At 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 15 in the Susquehanna Room, Dr. Jeffery Long,  professor of religion and Asian studies,  delivered a lecture about what he said is his favorite topic to present. Long delivered this same lecture to an audience of about 15,000 people while in India for the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.

The lecture, entitled “How Hinduism Changed America: The Enduring Legacy of Swami Vivekananda” gave an in-depth description of how Hindu traditions have shaped the history of our country, particularly since the late 1800s.

The lecture began with an explanation of exactly who Vivekananda was. He was born on Jan. 12, 1863 and is credited as the one who brought the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta to the western world. The disciple of Hindu saint and sage Sri Ramakrishna established the first Vedanta society in New York in 1894, then later returned to India and started the Ramakrishna Mission in 1987.

Vedanta, the teaching of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda, is the central philosophy of Vedas, which are the sacred scriptures of Hinduism. It emphasizes the philosophical ideas that all beings are divine and all beings are unified, searching for freedom from the cycle of karma and rebirth. It also demonstrates that all religious beliefs are paths to God, so there should be harmony among all religions. Long’s lecture focused on how Vivekananda and these spiritual traditions have had a major influence on American culture.

Long spoke about how Hinduism has influenced popular culture, such as Star Wars and the Beatles. He explained how mythologist Joseph Campbell came up with the idea of the hero with a thousand faces, which relates strongly to the basis of Star Wars. In these iconic movies, the Jedi are models of the warrior monk tradition and the philosophy of the Force in the story is related to Vedanta, especially all of Yoda’s nuggets of wisdom and the famous line, “May the force be with you.” Also, the relationship between Luke Skywalker and Yoda is incredibly similar to the mentoring relationship between Vivekananda and Ramakrishna. Vedanta also fascinated George Harrison of The Beatles. He and sitar-player Ravi Shankar formed a special bond over these teachings and opened their respective worlds to each other. Harrison went on to write several songs relating to Hinduism in the time before his death.

Long went through a list of people who, throughout history, have also inspired by Vedanta. The list included transcendentalists Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman. These men took inspiration from the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu scripture. Some examples Long gave included Christopher Isherwood, Aldous Huxley, J.D. Salinger, Huston Smith and Joseph Campbell. Vivekananda also inspired countless people to come to the western world to speak and teach. “He paved the way; he sent the template for Indian teachers coming to America,” Long said.

After identifying these figures, Long spent some time explaining the enduring influence that Vedanta has sustained. 65 percent of Americans believe the idea that “many religions can lead to eternal life.” This number includes 37 percent of white evangelical Christians, 24 percent of Americans who believe in rebirth and 30 percent who consider themselves “spiritual, but not religious.”

Long ended his speech by making the point, “What drives this home for me is that I think it’s tremendously important.” He emphasized that he had no intention of forcing any ideology upon any of the audience members, but rather to inform the campus community of the legacy of Vivekananda and how his teachings and the example which he laid for us has shaped our history in many subtle ways.

Long concluded his speech with one of his favorite quotes from Vivekananda: “Let us arise, awake and stop not until the goal is reached.”