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 th.
