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Oṁ bhadraṁ karṇebhiḥ śṛṇuyāma devāḥ bhadraṁ paśyemākṣabhiryajatrāḥ | sthirairaṅgaiḥ tuṣṭuvāṁsastanūbhiḥ vyaśema devahitaṁ yadāyuḥ || svasti na indro vṛddhaśravāḥ svasti naḥ pūṣā viśvavedāḥ | svasti nastārkṣyo ariṣṭanemiḥ svasti no bṛhaspatirdadhātu || Oṁ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ... Respected Swami Maheshwaranandaji Maharaj, Ambassador Srinivasan, Ambassador Mendis, your ambassador to our country, and fellow lovers of yoga and wisdom. Let me say at the outset what a great pleasure it is for my wife and me to be here in this glorious city of Vienna. We came here about 35 years ago when I was in the cabinet, and we have not been back since. About a month or six weeks ago, I was speaking at a religious function in Delhi, and I found seated next to me the distinguished Swāmījī, whom I had met briefly earlier. We got to talking. He said that he was in Vienna. I said that, by a strange coincidence, I was also going to be in Vienna. Then, when my program was being finalized, Ambassador Srinivasan rang me and asked if I would like to speak either at the Diplomatic Academy or at Swamiji’s Ashram. The choice was fairly simple, I must say, with due respect to diplomats—and I have been one myself, having served as Indian ambassador to the United States for a short while. Today, it is a great pleasure for us to be here in this marvelous city, which has played such a unique role in European and world history down through the ages. I have been asked to speak on Vedānta. May I say, friends, that we live in an age of great turmoil and tension, where the old is collapsing and the new is struggling to be born. Our generation finds itself precariously poised between a disappearing past and an indeterminate future. I travel around the world and find a great churning of human consciousness. There is a quest for new certitudes, but also a great deal of tension and turmoil. In a situation like this, we look into our scriptures—not to go backwards in time, for there can be no going backwards for the human race; we must move forward. We look to the scriptures for the wisdom, courage, and compassion to move ahead successfully. In Hinduism, we have been blessed with a large spectrum of texts, many of them hundreds of thousands of words: the Vedas, the Upaniṣads, the Brāhmaṇas, the Āraṇyakas, the Epics, the Purāṇas, on every conceivable subject. But Vedānta is generally accepted as the high watermark, not only of Indian philosophy, but of world philosophy. The word Vedānta means "the end of the Vedas." It is not only chronologically at the end, but also the high watermark of the Vedas. What I thought I would do today is share with you what I consider to be some of the crucial concepts of Vedānta. Swamiji must already have told you a great deal about this, and you must have read about it. Let me say that the Upaniṣads, which are the quintessence of Vedānta, are some of the most remarkable texts in the world. They are to Eastern philosophy what the Platonic dialogues and the New and Old Testament together are to Western philosophy. The Upanishads are dialogues, not monologues or prescriptions from an invisible God in some seventh heaven. They are dialogues between students and teachers. The students ask searching questions, and the teachers give replies born from their own wisdom. They are brilliant and inspiring texts. I would strongly urge anyone interested in Vedānta to study them. They are so full of content it is almost impossible to condense them, but I will try to show that the concepts of Vedānta are not only significant but are growing increasingly so as humanity moves into a global society. Always remember that a scripture, to be truly relevant, must be of use to us today and tomorrow, not merely a relic of the past. Otherwise, it becomes a fixed subject for PhD theses and scholars; it loses immediacy. Unless a philosophy of life gives us immediate help in the situations we face and immediate clarity into the human dilemma, it is not of great use. There are six concepts I would like to put before you briefly today. The first, basic concept of Vedānta is the all-pervasiveness of the divine. