It’s Sep 11.
9/11 to an American.
Unfortunately we now tend to equate September 11 with the day Islamic fundamentalism and its associated Jihad or religious terrorism first reached the shores of the US in terms of lay public perception.
India had (& is still is) borne the brunt of this senseless terror for hundreds of years but it was the first time the Western society realised the depth of the fanaticism, the senseless disregard for humanity this particular creed carries.
I believe September 11 needs to be remembered instead for positive reasons. As the day when the Parliament of religions started in Chicago in 1893 and where a young Indian monk, born as Narendra Nath Dutta but speaking as Swami Vivekananda began his speech that elicited a 2 minute standing ovation with ‘Sisters and Brothers of America’ and where he greeted the assembled on behalf of “the most ancient order of monks in the world, the Vedic order of sannyasins, a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance.”
127 years ago on this day, he thundered: “Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilisation and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honour of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons…”
How true his words remain today! If anything this fanaticism is more visible with the constant chatter of Jihad and other religious fundamentalism, killing people and civilizations in the name of religion seems as common as it was in 1893.
Little doubt in my mind, Vivekananda remains the greatest Indian since Adi Sankara, whose Advaita philosophy he propounded! Can we all start recollecting September 11 as the day when Swami Vivekananda propounded the Advaita universal truth of inclusiveness and humanity to the world back in 1893? Instead of the opposite reason for events in 2001 perpetrated by a religious sect that believes in fanaticism, anarchy and violence?
On this day in 1893 we brought our inclusive, peaceful, religion to the United States through dialogs, discussion and discourse. The same day a century and more later Osama Bin laden brought his religion to the US….Thinking of this as I ruminate on the Taliban terrorists taking over Afghanistan and their Government run by a bunch of sadists, thugs and murders…including Haqqani, one of the most wanted men in the world as per FBI.
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