Revered Swami Veethabhayanandaji Maharaj Revered Swami Brahmesanandaji Maharaj, Revered Sannyasis of the Ramakrishna order, Revered Swami Jagadeeswaranandaji Maharaj, my dear brothers and sisters, at the outset, I would like to thank Swami Brahmesanandaji, Pramod Kumar and all his colleagues, of the Vivekananda study circle, for the invitation extended to me through the ambassador in Bangalore-Sharath. Sharath would simply not accept "No" as an answer. You have an excellent ambassador in Bangalore.

Anyway, there was an opportunity for me to come to madras, to see my old friends and colleagues, but I was pleasantly surprised when I came, when I was told that the function is going to be held in IC&SR. auditorium- I have some very pleasant memories of this building. Not only because it was inaugurated when I was the Director of this institute, but also because all my lecture series where held in the adjacent hall.

Twelve years ago Swami Raaghavesananda - he was the manager of the Ramakrishna math, in Mylapore, - contacted me and said - "We are planning to start a youth wing in our math, will you be interested in handling classes for them every Sundary afternoon."

I agreed and started visiting the RK math regularly and this programmes went on for quite sometime. Once swami Ranganathanandaji, the President of RK math told me "I don't have any objection in your coming to the math and giving these talks, BUT WHAT ABOUT YOUR OWN STUDENTS? - Your have the brightest of the students of the country in your own institution, don't you like to talk to them? I said - "Fine, but the problem with our students is, the moment they join IIT, their eyes are not in India, but towards U.S. so how do I address such a group?" He said "Fine, I will tell you how to approach such students - approach them through science, leading to vedanta".

I thought he was making a general comment, but then he spend about 20 min explaining to me what exactly is the scientific basis for vedanta. Those of you who have read his very famous book - 'Practical Vedanta', his lectures - would probably appreciate this point better. So I had an opportunity to talk here to students & faculty and I see a few familiar faces of some of those who used to attend for about 7 semsesters. Then when I went to B'lore after retirement and joined the IISC as an Emeritus Fellow, the Samskritha Sangha, which already had about half a dozen students from IIT Madras, asked me to continue the series there also, and so I continued it.

The students who attended these lectures at IISC where all Ph.D students. One day I asked them a question. Vedanta talks of 3 kinds of proofs (pramanas) - the first one is prathyaksha-direct proof, second one is anumaana Pramaana - inference and third aagama Pramaana (or Saastra / Sabda). I asked them, which is the Proof normally produced by science. Without exception, all of them said Prathyaksha Pramaana. This is what I call SUPERSTITION OF SCIENCE. I asked these boys and girls - "HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE SEEN AN ATOM?- Then how do you believe atoms exist? 99% OF SCIENTIFIC PROOF IS ANUMAANA OR AAGAMA - inference or authority. When you write a research paper why do you have to produce such a long list of references? The longer the list of references, the more credible is your work. Aagama Pramaana. Why do you say conclusions - not observations (Prathyaksha). With all these data, I conclude that this possibly is what is happening - Is this not Anumaana?

Then why do you think Vedanta should always produce Prathyaksha Pramaana? - If there is God, I should see God? Swami Vivekananda was in Madras in 1892, on his way to the U.S. A few students from the Madras Christian College, came to see him, they wanted to belittle him a bit. They thought, they were brilliant students of science and thought this man clad in a monks cloth does not know anything about science. So they asked Swamiji "IS IT POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO PRODUCE PROOF ABOUT THE EXISTENCE OF GOD? CAN YOU DEFINE GOD?".

Swamiji smiled and said "Are you all students of science?" They said yes, "CAN YOU DEFINE ENERGY?" - Have you ever thought about it? You can't define energy - you can give a mathematical formula, but that's not a definition. We have to start from fundamental concepts. Can you define MASS? Can you define ENERGY? The boys looked this way that way, came up with all sorts of arguments and Swamiji cut them all into pieces and told "You are students of science and you are not able to define SCIENCE for me, you WANT ME TO DEFINE GOD FOR YOU?". Incidentally, one of those boys who went to him with great skepticism, became once of his fondest disciples later.

