From May 1897 to the end of that year, the Swami travelled and lectured extensively in Northern India. The physicians had advised him to go as soon as possible to Almora, where the air was dry and cool, and he had been invited by prominent people in Northern India to give discourses on Hinduism
Swami Vivekananda enjoyed the sea voyage back to India, relaxing from his strenuous activities in the West. But his mind was full of ideas regarding his future plan of work in his motherland. There were on the boat, among other passengers, two Christian missionaries who, in the course of a heat
For some time Swami Vivekananda had been planning a visit to London. He wished to sow the seed of Vedanta in the capital of the mighty British Empire. Miss Henrietta Müller had extended to him a cordial invitation to come to London, and Mr. E.T. Sturdy had requested him to stay at his home ther
After the meetings of the Parliament of Religions were concluded, Swami Vivekananda, as already noted, under took a series of apostolic campaigns in order to sow the seed of the Vedantic truths in the ready soil of America. Soon he discovered that the lecture bureau was exploiting him. Further,
On Monday, September 11, 1893 the Parliament of Religions opened its deliberations with due solemnity. This great meeting was an adjunct of the World's Columbian Exposition, which had been organized to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus.
At Cape Comorin the Swami became as excited as a child. He rushed to the temple to worship the Divine Mother. He prostrated himself before the Virgin Goddess. As he came out and looked at the sea his eyes fell on a rock. Swimming to the islet through shark-infested waters, he sat on a stone. Hi
Among the Master's disciples, Tarak, Latu, and the elder Gopal had already cut off their relationship with their families. The young disciples whom Sri Ramakrishna had destined for the monastic life were in need of a shelter. The Master had asked Naren to see to it that they should not become h
It is hard to say when Naren actually accepted Sri Ramakrishna as his guru. As far as the master was concerned, the spiritual relationship was established at the first meeting at Dakshineswar, when he had touched Naren, stirring him to his inner depths. From that moment he had implicit faith in
Ramakrishna, the God-man of modern times, was born on February 18, 1836, in the little village of Kamarpukur, in the district of Hooghly in Bengal. How different were his upbringing and the environment of his boyhood from those of Narendranath, who was to become, later, the bearer and interpret
Swami Vivekananda, the great soul loved and revered in East and West alike as the rejuvenator of Hinduism in India and the preacher of its eternal truths abroad, was born at 6:33, a few minutes before sunrise, on Monday, January 12, 1863. It was the day of the great Hindu festival Makarasamkran
Swami Vivekananda's inspiring personality was well known both in India and in America during the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth. The unknown monk of India suddenly leapt into fame at the Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893, at which he re
Mary Tappan Wright was the wife of Harvard Professor of Greek, John Henry Wright, who was a good friend of Vivekananda. As a faculty spouse, she attended the Swami 's talk at Radcliffe and recorded the following in her journal:
Met Swami Vivekananda who posed for a portrait in November 1894
Swami Atulananda reminiscences: 1899 - 1900 period (Gurudas Maharaj formerly Cornelius Heyblom)
Swami Atulananda (Gurudas Maharaj), an American of Dutch ancestry, knew Swamiji in America. He came in close contact with Swami Abedhananda and Swami Turiyananda who gave him the name "Gurudasa". He spent some time at Shanthi Ashrama at San Jose with Swami Turiyananda. He came to Belur Math,
PAPERS ON ARBITRATION, THE SILVER QUESTION, CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, Etc.
Lecturer and Evangelist, Port Edward, New York made this response in the Book 'Swami Vivekananda and His Guru'... in 1897... he later became friends with Vivekananda when he came to California:
A survey of the class of 1894 asking them to inform the secretary what they have been doing since graduating- finds this response from John Pierce Fox…
(Marie Odet Jean Armand de Chapelle de Jumilhac) Duc de Richelieu
(Laura Glenn) She heard Swami Vivekananda's lecture in NY probably in March 1895. And became better acquainted with him in 1896, and 1899 when he was in NY.
Cornelia Conger, was the granddaughter of Mr and Mrs. John Lyons, the Swami’s first hosts in Chicago in September 1893. She was six years old when she met the Swami and wrote of him in part:
Emma Calvé was the source of one of Swami Vivekananda's tales.
More information on their journey together can be found in Memoirs of European Travels Part II
This painting of Mrs. Frances Elizabeth Newbury Bagley (1833-1898), by Lewis Thomas Ives has never before been published in connection with the life of Swami Vivekananda. It is believed this portrait was painted between 1872 and 1882. Our view is it is rather closer to 1873, and done when
Sister Devamata's (Laura Glenn) description of Sara Ellen Waldo (Prabuddha Bharata , April & May 1932 )
Swami Shuddhananda's contribution in publishing the works of Swami Vivekananda is unforgettable. From the outset he had started translating the works of Swamiji in addition to helping in publishing the Udbodhan magazine. He translated nearly the entire Complete Works of Swamiji single-handed.
Swami Sadananda said to Sister Nivedita that he hated the old gospel of the disciples’ love and was going to preach a new one: "My Guru’s love for me."
Leon Landsberg’s photo (left) is the first known to be published in connection with the life of Swami Vivekananda.
After taking his degree from Calcutta University, he spent time wandering in Himalayas, walking 30 miles a day, often without food, spending nights under trees in the jungle, wrapping himself with a wide twilled cloth to protect his body. He was seized with a passion of renunciation and too
Swami Abhayananda claimed she was born in Feb of 1842 in France , as per the 1900 US census report , (provided by Sanyasini Kaliprana). She immigrated to U.S. in 1865.
