BIOGRAPHY OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

The afternoon that Swami Vivekananda arrived in New York, he and his brotherdisciple went with Mr. and Mrs. Leggett to the latter's country home, RidgelyManor, at Stone Ridge in the Catskill Mountains, Swami Abhedananda being atthat time absent from New York on a lecture tour. A month later Nivedita cameto Ridgely, and on September 21, when she decided to assume the nun's garb,the Swami wrote for her his beautiful poem 'Peace.' The rest and good climatewere improving his health, and he was entertaining all with his usual fun andmerriment.One day Miss MacLeod asked him how he liked their home-grown strawberries,and he answered that he had not tasted any. Miss MacLeod was surprised andsaid, 'Why Swami, we have been serving you strawberries with cream and sugarevery day for the past week.' 'Ah,' the Swami replied, with a mischievous twinklein his eyes, 'I am tasting only cream and sugar. Even tacks taste sweet thatway.'In November the Swami returned to New York and was greeted by his oldfriends and disciples. He was pleased to see how the work had expanded underthe able guidance of Swami Abhedananda. Swami Vivekananda gave some talksand conducted classes.At one of the public meetings in New York, after addressing a tense audience forabout fifteen minutes, the Swami suddenly made a formal bow and retired. Themeeting broke up and the people went away greatly disappointed. A friend askedhim, when he was returning home, why he had cut short the lecture in thatmanner, just when both he and the audience were warming up. Had he forgottenhis points? Had he become nervous? The Swami answered that at the meeting hehad felt that he had too much power. He had noticed that the members of theaudience were becoming so absorbed in his ideas that they were losing their ownindividualities. He had felt that they had become like soft clay and that he couldgive them any shape he wanted. That, however, was contrary to his philosophy.He wished every man and woman to grow according to his or her own inner law.He did not wish to change or destroy anyone's individuality. That was why hehad had to stop.Swami Turiyananda started work at Montclair, New Jersey, a short distancefrom New York, and began to teach children the stories and folklore of India. Healso lectured regularly at the Vedanta Society of New York: His paper onSankaracharya, read before the Cambridge Conference, was highly praised bythe Harvard professors.One day, while the Swami was staying at Ridgely Manor, Miss MacLeod hadreceived a telegram informing her that her only brother was dangerously ill in