BIOGRAPHY OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

can retire from the labours of my life and spend the rest of my days inmeditation. It will be a centre for work and meditation, where my Indian andWestern disciples can live together, and I shall train them as workers. Theformer will go out as preachers of Vedanta to the West, and the latter will devotetheir lives to the good of India.' Mr. Sevier speaking for himself and his wife,said: 'How nice it would be, Swami, if this could be done. We must have such amonastery.'The dream was fulfilled through the Advaita Ashrama at Mayavati, whichcommands a magnificent view of the eternal snows of the Himalayas.In the Alps the Swami enjoyed some of the most lucid and radiant moments ofhis spiritual life. Sometimes he would walk alone, absorbed in thought, thedisciples keeping themselves at a discreet distance. One of the disciples said:'There seemed to be a great light about him, and a great stillness and peace.Never have I seen the Swami to such advantage. He seemed to communicatespirituality by a look or with a touch. One could almost read his thoughts whichwere of the highest, so transfigured had his personality become.'While still wandering in the Alps, the Swami received a letter from the famousorientalist, Paul Deussen, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Kiel. Theprofessor urgently invited the Swami to visit him. The Swami accepted theinvitation and changed his itinerary. He arrived at Kiel after visitingHeidelberg, Coblenz, Cologne, and Berlin. He was impressed by the materialpower and the great culture of Germany.Professor Deussen was well versed in Sanskrit, and was perhaps the onlyscholar in Europe who could speak that language fluently. A disciple ofSchopenhauer and follower of Kant, Deussen could easily appreciate the highflights of Sankaracharya's philosophy. He believed that the system of Vedanta,as founded on the Upanishads and the Vedanta Sutras, is one of the 'mostmajestic structures and valuable products of the genius of man in his search forTruth, and that the highest and purest morality is the immediate consequence ofVedanta.'The Swami and the Seviers were cordially received by the German scholar. Inthe course of the conversation Deussen said that a movement was being madeback towards the fountainhead of spirituality, a movement that would in thefuture probably make India the spiritual leader of the nations, the highest andthe greatest spiritual influence on earth. He also found in the Swami a vividdemonstration of concentration and control of the mind. On one occasion he sawhis guest turning over the pages of a poetical work and did not receive anyresponse to a query. Afterwards the Swami apologized, saying that he had beenso absorbed in the book that he did not hear the professor. Then he repeated the