to discontinue the worship, but it was stopped by the members themselves.
One of them, however, whose heart was set on dualistic worship, asked the advice of
the Holy Mother. She wrote: 'Sri Ramakrishna was all Advaita and preached Advaita.
Why should you not follow Advaita? All his disciples are Advaitins.'
After his return to the Belur Math, the Swami said in the course of a conversation: 'I
thought of having one centre at least from which the external worship of Sri
Ramakrishna would be excluded. But I found that the Old Man had already established
himself even there. Well! Well!'
The above incident should not indicate any lack of respect in Swami Vivekananda for
Sri Ramakrishna or dualistic worship. During the last few years of his life he showed a
passionate love for the Master. Following his return to the Belur Math he arranged, as
will be seen presently, the birthday festival of Sri Ramakrishna and the worship of the
Divine Mother, according to traditional rituals.
The Swami's real nature was that of a lover of God, though he appeared outwardly as a
philosopher. But in all his teachings, both in India and abroad, he had emphasized the
non-dualistic philosophy. For Ultimate Reality, in the Hindu spiritual tradition, is non-
dual. Dualism is a stage on the way to non-dualism. Through non-dualism alone, in the
opinion of the Swami, can the different dualistic concepts of the Personal God be
harmonized. Without the foundation of the non-dualistic Absolute, dualism breeds
fanaticism, exclusiveness, and dangerous emotionalism. He saw both in India and
abroad a caricature of dualism in the worship conducted in the temples, churches, and
other places of worship.
In India the Swami found that non-dualism had degenerated into mere dry intellectual
speculation. And so he wanted to restore non-dualism to its pristine purity. With that
end in view he had established the Advaita Ashrama at Mayavati, overlooking the
gorgeous eternal snow of the Himalayas, where the mind naturally soars to the
contemplation of the Infinite, and there he had banned all vestiges of dualistic worship.
In the future, the Swami believed, all religions would receive a new orientation from
the non-dualistic doctrine and spread goodwill among men.
On his way to Mayavati Swami Vivekananda had heard the melancholy news of the
passing away of the Raja of Khetri, his faithful disciple, who had borne the financial
burden of his first trip to America. The Raja had undertaken the repairing of a high
tower of the Emperor Akbar's tomb near Agra, and one day, while inspecting the work,
had missed his footing, fallen several feet, and died. 'Thus', wrote the Swami to Mary
Hale, 'we sometimes come to grief on account of our zeal for antiquity. Take care,
Mary, don't be too zealous about your piece of Indian antiquity.' (Referring to himself.)
'So you see', the Swami wrote to Mary again, 'things are gloomy with me just now and
my own health is wretched. Yet I am sure to bob up soon and am waiting for the next
turn.'
The Swami left Mayavati on January 18, and travelled four days on slippery slopes,