The message of Swami Vivekananda was the message of Vedanta. The four cardinal points of Vedanta are: (1)non-duality of the Godhead, (2) divinity of the soul, (3)oneness of existence, and (4) harmony of religions.
(1) Vedanta gives a spiritual interpretation of man, his universe, and the Ultimate Reality. Philosophically non-dualistic and religiously monotheistic, Vedanta is a non-dogmatic, non-sectarian way of life. According to Vedanta, “Truth is one: sages call it by various names.” The validity of truth depends upon the direct perception of the Real. Religion is the manifestation of the divinity already in man. The different names and concepts of the divine are only frail, human attempts to name the nameless, attribute form to the formless, and limit the illimitable.
(2) The divinity of the soul is innate. Religious practices do not generate divinity, but help us to regain faith in our divinity.
(3) All life is one, homogeneous and integral. Individuals are like innumerable blood cells in the vast universal body that includes the human, superhuman, and subhuman. Life is interdependent, not independent. This oneness is the basis of all ethics and morality. Anything that separates us from the rest of the universe is sin, and whatever unites us with all is virtue.
(4) Different religions are only different paths leading to the same goal, described by various names, such as communion, union, samadhi, Self-Knowledge, satori, eternal life in heaven, nirvana, and so forth. Harmony of religions is based on unity in diversity, not on uniformity. This harmony is to be discovered and realized by deepening our individual God-consciousness. Vedanta asks a Christian to be a true Christian, a Hindu a true Hindu, a Muslim a true Muslim, a Buddhist a true Buddhist, a Jew a true Jew. All roads, Vedanta contends, lead to Rome, provided Rome is your destination.
Vedanta is based not on personalities but on universal principles applicable to all people of all times. Its basis of ethics is derived from the unity of life. It offers attainable immortality through Self-Knowledge before death. It gives hope that just as a saint had a past, so a sinner has a future. The sufferings of life, according to Vedanta, are not due to any external agency but to our ego that denounces our true Self and wants to make its own Kingdom of Heaven. Salvation is return to sanity and wholeness.
