Swami Vivekananda and the Vedanta Society Berkeley

The Vedanta Society of Berkeley can trace its origins to a group of devoted students, who formed a spiritual nucleus after Swami Vivekananda introduced Vedanta to the Bay Area in February, 1900. For a period of four months, the Swami lectured and taught in San Francisco, Oakland and Alameda, traveling back and forth across the Bay, sowing the seeds of the exalted universal ideas of Vedanta. He stayed in the Pine Street Home of Truth in San Francisco and later moved across the Bay to The Alameda Home of Truth. These institutions were spiritual centers, devoted to higher thought and learning, and their members warmly welcomed the Swami's teachings. One such person was Sarah Fox of Berkeley, a deeply spiritual woman who became the moving force in the later establishment of a Berkeley center. On February 25th, she and her sister Rebecca attended Swami Vivekananda's stirring lecture at the First Unitarian Church of Oakland. His riveting words were emblazoned in Sarah's heart and through her devoted effort, still resound in the Berkeley temple to this day.

In June of 1900, Swami Vivekananda left California for New York. Many of the west coast devotees were eager to put into practice the principles they had recently been taught. By the will of the Divine Mother, an unexpected gift of 160 acres of land in the San Antone Valley was suddenly gifted to Swami Vivekananda. He asked Swami Turiyananda, then at the Vedanta Society of NY, to move to California and establish the first Vedanta Retreat center in America. Swami Turiyananda arrived in San Francisco in late July. After a week in the city, he and eight devotees traveled south to establish Shanti Ashrama in the remote and rugged terrain near Mt. Hamilton. For many months the group toiled, building the Ashrama infrastructure and perfecting their natures, guided by the illumined presence of Swami Turiyananda. After five months, Swami Turiyananda returned to the Bay Area, leaving Shanti Ashrama under the care of a disciple. He conducted classes in San Francisco and the East Bay, including a period of seven weeks at the Oakland home of Vedanta devotee, Frank Rhodehamel. A few years later, after Swami Turiyananda returned to India, Sarah Fox, her sister Rebecca and Mr. Rhodehamel established a regular Vedanta study and discussion group in Oakland. Cornelius Heijblom, later Swami Atulananda (Gurudas), another East Bay pioneer Vedantin, was the unofficial leader of the Oakland gatherings, which kept Swami Vivekananda’s teachings vibrant and alive in the East Bay. In 1922 Sarah and Rebecca were invited to accompany Swami Prakashananda and Gurudas on a trip to India. The sisters stayed for three years, developing deep and lasting friendships with Sri Ramakrishna disciples and most notably, receiving spiritual initiation from revered Swami Saradananda in 1923.

Upon their return to America, Sarah engaged herself even more vigorously in spreading and supporting the teachings of Vedanta. Rebecca had died from a stroke and Sarah's older sister, Freddie, now became a devoted student of Swami Ashokananda, presiding head of the Vedanta Society of San Francisco. Throughout the 1930's Swami Ashokananda lectured in Oakland to crowds of one hundred and occasionally conducted classes in Sarah's home. Soon it became evident that a permanent center for East Bay Vedantins was needed. First and foremost in support of this decision were Sarah and Freddie, who contributed the lion's share of financial backing for the project. After considerable negotiations and innumerable obstacles, a suitable Berkeley property was purchased on the southeast corner of Dwight Way. The harmonious temple was designed by Henry Gutterson, a noted Craftsman architect and student of Bernard Maybeck. The building was constructed meticulously, and the gardens laid out with horticultural expertise with careful attention to every detail. The temple was formally dedicated on October 22, 1939 and established as a branch of the Vedanta Society of San Francisco. Sarah Fox became its first president, a position she held until her death in 1949. In 1970 the Vedanta Society of Berkeley became an independent center of the Ramakrishna Order. Thus it was that Swami Vivekananda's lectures at the first Unitarian Church of Oakland reverberated through the hearts of Vedanta devotees and found external expression in the form of Berkeley temple. Today, one can still hear that divine reverberation flowing through its sacred corridors.