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 SWAMI
PARAMANANDA (1884-1940) was the youngest disciple of Swami
Vivekananda. He joined the Ramakrishna Mission at a very young
age of 16 and got his initial training under Swami Vivekananda
and Swami Ramakrishnananda. In 1906 he accompanied Swami Abhedananda to
New York to assist the latter in managing the activities
of the Vedanta Center of New York. Three years later he moved to
Boston to open a new Vedanta Center there. During his stay
abroad, he traveled
extensively in the US and Europe lecturing and forming vedanta
groups. His emphasis on personal touch in the master and disciple relationship
endeared him to many
members of the vedanta groups in the US. In 1909 he started the Message of the East
a magazine through which he
made available to the readers information about spiritual
subjects from all major religions and translation of religious
texts such as the Upanishads. Swami Paramananda believed in the
equality of women and worked for their welfare. He
encouraged women's participation in the study of the Vedanta and
the activities of the Vedanta Center. He
established a community of nuns and appointed sister Sister
Devamata (1867-1942) to teach them Vedanta. During his life time
Swami Paramananda published many works of immense spiritual
value, some of which are listed below along with books written
about him:
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