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvaṁ yat kiñca jagatyāṁ jagat: Everything that exists—not merely this tiny speck of dust called planet Earth, but the billions upon billions of galaxies in the unending universe—is illuminated, informed, and inhabited by the same divine force, Brahman. This magnificent universe is not a terrible mistake; it is an emanation of the divine. That light informs and illuminates everything. In a way, this is the philosophical correlate to the unified field theory scientists seek—a single theory that can explain everything. This concept of the all-pervasive Brahman is Vedānta's great contribution to human thought. It is a spiritually unified field theory. The second key concept is the divinity inherent in each human being. The Lord resides in the heart of all beings. No chosen race, country, or caste—in all beings. This is Vedānta's great concept: that every human being, by the very act of being human, encapsulates a spark of the divine. Fanning that spark into the blazing fire of spiritual realization is the true goal of human existence. The Upanishads have a marvelous word for the human race: Amṛtasya Putrāḥ, children of immortality. We are not just specks of dust blown by unseen destiny. Despite apparent helplessness, we encapsulate the capacity for growth, to access the divine within, and ultimately to have direct contact with it. That is the Ātmā, the spark of Brahman in each being. The third concept, which Swāmījī referred to, is yoga. Yoga comes from the same root as the English word "yoke"—to join. Yoga is the process of joining the ātmā with Brahman, God immanent with God transcendent. Swamiji is an expert, so let me just point out there are four main paths in our tradition. First, Jñāna Yoga, the way of wisdom, discriminating between the real and unreal. In the Western tradition, it is like Plato’s contemplation of eternal truths behind manifestation. Jñāna Yoga helps open the eye of wisdom to transcend rationality and comprehend the illimitable divine. Second is Bhakti Yoga, the way of the heart, devotion to an individual form of the divine. I am a worshipper of Lord Śiva. Na jānāmi yogam, na jānāmi yāpam, na jānāmi pūjām, nāto’haṁ sadā sarvadā śaraṇaṁ bhūtādyam... I try to open my heart in love and adoration. Bhakti Yoga can have Jesus Christ as its focus—a very powerful symbol. Today is the day after Pentecost, and we went to a beautiful church in the country to pay homage to the Madonna and child. Bhakti Yoga is exemplified by St. Francis of Assisi, St. John of the Cross, the Sikh Gurus, Maulānā Jalāluddīn Rūmī in the Muslim tradition, and Hindu Bhaktas like the Nāyanmārs, Āḻvārs, Tulsīdās, Sūrdās, Mīrā, and Śrī Caitanya. The third path is Karma Yoga, the way of dedicated work, as Swamiji was discussing—helping people in distress. It is the way of Martha rather than Mary, exemplified by Mother Teresa helping abandoned children. But it is not merely works; it is works dedicated to the Divine. The Gītā teaches that work itself can be a powerful modality for realization. By worshipping, through one’s work, the divinity that pervades the universe, one moves towards perfection. Dedicated, consecrated work is a powerful methodology, as seen in Swami Vivekānanda and Swāmījī here. The fourth main path is Rāja Yoga, the royal path of spiritual discipline: meditation, prāṇāyāma, awakening the Kuṇḍalinī Śaktī, Haṭha yoga, āsanas. These are not mutually exclusive; one can follow one or more paths. So, the third major concept is the methodology of joining the Ātmā and Brahman: the intellectual, emotional, physical, and psychic paths. The fourth concept of Vedānta is this: if all human beings encapsulate a spark of the divine, then the entire human race is one extended family. Vasudhaiva Kuṭumbakam is a powerful phrase meaning "the world is a family." This is particularly relevant as we move into a global society. When the ṛṣis of the Upaniṣads had this concept, one could only walk ten or twelve miles a day. Today, science and technology have made us global citizens; you can pick up a small device and talk to anyone via satellite. Science unifies our lives outwardly, but without an inner commitment to human unity—to the concept of the human race as an extended self—we cannot have world peace. The narrow view of "this is mine, that is yours" is unsatisfactory. For those of greater consciousness, the world is established as one. This concept will become increasingly relevant, and unless we interiorize it, the human race may be in danger of extinguishing itself. The fifth concept is the essential unity of all religions. Ekam Sat Viprāḥ Bahudhā Vadanti, the Ṛg Veda tells us: "The truth is one; the wise call it by many names." There can be many manifestations of the divine, but if a divinity pervades the universe, it cannot be different for people of different religions. In Vedānta, there