Swami Vivekanada - light of india's youth

Its my honour on this auspicious day when Swami Vivekananda was born on 12th of January 1863 that I am able to put before us the speech given by him at the Parliament of Religions on 11th September, 1893. This speech will not show the true way to life but also answer who we are....

"Sisters and Brothers of America,

 It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world; I thank you in the name of the mother of religions; and I thank you in the name of millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects.

 My thanks, also, to some of the speakers on this platform who, referring to the delegates from the Orient, have told you that these men from far-off nations may well claim the honour of bearing to different lands the idea of toleration. I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to Southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: “As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.” 

The present convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita: “Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to me.” Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilisation and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honour of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal. 

WHY WE DISAGREE 

15th September, 1893

 I will tell you a little story. You have heard the eloquent speaker who has just finished say, "Let us cease from abusing each other," and he was very sorry that there should be always so much variance. But I think I should tell you a story which would illustrate the cause of this variance. A frog lived in a well. It had lived there for a long time. It was born there and brought up there, and yet was a little, small frog. Of course the evolutionists were not there then to tell us whether the frog lost its eyes or not, but, for our story's sake, we must take it for granted that it had its eyes, and that it every day cleansed the water of all the worms and bacilli that lived in it with an energy that would do credit to our modern bacteriologists. In this way it went on and became a little sleek and fat. Well, one day another frog that lived in the sea came and fell into the well. 

"Where are you from?" 

"I am from the sea."

"The sea! How big is that? Is it as big as my well?" and he took a leap from one side of the well to the other. 

"My friend," said the frog of the sea, "how do you compare the sea with your little well?”
 Then the frog took another leap and asked, "Is your sea so big?" 

"What nonsense you speak, to compare the sea with your well!"

 "Well, then," said the frog of the well, "nothing can be bigger than my well; there can be nothing bigger than this; this fellow is a liar, so turn him out."

 That has been the difficulty all the while. I am a Hindu. I am sitting in my own little well and thinking that the whole world is my little well. The Christian sits in his little well and thinks the whole world is his well. The Mohammedan sits in his little well and thinks that is the whole world. I have to thank you of America for the great attempt you are making to break down the barriers of this little world of ours, and hope that, in the future, the Lord will help you to accomplish your purpose."




For the entire speech and his works follow this link...

The journey of technological innovation

The journey of technological innovation 

Technology, the one word which has literally changed the lives of everyone. I always wondered what life could be in the absence of such a vitality. How the social animals made “technology?” How did the humans put such coordination and rhythm into the non-living bearings and springs?, “In simple, how technology happened to be the bleeding edge even today?”. It is surely the power of the human minds that they have been able to do such. I recently came across a research paper by George P. Landow, professor of art and history of Brown university. The paper gave a brief and precise picture of the different stages in which technology has developed itself. If we go through these stages, one can easily see that every single item that we have around us is not just a piece but an idea that has developed since the start of human civilisation and is still developing. From a simple hammer to giant satellites all are nothing but a thought that has matured and manifested itself since the start of our civilisation.

Now we move on to the different stages of technology emergence and try to find out the links of the tech world.

Anthrotechnic age(2.5million years ago – 2000BC): 

The timeline begins with what  ‘George P. Landow’ calls the ‘Anthrotechnic age’. I suppose it means ‘pre-tech period’ So what was the ‘anthrotechnic ‘ age all about? The history of human technology begins with the discovery of how to give the stone a cutting edge. The type of stone found most suitable for the purpose is flint. This was basically the period which started with the human civilisation 2.5millions of years ago. Also known as the stone age, this is the longest period in human history that has slowly decorated and eventually developed not only  the various techniques to use different materials but also communicating them  to others so that the knowledge can be preserved. The era holds in itself some of the gargantuan discoveries in the history of human existence. But in order to recall easily, this large period has been sub-cultured into three different phases. So what are these phases, let’s have a look.

The Paleolithic age(2.5million years ago-9000BC): 

“Paleolithic”, emerging  from the confluence of two independent words, ‘Paleos’ meaning ‘old’, and ‘lithos’ meaning ‘stone’. It means the ‘old stone age’.  Now, this was the period during which any inventions that were procured changed the history forever. This age holds the pride of discovering some of those elephantine discoveries which are with us still in its raw form. These are Fire, art, hammer, etc.

