My fellow brothers and sisters, today is very special day for me
to be here attending this conference organized by the Parliament of
World Religion. I feel really humble as I think about Swami Vivekananda
who came here exactly hundred years ago in 1893 to attend a similar
conference organized by the same Parliament of world religion. To stand
here in front of you where one day Swamiji stood and delivered his
message would be memorable moment throughout my life. I am really
grateful to everyone whose direct and indirect help made it possible for
me to be here. I would like to take this opportunity to offer you our
love on behalf of my fellow Indians Hindus and Muslims, Buddhists and
Sikhs, Christians and Zoroastrians, Jains and Jews and everyone else.
In the last one hundred years since Vivekananda came here, the world has changed a lot. Science and technology has progressed in unprecedented pace. We have landed on the moon and soon we will land on the Mars. Computers are doing miracles but at the same time science has created more lethal weapons which have made the world even more dangerous and vulnerable.
The cold war may be over but people are becoming increasingly self-centered. Religious wars are taking a big toll of our children and youth every day. That is why it has become so more important today to have this world religion conference.The human soul has no color, no shape, no creed or caste. Then why do we need so many religions? Swami Vivekananda explained this hundred years ago through an old Indian hymn "As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea O Lord the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee."
I am Hindu, and even within the Hindu religion we have various sects based on different Veda, Vedanta and Upanishadas. All these different Hindu sects coexisted for a long time with mutual respect and cooperation, and they all believe in Bhagavad Gita, a holy book of the Hindu religion. It is not my intent here to explain all the various sects of Hindu religion , but just to introduce to you who I am. I belong to the Nimbarka Vaishnaba sect of the Hindu religion and it is based on philosophy of dualism and non-dualism. People of the sect can be identified by the two white vertical lines on their forehead which is called Tilak, and they also wear a black dot inside these lines. Though swami Vivekananda did not belong to this sect, he was very in the Nimbaraka philosophy.
Many scholars and historians believe that Jesus spent the missing twelve years of his life in India where he came in contact with many Hindu philosophers. Whether that is true or false is not really important, but it is fascinating to find so many similarities between Jesus and Lord Krishna between the Bible and Gita. That is why I thought it is worth discussing this with you my fellow brothers and sisters because we do not compete with each other but we cooperate to bring harmony to bring love and peace to all mankind.
According to the Hindu religion, we human beings are made of twelve sensory organs: five of them are perceptive senses, another five of them are working senses, one of them is mind and the last one is described as lust and greed. Jesus Christ also had only twelve Apostles who represented the twelve human attributes. I have included a simple chart on the next page to show that to you For Jesus Christ, Peter can be symbolized as the human mind where as Judas represents the reed and lust within our own self.
In Bhagabad-Gita chapter 9 verse 34 Lord Krishna says "Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, engage your body in My service, and surrender unto Me, completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me" In chapter eighteen section 66 he says again "Give up all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me I shall protect you from all sinful reactions Therefore you have nothing to fear."
We hear the same thing from Jesus when in Bible Matthew 11 28 he proclaims "Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads and I will give you rest".
We all know that Peter broke his vow three times and needed to be purified three times for lying to Jesus, and a Hindu also at least needs to be born three times before attaining final purification of soul. In Gita Lord Krishna described Nirbana, the salvation, in chapter 11 section 28. As the rivers flow down to the ocean, so all these great warriors enter into Your blazing month and perish".
Jesus echoes the same theme in Bible in Matthew 19.30 "But many who now are first will be last, and many who now are last will be first". There are many more examples everywhere which show how similar Jesus and Lord Krishna were. But it is not Jesus or Krishna alone who shows such similarities. I used this as an example only to show that at the end, all religions are aiming for the same goal to uplift our soul.
Milk is always white, no matter what the color of the cow, its size or shape. Our blood is always red even when externally the human beings look so different. Similarly, at the end we are all equal in the eyes of God. So let us end this session today by praying to Him in our own way, and ask His blessings for peace for all of mankind.
In the last one hundred years since Vivekananda came here, the world has changed a lot. Science and technology has progressed in unprecedented pace. We have landed on the moon and soon we will land on the Mars. Computers are doing miracles but at the same time science has created more lethal weapons which have made the world even more dangerous and vulnerable.
The cold war may be over but people are becoming increasingly self-centered. Religious wars are taking a big toll of our children and youth every day. That is why it has become so more important today to have this world religion conference.The human soul has no color, no shape, no creed or caste. Then why do we need so many religions? Swami Vivekananda explained this hundred years ago through an old Indian hymn "As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea O Lord the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee."
I am Hindu, and even within the Hindu religion we have various sects based on different Veda, Vedanta and Upanishadas. All these different Hindu sects coexisted for a long time with mutual respect and cooperation, and they all believe in Bhagavad Gita, a holy book of the Hindu religion. It is not my intent here to explain all the various sects of Hindu religion , but just to introduce to you who I am. I belong to the Nimbarka Vaishnaba sect of the Hindu religion and it is based on philosophy of dualism and non-dualism. People of the sect can be identified by the two white vertical lines on their forehead which is called Tilak, and they also wear a black dot inside these lines. Though swami Vivekananda did not belong to this sect, he was very in the Nimbaraka philosophy.
Many scholars and historians believe that Jesus spent the missing twelve years of his life in India where he came in contact with many Hindu philosophers. Whether that is true or false is not really important, but it is fascinating to find so many similarities between Jesus and Lord Krishna between the Bible and Gita. That is why I thought it is worth discussing this with you my fellow brothers and sisters because we do not compete with each other but we cooperate to bring harmony to bring love and peace to all mankind.
According to the Hindu religion, we human beings are made of twelve sensory organs: five of them are perceptive senses, another five of them are working senses, one of them is mind and the last one is described as lust and greed. Jesus Christ also had only twelve Apostles who represented the twelve human attributes. I have included a simple chart on the next page to show that to you For Jesus Christ, Peter can be symbolized as the human mind where as Judas represents the reed and lust within our own self.
In Bhagabad-Gita chapter 9 verse 34 Lord Krishna says "Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, engage your body in My service, and surrender unto Me, completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me" In chapter eighteen section 66 he says again "Give up all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me I shall protect you from all sinful reactions Therefore you have nothing to fear."
We hear the same thing from Jesus when in Bible Matthew 11 28 he proclaims "Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads and I will give you rest".
We all know that Peter broke his vow three times and needed to be purified three times for lying to Jesus, and a Hindu also at least needs to be born three times before attaining final purification of soul. In Gita Lord Krishna described Nirbana, the salvation, in chapter 11 section 28. As the rivers flow down to the ocean, so all these great warriors enter into Your blazing month and perish".
Jesus echoes the same theme in Bible in Matthew 19.30 "But many who now are first will be last, and many who now are last will be first". There are many more examples everywhere which show how similar Jesus and Lord Krishna were. But it is not Jesus or Krishna alone who shows such similarities. I used this as an example only to show that at the end, all religions are aiming for the same goal to uplift our soul.
Milk is always white, no matter what the color of the cow, its size or shape. Our blood is always red even when externally the human beings look so different. Similarly, at the end we are all equal in the eyes of God. So let us end this session today by praying to Him in our own way, and ask His blessings for peace for all of mankind.
Swami Vrindaban Dasji
Saint from Nimbarka Sect
(The lecture was given at Wrold Religious Conference in Chicago in 1993)
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