“Sisters and Brothers of America.”
Thus began Swami Vivekananda’s iconic speech at the Parliament of World’s Religions in Chicago on September 11, 1893.
His unusual choice of salutation — speakers at the time generally preferred the more formal “ladies and gentlemen” — was reportedly met with a standing ovation that lasted for more than two minutes. And it set the tone for a speech that would introduce America to the Hindu faith, and make a plea for religious tolerance and syncretism that remains as relevant today as it was 132 years ago.
The context
At the turn of the 20th century, the West ruled the world. But colonialism also created a platform for the global exchange of ideas, a “dialogue between the East and the West”. Vivekananda’s 1893 was a milestone in this discourse.
He arrived Stateside at a time when there were already, as religious scholar Gwilym Beckerlegge wrote, “sympathetic currents of thought” in the US. Transcendentalists such as Ralph Waldo Emerson had laid the seeds for the reception of Vedanta in the US through their “rejection of conventional Christian religiosity” (‘A Religion “Based Upon Principles, And Not Upon Persons”: The Heart of the “Strategic Fit” of Swami Vivekananda’s Promotion of Vedānta?’, 2023).
Moreover, “rapid economic and social changes” that occurred as a result of industrialisation, as well as “intellectual challenges posed by Darwinism and the new biblical criticism”, had led to an “unfulfilled spiritual need” which in turn created “opportunities to propagate the message of Vedanta among receptive audiences” (Beckerlegge).
The Parliament of World’s Religions, held in Chicago between September 11 and 27, 1893, was the product of these intellectual currents. The San Francisco Examiner reported on September 28, 1893: “…three thousand men and women were on their feet waving handkerchiefs, clapping hands, and cheering… [the] Jewish rabbi and the Catholic Bishop asked God’s blessing upon its work which is now a part of history… Christian and Hebrew, Buddhist and Moslem… spoke for a universal religion…” (as quoted by R H Seager in ‘Pluralism and the American Mainstream: the View from the World’s Parliament Of Religions’, 1989).
The speech
Vivekananda’s letters indicate that he was quite nervous before heading to the Parliament. “…I dropped in on the Congress in the eleventh hour, and quite unprepared… I was so so afraid to stand before that great assembly of fine speakers and thinkers from all over the world and speak; but the Lord gave me strength…,” Vivekananda wrote to Harvard Professor John Henry Write on October 4, 1893.
(It was Wright who had vouched for Vivekananda to the organisers of the Parliament — unlike other participants, Vivekananda did not have credentials from a religious institution. Wright, who met Vivekananda at Boston, famously wrote to the organisers: “Here is a man who is more learned than all our learned professors put together.”)
Vivekananda addressed the Parliament a total of six times, although his first speech on September 11 is probably the most famous. His message was radical yet resonant. “We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true,” he said.
“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.”
“But their (bigotry and fanaticism) time has come. 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 wending their way to the same goal.”
Enduring legacy
Vivekananda’s participation in the Parliament opened the United States’ eyes to Hinduism, specifically Vedanta, the “philosophical position of radical nondualism” which he presented as an inclusive, universal religion.
For the next two years, he toured the country, addressing audiences and cultivating ardent disciples. He also lectured twice at Harvard. “The American civilisation is in my opinion, a very great one. I find the American mind peculiarly susceptible to new ideas, nothing is rejected because it is new. It is examined on its own merits,” he would later say in London.
Vedanta societies cropped up around the US — and elsewhere in the West — largely due to the popularity of Vivekananda and his teachings. Many remain active till date. A diverse crop of figures, from authors like J D Sallinger and Aldous Huxley, to filmmaker George Lucas, have been directly or indirectly influenced by the philosophy of Vedanta. In fact, some have even argued that “the wisdom of India (Vedanta, Indian mythology) permeates [Lucas’] Star Wars films”. This is the premise of Steven J Rosen and Jonathan Young’s 2021 book The Jedi in the Lotus: Star Wars and the Hindu Tradition.
Vivekananda’s teachings also helped popularise the practice of meditation and Hatha Yoga (now known only as yoga) in the West. Once a practice restricted to a small number of renunciants and mendicants, yoga today is a billion dollar health and wellness business.
Religious leaders at the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions at the Art Institute of Chicago. From left to right: Virchand Gandhi, Hewivitarne Dharmapala, Swami Vivekananda, (possibly) G. Bonet Maury. (Wikimedia Commons) 
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