One point all of us have to understand. There is such a lot of superstition going on in Science, which we are not aware of. For example, you hear a very strange phenomenon and you make up your mind your test book doesn't talk about it, your teacher doesn't talk about it, American's don't talk about it, Westerners don't talk about it, so its not true. YOGA is not true. YOGA is all Mumbo Jumbo. Hold your nose, breath this way that way, it 'll be wonderful. Who is a scientist actually? A SCIENTIST IS ONE WHO OBSERVES NATURAL PHENOMENA, TESTS ITS ON HIS OWN, AND DRAWS HIS OWN CONCLUSIONS, NOT BASED ON HERESAY. A Scientist is one who never dismisses any possibility, until and unless, he has thoroughly examined it. A person who hears something and says, "I don't believe in it", is not a scientist he is just an ordinary person. I am sure all of you must have read Arthur cannon Doyle - Sherlock Holmes stories. Who is a scientist?

If among all possibilities, if only one possibility is left after eliminating all other possibilities (as not possible), however improbable it is, IT IS A FACT. This is Sherlock Holmes reduction. All Sherlock Holmes stories are based on this hypothesis. That is what science says. Read Quantum Mechanics. How did all the discoveries of Quantum Mechanics come about? It is because those famous scientists followed this particular procedure. However, improbable it will be, THAT MUST BE THE FACT. Can electrons behave like waves? - It is highly improbable. But tell it to a college student today, they won't be able to understand. Only when you go to the original paper of Louis De Brogile, you will understand what a storm was raised when he said this. They are the true scientists.

So, Swami Vivekananda poses a question. This is the paradigm of science. Investigate everything to your satisfaction and only then accept it. Now Swami Vivekananda's question is "Can you subject religion to the same analysis?". And you know his revolutionary statement - "IF YOU SUBJECT A PARTICULAR RELIGION TO THE SAME METHODOLOGY AS SCIENCE ADOPTS - REASONING - AND IF THAT DOESN'T STAND THE TEST OF REASONING, IT SHOULD BE THROWN OUT OF THE WINDOW". Every religion he says, must satisfy the paradigm of scientific investigation. It is from this particular point of view, that he as a student approached vedanta.

If your look at his life, especially the early days, there were two aspects which attracted the attention of everybody. - enormous concentration in whatever work he was doing with total dedication which was called by Sri Ramakrishna as vairagya. His enormous capacity to do meditation. Before he was sixteen he had read about and mastered atleast half a dozen disciplines which had no relation to his college studies. He had studied the history of India, that of the world and the various philosophers of the west, - and believe it or not, he had studied medical books - that is how he was able to diagnose the disease of Sri Ramakrishna as throat cancer. Many people start wondering, why Swamiji had such a wide reading. - Answer lies in the fact that when he went to the west, he was able to talk to those people on equal terms. Many times they were surprised to find Swamiji giving very very apt quotations from the Bible and give an explanation also.

Most of the philosophers of the US, made a comment "How come you know so much?". Reason was, at the formative stage of his life, he had a very wide reading. Whenever I give lectures at Prashanthi Kuteeram and talk to the audience about "Swadhyaya", which is one of the five "Niyamaas", I ask them what kind of books do they read? They said all kinds of books. I asked them - Haave you seen the movie, "Jurassic Park?" Everybody raises the hand. Then I ask - Have you read the book? - nobody raises the hand. - I ask them what is so wonderful about "Juraassic Park" - They say it's the visualeffects. What's the message of Juraasic Park? They don't know. But if you read the book, you will get the message-Nature has its own way of development, don't tamper with that. You tamper with nature, nature has a very peculiar way of taking revenge on you.

I was mentioning this in a particular class. There was one girl from washington. She then raised her hand and asked - 'Have you read the book 'Ish-meil' by the american author Daniel Quill. I told her, I'm sorry I have not heard of the book or the author. She sent me a copy of the book - you know what the book is all about? A Gorrilla talks to a human being and tells its own view of the ecology. Have we as human beings ever thought how the animals view the ecological destrucrtion going on? It's a thrilling book - far thrilling than any of these cheap novels that you buy when you want to travel by train.

