Vivekananda Way

issue 10 Issue 17

IN THIS ISSUE:

Message 5

Believe in Yourself

This is the fifth issue in the 9-part series on Swami Vivekananda's message to the youth. For previous issues refer Vedanta Kesari - January, February, March & April 2019

ISSUE 17: MESSAGE 5: Believe in yourself

ISSUE 18: MESSAGE 6: Be bold and fearless

ISSUE 19: MESSAGE 7: Expand your heart

ISSUE 20: MESSAGE 8: Be open to learning from anyone

ISSUE 21: MESSAGE 9: Develop a gigantic will

Swami Vivekananda was the epitome of believing in oneself. Here is what we can learn from his life:

BELIEVING IN OURSELVES - THE FOUR ZONES OF SELF-BELIEF

Have a tremendous faith in yourselves, like the faith I had when I was a child, and which I am working out now

CW:III:303.2

1

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

“I have never failed in my faith in man in any case, even taking him at its worst. Wherever I had faith in man, though at first the prospect was not always bright, yet it triumphed in the long run CW:III:383.3

BELIEVE IN OTHERS AROUND

YOU 3

“I have faith in my country, and especially, in the youth of my country CW:III:320.2 BELIEVE IN

THE NATION 4

BELIEVE IN YOUR DESTINY

“I have not lost faith in a benign Providence – nor am I ever going to lose it CW:VI:206.4 2

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> EXPLORE EACH ZONE FURTHER...

Amit is asked to volunteer for an event...

Amit's response is a belief flash point Every time I stay away from trying out a new thing, I lose confidence in my ability to do it, and lose a little belief in myself.

I don't think I'll be able to do the work they will assign. Better not volunteer and get into trouble. Rajan's team gets a sudden deadline to finish their project...

It's tight, can we find a creative way to solve the problem and finish it on time?

Rajan's response is a belief builder Every time I find a new creative response to a challenging situation, I build a little more confidence in my ability to face problems and develop my own answers.

Himanshu's exams are coming up...

I have to write with my lucky pen. I'm depending on it to succeed.

Himanshu's response is a belief flash point

When I depend on superstition instead of my own capability, I lose faith in my own hard work & capacities.

Can you think of more such belief flash points or belief builders in this zone?

Zone 2: BELIEVE IN YOUR DESTINY

Santosh is preparing for an internship interview...

It's always some lucky people who seem to get everything. Even if I work hard nothing is going to happen to me.

Santosh's response is a belief flash point This approach leads to a sense of 'victimhood' and a feeling of despair which in turn destroys faith in myself.

Radha is going through a bad time...

Radha's response is a belief builder The belief that life is a cycle of both good times and bad times helps me focus on my own strength and contribution rather than on the events and circumstances. Madan is in an academically challenging phase in college ...

Even if things are not working out for me right now, I need to keep building myself to be ready for whatever opportunity I will get in future.

If I put in enough efforts, I know I can improve and reach where I want, even if it takes time!

Madan's response is a belief builder

This increases my faith that no good work will go waste in the larger scheme of things. This strengthens my resolve to further do good work in my space of activity.

Shreya is a project manager. Her team has just been allotted a new project...

This is a complex project. But I have faith that my team members can pull it off. They will do what it takes!

Shreya's response is a belief builder By acknowledging the capacity of others to rise up to a new challenge, I strengthen my belief in people's capacity to improve and expand their capacities & accomplishments.

A neighbour proposes to Rani & others a cleanliness drive for the building society...

When I mistrust the intentions of others I lose faith in people's capacity to be motivated & live by higher ideals (beyond self-interest alone). A student pitches his ideas for a start-up to Rahul, a potential investor... Rani's response is a belief flash point I wonder what he is going to get out of it, as if he cares about such things! May be he wants to be the secretary of our building...

I don't know why these tribal university students waste their time sending in such proposals. When was the last time such a student had a new idea?!

Rahul's response is a belief flash point

Every time I invalidate another person based on his/her background, I lose faith in the enormous potential waiting to be manifest in each human being.

Can you think of more such belief flash points or belief builders in this zone?

Zone 4: BELIEVE IN THE NATION

Asmita, a graduate engineer is applying for immigration...

I want to lead a comfortable life. So I'll go abroad and settle down.

What is there to look forward to in this country?

Asmita's response is a belief flash point When I doubt my own country's prospects, I lose faith in the power of millions of Indians, including myself, to transform our own destiny.

Raghav, during a debate in class...

