With the escalation of heated terrorism in the last century, the Swami's words are a cooling balm.
There can be hardness in religion and there can be softness. By the Swami's words, I get the impression that the softness is the stronger.

ADDRESS AT THE FINAL SESSION
27th September, 1893

The World's Parliament of Religions has become an accomplished fact, and the merciful Father has helped those who labored to bring it into existence, and crowned with success their most unselfish labour.

My thanks to those noble souls whose large hearts and love of truth first dreamed this unfearful dream and then realised it. My thanks to the shower of liberal sentiments that has overflowed this platform. My thanks to this enlightened audience for their uniform kindness to me and for their appreciation of every thought that tends to smooth the friction of religions. A few jarring notes were heard from time to time in this harmony. My special thanks to them, for they have, by their striking contrast, made general harmony the sweeter.

Much has been said of the common ground of religious unity. I am not going just now to venture my own theory. But if anyone here hopes that this unity will come by the triumph of anyone of the religions and the destruction of others, to him I say, "Brother, yours is an impossible hope." Do I wish that the Christian would become Hindu? God forbid. Do I wish that the Hindu or Buddhist would become Christian? God forbid.

The seed is put in the ground, and earth and air and water are placed around it. Does the seed become the earth, or the air, or the water? No. It becomes a plant, it develops after the law of its own growth, assimilates the air, the earth, and the water, converts them into plant substance, and grows into a plant.

Similar is the case with religion. The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, not 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 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."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
©The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture
Gol Park, Calcutta - 700 029. West Bengal, India


This website is developed and maintained by Oceanus Creative Technologies

Maybe it's time, that we had another World Parliament
Of Religions.

But where is our beloved Swamiji?

So true.

Greetings to my sisters and brothers. It feels so long since I hve been with you all.

If you visit http://www.cpwr.org/ you will discover Swamiji's inspiration does continue. It took a hundred years! But in September 1993, the Second Parliament of the World's Religions was held in Chicago.'

More larer.

Location: San Diego, California, USA

Dear Sister Jayanti,

So nice to see your posting.

I visited the excellent website you recommended @ URL: http://www.cpwr.org/
and have added links to it, on eight of our Swami Vivekananda Internet pages,
using the banner featured below:



Thanks for sharing this inspirational and timely resource.

Incidentally, I notice that His Holiness, the Dalai Lama is on
The International Advisory Committee of this organization.

This year, 2006, marked a very special occasion, when H.H. The Dalai
Lama was awarded honorary Canadian Citizenship.



Om Shanthi Om
=============