Strength and fearlessness. My own ideal is that giant of a saint whom they killed in the
Sepoy Mutiny, and who broke his silence, when stabbed to the heart, to say — "And
thou also art He."'
About India and Europe the Swami said: 'I see that India is a young and living
organism. Europe is also young and living. Neither has arrived at such a stage of
development that we can safely criticize its institutions. They are two great
experiments, neither of which is yet complete.' They ought to be mutually helpful, he
went on, but at the same time each should respect the free development of the other.
They ought to grow hand in hand.
Thus time passed till the boat arrived at Tilbury Dock, where the party was met by the
Swami's disciples and friends, among whom were two American ladies who had come
all the way to London to meet their teacher. It was the off-season for London, and so
the two Swamis sailed for New York on August 16.
The trip was beneficial to the Swami's health; the sea was smooth and at night the
moonlight was enchanting. One evening as the Swami paced up and down the deck
enjoying the beauty of nature, he suddenly exclaimed, 'And if all this maya is so
beautiful, think of the wondrous beauty of the Reality behind it!' Another evening,
when the moon was full, he pointed to the sea and sky, and said, 'Why recite poetry
when there is the very essence of poetry?'
The afternoon that Swami Vivekananda arrived in New York, he and his brother
disciple went with Mr. and Mrs. Leggett to the latter's country home, Ridgely Manor,
at Stone Ridge in the Catskill Mountains, Swami Abhedananda being at that time
absent from New York on a lecture tour. A month later Nivedita came to 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 climate were improving his health, and
he was entertaining all with his usual fun and merriment.
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 and said, 'Why
Swami, we have been serving you strawberries with cream and sugar every day for the
past week.' 'Ah,' the Swami replied, with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, 'I am
tasting only cream and sugar. Even tacks taste sweet that way.'
In November the Swami returned to New York and was greeted by his old friends and
disciples. He was pleased to see how the work had expanded under the able guidance
of Swami Abhedananda. Swami Vivekananda gave some talks and conducted classes.
At one of the public meetings in New York, after addressing a tense audience for about
fifteen minutes, the Swami suddenly made a formal bow and retired. The meeting
broke up and the people went away greatly disappointed. A friend asked him, when he
was returning home, why he had cut short the lecture in that manner, just when both he
and the audience were warming up. Had he forgotten his points? Had he become
nervous? The Swami answered that at the meeting he had felt that he had too much