Swamiji was extremely fond of reading books of that prticular type - thought provoking books. What do they do tto us? It enlarges our knowledge - our scope to get a much better view of what life is all about. The other point that all of you have to remember is this, Indian tradition has always held that you must be extremely obedient to your teacher. "Acharya Devo Bhava" - Taittiriya Upanishad says - everybody accepts that. But Narendra had a very peculiar way of respecting his teachers. He knew how to ask very difficult question. As a college student of your age when he studied western philosophy he became an agnostic - started questioning the existence of God. And many times Swamiji used to say "IF AT THAT STAGE YOU DON'T QUESTION THE EXISTENCE OF GOD, YOU ARE NOT ON THE PATH TO SPIRITUALITY". - Doubt must come in your mind. The answer must come from within yourself. So what did he do? Went on questioning all great people he met - "Sir, have you seen God?" - And the answer was either shake of a head or Devendranath Tagore said "You have the eyes of a Yogi", that's not an answer at all. But then he found the answer in Sri Ramakrishna, - "Yes, I have seen God. I see him more clearly then I see you. But who wants God?".

"People shed bucket full of tears for family or people or wealth or fame or fortune, but is there anyone who is prepared to shed even a single tear for God? And if you are ready to shed tear for God, do you think he will not come to you?" And here for the first time Narendra found a person who said he has seen God was Narendra bowled over? Did Narendra immediately touch his feet and say "You are the greatest, I will be your chela? I will do whatever you went". - No It took him a very very long time. As a matter of fact he told sister Nivedite later "Margeret, don't forget, four years I struggled with my Guru, until I accepted him". Doesn't necessarily mean that he had no regard for Sri Ramakrishna? - He had enormous love. He always used to say - "THAT MAN, conquered with his love, he can make me do anything for him".

But still, enquire - Krishna says in the Gita (IV 34)
"Tad vidhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya; updeksyanti te jnanam jnanina sattva-darsinaha."
If you want knowledge - prostrate to the guru, question also, do service to the Guru, this is precisely what Narendra did.

What instructions Narendra was given by Sri Ramakrishna, very very few people are aware of. The way he approached his Guru & later he himself became a Guru, is an indication of how one should acquire knowledge. Acquisition of knowledge requires tremendous capacity on part of student. This most of us do not understand. Let me ask you a very simple question. Many people give lectures, at the end of that ask - "Do you have any questions?", Nobody, raises hand. This has been my personal experience. Why - You should have understood it, in the brain it should have been churned, and then doubts should arise for you to ask questions. Look at the Gita - what kind of questions Arjunas asks. At the appropriate time, that kind of question comes to his mind. In a polite way, he asks Krishna - and never ever does Krishna gets tired of answering. - He goes on repeating the same arguments again and gain. On one occasion Arjuna even disagrees with Krishna. - It is this particular attitude which Swami Vivekananda pursued throughout his life.

Now let me give some other instances. How was it possible for Swamiji to convince the westerners - some of them very cynical about vedanta, some of them totally disagreeing with vedanta? If you read the complete works of Swami Vivekananda, one thing stands out - they were all extempore. When you speak extempore, it is very difficult to be totally logical. You may get carried away. But read the lectures of Swami Viveakanda. Absolutely logical - with reasoning. Because, he knew that is the way the westerners have to be approached. Let me give one very simple example. He was giving a series of lectures on Karma Yoga in NewYork. And Karma Yoga is totally based upon the concept of rebirth. If you don't accept the concept of rebirth, No Karma Yoga. Why - if this is the only life I have, why should I care for my fellow people. And the kind of people who attended his lecture were materialistics. One of them was John De Rockerfeller - the famous Rocker feller the first - one of thee earliest millionaires of US- a ruthless millionaire. Swamiji went on talking, pointing to him that any one of us who has more money then needed should keep it in a trust for the society. He interrupted and said "I don't agree with what you are saying. If I am rich its because I have sweat it out. Those people are poor because they have been lazy". And he became very angry.

One week later Swamiji was in his apartment, writing at his desk rockerfeller walked in - one of Swamiji's attendants was at the door - told him that he is busy. He brushed him off. Went to him and said "Look, the cheque for a million dollars. I have decided to start a trust. Be thankful to me" Swamiji's answer was - "You be thankful to me". So started the Rockerfeller foundation. - that was the very first of its kind. How did Swamiji convert a man like him one of the most cynical people - if you read his life you will know that - into a philanthropist? What was the methodology? He appealed to the reasoning power. He did not talk mumbo jumbo. That is what you find wherever you read Swamiji's works. - his lectures, his letters - all his points come out through reasoning. If you want to understand his reasoning - you must read his lectures on Jnana Yoga. I have found his lectures on Jnana Yoga some of the best which has ever been presented by anybody.

