Swami Chetanananda

This volume presents in a clear and concise form the tents of a religion, the scriptures of which have evolved over the course of five thousand years. Vivekananda once said, ''I have a message to the West, as Buddha had a message to the east.'' And the message was Vedanta. As Christopher Isherwood says in his foreword:'' It must be remembered that much of this material was first spoken to audiences - sometimes extemporaneously, without even a rough draft of what Vivekananda wished to say. In such cases, it was taken down in shorthand ... Thus we experience the freshness of the Swami's live speech. Vivekananda's living presence often becomes powerfully evident behind his words."