The Sanyasin and the Billionaire

One prominent American whose mind Swami Vivekananda read was John D. Rockefeller- the founder of Standard Oil, the parent company of today’s Exxon Mobil. Rockefeller met Swami Vivekananda in the 1890s. At the time Rockefeller was in his mid-fifties and an exceptionally wealthy man, having amassed a huge fortune.

Where Vivekananda stayed at in Chicago was the house of a friend of John Rockefeller. He did not want to meet Swamiji, but was pushed to it by an impulse and went directly to the house of his friend, brushing aside the butler who opened the door and saying that he wanted to see the Hindu monk.

The butler ushered him into the living room, and, not waiting to be announced, Rockefeller entered into Swamiji’s adjoining study and was much surprised, I presume, to see Swamiji behind his writing table not even lifting his eyes to see who had entered. He felt insulted.

They started to talk. After a while, Swamiji told Rockefeller much of his past that was not known to any but himself, and made him understand that the money he had already earned was not his, that he was only a medium and that his duty was to do good to the world and help those in need. Rockefeller was annoyed that anyone dared to talk to him that way and tell him what to do. He left the room in irritation, not even saying goodbye.

But about a week after, again he entered Swamiji’s study and, finding him the same as before, threw on his desk a paper which told of his plans to donate an enormous sum of money toward the financing of a public institution.

“Well, there you are”, he said. “You must be satisfied now, and you can thank me for it.”

 Madame Drinette Verdier, to whom this incident was narrated by Emma Calve,  wrote  in her Journal  : Swamiji didn’t even lift his eyes, did not move. Then taking the paper, he quietly read it, saying: “It is for you to thank me”. That was all. This was Rockefeller’s first large donation to the public welfare.

If John Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry, he also redefined corporate philanthropy in the United States. Fifteen years later, the Rockefeller Foundation was established. to “promote the well-being of mankind throughout the world.”  .The Foundation pioneered the development of medical research, helped eradicate hookworm and yellow fever, and took far reaching initiatives in public health and education in both the U S and the less developed regions of the world.

Rockefeller died at the age of 98. He wrote sometime in his late seventies,  “I am sure it is a mistake to assume that the possession of money in great abundance necessarily brings happiness. The very rich are just like all the rest of us; and if they get pleasure from the possession of money, it comes from their ability to do things which give satisfaction to someone besides themselves.”  Today the foundation work is being emulated by many other big foundations working around the world.

As Vivekananda says “This unselfishness is the test of religion. He who has more unselfishness is more spiritual and nearer to Siva (God). Whether he is learned or ignorant, whether he knows it or not, he is nearer to Siva than anybody else.”

Ek Bharat Vijayi Bharat

            Kanyakumari-based Vivekanand Kendra and its state units has launched a year-long nation-wide contact programme to spread the messages of Swami Vivekananda. The mass contact programme (Sampark) , titled "Ek Bharat Vijayi Bharat", coincides with the 50th foundation year of Vivekanand Rock Memorial (VRM) in Kanyakumari and will be launched on September 1, 2019. Involving around 20,000 workers of around 1,005 units of Vivekanand Kendra across the country, the programme has started with a meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind on September 1, 2019.

The purpose of our Sampark is

 1) To take the message of Swami Vivekananda to the people - The message is : Being part of the society, we should give our sometime for the good works in society; serve man, serve god; and India has a message for the world thus with our work we should enable India to give her message.

2) To tell the inspiring story of Vivekananda Rock Memorial ( VRM ) to the people, which is a constructive example that if we come together in the interest of the nation then great works are achieved.

3) To tell them about the activities of Vivekananda Kendra. 

The programme will also focus on making people aware of the inspiring story of Vivekanand Rock Memorial and the activities of Vivekanand Kendra.

About VRM:

Swami Vivekananda Meditated on the rock at Kanyakumari for 3 days 25. 26 and 27 Dec 1892. He found his mission in Life and he vowed to restore the lost glory of India. During the birth centenary celebration of Swami Vivekananda, it was decided that a memorial be built on the rock.

Shri Eknath ji Ranande took up the task of bringing together, not only the manpower, but also the money power required to build this memorial. Getting consent of all members of parliament, 323 then was a challenging task. Getting the blue print of plan approved by the political parties and religious heads was another challenge. All was done with an indomitable spirit and commitment by Eknath ji.

