A realization
Some time ago I browsed through a thousand-page tome, ‘The Story of Ramakrishna Mission,’ which I acquired from a young cousin on his visit here. What struck me was that three chapters were devoted to the Vedanta movement in America.
My initial reaction was that it overstated the influence of America on the Vedanta movement (perhaps another example of our penchant for the importance of the Western world!). But on further reflection, I’ve realized that America and Americans had a significant impact on the Ramakrishna Vedanta movement.
Here’s why!
In many ways, Swami Vivekananda’s historic appearance at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in September 1893 sowed the seeds for the Ramakrishna Vedanta Movement. Until then, Vivekananda had not yet begun the voluminous writings and lectures that would form the bedrock of the movement. Almost all of it came after the Chicago lectures.
A prolific nine-years
Before he died at the relatively young age of 39 in 1902, Vivekananda spent four to five years of his remaining nine years on two trips to America (1893-1896 and 1899-1900). He traveled widely across the country giving discourses at a prolific rate and engaging in illuminating exchanges with illustrious writers and thinkers. Those lectures – at New York, Harvard University, Thousand Island Park, and the Ridgeley Manor form part of a treasured legacy that Vivekananda left his followers.
It appears that the genesis for his publications on the four Yogas and his ideas for forming an organization was rooted in those discussions. The establishment of the Vedanta Society of New York in 1894 predates the establishment of the Ramakrishna Mission which was founded in 1897. Swami Vivekananda spent about four months in the San Francisco Bay Area on his second trip and established the Vedanta Society there in 1900, a story recorded in a wonderful book by Swami Ashokananda.
Growing the Vedanta movement
Swami Vivekananda made an indelible impact on his American friends and disciples who furthered the cause of the Vedanta movement. Professor Wright of Harvard University provided the introduction to the Parliament of Religions; Ida Ansell and Mr. Godwin recorded many of the lectures we read today; and, Mrs. Ole Bull (wife of the famous Norwegian violinist), introduced Swami Vivekananda to Harvard and the New England elite, in addition to providing funds for the land in Belur Math near Kolkata for the future temple.
Josephine McLeod traveled with Vivekananda. She introduced his ideas to distinguished individuals like Romain Rolland who wrote a wonderful biography of Swami Vivekananda. She visited Belur Math several times and kept up an active interaction with the Swamis till her death in 1949.
Betty Leggett (Ms. McLeod’s sister) and Mr. Leggett, her multi-millionaire husband hosted Swami Vivekananda at Ridgley Manor in upstate New York and contributed to Leggett House in Belur Math. Mr. and Mrs. George Hale hosted the then-unknown Swami Vivekananda at their Chicago home, and the Mead sisters housed him in Pasadena. Sister Christine and her Indian colleague Sister Sudhira anchored the Sister Nivedita School in Calcutta, a pioneering achievement of women’s education in India in that era. And the three Fox sisters of Oakland contributed to the Ramakrishna-Vedanta Movement in the East Bay. All were American.
Disciples make an impact
Four of Swami Vivekananda’s brother disciples of the 16 direct monastic disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, worked in the U.S. at his calling. Three left a significant impact. Swami Abhedananda spent 25 years in New York from 1898. A world-renowned scholar of Vedanta and Indian philosophy, Abhedananda’s seminal works and prolific lectures in America and Europe left a deep impression. He was the first to publish a summarized version of Kathamrita in English.
In 1900, Swami Turiyananda established the Shanti Ashrama, located in a pristine setting in San Antonio Valley between Livermore and San Jose. His discourses in that ascetic setting are legendary. Trigunatitananda came in 1903 and put the San Francisco Mission on a firm footing by constructing the first Hindu temple in the West. The temple still stands.
Swami Trigunita became the first martyr of the movement in 1915 when he was killed by a bomb thrown at him by a deranged disciple in the temple. A fourth monastic disciple, Swami Saradananda, spent a brief period in New York before heading back to India to become the secretary to the fledgling Ramakrishna Mission till his death in 1925. The meditation cottage in Shanti Ashrama and the temple in San Francisco are considered so important to the Ramakrishna Vedanta movement that models of these two structures are present in the museum in Belur Math.
