#203 REPLIES TO COMMENTS OF ANONYMOUS

Anonymous said... (At post #108 There was nothing... I am afraid) This comment is pertaining not just to this particular label, but to the entire article. It is very sad to see someone devote his entire time and energy to mudslinging the character of someone who died over a century ago. Even if it is admitted that Swami Vivekananda did not lead a great life (I am far from making that admission, please don't misunderstand), it seems that the only 'net' result that would be achieved by this carefully researched attempt at tarnishing this character is just contributing a few more negative ideas and thoughts to the minds of people who didn't have them. If your real intention is indeed to 'help' people and society rather than hurt, you are choosing the wrong way. Of course, if your intention is something negative, probably you are doing a good job.

October 23, 2009 8:51 PM

REPLY
Thank you very much for the frankness.

A perennial sprinkling of rose petals, jasmins and lavendars, and sorts of perfumes and scents like Eau de Cologne, human bodies and lives carry odors of fish, chicken, mutton, beef and alcohol. All such odors, and a little application of dust and mud enhances the beauty of celebrity personalities. In fact, there is a branch of mud-treatment in Nature Cure.

The impression of "mudslinging" and "tarnishing the image" is arising because I have grouped together all the preachings/sayings of Swami Vivekananda and his own contradictory actions at one place, unlike his hagiographers and sectarians who have published thousands of books presenting only his positive side and sold them to make money and collect donations for building marbled and granite-panelled mansions furnished with air-conditioners, laminated cots and couches. So much so, that it has become a custom for people to quote the available sayings of Swami Vivekananda blindly without studying in depth what he had spoken, written and did. I myself, spent about 30 years adoring Swami Vivekananda and Shri Ramakrishna without comparing what they preached and practised. Had I not read his Complete Works in depth after my retirement from the Banking profession, I would have probably continued to worship them.

The object of "history" is to record facts. The biographers and writers have a sacred duty of presenting facts and discussing facts. They are not to make decisions about the character of the "subject matter" of what they write. But, they, unfortunately, do it. We get very few biographies which present facts on both sides of their "subject person" and leave the readers to arrive at their own conclusions and make their own decisions. The result is a distorted picture. What I have done is to present those facts which have been consigned by his common writers and biographers to the dust bin. I succeeded only partly because those who are in possession of the documents of Swami Vivekananda have not revealed all of them fully and expunged unpleasant portions.

Why historians write histories? Nations and people have to learn from the lessons of the past, and repeat the good actions of their ancestors/predecessors and avoid the weak deeds of the past which impaired them. Nations and people who refuse to learn from history continue to make the same mistakes as the preceding generations of the Centuries and in the process suffer.

Existence of some unpleasant facts in biographies need not result in a reduced respect towards the "subject persons of the biographies".

I have reasonable respect (not blind worship) towards Swami Vivekananda, in spite of digging out and presenting some unpleasant facts. The respect is greater than the respect which the Vivekananda sellers have.

Whatever I have written is not final. Readers can review. I can myself review and remove the unpleasant things, when fresh evidence is available. History-writing is a continuous procsss. Nations, people and writers have to revise what they know, understand and write from time to time. Else, they will fall into an infinite loop of blind worship or blind hate. This (falling into loop of blind worship/hate) is happening in case of all persons like Jesus Christ, Buddha, Mohammed, Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln et al. This re-opening becomes a task of the humans who want to be conscious persons. I do not have the desire or time to dig into every biography and "Complete Works" searching into facts, because I shall become a "master tarnisher" and "master mud-slinger". I have already spent a part of my life worshipping Vivekananda and revising my perceptions of Vivekananda. I have other things to do, which have been neglected.

The institutions started by Swami Vivekananda and his followers have led to a brand of Hinduism which is over-reactive. This is my perception. Consequently, India as a Nation has become "excessively religious". India was "abnormally religious" even before Vivekananda. The ailment of the Nation has aggravated. Some Christian, Islamic, Jewish countries are suffering owing to this excess religiosity, because it leads to religious bigotry and intolerance towards not only other religions but also the other sects of the same religion. This intolerance, you can see even in the life of Vivekananda. E.g. the dislike of Vivekananda towards Dr. Barrows (No. 2 in the Congress of Religions, Chicago, 1893). Dr. Barrows had disliked Vivekananda, to the extent that he called SV, "a bubble". Vivekananda hated P.C. Mazumdar who helped SV to gain entry into the Congress of Religions. P.C. Mazumdar too did not hide his dislike of SV. They refuted one another. Mudslinging and tarnishing take place in the lives of great men also. Proof for these things, you can see in some of my posts here.

Finally, I reiterate my wish: India should not enter into a dark tunnel of excessive religiosity and excessive Hinduism. The world should not fall in groove of excess Christianity, excess Islam etc. This is because there are more serious issues to attend to such as hunger, disease and poverty. Then we have the excessive commercialisation and monetisation of human lives which the "commercialised Nations" promote. The goal is, human lives should not become miserable due to religion and commerce. They support one another in exploiting humans.


I invite the "anonymous" to correct me.