The  required huge sum of money for construction. Just a contribution of one rupee each was taken from citizens.  85 lakhs were collected in this manner. The central and state governments also contributed to this effort. On 2^nd September 1970 this memorial was inaugurated.

The memorial stands on a mid-sea rock off the Kanyakumari shore where Swami Vivekananda meditated in December 1892 and decided to restore the glory of Bharat.  Vivekananda Kendra works in the field of yoga, education, rural development, youth motivation, natural resource development, cultural research among other areas.

Architect of Vivekananda Kendra

               Eknath Ramkrishna Ranade , popularly referred to as Eknathji, was a social activist and leader, motivated by the twin spirits of nationalism and spiritualism. Ranade was greatly influenced by the teachings of Vivekananda  In 1963, during the centenary year of  Swami Vivekananda's birth, he published a selection of Vivekananda's writing under the title” Rousing call to Hindu Nation”, as a personal tribute to the great leader.

                The same year, Ranade conceived the idea of building a monument to Vivekananda at the mid-sea rock location near Kanyakumari, where Vivekananda had meditated for three days in December 1892. After receiving enthusiastic responses to the scheme from RSS chief Shri. Golwalkar and other people who believed in the work of Vivekananda, Ranade established the Vivekananda Rock Memorial Organising Committee and became its Organizing Secretary. The Rock Memorial was completed in 1970, and inaugurated by the then President of India, V.V.Giri on 2 September.

                The whole process of making of this memorial was filled with difficulties at the start. Hurdles came from local community of fishermen and from people who belonged to other religions. In the heart of heart Ranande knew that all believed in Vivekananda who had never belittled any religion, nor hurt sentiments of anyone in India or abroad. In fact the whole thought of Universal Brotherhood was itself given by Swamiji. Political parties to had their agenda for not supporting the initiative at first.

               But Eknath Ranande overcame each and every hurdle. Politically he collected signatures of all members of parliament, 300 then, and got approval to build the memorial. People of Tamil Nadu too after initial resistance from fishing community, supported the idea. Ranade led a cadre of volunteers to raise funds for construction from donors across the country; state governments and the central GOI also contributed towards the Rs.12.5 million fund total. Each individual donated a sum of Rs one only and funds were raised from among the masses.

                  Today great work is being done by Vivekananda Kendra at the Rock Memorial. More than 900 branches of the kendra are active all over India.  Projects in the field of education, medical aid, disaster relief, cultural heritage and other such activities are happening all across India. In North East, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam have maximum number of Kendriya Vidyalayas which are doing excellent work of supporting the people there.

                  Eknathji died on 22 August and his mortal remains lie at Vivekanandapuram where the good work that he started is still being done by all the masses across India and Abroad. Let us remember this Karmayogi of our nation on his death anniversary.

Vivekananda and Freedom

"Freedom is the goal of  nature, sentient or insentient and consciously or unconsciously everything is struggling towards that goal” said Vivekananda. The whole universe is but a manifestation of that freedom.

Vivekananda was not only a spiritual leader of our nation, but also was a staunch nationalist. His vision of India was that of deity, Mother India. He worshipped her. His whole and sole objective was to arouse the physical and mental strength of the masses of this country to see his nation as a prosperous nation. The poverty that he saw all around broke his heart. He taught people to get rid first of self inflicted bondages and resultant miseries.

 “Let a new India arise out of the peasant’s cottage grasping the plough; out of the hearts of the fisherman, the cobbler and the sweeper. Let her spring from the grocer’s shop, from beside the oven of the fritter-seller. Let her emanate from the factory, from the marts and from the markets. Let her emerge from the groves and forests, from the hills and mountains”

He therefore started his work of making the masses aware of the glorious ancient heritage of India. His nationalism is based on Humanism and Universalism, the two cardinal features of Indian spiritual culture. He is therefore considered as an architect of Modern India. His speeches motivated and charged many of the well known personalities in history of India. He could never openly condemn the Britishers , because he was a Sanyasi first. Secondly he never wanted to waste his energy on political issues , for his work lay in the area of spiritualism and arousing the masses for doing great work. He said that in India religion was the basis of freedom. He laid stress on Unity among all religions. This only he felt would give strength to the nation. He said diversity in religion was a sign of life of the nation

Great men and women who have contributed to India have been influenced by Vivekananda. Dr. Radhakrishnan has observed “Nationalism is a political religion which stirs the hearts and wills of men and rouses them to service and self sacrifice in a way that no purely religious movements have done in recent times.” Much before this observation Swami Vivekananda stirred the hearts and minds of Indians with enthusiasm for strength and fearlessness; ready for service and self sacrifice for nation.

