The diversified messages of Swami Vivekananda
The messages of Swami Vivekananda are many. They often stupefy the readers with the diversity in them, which is obviously because Swamiji gave his message to various people, at different places and times, and in diverse contexts. Is there a central message of Swamiji, a point at which all his messages converge? Can we find a scheme of evolution amidst these ideas that can take one towards his ‘real’ message? The truths he preaches would have been as true had he never been born. Nay more, they would have been equally authentic. The difference would have lain in their difficulty of access, in their want of modern clearness and incisiveness of statement, and in their mutual coherence and unity. The awareness of this mutual coherence and unity will guide us in navigating through the teachings of Swamiji, slowly and steadily understanding the evolutionary growth that should happen within us, so that we can transform from being mere readers of Swamiji’s teachings into sincere practitioners.

Diversity in the spiritual heritage of India
This evolutionary approach has also been a special and unique characteristic of the spiritual heritage of India. The Veda says: ‘Ekam sat viprah bahudha vadanti.’ Truth is one, sages say it in many ways. This diversity in the messages of the sages is actually due to the aptitude and attitude of the aspirants. Though one can choose a starting point, the journey is complete only when the goal, which is one, is reached. ‘Indian culture has sought to be pervasive in all aspects of the pilgrim’s journey to Truth. Regimentation of the spirit is undesirable. The purpose of a culture or religion should be to let the spirit grow in freedom and not to strangle it in a straitjacket. The greatest men of India have been exemplars of the gospel of spiritual freedom. That India has made it possible for such men to appear in every age is the glory of her ancient and yet living culture.’

In the present age, Sri Ramakrishna too did likewise. ‘If anyone in the audience, due to education and past experiences, was unable to accept the Master’s conclusions—even though they sprang from his sādhana—and argued with him, he would generally finish the discussion of the topic by saying, “I have said whatever came into my head. Take as much of it as you want. You may leave out the head and tail.” He never tried to destroy anyone’s beliefs by stifling one’s freedom to think for oneself. Perhaps he desisted because he thought that the listener would be unable to recognise the true solution to the question until he or she had reached a higher spiritual state.

In congruence with the spirit of India, Swamiji too has given his message in diversified forms, keeping unity within them. ‘He varied his message to suit the needs of the people, but all these variations were expressions of one central theme—spirituality. To the average youth of our country, he makes an irresistible appeal as one who taught patriotism and national service in ever-memorable words, as one who worked and asked others to work for uplifting the vast millions in this country who are sunk in ignorance and poverty. To the nation at large, he shines as the emblem of purity, spirituality, love, and energy, through whose inspiration it hopes to build its body and mind anew. He brings down Vedanta to fertilise the fields of common life, so that life may be raised to uncommon heights and made capable of tasting Vedanta at its purest source. Nation-building in India, according to him, is the gathering up of the nation’s scattered spiritual forces. Because he found her present economics and social mal-adjustments thwarting this higher expression of the national will and purpose, he became the first monastic advocate of what he happily termed “a toned-down materialism” for his country.

The practicality of having a toned- down approach
This toned-down approach was not a compromise, but a practical way of allowing the seeker to travel from the lower truth to a higher truth. Swami Shuddhananda reminisced, ‘We remember to have once asked Swamiji himself what he meant by the term ‘Practical Advaitism’, and he explained thus: “The term, of course, may mean realisation of the human soul as God Himself; but as it is rather a very far-off ideal for many, when I use the term, I use it generally in a lower sense. My Guru Bhagavan, Sri Ramakrishna, often used to say, ‘Securing the Advaita knowledge in the hem of your garment, do whatever you like.’ I have taken this as my motto, and I want to rouse all men and women of this world to the consciousness of the almightiness, perfection, and divinity of their souls—so that everyone may apply it to one’s particular need.” The point may be made more clear by the following quotation from his Reply to the Madras address: “This infinite power of the Spirit, brought to bear upon matter evolves material development, made to act upon thought evolves intellectuality, and made to act upon Itself makes of man a God.” In working for the good of the world, the remote ideal to be kept in view is the liberation (mukti) of all people. But how can that be brought about? All countries and all people are not equally fit for striving for this summum bonum all at once.’

The central message of Swamiji
Swamiji himself tells us about his central message, his ideal: ‘My ideal indeed can be put into a few words and that is: to preach unto mankind their divinity, and how to make it manifest in every movement of life.’ However, Swamiji also acknowledges the variety of paths that would take one to the ideal, in resonance with the words of his beloved Guru, Sri Ramakrishna: Jato mat, tato path (As many faiths, so many paths). ‘If there were only one method to arrive at truth, it would be death for everyone else who is not similarly constituted. Therefore, the methods should be various. Vedanta understands that and wants to lay before the world different methods through which we can work. Take any path you like; follow any prophet you like; but have only that method which suits your own nature, so that you will be sure to progress.’

Thus, the emphasis of Swamiji is not on the paths to be practised but on the person who practises. Swamiji puts ‘manliness’ at the centre stage of his teachings and urges one and all to find their path for themselves. Rather than keeping higher truths away from people who may not be eligible for them, Swamiji says, ‘If you consider a man too weak to receive these lessons, you should try more to teach and educate him; you should give him the advantage of more teaching, instead of less, to train his intellect, so as to enable him to comprehend the more subtle problems. Speak out the truth boldly, without fear that it will puzzle the weak. The result of this sort of compromise is that the grand truths are soon buried under heaps of rubbish, and the latter are eagerly held as truths. Be bold! My children should be brave, above all. Not the least compromise on any account. Preach the highest truth broadcast.’

The way to find the unity in the diversity
Swami Shuddhananda, a monastic disciple of Swamiji, gives us the guideline to find our path in the endless diversity of Swamiji’s teachings: ‘A man perhaps comes across a work of Swamiji which appeals to him very much, and he goes on acting according to its teachings as understood by him at that time. He goes on with his career. New experiences come, and he then perhaps reads a new meaning in the very teachings which he understood at the beginning otherwise. Reader, if you have patiently gone through all the big volumes of Swamiji’s writings, have read his Life, and at the same time if you have also studied his revered Master, and after all that if you still feel puzzled as to the path you should travel, I will advise you to go to a corner of your room and pray earnestly for light and I am sure it will be vouchsafed unto you.’

Courtesy: The Vedanta Kesari