Vivekananda: Inspiration Behind Global Service

Vivekananda: Inspiration Behind Global Service

By Swami Vimurtananda

Was Swami Vivekananda merely one among the thousands of monks who arose in our land?

Was he only a leader who inspired freedom fighters during India’s struggle for independence?

Or was he just a prophet who established the worldwide spiritual movement of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission?

To reduce Swami Vivekananda to any one of these alone would be to miss the vastness of his impact and spiritual influence for the globe.

The Historic Chicago Address

  On September 11, 1893, when Swami Vivekananda rose to speak at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago, his very first utterance- “Sisters and Brothers of America”- brought the audience of 4,000 to give a standing ovation. For a young monk that too from an enslaved nation, unknown in the West, to command such respect was a matter of pride for India and her people even today.

  Swami Vivekananda’s first speech itself lasted only three and a half minutes. In its brevity lay its brilliance: 18 sentences comparable in structure to the 18 chapters of the Bhagavad Gita and with just 472 words. While most speakers at the Parliament glorified or bragged about their own faiths, Vivekananda spoke of the universal essence of all religions, of the need for harmony, compassion, and brotherhood. He declared powerfully:

  “Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now.”

  And he envisioned a future where every religious banner would carry the message: “...upon the banner of every religion will soon be written, in spite of resistance: ‘Help and not Fight’, ‘Assimilation and not Destruction’, ‘Harmony and Peace and not Dissension’.”

This universal call went beyond religious pride - it was a quitescence message for the entire humanity.

Witness Testimonies

  Sister Nivedita, the Irish revolutionary and devoted disciple of Vivekananda, recorded the scene with admiration. Writing in 1907, she described how the energetic youth of America listened spellbound to his words, sensing in him a vision that could shape a higher unity of mankind.

Sister Nivedita’s forward to Swami Vivekananda’s complete works says: “….Every nation in Europe has poured in its human contribution upon America, and notably upon Chicago, where the Parliament was held. Much of the best, as well as some of the worst, of modern effort and struggle, is at all times to be met with, within the frontiers of that Western Civic Queen, whose feet are upon the shores of Lake Michigan, as she sits and broods, with the light of the North in her eyes. There is very little in the modern consciousness, very little inherited from the past of Europe, that does not hold some outpost in the city of Chicago. And while the teeming life and eager interests of that centre may seem to some of us for the present largely a chaos, yet they are undoubtedly making for the revealing of some noble and slow-wrought ideal of human unity, when the days of their ripening shall be fully accomplished.

“Such was the psychological area, such the sea of mind, young, tumultuous, overflowing with its own energy and self-assurance, yet inquisitive and alert withal, which confronted Vivekananda when he rose to speak…..”

Vivekananda himself, in a letter dated November 15, 1893, wrote to Diwanji Saheb from America:

“......I spoke at the Parliament of Religions, and with what effect I may quote to you from a few newspapers and magazines ready at hand. I need not be self-conceited, but to you in confidence I am bound to say, because of your love, that no Hindu made such an impression in America, and if my coming has done nothing, it has done this that the Americans have come to know that India even today produces men at whose feet even the most civilised nations may learn lessons of religion and morality. Don't you think that is enough to say for the Hindu nation sending over here their Sannyasin?....”

History may not always record the subtle influences that shape great movements. But one cannot overlook the remarkable timing: within a decade of Vivekananda’s speeches in Chicago, two great international service organizations began to sprout on American soil, in very much Chicago itself.

Rotary International

In 1905, Paul Harris, a Chicago lawyer deeply concerned about growing selfishness and social fragmentation, founded the Rotary Club. His aim was to foster fellowship, service, and leadership. Today, Rotary International has 1.25 million members worldwide, guided by the motto: “Service above Self.”

Lions International

Similarly, in 1917- two decades after Vivekananda’s Chicago appearance- Melvin Jones founded the Lions Club, also in Chicago. His call was for men of lion-like qualities: Service, integrity, fellowship, and loyalty. The Lions movement now spans over 200 countries with 45,000 clubs, serving the underprivileged without distinction of race, creed, or politics.

  Both organizations echo, in their own ways, the values Vivekananda proclaimed: unity, divinity, service to the needy, and the uplift of humanity.

A Spiritual Seed Bearing Global Fruit

Between 1893 and 1896, Vivekananda traveled across America and Europe, tirelessly preaching universal brotherhood, the divinity of man, self-confidence, faith in God, and leadership rooted in service. These values were absorbed- perhaps directly, perhaps indirectly- by thinkers, reformers, and institution-builders of the time.

It is not far-fetched to believe that Paul Harris and Melvin Jones, living in Chicago in the 1890s, encountered his words either in person or through the press. His spiritual energy and vision could well have inspired the birth of Rotary and Lions- organizations that stand today as beacons of service and human fellowship, which is Vivekananda's life-breath.

Vivekananda’s Legacy

Rotary urges: “Unite for Good.”

Vivekananda thundered: “Unite for God.”

  Rotary and Lions promote global social unity; Vivekananda proclaimed universal spiritual unity. Both directions are complementary, and together they reveal the magnitude of his influence: that service to humanity is service to God.

  The world will one day recognize that many of its noble institutions of service were watered by the seeds planted by Swami Vivekananda. That is a very important topic for research now.