SWAMI VIVEKANANDA'S IDEAL OF A UNIVERSAL RELIGION: A PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE

Swami Vivekananda who was popularly known as the Wandering Monk spread the universal message of religious unity and harmony- “Ekam Sat” (The Truth is one) throughout the world during his short life span of 39 years of mundane existence. For him, every religion contains three parts- philosophy, mythology and ritual but the ideal of a universal religion does not mean a universal philosophy or a universal mythology or a universal ritual. Universal religion runs through all the various religions of the world in the form of God and must exist through eternity. This paper is an attempt to study the philosophical dimension of Vivekananda’s ideal of a universal religion and at the same time explore unique aspects of this ideal with a particular emphasis on the idea of commonality found in all religions by referring to his historic addresses at the World’s Parliament of Religion held in Chicago from September 11 to 17, 1893 as well as his lectures on a universal religion delivered on Jan. 12, 1896, New York and Jan. 28, 1900 in California. In his speeches at the Parliament and his lectures, Swamji pointed out repeatedly the importance of the idea of commonality found in all religions and their peaceful co-existence along with his appeal to every person to preserve his or her unique individuality and at the same time to learn and assimilate the spirit of different religions for the realization of the ideal of a universal religion.