Swami Vivekananda's cottage in the Thousand Islands IS OPEN

Swami Vivekananda's cottage in the Thousand Islands IS OPEN. It is a must visit for anyone interested in Hinduism and its vedanta, yoga and meditation. It is only opened briefly in the summer. It provides for a lovely day visit. The Thousands Islands is spectacularly beautiful.

Swami Vivekananda's Cottage in the Thousand Islands Park on Wellesley Island in the Thousand Islands will  be open until July 27th this year. The cottage itself will be open those days from 10AM to 12 Noon and from 4PM to 6PM. You can certainly walk the grounds when the cottage is not open.  The worrisome thing is that it seems that the visit time is being reduced each year. Years ago they used to have a lovely satsang--chanting and singing followed by a group meditation.

The room upstairs where the Swami stayed while he was there for 8 weeks in 1895 (he lectured and taught on Vedanta) has a powerful vortex; one that put me instantly in the balcony a few years ago. Very, very strong. You definitely need to meditate in the room--the vortex is located in the center of the room.

The house and the immediate area rests on Fields of Consciousness. There is another vortex in the rocks behind the house. Meditating on the rocks in front of, or behind the house would be a good thing to do.

Make sure to visit the rock/tree in the back (it is a short 5 minute walk) where Swami Vivekananda achieved the highest state of Samadhi. It said that on his last day August 7, 1895 at the Thousand Islands the Swami went into the back woods to meditate and froze solid in meditation and remained oblivious to torrential rain and is said to have achieved nirvikalpa Samadhi. (Page 104)

“He had a unique experience of inner freedom at the Thousand Islands Park which he expressed eloquently in his poem “The Song of Sannyasin”. He wrote from there to a friend:

“I am free, my bonds are cut, what do I care whether this body goes or does not go? I have a truth to teach—I am a child of God. And He that gave me truth will send me fellow workers from the earth’s bravest and best.” Page 105-106

Source Vivekananda a Biography (1953)

The tree has since died, but a new one has been planted and a memorial erected. It is a short walk to the back.

The Swami from the NYC Ramakrishna Vivekananda Center will teaching a program in spirituality beginning Wednesday July 27 in the evening and ending Saturday at noon.

Make sure to call before visiting to check to verify it is open, (315) 482-2189

Per Ramarkrishna Vivekananda web page

VIVEKANANDA COTTAGE

P.O. BOX 1084

THOUSAND ISLAND PARK, N.Y. 13692

Telephone: (315) 482-3031

My book Sacred Sites in North Star Country: Places in Greater New York State (PA,OH,NJ,CT,MA,VT,ONT) That Changed the World has wonderful writeup with other suggested places to visit on Pages 241-257, the cottage is on pages 242-249.

Here are some helpful links.

Directions to the Cottage

My Video, Swami Vivekananda's Cottage Thousand Islands, NY

Vivekananda's speech to the Worlds Religion that catapulted him to fame. I never noticed it before that he begins Sisters and Brothers and not Brothers and Sisters. BRAVO!

Vivekananda's teachings  

Swami Vivekananda's Life Story 

The preceding is an old post that I put out each year.

Sacred Sites Update--Swami Vivekananda's Cottage, Wellesley Island, Thousand Islands

I took the opportunity to drive north to Swami Vivekananda's Cottage in Thousand Islands Park on Wellesley Island in the Thousand Islands after my survey of Thompson Park ahead of Faerie Festival on the 19th in Watertown. As I noted on my previous post on July 14th, the cottage  will only be open from August 10 to the 24th this year. The cottage itself will be open those days from 10AM to 12 Noon and from 4PM to 6PM. We walked the grounds.

The vibe and atmosphere are still great. Even if you can't get into the cottage visiting the grounds is well worth it.  Here are some pics

I strongly encourage you to visit and experience the wonder and power of this place.

Swami Vivekananda Cottage to Open in August

The opening of Swami Vivekananda's Cottage on Wellesely Island in the Thousand Islands has been delayed and limited to the month of August. More info coming. Sad.

Swami Vivekananda's Cottage Thousand Islands, NY 

More Earth Healing Work at Mulller Hill

This past Saturday (3/12/16) I returned to Muller Hill with Janice Carr to do some more Earth Healing. We began by meditating in the Welcome Circle to raise its vibe; we also smudged, gave thanks and asked for permission to enter. I am a big believer that sacred sites should have Welcome Circles.

A Welcome Circle acts like an entryway, or foyer of a home. It is an intermediary step between the profane (outside world) and the sacred (the sacred site itself.) It is a place where you take off your boots, or shoes and hang up your coat; only with a Welcome Circle you smudge yourself and remove any spiritual debris you may have picked up recently--it is a cleansing. It is here where you greet your host, or in the case of a Welcome Circle you ask permission to enter and announce yourself. A prayer helps set the tone for your upcoming visit.

Over time by performing the acts of a Welcome Circle in the same place over again and again you build a powerful imprint. An imprint which will increase the vibe of the Welcome Circle and increase the power of smudging and prayers.

In the picture below Janice is meditating at the edge of the Welcome Circle.

We then headed towards the Holy Ridge where we meditated at several sacred sites. Locations with powerful Fields of Consciousness, Fields that had 12 Fields stacked upon each other--as high as it goes. See the picture below. It shows Janice and my dogs Jaeda and Pepper. Places are strengthened through spiritual practices, particularly meditation.

Mother Earth needs us to reach Her fullest potential, and we (humankind and all of creation) need Her to achieve our fullest potential. This feeling of unity, cooperation, symbiosis and even necessity became very apparent to both of us Saturday. I have known this for sometime, but for some reason it was a profound feeling, as if it were an epiphany--almost startling. Why?

Perhaps it was the realization that the vibe, or imprints on the Holy Ridge continue to improve from our efforts. The vibe is becoming more palpable, sweeter.

Perhaps it was the realization that more is being revealed to us. Over time as you pray and meditate at a place it begins to reveal more of itself. The veil begins to thin and and you see, or feel things previously unknown. For the Holy Ridge this meant we began to sense the other aspects of Mother Earth's Soul besides Fields of Consciousness. There is much more to Mother Earth's Soul besides Fields of Consciousness. I mention this in my review of Swami Vivekananda's Cottage in the Thousand Islands. It was not such a high aspect found at the Swami's cottage, but other things.

We were also blessed to be shown, or revealed, another large area of Mother Earth's Soul not far from the Holy Ridge. Last summer I had known that there was something else close by, but could not find it. I remember walking through thickets of briars, scrub and thick growth and not finding it. My dog Jaeda got quilled by a porcupine. I gave up and turned back.

But on Saturday we found it. Or found tiny bits of what I think will be another large area of Mother Earth's Soul. We meditated in one of the stacked Fields I found and gave a prayer of thanks.

What to call this place?  The Promised Land, the Oasis, Shangri-La. 0r............

It was a glorious and beautiful day. We finished with a prayer and thanks at the Welcome Circle. Perhaps the reason we had such a profound feeling of unity and symbiosis with Mother Earth was because it was Mother Earth's nectar that had had raised our consciousness and blissed us out, or perhaps it was Her, or one of Her Deva's, or the land itself that had guided us and showed us so much. Thank you!