17 min Listen to Maureen and Pierre podcasting from their less than professional sound studios! Pierre introduces a resource that Maureen has not heard of, read about, or taught.  Wow!  Score one for Pierre. Pierre brings forward a resource:  Vivekananda. Called the 'Messenger of Indian Wisdom to the Western World,'  Vivekananda was the first person to come to America and teach yoga and Indian spiritual philosophy.   Only in the United States for four years, Vivekananda had a profound effect on the trajectory of yoga and eastern philosophy in America.  He was the first in a line of yogis journeying to America.   The occasion of Vivekananda journey to the US was the 'World's Parliament of Religions' taking place in Chicago in 1893.  Fittingly, his speech was given on September 11th, 1893, the same day of the year that this podcast is being released.  A fitting anniversary for a speech that rocked our world. His first words were:  Sisters and brothers of America….   Pause and think about those five words for a moment. His message was one of love. He spoke in opposition to the pursuit of fanatical religious ideas wherein dissension, wars, and centuries of tragedy perpetuated senseless ideas.   Vivekananda's book Bhakti Yoga, meaning the yoga of love and devotion, is instructive for its deep insights into how the universe works.   Vivekananda writes of energy being the essence of the universe.  He also writes that man's striving for pleasure, the sensational joys of mind and body, is short-sighted and not in keeping with the ways of God. Uninvited, yet traveling all the way from India by ship and train, he arrived and spoke at this august gathering to powerfully proclaim an end to bigotry and fanaticism. If you've not heard of Vivekananda, you might want to check him out.  When his work was done on July 4th, 1902, he reportedly passed releasing his soul through 'mahasamadhi' while meditating.  Enjoy Learning Conversations.

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