page_title: Josephine MacLeod
section_title: Relationship to Swami Vivekananda
hierarchical_section_title: Josephine MacLeod / Life / Relationship to Swami Vivekananda
caption_attribution_description: English: Swami Vivekananda in Ridgely Manner New York. In this photo Standing (left to right): Swami Turiyananda, Swami Abhedananda . Sitting (left to right): Swami Vivekananda, Alberta Sturges, Besse Leggett (hidden), Josephine MacLeod, friend of Alberta's [she is NOT Sister Nivedita].
context_page_description: Josephine MacLeod was an American friend and devotee of Swami Vivekananda. She had a strong attachment to India and was an active participant in the Ramakrishna Vivekananda movement.
  She was given the nicknames "Tantine" and "Jo Jo" by Vivekananda. She considered Swami Vivekananda to be her friend and helped him with his finances. She and Sister Nivedita exchanged letters discussing their positive impressions of Swami Vivekananda and they competed with each other for his attention.
  Josephine was not a sanyasin, unlike many others such as Sister Nivedita or Sister Christine. She was instrumental in spreading Vivekananda's message on Vedanta in the West.
  She had many contributions to the initial and the later phases of the development of the order of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda. She was a contributor to many causes espoused by Sister Nivedita, the most famous disciple of Vivekananda, including that of contributing financially towards the development of Indian National Movement esp. in Bengal and elsewhere in India.
context_section_description: Josephine and her sister Betty first heard Swami Vivekananda's lecture on Vedanta philosophy in New York City on 29 January 1895. Their friend R. Dora Roetheslesberger had told them about Vivekananda. They had assembled in the sitting room of Vivekananda's apartment along with many other women and a few men. His lecture impressed her and she observed at the end of the lecture that the way he presented truth was something unique. She heard his lectures several times over the next seven years. 
  The meeting with Swami Vivekananda and her association with him for the remaining periods of his life in America and India was the most important event in her life according to her. She was deeply impressed and thereby began to cultivate a relationship which would be long lasting and significant for her.
  MacLeod became a member of the Vedanta Society established by Vivekananda and pursued the study and practice of Vedanta. This interaction gave her a different perspective of living in "eternity." Vivekananda noted "I simply adore Joe (Josephine MacLeod) in her tact and quiet way. She is a feminine statesman or woman. She can wield a kingdom. I have seldom seen such strong yet good common sense in a human being." Josephine considered the propagation of Swamiji's message of Indian spirituality in the West as a responsibility.
  Josephine was 35 years old when she met Swamiji. She considered the day she met Vivekananda for the first time, 29 January 1895, to be her "spiritual birthday". She said, "It is the Truth that I saw in Swamiji that has set me free; it was to set me free that Swamiji came." As a result of her constant interaction with Vivekananda during his lectures on Vedanta, her devotion to his teachings became so profound that she believed that he was the "New Buddha" and even called him "Our Prophet."
  Josephine did not like anyone addressing her as Vivekananda's disciple; she would immediately retort that she was his friend. Her niece, later Lady Sandwich, remarked that she was not Swami's friend but "Him". Vivekananda held her in great esteem and would write to her on his inner feelings, which he did not share with anyone else, including the brother monks or his "Madras Boys". He noted in one letter that "I can't even in imagination pay the immense debt of gratitude I owe you." On issues of conflict between the British in India and the Belur Math in Calcutta, she intervened with officials in the British Government in England to resolve the issues.
  When she was in London when Vivekananda was also lecturing there in 1896, the best fruit of every season was delivered to him from an anonymous person. The firm of William Whitley, a popular fruit dealer in London had been paid for such delivery by an anonymous benefactor. Pineapple, a rare fruit in London which was valued at a quarter per fruit, was delivered to him every day. The benefactor was thought to be Josephine, as she was in London when the fruit delivery started.
  She defended Vivekananda's religious ethos when, during her visit to India with him, she stated that "our Swamiji's great exposition of Vedanta Philosophy always favoured than denied the mission of Christ, and left Christians better Christians..." Because Josephine's efforts in the US and the West were so strong, Swamiji named her a "lady missionary" of the Ramakrishna Order promoted by Vivekananda.
  Ms. MacLeod had asked Swmi Vivekananda if she would accompany him to India. His response was, "Yes, come, if you want filth and degradation and poverty and many loin cloths talking religion. Don't come if you want anything else. We cannot bear one more criticism." She came to India and on being asked what she could do for him (Swami Vivekananda), the latter replied gravely, "Love India."
  Recalling the Swami’s lecture on the Bhagavad gita, the foremost of the Hindu scriptures, sometime in 1895, she was quoted as saying, later: I saw with these very eyes (she pointed to her own eyes) Krishna himself standing there and preaching the Gita. That was my first wonderful vision. I stared and stared. . . .I saw only the figur
caption: Sitting (left to right): Swami Vivekananda, Alberta Sturges, Besse Leggett (hidden), Josephine MacLeod
exif: {}