Grapes of Wrath and Vedanta

Yesterday, Sas (Sassosaurus) sent me this link to one of Swami Vivekananda's speeches. This is an excellent site with volumes of religious information. I enjoyed reading the article and his speech made a lot of sense to me. Also, I watched the movie Grapes of Wrath yesterday. I was surprised to hear Swami Vivekananda's vedanta from one of the characters (Tom Joad). The following are a few excerpts from Vivekananda's speech that I liked, and a transcript of Tom Joad's uttering of vedanta in the movie Grapes of Wrath. It is a great movie and I would say, it is a must see. This movie is based on a novel by John Steinbeck. My childhood buddy Raama loves Steinbeck and now I see why.

Excerpts from Swami Vivekananda's speech delivered in San Francisco on April 8, 1900.

...What religion can paint a heaven which is not like this earth? And it is all art, only this art is being made known to us gradually. We, with five senses, look upon this world and find it gross, having colour, form, sound, and the like. Suppose I develop an electric sense — all will change. Suppose my senses grow finer — you will all appear changed. If I change, you change. If I go beyond the power of the senses, you will appear as spirit and God. Things are not what they seem....

...These are what Vedanta has not to give. No book. No man to be singled out from the rest of mankind — "You are worms, and we are the Lord God!" — none of that. If you are the Lord God, I also am the Lord God. So Vedanta knows no sin. There are mistakes but no sin; and in the long run everything is going to be all right. No Satan — none of this nonsense. Vedanta believes in only one sin, only one in the world, and it is this: the moment you think you are a sinner or anybody is a sinner, that is sin. From that follows every other mistake or what is usually called sin. There have been many mistakes in our lives. But we are going on. Glory be unto us that we have made mistakes! Take a long look at your past life. If your present condition is good, it has been caused by all the past mistakes as well as successes. Glory be unto success! Glory be unto mistakes! Do not look back upon what has been done. Go ahead!...

...Therefore Vedanta formulates, not universal brotherhood, but universal oneness. I am the same as any other man, as any animal — good, bad, anything. It is one body, one mind, one soul throughout. Spirit never dies. There is no death anywhere, not even for the body. Not even the mind dies. How can even the body die? One leaf may fall — does the tree die? The universe is my body. See how it continues. All minds are mine. With all feet I walk. Through all mouths I speak. In everybody I reside....

An excerpt from the transcript of the movie Grapes of Wrath.

Well, maybe it's like Casy says.

Fella ain't got a soul of his own, just... a little piece of a big soul.

The one big soul that belongs to everybody.

Then...

Then what, Tom?

Then it don't matter.

I'll be all around in the dark. I'll be everywhere. Wherever you can look. Wherever there's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beating up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready. And when people are eating the stuff they raise... living in the houses they build... I'll be there too.

I don't understand it, Tom.

Me neither, Ma, but...just something I've been thinking about.

Give me your hand, Ma.

Goodbye.

Goodbye, Tommy.

Grapes of Wrath Movie Trailer