Vivekananda: As We Saw Him

DescriptionExcerptsFive reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda recorded by people who knew himCornelia Conger Met the Swami as a “yellow-haired girl of six” in the home of her grandfather, John Lyons, where Vivekananda stayed during the Parliament of Religions in 1893. “He’d tell the most enchanting stories of peacocks and monkeys climbing trees . . I still think of him as somebody I loved and who, I think, loved me.”Josephine MacLeod Swami Vivekananda’s great friend and admirer. “He said, ‘Never forget who you are. Incidentally, you are an American and a woman, but always you are the child of God.’”Katharine Whitmarsh Grand-niece of Mr. Francis Leggett. In the summer of 1899, she met Vivekananda at Ridgely Manor. “Swamiji took a walk everyday and he stopped by our house on the way . . . we used to run races. . . he gave a penny to the winner and he seemed to thoroughly enjoy it.”Lillian Montgomery Attended Vivekananda’s New York lectures in 1900. “His great power was that he perceived the divinity in all forms, and he perceived it to such a degree that he awakened it in his listeners as he was speaking.”Swami Satprakashananda A respected monk of the Ramakrishna Order and a pioneer of the Vedanta work in America. He met Vivekananda as a boy in Dacca in 1901. “It left a very indelible impression upon my mind which has been a source of inspiration all the years, and has been at the back of all that I have good and great in me.”ReviewsThe life of Swami Vivekananda told through photographs, a well-prepared narrative, and personal reminiscences by those who knew the pioneer of the Vedanta mission in America. …Excellent on his major role at the 1893 World Parliament of Religions and the subsequent establishment of Vedanta centers across the U.S. …The film, or sections of it, would be very appropriate for courses on U.S.-Indian cultural interactions, Indian Civilization, or Indian religions.South Asia in Review…this video stays interesting with 91 classic antique photographs, the voice of Gandhi and an avalanche of facts and figures spiced heavily with five personal reminiscences from devotees who knew Vivekananda. …All of this tallies up to a lively reminiscence of a most influential and appealing swami.Hinduism Today