The most absurd fallacy in our thinking is the persistent notion that we are somehow free souls, captains in the course of our destiny, even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Our Spring and Summer issues (2011) will be devoted primarily to discussing Swami Vivekananda’s (Swamiji’s) work in America. Quote from Vivekananda or anyone else as you wish, but we’re especially interested in what you believe, based on what you have read, or heard from others with whom you have discussed American Vedanta.
Before projecting what we think Vivekananda might have wanted for the United States, it behooves us to look at what he thought about it when he was alive. What did he regard as our strengths, and also our weaknesses, and where did he feel we should be heading?
“There is a chance of Vedanta becoming the religion of your country because of democracy.” That’s how Swami Vivekananda envisioned the future of Vedanta in the USA.
Sri Ramakrishna said: “As long as the slightest trace of ego remains, one lives under the jurisdiction of the Adysakti. One is under Her sway. One cannot go beyond Her.”
In the early days of the Ramakrishna Movement, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi was still living. At that time very little was written about her, and it was difficult to obtain her photograph. The emphasis was almost entirely on Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. This began to change with the observance of the Holy Mother Centenary in 1953-54.