All our development came only after the

British came.

Raghav's response is a belief flash point

A lack of belief in one's own culture & forefathers and their achievements makes us lose faith in our Indianness and makes us cheap imitators of the west.

Sunita's response is a belief builder This stance increases my faith and belief in myself, my team, and my country, and does not allow India to become "dependent" on others. Sunita is representing India in an international forum on malnutrition... Can you think of more such belief flash points or belief builders in this zone? We are busy putting together the resources needed to solve this complex problem by ourselves. Your help & support to our team is welcome.

Zone 1: Belief in herself Sister Nivedita's whole life is a demonstration of how she had belief in herself. Here are instances from her early life: • She finished her education early, at the age of 17. By 25, she had already set up her own school, where she tried several innovative ideas. • During this period – from age 17 to 25 – she was not only a teacher, but was also a prolific writer and intellectual. She wrote in several newspapers and periodicals in England. She closely interacted with the intellectuals of Britain – including Thomas Huxley and

George Bernard Shaw. • She was also involved in community work, working for the emancipation of orphans & coal miners. • At the age of 29, after meeting and accepting

Swami Vivekananda as her guru, she left England and dedicated her life to the people of India.

Zone 3: Belief in others Sister Nivedita had undaunted faith in the potential of all those whom she became acquainted with. Here are two examples: • Women of those times saw themselves as only a small homemaker, restricted to work at home. Sister Nivedita gave them a completely different vision of themselves and what they could do. For example, She showed them that women can have a national consciousness, where they could become patriots and nation builders through the medium of their home life! • Nivedita wanted artists of India to revive the ideals of Indian art rather than perpetuate the western model of art. She inspired all the upcoming artists of that time. Artist Asit Haldar says, “Nivedita told us that on us depended the revival of ancient Indian art which was rapidly approaching extinction and that the revival of national art would be our great contribution in the movement of national awakening and freedom”.

Zone 2: Belief in her destiny Sister Nivedita came to India with a firm belief that she would be able to carry out her part in her Guru's mission. His words to her were, "you have the making of a world mover… awake, awake, great one!” Here are some instances from her life in India: • On coming to India, she went through intense training with Swami Vivekananda. This was a period of deep mental and spiritual struggle for her, where her existing mental models were questioned. • She had to learn what it means to be Indian and how to interact and live in a traditional Hindu society. • She set up her school, convinced orthodox parents to send their girls to her, braved through the ups and downs of the school - where there was always a crisis of funds. • She never lost faith in her mandate to re-awaken

India and worked tirelessly towards that: giving talks, writing books, inspiring people, and galvanizing the freedom movement. • Rabindranath Tagore says of her, "We had not seen before an embodiment of the spirit of motherhood which, passing beyond the limits of the family, can spread itself over the whole country".

Zone 4: Belief in the nation According to Swami Lokeshwarananda, wherever Sister Nivedita went, she gave talks on India, not as an apologist, but as someone who was proud of India. She admitted that India had many problems but they were not such that Indians couldn't solve it themselves. In her own words: "The whole history of the world shows that the Indian intellect is second to none. This must be proved by the performance of a task beyond the power of others, the seizing of the first place in the intellectual advance of the world. Is there any inherent weakness that would make it impossible for us to do this? Are the countrymen of Bhaskaracharya and Shankaracharya inferior to the countrymen of Newton and Darwin? We trust not. It is for us, by the power of our thought, to break down the iron walls of opposition that confront us, and to seize and enjoy the intellectual sovereignty of the world."

Swami Vivekananda’s Visit to Shillong (Continued from page 25...)

show the house in a dilapidated condition, with broken window panes and damaged walls.

In 2012, the Ramakrishna Mission Shillong tried to get the Meghalaya government to declare the house, or the ground it once stood on, a heritage site. A Times of India report says:

Speaking at a press conference at the Shillong Press Club on Tuesday [April 24, 2012], he [Swami Achyuteshananda, then secretary of the Shillong Ramakrishna Mission] added: ‘The Mission is prepared to extend all help to the Meghalaya government if it takes steps to declare it as a heritage spot,’ he said. He also said that if the government wanted, it could take possession of the house [site], even as he informed that a property dispute regarding the site was being sorted out in the courts. ‘The litigation is now in a better position,’ he said. 38

The plan did not work out unfortunately; the structure had already deteriorated progressively and slowly disappeared from sight by 2006—a paradise lost. 39 Only the stone memorial remains as a lasting tribute to Swami Vivekananda and a reminder of his visit to Shillong.