          Bal Gangadhar Tilak equated Swami Vivekananda with Shankaracharya, who revived our spirituality in the later half of 19^th century. Rabindranath Tagore suggested "If you want to know India, study Vivekananda. In him everything is positive and nothing negative." Sri Aurobindo has said: "Vivekananda was a soul of puissance if ever there was one, a very lion among men, but the definite work he has left behind quite incommensurate with our impression of his creative might and energy. 

In 1893, during the journey from Yokohama to Canada on the ship Empress, Vivekananda accidentally met Jamsetji Tata who was also going to Chicago. During the conversation Vivekananda told Tata about the necessity of establishing a world class scientific Institution in India and this encouraged Tata to establish the Indian Institute of Science, which gradually became one of India's best-known research centres in pure sciences in India.

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose considered Vivekananda as his spiritual teacher. He called Vivekananda a "full-blooded masculine personality – and a fighter to the core of being". Bose told, under the "sacred influence" of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda his own life got awakened.Vinoba Bhave praised Vivekananda's contribution to make Indians' conscious of their strength and said that he showed them their shortcomings and defects and taught them to overcome these. He further mentioned that at the time of Vivekananda people of India were shrouded in tamas ignorance and un wisdom, and failed to distinguish between weakness and non-attachment and peace. In such a situation Vivekananda brought new light and he taught "The same Soul resides in each and all" and suggested to serve mankind considering them manifestations of God daridrinarayan (meaning: "poverty stricken god").

C.Rajgopalachari , the first Indian Governer Genral of India said , Vivekananda saved Hinduism and India. He stated that we owe everything to Vivekananda. Gandhi confessed that his love for India grew manifold after reading Vivekananda. The first Vice-President and the second President of independent India .S.Radhakrishnan said that Vivekananda's was born in a "critical period" when the nation and her people were collapsing in "despair, frustration and hopelessness" and in such circumstances Vivekananda's teachings gave them new hope and taught them to rely on spiritual resources. Pranab Mukherjee said that his work paved way for growth based on mutual acceptance of people for each other. Jayalalitha, Anna Hazare, Baba Ramdev, and many more are ardent followers of Vivekananda .

Present Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi’s life has been influenced to a very large extent by Vivekananda. One can see it in his goal oriented approach of living life according to principles of Karma Yoga. No wonder we have achieved so much politically and socially in such a short time within our country. Our PM is living swamijis dream.....

As Vivekananda said, "Great works are to be done, wonderful powers have to be worked out, we have to teach other nations many things”

Lessons from Japan

Vivekananda traveled to Japan on his way to Chicago where he went to attend the World Parliament of Religions. From Hong Kong he landed at the port city of Nagasaki in mid-1893, and boarded a steamer to Kobe. From here to took the land route to Yokohama, visiting along the way, the three big cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo. He called the Japanese "one of the cleanest people on earth", and was impressed not only by neatness of their streets and dwellings but also by their movements, attitudes and gestures, all of which he found to be "picturesque".

“Their little houses are cage-like, and their pine-covered evergreen little hills form the background of almost every town and village. The short-statured, fair-skinned, quaintly-dressed Japanese, their movements, attitudes, gestures, everything is picturesque. Japan is the land of the picturesque! Almost every house has a garden at the back, very nicely laid out according to Japanese fashion with small shrubs, grass-plots, small artificial waters, and small stone bridges. From Nagasaki to Kobe. Here I gave up the steamer and took the land route to Yokohama, with a view to see the interior of Japan.”

The visit happened at a time when the Japanese were undergoing change. The Meiji reformers - had just completed the first phase of a major transformation of everything in Japan. Anything that was traditional - religion, social structure, education, government - was being considered decadent, and was being replaced with Western models.

