Swami B.H. Bon of the Gaudiya Mission who has been working in Europe for the last two years has started a Hindu centre in London with the Marquess of Zetland as its President, was recently invited by different Universities and Societies of Germany to deliver lectures on the various aspects of Hinduism.
The Swamiji delivered three lectures in Berlin at the Lessing Hochschule, the Berlin University and the Indian Club on "The Indo-Aryan Message of the Gaudiya Mission", "The philosophy of Sree Krishna Chaitanya" and "The Hindu view of life" respectively.
The first two lectures were in German and the third was in English.
Impressed by the depth of knowledge and attracted by the mode of speech of the Swamiji the Lessing Hochschule has arranged for the Swami two more lectures on January 11th and 18th when he will speak in German on "The spiritual significance of Caste System in India" and "Why submission to the Spiritual Master is an absolute necessity for a spiritual life".
The Berlin University has also invited the Swamiji for two more lectures on January 25 and 26.
After the first three lectures in Berlin Swami Bon started on his lecture tour and had one lecture at the University of Leipzig which was very highly appreciated.
Swamiji spoke on "The conception of Maya in Indian Philosophies" and after the meeting a discussion followed when many of the professors joined in the mutual discussion.
Swamiji has left a very lasting impression with the scholars of Leipzig.
At Dresden Swamiji had the largest audience of over 800 people and he spoke on "The Hindu conception of God and soul" while he was cheered up in the midst of repeated ovations.
The Minister of Education for Saxony and the Mayor of Dresden conveyed their interest and welcome to the Swamiji with his message of Theological Philosophy and culture of India.
Professor Winternitz arranged for the Swamiji one lecture at Prag in Czechoslovakia, where from Swami Bon went to Vienna and delivered one lecture in English on "India, her religion and culture."
The lecture was rather restricted to the scholars and nobilities and amongst others the British Ambassador and the American Consul-General were also present at the meeting.
The President in his remarks mentioned that the lecture of the Swamiji was so much inspiring that one could safely say that Vienna had not for long such an illuminating lecture.
At the Universities of Munich and Bonn, Swami Bon spoke in English while at the Universities of Tubingen Beuron and Marburg he delivered his lectures in German which were equally appreciated.
It makes a great deal of difference when one speaks in the same language of the country when a foreign speaker wants to deliver lectures.
At Tubingen Swamiji had a long and open discussion with Prof. Hauer who is the leader of the present German Faith Movement.
Prof. Hauer thinks that Christianity could not be the right religion for the Nordic Aryans of Germany and that a religion more on the pantheistic ideas will better suit the mentality of the Aryans of his country.
He is trying to put forth ideas of the Indo-Germanic origins, as he says, but Swamiji thinks that true religion could not be marked out by any limitation of time and mundane space.
Swami Bon was given a very cordial reception at all the Universities and German cities and he has been shown all possible interest in his attempt to represent the real spiritual life of India to the honest and unbiased people of the West.
Swamiji was deeply touched by the hospitality, he had been given, and it certainly speaks for the friendly attitude of new Germany towards the culture and religion of India.
There can be true friendly feeling between India and Germany in so far the cultural, intellectual and spiritual aspects of the two countries are concerned.
As the Germans are showing their interest in the non-political activities of the Swamiji he is thinking of continuing his works in Berlin for a longer time.
Source: The A.B. Patrika (Jan. 23 1935)
No comments:
Post a Comment