Quinton Hall, or Quinton Memorial Hall, where Swamiji gave his last public lecture, is located on Quinton Road in the Police Bazar area of Shillong. It was built in 1892, and was named after Mr. James Wallace Quinton, the former Chief Commissioner of undivided Assam from 1889 to 1891. It was severely damaged during the Assam earthquake of 1897, and its repair and restoration were completed in April 1901. Swamiji was at Shillong just in time to deliver the inaugural lecture on April 27 in the newly renovated Quinton Hall. Since then, the hall has been the prime venue at Shillong for staging cultural and other civic functions. Many eminent personalities have graced the hall with their speeches, including Swami Abhedananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Annie Besant, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy, and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, to name a few. 40

In 1993, a little over one hundred years after it was built, the building was acquired by the Ramakrishna Mission and converted into an educational-cum-cultural center (Photo 6). It has a computerized library, a meditation hall, an auditorium, and a free coaching center for school students. A full-size statue of Swami Vivekananda adorns the front yard of the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Cultural Centre (RKMVCC). The statue was unveiled on January 12, 2006, by M. M. Jacob, the then governor of Meghalaya, to commemorate Swamiji’s historic last public speech. 41

Vedanta societies (essentially the faces of the Ramakrishna Mission outside India) sprouted in the West after Swamiji’s visit. Some he founded himself, and some were founded later. In India, after establishing the Ramakrishna Mission organisation in Calcutta in 1897, Swamiji let others pick up the mantle and start branches throughout the nation. Following that tradition, the idea of having a

Photo 3: Left side of the house (circa 1998)

Photo 4: Right side of the house (circa 1998)

Photo 6: Ramakrishna Mission

Vivekananda Cultural Centre (Old Quinton Memorial Hall) (circa 2018)

branch of the Ramakrishna Mission in Shillong was first conceived by Swami Prabhananda (Ketaki Maharaj) in 1929, followed by the construction of its first building at the present Laitumkhrah site and its simultaneous affiliation with Belur Math in 1937. Swami Bhuteshananda was appointed the first secretary of the branch center. Due to exceptional leadership then and in the following years, its growth has never slowed down since its inception. Two of its leaders, Swamis Bhuteshananda and Gahanananda, went on to become presidents of the Ramakrishna Order; no other distant branch center can claim this distinction. At present, it runs a hostel for tribal boys, a library, a charitable dispensary and a mobile medical unit from the same location; and there is, of course, the RKMVCC.

The cruel wheels of time that ran over the house where Swamiji stayed in Shillong could not dampen the spirit of the people of Meghalaya, or even of Assam. On April 23, 2013, one hundred and twelve years after Swamiji’s visit, and celebrating his 150 th Birth Anniversary, a procession called ‘Vivek Rath’ started from Dhubri (where he first landed in Assam). It passed through Gauripur, Bilasipara, Chapar, Goalpara, Krishnai, Dudhnai, Boko [Kamakhya], Guwahati, Jorabat, Nongpoh, and Umsning, and finally reached the site of the Laban house in Shillong on April 26. 42 The stone memorial served as the guiding beacon of remembrance.

The significance of this specific route was that Swamiji had touched some of those places in 1901 when he ultimately arrived in Shillong. The first town he touched in Assam was Dhubri, and from there he could have travelled to Kamakhya partly on land and partly on water; the exact sequence is not known. Among those towns, he probably stayed overnight in Dhubri, Goalpara, Kamakhya, and Gauhati. On April 27 (2013) morning, thousands of people from

Sir Henry Cotton

different parts of the state and country who converged at the Laban house site then marched to the RKMVCC (the renovated old Quinton Hall) where several dignitaries gave lectures on Swamiji and his message. 43 Swami Prabhananda (Barun Maharaj), Vice president of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, was present at the celebration, along with the then secretary of the Shillong Ramakrishna Mission, Swami Achyuteshananda.

Concluding remarks

Swamiji and his party left Shillong on May 6 and were at Belur Math on May 12. Visiting East Bengal and Assam was the last of his public tours on which he delivered lectures. After his return, Swamiji paid tribute to both Sir Henry Cotton and Shillong: ‘The Shillong hills are very beautiful. There I met Sir Henry Cotton, the Chief Commissioner of Assam. He asked me, “Swamiji, after travelling through Europe and America, what have you come to see here in these distant hills?” Such a good and kind-hearted man as Sir Henry Cotton is rarely found. 44 ’In another instance he said, ‘In a monk’s life taking pilgrimages is their duty. And so I came to Shillong via Kamakhya. Moreover, in a place where there is a person like Henry Cotton that place itself becomes a pilgrimage.

