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Swami Vivekananda and Non-Hindu Traditions: A Universal Advaita PDF

269 Pages·2019·3.55 MB·English
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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 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 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 reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. 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

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Scholarship surrounding the Hindu thinker Swami Vivekananda is dominated by hagiography and his (mis)appropriation by the political Hindu Right. Swami Vivekananda and Non-Hindu Traditions challenges this approach and goes back to source by examining what Vivekananda said about non-Hindu traditions t
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