Ajay Kumar at 16:20, 12 August 2023

2023-08-12T16:20:50Z

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{{Infobox person/Wikidata|fetchwikidata=ALL}}{{for|Nepali General who took Sanyasi title ''Swami Abhayananda Puri''|Ranabir Singh Thapa}}

{{Religion primary|date=July 2014}}
'''Abhayananda''' (born 1842), born '''Marie Louise''', was the first woman initiated into [[Vivekananda]]'s mission. She was also the first American female and a female Westerner to have become a [[swami]] [[monk]].<ref name="R1">{{cite web|url=http://www.vivekananda.net/pplheknew/others/abhayananda.html |title=Marie Louise AKA Swami Abhayananda - Frank Parlato Jr |publisher=Vivekananda.net |date=1912-08-10 |access-date=2015-02-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222201103/http://www.vivekananda.net/pplheknew/others/abhayananda.html |archive-date=2015-02-22}}</ref>

Louise was initiated by [[Vivekananda]] at [[Thousand Island Park]] in 1895. She was given the [[Monasticism|monastic]] name Abhayananda. She later disassociated herself from Vivekananda and preached philosophy, retaining the same name. Abhayananda claimed to be the only female swami in the entire world.<ref>{{cite book | author=Oldmeadow, Harry | author-link=Harry Oldmeadow | title=Journeys East: Western Encounters with Eastern Religious Traditions | year=2004 | isbn=978-0941532570}}</ref>

<blockquote>There were many other Westeners who, in the first half of the century, became Hindu disciples/sannyasis/gurus: others included the Mother (b. Mira Alfassa, Paris, 1878), perhaps the first Westener to become a guru in India; Swami Abhayananda (b. Marie Lousie) one of the only three Westeners whom Vivekananda, in 1895, initiated as sannyasis—the other two being Leon Landsberg/Swami Kripananda and Dr Street/Swami Yogananda.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vC1qAj6RbRQC&q=Mary+Louise%2C+Abhayananda&pg=PA78 |title=Journeys East: 20th Century Western Encounters with Eastern Religious Traditions - Harry Oldmeadow - Google Books |isbn=9780941532570 |access-date=2015-02-22|last1=Oldmeadow |first1=Harry |year=2004}}</ref></blockquote>

==Personal details==
Abhayananda immigrated to the US in 1865. Before becoming a swami and entering monastic life, she lectured on a number of issues such as [[woman's rights]], and was a [[Suffragette|suffragist]].<ref name="R1"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda_biography/08_vedanta_in_america.htm |title=Vedanta in America |publisher=Ramakrishnavivekananda.info |access-date=2015-02-22}}</ref>

There appears to be only one sketch depicting her and only one photograph, appearing in an article as a "convert to [[Hinduism]]" in [[the Lethbridge Herald]] on August 10, 1912.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vivekananda.net/NewDiscoveries/SketchesAbhayananda.html |title=New Discoveries - Swami Abhayananda - Frank Parlato Jr |publisher=Vivekananda.net |access-date=2015-02-22}}</ref> There is a letter written by her addressed to one of his disciples, [[Sister Christine]], referring her last arrival in [[India]] as an allusion of her desire for money.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vivekananda.net/KnownLetters/1902.html |title=Letters written by Swami Vivekananda - Frank Parlato Jr |publisher=Vivekananda.net |access-date=2015-02-22}}</ref> Her exact death details are unknown.

An article in [[The New York Times]] parsed "Swami Abhayananda": "Swami means monk, Abahaya means fearless, and nanda means bliss. The literal interpretation of her name is, therefore, the 'Monk of Fearless Bliss'."

Marie Louise disassociated herself from Vivekananda after she arrived in [[India]]. [[Sister Nivedita]]'s letters portrayed Louise as an egotistic, self-centered woman that had little interest in hearing the Vivekananda's teachings.<ref name="R1"/> Louise was also alleged to have come from a destitute past and to have been in need of financial assistance.

==Her mission==
According to Louise:

<blockquote>I teach four classes of philosophy-the Karma Loga(reporter might have misspelt for [[Karma Yoga]]), which is the philosophy of actions; the Bhakti Loga (reporter might have misspelt for [[Bhakti yoga|Bhakti Yoga]], the philosophy of devotion and love); the Rajah Loga (reporter might have misspelt for [[Raja Yoga]]), a [[Physiology|physiological]] and [[Psychology|psychological]] man, and the Gnana Loga (reporter might have misspelt for [[Jnana yoga|Jnana Yoga]]), or philosophy. ... I teach Christ the man. All men are Christs, and are [[Crucifixion|crucified]] on the cross of life.</blockquote>
Regarding women's suffrage, Louise said:
<blockquote>"The woman Suffragists, are children playing with dolls, but if men vote, then women have a right to vote on the theory of right; but on the plane of love they have no right to vote. A 'right' implies brute force and power. A King has a 'right' to behead half of his subjects if he chooses, if the subjects preserve their 'right' to live. It is the 'right' of brutes. My [[Ideal (ethics)|ideal]] of government is no government at all.</blockquote><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.frankreport.com/vivekananda/PPlHeKnew/Others/LeonLandsberg.html |title=Leon Landsberg - Frank Parlato Jr |publisher=Frankreport.com |access-date=2015-02-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924015304/http://www.frankreport.com/vivekananda/PPlHeKnew/Others/LeonLandsberg.html |archive-date=2015-09-24}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Sister Gargi]]
* [[Ramakrishna Math]]
* [[Ramakrishna Mission]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.ramakrishna.de/vidyatmananda/Chapter8.php Swami Vidyatmananda: The Making of a Devotee]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101219062732/http://vivekananda.net/PPlHeKnew/Others/SWAMI%20ABHAYANANDA%201900%20census.jpg US Census report showing Marie Louise as immigrated to USA in 1865]
* [http://www.vivekananda.net/NewDiscoveries/abhayanada%20nrews%20articles.html Newspaper article clippings of Swami Abhayananda - Marie Louise]
* [http://www.vivekananda.net/NewDiscoveries.html Vivekananda - New Discoveries]

{{Swami Vivekananda}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:French emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Vedanta]]
[[Category:Advaitin philosophers]]
[[Category:Hindu missionaries]]
[[Category:Asceticism]]
[[Category:1842 births]]
[[Category:Hindu female religious leaders]]
[[Category:Disciples and friends of Swami Vivekananda]]
[[Category:Year of death missing]]

Abhayananda - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 16:20, 12 August 2023