All you have heard of this concept of 'Maya' in Vedanta. - one of the most difficult concepts to present. You read those lecture's see the logical way. As a matter of fact at the end of the lecture, you can write QED - Quat, Errat, Demonstrat This is what I wanted to prove - so systematic. Why - Because Swamiji felt, to the modern mind, everything has to be presented in a very very systematic way - without involving anything else. In not a single lecture in US did he ever mention the name of his Guru, and said "My guru told me, so I am telling you all this".

It is only because his foreign disiples went on questioning him that he agreed to give two lectures on his Guru. And they are combined into a small volume called "My Master" and even in that book, there is no name of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa written. Somebody asked him why - He said "How can I utter the blessed name with these lips. Which have cursed so many people?". Look at the humility of the man. This is what made Swami Vivekananda extremely great. To quote Romain Rolland "After so many years when I go through these lectures, a thrill like an electric shock runs through my body. What joy would the people listening these words from his lips experienced."

What was that attraction in Swamiji Vivekandanda life that made so many people forsake their life and follow him? Was it hypnotism? Mesmerism? No - In our own time, many people have fallen a prey to these and come to grief. What was it in the case of Swamiji? There was all those powers that he had acquired. But there was one thing at the back of his mind. Everything is for the welfare of humanity. He gives a lecture at London, in the audience of which there are two people - captain & mrs Xavier. And the end of his lecture, they come and tell him, Swamiji, we want to do something for you cause, please tell us what is it that you want us to do'. Captain Xavier was a former office of the Indian Army stationed in India. Now he lived in London. Swamiji coolly told him "It has been my ambition to establish an Ashrama in the Himalayas. Can you do that", Two days later, the Husband and wife come "Swamiji, we are ready. - We have sold off our house and all our belongings, converted the entire lot to cash and kept it in the bank, you tell us when you are ready, we will come with you".

They came to India with him, went to Almora, in that very very difficult terrain, and established an Advaita Ashrama, at Mayavati which is one of the flourishing centers of the RK orders. What was there in that great man? The effect that he used to have on the audience was something extra ordinary when you read some of these reports, you feel - could these have been possible, in this life at all? On this earth at all? In Los Angels, a lady attended 3 of his lectures, and at the end, of the 3rd lectures she broke into tears, and told Swamiji - "Swamiji, I don't want to listen to you again. I will never ever attend another lecture by you". Why - "You were so perfect today, I don't want that effect to be spoiled". This was the effect he had. What was the basis for these whole lot? First- right from childhood, the training given by his Father. - Viswanath Dutta - shaping the character off Narendra. One day Narendra asked his father - what have you done for me. The Father took him to the mirror and said - "Look into the mirror, that's what I have done for you". That noble youth. The second was, the training under his Guru. If you go to an iron & steel works, occasionally you will see molten iron or steel, coming out in the form of bass or rods. There will be men standing with all protective dress and tongs. This rod comes out at a terriffic speed with extremely high temperature. Very deftly, he collects in the tongs, it tries to escape - he move along with it until it cools down & becomes quiet. When I read about Sri Ramakrishna's training of Vivekananda I was remained of this. Narendra was of rebellious kind of nature. - because he questioned everything - but with enormous potential. He did not accept anything as sacrosanct - anything as holi.

When many people went and told Narendra, that Sri Ramakrishna is an avatara, he did not accept it. It was two days before the mahasamadri of Sri Ramakrishna, that he accepted it. That attitude that I will accept only those things which are proved to me - Is that not you people are supposed to have when you present papers in conferences? To prove to the satisfaction of everyone that your results are reliable? Otherwise Ph.D./M.Tech. thesis will not be accepted. That is precisely what we practice. But he practised in the field of vedanta also. Through that he proved that Vedanta can be approached in an absolute scientific methodology. If you read the Gita - the Gita is one of the most scientific texts except for a few scientific texts here and there which are valid for the period in which Krishna lived. But otherwise all the slokas are valid for all the time. After a whole series of instructions, Krishna asks Arjuna - "Are your doubts gone? Have you listened carefully to what I have said? Have you understood every thing that I have said? If so do as you wish - DO AS YOU WISH'. That is precisely the way Sri Ramakrishna trained Narendra and Swamiji trained sister Nivedita. Do we have the possibility of such a flexible relationship today? Very difficult.

