Swami Vivekananda
H.J. Van Haagen
WHEN a man steps from darkness into a very bright light, his eyes are dazed for a while and refuse to work properly for the moment. And when we are asked to speak and describe that great joy which lights our very soul, our answer would be, as it were, but a mere groping in the darkness for words
Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda
WHEN Swami Vivekananda's Madras disciples decided to raise a sum of money sufficient to send him to represent Hinduism at the World's Fair at Chicago in 1893, they were in ignorance of the exact date of the opening of the Parliament of Religions. Consequently the Swami reached Chicago in the spr
PUBLISHER'S NOTE TO THE FIRST EDITION
MOST of these reminiscences appeared in periodicals from time to time. They are reproduced with due permission and thanks. The memories of Sister Christine are copyrighted by Shri Boshishwar Sen of Almora. In the absence of a most comprehensive term for the contributors, we have styled them as
Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda
The Great German philosopher Kant said, "If you want to understand a man, then you must understand his environment." We must accordingly take note of the social environment in which Narendranath Datta, later known as Swami Vivekananda, was born and grew up to manhood.
Letters written by Swami Vivekananda
[TOPICS: 1. The extraordinary experiences of Narendra in his early life . 2. Narendra's direct experience of the Master's divine powers. 3. Narendra's fitness for spirituality . 4. The Master's attraction for Narendra . 5. The Master's attempt to give Narendra the Knowledge of Brahman on the
The echoes and teachings of Swami Vivekananda
(An Evening-talk on Sivaji). It was a beautiful moonlit night and Swamiji was sitting in the verandah of the bungalow of the late Mr. Bhattacharjee on the South Beach of Madras (already referred to), conversing in Hindi with Mr. Munshi Jagamohanlal, the private secretary of the Maharajah of Khet
Prose: Memoirs of European Travel
We have an adage among us that one that has a disc-like pattern on the soles of his feet becomes a vagabond. I fear, I have my soles inscribed all over with them. And there is not much room for probability, either. I have tried my best to discover them by scrutinising the soles, but all to no
Prose: The Paris Congress of the History of Religions
In the Paris Exhibition, the Congress of the History of Religions recently sat for several days together. At the Congress, there was no room allowed for the discussions on the doctrines and spiritual views of any religion; its purpose was only to inquire into the historic evolution of the diff
Prose; Memoirs of European Travel
(The Memoirs of European Travel were addressed to Swami Trigunatitananda, editor of the Bengali magazine 'Udbodhan' and appeared in that magazine in serial form. This is translated from the original version in Bengali)
Prose: Modern India
The Vedic priests base their superior strength on the knowledge of the sacrificial Mantras. (Vedic hymns uttered by the priests to invoke the Devas at the time of sacrifice.) By the power of these Mantras, the Devas are made to come down from their heavenly abodes, accept the drink and food of
Prose: Knowledge : Its Source and Acquirement
(Translated from a Bengali contribution by Swami Vivekananda to the Udbodhana, 12th February, 1899.)
Prose: The Bengali Language
In our country, owing to all learning being in Sanskrit from the ancient times, there has arisen an immeasurable gulf between the learned and the common folk. All the great personages, from Buddha down to Chaitanya and Ramakrishna, who came for the well-being of the world, taught the common pe