In 1893, when Swami Vivekananda went to Chicago to address the Parliament of the World’s Religions, he took with him one of the world’s oldest and most enduring “weapons” of peace – Dharma. History records his lecture tour and mission as one which sparked huge interest and curiosity in the West about India and its traditions, especially Yoga, meditation and the science of interdependence.
This year, the Parliament was convened again in Chicago in an atmosphere of great global fear, mistrust, inequality and religious intolerance. It was a ‘Call to Conscience’. Its Chairman, Nitin Ajmera, remarked on the criticality of faith in healing the planet and addressing the perils of climate change and building communities of compassion rather than oceans of greed, individualism and addiction.
The Sikh diaspora served their langar of freshly cooked free vegetarian food to all the delegates, speaking respect through the language of sewa and prashadam. India has always known that the simple sharing of food is the best way of showing care and respect for one and all, an action which melts hatred and distrust.
Universities today have become large influential institutions of higher learning and scientific research and development. I do not recall ever experiencing a langar on campus or having a conference on inner peace and reflexivity as keys to higher learning. Instead, there is pride in the drawing of boundaries and the centrality of a “secular” science, whatever that means. The inner spirit has been neglected, diminished even, by the ideals of materialism, objectivity and the abandonment of belief. Ask yourself can “higher” education ever be “soul-less”?
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Much can be learnt from this year’s World Parliament, where animal compassion and veganism played a central role, and peace was struck with all living beings, not just humans. I have long argued that respecting biodiversity is the key to human pluralism.
The world urgently needs to reawaken the spirit of Swami Vivekananda if it is to avoid human catastrophe. Its engine of learning and education needs wholesale transformation to help build ‘communities of inner peace’ for a peaceful society.
Silence, meditation, reflection and compassion to all living beings are the urgent Net Zero languages for a sustainable planet. Don’t let the fake noise crowd your spirit.
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Professor Atul K. Shah [@atulkshah] teaches and writes about Indian wisdom on business, culture and community at various UK universities and is a renowned international author, speaker and broadcaster.