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VALPARAISO, ILLINOIS, June 21, 2004: On a winter day in 1894, a train dropped off a lone Hindu monk in Valparaiso, not far from Chicago. It was Swami Vivekananda and he gave a talk to the largest audience ever at the Memorial Opera House. Local physician Arjun Gupta hopes to celebrate Swami’s talk at the opera house, 104 Indiana Avenue, on 26 June. The evening will include prayer, storytelling through dance and song, and an address by Asim Chaudhuri, author of “Swami Vivekananda in Chicago, New Findings,” said Gupta. It is sponsored by the Valparaiso Vedanta Study Society, in cooperation with the Vivekananda Vedanta Society of Chicago. Vivekananda’s visit followed his popular talk on September 11, during The World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago. He spoke about the same types of threats that led to the terrorist attacks in the USA more than a hundred years later, and on exactly the same day — September 11. “Sectarianism, bigotry and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful Earth,” said Vivekananda in Chicago. “They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization, and sent whole nations to despair.” Gupta finds Vivekananda’s words remarkable. “Obviously it’s a coincidence,” he said. “But it’s very significant for us after what we’ve been through.”

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