———, The Tantra of the Great Liberation (Mahanirvana
Tantra) (London: Luzac, 1913); Shiva Chandra Vidyar-
nava Bhattacharya, Principles of Tantra, edited by Sir
John Woodroffe, 5th ed. (Madras: Ganesh, 1978); Pur-
nananda, The Serpent Power. Translated by Arthur Ava-
lon, 4th ed. (Madras: Ganesh, 1950); Sir John George
Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon), Bharata Shakti: Collection
of Addresses on Indian Culture, 3d ed. (Madras: Ganesh,
1921); ———, The Garland of Letters (Varnamala):
Studies in the Mantra Shastra, 3d ed. (Madras: Ganesh,
1955); ———, Introduction to Tantra Shastra, 2d ed.
(Madras: Ganesh, 1952); ———, The World as Power:
Reality, Life, Mind, Matter, Causality and Continuity, 3d
ed. (Madras: Ganesh, 1966).
World Parliament of Religions
(Chicago, 1893)
The World Parliament of Religions was the first
interfaith religious convention in the West to intro-
duce major Eastern religions to a public audience.
Held in conjunction with the Chicago World’s Fair,
the opening ceremonies were attended by 4,000
people in the newly opened Hall of Columbus.
Originally the idea of Charles Carroll Bonney, a
Chicago attorney with an interest in comparative
religion, the parliament was organized by a Presby-
terian minister, John Henry Barrows (1847–1902),
as one of 20 congresses covering a number of
topics, including women’s progress, temperance,
commerce, literature, music, and agriculture. Rep-
resentatives of the Roman Catholic Church, Greek
Orthodox Church, Confucianism, Buddhism, JAIN-
ISM, Hinduism, and Protestantism addressed the
audiences over the course of two weeks, creating a
climactic event for the closing of the 19th century.
A number of Christian faiths refused to send rep-
resentatives to a forum that would valorize “false
faiths.”
Unprecedented attention was given to Asian
religions; their beliefs and practices were explained
directly by adept practitioners from the Orient.
Hinduism was represented by Swami VIVEKANANDA
and Nara Sima Charyar; JAINISM by Virchand R.
Gandhi; the BRAHMO SAMAJ by Protap Chunder
Mozoomdar and B. B. Nagarkar; and THEOSOPHY
by G. N. Chakravarti. The largest Asian contin-
gent was made up of representatives of Buddhism,
from Sri Lanka and Japan. The goal was to have a
personal spokesperson for every religion, an ambi-
tious and impossible ideal to meet. In fact, major
Asian religions were represented by practitioners
of only one or two sects within each larger reli-
gious complex. In the case of Hinduism, Swami
Vivekananda’s remarks represented VEDANTA phi-
losophy and practice but gave no understanding of
popular forms of SHAIVISM or VAISHNAVISM.
Most presentations and papers focused on the
areas of agreement between Western and Eastern
religions. Several problems between East and
West were addressed repeatedly, particularly the
misrepresentations of Oriental religions in the
West and the destructive ardor and arrogance of
Christian missionaries in the East. The entire Sep-
tember 22 session was “Criticism and Discussion
of Missionary Methods.” Both negative and posi-
tive assessments of the parliament were made by
missionaries, yet, whatever the final evaluation,
missionary delegates revealed a new awareness
of the appeal of Asian religion and the need for
changes in missionary methods.
Protap Chunder Mozoomdar, representative
of the Brahmo Samaj, while vociferously con-
demning the social abuses of India, explained the
“world’s religious debt to Asia.” He cited a higher
view of nature, recognition of the value of intro-
spection, and the crucial roles of devotional activ-
ity and self-discipline in a full religious life. His
prominence at the world parliament was the sec-
ond time he had influenced American audiences
with his words of tolerance. His visit in 1883–84
to the United States preceded the parliament by a
decade and constituted the first visit of a Hindu
teacher to the United States.
Swami Vivekananda, with fluency in the
En glish language and a commanding stage pres-
ence, was a sensation with all of his addresses.
He became a celebrity as he adroitly rejected, inWorld Parliament of Religions 503 J