at University of
Massachusetts Dartmouth for the first time to gather scholars from academia,
research institutions and the Ramakrishna movement on June 28 & 29, 2003.

Several issues ranging from mystical co-incidents to Swami Vivekananda�s

relevance to modern science and society come to the fore during the two-day
conference, which was attended by over 80 scholars and academics. Professor
Sukalyan Sengupta, the Coordinator of the Conference explained in his opening
remarks that this conference was unique in that it provided a platform for
academic scholars who have researched about Swami Vivekananda and the
Ramakrishna Mission/Vedanta Society movement, monks and nuns of the
Ramakrishna order, intellectuals who have been inspired by Swamiji, and
students to freely exchange ideas and learn from each other. He then pointed out
�approximately half-rule� of Swami Vivekananda�s life. According to this very
knacky insight, Professor Sengupta pointed out that of the 40 years of Swami�s
life (1863-1902), he had 20 years of spiritual life (after he met Sri Ramakrishna in
1881), 10 years of public lectures (after 1893 World Parliament of Religions), 5
years of spiritual training (between 1881 and 1886 when Sri Ramakrishna
passed away), and 2-1/2 years of his stay in US during his first historical visit.

The inaugural address, "Rediscovering Vivekananda in the East and the West",
was delivered by Swami Tyagananda of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society of
Boston. He eloquently sketched out how this process of rediscovery could be
divided into three channels: literature, work and reflection. Swami Tyagananda
pointed out how biographies of Swami Vivekananda were either too adulatory
and India-centric or aimed solely to make him seem more human. Unfortunately,
these two camps seldom communicate with each other. The time is surely ripe
for an unbiased biography to analyze Swami Vivekananda�s position in a much-
changed world. Swami Tyagananda also outlined how numerous organizations
have been inspired by Swami Vivekananda�s message and carry out
philanthropic work/social service. Finally, he enunciated how rediscovering
Swami Vivekananda depends much on our personal outlook.

The Conference was organized on three themes. The keynote speech on the first
theme, "Western Approach Toward Indian Spiritual Traditions After Swami
Vivekananda", was delivered by Prof. Carl Jackson, Dept. of History, University
of Texas at El Paso. Titled "Turning East: American Interest in the Asian
Religions since the 1890s", he elaborated how there was some interest in Asian
religions in the US since the 18th century but it exploded after Swami
Vivekananda�s address at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893.
Pravrajika Gayatriprana of the Vedanta Society of Southern California,
Hollywood, CA, in her speech on "Swami Vivekananda's Contribution to the New
Age" outlined how the New Age movement began and blossomed and more
importantly, how Swami Vivekananda provided unique insight and philosophical
underpinnings to the major players of this movement.

Rina Chakravarti of the University of Toronto, Canada, shared results of her

extensive research on an area that was not known before, the fact that Swami
Vivekananda was invited to an event similar to the Parliament of Religions in
Canada in 1895 and Swamiji had accepted the invitation but then his invitation
was rescinded at the behest of leaders of various Christian denominations. Peter
Huff of the Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport, LA, shared his views on
"Vivekananda's Contribution to Christology: A Christian Appreciation". Jay
Lakhani of the Vivekananda Centre in London provided clear evidence of how
swami Vivekananda's views regarding inter-religious dialogue were radical at that
time in the sense that he exhorted people to move beyond mere acceptance of
other religions to respect for all religions because they are all different ways to
the same final goal. Swami Atmarupananda of Vivekananda Retreat, Ridgely,
NY, in his speech on "Swami Vivekananda's Quest for a New Foundation for
World Thought" eloquently showed how civilization seemed to be unable to deal
with the issues confronting Western society in the late nineteenth century and
how Swami Vivekananda provided a new way of thought and action to overcome
the challenges.

The keynote of the second theme, "Applicability Of Swami Vivekananda's

Message To The Contemporary World" was delivered by Prof. Hal French of
University of South Carolina. His paper explored Swami Vivekananda's legacy of
freedom in three spheres, 1) in the quality of his personal relationships, 2) in
social service, and 3), in shared religion expression and its universal validity. Dr.
Sitansu Chakravarti presented his thoughts on "How the World Expects to
Benefit From Swami Vivekananda Today�. Mrs. Manju Kumar of Delhi Public
School, India, presented her paper on Swamiji�s views on education and how
they should be applied in contemporary education. Mr. Jay Lakhani spoke on
Swamiji's approach in combining science and spirituality.

The inaugural speech of day two titled "Swami Vivekananda and Today's World"
was given by Swami Yogeshananda of the Vedanta Center of Atlanta. He
postulated Swami Vivekananda's views on contemporary issues such as the
environment, crime, family structure, etc. The keynote speech of the third theme
�Swami Vivekananda�s Interpretations Of Hinduism� was delivered by Prof.
Anantnand Rambachan of St. Olaf College, MN. Titled "Hinduism, Hindutva and
the contest for the Meaning of Hindu Identity", he pointed the differences of
opinion between Swami Vivekananda and V. D. Savarkar regarding the very
important question, "Who is a Hindu"? Prof. Makarand Paranjape of Jawaharlal
Nehru University, New Delhi in his speech "Representing Swami Vivekananda:
Bhakti, History, and Ideology " pointed out the dilemma faced by scholars when
they try to reconcile events in Swamiji's life as provided by his devotees and that
questioned by historians/critics. Prof. Tenneti Rao, UMass Lowell, MA, in his
lecture "Religious Harmony Based on Parabhakti" enunciated how different
traditions converge in thoughts as related to higher level of bhakti. Prof. Jeffrey
Long of Elizabethtown College, PA, spoke on how Swami Vivekananda played a
critical role in incorporating tenets of Buddhism in the intellectual corpus of
Hinduism.

A Panel Discussion on "Swami Vivekananda: The Next 100 Years" explored how
swami Vivekananda's life, his message, and the organization that he founded
(Ramakrishna Math and Mission, Vedanta Societies) would continue to show a
path to individuals toward inner peace and lead societies and nations toward
greater harmony and understanding.