9th June Swami Vivekananda Life

9 June 1894:

Letter To Mrs. G. W. Hale

We are all doing very well here. Last night the sisters (The daughters of Mrs. Hale: Mary and Harriet.) invited me and Mrs. Norton and Miss Howe and Mr. Frank Howe. We had a grand dinner and softshell crab and many other things, and a very nice time. Miss Howe left this morning. The sisters and Mother Temple (Mrs. James Matthews, Mr. Hale’s sister.) are taking very good care of me. Just now I am going to see my "oh-my-dear" Gandhi.1 Narasimha was here yesterday; he wanted to go to Cincinnati where he says he has more chances of success than anywhere else in the world. I gave him the passage, and so I hope I have got the white elephant out of my hands for the time being. How is Father Pope doing now? Hope he has been much benefited by the mudfish business. I had a very beautiful letter from Miss Guernsey of New York, giving you her regards. I am going downtown to buy a new pair of shoes as well as to get some money, my purse having been made empty by Narasimha. Nothing more to write. Yes, we went to see the "Charley's Aunt".3 I nearly killed myself with laughing. Father Pope will enjoy it extremely. I had never seen anything so funny.

Probably Mr. Virchand Gandhi, who represented Jainism at the Chicago World's Parliament of Religions, in 1893.
Mr. and Mrs. Hale were staying at the mineral-springs resort in Indiana. "Mud baths" were supposed cures for all ailments.
Charley's Aunt was a highly popular comedy of the era.

9th June, 1898. ALMORA,
Letter to Maharaja of Khetri.
Very sorry to learn that you are not in perfect health. Sure you will be in a few days. I am starting for Kashmir on Saturday next. I have your letter of introduction to the Resident, but better still if you kindly drop a line to the Resident telling him that you have already given an introduction to me. Will you kindly ask Jagamohan to write to the Dewan of Kishangarh reminding him of his promise to supply me with copies of Nimbârka Bhâshya on the Vyâsa-Sutras and other Bhashyas (commentaries) through his Pandits.

PS. Poor Goodwin is dead. Jagamohan knows him well. I want a couple of tiger skins, if I can, to be sent to the Math as present to two European friends. These seem to be most gratifying presents to Westerners.

9th June 1900.
Letter to Christina
I could not write more, as the last few weeks of my stay in California was one more relapse and great suffering. However, I got one great benefit out of it inasmuch as I came to know I have really no disease, except worry and fear. My kidneys are as sound as any other healthy man's. All the symptoms of Bright's disease etc., are only brought on by nerves. I wrote you one, however, from 770 Oak Street, San Francisco, to which I did not get any reply. Of course, I was bedridden then and my address book was not in the place I was in. There was a mistake in number. I cannot believe you did not reply willingly. As you see, now I am in New York, and will be here a few days. I have an invitation from Mrs. Walton of Cleveland, Ohio. I have accepted it. She writes me you are also invited and have accepted her invitation. Well, we will meet in Cleveland then. I am sure to see you before I go to Europe — either there or anywhere you wish. If you don't think it would be possible for you to come to Ohio, I will come to any other place you want me to come to say goodbye. When is your school going to close? Write me all about your plans — do! Miss Noble wants me very much to go to Cleveland. I would be very, very glad to get a few weeks' seclusion and rest before I start with friends who do not disturb me at all. I know I will find rest and peace that way, and you can help me any amount in that. In Cleveland, of course, there will be a few friends always and much talkee-talkee as a matter of course. So if you think I will have real peace and rest elsewhere, just write all about it. My reply to the Cleveland lady depends on your letter. How I wish I were in Detroit or elsewhere just now, among friends who I know are good and true always. This is weakness; but when the physical vitality is lowered and the nerves all unstrung, I feel so, so much to depend upon somebody. You will be glad to learn I made a little money in the West. So I will be quite able to pay my expenses.


9 June 1894

Letter To Mrs. G. W. Hale

We are all doing very well here. Last night the sisters (The daughters of Mrs. Hale: Mary and Harriet.) invited me and Mrs. Norton and Miss Howe and Mr. Frank Howe. We had a grand dinner and softshell crab and many other things, and a very nice time. Miss Howe left this morning. The sisters and Mother Temple (Mrs. James Matthews, Mr. Hale’s sister.) are taking very good care of me. Just now I am going to see my "oh-my-dear" Gandhi.1 Narasimha was here yesterday; he wanted to go to Cincinnati where he says he has more chances of success than anywhere else in the world. I gave him the passage, and so I hope I have got the white elephant out of my hands for the time being. How is Father Pope doing now? Hope he has been much benefited by the mudfish business. I had a very beautiful letter from Miss Guernsey of New York, giving you her regards. I am going downtown to buy a new pair of shoes as well as to get some money, my purse having been made empty by Narasimha. Nothing more to write. Yes, we went to see the "Charley's Aunt".3 I nearly killed myself with laughing. Father Pope will enjoy it extremely. I had never seen anything so funny.

Probably Mr. Virchand Gandhi, who represented Jainism at the Chicago World's Parliament of Religions, in 1893.
Mr. and Mrs. Hale were staying at the mineral-springs resort in Indiana. "Mud baths" were supposed cures for all ailments.
Charley's Aunt was a highly popular comedy of the era.

