Swami Vivekananda humanified and humanised

Swami Vivekananda wrote to Mrs. Ole Bull, from Wimbledon, on Aug. 6, 1899: "... The money which I got in Europe and America by lecturing alone, I spent just as I like ; but every cent I got for the work has been accounted for and is in the Math ..." BLOGGER'S VIEWs Vide his letter dated 7th March 1900 to Mrs. Ole Bull, he washed off his hands with the financial affairs of the Math by getting accounts from Brahmananda for Rs. 35,000 and conceding that he (Vivekananda) used Rs. 5,000 from the Math funds intended for construction of cottage on Ganga. Vide Ibid: "...As for the Math and the money, the sooner I am relieved of that burden the better... I have given my place solemnly to you in Shri Ramakrishna's work. I am out of it ... " ybrao's personal view, not intended to be imposed on others:- Once accounts are asked for, Swamiji seems to have lost interest in the work of the Math (Monastery). To continue with more details and information. सशे...

Swami Vivekananda wrote to Rakhal (Brahmananda, Brother-disciple and Head of Beluru Monastery) from London on 10th August 1899. "...Sarada writes that the magazine is not going well. . . . Let him publish the account of my travels, and thoroughly advertise it beforehand — he will have subscribers rushing in. Do people like a magazine if three-fourths of it are filled with pious stuff?..." Sarada here refers to Saradananda. The magazine may be Udbodhan. BLOGGER'S VIEWs *Vivekananda was instructing like an editor of a modern business magazine. So, three-fourths should not be pious stuff.

Vivekananda wrote to Divanji Saheb of Junagadh from Bombay, on 22nd Aug. 1892. (Shri Haridas Viharidas Desai). "... Poor fellows! Whatever the rascally and wily priests teach them — all sorts of mummery and tomfoolery as the very gist of the Vedas and Hinduism (mind you, neither these rascals of priests nor their forefathers have so much as seen a volume of the Vedas for the last 400 generations) — they follow and degrade themselves. Lord help them from the Raakshasas in the shape of the Brahmins of the Kaliyuga..." BLOGGER'S VIEWs *Swamiji considered himself to be a great scholar of Vedas, whereas he just started studying the Sanskrit literature. *Priests may have their own shortcomings. Some of them may be cheats and ignoramuses. Yet, it is they who carried forward the Sanskrit literature from generation to generation only through oral recitation by sheer memory retention, as there was no paper or printing. Palm leaves became a medium of recording the literature gra...

Swami Vivekananda wrote to Rakhal (Brahmananda) from London on the 10th August 1899 from London. "...If all the money even for the magazine is to be collected by me and all the articles too are from my pen — what will you all do? What are our Sahibs then doing? I have finished my part. You do what remains to be done. Nobody is there to collect a single penny, nobody to do any preaching, none has brains enough to take proper care of his own affairs, none has the capacity to write one line, and all are saints for nothing! ..." BLOGGER'S VIEWs *So courteous to brother disciples? This writer's observation: This cannot be the way, a brother-disciple is addressed, though he may not have the skills of lecturing in foreign countries and collecting foreign funds. The tone of Swamiji's letters changed to a somewhat "bitter" and "pungent" language, including self-pity. This change seems to be more pronounced after Mr. Sturdy and Mrs. Ole Bull as...

In March 1890, Swami Vivekananda wrote to his co-disciple Akhand`ananda, from Ghazipur. His plan was originally to go to hills. He tried to persuade a "Dear Sir" to come to Hrishikesh. In the meantime, he continues to stay at the beautiful bungalow at Ghazipur and take food from Pavahari Baba's Ashram. He is asking Akhandananda to come to Ghazipur. Now, let see what Swamiji says: "...There is a beautiful bungalow in a small garden belonging to a gentleman here; I mean to stay there. ..." "...Hence, with a view to seeing to the end of this fun, I give up for the present my plan of going to the hills..." Swamiji started calling himself 'Paramahamsa (Great swan: a term used for fulfilled saints)'. eg. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. "...you have only to go there and inquire about the Paramahamsa, and they will tell you of me..." From the following, it may be found that Swamiji wanted secrecy. He did not want his co-disciples to...

Swami Vivekananda wrote to Mr. Pramad das Mishra from Ghazipur on March 3, 1890: "... What are you saying about difficulties there of keeping clean? Lack of water in the hills or lack of room!! Tirthas (places of pilgrimage) and Sannyasins of the Kali-Yuga — you know what they are. Spend money and the owners of temples will fling away the installed god to make room for you ; so no anxiety about a resting-place! No trouble to face there, I say; the summer heat has set in there now, I believe, though not that degree of it as you find at Varanasi — so much the better. Always the nights are quite cool there, from which good sleep is almost a certainty. Why do you get frightened so much? I stand guarantee that you shall return home safe and that you shall have no trouble anywhere. It is my experience that in this British realm no fakir or householder gets into any trouble. ..." BLOGGER'S VIEWs *Is this the way to persuade a reluctant person to visit a place! *Is V...

Swami Vivekananda wrote to Miss Josephine MacLeod from California, on April 20, 1900: "...What do I know about this Vedanta Society? Did I start it? Had I any hand in it? ..." BLOGGER'S VIEWs *The general impression is that Swamiji started the Vedanta Society of New York. Here Vivekananda was washing of his hands because there were some differences between Swami Abhedananda and Mr. Leggett.