is no monopoly of divine wisdom, no sole proprietorship of the divine. Who are we, tiny creatures on a speck of dust, to say the divine can appear only in one form, time, or place? It is prima facie unacceptable. How can we claim a monopoly unless we accept the multiplicity of paths? The human race will constantly be torn by conflict otherwise. All religions are to be revered. We are Hindus, but today we worshipped at a church without problem. The interfaith movement is crucial. The first Parliament of Religions was in 1893 in Chicago, the second in 1993, the third in Cape Town in 1999. In 2000, the UN called a meeting of spiritual leaders, which Swāmījī attended; I had the privilege of presiding over the opening pre-meeting. The fourth parliament will be in Barcelona next September. These meetings bring people of different religions into harmony. It is not about arguing which religion is superior. You have every right to feel your religion is the best path for you, but you do not have the right to say everyone else must follow it or be persecuted. That is unacceptable. Vedānta clearly lays down the multiplicity of paths. Go through whichever path you like, but move onwards on the spiritual path. It is like crossing a river: if you stay on the bank arguing about its depth and flow, you will never get anywhere. You have to jump in. Everyone in the river is striving for the same divine. Never allow fanaticism, fundamentalism, intolerance, or bigotry to distort your vision. This is tremendously important, as we see religious fanaticisms surfacing again, creating chaos. With nuclear weapons proliferating, the situation is increasingly dangerous. Finally, the sixth concept is the welfare of all beings. Bahujana sukhāya bahujana hitāya ca. Vedāntic prayers are never for individual salvation alone. Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ, sarve santu nirāmayāḥ: May all beings be happy. "Beings" includes not only humans. We talk of ecology and the environment. In the Vedas, you find prayers to rivers, mountains, oceans, wind, and sky because they are also part of nature, permeated by the divine. We reject the concept that the human race has sovereignty to exploit and destroy the environment. We are part of it. Our prayers are for the welfare of all beings—animals, birds, and nature itself. As the Sri Lankan High Commissioner said, if we continue to exploit our environment, we face consequences like global warming. Vienna seems caught in it at present; we left Delhi hoping for cool weather only to find it warm here too. Bahujana sukhāya bahujana hitāya ca is what Swamījī is doing. It is a perfect illustration of the Vedāntic attitude: a Hindu organization in a Christian-majority country, Austria, collecting money for a Buddhist-majority country, Sri Lanka. It is a marvelous thing—living Vedānta, not merely theoretical. Unless we live Vedānta, these concepts remain theoretical. Taken together, these six concepts provide a holistic paradigm for a global philosophy. They stress convergence in place of conflict, cooperation in place of competition, and holism in place of hedonism. The link with world peace is clear, as all these concepts are necessary for peace. Without them, we risk not only the absence of peace but world disaster. The human race has noble concepts, yet we have seen the nadir of cruelty, as in Europe last century. It is like the samudra manthana, the churning of the milky ocean: all sorts of gems emerged, but then a terrible poison, garala, appeared. Neither the devas nor asuras knew what to do; they fled in terror. It was then that Lord Śiva appeared, far beyond their avarice and dichotomy. He drank the poison, which turned his throat blue; hence, he is known as the blue-throated one. Friends, I know it is a difficult path. There are no soft options left for individual or collective salvation, but it is a path we must tread with courage, compassion, understanding, and wisdom. Regardless of what you do outwardly—minister, peon, shopkeeper—what matters is your inner life. Are you skimming the surface without plunging into the depths? Many live as if life were a meaningless journey from womb to tomb. It is not; it is a unique opportunity for spiritual growth and realization. I will end with the great exhortation from the Kaṭhopaniṣad, which urges us to awaken and move across a razor-edged path, difficult and dangerous. But we must move across it to reach our goal. The goal is a new consciousness, a new humanity, a new world. That is the goal of Vedānta. Thank you.