Story of Five Blind Men

On 24th Nov.1893 Swamiji gave His first public lecture in Minneapolis in the evening on 'The Hindoo Religion'. This lecture was organised by the Peripatetics which could be a part of the lecture bureau. But His schedule was very flexible because His lecture on 27th at Unitarian Church was not planned but was on a popular demand.

The Minneapolis Newspaper gives -

                                                               'AN ORIENTAL VIEW

 Livami Vivekananda Addresses a Minneapolis Audience.

 Mercenaries in Religion

 In this Way He Characterizes the Western Nations -

 He Tells About the Religions of India.

 The Unitarian church was crowded yesterday morning by an audience anxious to learn something of eastern religious thought as outlined by Swami Vivekananda, a Brahmin priest, who was prominent in the Parliament of Religions at Chicago last summer. The distinguished representative of the Brahmin faith was brought to Minneapolis by the Peripatetic Club, and he addressed that body last Friday evening. He was induced to remain until this week, in order that he might deliver the address yesterday. Vivekanandi is a typical Uindeu, dark - skinned, well rounded features, and a flashing eye that gives evidence of a quick intellect. He appeared in his picturesque native dress. He occupied the platform with Dr. H. M. Simmons, the pastor, the opening prayer was sung, Vivekanandai following the lines closely, and then Dr. Simmons read from Paul's lesson on faith, hope and charity, and "the greatest of these is charity," supplementing that reading by a selection from the Brahmin scripture which teaches the same lesson, and also a selection from the Moslem faith, and poems from the Hindu literature, all of which are in harmony with                       Paul's utterances.

 After a second hymn Swami Vivekanandi was introduced. He stepped to the edge of the platform and at once had his audience interested by the recital of a Hindu story. He said in excellent English:

 "I will tell you a story of five blind men....."

Without resting Swamiji left on the same day for Des Moines, capital off Iowa city and travelled 260 miiles from Minneapolis.

Rest for tomorrrow....

The Twin Cities - Minneapolis and St. Paul

 Minneapolis and St. Paul are the Twin Cities on the eastern bank of the Mississippi. On 21st Nov.1893 Swamiji reached Minneapolis from Madison after travelling 250 miles. Till 24th He didn't have any lecture in the city. Some friends unknown to us till date showed Him the lake, the river transformed by snow and ice into wonderland and all the beauties of the city. On 23rd He saw the Minnehaha Falls(i love the sound of this name) which is more beautiful in winter as it becomes a 'Solid mass of rugged ice fifty feet high and glistening in the bright sunlight' and also had His first ever sleigh ride behind the steaming horses.

Swamiji thoroughly enjoyed the sub-zero weather in Minneapolis as now He had warm clothes and shoes to face it. His letter to Mrs. Hale is very beautiful and we cannot avoid it ---- 

 Minneapolis

 24th Nov'93

 Dear Mother -

 I am still in Minneapolis. I am to lecture this afternoon and day after tomorrow go to Des Moines

The day I came here they had their first snow and it snowed all through the day and night and I had great use For the arctics.* I went to see the frozen Minihaha falls. They are very beautiful. The temperature today is 21. below zero but I had been out sleighing and enjoyed it immensely though. I am not the least afraid of losing the tips of my ears or nose.

The snow scenery here has pleased me more than any other sight in this country.

I saw people skating on a frozen lake yesterday.

I am doing well hoping this will find you all the same I remain

Yours obediently

Vivekananda

Are you all not visualising Swamiji sleighing behind the horses and then writing with a smile on face about not losing his ears or nose due to snow? I get totally lost in the snow watching Him enjoying it all and feel happy from within for the little happiness He got over there.

I am in Bidasar, Rajasthan and with Swamiji thinking all the while about Khetri. Don't think even this time i can make it to go to Khetri. Well it's His wish after all.

Midwestern Tour - Madison, Minniapolis and then Detroit.

Today for sure Swamiji is in Detroit and i am missing being with with Him. His exact date of leaving Chicago is not known but from one of His letter written to Mrs. Kate Tannat Woods we come to know about His Madison and Minniapolis plans. He must have started for His Midwestern tour on 20th Nov.1893 which continued till almost April 1894. He first went to Madison which is the capital of Wisconsin, then to Minneapolis and also to Des Moines.

He again visited Minniapolis in midst of December and in January 1894 went to Memphis and Tennessee. His first stop was at Madison which is 140 trainmiles from northwest of Chicago. He didn't stay here and then went to Minniapolis frrom where He wrote a beautiful letter to Mrs. Hale.

I love the way Swamiji ends His letters always. This letter of 21st Nov.1893 ends beautifully as -

"May you be blessed for ever my kind friend you and your whole family have made such a heavenly impression on me as I would carry all my life."

