Cosmopolitan Monk

The Cosmopolitan Monk who ignited globally a new human perspective on 11th Sep 1893.

One of the most positive and vital contribution of Swami Vivekananda for which all Hindus and the whole world must be thankful is something which no one seems to highlight.

I have always tried to emphasis that and let me try, once again, to articulate that through my limited range of vocabulary, expression and perception.

He was the first Cosmopolitan Monk who offered a very comprehensive, yet compact package revealing many enlightened spiritual practices, certain abstract philosophical concepts, various practically useful activities, some socio-cultural prejudices, different socially discriminatory practices all of which were masked by, muted through and mostly confined in the name of and under the banner of religion and further curtailed from expanding due to limitations of region, religion and number of users of certain language.

As a Cosmopolitan Monk he broke open the clam shell of barriers of:-

1. Language but conveyed without distortion in a language that was spoken and understood by many outside Bharat or India with crystal clear clarity and conviction; 

2. Religious cocoonism but retained the identity of religio-cultural orientation of Sanathana Dharma ( predominantly followed by Hinduism); 

3. Philosophical rationale as the essence and substance of religious identity without emphasizing on the chaff of excessive ritualism.

These set in motion a huge swath of Western intellectuals to analyze, scrutinize, understand and interpret with new perspective various philosophical facets of Sanathan Dharma unfettered by any authority or religious compulsion.

This has opened the floodgates of vast treasury of immense philosophical and logical perspectives towards life as a whole beyond and besides mere physical and social existence.

Multitude of activities played their part and shaped the evolutionary growth and advancement of civilization  over several centuries, starting from stopping cannibalism to traveling through several barbaric activities to invasions and wars to colonialism to evolving several social order enhancing political systems and rules.

However, through all these for many centuries, social order and mores were ultimately decided by religion.

This was because religion, whether we like it or not, had a predominant influence across the globe.

However, in certain societies it exercised a more external and imposing authoritarian ultimate decision maker role  about what anyone in any domain is allowed to do; whereas. in certain other societies this influence permeated as a part of every aspect of life.

The difference between these two types of influences is very subtle, while the former influence was restrictive and repressive in nature [like no one can declare earth as a globe], the later by becoming part of life allowed free blossoming of  varieties of activities unfettered by any external authoritarianism.

Though in both cases there were doctrinaire dictates and monitoring with punishment for any activity disturbing prevailing order in society.

I am not venturing to judge which type of influence is right or wrong.

However, it is this later type of influence of religion which enabled a tolerant and  vibrant outlook and which created an atmosphere where the mind was at liberty to discover and deliberate on various versions of truth and it was this outlook that swami Vivekananda gifted to the world.

It got ignited on this day i.e 11th Sep 1893.