The broad-minded and compassionate people consider the whole world to be their family while the narrow-minded are always keen to differentiate and discriminate.
These words are an immortal testimony to the rich and philosophical nature of our country and our culture. This is the ideal that Swami Vivekananda stood for. He was the monk who managed to give Hinduism a universal voice in 1893 at the Parliament of Religions held in Chicago. His sermon there not only provided him with instant fame, but also allowed the world to make its acquaintance with a spiritual and humble monk with fierce intellect and knowledge. We live in troubling times. Different forces of power threaten to tear our country apart. Amid all this hate mongering, Swamiji’s message of Brotherhood comes as a fresh breath of air. I am reminded of Swamiji’s words where he expressed his pride and reminded the world that our country was the one that accepted every outcast of the world. The people who were shunned by tyrannical emperors found refuge in our country. That is the ideal that we should strive for. Help those in suffering but never stand down in the face of evil. Universal Brotherhood in essentiality means considering every person on the face of this Earth to be a friend instead of a foe. To treat everyone with the same respect, love and dignity that you would like for yourself. Swami ji while speaking on the topic of religious unity highlighted an important issue. He said that no religion can stand alone and destroy others to assert their monopoly. Every religion must coexist. Religious unity does not mean that one religion rules over the others. It enforces the ideals of mutual respect and existence. He did not want a person of one religion to absorb another. Giving a beautiful example, he said that if we put a seed in soil, water it in the presence of sunlight, the seed assimilates all the good in its environment and comes out as something that sustains life. This teaches us that while living in an environment of brotherhood, we can and should assimilate all the good teachings around us and become better every day. 
But just as the seed does not become the soil in the process and preserves its individuality, we too must preserve our own sense of identity while we absorb the teachings and spirit of others. Swamiji gave the motto of ‘Assimilation not Destruction’ and ‘Harmony and Peace and not Dissension’. Ancient Vedic culture thrived on these philosophies. While being world’s leading scientists at a time when the world’s so called first world countries were living in caves and hunting, we reached the pinnacle of our philosophy. Our great ancestors like Yajnavalkya, Aruni, Gargi and Maitreyi developed the perfect philosophical conduct and propagated universal brotherhood but the dark and dreary times of multiple invasions and colonialism left us none the wiser about our great past. Swami Vivekananda reminded us of that. He became the only light in the terrain full of dark. But we find ourselves in a similar predicament and the work of Swamiji is not complete yet. We must cling to his teachings now more than ever. Universal brotherhood is the way to go because if every nation, state or community starts fighting each other, soon there would be no person to fight or no person to defend. We will be the death of each other if do not start taking stand for world peace. History is evident that whenever we fight each other, everyone suffers. No one is a winner in a conflict. There just is one person who gained something material at the price of human life. But that does not mean that in the pursuit for peace, we lose the ability to fight for our rights. Swamiji had also said that strength is life and weakness is death. Universal brotherhood does not mean that you stay passive in the face of evil. In fact, it enforces it. The world is your family but in order to protect it, you should be ready to fight. We need to awaken the Vivekananda in each one of us by realizing the ‘Vivek’ we have inside each other to propagate universal brotherhood and make this world a better place to live.
Article By
Shristi Wali
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