Learned disciples
Several American disciples dedicated their lives to the movement and inspired many more. My particular favorite is Swami Atulananda (Gurudas Maharaj), a Dutch immigrant to America who wrote ‘With the Swamis in America and India.’ To me, it’s nothing short of a gem. He had heard Vivekananda lecture in New York and was with Swami Turiyananda at Shanti Ashrama from 1900. Atulananda died in India in 1964 at the age of 94, having spent his last 50 years there.
Swami Vivekananda’s impact on America was foundational. It ushered in more Swamis from India, Swami Ashokananda in San Francisco founded the Berkeley and Sacramento Missions and bought the Olema property. Swami Nikhilananda in New York translated the iconic magnum opus, Kathamritata, the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna which revealed the great sage to the Western world. He also wrote other scholarly documents on Hindu philosophy and Hindu ethos.
In Los Angeles, Swami Prabhavananda’s learned treatises on the Upanishads and the Bhagavadgita writings drew followers like Aldous Huxley, Gerald Heard, and Christopher Isherwood. A particularly significant book by Swami Prabhavananda is ‘The Sermon On The Mount Through the Vedanta.’ Other disciples of this generation include Bodhananda, in New York. Missions were founded by Prakashananda in San Francisco, Paramananda in Boston and Trabuco Canyon, Akhilananda in Providence, and Asheshananda in Portland. They were all disciples of Sarada Devi, the consort of Sri Ramakrishna, or of Vivekananda’s brother’s disciples. Of particular note during this period were Miss Helen Rubel (Bhakti) and Mrs. Anna Wooster (Annapurna), both disciples of Swami Akhilananda in Providence, without whose huge donations in 1934, the wonderful temple in Belur Math may not have existed.
Inspiration for the future
After this generation, other noteworthy disciples include Swami Prabuddhananda who spent 45 years in San Francisco, and Aparanandaji, now retired after more than 25 years as Minister-in-Charge in Berkeley. And there are more – Swami Swahananda, head of the Hollywood Mission and Ridgeley Manor, Tyagananda, head of the Boston Mission and Hindu Chaplain for Harvard and MIT, Bhaskarananda, longtime head of Seattle Mission, Adiswarananda and Tathagatananda, both of New York, Santarupananda of Portland, Shraddhananda and Prapannananda of Sacramento and Swami Chetananda of St.Louis.
Of particular note is Swami Chetananda whose books, ‘God Lived with Them,’ a biography of Ramakrishna’s 16 monastic disciples, and ‘They Lived with God,’ biographies of significant lay disciples are masterpieces, particularly for non-Bengali readers.
Swami Atmarupananda is active in the Interfaith Movement and is presently the head of the Houston Center. The highly learned Swami Vedananda of San Francisco and Olema Retreat and Swami Atmajnananda, the present head of the Washington DC center.
Alongside the Swamis were American nuns, who were a vital part of the movement. They include Sister Gargi (Mary Louise Burke) of San Francisco and her six volumes of Vivekananda in the West which added considerably to the literature on the Vedanta movement.
The 21st century Vedanta movement
It’s been 130 years since Swami Vivekananda’s memorable speech in Chicago in 1893. Today in the twenty-first century, the Ramakrishna Vedanta Movement is under the stewardship of a capable new generation – Swami Peasannatnananda in Berkeley, Swami Ishatmananda in Chicago, Swami Tattwamayananda in San Francisco and Swami Sarvapriyananda in New York. In particular, Sarvapriyananda has made a tremendous impact everywhere as an orator and is in demand for his depth of knowledge and logical approach to Vedanta philosophy. The Vedanta movement continues to thrive, fortified by the commitment of new devotees and swamis dedicated to its mission of spiritual harmony social equality, and peace for all humanity.
This article is based on a lecture given by the author at the Olema Vedanta Retreat.