Cultural empowerment leads to economic growth: Seer

Dharwad: Achieving cultural renaissance and economic advancement is essential to realize the dream of making India a superpower in its true sense, said Ramakrishna Mission assistant secretary Swami Abhiramananda.
Inaugurating the silver jubilee celebrations of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Ashrama and a youth convention here on Sunday, the seer said that talks on making India a superpower should revolve around achieving economic prosperity. "But history is witness to the fact that when the culture of a nation was high, the level of prosperity too was high. But when the culture went down, prosperity also went down. The best example is the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. Cultural empowerment leads to social and economic empowerment. Therefore, cultural renaissance and economic advancement should go hand in hand to take India to greater heights, he said.

Swami Vivekananda's message could be the guiding principles to achieve this end, he said. The seer said that Vivekananda's historic Chicago speech on September 11, 1983 transformed the whole world by delivering a new message. "In his speech, Swami Vivekananda had raised voice against fanaticism, narrow mindedness, and persecution with sword or pen. But the world leaders ignored him and subsequently there were two World Wars and several other small wars. World peace has remained a mirage despite making several attempts. Swami Vivekananda's concept of practical Vedanta could be of help in this direction. For, it helps human beings understand their true self, have expanded consciousness and rise above narrow mindedness," he said.

MP Pralhad Joshi called upon youths to go through the writings of Swami Vivekananda as they have the strength of guiding them to the path of glory. "In his Chicago address, Swami Vivekananda introduced to the world the Indian religion in its true sense and helped eradicate several commonly prevailing misconceptions during those days," he said.

Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Ashram president Swami Vijayananda Saraswati presided over the programme. Seers Swami Prakashananda and Swami Veereshananda were present.