But we have one precious treasure, that is the literature. I am not talking here of Vedantic literature alone, but of modern science also. There have been very many people who have dedicated their whole lives and finally left behind their foot prints on the sands of time. Let me ask you another interesting question "Why is it that modern scientists, especially particle physicists are slowly becoming philosophers? It started with Max Plank. Einstein, Heisenberg. You know one of the last books that Heisenberg wrote was "Physics and Philosophy". Louis De Broglie, Erwin Schrodinger. Schrodinger was a vedantin. Upanishads was his favorite subject. He wanted to come to India. HE WANTED TO BECOME A PROFESSOR AT A CENTRAL COLLEGE IN B'LORE. Unfortunately it didn't work out, so he went to Ireland, where a separate institute was established.

Josephson of the famous junction - he is a vedantin a great philosopher. And today if you read books on popular science, you will find the same kind of questions which vedantins asked. If you read the book. 'Dancing Holymasters', by Garry Sukou - in the very last page "THE POSITION OF SCIENCE TODAY, REMINDS ME OF AN ANECDOTE FROM INDIA. RAMA, SITA AND LAKSHMANA ARE WALKING IN A SINGLE FILE IN THE FOREST. RAMA IS PARABRAHMAN. LAKSHMANA IS JIVATMAN. SITA IS MAYA. SO HOW DOES JIVATMAN SEE PARABRAHMAN? IT REQUESTS MAYA TO STEP ASIDE SO THAT IT CAN SEE PARABRAHMAN. WE SCIENTIS HAVE TO REQUEST THAT MAYA - THAT ILLUSION TO STEP ASIDE AND TELL US WHAT REALLY THIS WORLD IS, WHAT PHYSICS IS ALL ABOUT" - This is from a physicist - not from a vedantin.

But unfortunately, in most of the countries, the image of science is not this. The image of science is that of technology. - the age of computers. But all these were possible because of the fundamental discoveries in physics - and those physicists towards the end of their life became philosophers. They came up with certain principles which they just could not follow - and slowly started coming to the east and started findingly answers in Advaita Vedanta. All of you have heard of S. Chandrasekhar. He came to our IIT in 1968. He was a total agnostic. Non - believer in God, - Indian - born in an Orthodox Iyyer family - curaman's rephew. But, two years before his passing away he gave an interview to the SPAN magazine. An American lady asked him a question about his agnostiscism His answer was - "I am no longer agnostic. I HAVE AT LAST STARTED BELIEVING IN ONE SCRIPTURE - AND THAT IS THE GITA". She asked him why? Why not some other book He said "That is the only book that has appreciated the enormous dimensions of time and space. I have gone through the scriptures of the entire world, no where I find that kind of description, which tell us if not totally - roughly with that kind of desxcription of time & space as science has".

Physicists, scientists, these days - neurophysiologists, neurobiologists, parapsychologists - are now working in an area where they are slowly coming to Vedanta - and how is it possible? Because as Swami Vivekandanda has shown in his lectures vedanta does provide an answer to these things.

Have you heard of Edgar Kaisen - the American- I don't know what to call him - mystic - gave proof - direct proof- for the existence of rebirth which has created a revolution in the whole of US. I have no time today to go into details, but if you read all these books, you will understand what it is that is happening around the world, in the form of a revolution. Why is it that they are all coming to the east. The first thing that attracts them the east is Buddhism. Why because Bhuddhism does not talk of God. But Buddhism also does not give them the final answer. That is why they come to vedanta. And when they come and see shankara's vedanta they are flabbergasted. They are simply taken aback. I have talked to many of them from the west and all of them said "WE NEVER REALISED THAT SANKARA'S PHILOSOPHY HAS GONE TO SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS". It is that which Swami Vivekananda tried to project through his lectures. - with the modern medium. Very very rarely did he quote Sanskrith Slokas. Very rarely did he quote from the scriptures. But what he said was the essence of the scriptures. That is the reason why many people later also called him "Abhinava Sankaracharya". The way Sankaracharya went around the country, he also went around the country to propogate vedanta in all its phases. Vishistadvaita, Advaita, Chaitanya Mahaprbhu's Bhakthi all these things he explained through his lectures. It is a vast treasure.

