Good morning and namaskars everybody.

We have a special occasion today because the birthday of Swami Vivekananda.

So the birthday, according to the Indian calendar, was just a couple of days back on 3rd of February.

And we had a puja, ritualistic worship on that day to mark that day.

And today we have the talk on Swami Vivekhantha. In English

calendar it is 12th January and in India everybody knows it because it's a

national holiday it's the National Youth Day in India.

Vivekhani Kand of course is extremely important for us here is very very

important central. He's the very, very important, central.

He's the founder. He's our founder. The Vedantra Society of New York exists because of him.

We are all here today because of him. And in many ways, I think, Indian spirituality, Hinduism, yoga, Vedanta, and indirectly also I would say Buddhism

and all other Indian spiritual traditions are all here because of Vivek Ananda.

It might seem a big claim to make, but he was definitely the pioneer about that.

There is no doubt.

He came here at the World Parliament of Religions in 1893 to represent

Hinduism. And what a remarkable description is given by Sister Nivertta in her introduction

to the complete works of Vivekananda, that when Vivekanda stood up to speak at the World

Parliament of Religions in 1893, 11 September, 9-11, there was another date.

New Yorkers, we remember 9-11 for something else entirely.

But the two are not unconnected because Vivekandah spoke about the need for harmony of religions.

He spoke about the need for harmony of religions. He spoke about the need for acceptance and not fanaticism and violence in the name of religion.

9-11, 1893.

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