Vivekananda and Okakura On What East Offers West

As the turn of the twentieth century approached, Western nations had come to control much of the globe. These powerful nations regarded themselves as comprehensively superior to the non-Western peoples over whom they ruled. Such a dual reality—Western control plus the swaggering confidence that accompanied it—created an excruciating challenge for those on the receiving end: should they embrace the West as a model or resist it as a threat? By definition, Westernizers in non-Western countries took the former path while nativists adopted the latter one. Increasingly, however, a third alternative emerged. This consisted of turning the tables by asserting that non-Western traditions could teach spiritual lessons to a West that was increasingly unbalanced by its own successes. Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) of British colonial India and Okakura Tenshin (1862–1913) of Meiji Era Japan were two thinkers who enthusiastically promoted this approach. Writing in eloquent English, they declared that at least some Asian traditions contained wisdom that the West sorely needed. Penetrating but one-sided, their pronouncements have possessed a long afterlife.