This was also a period of rapid military build-up in Japan - a prelude to the Sino-Japanese War (1894) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904). These preparations did not escape the attention of Vivekananda, who wrote - "The Japanese seem now to have fully awakened themselves to the necessity of the present times. They have now a thoroughly organized army equipped with guns which one of their own officers has invented and which is said to be second to none. Then, they are continually increasing their navy".

About the industrial progress he observed, "The match factories are simply a sight to see, and they are bent upon making everything they want in their own country.". Osaka was a great manufacturing town.

Vivekananda observed, the Japanese had “taken everything from the Europeans, but they remain Japanese all the same” while in India, “the terrible mania of becoming Westernized has seized upon us like a plague.”

After his return from India he was asked whether India should ape Japan. Vivekananda said no.

He said, “The faith of the Japanese in themselves, and their love for their country. When you have men who are ready to sacrifice their everything for their country, sincere to the backbone — when such men arise, India will become great in every respect. It is the men that make the country! What is there in the country? If you catch the social morality and the political morality of the Japanese, you will be as great as they are. The Japanese are ready to sacrifice everything for their country, and they have become a great people. But you are not; you cannot be, you sacrifice everything only for your own families and possessions.”

Prime Minister Of Japan Mr Abe remembered Vivekananda in his speech titled "Confluence of the Two Seas"at the parliament in India in 2007.

 “Vivekananda came to be acquainted with Tenshin Okakura, a man ahead of his time in early modern Japan and a type of Renaissance man. Okakura was then guided by Vivekananda and enjoyed also a friendship with Sister Nivedita, Vivekananda's loyal disciple and a distinguished female social reformer. Many people are aware of all that.” He remembered Swamijis speech at Chicago and said “"help and not fight," "assimilation and not destruction," "harmony and peace and not dissension." This is what the world needs today. We are still in a state of slumber. We need to arise and love our country.

“Comfort is no test of truth. Truth is often far from being comfortable.” 
― Swami Vivekananda

Youthful adventures in search of truth

Swami Vivekananda was born in Kolkatta. His real name was Narendranath, but was lovingly called Biley by all. He was extremely lively and playful child. He was also fearless. He had a photographic memory. He loved books as much as he loved the arts. Small incidents from his life speak volumes about the making of Swami Vivekananda. His childhood tales describe the life of a monk who would conquer the world by his intellect and humbleness. 

            Once when small, he and his friends played a game of meditation. While all sat in meditation,  cobra appeared. All children except Biley opened their eyes and started running. Narendra sat motionless in meditation. From a distance the others watched in admiration. The cobra did not harm him, instead slithered away quietly. So deep was his connection with God that nobody would dare disturb him.

Another incident occurred when they used to play in garden and climb trees particularly the Champak tree. The owner was fed up with children disturbing, so he told them that a Rakshasha lives on this tree. Narendra never believed anything blindly. He was fearless. He spent one whole night on the tree to see if rakshasha did exist on it.

Narendra (Swami Vivekananda) was a master story-teller. One day while in school, Narendra was talking animatedly to his friends during a class recess. Meanwhile, the teacher had entered the classroom and had begun to teach his subject. But the students were too absorbed in Narendra’s story to pay any attention to the lesson. After some time had passed, the teacher heard the wishpering and understood what was going on! Visibly annoyed, he now asked each student what he had been lecturing on. None could answer. But Narendra was remarkably talented; his mind could work simultaneously on two planes. While he had engaged in talking he was also listening to his teacher.. So when the teacher asked him that question, he answered correctly. Quite nonplussed, the teacher inquired who had been talking so long. Everybody pointed at Narendranath, but the teacher refused to believe them. He then asked all the students except Narendra to stand up on the bench. Narendra also joined his friends and stood up. The teacher asked him to sit down. But Narendra replied: ‘No sir, I must also stand up because it was I who was talking to them.’

There is one more story about his courage. One day he was setting a big trapeze in the gymnasium with the help of some people, including an English sailor. During the effort, the trapeze fell and the sailor was knocked unconscious. All other children fled, but not Narendra. He took care of this man bandaged his wound and then took leave after giving him some money.

