the most scientific and practical psychology — and all this must be put into such a
form that a child may grasp it. That is my life's work. The Lord only knows how far I
shall succeed. To work we have the right, not to the fruits thereof.
The Swami always wanted a healthy interchange of ideas between East and West; this
was one of the aims of the Vedanta Society of New York. He felt the need of centres of
vital and continual communication between the two worlds to make 'open doors, as it
were, through which the East and the West could pass freely back and forth, without a
feeling of strangeness, as from one home to another.' Already he had thought of
bringing to America some of his brother disciples as preachers of Vedanta. He also
wanted to send some of his American and English disciples to India to teach science,
industry, technology, economics, applied sociology, and other practical things which
the Indians needed in order to improve their social conditions and raise their standard
of living. He often told his American disciples of his vision that the time would come
when the lines of demarcation between East and West would be obliterated. From
England he had already written to Swami Saradananda to prepare to come to the West.
In the spring of 1896 letters began to pour in from England beseeching Swami
Vivekananda to return there and continue his activities. The Swami felt the need of
concentrating on the work in both London and New York, the two great metropolises
of the Western world. Therefore he made arrangements with Miss Waldo and other
qualified disciples to continue his program in America during his absence. Mr. Francis
Leggett was made the president of the Vedanta Society.
The Swami had also been receiving letters from his friends in India begging for his
return. He said he would come as soon as possible, but he encouraged them to organize
the work, warning them against the formation of any new cult around the person of Sri
Ramakrishna, who, to the Swami, was the demonstration of the eternal principles of
Hinduism. On April 14, 1896, he wrote to India:
'That Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was God — and all that sort of thing — has no go in
countries like this. M—_ has a tendency to put that stuff down everybody's throat; but
that will make our movement a little sect. You keep separate from such attempts; at the
same time, if people worship him as God, no harm. Neither encourage nor discourage.
The masses will always have the person; the higher ones, the principle. We want both.
But principles are universal, not persons. Therefore stick to the principles he taught,
and let people think whatever they like of his person.'
The Swami now made definite arrangements to leave for London on April 15, and,
after carrying out his plans there, to sail for his motherland.
It should be apparent to readers of Swami Vivekananda's life that he worked under
great pressure, from a fraction of which a lesser person would have collapsed in no
time. Naturally he spent his few spare moments in fun and joking. He would read a
copy of Punch or some other comic paper, and laugh till tears rolled down his cheeks.