The Mesolithic Age(9000BC-5500BC):

"Mesolithic”, born from the amalgamation of two free words, ‘meso’ meaning ‘middle’ and ‘lithos’…. Yes u got it…. ‘stone’. So this means the ‘middle’ stone age. Now, what happened in the middle stone age? Mesolithic material culture is characterized by greater innovation and diversity than is found in the Paleolithic. Some the new inventions during this period was the microlith which was a small stone tool  mounted on a shaft to give a serrated edge.

The Neolithic Age(9000BC-2500BC):

“Neolithic”, comes from ‘neo’ meaning ‘new’ and ‘lithos’ meaning ‘stone’. This was the last part of the stone age. The stage where the most advanced inventions of that age came into existence. This age prevailed from around 9000BC, but the lack of advancement in Euopean technology, this age came a bit late for them. So, the Mesolithic age was pushed in ,lasting from 9000 to 5500 BC and pushing the European Neolithic forward to span the period 4000 to 2500 BC.. Now since this was the most advanced stages of that time what might had been its outputs? There were many though. Some of them are bricks which were made by baking moulded mud cakes in the scorching heat of the sun, spinning thread for weaving and loom.

By 4000 BC deep shafts are cut into the hillside at Rudna Glava, in the Balkans, to excavate copper ore. This robbing of the earth's treasures is carried out with due solemnity. Fine pots, bearing produce from the daylight world, are placed in the mines as a form of recompense to propitiate the spirits of the dark interior of the earth.

In short and simple word, the humans of this period mostly worked alone or in large groups since they had not learnt the skill to make animals work for them. This was the start of our civilisation which required the development of basic technologies, which our ancestors did quite well.

Anthrotechnic++ age(2500BC-1000AD):

‘++’ seems more like an energy gainer.. ryt?  But this was the stage in human history when they gained something which not only increased their workforce but also taught them to increase their mechanical energy. Now how did they do that? It's quite simple actually, they learnt how to tame animals and make them work for us. Cows, bulls, bisons, buffaloes and elephants were used to increase their mechanical energy manifold. These animals were use for  transport, wars, domestic works, etc. So, it can be said that Anthrotechnic++ age truly gave the boost of energy to the human civilisation.

The basic workers that the humans used at that time were animals, so a typical work unit was measured as 1 horsepower(hp) or ox power.

Eotechnic age(c.1660):

So, 3rd comes the Eotechnic Age… “Eo” meaning “a combining form of something early and primeval” and “technic” is obviously related to technology. So that means, this was the early period of the technology of the human civilisation. Some of the keen inventions of this period are such as:

The windmills:  The first practical windmills are constructed on or before the 9th century in a region spanning eastern Iran and western Afghanistan.

A tower clock in China: After six years' work, a Buddhist monk by the name of Su Song completes a great tower in 1094, some thirty feet high, which is designed to reveal the movement of the stars and the hours of the day. Figures pop out of doors and strike bells to signify the hours.

Gutenberg and Western printing: The name of Gutenberg first appears, in connection with printing, in a law case in Strasbourg in 1439. He is being sued by two of his business partners. Witnesses, asked about Gutenberg's stock, describe a press and a supply of metal type.

It is quite clearly seen that the inventions in this period blended their technologies quite well. So that all about Eotechnic age. Next,

Paleotechnic age(1860):

 Paleotechnic means “old technology”. This was the period that flourished under the mechanical power of the steam engine, captured under the magnificent eyes of a camera, people saved due to the introduction of the stethoscope. This period of innovation in technology made the structure of eyes, arms and immunity of the human civilisation. This was the base or platform formed in this period which would act as a base for many centuries to come.

Neotechnic age(1960): 

This was technology in the modern era, it means the age of “new technology.” It can be said that the “neotechniques” era started the invention of “Electric street Car”, built by the Electric Carriage and Wagon Company of Philadelphia starting in 1896, and used on the streets of New York to deal with the "horse pollution" of the day, the “Telephone” by Alexander Graham Bell, which opened the  doors to connectivity. The Neolithic age marked distinction in tech world dividing it into three broad categories as such “infotech”, “biotech” and “nanotech”. The present stage of technology has the promise to make something superior which has not been imagined.  The total combination of these three technologies can produce a very highly elevating and equally devastating scenarios for mankind.