Curiosity was an integral part of his life. In his father's office different varieties of tobacco pipes were provided for clients belonging to different Hindu castes, as were the prevailing conditions during those times. He tried all pipes and when his father saw and scolded him, he said he did not find any difference between the pipes.

As a young boy, Narendranath displayed sharp intellect. His mischievous nature belied his interest in music, both instrumental as well as vocal. He excelled in his studies as well, first at the Metropolitan institution, and later at the Presidency College in Calcutta. By the time he graduated from the college, he had acquired a vast knowledge of different subjects. He was active in sports, gymnastics, wrestling and body building. He was an avid reader and read up on almost everything under the sun. He perused the Hindu scriptures like the Bhagvad Gita and the Upanishads on one hand, while on the other hand he studied western philosophy, history and spirituality by David Hume, Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Herbert Spencer.

It was Ramakrishna Paramahansa who answered his question “Have you seen God?”. The Guru said he saw God very clearly and that he can show Narendra too. Narendra finally found his mentor in Ramakrishna Paramhansa. The rest is history. His complete surrender lead him to gain all the knowledge that brought about a revolution in the times to come. 

Vivekananda said.....

"To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. “I will drink the ocean", says the persevering soul; "at my will mountains will crumble up". Have that sort of energy, that sort of will; work hard, and you will reach the goal."

Adventure in China

Swami Vivekananda had traveled extensively during his illustrious life. In his short life span of 40 years he had visited many countries, China being one. When he boarded The Peninsular and started his journey towards Chicago it docked in Hong Kong for three days in June 1893. He took advantage of this time to travel 80 miles up the Pearl River to Canton. He remarked ‘I see before me the body of an elephant. There is a foal within. But it is a lion-cub that comes out of it. It will grow in future, and China shall become great and powerful.’ His words have become reality today.

He said Hong Kong was the real face of China. He saw that the boats along the shore were permanent establishments for many families which were mostly managed by women of the household.  He was impressed by the hard working Chinese women. He noted that rich women in China would tie their feet and hobble not walk. Meanwhile, women from backward sections of the society would tie their kid to their backs and skilfully row the boat and jump from one boat to another with extreme agility.

Swami Vivekananda felt “The Chinese child is quite a philosopher and calmly goes to work at an age when your Indian boy can hardly crawl on all fours. He has learnt the philosophy of necessity too well. Their extreme poverty is one of the causes why the Chinese and the Indians have remained in a state of mummified civilization. To an ordinary Hindu or Chinese, everyday necessity is too hideous to allow him to think of anything else.”

While in China, Swamiji’s earnest desire was to see a Chinese monastery. The monasteries then were forbidden to foreigners. However Swamiji insisted on visiting one. The interpreter accompanying Swamiji saw few monks approaching them armed with club in their hands. Others alongside Swamiji started fleeing. Even the interpreter took to his feet, but just in time said “He is an Indian Yogi”. The words worked magic. The monks from the monastery stood in deep reverence. It was evident that they knew what an Indian monk was. They asked Swamiji for ‘amulets to ward off evil spirits and unholy influences’. Swamiji did not believe in charms. He took out a piece of paper and wrote “Om” in Sanskrit. The monks were humbled. They touched the piece of paper to their forehead.

In gratitude they showed him the monastery. In it he saw many manuscripts written in Sanskrit and in old Bengali characters also .Here he saw images of Buddha’s followers that resembled the Bengali Indian. Close ties existed in past between Bengal and China It was obvious that Indian thought had influenced Chinese civilization to a large extent. We have proofs of Indian scholars going to China and teaching them many difficult subjects. For this they themselves also had to learn Chinese. Today however the situation is different.

Swami Vivekananda wanted Indian youth to visit China every year. For him, China and Japan could provide some practical demonstration to the sinking Indian race of what striving for collective betterment can yield. These were after all Asian civilizations, not in favour of European materialism, with some regard for spiritual culture, yet not given to superstitions, and at the same time, extremely hard-working and even meticulous, promptly devoted to action.

He remarked: “Come, see these people…Come, be men! Come out of your narrow holes and have a look abroad. See how nations are on the march! Do you love man? Do you love your country? Then come, let us struggle for higher and better things…India wants the sacrifice of at least a thousand of her young men—men, mind, and not brutes.”