Swami Vivekananda and Non-Hindu Traditions: A Universal Advaita

269 Pages·2019·3.55 MB·English

by  Stephen Gregg

Swami Vivekananda and
Non-Hindu Traditions
The Hindu thinker Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) was and remains an
important figure both within India and in the West, where he was notable
for preaching V edanta . Scholarship surrounding Vivekananda is dominated
by hagiography and his (mis)appropriation by the political Hindu Right.
This work demonstrates that Vivekananda was no simplistic pluralist, as
portrayed in hagiographical texts, nor narrow exclusivist, as portrayed by
some modern Hindu nationalists, but a thoughtful, complex inclusivist.
The book shows that Vivekananda formulated a hierarchical and inclusivistic
framework of Hinduism, based upon his interpretations of a fourfold system
of Y oga . It goes on to argue that Vivekananda understood his formulation
of V edanta to be universal, and applied it freely to non-Hindu traditions,
and in so doing demonstrates that Vivekananda was consistently critical
of ‘low-level’ spirituality, not only in non-Hindu traditions but also within
Hinduism.
Demonstrating that Vivekananda is best understood within the context
of ‘ Advaitic primacy’ rather than ‘Hindu chauvinism,’ this book will be of
interest to scholars of Hinduism and South Asian religion and of South
Asian diaspora communities and religious studies more generally.
Stephen E. Gregg is Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of
Wolverhampton, UK. His interests include religion in contemporary society
and method and theory in the study of religion. He is a member of the
executive committee of the British Association for the Study of Religions and
his books include Jesus Beyond Christianity (2010) E ngaging with Living
Religion (2015) and T he Insider/Outsider Debate: New Approaches in the
Study of Religion (2019).
Frontispiece: A seated Vivekananda in a professionally staged photograph – probably
Bangalore, February 1893. See Chattopadhyaya, R. S wami Vivekananda in India: A
Corrective Biography (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1999) pp. 120–121.
Source: CC BY-SA 3.0. Public domain version available at: h ttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Swami_Vivekananda_Jaipur.jpg
Swami Vivekananda and
Non-Hindu Traditions
A Universal Advaita
Stephen E. Gregg
First published 2019
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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© 2019 Stephen E. Gregg
The right of Stephen E. Gregg to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Gregg, Stephen E., author.
Title: Swami Vivekananda and non-Hindu traditions : a universal
Advaita / Stephen E. Gregg.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2019. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018053766 (print) | LCCN 2018058186 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781315611631 (e-book) | ISBN 9781317047445 (PDF) |
ISBN 9781317047438 (ePub) | ISBN 9781317047421 (Mobi) | ISBN
9781472483751 (hbk : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781315611631 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Vivekananda, Swami, 1863–1902. | Gurus—India—
Biography. | Hinduism—Relations. | Advaita. | Hinduism—History—
19th century.
Classification: LCC BL1280.292.V58 (ebook) | LCC BL1280.292.
V58 G74 2019 (print) | DDC 294.5/55092—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018053766
ISBN: 978-1-4724-8375-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-61163-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To my parents, who showed me the way
And to Helen, who is my journey’s end.

Contents
List of abbreviations viii
1 Contexts and complications 1
2 Religion and reform in nineteenth-century Bengal 24
3 Master and pupil 86
4 Formulating Hinduism 113
5 Critiquing Christianity, Buddhism and Islam 153
6 The World’s Parliament of Religions, Chicago, 1893 187
7 Locating Vivekananda 225
Bibliography 231
Index 252
Abbreviations
Barrows Barrows, J. H. (ed) The World’s Parliament of Religions: An
Illustrated and Popular Story of the World’s First Parliament of
Religions, Held in Chicago in Connection with the Columbian
Exposition of 1893, Vols. I & II (Chicago: The Parliament Publishing
Company, 1893)
CW Vivekananda, Swami, The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
(Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, Vols. 1–8, 1999, Vol. 9, 1997)
Life The Life of Swami Vivekananda By His Eastern and Western
Disciples , Vol. I & II (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1989)
MLB Burke, M. L. S wami Vivekananda in the West: New Discoveries ,
Vols. I–VI (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1992)
1 Contexts and complications
The central aim of this work is to explore how Swami Vivekananda engaged
with non-Hindu religious traditions and to examine how this affected his
own interpretation and systematisation of Hinduism. This work demon-
strates that Vivekananda was no simplistic pluralist, as portrayed in hagio-
graphical texts, nor narrow exclusivist, as portrayed by some modern Hindu
nationalists, but a thoughtful, complex inclusivist. His was a position which
necessitated interaction with, rather than damnation of, the non-Hindu, and
empathy for the universal human religious condition, rather than sympathy
for individual traditions per se.
I will argue that Vivekananda formulated a hierarchical and inclusivistic
framework of Hinduism, based upon his interpretations of a fourfold system
of y oga . This framework valorised Advaita (a non-dualist Hindu tradition)
and devalued aspects of Hinduism that were associated with what Vive-
kananda perceived to be ‘low levels’ of spiritual awareness, such as Gauni
Bhakti (theistic devotion). I will further argue that Vivekananda understood
his formulation of Vedanta to be universal, applying it freely to non-Hindu
traditions. An exploration of his engagement with non-Hindu traditions is
therefore essential to a full understanding of his ‘Hindu’ framework. In light
of this, I will detail how Vivekananda applied his framework to non-Hindu
traditions and, in so doing, will demonstrate that Vivekananda was consis-
tently critical of ‘low-level’ spirituality, not only in non-Hindu traditions
but also within Hinduism, thus refuting claims in some recent scholarship
that Vivekananda was a Hindu chauvinist. I will argue that Vivekananda is
best understood within the context of ‘A dvaitic primacy’ rather than ‘Hindu
chauvinism.’
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) was a Hindu raised within the middle
classes of Bengali society, who received Western-style education in Cal-
cutta and became a devotee of the mystic Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
(1836–1886). After Ramakrishna’s death in 1886, Vivekananda wandered
throughout India as a sanyassin (renouncer) before travelling to America in
1893, during which time he spoke at the World’s Parliament of Religions in
Chicago. After the Parliament, Vivekananda embarked upon a lecture tour
of America and Western Europe, attracting large audiences and a number