#149, WHO IS THIS YOUNG MAN R_?

Swami Vivekananda wrote to Ms. S.E. Waldo, from Wimbledon on Oct. 8, 1896:

I know very little of the young man R—. He is a Bengali and can teach a little Sanskrit. You know my settled doctrine. I do not trust any one who has not conquered "lust and gold". You may try him in theoretical subjects, but keep him off from teaching Raja-Yoga — that is a dangerous game except for the regularly trained to play at. Of Saradananda, the blessing of the greatest Yogi of modern India is on him — and there is no danger. Why do you not begin to teach? . . . You have a thousand times more philosophy than this boy R—.


BLOGGER'S VIEW
1. It is not clear who this young man R__ is.
2. Why Swamiji is belittling him, particularly when Swamiji himself says that he knows very little about the young man?

3. Did Swamiji conquer "lust and gold"?
-- If he has conquered "gold", why should he beg foreigners few dollars per month, for his personal maintenance?
-- If he has conquered "lust", why should he ask Ms. Christina Greenstidel for her photos and get his nerves overtaxed by seeing them?

4. Is teaching Raja Yoga, a monopoly of the disciples of "the great Yogi of Modern India" (presumably Vivekananda refers to Shri Ramakrishna's disciples)?

5. Are the disciples of Shri Ramakrishna, REGULARLY TRAINED TO PLAY AT RAJA YOGA? What they were trained in the group sittings and after meals Bhajans in the Camps of Shri Ramakrishna?

6. Vivekananda asks Ms. Waldo to teach! How does Vivekananda know that Ms. Waldo is a teacher superior to the young man, about whom Vivekananda knows very little? If a lay woman Waldo can teach, why the young man versed in Sanskrit cannot teach?

7. How does Vivekananda know that Ms. Waldo has more philosophy than the young man?

8. Was Shri Ramakrishna trained in teaching Raja Yoga?

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