9th June, 1898. ALMORA,
Letter to Maharaja of Khetri.
Very sorry to learn that you are not in perfect health. Sure you will be in a few days. I am starting for Kashmir on Saturday next. I have your letter of introduction to the Resident, but better still if you kindly drop a line to the Resident telling him that you have already given an introduction to me. Will you kindly ask Jagamohan to write to the Dewan of Kishangarh reminding him of his promise to supply me with copies of Nimbârka Bhâshya on the Vyâsa-Sutras and other Bhashyas (commentaries) through his Pandits.

PS. Poor Goodwin is dead. Jagamohan knows him well. I want a couple of tiger skins, if I can, to be sent to the Math as present to two European friends. These seem to be most gratifying presents to Westerners.

9th June 1900.
Letter to Christina
I could not write more, as the last few weeks of my stay in California was one more relapse and great suffering. However, I got one great benefit out of it inasmuch as I came to know I have really no disease, except worry and fear. My kidneys are as sound as any other healthy man's. All the symptoms of Bright's disease etc., are only brought on by nerves. I wrote you one, however, from 770 Oak Street, San Francisco, to which I did not get any reply. Of course, I was bedridden then and my address book was not in the place I was in. There was a mistake in number. I cannot believe you did not reply willingly. As you see, now I am in New York, and will be here a few days. I have an invitation from Mrs. Walton of Cleveland, Ohio. I have accepted it. She writes me you are also invited and have accepted her invitation. Well, we will meet in Cleveland then. I am sure to see you before I go to Europe — either there or anywhere you wish. If you don't think it would be possible for you to come to Ohio, I will come to any other place you want me to come to say goodbye. When is your school going to close? Write me all about your plans — do! Miss Noble wants me very much to go to Cleveland. I would be very, very glad to get a few weeks' seclusion and rest before I start with friends who do not disturb me at all. I know I will find rest and peace that way, and you can help me any amount in that. In Cleveland, of course, there will be a few friends always and much talkee-talkee as a matter of course. So if you think I will have real peace and rest elsewhere, just write all about it. My reply to the Cleveland lady depends on your letter. How I wish I were in Detroit or elsewhere just now, among friends who I know are good and true always. This is weakness; but when the physical vitality is lowered and the nerves all unstrung, I feel so, so much to depend upon somebody. You will be glad to learn I made a little money in the West. So I will be quite able to pay my expenses.

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आधुनिक युवा और स्वामी विवेकानंद

  ॐ वीरेश्वराय विद्महे विवेकानन्दाय धीमहि । तन्नो वीर: प्रचोदयात् ।

"मेरा विश्वास युवा पीढ़ी पर- आधुनिक पीढ़ी पर है। उन्ही में से मेरे कार्यकर्ता निकल कर आगे आयेंगे और सिंह के समान विश्व की सारी समस्यओं को सुलझा देंगे।"
 
विश्व की सारी समस्याएँ सुलझाने की क्षमता युवाओं में है ऐसा अदम्य विश्वास रखने वाला युवा सन्यासी, वह विश्वास कार्यान्वित करने हेतु कार्यकर्ता निर्माण की- संगठन की क्रांतिकारी योजना बनाने वाला योद्धा सन्यासी, अपने 39 वर्ष के जीवन काल से इस भारत वर्ष के युवा पीढ़ी के लिए 1500 वर्षों तक चले ऐसी कार्य योजना देनेवाला यह द्रष्टा सन्यासी, भारत माँ को फिर से संपन्न समृद्ध करने के प्रस्तुत कार्य के लिए अपना पूरा जीवन लगाने वाला राष्ट्रभक्त सन्यासी - स्वामी विवेकानंद ! युवाओं के प्रेरणा स्थान स्वामी विवेकानंद!
 
1897 में स्वामीजी ने कहा था "आनेवाले 50 वर्ष बाकी सारे देवी देवताओं को छोड़ केवल एक ही देवता की पूजा करो - भारत माँ की।" वे कहते थे, “मै तुम से बहुत प्रेम करता हूँ इसलिए चाहता हूँ कि तुम भारत माँ के लिए अपना जीवन बलिदान करो ।  मैं उस प्रत्येक को  देशद्रोही समझता हूँ जो अपने देशवासियों के कष्ट पर शिक्षित हुआ और उनकी और जरा भी ध्यान नहीं देता ।"
 
जब कभी दुर्बल युवा उनके पास आकर गीता उपनिषद् की बात करता तो स्वामीजी कहते - ''गीता के सन्देश को समझना चाहते हो तो जाओ - मैदान में जाकर फुटबॉल खेलो। (अर्जुन जैसे) मजबूत भुजाएँ होगी तभी तुम गीता का सन्देश समझने के योग्य होंगे। (You will understand Geeta better with your muscles stronger.)
 
स्वामीजी को लगता था की प्रत्येक युवा के सामने महावीर हनुमान का आदर्श हो। वे सोचते थे कुछ तो युवा बचे शादी के बंधन से और अपना जीवन दूसरों की सेवा में व्यतीत करे। वह कहते थे-“ की वही केवल जीते है जो दूसरों के लिए जीते है। बाकी सारे मृतवत ही हैं ।“  

1901 में एक युवा हेमचन्द्र घोष ने ढाका में स्वामी जी से धर्म के बारे में चर्चा करनी चाहि। स्वामी विवेकानंद ने केवल एक वाक्य कहा और हेमचन्द्र घोष को अपने जीवन ध्येय का साक्षात्कार हुआ। स्वामी जी ने कहा था - "गुलाम का कोई धर्म नहीं होता है। जाओ अपनी माँ को पहले स्वतंत्र करो।" स्वामी विवेकानंद का उत्तर उसे चुभ गया और प्रखर क्रन्तिकारी के रूप में वह उभर कर आया ।
 
जतिन मुखर्जी स्वामी अखंडानंद और भगिनी निवेदिता के माध्यम से स्वामी विवेकानंद के पास सन्यास लेने की अपेक्षा से गए थे। स्वामी जी ने उन्हें क्रान्ति कार्य में सक्रिय होने की प्रेरणा दी  और फिर उसने बाघा जतिन नाम से अंग्रेजों की नींद हराम की ।
 
एक 13 -14 वर्ष के किशोर ने विवेकानंद युवा मंडल बनाया; अपने दोस्तों के साथ मिलकर स्वामी जी के व्याख्यानों को पढ़ना शुरू किया। बड़ा होकर ICS (Indian Civil Services) उत्तीर्ण कर के भी अंग्रेजों की गुलामी अस्वीकार कर भारत माँ के लिए उस सुभाष चंद्र बासु ने अपना जीवन लगा दिया। आजाद हिन्द सेना के माध्यम से भारत माँ को स्वतंत्र करने का महत प्रयास अदम्य साहस से किया।
 
उस समय आवश्यकता थी तो अनेकों युवाओं ने देश के लिए अपना जीवन दिया। क्या हमारे पूर्वजों ने युवा आयु में अपना रक्त भारत को स्वतंत्र करने के लिए इसलिए बहाया की हम केवल उसका उपभोग करे? स्वामी विवेकानंद कहते थे - "हमारे पूर्वजों ने महान कार्य किया है हमें और भी महान कार्य करना है।"
 
आज की स्थिति क्या है? आज का युवा क्या सोच रहा है?
 
आज हम युवाओं को सोचना है - मेरे जीवन का उद्देश्य क्या है? क्या रखा है मेरे नाम से कार्य जो मुझे कराना ही है जिससे मै  मनुष्य हूँ यह सिद्ध होगा। स्वयं का पेट पालना और परिवार बढ़ाना, परिवार के सुख-सुविधाओं की व्यवस्था करना ये तो घोंसला बनाने वाली प्रत्येक चिड़ियाँ करती ही है। ऐशोआराम का आनंदोपभोग  कीचड़ में मस्त रहकर सूअर भी तो लेता ही है। यदि मै भी केवल अपने परिवार और सुख-सुविधाओं की चिंता करता हूँ तो मुझमें और चिड़ियाँ  में, मुझमें और सूअर में अंतर ही क्या?
 
स्वामी जी काली माँ से प्रार्थना करते थे - "माँ, मुझे मनुष्य बना दो" "मनुष्य केवल मनुष्य भर ही  चाहिए। शक्तिसंपन्न, धैर्यवान, साहसी जो सागर को भी लांघने की क्षमता रखता हो ऐसे मनुष्य चाहिए"। वे कहते थे - "सारी  शक्ति हमारे भीतर ही है। हम जैसा सोचे वैसा बन सकते हैं । आवश्यकता है अपने अन्दर के ईश्वरत्व को जगाने की।"
 
जो कहते है "आज का युवा बिगड़ा हुआ है, बर्बाद हो रहा है " समझ लेना वह व्यक्ति बूढ़ा हो गया। प्रत्येक पुरानी  पीढ़ी नयी पीढ़ी को बिगड़ैल समझती है लेकिन सच तो यह है की प्रत्येक नई पीढ़ी के सामने अलग अलग माहौल और अलग आह्वान होते हैं।
 
मुझे सोचना है, मै  युवा हूँ इसका अर्थ क्या? क्या मेरी आयु 18 - 40 वर्ष की है इसलिए? क्या मै महाविद्यालय में पढ़ रहा हूँ इसलिए या नौकरी की खोज में हूँ इसलिए? क्या मैं ताकदवर हूँ और अपनी मस्ती में रहता हूँ इसलिए युवा हूँ?
 
युवा होने के मापदंड क्या है ?
 
युवा वह है जो भविष्य के स्वप्न देखता है  और उन स्वप्नों को साकार करने के लिए काम करता है।
 
युवा वह है जो अंधेरों में भी कूदने का साहस रखता है।
 
युवा वह है जो आह्वानों से डरता भागता नहीं बल्कि उन्हें स्विकारने में तत्पर रहता है।
 
युवा वह है जो अपने अस्तित्व से आसपास के लोगों का विश्वास बढ़ता है।
 
युवा वह है जो बुजुर्गों का आधार बनता है।
 
युवा वह है जो बिना हिसाब किये राष्ट्र के लिए स्वयं को झोंक देता है।
 
युवा वह है जो किसी उद्देश्य के लिए कुछ सकारात्मक-आह्वानात्मक- सृजनात्मक  करने के लिए स्वयं को लगाता है।
 

एक युवा राजकुमार अपने प्रश्नों के उत्तर ढूँढने के लिए राजपाट, पत्नी और बेटे को छोड़ निर्वाण की खोज में वन में जाता है तो अनेकों के जीवन में प्रकाश आता है।
 
एक युवा राजकुमार युवराज्यभिषेक छोड़ भाई और पत्नी के साथ वनवास में जाता है तो अनेकों वनवासियों के जीवन क्षितिज पर सूर्योदय होता है। अन्यायी रावण  से पृथ्वी माता मुक्त होती है।
 
एक युवा सन्यासी तो अपनी मुक्ति की - मोक्ष की आशा छोड़ विदेश में जाकर भारत माँ का झंडा गौरव से लहराता है।  भारतीयों का स्वयं में, अपने पूर्वजों में, अपनी संस्कृति में विश्वास बढ़ाता है।
 
एक युवा क्रांन्तिकारी सुख-सुविधाओं को छोड़ भारत माँ के मुक्ति का बेड़ा उठा अपने युवा साथियों के साथ हँसते हँसते फासी पर जाता है तो अनेकों को राष्ट्र कार्य की प्रेरणा देता है। ब्रिटिश सिंहासन के नीचे आग लगता है।
 
महान त्याग से ही महान कार्य संपन्न होते है।
 
आज भी अनेकों  युवा ऐसे है जो कुछ करना चाहते है। प्रतिस्पर्धा की होइ में सफलता के नाम पर अशांति, अस्वस्थता और अनारोग्य का बलि न होकर एक ऐसा जीवन जीना चाहते है जिससे समाज का भला हो और स्वयं का भी उत्थान हो। अपने उद्यम से - परिश्रम और बुद्धि से कुछ परिवर्तन कुछ विकास लाना चाहते है।
 
स्वामी विवेकानंद को ऐसे ही युवा अपेक्षित है, जिनके स्नायु लोहे के हो और मांसपेशियाँ  फौलाद की। जिनके ह्रदय में सिंह सा साहस, नचिकेता सी श्रद्धा और पवित्रता की आग हो। जिनके मन में  ईश्वर पर निष्ठा हो,  दीन दुखियों दरिद्रियों के प्रति  करुणा  हो। जो भारत के कोने कोने में जाकर मुक्ति का, समता का, सामाजिक उत्थान का, सेवा का सन्देश देंगे। आज देश के लिए मरने की नहीं किन्तु जीने की आवश्यकता है। अपने जीवन के कम से कम 2 वर्ष बिना कोई अपेक्षा से राष्ट्र के लिए समर्पित करने का अनुभव प्रत्येक युवक-युवती ने लेना चाहये। आपके योगक्षेम की- मूलभूत आवश्यकता की पूर्ति की जाएगी। 2 वर्षों का यह अनुभव बाकी जीवन को आधार और संबल  देगा। 

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8th June Swami Vivekananda Life

8 June:
 
8 June 1894,
Host: George Hale,
541 Dearborn Ave, Chicago

8 June 1895,
Host: Francis Leggett,
White Birch Lodge,
Camp Percy, NH

8 June 1896,
Host: Margessons,
63 St. George's Rd,
London, England

8 June 1900,
Vedanta Society,
102 E 58th St,
New York, NY

In memories of Margessons (Isabel Margesson )

Let me quote some of those sayings of the Master that have molded my character in the most positive way under the stress of joy and sorrow, of anxiety and illness, and of the many perplexities that invariably accompany us when we start the way.

I must put first that they are a key to all the rest. Without it, I can confidently affirm, there can be no real inner growth or progress of the soul in its search for Peace and for Reality.

The key lies in daily meditation. The Master's words on this subject can never be forgotten. I am well aware that of late years it has been recognized as the pearl of great price in almost all spiritual enlightenment, but when I first heard the Swami's lessons on it, it was new to me. The monkey mind, the charioteer who controls the horses (i.e. the senses), the silence of the Inner Self, the necessity of practice, the study of the teaching which teaches liberation of the Self, discrimination between the Real and the unreal, are thoughts and phrases that will at once recall the Swami to his disciples. Other words of practical wisdom, as I remember them in my own inadequate words are:

(1) Grow up within the fold of your own particular church, but do not die in it. Let it gradually lead you into fresh pastures.

(2) As scaffolding is an indispensable factor in material building, so is it in spiritual attainment. Do not destroy it either for yourself or for others (the Gospel says, "Let both grow until the harvest"), but wait for the inevitable moment of its automatic destruction.

(3) Never debase your ethical standard by calling wrong right. If you know that an act of yours is wrong, do it if you wish, but do not call it right for that is a fatal self-deception.

(4) Say to yourself when you repent of some small action: "I am glad I did that wrong, for now I see and I shall never do it again."

(5) Unselfish work for other people must be regarded as beneficial to the doer, for it is the doer that gains in his character.

(6) Do not identify your Self with any mental state. Perhaps this injunction is specially fundamental in sorrow or pity for the Self. Nothing leads so directly to wise judgement as holding the Real Self free from the unreal Self.

(7) The greatest heresy is separation.

(8) Unity is the Goal of Religion and of Science.

(9) I am That.

I must add to these great sayings the stories told by the Swami — inimitable stories which illustrated the points in his teaching. They became like the parables in the Bible — marvellous "lamps of light unto our feet."

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Sir Hiram Maxim wrote of his impression of Swami Vivekananda

  ॐ वीरेश्वराय विद्महे विवेकानन्दाय धीमहि । तन्नो वीर: प्रचोदयात् ।

Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (February 5, 1840 – November 24, 1916) was an American inventor who emigrated to England at the age of forty-one and adopted British citizenship. He was the inventor of the Maxim Gun – the first portable, fully automatic machine gun – and the ubiquitous mousetrap. He patented the first silencing device for a firearm, and laid a claim to inventing the lightbulb. He also experimented with powered flight, but his large aircraft designs were never successful. However, his "Captive Flying Machine" amusement ride, designed as a means by which to fund his research while generating public interest in flight, was highly successful.
Sir Hiram Maxim wrote of his impression of Swami Vivekananda 
From Marie Louie Burke’s “New Discoveries”
 
To some members of the great Parliament audience Swamiji stood as the victorious opponent of all that was stereotyped, dull, and unthinking in Christian churches. Among these was Sir Hiram Maxim, one of the brilliant engineers and inventors of his day, who, in 1893, had not yet left his native America to become a British subject. Twenty years later, in a foreword to his anti-missionary treatise, Li Hung Chang's Scrap-Book, Sir Hiram recalled the Parliament of Religions and the figure who was still vivid in his mind as its hero. Maxim wrote:
 
A few years ago there was a Congress of Religions at Chicago . Many said that such a thing would be impossible. How could any understanding be arrived at where each particular party was absolutely right and all the others were completely in the wrong? Still the Congress saved the American people more than a million dollars a year, not to mention many lives abroad. And this was all brought about by one brave and honest man. When it was announced in Calcutta that there was to be a Congress of religions at Chicago , some of the rich merchants took the Americans at their word, and sent them a Brahmin monk, Viva Kananda, from the oldest monastery in the world. This monk was of commanding presence and vast learning, speaking English like a Webster. The American Protestants, who vastly outnumbered all others, imagined that they would have an easy task, and commenced proceedings with the greatest confidence, and with the air of "Just see me wipe you out " However, what they had to  say was the old commonplace twaddle that had been mouthed over and over again in every little hamlet from Nova Scotia to California. It interested no one, and no one noticed it.
 
When, however, Viva Kananda spoke, they saw that they had a Napoleon to deal with. His first speech was no less than a revelation. Every word was eagerly taken down by the reporters, and telegraphed all over the country, where it appeared in thousands of papers. Viva Kananda became the lion of the day. He soon had an immense following. No hall could hold the people who flocked to hear him lecture. They had been sending silly girls and half educated simpletons of men,  and millions of dollars, to Asia for years to convert the poor benighted heathen and save his alleged soul; and here was a specimen of the unsaved who knew more of philosophy and religion than all the parsons and missionaries in the whole country. Religion was presented in an agreeable light for the first time to them. There was more in it than they had ever dreamed; argument was impossible. He played with the parsons as a cat plays with a mouse. They were in a state of consternation. What could they do? What did they do? What they always do-they denounced him as an agent of the devil. But the deed was done; he had sown the seed, and the Americans commenced to think. They said to themselves: "Shall we waste our money in sending mis- sionaries who know nothing of religion, as compared with this man, to teach such men as he? No!" And the missionary income fell off more than a million dollars a year in consequence. 

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7th June Swami Vivekananda Life

7 June:
 

7th June, 1896.

DEAR MISS NOBLE,

My ideal indeed can be put into a few words and that is: to preach unto mankind their divinity, and how to make it manifest in every movement of life.

This world is in chain of superstition. I pity the oppressed, whether man or woman, and I pity more the oppressors.

One idea that I see clear as daylight is that misery is caused by ignorance and nothing else. Who will give the world light? Sacrifice in the past has been the Law, it will be, alas, for ages to come. The earth's bravest and best will have to sacrifice themselves for the good of many, for the welfare of all. Buddhas by the hundred are necessary with eternal love and pity.

Religions of the world have become lifeless mockeries. What the world wants is character. The world is in need of those whose life is one burning love, selfless. That love will make every word tell like thunderbolt.

It is no superstition with you, I am sure, you have the making in you of a world-mover, and others will also come. Bold words and bolder deeds are what we want. Awake, awake, great ones! The world is burning with misery. Can you sleep? Let us call and call till the sleeping gods awake, till the god within answers to the call. What more is in life? What greater work? The details come to me as I go. I never make plans. Plans grow and work themselves. I only say, awake, awake!

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Awake! Awake!!

  ॐ वीरेश्वराय विद्महे विवेकानन्दाय धीमहि । तन्नो वीर: प्रचोदयात् ।

My ideal indeed can be put into a few words and that is: to preach unto mankind their divinity, and how to make it manifest in every movement of life.
This world is in chain of superstition. I pity the oppressed, whether man or woman, and I pity more the oppressors.
 
One idea that I see clear as daylight is that misery is caused by ignorance and nothing else. Who will give the world light? Sacrifice in the past has been the Law, it will be, alas, for ages to come. The earth's bravest and best will have to sacrifice themselves for the good of many, for the welfare of all. Buddhas by the hundred are necessary with eternal love and pity.
 
Religions of the world have become lifeless mockeries. What the world wants is character. The world is in need of those whose life is one burning love, selfless. That love will make every word tell like thunderbolt.
 
It is no superstition with you, I am sure, you have the making in you of a world-mover, and others will also come. Bold words and bolder deeds are what we want. Awake, awake, great ones! The world is burning with misery. Can you sleep? Let us call and call till the sleeping gods awake, till the god within answers to the call. What more is in life? What greater work? The details come to me as I go. I never make plans. Plans grow and work themselves. I only say, awake, awake!
 
May all blessings attend you for ever! 

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6th June Swami Vivekananda Life

June 6, 1890

Letter to SARADANANDA and KRIPANANDA,

Your letters have duly reached us. They say Almora is healthiest at this time of the year, yet you are taken ill! I hope it is nothing malarious. I find Gangadhar the same pliant child with his turbulence moderated by his wanderings, and with a greater love for us and for our Lord. He is bold, brave, sincere, and steadfast. The only thing needed is a guiding mind to whom he would instinctively submit with reverence, and a fine man would be the result. Who advises you to jump into fire? If you don't find the Himalayas a place for Sadhana, go somewhere else then. So many gushing inquiries simply betray a weak mind. Arise, ye mighty one, and be strong! Work on and on, struggle on and on! Nothing more to write.  

6th June 1896

Letter to MRS. BULL —
I have sent to Mr. Leggett by last mail the power of attorney, and, as you desired, this is to notify you of the fact and absolve you from the responsibilities of the power of attorney which I gave you in America last year.

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In memories of Maud Stumm

 ॐ वीरेश्वराय विद्महे विवेकानन्दाय धीमहि । तन्नो वीर: प्रचोदयात् ।

It was in the fall of 1895 that I first saw him, sitting with his back to the light in Mrs. Leggett's sitting room in Paris. I did not catch his name, but presently found myself next to him, and being asked if I spoke French. He said he didn't either; when I asked him if in his opinion English would be the next dominant language of the world — as they seemed to be the coming race — "The next great leading force on the earth will be the Tartars or the Negroes" — was his astonishing reply; and he proceeded to give his reasons. I found that he dealt not with decades or even centuries but with vast ages and movements of races, as judged by his knowledge of the past.
 
Then I inquired who this deep-voiced man was, and was told he was a holy man from the East, Swami Vivekananda. It was long after this that the flower of the Italian army was destroyed utterly by the Negroes of Abyssinia, and I recalled the prophecy that sounded so unlikely!
 
She saw him at a dinner given by Mrs. Francis Leggeit at the Metropolitan Club, New York, in 1896.
 
Besides this wonderful guest were three others, one of them the young Boston woman who had taken the prize for the "Hymn of the Republic" sung at the World's Fair. She was little and sat very erect, with an alert expression. Swami was rolling out Sanskrit and translating the ancient glories of India, nobody daring to speak. He dwelt finally upon the spiritual superiority of the Hindu, even today. Thereupon the Boston lady interrupted: "But, Swami, you must admit that the common people of India are way below the cultivation of the same class in, say Massachusetts; why look at one item — the newspapers!" Swami, recalled from his poetic flight, raised his great eyes and regarded her silently. "Yes, Boston is a very civilized place," he said. "I landed there once, a stranger in a strange land. My coat was like this red one and I wore a turban. I was proceeding up a street in the busy part of the town when I became aware that I was followed by a great number of men and boys. I hastened my pace and they did too. Then something struck my shoulder and I began to run, dashing around a corner, and up a dark passage, just before the mob in full pursuit, swept past — and I was safe! Yes," he concluded, "Massachusetts is a very civilized place!" Even this did not silence the little woman, and with astonishing temerity she raised her voice again to say, "But, Swami, no doubt a Bostonian in Calcutta would have created just such a scene!" "That would be impossible," he replied, "for with us it is unpardonable to show even polite curiosity to the stranger within our gates, and never open hostility."

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5th June Swami Vivekananda Life

5 June:
 

5 June 1896 : To Mrs. Bull.
 

The Raja-Yoga book is going on splendidly. Saradananda goes to the States soon.
 

I do not like any one whom I love to become a lawyer, although my father was one. My Master was against it, and I believe that that family is sure to come to grief where there are several lawyers. Our country is full of them; the universities turn them out by the hundreds. What my nation wants is pluck and scientific genius. So I want Mohin to be an electrician. Even if he fails in life, still I will have the satisfaction that he strove to become great and really useful to his country.  In America alone there is something in the air which brings out whatever is best in every one. I want him to be daring, bold, and to struggle to cut a new path for himself and his nation. An electrical engineer can make a living in India.
 

5 June 1898 : Swami Vivekananda returns to Almora after a week long tour with Seviers
 

He got the message of nirvana of Sri Pavahari Baba.

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THE MISSIONARY WORK OF THE FIRST HINDU

  ॐ वीरेश्वराय विद्महे विवेकानन्दाय धीमहि । तन्नो वीर: प्रचोदयात् ।

SANNYASIN TO THE WEST AND HIS PLAN OF REGENERATION OF INDIA
 
For the past few weeks, the Hindu public of Madras have been most eagerly expecting the arrival of Swami Vivekananda, the great Hindu monk of world-wide fame. At the present moment his name is on everybody's lips. In the school, in the college, in the High Court, on the marina, and in the streets and bazars of Madras, hundreds of inquisitive spirits may be seen asking when the Swami will be coming. Large numbers of students from the mofussil, who have come up for the University examinations are staying here, awaiting the Swami, and increasing their hostelry bills, despite the urgent call of their parents to return home immediately. In a few days the Swami will be in our midst. From the nature of the receptions received elsewhere in this Presidency, from the preparations being made here, from the triumphal arches erected at Castle Kernan, where the "Prophet" is to be lodged at the cost of the Hindu public, and from the interest taken in the movement by the leading Hindu gentlemen of this city, like the Hon'ble Mr. Justice Subramaniya Iyer, there is no doubt that the Swami will have a grand reception. It was Madras that first recognised the superior merits of the Swami and equipped him for Chicago. Madras will now have again the honour of welcoming the undoubtedly great man who has done so much to raise the prestige of his motherland. Four year ago, when the Swami arrived here, he was practically an obscure individual. In an unknown bungalow at St. Thome he spent nearly two months, all along holding conversations on religious topics and teaching and instructing all comers who cared to listen to him. Even then a few educated young men with "a keener eye" predicted that there was something in the man, "a power", that would lift him above all others, that would pre-eminently enable him to be the leader of men. These young men, who were then despised as "misguided enthusiasts", "dreamy revivalists", have now the supreme satisfaction of seeing their Swami, as they love to call him, return to them with a great European and American fame. The mission of the Swami is essentially spiritual. He firmly believes that India, the motherland of spirituality, has a great future before her. He is sanguine that the West will more and more come to appreciate what he regards as the sublime truths of Vedanta. His great motto is "Help, and not Fight" "Assimilation, and not Destruction", "Harmony and Peace, and not Dissension". Whatever difference of opinion followers of other creeds may have with him, few will venture to deny that the Swami has done yeoman's service to his country in opening the eyes of the Western world to "the good in the Hindu". He will always be remembered as the first Hindu Sannyâsin who dared to cross the sea to carry to the West the message of what he believes in as a religious peace.
 
A representative of our paper interviewed the Swami Vivekananda, with a view to eliciting from him an account of the success of his mission in the West. The Swami very courteously received our representative and motioned him to a chair by his side. The Swami was dressed in yellow robes, was calm, serene, and dignified, and appeared inclined to answer any questions that might be put to him. We have given the Swami's words as taken down in shorthand by our representative.
 
"May I know a few particulars about your early life?" asked our representative.
 
The Swami said: "Even while I was a student at Calcutta, I was of a religious temperament. I was critical even at that time of my life, mere words would not satisfy me. Subsequently I met Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, with whom I lived for a long time and under whom I studied. After the death of my father I gave myself up to travelling in India and started a little monastery in Calcutta. During my travels, I came to Madras, where I received help from the Maharaja of Mysore and the Raja of Ramnad."
 
"What made Your Holiness carry the mission of Hinduism to Western countries?"
 
"I wanted to get experience. My idea as to the keynote of our national downfall is that we do not mix with other nations — that is the one and the sole cause. We never had opportunity to compare notes. We were Kupa-Mandukas (frogs in a well)."
 
"You have done a good deal of travelling in the West?"
 
"I have visited a good deal of Europe, including Germany and France, but England and America were the chief centres of my work. At first I found myself in a critical position, owing to the hostile attitude assumed against the people of this country by those who went there from India. I believe the Indian nation is by far the most moral and religious nation in the whole world, and it would be a blasphemy to compare the Hindus with any other nation. At first, many fell foul of me, manufactured huge lies against me by saying that I was a fraud, that I had a harem of wives and half a regiment of children. But my experience of these missionaries opened my eyes as to what they are capable of doing in the name of religion. Missionaries were nowhere in England. None came to fight me. Mr. Lund went over to America to abuse me behind my back, but people would not listen to him. I was very popular with them. When I came back to England, I thought this missionary would be at me, but the Truth silenced him. In England the social status is stricter than caste is in India. The English Church people are all gentlemen born, which many of the missionaries are not. They greatly sympathised with me. I think that about thirty English Church clergymen agree entirely with me on all points of religious discussion. I was agreeably surprised to find that the English clergymen, though they differed from me, did not abuse me behind my back and stab me in the dark. There is the benefit of caste and hereditary culture."
 
"What has been the measure of your success in the West?"
 
"A great number of people sympathised with me in America — much more than in England. Vituperation by the low-caste missionaries made my cause succeed better. I had no money, the people of India having given me my bare passage-money, which was spent in a very short time. I had to live just as here on the charity of individuals. The Americans are a very hospitable people. In America one-third of the people are Christians, but the rest have no religion, that is they do not belong to any of the sects, but amongst them are to be found the most spiritual persons. I think the work in England is sound. If I die tomorrow and cannot send any more Sannyasins, still the English work will go on. The Englishman is a very good man. He is taught from his childhood to suppress all his feelings. He is thickheaded, and is not so quick as the Frenchman or the American. He is immensely practical. The American people are too young to understand renunciation. England has enjoyed wealth and luxury for ages. Many people there are ready for renunciation. When I first lectured in England I had a little class of twenty or thirty, which was kept going when I left, and when I went back from America I could get an audience of one thousand. In America I could get a much bigger one, as I spent three years in America and only one year in England. I have two Sannyasins — one in England and one in America, and I intend sending Sannyasins to other countries.
 
"English people are tremendous workers. Give them an idea, and you may be sure that that idea is not going to be lost, provided they catch it. People here have given up the Vedas, and all your philosophy is in the kitchen. The religion of India at present is 'Don't-touchism' — that is a religion which the English people will never accept. The thoughts of our forefathers and the wonderful life-giving principles that they discovered, every nation will take. The biggest guns of the English Church told me that I was putting Vedantism into the Bible. The present Hinduism is a degradation. There is no book on philosophy, written today, in which something of our Vedantism is not touched upon — even the works of Herbert Spencer contain it. The philosophy of the age is Advaitism, everybody talks of it; only in Europe, they try to be original. They talk of Hindus with contempt, but at the same time swallow the truths given out by the Hindus. Professor Max Müller is a perfect Vedantist, and has done splendid work in Vedantism. He believes in re-incarnation."
 
"What do you intend doing for the regeneration of India?"
 
"I consider that the great national sin is the neglect of the masses, and that is one of the causes of our downfall. No amount of politics would be of any avail until the masses in India are once more well educated, well fed, and well cared for. They pay for our education, they build our temples, but in return they get kicks. They are practically our slaves. If we want to regenerate India, we must work for them. I want to start two central institutions at first — one at Madras and the other at Calcutta — for training young men as preachers. I have funds for starting the Calcutta one. English people will find funds for my purpose.
 
"My faith is in the younger generation, the modern generation, out of them will come my workers. They will work out the whole problem, like lions. I have formulated the idea and have given my life to it. If I do not achieve success, some better one will come after me to work it out, and I shall be content to struggle. The one problem you have is to give to the masses their rights. You have the greatest religion which the world ever saw, and you feed the masses with stuff and nonsense. You have the perennial fountain flowing, and you give them ditch-water. Your Madras graduate would not touch a low-caste man, but is ready to get out of him the money for his education. I want to start at first these two institutions for educating missionaries to be both spiritual and secular instructors to our masses. They will spread from centre to centre, until we have covered the whole of India. The great thing is to have faith in oneself, even before faith in God; but the difficulty seems to be that we are losing faith in ourselves day by day. That is my objection against the reformers. The orthodox have more faith and more strength in themselves, in spite of their crudeness; but the reformers simply play into the hands of Europeans and pander to their vanity. Our masses are gods as compared with those of other countries. This is the only country where poverty is not a crime. They are mentally and physically handsome; but we hated and hated them till they have lost faith in themselves. They think they are born slaves. Give them their rights, and let them stand on their rights. This is the glory of the American civilization. Compare the Irishman with knees bent, half-starved, with a little stick and bundle of clothes, just arrived from the ship, with what he is, after a few months' stay in America. He walks boldly and bravely. He has come from a country where he was a slave to a country where he is a brother.
 
"Believe that the soul is immortal, infinite and all-powerful. My idea of education is personal contact with the teacher - Gurugriha-Vâsa. Without the personal life of a teacher there would be no education. Take your Universities. What have they done during the fifty years of their existences. They have not produced one original man. They are merely an examining body. The idea of the sacrifice for the common weal is not yet developed in our nation."
 
"What do you think of Mrs. Besant and Theosophy?"
 
"Mrs. Besant is a very good woman. I lectured at her Lodge in London. I do not know personally much about her. Her knowledge of our religion is very limited; she picks up scraps here and there; she never had time to study it thoroughly. That she is one of the most sincere of women, her greatest enemy will concede. She is considered the best speaker in England. She is a Sannyâsini. But I do not believe in Mahâtmâs and Kuthumis. Let her give up her connection with the Theosophical Society, stand on her own footing, and preach what she thinks right."
 
Speaking of social reforms, the Swami expressed himself about widow-marriage thus: "I have yet to see a nation whose fate is determined by the number of husbands their widows get."
 
Knowing as he did that several persons were waiting downstairs to have an interview with the Swami, our representative withdrew, thanking the Swami for the kindness with which he had consented to the journalistic torture.
 
The Swami, it may be remarked, is accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Sevier, Mr. T. G. Harrison, a Buddhist gentleman of Colombo, and Mr. J. J. Goodwin. It appears that Mr. and Mrs. Sevier accompany the Swami with a view to settling in the Himalayas, where they intend building a residence for the Western disciples of the Swami, who may have an inclination to reside in India. For twenty years, Mr. and Mrs. Sevier had followed no particular religion, finding satisfaction in none of those that were preached; but on listening to a course of lectures by the Swami, they professed to have found a religion that satisfied their heart and intellect. Since then they have accompanied the Swami through Switzerland, Germany, and Italy, and now to India. Mr. Goodwin, a journalist in England, became a disciple of the Swami fourteen months ago, when he first met him at New York. He gave up his journalism and devotes himself to attending the Swami and taking down his lectures in shorthand. He is in every sense a true "disciple", saying that he hopes to be with the Swami till his death.

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4th June Swami Vivekananda Life

4 June:
 

To Mrs. Ole Bull -4th June '95
 

Dear Mother,
Today I leave New York at 5 p.m. by steamer with Mr. Leggett.
 

The classes were closed on Saturday last [June 1] and so far the work has been very successful, no small part of which is due to you.
 

MY DEAR SHASHI,
Reading your letter I felt like laughing, and also rather sorry. The cause of the laughter is that you had a dream through indigestion and made yourself miserable, taking it to be real. The cause of my sorrow is that it is clear from this that your health is not good, and that your nerves require rest very badly.
 

Never have I laid a curse on you, and why should I do so now? All your life you have known my love for you, and today are you doubting it? True, my temper was ever bad, and nowadays owing to illness it occasionally becomes terrible — but know this for certain that my love can never cease.

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Join the year long 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda : sv150.org  Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari

HOLD ON YET A WHILE, BRAVE HEART

       ॐ वीरेश्वराय विद्महे विवेकानन्दाय धीमहि । तन्नो वीर: प्रचोदयात् ।
 

 Written to H. H. The Maharaja of Khetri, Rajputana
If the sun by the cloud is hidden a bit,
If the welkin shows but gloom,
Still hold on yet a while, brave heart,
       The victory is sure to come.

No winter was but summer came behind,
Each hollow crests the wave,
They push each other in light and shade;
       Be steady then and brave.

The duties of life are sore indeed,
And its pleasures fleeting, vain,
The goal so shadowy seems and dim,
Yet plod on through the dark, brave heart,
      With all thy might and main.

Not a work will be lost, no struggle vain,
Though hopes be blighted, powers gone;
Of thy loins shall come the heirs to all,
Then hold on yet a while, brave soul,
      No good is e'er undone.

Though the good and the wise in life are few,
Yet theirs are the reins to lead,
The masses know but late the worth;
     Heed none and gently guide.

With thee are those who see afar,
With thee is the Lord of might,
All blessings pour on thee, great soul,
     To thee may all come right!

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Join the year long 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda : sv150.org  Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari