Practical
Spirituality
– Swami
Vivekananda
In
all he said and did Swami Vivekananda's chief
concern was Man. He
described man as :
“ the
only God I believe in”
“Man-making
is my mission”, he used
to say. Man according to him, has immense possibilities, there being
almost no limit to his growth. The task before man is to grow, to
keep growing, despite constraints. Only man can make a conscious
effort to grow, can plan and direct his growth, can even choose his
pace. He – only he –
can be his master. He may
have difficulties in the way – he is sure to have them. Without
difficulties life would be dull, there would perhaps be no growth
either. Man has to overcome more difficulties than an animal. This is
why man is man. The
more a man advances, the greater are the difficulties he has to face.
The greatest man has to
face greatest difficulties. Not
to be daunted by difficulties is the test of a man. Swami Vivekananda
taught that religion imparted that quality to man which sustained him
through all his trails and tribulations. He called that quality
Self-confidence.
Strength,
courage and self-confidence – these according to him, are the
essence of religion, all other things are peripheral.
Growth
in his view is not merely physical or mental; it is also moral and
spiritual. “Each soul is potentially divine”, he used to say.
That is to say man is not just man, but also God, God only
potentially now, but with every chance that this potentiality shall
some day be transformed into reality. The goal is to grow, to go on
growing, till the divinity that is in man becomes manifest. It is not
just a fancy, but a distinct possibility. He
would point to Buddha and Christ as examples of the extent to which
man can grow. If
there has been one Buddha and Christ, there can be many more Buddhas
and Christs, he would argue. They
were no doubt unique, but they were unique in their power of will, in
their capacity to make sustained efforts to grow, to improve, till
they become godlike. If they became what they became, there is no
reason why others cannot achieve the same degree of moral and
spiritual growth. It is relatively easy to make material progress,
but it is infinitely more difficult to raise one's moral and
spiritual stature. With a little effort one may be able to overcome
one's poverty or disease or such similar external handicaps, but to
able to overcome one's moral weakness, to control the mind and direct
it to that which is good and right to mould one’s
life and character
strictly according to moral principles, to achieve moral perfection,
requires much greater effort. Buddha would give the credit of a hero
to the man who conquers himself and not who conquers a territory or
an enemy.
Swami
Vivekananda had, however, the practical sense to realize that it
would be a vain task to preach religion and morality to people who
starved, people who were neglected, oppressed, and were victims of
social injustice. He was a champion of freedom, justice and equality
everywhere; he welcomed the truths of science and technology, for
they has armed man with the power to combat all kinds of physical
evils, but his message was that this should be matched by religion,
for religion alone can
give man the moral and spiritual tilt which he now lacks and which
alone makes him complete man.
