Notes on Swami Vivekananda's Chicago Address

As an Indian and a Bengali person, I am quite obviously awed and inspired by Swami Vivekananda, the mystic and Renaissance man. He was a key figure in the introduction of Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the western world and was credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion in the late 19th century. He was a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India and contributed to the notion of nationalism in colonial India.

Today I would like to write about the series of famous speeches which he delivered at the Parliament of the World's Religions at Chicago from 11th to 27th  September, 1893. Almost everyone of reasonable intellect and pride in Indian heritage would know about it; at least his opening statement "Sisters and brothers of America!" is well revered even among the indifferent and apathetic. When Professor John Henry Wright of Boston University learned that Vivekananda was not officially accredited and did not have any credential to join the Parliament, he told Vivekananda– "To ask for your credentials is like asking the sun to state its right to shine in the heavens."

But I will not comment on the content of the speech - discussing how his words have inspired generations and how he bridged the Oriental and Occidental spiritual schools is redundant and has been done by scholars and theologians since time immemorial. Since this blog is created for the purpose of the course 'Effective Public Speaking', I will delve in the details of Vivekananda's oratorical expertise.

Born in an affluent Bengali family in 19th century Calcutta, he did not have any trouble being educated in the finest English education available. This ought to explain why his speech, albeit having a Bengali accent, is in perfect English pronunciation. He spoke slowly, his clear voice resounding with confidence in every syllable and even the old recording equipment, often causing voices to sound trebly, could not mask his deep bass.

His disposition was humble and he spoke with much courtesy in his voice. He acknowledged everyone's presence respectfully whilst maintaining his own pride and that of his faith. A significant aspect of the Chicago Address is the pauses Vivekananda employed in his monologue. Usually spiritual speakers have the tendency to sound complex and lofty, emphasizing on points that are unnecessary and hurrying past the clauses of relevance. Vivekananda, understanding and believing fully well what he was talking about, paused in crucial parts of his speech, giving the listener time to assimilate the idea that he just conveyed. Concurrently his speech wasn't a slow drone. His words, although simple, were very emphatic in their usage and did much justice to what his ideas were.

Rhetoric and ornamentation were the key elements in his articulation. One must remember that this was early 20th century USA, the concept of Hinduism as known to the West wasn't as prominent as it became much later. To make sure the Occident did not interpret his message in an unwanted fashion, Vivekananda was successful in using the allegories which were easy for the Western theologians to grasp. The outcome of the Chicago Address was enormous in terms of the West's understanding of Hinduism and Indian spirituality; had Vivekananda used complex motifs and difficult articulation, the Western world would probably still associate India with flying fakirs and ritual sacrifices.

In the course of his talk, Vivekananda often quotes hymns. These may be from the Vedas, the Upanishads or the Gita. Like a modern speaker who knows his audience very well, he refrains from reciting the original Sanskrit, as he knows the superfluousness of it when speaking to an English-speaking audience. He quotes them in English, in an almost poetic way, putting stress on those phrases with more relevance. Even to a Westerner with no concept of the importance of 'shlokas' in spirituality, Vivekananda's lyrical delivery would cause the germination of an propensity towards the faiths from which these are born.

Like his teacher, the great Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekananda often uses stories and anecdotes to express his views. These stories are small fables with morals and the interpretations or analogies drawn from them facilitate easier understanding of concepts that would be very difficult otherwise. He tells them like one would tell stories a child but with overwhelming depth and maturity.

Swami Vivekananda's speeches at the Parliament of World's Religions had a deep impact, not only on religion, but on the course of the history of Oriental-Occidental relations. And they serve as prime examples of public speaking. You can hear the welcome address for yourself in the video below: