The Lightning Orator
On July 25, 1893, Swami Vivekananda set foot in Vancouver, British Columbia, to begin his remarkable journey in the West. He came to ask for help for the Indian nation—to tell the affluent West that the crying need in India was not for more religion— Hinduism was the mother of religions—but for bread for her starving masses. He had traveled widely in his motherland, and his whole being was dedicated to her upliftment. From Vancouver he traveled by train to Chicago, and took in the wonders of the World’s Fair. Although he was some months early for the Parliament of Religions, he was still too late to register as a delegate, and moreover lacked the necessary authorization to do so. At a loss as to how to proceed, Swamiji was advised to spend the summer in Boston, where the cost of living was far less expensive. Thus he came to Breezy Meadows, the home of Katherine A. Sanborn, whom he had met on the train, and then to Annisquam and the summer cottage of Professor and Mrs. John Henry Wright. It was from the Harvard professor that Swamiji received the credentials that would gain him entrance as a delegate to the Parliament of Religions. He remained in Massachusetts for the summer until a few days before the commencement of the parliament. He made a deep impression upon the people among whom he lived, and was asked to speak about India several times. America was getting its first glimpse of Swami Vivekananda, and he was in the process of discovering a new world. It was becoming clear to him that the people of America were also in need; they had need of the genuine spirituality that Eastern thought and experience could supply.
When Swamiji returned to Chicago in early September, he had in hand a letter of introduction to the chairman of the committee on selection of delegates to the parliament, but he had lost the address of the place where he was supposed to present that letter. He was unable to find a way out of his predicament, and so, experienced parivrajika that he was, he slept that first night in a boxcar in the railroad yard. The next day, seeking help, he walked along Lake Shore Drive, knocking on the doors of the mansions that lined it. Unsuccessful and weary, he sat down on the sidewalk to rest, and a wonderful thing happened. Mrs. George W. Hale saw him from the window of her home and, quickly grasping the situation, came out to assist him. Thus began Swamiji’s lifelong friendship with the Hale family. Mrs. Hale herself accompanied the swami to the offices of the Parliament of Religions.
On September 11, 1893, the Parliament of Religions opened its doors. The delegates, representing all of the world’s organized religions, marched to the platform before an audience of what contemporaries said was 7, 000 men and women. That afternoon Swami Vivekananda, representing the universal religion of the Vedas, would nervously take the podium and begin his address, “Sisters and Brothers of America,” which would receive a long standing ovation. Throughout the twelve days of the parliament, Swamiji remained a favorite with an audience that grew in size with every passing day. They would wait for hours to hear him speak; they would approach the platform to touch the hem of his orange robe. Swamiji gave twelve addresses at the parliament; he spoke of religious tolerance, of universal consciousness, of the innate divinity of every human being. In his “Paper on Hinduism,” delivered on September 19, he said: “To the Hindu, the whole world of religions is only a traveling, a coming up, of different men and women, through various conditions and circumstances, to the same goal. Every religion is only evolving a God out of the material man, and the same God is the inspirer of all of them. Why, then, are there so many contradictions? They are only apparent, says the Hindu. The contradictions come from the same truth adapting itself to the varying circumstances of different natures.” He also spoke critically of the Christian missionaries’ role in India; his remarks were well-received by the audience, who applauded when he pointed out that the most insistent needs of India were material, not spiritual.
And so through the vehicle of the Parliament of Religions, Swamiji was introduced to the American nation. He himself had earlier predicted it to his gurubhai, Swami Turiyananda. For about two months he remained in the Chicago area, sometimes staying with Mr. and Mrs. John B. Lyon, but mostly with his beloved Hale family, whose home became his headquarters. Swamiji became a keen observer of the American lifestyle—he visited museums, institutions, and universities. He also found himself in great demand as a lecturer, and so decided that he would use his newfound fame to obtain his goal of raising money for India. To this end Swamiji signed a three-year contract with the Slayton Lyceum Bureau of Chicago. The tour began in Madison, Wisconsin, and extended to the larger cities of the Midwest and South. The next several months, November to March, were spent in a whirlwind of activity, Swamiji moving from Minneapolis to Des Moines, to Memphis, Chicago, and Detroit. Wherever he went he spoke of religious tolerance, of the underlying principles of all religions, and of the divinity of man. He spoke tirelessly of India, her manners, customs, and religions; he wanted to establish the truth of what India stood for and what she had to offer the world. One newspaper article called him, admiringly, “a man of his people.” At the same time he was letting fly some very accurate criticism of Western culture and of its Christian missionaries. In a Detroit newspaper he was quoted as saying, “Morally, India is head and shoulders above the United States or any other country on the globe.” Detroit had an especially intense reaction to Swamiji, and he was to visit that city twice during the winter of 1894—from February 12 to 23 and from March 9 to 30. It was said that for weeks on end one could not pick up a daily paper without seeing the name Vivekananda.
Swamiji was by now becoming increasingly disillusioned with the lecture bureau, realizing that he was being cheated at every turn. Finally, Thomas W. Palmer, a businessman with whom Swamiji was staying in Detroit, went to Chicago and managed to get Swamiji released from his contract. Even so, the invitations to appear before various groups kept pouring in and he continued his backbreaking schedule. He accepted all the invitations he could, sometimes giving twelve or more lectures in a week. If, at night, he would find himself at a loss for words to speak the next day, he would hear a voice loudly telling him exactly what he should say.
During the spring of 1894 Swamiji visited New York and Massachusetts. He probably met Mrs. Ole Bull at this time. In June he decided to return to Chicago, to the Hale home, for some well-deserved rest. What a grueling life he must have led all these months, traveling for hours, even days, in a train. Yet, how many people were able to come into contact with him as he “rode the rails,” and what a rare glimpse he must have been given of the common man in America.
By the end of June Swamiji had returned to New York, and, in mid-July, was staying with friends in the town of Fishkill on the Hudson. He wrote to Mrs. Hale that he was thinking of going to England, but “between you and me, I am a sort of mystic and cannot move without orders and they have not come yet.” However, other orders did come, and toward the end of July he attended the Green Acre Religious Conferences in Maine, which proved to be a gathering of some of the freethinkers of the day, broad-minded and receptive to new ideas. Swamiji taught there for about two weeks, and it is thought to be the first time he preached Advaita Vedanta. He delivered several addresses in the main arena and held daily classes under a pine tree in the woods. It was a joyful time for him—in a letter to Isabelle McKindley, he refers to the “atmosphere of heaven”—but certainly not a restful one, for he sometimes spoke seven or eight hours in a day. Among the people who heard him were Sara Bull and Dr. Lewis G. Janes, President of the Brooklyn Ethical Society.
After Green Acre Swamiji’s life continued along its usual course, at least ostensibly. During the latter part of the summer and most of the autumn he traveled, delivering lectures in Plymouth, Boston, New York, Baltimore, and Washington, D. C. However, a new current had begun to run parallel to the old—in December he was invited by Mrs. Bull to hold classes in Cambridge. Daily, for three weeks, he taught Advaita Vedanta and raja yoga. When he returned to New York in late December to deliver a series of lectures at the Brooklyn Ethical Society, he was enjoined by its members to hold regular classes in Brooklyn. These classes were later moved to some rooms which Swamiji had rented with Leon Landsberg in a poor neighborhood in Manhattan.
So, the beginning of 1895 could be said to mark another phase in Swamiji’s sojourn in the West. For, although there had been signs that his work was leading in this direction, it could be said that at this point he was able to fully focus his attention on a few earnest students who were eager to partake of his knowledge and experience. By the end of January the room where he taught mornings and evenings would be filled with people, and they would overflow into the hall and down the stairs. By now had come to him some of his most devoted followers: Sarah Ellen Waldo, Josephine MacLeod, Betty Sturges, and Francis Leggett. He was living in his own element, sharing simple quarters and food with Leon Landsberg. The classes dealt with raja yoga and jnana yoga, and he had sent to India for the necessary texts. Meditation techniques were demonstrated by the swami, sometimes so well that he could not easily be brought back to normal consciousness. In order to augment his students’ donations to the payment of the rent he occasionally gave public lectures.
In April Swamiji took some retreat time at Mr. Leggett’s country home on the Hudson River, known as Ridgely Manor. Returning to Manhattan after two weeks there Swamiji continued with his classes, which he considered to be of great spiritual value. He was working intensely to establish something deep and permanent. He wrote in a letter in 1894, “Everything proceeds slowly, by degrees. Purity, patience, and perseverance are the three essentials to success, and, above all, love.” Swamiji’s power was becoming more and more manifest. Now that the opportunity to work on an intimate level had presented itself he made the most of it. His genius had found an avenue of expression free of the demands of society people and of the limitations inherent in the value system of Western culture. Day by day he was seeing the beneficial results of his life and teachings, so much so that he wrote to Mary Hale in February, 1895: “I have a message, and I will give it after my own fashion. I will neither Hinduize my message, nor Christianize, nor make it any ‘ize’ in the world. I will only my-ize it and that is all. Liberty, Mukti, is all my religion, and everything that tries to curb it, I will avoid by fight or flight.”
Again Francis Leggett came forward to offer Swamiji an opportunity for rest. In June they went to his fishing lodge, Camp Percy, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Swamiji was very glad to be out of the city rat race, and to be able to read and meditate immersed in the beauty of the New England woods. It was an apt preparation for the work he had to do at Thousand Island Park.
As had been previously arranged Swamiji traveled next to a small village on an island in the St. Lawrence River, called Thousand Island Park, after the group of Thousand Islands to which it belonged. He wanted to gather several of his disciples there and finish their training in the yogas, so that they could assist in carrying on the work. This plan was part of a larger vision which Swamiji had written of earlier in 1895—that everywhere there were signs a “new leaf would be turned in the story of humanity,” and that he was “to create a new order of humanity here [the United States] who are sincere believers in God and care nothing for the world.” He arrived at the cottage of Mary Elizabeth Dutcher on June 18, and the next morning commenced his classes, although only three or four of what would become twelve disciples had as yet arrived. He came with Bible in hand to begin the teaching with the Christian scriptures. From there he moved into the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Brahma Sutras, Narada Bhakti Sutras, and Avadhuta Gita, explaining them in the context of the three divisions of the Vedanta philosophy, which he considered to be the three stages of spiritual growth.
The classes lasted for seven weeks; they began at eight in the morning and lasted late into the night. Among those attending were: Mary Elizabeth Dutcher, Sarah Ellen Waldo, Ruth Ellis, Doctor Wight, Leon Landsberg, and Marie Louise. Christine Greenstidel and Mary Funke, coming all the way from Detroit in search of Vivekananda, arrived on July 20. Swamiji put his whole heart, soul and hard-won experience into the work at hand; “he taught as one inspired.” This was to be one of the greatest periods of his life, and he was later to say that he was at his best at Thousand Island Park. He preached oneness, truth, freedom and love; he was able to incorporate a multitude of ideas into a cohesive whole. For the first time he spoke at length of Sri Ramakrishna and of his own life with his guru.
This dedicated band of disciples were well rewarded for the long journey they had made to be with Swamiji. For, he poured out to them the highest truths, expressing, as it were, the inexpressible. For a time they lived with him in a higher state of consciousness. He initiated all of them, several taking the vows of brahmacharya, and two the vows of sannyasa.
On his last day on the island what began as a farewell walk with Christine Greenstidel and Mary Funke became an occasion for Swamiji to enter into samadhi. They had stopped to meditate under a tree, “like Buddha,” and Swamiji quickly lost all outward consciousness. He remained in that state even during a violent thunderstorm, from which Mary Funke protected him with her umbrella as best she could, until the others came in search of them. That evening of August 7 Swamiji departed for New York.
Upon his return to Manhattan Swamiji resumed his classes, probably at the home of Mary A. Phillips. He would be there for a month before sailing for Europe. Earlier in 1895, he had received two invitations to visit England, the first from Henrietta Muller, the second from Edward T. Sturdy. More recently Francis Leggett and Betty Sturges had expressed the wish that he attend their wedding which was to take place in Paris. He was therefore ready to go, believing that the orders for which he always waited had come. Francis Leggett and Swami Vivekananda sailed from New York on August 17 and arrived in Paris on August 24, where the swami would spend two weeks. Josephine MacLeod and Betty Sturges took him on tour showing him all the sights of the city; he visited cathedrals, museums, and universities making a careful study of all he saw. For he was now a man of all people; he found the need for the message of Truth everywhere he went.
By September 10 Swamiji had arrived in London where he was met by Edward T. Sturdy who escorted the swami to his home in Reading, thirty-six miles to the southwest. For six weeks Swamiji remained there with Sturdy studying Sanskrit and translating the Narada Bhakti Sutras. As was his custom he also took a close look about him, visiting places of historic and cultural interest. It was Sturdy’s plan that Swamiji move slowly, for a scandal involving the Theosophical Society was still fresh in people’s minds, and Sturdy wanted to avoid any association with that group. In the latter part of October Swamiji began to make public appearances, and on October 22 he delivered a lecture entitled “Self-Knowledge” at Prince’s Hall in London, which proved to be a triumph. His acceptance by the cultured and educated members of London society was total. It astonished him, for he had journeyed to this country with trepidation, a member of a nation that had been conquered by the British and was still under their rule, but they immediately appreciated the preacher and the message he preached.
By the end of October Swamiji was holding classes in his own lodgings in the city, as well as lecturing before various societies and small groups. It was at one of these latter meetings, in the home of Lady Isabel Margesson, that he was heard by an idealistic young educator, Margaret Noble, who later became the great Sister Nivedita. Her initial reaction to his ideas was not especially positive, but something within her urged her to probe further, and to that end she attended two of his London classes.
This was a time of great fulfillment for Swamiji. To his surprise he felt more at home in England than anywhere outside of India; for their part, people accepted him on all fronts. The universal principles he preached were enthusiastically received, and his vision of Vedanta as crossing all cultural and philosophical barriers took on a gratifying reality. Many heads of churches were sympathetic to his views. He wrote at this time, “I found my ground all prepared.” Infinite possibilities were opening before him—that Vedanta could serve as part of the infrastructure of every religion and could be redefined in ways that would offer practical help to every man; that the vast universe of Hindu thought and experience could be organized and scientifically applied so that it would empower both the common man and the man of highly developed intellect. Feeling that “the seed was well sown in England,” Swamiji set sail for New York on November 27.
As soon as Swamiji returned to New York he began holding classes. Kripananda [Leon Landsberg] was living in a lodging house at 228 West 39th Street, and Swamiji made that his headquarters. He moved with great intensity, his energy totally focused on building a firm philosophical foundation for those who would carry on the work. To systematize his message was the goal. Each of the four yogas was taught in separate classes, with a beginner and an advanced class for each. Josiah John Goodwin, as his stenographer, and Sarah Ellen Waldo, as housekeeper, secretary, and general assistant, were now with Swamiji and they began preparations to publish these class talks in small textbooks. They were subsequently published as Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, and The Science and Philosophy of Religion. Swamiji was very keen on this, saying they would “form the basis of the work” when he was gone.
After spending the Christmas holidays with the Leggetts at Ridgely Manor Swamiji returned to Manhattan and gave a series of Sunday lectures at Hardman Hall. All but the first of these were published in pamphlet form under the auspices of Swamiji, Miss Waldo, and Goodwin, and sold at ten cents per copy. The lectures and classes continued through January and February. Swamiji initiated many disciples during this period, and gave the vows of sannyasa to a Doctor Street, who became Swami Yogananda. An executive committee had been formed within the New York Vedanta Society which took charge of the business aspects of the work. Swamiji, now called the “lightning orator,” was pouring heart and soul into the establishment of a spiritual ground which would endure. He traveled to Brooklyn, New York, and Hartford, Connecticut, accompanied by the steadfast Goodwin. He delivered his last series of lectures to capacity crowds in the Concert Hall of Madison Square Garden. With a lecture on Sri Ramakrishna, entitled “My Master,” he closed the work in New York. All in all he felt the effort had been successful. Deep roots had been struck and the work could go on despite his absence.
There were disciples and friends in other cities that also called out to Swami Vivekananda, and he came at their request. First was Detroit, where Christine Greenstidel and Mary Funke had engaged rooms for the swami and Goodwin. He gave classes and talks during the two weeks that he was there; he also gave initiation to many disciples. He left the city in triumph having delivered a superb lecture at the Temple Beth-El, where he had been invited to speak by Rabbi Louis Grossman. The lecture was entitled “The Ideal of a Universal Religion,” a subject that Swamiji took up in every city he visited; it contained the crux of his message of religious harmony. Mary Funke wrote in her reminiscences, “Never have I seen the Master as he looked that night.”
Next Swamiji came to Boston where, by popular demand, the private classes which had been arranged for him had to be opened to the public and a larger hall rented for that purpose. It was during this visit that he was invited to speak before the Graduate Philosophical Club of Harvard University on “The Vedanta Philosophy,” and to dine with Professor William James. Finally Swamiji came to Chicago and spent ten days there giving talks as arranged for him by Florence J. Adams. On April 11 he returned to New York to quickly make final preparations for his voyage to England. He set sail on April 15 with many of his disciples and friends at the dock to see him off.
Arriving in England on April 20 Swamiji went first to the home of E. T. Sturdy. He found that Swami Saradananda had already arrived from India and was staying there. The two gurubhais had a joyful reunion. After visiting with Sturdy and then with Henrietta Muller they settled in the home of Lady Isabel Margesson in Southwest London, which had been leased temporarily by Sturdy. A most unconventional household came into existence consisting of Swamiji, Swami Saradananda, J. J. Goodwin, John Fox, Mahendra Nath Datta, E. T. Sturdy, and Miss Muller. On May 7 Swamiji began his preaching work, holding five classes each week plus a discussion class. Beginning with the history of the Vedanta philosophy he moved into raja yoga, bhakti yoga, and Advaita Vedanta. Attendance grew steadily until the classes were attracting between 70 and 120 people. Among Swamiji’s most earnest students were Margaret Noble and Captain and Mrs. John Henry Sevier; Goodwin, too, was there, faithfully recording the swami’s words. Besides this grueling schedule Swamiji was also lecturing before many clubs and organizations, and in private drawing rooms. On May 28 he met with Professor Max Muller of Oxford University at his home in Oxford. Swamiji’s influence was spreading and he was very pleased with the result. As he wrote to Francis Leggett on July 6, “My power of work is immensely increasing and becoming immensely effective.” He worked incessantly until July 18 when he gave his final lecture before the London Hindu Association. Then, on July 21, he himself became the subject of two sermons preached by one of his ardent admirers, an Anglican clergyman by the name of Reverend Hugh Reginald Haweis. The Reverend had announced Swamiji’s arrival in his home by shouting to his guests, “The Master is here!”
On July 19 Swamiji accompanied Henrietta Muller and Captain and Mrs. Sevier on a tour of Europe that was to last nine weeks. Once on the continent they traveled by train to Geneva and from there into the Swiss Alps. While there Swamiji was reminded of the monastery he wished to establish in the Himalayas with the Seviers’ help. After a number of treks through the mountains the travelers came to a village called Saas-Fee, where they spent two weeks, August 4 through 19. Swamiji wrote to Goodwin on August 8, “This rest, eternal, peaceful rest, I am catching a gimpse of now in this beautiful spot. ‘Having once known the Atman alone, and nothing else, exists, desiring what, or for whose desire, shall you suffer misery about the body?’”
The next stop on their journey was Lucerne where Miss Muller left them and returned to London. The three travelers went on through Germany, to Berlin, and finally to Kiel, arriving there on September 8. Swamiji had an appointment there with Professor Paul Deussen; they spent the next two days together discussing philosophy and often conversing in Sanskrit. When Swamiji and the Seviers departed for England Deussen joined them and accompanied them to Amsterdam. Here too, as in Switzerland and Germany Swamiji proved to be an eager student of European history and culture.
On September 16 they landed in England and Swamiji took up residence at Miss Muller’s home in Wimbledon, where Swami Abhedananda having come from India at Swamiji’s request joined him. Professor Deussen staying nearby visited him often. By October 8 Swamiji had returned to his classes in London, now held in a room rented by Sturdy at 39 Victoria Street. Soon Swamiji and Swami Abhedananda had moved into a flat nearby where Goodwin joined them upon his return from the United States on October 20. Between October 8 and December 10 he would give forty-two classes and lectures, including those that would subsequently be published as Jnana Yoga and Practical Vedanta. Margaret Noble came often to these classes, having become wholeheartedly devoted to the “Master” and his teachings. Indeed, he was the lion of Vedanta arousing men’s spiritual consciousness. As he wrote to Goodwin from Switzerland on August 8, “This is the only work, to call upon mankind to ‘Awake, arise, and stop not till the goal is reached.’ ” He would speak forcefully on the necessity of strength and faith in oneself. He taught from the highest Vedantic standpoint filling what he saw as a vacuum in the religious thought of Europe; he could present the most complex ideas in extraordinarily simple and precise language. Taking the most modern theories he would point out the rationale behind them, and show how they were already extant in their purest form in the philosophy of Vedanta. He preached Brahman as the fundamental principle of Knowledge, the One Existence appearing as the many. Through his efforts religion was reinstated in its rightful place in the world of ideas.
Swamiji continued to give himself unreservedly, but his mind was turning more and more toward India. In mid-November he asked Mrs. Sevier to book passage for the trip home. She purchased tickets for Swamiji, Goodwin, Captain Sevier, and herself on a steamer that would sail from Naples, Italy, at the end of the year. Now with his brothers from India teaching in the West and his Western disciples eager to take up the work in India Swamiji’s dream of opening the doors between the East and West was becoming a reality.
On December 10 Swamiji delivered his last lecture in London entitled “Advaita Vedanta.” On December 13 a farewell reception was held for him at the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours. For the last time the Master stood before them, a living example of the power of Truth. He had opened their eyes and broadened their hearts and changed the thought current of their country.
Swamiji and the Seviers left England on December 16. On the continent they traveled by train visiting the important cities in Italy and spending Christmas week in Rome. As always Swamiji was a keen observer of his surroundings. When Goodwin joined them in Naples Swamiji rejoiced saying, “Now, at last, it will be India, my India!” They set sail on December 30. The son was returning home to his Mother, a world teacher and an international hero.
Where seekest thou?
That freedom, friend, this world
Nor that, can give. In books and temples vain
Thy search. Thine only is the hand that holds
The rope that drags thee on. Then cease lament,
Let go thy hold, Sannyasin bold! Say—
“Om Tat Sat, Om!”
↑ Contents
Photographs
Photograph 13
EARLY DAYS IN AMERICA
(Place and date unknown at present)
This photo is often referred to as probably at the Hale residence, Chicago, 1893. But “Mrs. Herbert E. Hyde (Mary Hale’s niece) could not recognize this as being a room in the Hale’s house or in the Walton Place flat—both of which places she knew very well as a child[1].” Sister Gargi (Marie Louise Burke) has speculated that if the photo were taken in 1893 before the Parliament of Religions, then it could possibly have been taken in the Lyon’s house in Chicago.
The organizers of the Parliament of Religions lodged Swamiji in the home of Mr. and Mrs. John B. Lyon. When Swamiji first came to their home, Mrs. Lyon was a little apprehensive about how he would be received by their other guests. In those days there was strong racial prejudice. However, Mr. Lyon cleared the air. He had found Swamiji in his library one morning before breakfast. He later told his wife: “I don’t care a bit, Emily, if all our guests leave! The Indian is the most brilliant and interesting man who has ever been in our home and he shall stay as long as he wishes[2].”
Everybody is so kind here to me who am nothing—that it is beyond my power of expression. Glory unto Him in the highest in whose sight the poor ignorant monk from India is the same as the learned divines of this mighty land. And how the Lord is helping me every day of my life, brother— I sometimes wish for a life of million million ages to serve Him through the work, dressed in rags and fed by charity.” (Letters, 49)
Photograph 14
CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893
The East Indian Group[3]
This photograph appeared for the first time in Neely’s History of the Parliament of Religions and Religious Congresses at the World’s Columbian Exposition published in Chicago in 1893. From left to right: “Narasimha Chaira [Narasimhacharya of Chennai], Lakeshnie Narain [Lakshmi Narain, a barrister from Lahore], Swami Vivekananda, H. Dharmapala [Anagarika Hewivitarne Dharmapala, a Buddhist from Ceylon and later the founder of the Mahabodhi Society in Kolkata], and Vichand Ghandi [Virchand Gandhi, a lawyer of Mumbai and the chief exponent of the Jain religion.]”[3]
This same photograph, as it appears in The World’s Congress of Religions, edited by J. W. Hanson, and published in 1894, is stamped WB Conkey Co., Chicago. According to the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress in Washington, D. C., “WB Conkey was one of the many ‘official’ publishing companies involved in the World’s Columbian Exposition. Charles Dudley Arnold was the official photographer for the WCE, however, many other photographers took photographs at the fair.”
I am here amongst the children of the son of Mary, and the Lord Jesus will help me. They like much the broad views of Hinduism and my love for the Prophet of Nazareth. I tell them that I preach nothing against the Great One of Galilee. I only ask the Christians to take in the Great Ones of Ind along with the Lord Jesus, and they appreciate it. (Letters, 39)
Photograph 15
CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893
Swami Vivekananda, Hindu Monk[4]
This photograph of Swamiji as a delegate to the Parliament of Religions also appeared in Neely’s History of the Parliament of Religions. It appears to have been taken not only on the same day as the East Indian Group, but at the same time. Swamiji is holding a piece of paper in his hand (although in this photo it is in his right hand, in the group photo it is in his left hand) and his official delegate tag is pinned to his robe in both photos. The drape of his turban and his general stance suggest that the two photos were taken one after the other.
On the morning of the opening of the Parliament, we all assembled in a building called the Art Palace. . . . Men from all nations were there. . . . There was a grand procession, and we were all marshaled on to the platform. Imagine a hall below and a huge gallery above, packed with six or seven thousand men and women representing the best culture of the country, and on the platform learned men of all nations of the earth. And I, who never spoke in public in my life, to address this august assemblage!! (Letters, 53)
Photograph 16
CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893
Swami Vivekananda on the Platform of the Parliament[5]
From left to righ:
Virchand Gandhi, Hewivitarne Dharmapala, Swami Vivekananda, and (possibly) G. Bonet Maury.
From all appearances this photo seems to have been taken on the afternoon of the opening day of the parliament, September 11, 1893. Swamiji appears apprehensive.
“Through all this [the parliament proceedings] Swamiji remained seated, meditative and prayerful, letting his turn to speak go by time and again. It was not until the afternoon session, after four other delegates had read their prepared papers, that, urged by the kindly and scholarly French pastor, G. Bonet Maury, who was seated next to him, Swamiji, inwardly bowing down to Devi Sarasvati (the Goddess of Knowledge), arose to address the Congress and, through it, the world[6].”
Sister Gargi has an interesting footnote on G. Bonet Maury which bears quoting in full:
This information comes from a letter written by Swami Siddheswarananda to Miss Josephine MacLeod, dated June 11, 1946. The relevant passage reads: “For a long time I have been in contact with a man of science (Paul Bennet-Maury) . . . The other day the old mother of Paul Bennet-Maury came to see me. She is about 80 years old and she told me that her father-in-law, a Protestant pastor, was one of the delegates to the Chicago Parliament of Religions and a very close friend of Swamiji. In the dais of the Parliament Pastor Bennet-Maury [G. Bonet Maury] had his place next to Swamiji and she told me how she had heard from him that when Swamiji was each time giving his place to another to speak, it was Bennet-Maury, the pastor, that encouraged Swamiji to get up and speak in spite of the hesitation that Swamiji had. And as the old lady told me the story she got up from her seat and with trembling emotion told me of what she had heard of the tremendous impression produced by Swamiji when he addressed the audience as ‘Sisters and Brothers of America[7].’ ”
Dear Brother, I was so, so afraid to stand before that great assembly of fine speakers and thinkers from all over the world and speak; but the Lord gave me strength, and I almost every day heroically faced the platform and the audience. If I have done well, He gave me the strength for it; if I have miserably failed—I knew that beforehand—for I am hopelessly ignorant. (Letters, 49)
Photograph 17
CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893
Swami Vivekananda and Narasimhacharya[8]
This unposed snapshot is one of the first pictures of Swamiji in America. “Perhaps it is not so clear as one would like his pictures to be, but it nonetheless belongs to his history[9].” It can be reasonably assumed that it was taken in the room marked “No. 1—keep out.”
The following appeared in the Boston Evening Transcript on September 30, 1893:
There is a room at the left of the entrance to the Art Palace marked “No. 1—keep out.” To this the speakers at the Congress of Religions all repair sooner or later, either to talk with one another or with President Bonney, whose private office is in one corner of the apartment. . . . The most striking figure one meets in this anteroom is Swami Vivekananda, the Brahmin monk. He is a large, well-built man, with the superb carriage of the Hindustanis, his face clean shaven, squarely molded regular features, white teeth, and with well-chiseled lips that are usually parted in a benevolent smile while he is conversing. His finely poised head is crowned with either a lemon colored or a red turban, and his cassock (not the technical name for this garment), belted in at the waist and falling below the knees, alternates in a bright orange and rich crimson. He speaks excellent English and replied readily to any questions asked in sincerity[10].
“In a letter dated November 2, 1893, Swamiji asked his Chennai disciple Alasinga Perumal for information regarding a Chennai boy called Narasimhacharya, who ‘has cropped up in our midst.’ ‘He has been loafing about the city for the last three years,’ he wrote. ‘Loafing or no loafing, I like him, but please write to me all about him, if you know anything. He knows you. He came in the year of the Paris Exhibition [1889] to Europe.’
“This ‘boy called Narasimhacharya’ is without question the same Narasimhacharya who is pictured peering intently over Swamiji’s shoulder in [this photograph] and who was described in the Boston Evening Transcript as ‘often seen in the anteroom, leaning with graceful abandon on the table in the center of the room, his bright boyish face lighting up as he freely airs his opinions upon the Indian civilization and ours[11].’ ”
I addressed the assembly as “Sisters and Brothers of America,” a deafening applause of two minutes followed, and then I proceeded, and when it was finished, I sat down, almost exhausted with emotion. (Letters, 54)
Actual words of the address:
Sisters and Brothers of America,
I t fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world; I thank you in the name of the mother of religions; and I thank you in the name of millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects. (CW [1984] 1:3)
Photograph 18
CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893
An Actual Scene at One of the Sessions of the Parliament[12]
This photograph was taken on the morning of September 21, 1893—the eleventh day of the parliament. It was published in 1893 as the frontispiece of John Henry Barrows’, The World’s Parliament of Religions, Volume 1
In New Discoveries we find this reference:
In passing it should be noted that in Barrows’ history there are three published photographs of the “historic group on the platform.” These were taken on the morning of September 14, the morning of September 21, and the evening of September 27. In the second of these, [photo 18] which has been reproduced in the second edition of the Life, Swamiji has been tentatively identified in the front row of the delegates; I am sorry to say that a comparison with an enlarged and annotated copy of the same picture shows that this is not Swamiji but that “loafer” Narasimhacharya[13].
Swamiji wrote regarding the Parliament of Religions and his coming to America in general:
I am doing the Lord’s work, and wherever He leads I follow. . . . He who makes the dumb eloquent and the lame cross a mountain. He will help me. I do not care for human help. He is ready to help me in India, in America, on the North Pole, if He thinks fit. If He does not, none else can help me. Glory unto the Lord for ever and ever. (Letters, 60)
Photograph 19
CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893
Swami Vivekananda, India[14]
This photograph was published for the first time in volume two of Barrows’ history in connection with Swamiji’s talk on “Hinduism” which was given on the ninth day of the parliament, September 19. But to date, there is not sufficient proof that it was taken on that day.
The present convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita: “Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to Me.” (CW [1984] 1:4)
Photograph 20
CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893 (Harrison)
This is the famous Chicago pose. The next seven photographs are part of what the Vedanta Society of Northern California calls the “Harrison series.” Swamiji has autographed five of these photos and inscribed them with English translations of Sanskrit sayings, some of which have the original Sanskrit written in Bengali characters. These photographs were taken by a photographer named Thomas Harrison, who was located in Chicago at that time at “Central Music Hall, Cor. State & Randolph Sts.” Most of the Harrison photographs in the Vedanta Society’s collection have this information at the bottom of the pictures.
According to listings of photographers from 1847 to 1900 in the Chicago city directories, Thomas Harrison was in business from about 1873 through 1900. The Chicago Historical Society states: “He had several addresses [“Central Music Hall” is listed as his 1893 address] and probably went into business with D. R. Coover for a short time. We have many cabinet card portraits of Chicagoans taken at the Harrison studios, all with the same identification stamp.”
The original photos of Swamiji taken at Harrison’s studio were actually cabinet card portraits, which were the predominant type of media that Harrison used. The cabinet card was a new style of portrait photography which came into vogue around 1867. It had several new features including various styles of posing, improved lighting, and the use of background scenery or props to add flair to the photograph. The various poses of Swamiji taken at Harrison’s studio show his successful use of these different techniques.
I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal. (CW [1984] 1:4)
Photograph 21
CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893 (Harrison)
Swamiji has written in Bengali characters, as well as in English: “One infinite pure and holy—beyond thought beyond qualities I bow down to thee Swami Vivekananda”
I t was reserved for America to proclaim to all quarters of the globe that the Lord is in every religion. (CW [1984] 1:19)
Photograph 22
CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893
During the Parliament of Religions, this poster of Swamiji (based on photo 21) was made by the Goes Lithographic Co., Chicago, 1893. It was posted throughout the city to draw people’s attention to the fair. Swamiji had become famous overnight and was a major attraction.
This copy of the poster, which was made from one of the original posters now in the possession of the Vedanta Society, Berkeley, bears the following inscription: “To Hollister Sturges—All strength and success be yours is the constant prayer of your friend, Vivekananda”
Hollister Sturges was the son of Mrs. Betty (Sturges) Leggett—the family members of whom were all dear to Swamiji’s heart.
Another reference to this poster can be found in New Discoveries, volume 5:199:
In Chicago Mrs. Blodgett acquired a large colored poster of him [Swamiji], which she hung in her home in Los Angeles, never dreaming that he would one day be her guest. This poster, hanging incredibly over her [Miss Josephine MacLeod’s] dying brother’s bed, had greeted Miss MacLeod when she had arrived from Ridgely Manor. Astounded, she had asked Mrs. Blodgett, “What do you know about him?” and Mrs. Blodgett had told her story. “I know him,” Miss MacLeod had said, and then, “Why don’t you ask him here?” “To my cottage?” “He will come.” And in her memoirs she relates: “In three weeks my brother was dead and in six weeks Swamiji was there.” (Later on Miss MacLeod brought this poster, which showed Swamiji standing in his robe and turban, to Ridgely Manor, where she mounted it in a toweringly high-backed Gothic chair. For years it remained thus in her bedroom. “One would hardly dare go into her room,” Mrs. Frances Leggett told me,“—this enormous thing appearing there!”)
Hail, Columbia, motherland of liberty! It has been given to thee, who never dipped her hand in her neighbor’s blood, who never found out that the shortest way of becoming rich was by robbing one’s neighbors, it has been given to thee to march at the vanguard of civilization with the flag of harmony. (CW [1984] 1:20)
Photograph 23
CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893 (Harrison)
Swamiji has inscribed this photo:
“Samata sarvabhuteshu etanmuktasya lakshanam. Equality in all beings this is the sign of the free Vivekananda”
Children of immortal bliss—what a sweet, what a hopeful name! Allow me to call you, brethren, by that sweet name—heirs of immortal bliss—yea, the Hindu refuses to call you sinners. Ye are the Children of God, the sharers of immortal bliss, holy and perfect beings. (CW [1984] 1:11)
Photograph 24
CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893 (Harrison)
This photograph of Swamiji bears the inscription:
“Thou art the only treasure in this world Vivekananda”
Come up, O lions, and shake off the delusion that you are sheep; you are souls immortal, spirits free, blest and eternal; ye are not matter, ye are not bodies; matter is your servant, not you the servant of matter. (CW [1984] 1:11)
Photograph 25
CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893 (Harrison)
Swamiji has inscribed this photo:
“Thou art the father the lord the mother the husband and love Swami Vivekananda” Swamiji mentioned the Harrison photographs early on to Alasinga Perumal, particularly with reference to stimulating an interest in his work amongst some of his admirers in India, such as Ajit Singh, the Maharaja of Khetri, and His Highness the Maharaja of Mysore (Shri Chamarajendra Wadiyar). In a letter written to Alasinga from Chicago on November 2, 1893, he mentioned that he had sent one of these photos to the Maharaja of Khetri.
Again on May 28, 1894, he wrote to Alasinga from Chicago: “As for the photographs, I have not them at present. I will ask for some to be sent over. In the meantime, you apply to the Maharaj of Khetri for some copies he has had printed from those I sent over to him.” Then again on July 11, 1894, he wrote to Alasinga: “I have sent a letter to H. H. of Mysore and some photographs. You must have got yours by this time. Present one to the Raja of Ramnad. Work on him as much as you can. Keep correspondence with Khetri and try to spread.”
Swamiji also mentioned the Harrison photographs, often in a somewhat surly manner, in a number of his letters written to Mrs. George Hale, who seems to have handled Swamiji’s Harrison photo orders. In mid-July 1894, Swamiji wrote to Mrs. Hale from Fishkill Landing, New York:
As to the photographs, the first time the Babies got a few copies, and the second time you brought a few copies; you know they are to give 50 copies in all. Sister Isabelle knows better than I.
Swamiji makes this humorous remark about the Chicago pose (photo 20) and this photo (25) in a letter dated August 5, 1894, to Mrs. Hale written from Greenacre Inn, Eliot, Maine:
The Harrison people sent me two “nasty standing” photos—that is all I have out of them, when they ought to give me 40 minus the 10 or 15 I have got already!!!
Again he wrote to Mrs. Hale from Annisquam on August 20, 1894:
The photographs have not reached me—except two of Fishkill when I was there last.
Three days later he wrote:
The photographs reached safely yesterday. I cannot tell exactly whether Harrison ought to give me more or not. They had sent only two to me at Fishkill— not the pose I ordered though.
Clearly, Swamiji was having his difficulties with Harrison. And yet we are deeply indebted to Harrison for the beautiful, soul-stirring images he produced of Swamiji during his early days in America.
He penned a letter to Mary Hale from Annisquam on August 31, 1894, “I sent two pictures to Mother Church yesterday and hope you will like them.” On the same day he wrote to Alasinga: “I have sent over my photograph and written to the Raja of Mysore.” Five days later in a letter to Mrs. Hale, he mentioned: “The new arrival of the phonograph from Khetri has not come yet. But I am not anxious because I just now got another letter from India wherein there is no mention of the photographs I sent showing that parcels reach later than letters.”
Obviously the Harrison photographs had made their way to India as early as November 1893. In a letter written to Alasinga on September 27, 1894, he says:
Bhattacharya [Manmatha Nath Bhattacharya of Chennai] writes he has not got any of my photos. I have none at present. I will have to order for some new ones & then will send them over.
Yet another request came from Kolkata. Swamiji wrote to Mrs. Hale on October 27, 1894:
Will you kindly [order] for a 100 photographs to Harrison and send them over to India to Ramdayal Chakravarty, c/o Swami Ramakrishnananda, Varahanagar Math, Alambazar, Kolkata. I will pay for it when I come to Chicago.
Although it is not certain which two photos (if they are still extant) the following remark of Swamiji refers to, it is ingenuous and candid and worth repeating. From Detroit he wrote on March 10, 1894, to Mrs. Hale:
The photographer here has sent me some of the pictures he made. They are positively villainous. Mrs. Bagley does not like them at all. The real fact is that between the two photos my face has become so fat and heavy—what can the poor photographers do? Kindly send over four copies of photographs.
In this case Swamiji seems to have decided that Harrison’s photos were the best of a bad bargain!
He is everywhere, the pure and formless One,
the Almighty and the All-merciful.
“Thou art our father, Thou art our mother, Thou art our beloved friend,
Thou art the source of all strength; give us strength.
Thou art He that beareth the burdens of the universe;
help me bear the little burden of this life.” (CW [1984] 1:11)
Photograph 26
CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893 (Harrison)
Swamiji’s inscription reads:
“Eka eva suhrid dharma nidhanepyanuyati yah. Virtue is the only friend that follows us even beyond the grave. Everything else ends with death. Vivekananda”
This photograph was first published in Neely’s History of the Parliament of Religions and Religious Congresses at the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 without the inscription, but bearing the caption Swami Vivekananda. It is interesting to note that Neely published more photographs of Swamiji than any other delegate to the parliament.
If there is ever to be a universal religion, it must be one which will have no location in place or time; which will be infinite like the God it will preach, and whose sun will shine upon the followers of Krishna and of Christ, on saints and sinners alike; which will not be Brahminic or Buddhistic, Christian or Mohammedan, but the sum total of all these, and still have infinite space for development. . . . It will be a religion which will have no place for persecution or intolerance in its polity, which will recognize divinity in every man and woman, and whose whole scope, whose whole force, will be created in aiding humanity to realize its own true, divine nature. (CW [1984] 1:19)
Photograph 27
CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893 (Harrison)
Sister Devamata related a story of how she first heard about Swamiji. After the Parliament of Religions, she along with her mother and sister met a Swedenborgian minister in Ohio, who had attended the parliament in Chicago. He enthusiastically described various aspects of the sessions to them: “ ‘But,’ he continued, ‘there was one speaker who stood out above all others, because of his learning, his eloquence and his impressive personality. No other could compare with him except two or three Roman Catholic prelates, and they had sent their best men.’ He paused, leaving his brilliant figure without name or nationality. ‘Who was he?’ I asked eagerly. The minister replied quietly: ‘A Hindu—Swami Vivekananda[15].’ ”
The World’s Parliament of Religions has become an accomplished fact, and the merciful Father has helped those who labored to bring it into existence, and crowned with success their most unselfish labor. (CW [1984] 1:23)
Photograph 28
CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893
Scene at the Parliament on the Evening of the Last Day, September 27th[16]
This photograph was taken during the closing session of the parliament on the evening of September 27. We know that Swamiji was present on the platform that evening because he had been invited to give one of the final addresses. It was in this talk that he made his famous sweeping remark: “The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the others and yet preserve its individuality and grow according to its own law of growth.”
According to New Discoveries (1:134, 36) “it is probable, though not at present certain, that Swamiji does indeed appear, seated with regal unconcern in the second row of delegates.” To date it has not been ascertained for sure that the person in the second row, left of center, is in fact Swamiji
Barrows’ history describes the last session:
More than seven thousand persons were crowded into the Halls of Washington and Columbus [Barrows writes]. For more than an hour before the time announced, the eager crowds swept up against the doors of the Art Palace. The throng extended from the doorways to Michigan Avenue and thence for half a block in either direction. . . . An eyewitness reports: “. . . The last and closing scene of the great Parliament of Religions is one that will live forever in the memory of those who were so fortunate as to be spectators. The great Hall of Columbus was illuminated by a myriad of lights. Every inch of room was used by the greatest crowd that ever sat within its walls. On the stage, beneath the folds of the flags of all nations, were the representatives of all religions. The dull, black and somber raiment of the West only intensified the radiantly contrasted garbs of the Oriental priests.” Twice during the evening flashlight photographs were taken of the historic group on the platform[17].
If the Parliament of Religions has shown anything to the world it is this: It has proved to the world that holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this evidence, if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be written, in spite of resistance: “Help and not Fight,” “Assimilation and not Destruction,” “Harmony and Peace and not Dissension.” (CW [1984]1:24)
Photograph 29
CHICAGO, 1894
After the parliament, Swamiji’s luminous personality radiated his inner serenity. Those who were fortunate enough to meet him at this time said what a blessing it was to be with him. Years later Mary Hale recalled Swamiji as:
. . . the great and glorious soul that came to the Parliament of Religions, so full of love of God, that his face shone with divine light, whose words were fire, whose very presence created an atmosphere of harmony and purity, thereby drawing all souls to himself[18].
When one looks at this photograph one can easily understand what Mary meant, for as Sister Gargi says:
One cannot fail to be moved by the childlike tenderness of Swamiji’s appearance, and by the wonderful peace and calm of his expression[19].
This photo was taken by E. B. Snow in Chicago in 1894 and was copyrighted. Swamiji’s inscription reads:
Ajaramaravat prajnah vidyam arthancha chintayet/ Grihitva iva kesheshu mrityuna dharmam acharet. When in search of knowledge or prosperity think that you would never have death or disease, and when worshipping God think that death’s hand is in your hair.
Early prints of this photo, and of photos 21 as well as 23 to 26 (copies of which are in the present volume), were acquired originally by Swami Vishwananda.
It was through the kindness of the late Swami Vishwananda, then in charge of the Vivekananda Vedanta Society in Chicago [1937-1965], that these photographs and other invaluable material regarding Swamiji came to our hands, and the story of how this material was discovered by the swami is worth telling here, for it is an example of those coincidences that occur so frequently in matters concerning Swamiji. Swami Vishwananda told us that a young man, unconnected with Vedanta, had received from his grandmother a bundle of unpublished letters, photographs and other material, all pertaining to Swami Vivekananda. Knowing that his grandmother had cherished them, the young man had kept them, and indeed might still possess them, or perhaps by this time have discarded them, had it not been that a friend of his was a student of Swami Vishwananda. How this friend came to know of the bundle of old documents is not known, but one day she told Swami Vishwananda of its existence. The swami forthwith visited the young man and found, with what joy we can imagine, a veritable feast of hitherto unknown material! The young man gladly gave him the bundle, which had originally belonged, the swami learned, to the McKindley sisters, nieces of Mr. and Mrs. Hale. It is such unlooked-for and fortuitous discoveries which give us hope that eventually more hidden material regarding Swamiji will come to light, slowly pushing its way up through the years[20].
[Letter to Swamiji’s Chennai disciples, January 24, 1894]
My whole ambition in life is to set in motion a machinery which will bring noble ideas to the door of everybody, and then men or women will settle their own fate. Let them know what our forefathers and other nations have thought on the most momentous questions of life. Let them see what others are doing now specially, and then decide. We are to put the chemicals together, the crystallization would be done by nature according to her laws.
Photograph 30
GREEN ACRE, AUGUST 1894
Swami Vivekananda seated in front. Ralph Waldo Trine (standing) in cowboy hat.
In this photo Swamiji is seated under the “Swami’s Pine” with his class. “This photograph was discovered by Elva Nelson [of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society, Boston] and may well be the photograph he spoke of in his letter to the Hale sisters: ‘Herewith I send a photograph Cora Stockham took of the group under the tree. It is only a proof and will fade away under exposure, but I cannot get anything better at present.’ Very likely a more durable print was made for both pictures [30 and 33] which have been taken from finished photographs[21].”
“Instead of materializing the spirit, i. e. dragging the spiritual to the material plane as these fellers do,” [Swamiji] wrote to the Hale sisters, “convert the matter into spirit—catch a glimpse at least every day of that world of infinite beauty and peace and purity, the spiritual, and try to live in it day and night.” (ND [1984] 2:153)
Photograph 31
GREEN ACRE, AUGUST 1894
Swami Vivekananda, Sarah Farmer (seated to his left), Charles Malloy (standing), with white hat and walking stick.
This is yet another, heretofore unknown, picture of Swamiji seated under his pine with one of his classes. Elva Nelson acquired this photo, as well as 32, from the Baha’i Archives now located at Green Acre in Eliot, Maine.
“On July 28 an article headed VIVEKANANDA AT GREENACRE appeared in Boston’s brahminical and world-famous Evening Transcript. It was almost certainly written by Ralph Waldo Trine, who was later to become a well-known author on metaphysical subjects. (At that time, he was a special correspondent for the Transcript at Greenacre, where he had built for himself ‘a little cabin . . . on the edge of a pinegrove.’) The article read in part:
Friday an extra lecture will be given by Swami Vivekananda of India, who is spending a few weeks at Greenacre. He is deeply interested in this unitary work which has been inaugurated, and each morning may be seen, attired in his flowing red robes and yellow turban, sitting cross-legged on the ground near a wide-spreading pine, and surrounded by a group of eager listeners, men and women, to whom he pours out freely his treasures of knowledge and experience. It is a rich opportunity to us who are privileged to enjoy it, and our only regret is that so many hungry souls are missing it.
Greenacre is very full, as are also a half-dozen or more cottages in the vicinity: still there is room. The townspeople are opening their rooms to accommodate the numbers who desire to attend the lectures, which are free to all[22].”
On July 31 Swamiji wrote to the Hales’ daughters and nieces from the Green Acre Inn: “The Inn people are more or less well-to-do, and the camp people are healthy, young, sincere, and holy men and women. I teach them all Shivo’ham, Shivo’ham, and they all repeat it, innocent and pure as they are and brave beyond all bounds.”
Later, in September 1894, Swamiji wrote a letter to Mr. Manmatha Nath Bhattacharya, who had been his host in Chennai in 1893. In this letter he mentioned: “A while back several hundred intellectual men and women were gathered in a place called Greenacre, and I was there for nearly two months. Every day I would sit in our Hindu fashion under a tree, and my followers and disciples would sit on the grass all around me. Every morning I would instruct them, and how earnest they were.”
Photograph 32
GREEN ACRE, AUGUST 1894
From left to right:
Swami Vivekananda, Sarah J. Farmer, M. H. Gulesian, and Dr. Edward Everett Hale.
In New Discoveries a reference is made to another photo that Cora Stockham took at Green Acre. “From the Portsmouth Daily Chronicle of August 9 one learns that Miss Stockham took another group picture (yet to be unearthed) in which Swamiji was present. This time it was in the Tent following a lecture given by Dr. Edward Everett Hale on Thursday, August 2. The pertinent passage reads in part:
. . . Swami Vivekananda, as a representative of the far east, sat upon the platform, gorgeous in his scarlet and gold. At the close of the lecture he and Dr. Hale, Mr. Gulesian [a native of Armenia] and Miss Farmer were photographed in a group by Miss Stockham of Chicago[23].”
This photo from the Baha’i Archives certainly seems to be the picture that was lying “unearthed” until now.
There is a mass of thought which is at the present time struggling to get expression. It teaches us that higher direction and not destruction is the law. It teaches us that it is not a world of bad and good, but good and better— and still better. It stops short of nothing but acceptance. It teaches that no situation is hopeless, and as such accepts every form of mental, moral or spiritual thought where it already stands, and without a word of condemnation tells it that so far it has done good, now it is time to do better. . . . It above all teaches that the kingdom of heaven is already in existence if we will have it, that perfection is already in man if he will see it. (ND [1984] 2:158)
Photograph 33
GREEN ACRE, AUGUST 1894
We now have three photos of Swamiji taken at Green Acre under his pine. Sister Gargi poetically describes this photo: “One of these, which was among Isabelle McKindley’s treasures, shows him standing with folded arms, his eyes looking as eyes look when the whole world is seen as permeated by Divinity[24].”
During one of the outdoor meetings,
Swamiji in an inspired mood said:
I am without form, without limit,
beyond space, beyond time;
I am in everything,
I am the basis of the universe—
everywhere am I.
I am Existence Absolute.
Bliss Absolute. Knowledge Absolute.
I am It. I am It.
(ND [1984] 2:149-50)
Photograph 34
GREEN ACRE, 1894
This picture was taken during Swamiji’s stay at Green Acre in 1894, but was reproduced in 1899 in a Watertown, Massachusetts newspaper article on Green Acre.
[Letter to the Hale’s daughters and nieces, July 31, 1894]
Sweet One! Many people offer to You many things, I am poor—but I have the body, mind, and soul. I give them over to You. Deign to accept, Lord of the Universe, and refuse them not.”—So have I given over my life and soul once for all.
Photograph 35
NEW YORK, 1895 (probably between February and June)
Photos 35 to 37 were taken at the Prince Studio, 31 Union Square, New York. A report of Swamiji’s first talk of a lecture series that he was to give in January of 1896 appeared in the New York World Telegram, January 6, 1896. It was entitled:
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA LECTURES
The Hindoo Monk tells New Yorkers about the Truth and Utility of Religion.
This report “was accompanied by a line drawing of ‘Swami Vivekanand,’ [based on this photo] standing solidly on the platform of the hall, his hands behind his back. The drawing is hardly that of a ‘tall man, of handsome face and figure,’ but it is reproduced in this book [New Discoveries] for the readers’ amusement or indignation, as the case may be. Swamiji himself may have thought it a good likeness. Rarely aware of his body, he apparently did not know what it looked like. A story in illustration of this was told to Sister Devamata by Miss Waldo and took place in the front drawing room of 228 West Thirty-ninth Street—a long, narrow room with two tall windows facing the street, between which hung a mirror ‘reaching from floor to ceiling.’
This mirror [Devamata wrote] seemed to fascinate the swami. He stood before it again and again, gazing at himself intently. In between he walked up and down the room, lost in thought. Miss Waldo’s eyes followed him anxiously. ‘Now the bubble is going to burst,’ she thought. ‘He is full of personal vanity.’ Suddenly he turned to her and said: ‘Ellen, it is the strangest thing, I cannot remember how I look. I look and look at myself in the glass, but the moment I turn away I forget completely what I look like[25].’ ”
[Letter to Mary Hale, February 1, 1895]
Dream no more! Oh, dream no more, my soul! In one word, I have a message to give, I have no time to be sweet to the world, and every attempt at sweetness makes me a hypocrite. I will die a thousand deaths rather than lead a jellyfish existence and yield to every requirement of this foolish world, no matter whether it be my own country or a foreign country. You are mistaken, utterly mistaken, if you think I have a work, as Mrs. Bull thinks; I have no work under or beyond the sun. I have a message, and I will give it after my own fashion. I will neither Hinduize my message, nor Christianize it, nor make it any “ize” in the world. I will only my-ize it and that is all. Liberty, Mukti, is all my religion, and everything that tries to curb it, I will avoid by fight or flight. (CW [1979] 5:72)
Photograph 36
NEW YORK, 1895
In various publications this photo is often mistaken for Chicago, 1893. The background studio setting is the same as no. 35.
Josephine MacLeod’s life was revolutionized by her meeting with Swamiji during the early part of 1895 in New York. She remarked that when she heard Swamiji speak:
Instantly to me that was truth, and the second sentence he spoke was truth, and the third sentence was truth. And I listened to him for seven years and whatever he uttered was to me truth. From that moment, life had a different import. It was as if he made you realize that you were in eternity. It never altered. It never grew. It was like the sun that you will never forget once you have seen. . . . His presence, you see, was dynamic. You cannot pass that power on unless you have it[26].
The end of all religions is the realizing of God in the soul. That is the one universal religion. If there is one universal truth in all religions, I place it here—in realizing God. Ideals and methods may differ, but that is the central point. . . . There is that beyond all books, beyond all creeds, beyond the vanities of this world, and it is the realization of God within yourself. (CW [1984] 1:324-25)
Photograph 37
NEW YORK, 1895
This photograph has also been mistaken for Chicago, 1893. One reason for the misidentification of photo nos. 36 and 37 may be their resemblance to Swamiji’s 1893 Chicago photographs. However in full reproductions of both of these photos, it is clear that they were taken in the same New York studio as no. 35.
Sister Devamata recalled in her reminiscences her first impression of Swamiji when she heard him speak in New York in 1895:
A sudden hush, a quiet step on the stairs, and Swami Vivekananda passed in stately erectness up the aisle to the platform. He began to speak; and memory, time, place, people, all melted away. Nothing was left but a voice ringing through the void. It was as if a gate had swung open and I had passed out on a road leading to limitless attainment. The end of it was not visible; but the promise of what it would be shone through the thought and flashed through the personality of the one who gave it. He stood there—prophet of infinitude[27].
I ndividuality is my motto. I have no ambition beyond training individuals up. I know very little; that little I teach without reserve; where I am ignorant, I confess it as such, and never am I so glad as when I find people being helped by Theosophists, Christians, Mohammedans, or anybody in the world. I am a sannyasin; as such I consider myself as a servant, not as a master in the world. . . . Truth will preach itself, it will not die for the want of the helping hands of me! “Making happiness and misery the same, making success and failure the same, fight thou on” (Gita). It is that eternal love, unruffled equanimity under all circumstances, and perfect freedom from jealousy or animosity that will tell. That will tell, nothing else. (CW [1979] 7:487-88)
Photograph 38
NEW YORK, APRIL 6, 1895
Swamiji’s palm impression appeared in the book Language of the Hand by Cheiro. Cheiro was a famous palmist in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. No doubt, one of Swamiji’s wealthy friends in New York took him to Cheiro to have his palm read.
We have been trying to locate Language of the Hand, which is out of print, to check for details that Cheiro might have given about the line tracing of Swamiji’s palm. So far we have been unable to find the book.
When Swamiji was young he and other boys would try to foretell the future by reading each other’s palms. “Naren was the chief palmist of them all. He told them that he would be a monk: there was no mistake about it. ‘See!’ he would say triumphantly, ‘there is the sure sign of a sannyasi.’ And he would point out certain lines on his hand which an old man had once told him were characteristic of the tendency to monkhood[28].”
We must plunge heart and soul and body into the work. And until we be ready to sacrifice everything else to one Idea and to one alone, we never, never, will see the light. Those that want to help mankind must take their own pleasure and pain, name and fame, and all sorts of interests, and make a bundle of them and throw them into the sea, and then come to the Lord. This is what all Masters said and did. (CW [1978] 6:301-302)
Photograph 39
THOUSAND ISLAND PARK, JULY 1895
Swamiji used to take walks in the village of Thousand Island Park with his students, Sister Christine, and others.
We know of two such walks the group took through the village. One of them took place before the morning class and perhaps before many people were abroad. They stopped at the Thousand Island Park Studio, which specialized in “Portrait Photography, Instantaneous Pictures, [and] Thousand Island Park Views,” and at the request of his students Swamiji had tintypes taken of himself, two of which may well have been this pose—one full-length with a painted river-view for a backdrop, and the other [no. 40] a simple head and shoulders. “He was so full of fun, so merry,” Mrs. Funke wrote of this occasion[29].
Wednesday, June 19, 1895
Really good and evil are one and are in our own mind. When the mind is self-poised, neither good nor bad effects it. Be perfectly free; then neither can affect it, and we enjoy freedom and bliss. Evil is the iron chain, good is the gold one; both are chains. Be free, and know once for all that there is no chain for you. Lay hold of the golden chain to loosen the hold of the iron one, then throw both away. (CW [1979] 7:4-5)
Photograph 40
THOUSAND ISLAND PARK, JULY 1895
This is the “head-and-shoulders” print made at Thousand Island Park. “The original print of this head-and-shoulders photo bears the name of the studio: Lamson & Van Camp, 1000 Island Park, N.Y[30].”
Wednesday, June 19, 1895
In the world take always the position of the giver. Give everything and look for no return. Give love, give help, give service, give any little thing you can, but keep out barter. Make no conditions, and none will be imposed. Let us give out of our own bounty, just as God gives to us.
Thursday, August 1, 1895
Give as the rose gives perfume, because it is its own nature, utterly unconscious of giving. (CW [1979] 7:5,86)
Photograph 41
LONDON, 1895
“The formal meeting between Swami Vivekananda and England—the beginning of what was to be a long and mutually satisfactory friendship—took place on the evening of Tuesday, October 22, in Prince’s Hall, London. Fittingly, Swamiji chose for his subject ‘Self-Knowledge,’ the key, as he said in an interview, to his philosophy[31].”
Announcements began to appear in various London newspapers. “In addition, the Daily Graphic, a smaller paper than the Gazette, but, as it said of itself, ‘The most popular home newspaper in the world,’ published on October 21 [actually 22] a brief article about Swamiji accompanied by a photograph. (The Daily Graphic also boasted that it was ‘the only illustrated morning newspaper published in the world.’) Its article [“An Indian Monk in London”] reads:
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
An interesting figure has lately arrived in this country in the person of Swami Vivekananda, an Indian Yogi—one who formally renounces the world, and gives himself to study and devotion. He left India to express his interpretation of the Vedanta philosophy to Western people at the Parliament of Religions held at Chicago in 1893. Since that event he has been teaching and lecturing in America. He has now reached England, but will, after a short visit, return to America to carry on his self-appointed task there during the winter.
He will lecture at Prince’s Hall, Piccadilly, tomorrow evening[32].”
In New Discoveries it is mentioned that “the portrait of Swamiji that accompanied the above [41] was taken at the Walery Photographers, then located on Regent Street in London, and is all the proof needed that this now well-known picture, which shows him in profile, wearing a black astrakhanlike hat and a clerical collar, was taken in London in 1895 and not, as had long been supposed, in Cairo five years later. We may judge, incidentally, that Swamiji had come into London some time before Sunday, October 19, to sit for his photograph, for on Monday, the twentieth, he wrote from Caversham to Miss MacLeod, who had recently arrived in the city, that he would not be able to come in to see her until the day of the lecture[33].”
It can be reasonably assumed that the next five photographs (42 to 46) were taken at the same sitting. In two of these photographs Swamiji is without his cap, but in every other detail he appears the same, including his robe and buttoned clerical collar.
The greatest force is derived from the power of thought.
The finer the element, the more powerful it is.
The silent power of thought influences people even at a distance, because mind is one as well as many. The universe is a cobweb; minds are spiders. (CW [1977] 8:225)
Photograph 42
LONDON, 1895
Mr. Desai who attended Swamiji’s first public lecture in London recalled:
That was the first time I saw the commanding figure of the great swami. He looked more like an Indian Prince than a sadhu (holy man). He had a bhagva patka (ochre colored turban) on his head. He electrified the audience by his grand and powerful oratory. The next day the report appeared in the papers that he was the next Indian after Keshab Chandra Sen, who had surprised the English audience by his magnificent oratory. He spoke on the Vedanta. His large eyes were rolling like anything, and there was such an animation about him that it passeth description. After the meeting was over, the swami took off his turban and put on a huge and deep Kashmiri cap looking like a big Persian hat[34].
[From an interview that appeared in The Westminster Gazette, October 23, 1895]
“And what is your attitude towards the Western religions, Swami?”
“I propound a philosophy which can serve as a basis to every possible religious system in the world, and my attitude towards all of them is one of extreme sympathy—my teaching is antagonistic to none. I direct my attention to the individual, to make him strong, to teach him that he himself is divine, and I call upon men to make themselves conscious of this divinity within. That is really the ideal—conscious or unconscious—of every religion.”
“And what shape will your activities take in this country? ”
“My hope is to imbue individuals with the teachings to which I have referred, and to encourage them to express these to others in their own way; let them modify them as they will; I do not teach them as dogmas; truth at length must inevitably prevail.” (CW [1979] 5:187-88)
Photograph 43
LONDON, 1895
An excerpt from an article that appeared in the London Daily Chronicle of October 23, on Swamiji’s lecture stated:
THE SWAMI VIVEKANANDA: Attired in picturesque Oriental costume, this famous preacher last night addressed an audience at Prince’s Hall on “Self-Knowledge.” He is an Indian Yogi, that is to say, one who has formally renounced the world and gives himself to study and devotion, and not, as he amusingly pointed out last night, one who did juggling tricks or flew through the air[35].
Does renunciation demand that we all become ascetics? Who then is to help the others? Renunciation is not asceticism. Are all beggars Christs? Poverty is not a synonym for holiness; often the reverse. Renunciation is of the mind. How does it come? In a desert, when I was thirsty, I saw a lake. It was in the midst of a beautiful landscape. There were trees surrounding it, and their reflections could be seen in the water, upside down. But the whole thing proved to be a mirage. Then I knew that every day for a month I had seen this; and only that day, being thirsty, I had learnt it to be unreal. Every day for a month I should see it again. But I should never take it to be real. So, when we reach God, the idea of the universe, the body and so on will vanish. It will return afterwards. But next time we shall know it to be unreal. (CW [1977] 8:226)
Photograph 44
LONDON, 1895
On November 19, 1895, the Westminster Gazette ran an article on Swamiji entitled: “An Indian Yogi in London.” The following is an excerpt from that article:
The Swami Vivekananda is a striking figure with his turban (or mitreshaped black cloth cap) and his calm but kindly features.
On my inquiring as to the significance, if any, of his name, the swami said: “Of the name by which I am now known (Swami Vivekananda), the first word is descriptive of a sannyasin, or one who formally renounces the world, and the second is the title I assumed—as is customary with all sannyasins—on my renunciation of the world; it signifies, literally, the bliss of discrimination[36].”
Deepen your own power of thought and love. Bring your own lotus to blossom: the bees will come of themselves. Believe first in yourself, then in God. A handful of strong men will move the world. We need a heart to feel, a brain to conceive, and a strong arm to do the work. Buddha gave himself for the animals. Make yourself a fit agent to work. But it is God who works, not you. One man contains the whole universe. One particle of matter has all the energy of the universe at its back. In a conflict between the heart and the brain follow the heart. (CW [1977] 8:223)
Photograph 45
LONDON, 1895
Reverend H. R. Haweis—one of the leaders of the Anglican Church in the late 1800s— made a penetrating comment about Swamiji which gives us insight into his first season in London:
This remarkable person appeared in England in the autumn of 1895, and although he led a very retired life, [he] attracted numbers of people to his lodgings, and created everywhere a very deep impression. He seemed completely indifferent to money, and lived only for thought. He took quite simply anything that was given to him, and when nothing came he went without, yet he never seemed to lack anything[37].
[Letter to Swami Brahmananda, October 4, 1895]
I give you a bit of my mind; don’t be angry, pray. I am your slave so long as you are his—step a hair’s breadth outside that, and you and I are on a par. . . . What on earth do we want? He has given us refuge, what more do we want? Bhakti is verily its own reward—what else is needed? My brother, he who made men of us by feeding and clothing and imparting wisdom and knowledge, who opened the eyes of our self, whom day and night we found the living God— must we be traitors to him!!! And you forget the mercy of such a Lord! The lives of Buddha and Krishna and Jesus are matters of ancient history, and doubts are entertained about their historicity, and you in spite of seeing the greatness of Sri Ramakrishna’s life in flesh and blood sometimes lose your head! Fie on you! I have nothing to say. His likeness is being worshipped in and out of your country, by godless and heartless men, and you are stranded at times on disbelief! In a breath he will create for himself hundreds of thousands of such as you are. Blessed is your birth, blessed your lineage, and blessed your country that you were allowed to take the dust of his feet. (CW [1978] 6:346-47)
Photograph 46
LONDON, 1895
Swamiji had a deep and subtle influence on the hearts and minds of the English people.
It was such characteristics as these—his immense personal magnetism, his directness, his lucidity, his vision—which gave convincing force to his utterances and bound indissolubly to himself large groups of the very finest and the most devout disciples[38].
The history of the world is the history of a few men who had faith in themselves. That faith calls out the divinity within. You can do anything. You fail only when you do not strive sufficiently to manifest infinite power. . . . All will in the end be made perfect. Say, day and night, “Come up, my brothers! You are the infinite ocean of purity! Be God! Manifest as God!” (CW [1977] 8:228)
Photograph 47
LONDON, 1896
Swamiji returned to England the second time in April of 1896. He remained in England until July 19, when he left with a party of three (Captain and Mrs. Sevier, and Miss Henrietta Muller) for a European tour. On September 19, 1896, he came back to England once again, to remain until he left for India in December of the same year. Swamiji continued to attract and deeply influence people in England as the following excerpt from an article in the Indian Mirror published in the July 1896 issue of Prabuddha Bharata clearly illustrates:
He who has once listened to the great swami, is tempted to attend every lecture that he delivers. We cannot but own that the man possesses a great magnetic power or some power divine by which he even draws so many Londoners towards him.
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. (Letters, 294)
Photograph 48
LONDON, DECEMBER 1896
Miss Emmeline Souter, an admirer of Swamiji and a wealthy friend of the Reverend Hugh R. Haweis, arranged for some photographs to be made of Swamiji. In a letter written from Kolkata on May 5, 1897, to Margaret Noble (Sister Nivedita), Swamiji said: “The only help I got in the world was in England, from Miss Souter and Mr. Sturdy.”
According to New Discoveries Miss Souter had Swamiji professionally photographed before he left for India: “As the time for Swamiji’s departure from England drew near, Miss Souter, as though to stay the sun in its passage, had the professional photographer, Alfred Ellis, take [about] twelve studio pictures of him[39].”
However, “in recent years a proof sheet from the photographic studio of Alfred Ellis has come to light in which six (not twelve) poses of Swamiji are shown[40].” They are: (no. 48) the well-known meditation pose; (nos. 49 and 50) two full-length with robe and turban; (no. 51) one bust with robe and turban (right profile); (no. 52) one bust with bare head; and (no. 53) one full-length with robe and bare head. Three of the original photographs from the Ellis studio (nos. 49, 52, and 53) are in the archives of the Vedanta Society of Northern California.
There is another view regarding where this photo (no. 48) was taken. According to Swami Prabhananda of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, oral tradition has it that this photograph (which is worshipped in many shrines of the Ramakrishna Order) was taken when Swamiji went into samadhi while demonstrating asanas during a raja yoga class in London.
This pursuit of the Infinite, this struggle to grasp the Infinite, this effort to get beyond the limitations of the senses—out of matter, as it were— and to evolve the spiritual man—this striving day and night to make the Infinite one with our being—this struggle itself is the grandest and most glorious that man can make. (JY, 14)
Photograph 49
LONDON, DECEMBER 1896
Eric Hammond in his reminiscences of Swamiji in London describes his appearance while lecturing:
It was a novel sight, a memorable experience. His dark skin, his deep glowing eyes, even his costume, attracted and fascinated. Above all, eloquence acclaimed him, the eloquence of inspiration[41].
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. . . . The world is in need of those whose life is one burning love, selfless. That love will make every word tell like thunderbolt. (Letters, 295)
Photograph 50
LONDON, DECEMBER 1896
During his classes on jnana yoga:
Swamiji seemed to rise to a state bordering on the divine—awesome and yet infinitely gracious. [Mahendra Nath Datta, one of Swamiji’s younger brothers, remarked] “Face shining, he had lost his human nature and seemed like someone from a higher plane, as if his previous self had vanished and in its place there stood a powerful being[42].”
When it is all One, who is there to hate, who is there to struggle with? When it is all He, with whom can you fight? This explains the true nature of life; this explains the true nature of being. This is perfection, and this is God. (JY, 265)
Photograph 51
LONDON, DECEMBER 1896
A charming story has come down to us that when Swami Abhedananda was to give his maiden speech in London in 1896, he said to Swamiji, who had just delivered his magnificent class-lecture, “God in Everything”: “You know, Naren, I don’t think I will speak this afternoon. Some other time. . . .” And Swamiji, who was a good deal more strongly built than Swami Abhedananda, replied fiercely, “Kali, you must speak, or I will throw you out that window!”[43]
This little separate self must die. Then we shall find that we are in the Real, and that Reality is God, and He is our own true nature, and He is always in us and with us. Let us live in Him and stand in Him. It is the only joyful state of existence. Life on the plane of the Spirit is the only life, and let us all try to attain to this realization. (JY, 173)
Photograph 52
LONDON, DECEMBER 1896
In his Bengali book, Londone Swami Vivekananda, Mahendra Nath has given us an insight into Swamiji’s inner world at this time:
“You see,” Swamiji said, “at night I go to my room and lie down. I keep quiet for a while, and then within me so much ananda arises that I cannot stay lying down. I see the Blissful Mother. Men, animals, the sky and earth—all are saturated with bliss. I cannot lie down any longer; so I get up and dance in the middle of the room. That bliss can no longer be confined within my heart. The whole world becomes filled with it, as it were.” Even as he said this, Swamiji began to dance like a child for a little while. Then he said with affection to those who were present, “Be happy, don’t be depressed; the Mother is everywhere; all will be filled with bliss!”[44]
The whole world is full of the Lord.
Open your eyes and see Him.
This is what Vedanta teaches. (JY, 133)
Photograph 53
LONDON, DECEMBER 1896
“Another day when sobersided Mr. Sturdy was not there, Swamiji and Swami Saradananda themselves tried (without much success) to ride a bicycle in front of the house. ‘That day,’ Mahendra, [who was with Swamiji in London at that time] recalled, ‘he was his boyish self, all jokes, and in a sweet voice he sang a Bengali song[45].’ ”
Some days I get into a sort of ecstasy. I feel that I must bless everyone, everything, love and embrace everything, and I do see that evil is a delusion. (Letters, 296)
[1] Mrs. Herbert E. Hyde told to Marie Louise Burke (Sister Gargi), September 22, 1969.
[2] ND (1983) 1:152.
[3] PRRC, 532.
[4] Ibid., 504.
[5] ND (1983) 1:89.
[6] Ibid., 81.
[7] Pp. 142-43.
[8] P. 88.
[9] P. 90.
[10] Pp. 87-88.
[11] Pp. 90-91.
[12] WPR, 1:frontispiece.
[13] ND (1983) 1:134.
[14] WPR, 2:973.
[15] RSV, 122.
[16] WPR, 2:1582.
[17] ND (1983) 1:133-34.
[18] ND (1985) 3:34.
19. ND (1983) 1:172.
[20] Ibid., 173.
[21] ND (1984) 2:154.
[22] Ibid., 141-42.
[23] P. 154.
[24] Pp. 153-54.
[25] ND (1985) 3:391-92.
[26] Ibid., 25-26.
[27] RSV, 122-23.
[28] LSV (Kolkata, 1979) 1:29.
[29] ND (1985) 3:162-63.
[30] Ibid., 181.
[31] P. 240.
[32] Pp. 240-41.
[33] P. 241.
[34] RSV, 296.
[35] ND (1985) 3:248-49.
[36] VIN, 81.
[37] ND (1985) 3:257.
[38] LSV (Kolkata, 1981) 2:52.
[39] ND (1996) 4:521.
[40] Ibid., 529-30.
[41] RSV, 293.
[42] ND (1996) 4:189.
[43] Ibid., 387.
[44] P. 194.
[45] P. 142.
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