'But He has given us the brain to invent a pipe,' the Swami said with a smile.
Everybody laughed, and the Swami was given freedom to smoke while living as a
guest in the Home of Truth.
Swami Vivekananda journeyed to Oakland as the guest of Dr. Benjamin Fay Mills, the
minister of the First Unitarian Church, and there gave eight lectures to crowded
audiences which often numbered as high as two thousand. He also gave many public
lectures in San Francisco and Alameda. People had already read his Raja-Yoga.
Impressed by his lectures, they started a centre in San Francisco. The Swami was also
offered a gift of land, measuring a hundred and sixty acres, in the southern part of the
San Antone valley; surrounded by forest and hills, and situated at an altitude of 2500
feet, the property was only twelve miles from the Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton.
He at once thought of Swami Turiyananda, who could be given charge of the place to
train earnest students in meditation.
During his trip back to New York, across the American continent, the Swami was very
much fatigued. He stopped in Chicago and Detroit on the way. In Chicago he was the
guest of the Hale family, and many old reminiscences were exchanged. On the
morning of his departure, Mary came to the Swami's room and found him sad. His bed
appeared to have been untouched, and on being asked the reason, he confessed that he
had spent the whole night without sleep. 'Oh,' he said, almost in a whisper, 'it is so
difficult to break human bonds!' He knew that this was the last time he was to visit
these devoted friends.
In New York the Swami gave a few lectures at the Vedanta Society, which by this time
had enlisted the active co-operation of several professors of Harvard and Columbia
University. At the earliest opportunity he spoke to Turiyananda about the proposed gift
of land in northern California, but the latter hesitated to accept any responsibility. The
Swami said, 'It is the will of the Mother that you should take charge of the work there.'
Swami Turiyananda was amused and said with good humour: 'Rather say it is your
will. Certainly you have not heard the Mother communicate Her will to you in that
way. How can you hear the words of the Mother?'
'Yes, brother,' the Swami said with great emotion. 'Yes, the words of the Mother can be
heard as clearly as we hear one another. But one requires a fine nerve to hear Mother's
words.'
Swami Vivekananda made this statement with such fervour that his brother disciple
felt convinced that the Divine Mother was speaking through him. He cheerfully agreed,
therefore, to take charge of Santi Ashrama, the Peace Retreat, as the new place was
called.
In parting, the Swami said to Turiyananda: 'Go and establish the Ashrama in
California. Hoist the flag of Vedanta there; from this moment destroy even the memory
of India! Above all, lead the life and Mother will see to the rest.'