In Madison Swamiji gave lecture at the Congregational Church. The Wisconsin State Journal gave a very short report of His lecture but what appealed to me most in that report was -

      " Pagan though he be, Christianity may well follow many of his teachings. His creed is as wide as the universe, taking in all religions, and accepting truth wherever it may be found. Bigotry and superstition and idle ceremony, he declared, have no place in "the religions of India."

But the a newspaper by the students of  'Wisconsin University' of Madison named 'Daily Cardinal' gave a full report of the lecture. I will just write the title of it -

                                  RELIGIONS OF INDIA

Viva Kananda, the Hindoo Orator Delivers an Interesting Lecture

It is vey tempting for me to quote His entire speech but i shall just tell you the last paragraph of it -

" Viva Kananda came to this country from India in the interest of the world's congress of religions, and his lecture last evvening on the " Religions of India" was an inspiration to all who heard him. He has a pleasant , clear-cut, dusky face, and a decidedly impressive manner and bearing. His voice is low and pleasant, with a secret something which rivets your attention at the start."

I sincerely am praying to Swamiji to make me finish this task i have undertaken and to force me to write my blog without a gap.  Amen!!!

We Live in Eternity and They in Time

On 25th as per the earlier given schedule we know that Swamiji was going to speak on 'Shri Khrisna and His Message.' Spelling of Khrisna is as per the Newpaper advertisement. The lecture was to start at 30PM at the Union Square Hall and one Mr. Hugo Hertzer would sing the offertory in the beginning.

Everything before the lecture took place as per announced except the lecture. Mr. Allan memoirs say -

"At 3 p.m.Swami was not there. We waited and wondered what to do, and concluded that we must just wait."

But Mr. Allan was now the head usher of Swami's lectures so instead of waiting he walked from the hall to the corner of Post and Powell streets. He looked up and down the street,  waited but saw no sign of Swamiji and returned to the hall. This he did several times.

It was somethinf after his fourth or fifth trip to the corner that he saw Swamiji walking slowly up the Powell Street in his own composed and majestic rhythm. The time was then 3.30 p.m. But Mr. Allan's difficulties were not over. He further writes -"I met him at the corner of Post Street and walked with him towards the Hall."  Then Mr. Allan said, "Swami, don't you know you're late? The audience has been waiting." To which Swamiji replied -

"Mr. Allan, I am never late. I have all the time in the world. All time is mine."

 "Well, Swami, the audience may not feel the same as you do."   But Swamiji just went on with his same leisurely pace.

 "On the way we had to pass a shoe - shine stand and when Swami saw that, and saw that the shoe - shiner was idle, he decided to have his shoes shined. Did I not silently fidget, remembering the people who had come to hear the lecture! But all my fidgeting did no good. Well, at last, Swami got on the platform and was introduced to that audience, which had more or less patiently waited for him."

Once the similar incidence had taken place with one reporter named Miss Partington. During the interview she said, "I must go, I have to catch a train."  Swamiji smiled and said, " This is like all Americans, you must catch this car or that train always. Is there not another, later?"

and Ms. Partington says, " I had a glimpse of all Eternity in His utter restfulness. But I did not attempt to explain the Occidental conception to this child of Orient. As the Swami says, What have we in exchange? We Live in Eternity and you in Time."

It is most likely that while fidgeting at the shoe - shine stand, Mr. Allan might have had had "a glimpse of all eternity in the Swami's utter restfulness" as Miss Partington had!

But in a few minutes almost he became overpoweringly aware of the vastness of Swamiji's being. He says, "It was when I introduced him at that lecture, that I felt like a pigmy and saw him as an immense giant. After this experience I could not bring myself to stand beside him again, but always thereafter made my introduction from the foot of the platform."

I Extend My Arms to Touch Him and the Grace Flows

To speak on Swamiji makes me understand my limitations. He is a vast ocean and i have just been able to taste a drop of this infinite expansion. Will this one lifetime be sufficient to know His infinite personality? Will i be able to gauge His unconditional love? Will i ever be able to reach Him even if i extend my arms to touch Him? Will i be ever able to forget the unceasing grace i feel all the time?

I feel same like what Mr. Allan felt when he saw the Infinite in Him. I must tell you this incidence word to word. can't wait to reach the 5th Volume.

Mr. Thomas Allan heard Him first in the Unitaranian Hall in Oakland in the year 1900. Swamiji's ringing, musical voice had filled the room and later Mr.Allan came home as though walking in the air. He became an hard core Vedantin and lived so till the age of 89 till 1953.

Swamiji was giving 5 Sunday lecture series in March 1900 in San Francisco on the topic "The Great teachings of the World". These lectures started on March 11 till April 8 which were as follows -

1. March 11 - Christ's Message to the World
2. March 18 - Buddha's Message to the World
3. March 25 - Sri Khrisna's Message to the World (though He spoke extempore on Prophet Mohammed)
4. April 1     - Sri Khrisna's Messagge to the World
5. April 8     - Is Vedanta the Future Religion

For these lectures He would travel from Oakland to San Francisco on Sunday afternoons.

A very interesting incidence happened on 25 March which made Mr. Allan know His Vastness. We shall see that tomorrow.

Chitta ason dao mele, nai jodi darshan pele, andhare milibe taar sparsho, horshe jaagaye dibe pran...

On the evening of 12th Feb. i was at Rabi Baithak in Pune celebrating the combined 150th birth centenary of Gurudeo Rabindranath and Swami Vivekananda. Rabi Bithak is a group of Bengali people in Pune which have Sunday Meetings. I was asked to speak on Swamiji for 25 minutes. Though difficult to cover Swamiji in such a short period, i thought let me make them love Swamiji who is our very own, and not someone in remote space.

I chose flashes of Swamiji in the West from New Discoveries which are very dear to my heart and i can go  on repeating and telling those to anyone and everyone.

• I want to share somehing here - I am a great Rabindranath fan. I have original Geetanjali in bengali and many other books of his. In 1981 i had joined the Bengali learning course conducted by Shantiniketan and before i could give my 4th year exam i went to Vivekananda Kendra at Kanyakumari.

Even today i have Rabindra Sangeet in my mobile and every night i sleep listening to these songs. From one of my favourite songs these are 4 lines which i keep repeating for my Swamiji all the time -

"Chitta ason dao mele, nai jodi darshan pele,

 Andhare milibe taar sparsho, horshe jaagaaye dibe praan......!!

           

-This means in my Chitta i have spread the asan for You to come and take the seat...but even if i won't get Your darshan,  just your touch in the darkness will make my heart come to life of joy...!!!

After witnessing the holy sangam at Prayag, i was again at a sangam of two great personalities. I felt as though the gupt Saraswati was the national thread flowing through the lives of these great sons of India which flowed through the entire event.

On 12th February 1884 Swamiji was in Detroit, 12th to 23rd and from 9th March to 30th March to be precise. At Detroit by the end of his 8th lecture, He emerged as a Warrior Monk, a winner and here the two ladies met Him who later went searching for Him in the rains, bedragggled and shocked at their own boldness at Thousand Island Park. A topic in itself is very very dear to me.

Mandakini and Ganga maiyya, Yamunaji and Saraswati..!!!!!!

Missed my blog on my pilgrimage. I should have taken my laptop so that could have jotted down my experiences immediately. But let me share now ---- Our train reached Allahabad on time but we started late for Chitrakoot. The road was very lonesome and as the area is bit dangerous due to dacoits, but i didn't mention that as the moms would be scared. i wasn't scared at all as had put all the responsibility on Srirama. We stayed in the ashram of Punjabi Bhagwan where the river Mandakini flowed just below our room.

Never in my wildest dream i thought the place would be so beautiful. It is a tapobhumi as Ram, Janaki & Lakshmana stayed there for 11 and half years and as many Rishis have done tapa there and are still doing. First time i dared to bathe in the river as i had 2 inhibitions - one about the water to be icecold and about people around! But i could overcome & win over both the inhibitions this time. I felt as though the Mandakini has taken me in her arms, her touch so warm and full of life.

Then it was easy to have a dip in the holy sangam at Prayag. We can actually see the two colours of Gangaji which is brownish and the dark colour of Yamunaji. I can't yet get over the Gangaji ki Aarti at Benaras and still keep dreaming about the Gangamaiyya. We saw the Ganga Aarti on 1st day at Assi Ghat and then for two days at Dashashwamedh Ghat which is really awesome, splendid and taking us to differrent heights of happiness. Everywhere though the aarti is done witth same reverence.

When i took the darshan of Kashi Vishwanath i was full of awe and happiness. Thinking in my mind about Swamiji and saying to myself, "Oh, this is the Mool Swaroopa of Swamiji"! as He was born of Kashi Vishweshwara's blessings.

Saarnath & Bodhgaya too reminded only of Swamiji but at Gaya i was thinking only of Sri Ramakrishna, the Gadadhar!

On our return journey guess what happened? I got call from Sarada Math asking me to speak on Swamiji in a gathering of Bengali community in Pune. I said yes and was twice happy as they were celebrating Ravindranath and Narendranath's 150th birth centenary together.

So yesterday i was at Pune and being with Bengalis on this occasion made me proud.