Impressions of India

rather comprehensive

This fascinating continent, more populous than Europe
is still dominated by the oldest of the world’s religions
quite unbrokenly since three millennia at least,
making her the oldest intact culture in our world,
enriching it in the historic process with one world religion more:
the high morale, integrity and wisdom
of the common sense philosophy of Buddhism,
while at times disturbed by more intolerant intruders like the Muslims
and the Christians, doing what they could to devastate
the history, the culture and traditions of the ancient “heathen” India,
which instead absorbed them to enrich her culture with them,
adding constantly more faiths, more languages and cultures,
more philosophies and outlooks on the world and life,
thus constantly remaining basically tolerant and universal,
which repeatedly her history has proved.
In modern times there has been a considerable renaissance of Hinduism
heralded by Romain Rolland, who introduced in Europe Ramakrishna
with his followers Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore.
The latter gave a universal voice to Hindu tolerance and wisdom
cordially embracing every faith and heralding a world community
and unity, like in a university of common faiths and knowledge,
cultures, shared philosophies and mutual creativeness.
Not only Kipling, Talbot Mundy, M.M.Kaye, John Masters
and Jim Corbett, first to introduce national parks of wildlife,
owed their lives to India, but Mahatma Gandhi was an Indian too,
accomplishing political reforms and miracles by obstinate non-violence.
One of his pupils was the Japanese monk Nichidatsu Fujii,
rebelling against society, career and martial life by sticking to a beggar’s life
and making it his mission to erect peace stupas all around the world,
especially in India, as a demonstration against nuclear weapons,
having seen Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
making it his goal to have all nuclear weapons in the world dismantled.
He was active to the end, a hundred years old, when he passed away
some twenty years ago, but his Peace Stupas go on rising everywhere,
in Africa, in South America, in London, India and all over Asia,
crying out the urgent message universally: “Peace, please!”