Cotton is a person who understands India’s problems very well and wants its betterment.’ 45

Regarding Assam, Swamiji wrote to Christine Greenstidel, ‘For combined mountain and water scenery this part of the country [Assam] is unrivalled.’ 46 Even nearly two months after his return from the ‘distant hills’, he was still praising the place, as he wrote to Mary Hale on July 5, ‘Assam is, next to Kashmir, the most beautiful country in India, but very unhealthy. The huge Brahmaputra winding in and out of mountains and hills, studded with islands, is of course worth one’s while to see.’ 47

U n r iva l l e d i n b o t h b e a u t y a n d unhealthiness was Swamiji’s characterization of Assam (Shillong). He gave a detailed analysis of his multiple afflictions in a letter to Josephine MacLeod: ‘At Shillong—the hill sanatorium of Assam [a little sarcasm here]—I had fever, asthma, increase of albumen, and my body swelled almost twice its normal size. These symptoms subsided, however, as soon as I reached the Math.’ 48 Nobody had told Swamiji that Shillong is not a place for asthma patients to visit; its high altitude and dampness may further aggravate an already existing breathing problem. He realized that later, and wrote to Christine Greenstidel in September, after visiting Darjeeling and getting sick there too: ‘Within the last few months, I got two fits [of asthma and other ailments] by going to two of the dampest hill stations in Bengal—Shillong and Darjeeling. I am not going to try the Bengalee mountains anymore.’ 49 He never went back on his word. (The author is deeply indebted to Sri Pronab Goswami of Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, for providing him with some important sources for this article.) (Concluded)

23)‘Shillong Pahare Swami Vivekananda.’ Shyamadas Bhattacharya. Shillonger Bangalee. Kolkata: Patra

Bharati, 2004, pp. 40-41. 24)‘Swami Vivekananda in Shillong’. The Vedanta Kesari.

January 1998, pp. 26-27 25)‘Swami Vivekananda in Northeast India and Present

Bangladesh’. Swami Alokananda. Diamond Jubilee commemoration Souvenir 1937-1997, Ramakrishna

Mission, Shillong, p. 42. 26)‘The Missionary among the Khasis.’ Arpita Sen.

Mapping the Path to Maturity—A Connected History of Bengal and the North-East, edited by Bipasha Raha and Subhayu Chattapadhyay. New Yord: Routledge, 2018, pp. 165-166. 27)Ibid, p. 164. 28)Ibid., p. 151. 29)‘One-Hundred-year Celebration of Swami

Vivekananda’s Travel to Guwahati and Shillong,’ Dr.

Bani Bhattacharjee Udbodhan. August 2001, p. 549. 30) Vivekananda—A Biography in Pictures. Kolkata:

Advaita Ashrama. 1993, pp. 98-99. 31)Shyamadas Bhattacharya, op. cit., p. 43. 32)http://bhattacharyasofsylhet.blogspot. com/2009/04/. 33)‘Foreword’ by Sister Gargi. Swami Vivekananda in

Chicago—New Findings. Asim Chauthuri. Kolkata:

Advaita Ashrama, 2000, pp. 13-14. 34)Swami Alokananda, op. cit., p. 40. 35)Ibid. 36)‘Shillong Theke Hariye Jacche Swami Vivekanander

Smriti’ [Swami Vivekananda’s Memory Is Disappearing from Shillong] Debashish Choudhury.

Udayan, September 1, 2000, p. 14. 37)Ibid. 38)https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/

Heritage-tag-sought-for-Vivekanandas-Shillonghouse/articleshow/12867726.cms. 39) The Shillong Times, April 28, 2006. 40)http://www.rkmshillong.org/historyRkm.html 41)http://www.rkmshillong.org/themaking.html 42)‘Vivek Rath arrives at Pine City, Finally’, Manosh Das

TNN, April 27, 2013; https://timesofindia.indiatimes. com/city/guwahati/Vivek-Rath-arrives-in-Pine-Cityfinally/articleshow/19746863.cms. 43)Ibid. 44) The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda.[hereafter

CW] 7:209 45)Rajiv Roy, op. cit.; Swami Alokananda, op. cit., p. 40. 46) CW. 9:157. 47) CW. 5:165-166. 48) CW. 5:162. 49) CW. 9:163. References