Unveiling the Divine Within
Swami Vivekananda once said words to the effect that he would refuse to worship any God that was different and would only worship those who were like him. Let us try to understand the meaning behind the words. At first look, it might appear to be a narrow-minded rejection of Gods different from one’s own. However, it is anything but that. It is well known that Swami Vivekananda had the utmost respect for all religions and traditions. He would quote from Buddhist, Jain, Islamic and Christian sources, as frequently as he would from Hindu sources.
Swami Vivekananda came from the Vedantic tradition which is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu Philosophy. He belonged to the Advaita Vedanta branch, whose basic premise is that there is no difference between the atman (soul) and param-atman (super-soul) or almighty God. Being from this tradition, Swami Vivekananda believed that there is no difference between the creator and the created universe. If any difference is perceived, it is only because of differences in the levels of awareness and consciousness. As a human raises these levels, he becomes more and more god-like, and can eventually become one with the param-atman.
Vedantic thinking in this respect is diametrically opposed to the thinking in Abrahamic religions which state that man can receive God’s grace but cannot become Him. Consider the analogy of a frying pan being put over the fire. The closer the pan comes to the fire, the hotter it becomes because it shares the heat of the fire. However, no matter how hot it becomes, it can never become fire. Fire is hot because that is its nature, whereas a pan is hot because it is sharing heat with fire. Just as a pan cannot become fire, man cannot become God. They are different kinds and one cannot become another.
It is easy to see why Swami Vivekananda would prefer the Vedantic view. He was a firm believer in the unlimited potential of humans. He used to believe that not just in the field of religion, but in every field, humans could achieve whatever they set out to do if they worked hard enough. That includes becoming a God. This is only possible if God and humans are the same kind and the differences between them are only of a degree. Like most of Swami Vivekananda’s ideas, this is hugely empowering. It means that there are no limits to how much a human can develop himself. Every human has Godly traits like love and compassion, but they are sometimes forgotten while carrying out the business of the world. If we can remember that we are the ultimate reality, one day we can undoubtedly attain it.