Vedanta Societies
American Vedanta Societies stem from the visit to the United
States by Swami Vivekananda in 1893, when he lectured on
Hinduism at the World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago.
The Swami founded the Vedanta Society of New York in
1896, followed by the Vedanta Society of San Francisco in 1900.
Swami Vivekananda became the foremost interpreter of
Yoga and Hinduism in Western countries, basing his teachings
on the inspiration of his master Sri Ramakrishna.
Vedanta comprises the supreme wisdom of the Vedas, the
ancient Sanskrit scriptures of India, together with the Upanishads,
which derived from them. This wisdom is manifest as a
revelatory experience after following spiritual disciplines (such
as the various forms of yoga) in conjunction with scripture
study under the guidance of a qualified guru or teacher.
There are now some sixteen Vedanta Centres in the United
States which form branches of the Ramakrishna Order of India.
Addresses Vedanta Society of Northern California, 2323 Vallejo
St., San Francisco, CA 94123; Vedanta Society of Southern
California, 1946 Vedanta Pl., Hollywood, CA 90068. There are
also Vedanta CentreAnanda Ashrama communities providing
spiritual retreats in both Massachusetts and Southern California.
Addresses Vedanta Centre, 130 Beechwood St., Cohasset,
MA 02025; Ananda Ashrama, 5301 Pennsylvania Ave., CA
91214.
