Spiritual gurus pay tributes to Swami Vivekananda

Chennai:

Spiritual gurus from different religions paid tributes to Swami Vivekananda on his 150^th birth anniversary as they stressed on the need to unite mankind through harmony of religions.

Speaking at the Parliament of Religions, which was held to mark the 119^th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s historic address at the opening session of the world parliament of religions held at Chicago, spiritual gurus from Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jain, Sikh, Buddhism preached the need for unity among mankind among diversity in beliefs.

Swami Brahmeshnandaji Maharaj said it is pointless to speculate on the possibility of one religion for all. “Nor can a world religion emerge and become acceptable to all from an agreement among a group of well intentioned individuals. Instead of searching for common points among religions, we must seek unity in diversity to accept diversity itself as the essential ingredient of unity,” he said. 

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Priyadarshana Jain, head of the department of Jainology, Madras University, hailed Swami Vivekananda and said he was a bridge between east and west and took spirituality, mortality and great culture of universal brotherhood to the West.

She said the unity of mankind can be achieved when one nurtures the universal values like spirituality, non-violence, compassion, tolerance, respect for others’ views, non-attachment in all walks of life.

Nanak Singh Nishter, director of International Sikh Centre for Interfaith Relations said how common meal in Gurudwara brought about an egalitarian human revolution. He said by respecting other religions one could stand for integration of human beings by staunchly following his own religion.

Dr K P Aleaz, professor of religions, Bishop’s College, Kolkata, ‘Kaviko’ Abdul Rahman and ‘sol vendar’ Sri Sukisivam also spoke on the occasion.