Parliament of The World's Religions - 1893 Parliament

1893 Parliament

In 1893, the city of Chicago hosted the World Columbian Exposition, an early world’s fair. So many people were coming to Chicago from all over the world that many smaller conferences, called Congresses and Parliaments, were scheduled to take advantage of this unprecedented gathering. A number of congresses were held in conjunction with the exposition, including those dealing with anthropology (one of the major themes of Exposition exhibits), labor, medicine, temperance, commerce and finance, literature, history, art, philosophy, and science. One of these was the World’s Parliament of Religions. The Parliament of Religions was by far the largest of the congresses held in conjunction with the Exposition. Rev. Dr. John Henry Barrows, a clergyman, was the first Chairman of the General Committee on '1893 World's Parliament of Religions'. John Henry Barrows was appointed as Chairman by Charles Carroll Bonney to administer General Committee.

The 1893 Parliament, which ran from September 11 to September 27, had marked the first formal gathering of representatives of Eastern and Western spiritual traditions. Today it is recognized as the occasion of the birth of formal interreligious dialogue worldwide.

Absent from this event were Native American religious figures, Sikhs and other Indigenous and Earth centered religionists. (It would not be until the 1993 Parliament that these religions and spiritual traditions would be represented.) The conference did include new religious movements of the time, such as Spiritualism and Christian Science. The latter was represented by its founder Mary Baker Eddy. Rev. Henry Jessup addressing the World Parliament of Religions was the first to mention the Bahá'í Faith in the United States (it had previously been known in Europe). Since then Bahá'ís have become active participants.

The Parliament of Religions opened on 11 September 1893 at the World's Congress Auxiliary Building which is now The Art Institute of Chicago.

Soyen Shaku, the "First American Ancestor" of Zen, made the trip.

In 1893, the Buddhist preacher Anagarika Dharmapala was invited there as a representative of "Southern Buddhism" - which was the term applied at that time to the Theravada. He was a great success and by his early thirties he was already a global figure, continuing to travel and give lectures and establish viharas around the world during the next forty years. The Jain preacher Virchand Gandhi was invited there as representative of Jainism and his defending speech was admired. And Dharampala and Virchand Gandhi captivated western public

Swami Vivekananda (12 January 1863–4 July 1902), a wandering Hindu monk (Parivrajaka) represented India as a delegate. He is perhaps best known for his inspiring speech beginning with "Sisters and Brothers of America," through which he introduced Hinduism at the opening session of the Parliament on September 11. Thereafter he conducted hundreds of public and private lectures and classes, disseminating tenets of Hindu philosophy in America, England and Europe. In America Vivekananda became India's spiritual ambassador. His mission there was the interpretation of India's spiritual culture and heritage. He also tried to enrich the religious consciousness of Americans through the teachings of the Vedanta philosophy. He established the Vedanta societies in America and England. He was a key figure in the introduction of Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the western world and was credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion in the late 19th century. After a comprehensive tour of four years in the West he returned to India in 1897. Later he became a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India and contributed to the notion of nationalism in colonial India. In Swami Vivekananda's own words, he was "condensed India". William James, the Harvard philosopher, called Vivekananda the "paragon of Vedantists". Rabindranath Tagore's suggestion (to Nobel Laureate Romain Rolland) was– "If you want to know India, study Vivekananda. In him everything is positive and nothing negative."