Monastics from around the World Render Homage to Vivekananda at his Ganges Monastery, Ganges, Michigan

Chicago IL: Over fifty monastics arrived from around the world at the Vivekananda Monastery at Ganges, Mich., in the early sunny afternoon of November 7, 2013, to render obeisance to their Founder-Swami on his 150th birth anniversary. Coming from as far away as Germany, Switzerland, Moscow, Brazil, Argentina, South Asia, Japan, and Fiji, some of the monks were accompanied by foreign devotees, ill-at-ease with English, and likewise visiting Chicago or North America, for the first time. To receive them at the gate of this expansive retreat center and accompany them in joyous procession to the main shrine were devotees from around the Midwest, with others coming from as far away as Canada and Houston, Texas. The monastics, counting over a dozen nuns (pravrajika), participated in two conclaves the next day morning: after the heads of the order had deliberated on internal administrative matters, they were joined by the rest to confer on mission strategy and planning, before leaving in the early afternoon to the Lemont temple.

The contingent, which included General Secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Swami Suhitanandaji, arrived by bus from the Ramakrishna Temple at Homer Glen, accompanied by Minister-in-Charge of Vivekananda Vedanta Society (VVS) of Chicago Swami Ishatmananda. Resounding conches and costumed stick-dancers (dandiya) accompanied the procession to the entrance of the shrine, which the swamis entered alone to pay obeisance to the holy trinity of Shri Ramakrishna, Sharada Devi, and spiritual son Vivekananda, whom Chicago has long since claimed as its own. Eager devotees communed with them over lunch in the large dining room and again during the coffee break, before assembling for the hour-long evening offering of lamps (arati) in the shrine room followed by spiritual songs. Dinner was preceded by fireworks, and many devotees stayed over in nearby hotels to be with them through the next day. Swami Mahayogananda had begun by performing a puja, followed by readings from scriptures, and Suhitanandaji concluded the program by inaugurating the Shrine Trail. After the feast offered to felicitate their dedication to the spiritual life (sadhu bhandara), the monastics left for Chicago.

Ambalal P Patel from Matteson, Ill. made all the banners decorating the premises. Paromita Bosu from Calgary and Betty Koshy from Michigan held the lamps for the reception, while Paromita’s husband Anirban sang devotional songs. Seetha and Subbi Subrahmanyam from Houston have been frequenting the retreat center for the past forty years. With four other devotees, Shiva and Mums Moodley were from Durban: “We are visiting the US for the first time to accompany Swami Vimokshananda, President of the Ramakrishna Order in South Africa and a scheduled speaker, but he unfortunately had to undergo bypass surgery from which he is recovering well.” Six Japanese devotees accompanied Swami Medhasananda from Tokyo, who spoke to Asian Media USA (AMU) of how the deeply Buddhistic culture facilitated transmission of Vedantic teachings despite formidable language barriers. Devotees from Argentina and Chile listened intently as some of the happenings were translated into Spanish by a volunteer.

Suhitanandaji explained to AMU that the five-day celebrations of this 150th birth anniversary was the most appropriate occasion to revive, rethink, and further spread Vivekananda’s legacy. Head of VVS Germany Swami Baneshananda, who has visited Chicago several times to conduct retreats at Ganges, lamented the ignorance of their own spiritual traditions among the Hindu diaspora in Europe and ventured some comparisons with North America. Head of the Vedanta Center in Geneva, Switzerland, Swami Amarananda bore testimony to persisting prejudice towards alien religions despite the continuing efforts of the interfaith movement. Swami Nirmalatmananda from Portuguese-speaking Brazil works out of Sao Paulo where there is not a single English newspaper; he spoke of the difficulties of coordinating the often resource-poor VVS missions across South America. AMU will make all these recorded interviews (and more from over the weekend conference at the Hilton) available online for public viewing.

Founded in 1847, Ganges village received its name from member of the Michigan legislature Dr. Joseph Coates after the holy river in India, just as another township in southwest Michigan is named after Baroda in Gujarat. In 1967 VVS President Swami Bhashyananda Maharaj purchased land and built the Vivekananda Monastery and Retreat. Swami Ishatmananda became VVS minister in charge of Chicago and Ganges in March 2013. Guests at Ganges have included ecumenical religious scholars Bede Griffiths, Houston Smith, and Joseph Campbell. Interfaith monks and two women renunciates (sannyasini) from the adjacent Mothers Trust Ashram (MTA), the oldest convent in the direct monastic lineage of Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Sarada Ma, also joined in today’s Ganges commemoration. In 1895 its then President Vandana Puri Devi came at the invitation of Bhashyananda. In 1998, President of Sri Saradeshwarin Ashram in Kolkata Bandanda Ma inaugurated MTA with sacred Ganges water from India, amidst a five-day celebration by 300 devotees from around the world, and equated the site to holy Varanasi. MTA plans to create a retirement center around this complex for Hindu seniors awaiting liberation.

More than jumpstarting the ongoing fusion between the material progress of the West and the highest Indian realizations of non-duality, Swami Vivekananda, it seems, laid the groundwork 150 years ago for recreating the sacred (inner) geography of the subcontinent on American soil.

Photo captions for VVS celebrations at Ganges, Mich., on Nov. 7, 2013
1) DSC_6427= Group photo before Swami Vivekananda’s statue in the shrine after the evening arati. Seated in the center row (L to R starting from the flower pot) are senior monks Swami Chetanananda (no cap), Swami Suhitatmanandaji (General Secretary of Ramakrishna Mission), Swami Ishatmananda (Minister-in-Charge of VVS Chicago), and Swami Shantarupananda.
2) DSC_6387= Performing arati at the shrine (L to R): Swami Kripamayananda, Swami Mahayogananda, and Swami Tyagananda (seen from back).
3) DSC_6003= Procession from main gate of the Vivekananda Retreat Center to the shrine room
4) DSC_6342= Monastics and devotees witnessing the evening arati