Dalgan Park is enjoying a visit from an interfaith partner Swami-jii Shantivratananda from Karnataka, India, writes Fr Pat Colgan.
He is a monk of the Ramakrishna Mission, whose most famous disciple was Sri Vivekananda, presently living in their ashram (known as the Eire Vedanta Society) in Ladyswell, Mulhuddart, Dublin. He will be with us for a few days, experiencing our prayer and community life as missionaries.
He will also visit the Silverstream Priory at Stamullen, Co Meath, in order to compare the life of Christian monks to that of his own monks.
On Tuesday evening, 11th August Swami shared with a group of Columbans about his life and mission here in Ireland, the steps one takes in order to become a monk, their humanitarian and educational work in 30 plus countries, and some unfortunate racist episodes he has experienced in Ireland.
All photos by Fr John McEvoy.
He is nonetheless very happy here, likes Irish people immensely and is proud to be in the country which produced the second most famous disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, namely Sr Nivedita (aka Margaret Elizabeth Noble) – educator, writer, and political activist in India.
She was born at 23 Scotch Street, Dungannon, on 28th October 1867 and dedicated herself to the education and empowerment of Indian women, as well as the relief of distress in famine-stricken and flood-ravaged areas of Bengal.
Sharing Vivekananda’s vision of a free, emancipated and independent India, after his death in 1902 she moved out of the mission as her work and took on a more political edge becoming a passionate advocate of Indian nationalism.