But unfortunately we don't recognise it. In Kannada there is a proverb - 'when there is a medicinal plant growing at your backyard, you don't recognise it - you go to the shop to buy the medicine'. This is very much true And this is the age of patents. Recently Haldi somebody got a patent, now I think thulsi. That is when we wake up. Aha, we've got a plant call Thulsi which has medicinal values. One day Vivekananda MAY BE PATENTED. It happed in his own life time when he was in New York in 1896, Leon Losberg - Swami Kripananda wrote a letter to Alasingha Perumal in Madras.said "Alasingha, Beware, Beware of Swami Vivekananda "DON'T LET HIM GO IF YOU, WE WILL TAKE HIM". And he also said if you don't recognise Vivekananda in the encyelopedia, in who's who he will be shown as an American. This is the way America accepted him. But they forgot him and America is slowly rediscovering him. 10 years came that wonderful book - Elina Stage - "A gift unopened"- If you read it you will understand what Swami Vivekananda was. She says "100 YEARS AGO, FROM THE SHORES OF INDIA, A GIFT PARCEL, ARRIVED IN THE US. BUT WE ARE SO FOOLISH, WE HAVE NOT EVEN BOTHERED TO OPEN IT TO SEE WHAT IS INSIDE". And when I read that book Swami Tyagananda gave me a copy - my first comment was it applies equally to India.

How many of us have read the complete works of Swamiji? Let alone that, Lectures from Colombo to Almora? Every Tom, Dick & Harry talks of Patriotism today because elections are round the corner. What is patriotism - Swamiji defines - "Do you feel for your country men?". Did we feel for our soldiers on the Kargil slopes? Did we at any time feel for them. Then we are patriots If we did not feel for them, we were more concerned about the cricket match, we are not patriots. Because those fellows were laying down their lives for the cause of this country - That is precisely the message of Swami Vivekandanda.

As a matter of fact, I personally feel that they way we responded to the situation in Kargil was strictly according to Bhagavat Gita and strictly according to Swami Vivekananda, Sri Ramakrishna said "WHEN YOU SEE EVIL YOU DON'T HAVE TO BITE, BUT YOU MUST ATLEAST HISS". And this is what was done. This is the message all of us have to understand. Should we wait for foreigners to come to India to tell us about the glory of Vivekananda? Or should we accept him as our own and tell the foreigners? I am not joking, my dear brothers and sisters, An American told me this. - "SIR, IF INDIA DOES NOT WAKE UP, 5 YEARS FROM NOW, WE WILL ALL COME BACK TO INDIA, AND AT THE AIRPORT WHEN THE IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS ASK US, WE WILL SAY, WE HAVE COME TO TEACH YOGA". Tomorrow some people will come and say, we have come to teach Swami Vivekananda.

IT IS OUR TREASURE, IT IS OUR HERITAGE, AND NOTHING VIVEKANANDA HAS SAID IS AGAINST SCRIPTURES. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IS AGAINST SCRIPTURES. It is all in that particular format but he has given a modern interpretation - In that he has followed no less an example than Sri Krishna. If you read Gita, you will find Sri Krishna giving interpretations for his time of all Vedic terminology - Karma converted to Karma Yoga, Yajna - concept of Yajna, Sattva Rajas tamas - taken over. Every one of the concepts was taken over, put it in a newhow, and we got that wonderful text - Gita.

This is precisely what Swami Vivekananda did - taken all those ideas from various scholars and put them in a modern mould which you and I with English education can very easily understand - and what a language! What English language - what power in that language. Even now when you read those lectures you feel like getting up from your seat and walking because you just can't stand that surge of energy. That is Swami Viveakananda. If nothing else if you read atleast his "LECTURES FROM COLOMBO TO ALMORA" you will realise what an extra ordinary person he was. And if we don't make use of this facility, then we don't have to blame anybody else.

So, I have tried to share some of my thoughts with you. Vivekananda is always a difficult subject because once you start, its difficult to stop. But time is up. So once again I thank all of you.