Swami Abhedananda (his life)

Swami Abhedananda was one of the direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and a spiritual brother of Swami Vivekananda. He was born in Calcutta on October 2, 1866. His father’s name was Rasik Chandra Chandra, and mother’s, Srimati Nayantara Devi. He had his education in the Oriental Seminary, Calcutta. From his boyhood, he had intense religious tendency, and had burning desire to learn Yoga, that leads, he believed, to God-realization. He was above all worldly attachments and ties, and used to search for a real Guru for spiritual training. In time, he came in contact with Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa at Dakshineswar. In his auto-biographical sketch he writes: “One Sunday morning, I reached the Temple Garden at Dakshineswar, where I met the great Yogi, Ramakrishna Paramhamsa, and asked him whether he could teach me the practical methods of ‘Yoga Philosophy’. He replied, ‘Yes,’ and after reading of my past life, he said, ‘You were a great Yogi in your past incarnation. Come my boy, I will teach you how to practise Yoga'. Then he initiated me and gave me instructions in concentration and meditation. He touched my chest and aroused my Kundalini, the ‘Serpent Power’ at the base of my spinal column, and I went into Samadhi, the state of super-consciousness. In him I found the embodiment of the Absolute Truth of the highest philosophy as well as of the universal Religion which underlies all sectarian religions of the world, and became his humble disciple. I had the good fortune to be with him and to serve for two years. There, I met his other disciples, among whom Swami Vivekananda was the most brilliant. I was attracted to him and became his close companion. Frequently, I used to discuss with him various abstruse points of Epistemology, Ontology and Metaphysics of India and Europe”—(Contemporary Indian Philosophy, first edition, p. 49).

In 1886, after the passing away of his beloved Master, Ramakrishna Paramhamsa, Swami Abhedananda renounced the world and became a Sannyasin monk, along with Swami Vivekananda and other spiritual brothers (gurubhais). He travelled bare footed all over the sacred places of India. He became acquainted with Trailanganatha Swami, Bhaskarananda Swami, Pawhari Baba and many other saints of India. He sailed from Calcutta to London in August, 1896. His first lecture in the West was before the Christo-Theosophical Society in London, on the Advaita Philosophy of Panchadasi. He met Prof. Max Muller, and Prof. Paul Deussen of Keil University. In 1897, he crossed the Atlantic and landed at New York and took charge of the Vedanta Society at the request of Swami Vivekananda. In New York, he organised the Vedanta Society, delivering regular lectures on different aspects of Vedanta philosophy and religion. In America, he gradually became acquainted with Profs. William James, Royace, Lanmann, Shaler, Dr. Janes and others. He travelled extensively all through the United States, Canada, Alaska and Mexico. He delivered lectures on Comparative Philosophy and Religion, based on he lives and teachings of the Saviours like Sri Krishna, Buddha, Zoroaster, Laotze, Christ, Mohammed, Sri Ramakrishna and others. In 1906, he once returned to India and delivered lectures on different subjects in different places of India and Ceylon, and again went back to America, and devoted himself once more in preaching the Gospels of his Master, Sri Ramakrishna, along with those of other Saviours. He established several Vedanta centres in America, and trained many Western disciples in the sacred lore of holy India.

In 1921, he sailed from San Fransisco and crossed the Pacific Ocean, breaking his voyage at Honolulu, to attend the Pan-Pacific Educational Conference, where he was a delegate from India. He next visited Japan, Shanghai, Hongkong, Canton, Manila and Singapore. From Singapore, he was invited to Kuala-Lumpur in Malay States and delivered series of lectures on Vedanta and Comparative Religion. From there he went to Rangoon and delivered many lectures, and returned to Calcutta in 1921, September, after spending twenty-five years in America.

In 1922, he went to Tibet, and visited many Buddhist shrines and monasteries, including the Hemis in Ladak. There he came across a manuscript, containing the unknown life of Jesus Christ, who came to India. He translated portions of it with the help of a Buddhist Lama, and published the same in his Bengali book, Kashmere o Tibbate in 1922. in 1923. he established the Ramakrishna Vedanta Math in Calcutta. He also established the Ramakrishna Vedanta ashrama at Darjeeling in 1924. He was the author of many books on philosophy, religion and culture, such as India and Her People (delivered serially in the Brooklyn Institute, New York, in 1905-1906), Reincarnation (1900), Spiritual Unfoldment (1902). Doctrine of Karma (1903), How to be a Yogi (1903). Divine Heritage of Man (1903), Gospel of Ramakrishna (1905), Sayings of Ramakrishna (1910), Great Saviours of the World (19'12), Human Affection and Divine Love (1912), Stotra-Ratnakara (Ocean of Hymns) in 1923 to name only a few. He left his mortal coil in 1939, September 8, in Calcutta. He also left many other valuable manuscripts on different subjects, and after his demise,, the publication department of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, Calcutta, has published them one by one, under the titles of Path of Realization (1940), Life Beyond Death (1944), Science of Psychic Phenomena (1946), Attitude of Vedanta towards Religion (1947), Mystery of Death (1953), Philosophy and Religion (1951).