(Swami Vivekananda)
Sara Chapman Thorp Bull (Mrs. Ole Bull) was an American writer and philanthropist. She was a dedicated disciple of Swami Vivekananda and was married to Ole Bull, a Norwegian violinist. Mrs. Ole Bull was a close friend and supporter of Swami Vivekananda during his early years in America. She hosted him at her home, introduced him to intellectual circles, and helped him spread Vedanta philosophy, playing a crucial role in his acceptance in the West.
54 W. 33rd St., New York,
21st March, 1895
Dear Mrs. Bull,
I am astonished to hear the scandals the Ramabai circles are indulging in about me. Don’t you see, Mrs. Bull, that however a man may conduct himself, there will always be persons who invent the blackest lies about him? At Chicago I had such things every day against me. And these women are invariably the very Christian of Christians! . . . I am going to have a series of paid lectures in my rooms (downstairs), which will seat about a hundred persons, and that will cover the expenses. (Swami Vivekananda)
My master used to say that these names, as Hindu, Christian, etc., stand as great bars to all brotherly feelings between man and man. We must try to break them down first. They have lost all their good powers and now only stand as baneful influences under whose black magic even the best of us behave like demons.
I am in no great hurry about the money to be sent to India. I will wait. Is Miss Farmer with you? Is Mrs. Peake at Chicago? Have you seen Josephine Locke? Miss Hamlin has been very kind to me and does all she can to help me.
My master used to say that these names, as Hindu, Christian, etc., stand as great bars to all brotherly feelings between man and man. We must try to break them down first. They have lost all their good powers and now only stand as baneful influences under whose black magic even the best of us behave like demons. Well, we will have to work hard and must succeed. That is why I desire so much to have a centre.
Organisation has its faults, no doubt, but without that nothing can be done. And here, I am afraid, I will have to differ from you–that no one ever succeeded in keeping society in good humour and at the same time did great works. One must work as the dictate comes from within, and then if it is right and good, society is bound to veer round, perhaps centuries after one is dead and gone.
Also Read: Two Poems by Swami Vivekananda
We must plunge heart and soul and body into the work. And until we be ready to sacrifice everything else to one Idea and to one alone, we never, never will see the light.
Those that want to help mankind must take their own pleasure and pain, name and fame, and all sorts of interests, and make a bundle of them and throw them into the sea, and then come to the Lord. This is what all the Masters said and did. (Swami Vivekananda)
I went to Miss Corbin’s last Saturday and told her that I should not be able to come to hold classes any more. Was it ever in the history of the world that any great work was done by the rich? It is the heart and the brain that do it ever and ever and not the purse. My idea and all my life with it–and to God for help; to none else! This is the only secret of success. I am sure you are one with me here. My love to Mrs. Thursby and Mrs. Adams.
Ever yours in grateful affection,
Vivekananda
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Hindu religious leader and philosopher who established the Ramakrishna Mission and Belur Math.
