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Their very own swami

A berobed, beloved newcomer moves in to lead followers of the Ramakrishna faith.

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE
Published June 17, 2006

The celebration for Swami Yuktatmananda took place at the Vedanta Center of St. Petersburg, where he will be based. Representatives of Tampa's Hindu Temple of Florida and the president of the Old Southeast Neighborhood Association were among those who participated in the festivities. The center's longtime commuting spiritual leader, Swami Adiswarananda, who visited from New York City several times a year, was a special guest.

Yuktatmananda, who arrived from India about a month ago, recently sat for an interview in a house next door to the small Vedanta Chapel at 216 19th Ave. SE. The two-story house is owned by the religious group and is where he now lives. America also is now his permanent home. Members of the St. Petersburg community hired an immigration lawyer to help bring him to this country.

As his sponsors, they had to show that their center is financially sound and that they could support the swami, who has taken vows of poverty.

The Ramakrishna monk said he likes his new neighborhood near Lassing Park on Tampa Bay. "It's a nice place. The seashore is nearby. The neighborhood is very quiet and there are lots of places to walk about,'' he said, noting that his orange robes have not drawn any particular attention.

"I was wondering the first few days whether I would stand out,'' said the swami, who has also made several trips to the mall.

Yuktatmananda, 53, rises at 5 a.m. for prayer and meditation. He is adept at computers and generally cooks his vegetarian meals himself. He joined the Ramakrishna Order in 1978 and wore the white robes of a novice for nine years before graduating to his current orange garments and receiving a new name.

The monk, who has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, worked in that field for years before joining the Ramakrishna Order. The board of directors for the order selected him for the St. Petersburg position, he said. He left his 77-year-old mother, two brothers and two sisters in India.

Vedanta was founded by Sri Ramakrishna in the 19th century and brought to the United States in 1893 by Ramakrishna's foremost disciple, Swami Vivekananda. Three years before leaving for his new position in America, Yuktatmananda worked as editor of Prabuddha Bharata, a journal begun by Vivekananda.

Vedanta evolved from the teachings of the Vedas, a collection of ancient Indian scriptures. It means "the essence of knowledge,'' Yuktatmananda said. Vedanta and Hinduism are synonymous, he said. Vedanta teaches that everyone is divine, he added.

"God dwells in our heart, so essentially we're divine,'' he said. But it is not enough to believe in the tenets of Vedanta, a religion that encompasses and accepts all beliefs, the swami said.

Vivekananda taught that "religion is an idea that transforms human beings from animals to human nature and from human nature to divine nature. It is immaterial to which religion or denomination one belongs. It should change one for the better,'' Yuktatmananda said.

The swami, who will present Vedanta teachings on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings, said he has been touched by the warmth of the people he has met in St. Petersburg, especially the core group of about 20 members of the Vedanta Center.

For the past 20 years, the American converts have received spiritual guidance from Swami Adiswarananda, minister and spiritual leader of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of New York.

Last year, the St. Petersburg center was accepted as an official member of the Ramakrishna Order of India, which meant it qualified for a swami of its own. The local community has become the 13th official center in the United States.

"This is milestone for me too,'' Yuktatmananda said. "It's a new phase of life.''

[Last modified June 17, 2006, 07:49:25]