Josephine MacLeod

Josephine MacLeod (26 December 1858 – 15 October 1949) was an American friend and devotee of Swami Vivekananda. She had a strong attachment to India and was an active participant in the Ramakrishna Vivekananda movement. She was given the nicknames "Tantine" and "Jo Jo" by Vivekananda. She considered Swami Vivekananda to be her friend and helped him with his finances. MacLeod was not a sanyasin, unlike many others such as Sister Nivedita or Sister Christine.

Life

Early life Josephine was born on 26 December 1858, on Boxing Day, in Chicago to John David MacLeod and Mary Ann Lennon. Her father was of Scottish descent. The couple had three sons and three daughters. Two of their daughters, Betty (1852–1931) and Josephine (1858–1949), became disciples of Swami Vivekananda. She was known by several other nicknames, including Joe, Jo-Jo, Yum and Tantine (meaning "Aunty" She was deeply impressed and thereby began to cultivate a relationship which would be long lasting and significant for her.

MacLeod became a member of the Vedanta Society established by Vivekananda and pursued the study and practice of Vedanta. This interaction gave her a different perspective of living in "eternity". Vivekananda noted "I simply adore Joe (Josephine MacLeod) in her tact and quiet way. She is a feminine statesman or woman. She can wield a kingdom. I have seldom seen such strong yet good common sense in a human being." MacLeod considered the propagation of Swamiji's message of Indian spirituality in the West as a responsibility. She went to India and, on being asked what she could do for him (Swami Vivekananda), the latter replied gravely, "Love India".

Recalling the Swami's lecture on the Bhagavad Gita, the foremost of the Hindu scriptures, sometime in 1895, she was quoted as saying, later: I saw with these very eyes (she pointed to her own eyes) Krishna himself standing there and preaching the Gita. That was my first wonderful vision. I stared and stared. . . .I saw only the figure and all else vanished. In 1898, she visited India and traveled with Swami Vivekananda to North India including Almora, Kashmir and parts of Punjab. When in India she used to stay in Belur Math, in the old house along with Sara Bull. She took every possible care of the Swami when he arrived in New York for the second time in 1899 while he stayed in Ridgely Manor or elsewhere in America. Capt. Sevier, who, along with his wife Charlotte Sevier, became disciple of Swami Vivekananda after attending the latter's lectures in London and who established the Advaita Ashrama in Mayawati, had consulted first Miss Macleod on her impression about Vivekananda In 1900, Macleod traveled with Swami Vivekananda he visited Paris to participate in the Congress of History of Religions, accompanied by Emma Calve, Père Hyacynthe and Jules Bois. The team traveled through south West Europe to Constantinople, Athens and, finally, to Cairo from where Swami returned to India.

Depression and new beginnings Following Vivekananda's death in 1902, MacLeod went into depression for two years, after which she devoted the next four decades to the cause of promoting the Vedantic ethos of the Swamiji. Even after the death of Vivekananda, Macleod remained in touch with the Ramakrishna Order and often visited the Belur Math headquarters of the Order and stayed for many days. She travelled to Japan and introduced Kakuzo Okakura, the art historian, and Prince Oda, a Buddhist Abbot, to Vivekananda.

Macleod also helped the Ramakrishna Mission in tiding over political crises. In December 1916, Lord Carmichael, the then Lt-Governor of Bengal, made a statement casting aspersions on Ramakrishna Mission. Ramakrishna Math and Mission was always under close surveillance by the government because of the alleged involvement of some of its monks in nationalist activities like involvement with the Anushilan Samity during the Partition of Bengal before they renounced the world, and also because Swami Vivekananda's fiery speeches and ideals inspired many freedom fighters like Aurobindo Ghosh. Swami Saradananda, the secretary of Ramakrishna Mission, under the advice of the Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, met the governor who subsequently retracted his statement. However, Ramakrishna Mission was helped by the high level contacts that Macleod had, to form a favorable opinion in government circles.

She also persuaded Swami Nityatmananda, a close associate of Mahendranath Gupta or M, the author of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, to publish the viewpoints of M on Swami Vivekananda, which later appeared in the fifth volume of the Ramakrishna Kathamrita, the original Bengali version of the Gospel, as an appendix.

She was in touch with many contemporary intellectuals, including George Bernard Shaw and Romain Rolland. She helped extensively in spreading the message of Vedanta and Swami Vivekananda's teachings in particular in various European languages including German. Macleod also worked extensively for the cause of advancement of education of women in India, through her regular financial contribution to the school found and run by Sister Nivedita.

The French scholar and Nobel Laureate Romain Rolland wrote of Macleod, "(She) never tires of pointing out his (Vivekananda's) beauty, his charm, the power of attraction which was radiating from him."

She helped in conducting the first centenary celebration of the birth of Sri Ramakrishna in Calcutta in 1937.

Even though closely affiliated with an organization which took a leading role in Hindu renaissance, she remained a Christian in faith. In her own words, she had become a better Christian through the influence of Vivekananda.

Death MacLeod died in California on 15 October 1949. At the time of her death, she was living at the Vedanta Society of Southern California's center in Hollywood.