The revered Swami Smaranananda, the General Secretary of the Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, will give a special talk at 11:00 AM, Sunday, May 7, 2000 at the Vivekananda Vedanta Society, 5423 S. Hyde Park Blvd., Chicago. His topic will be "Sri Ramakrishna's Message For The Modern World."

    For all people who have an interest in the sublime message of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda, this is a unique opportunity to hear one of the most distinguished and highly regarded authorities on the topic.
Swami Smaranananda will offer a rare glimpse of the lives of two of the world's most influential Hindus, their impact on the world, and the core values of spirituality itself. Swami Smaranananda is highly erudite, speaks excellent English, and , more importantly, is said to be a man of immense spiritual wisdom. He comes from the direct line of disciplic succession from Sri Ramakrishna, himself. Sri Ramakrishna's chief disciple, Swami Vivekananda, is credited with introducing Hinduism to the West at the World's Parliament of Religions, which was held in Chicago in 1893.

    Swami Smaranananda's visit and lecture promise to be a revelation for both scholars and the Hindu faithful. "It is a real opportunity to see first hand an example of the true spiritual values of the oldest living religion and oldest monastic system in the world", said Swami Varadananda.

    Swami Smaranananda, who holds the highest executive post in the monastic order founded by Swami Vivekananda, has served the order for 48 years. He first joined at the Ramakrishna Mission, Bombay, in 1952. In 1958, he was posted to Advaita Ashrama in Mayavati, the secluded Himalayan Ashrama which was founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1899. Swami Smaranananda worked in the
editorial department of the order's magazine, Prabuddha Bharata, both in Calcutta and at Mayavati. Later, he served as the Manager of the Advaita Ashrama publication department. In 1976, he was appointed Secretary of the Ramakrishna Mission Saradapitha, Belur Math, one of the premier education centers of the Mission. In 1983, he was elected Trustee of the Ramakrishna Math and a member of the Governing Body of the Ramakrishna Mission. In 1991, he was posted to the Ramakrishna Math, Madras, as its President. In 1995, he was made one of the Assistant Secretaries of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, and he was named General Secretary of the order in 1997.

    The lecture is free and afterwards lunch will be served to all. For more information you can contact the Vivekananda Vedanta Society at (773) 363-0027.