America's First Guru: The Story of Swami Vivekananda

I was inspired by Vivekananda’s work while growing up in a minority Buddhist household in Kolkata in 1970s. He along with poet Rabindranath Tagore and many Indian pioneers and reformers were also inspired by the example of the Buddha. Vivekananda recalled a vision of a calm, head-shaved sannyasi carrying a wooden water bowl. He was struck with wonder and fled the room, but later said, “It was the Lord Buddha whom I saw”. Vivekananda visited Bodh-Gaya multiple times, and (meditated there under Bodhi tree, I heard from a friend) including on his 39th birthday when he gave up his body in Samadhi. Although this is not widely known or shared in Ramakrishna Mission or Vedanta Society.

America’s First Guru, The Story of Swami Vivekananda

He gave two talks on Buddhism when he came to the US in 1893. I see the heart of Buddha and intellect of Brahmin unified in him. He probably didn’t have much access or time to read Buddhist scripture in his short life. His primary mission was to be the Awakener of Souls.

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Thanks for sharing this. I’ll watch the documentary if I get the chance.

But I just saw the opening bit, and it had Barack Obama talking about Vivekānanda, and I know it’s trivial, but I was impressed that he correctly pronounced the long ā!

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Vivekananda spoke at the World Parliament of Religions as did Anagarika Dharmapala.

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Thank you Bhante. Yes I was surprised too at the correct pronunciation of Obama.

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Yes Anagarika Dharmapala and Swami Vivekananda were both influential speakers at the 1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago and lifelong friends. Dharmapala even donated some of his speaking time to Vivekananda at the Parliament.

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https://www.politico.com/story/2009/07/obama-a-stickler-for-pronunciation-024466

Does anyone remember the good old days when wearing a tan suit and pronouncing countries names correctly was considered a political scandal?

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I did not know that, that’s a gesture that speaks to his character.

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The gesture of Anagarika also shows the quality of a true spiritual friend. Even though they are on different path of different religion they have the same intention to work for the benefit and welfare of many. We do not see that in secular world of business and politics.

Vivekananda had no formal delegate invitation from the Parliament of Religions, he did not have any credential or recommendation. He just came on faith and confidence (saddha) as some friends in India thought it will be a good thing. He even spent a cold night in the freight train in a box in Chicago one time. Yet received help from total strangers and some influential people.

Found this talk by Ven, Brahmali

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This was a very inspiring and uplifting documentation. Thank you very much!

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This is a related post here for those interested. While going towards or meeting the ocean is the goal of many religions, in Buddhadharma it is going completely to the other shore of the vast expanse and ocean of samsara.

Mahayana took much from the non-dual tradition of Advaita Vedanta but rejects Atman for emptyness. The question of what is the relationship of Brahman (Purna) and Sunnya (void) is answered here by Swami Sarvapriyananda who studied Madhyamaka and practiced some early Buddhism.

Brahman and Sunnyata by Swami Sarvapriyananda

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No offense, but Vivekananda was clearly clueless on Buddhism and rather than be silent about something he clearly had no idea about, he spread misinformation about it, going as far as to claim that the Buddha’s own disciples never understood him ! Some years later, he then goes on to admit that he never understood Buddhism in the first place !

All the misconceptions being peddled today by Hindu Nationalists online probably can be traced to Vivekananda’s misleading speeches on Buddhism.

He clearly was no “Swami” if he had no trouble spouting lies.

I think I read this years ago, but I have never been able to locate the citation. Do you have a citation for this?

Yes I do. He makes many misleading claims on the Buddha and his doctrine in this speech:

Seven years later, he then admits that he never understood Buddhism, nor did any Hindu. How the turn tables ! :
https://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_3/buddhistic_india.htm

I have no idea why people consider this person as a “Swami”. He is perhaps the root of all the misconceptions being spread about Buddhism now.

I have to vehemently disagree. It was the other way around. Propounders of Advaita Vedanta such as Adi Shankara were even called “Prachanna Bauddha”(Crypto-Buddhist) by the Acharyas of other Hindu Schools such as Ramanujacharya, because of the immense influence that Madhyamaka/Mahayana Buddhism had on this Hindu School.

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Nava, do you not find it problematic that someone who had not read the Buddhist scriptures was giving talks about Buddhism, that too while making baseless and misleading claims ? How isn’t this anymore pointless than someone who has not read the Quran or the Bible or Lord of the Rings, giving talks on Islam, Christianity and Frodo Baggins ? I apologise if I am being too blunt.

[quote=“pannaiya, post:11, topic:36409”]
All the misconceptions being peddled today by Hindu Nationalists online probably can be traced to Vivekananda’s misleading speeches on Buddhism.[/quote]

As far as I know and little bit I read of his books, Vivekananda was against all forms of orthodoxy, fanaticism, dogma, narrow-mindedness, extremism, caste and gender discrimination. He was for religious tolerance, and integration, and showed great reverence for the Buddha, even as a Hindu monk. His speech (especially in Bengali) was sometimes uncensored and can be interpreted in a pejorative way. I do not necessarily agree with all his sentiments and opinions but I do have great respect for some of his observations, courage and conviction. The taste I got from his writings is the taste of freedom, self-empowerment and individual choice. He observed, women should be spiritually educated and put in positions of power to solve their own problems in their own way.

“In India there are two great evils. Trampling on the women and grinding the poor through caste restrictions”. - Vivekananda [Source]

Let’s agree to disagree then.

I myself have a hard time being able to respect someone who publicly said the Buddha’s own disciples never understood him, which is outright falsehood and slander.

The right thing to do when confronted with a subject that one had no clue about, is to keep silence and instead listen and learn from those who have acquired profound knowledge on it and have sincerely practiced it. Vivekananda unfortunately had other ideas.

Anyways, wishing you well and a nice day !

Yes, @pannaiya lets agree to disagree! My approach is if I sense 90% gold in someone, and the rest other metals, I will focus on the 90%. One does not necessarily have to study scriptures to remember Dhamma from past life paramis, or clear visions and intention in this life if one recognizes wisdom and has little dust in the eye.

I myself wondered about why Buddha’s disciples split into 18-20 sects within five centuries after Buddha’s parinirvana, mostly due to differences in Abhidhamma, Vinaya and many other factors including bhikkhuni lineage (and four-fold sangha) in Theravada going extinct between 7th-11th AD. What happened to teachings on impermanence, non-self, net of views and such (perhaps mostly among and by the non-stream enterers)?

Vivekananda studied some Mahayana literature and it is possible he did not come across Suttapitaka (not researched). He had extraordinary memory and could finish a volume in one day. [Source]