Ramkrishna Paramhansa
After spreading the message of Vedanta in America and England for several years, Vivekananda desperately needed an assistant to continue the momentum. He wrote to Swami Saradananda and asked him to come to England. In the beginning Saradananda was reluctant, but then he went to Holy Mother [Maa Sharada] and sought her advice. The Mother told him: “My son, be not afraid. You should go to the West. The Master will protect you, and will be with you wherever you go.”
In March 1896 Swami Saradananda left for England and arrived there on 1 April. On the way his ship was buffeted by a hurricane in the Mediterranean Sea. “All the passengers were in a great panic,” the swami recalled. “Some were crying; some were running here and there in fear; some were shaking out of nervousness. The whole scene was frightening, but I was not afraid in the least. My mind was as steady and calm as the needle of a compass.” When the ship stopped at Rome, he went to visit Saint Peter’s Cathedral. Standing in front of the sanctuary, his mind became absorbed in his previous incarnation, and he lost outer consciousness for some time. (Sri Ramakrishna had said that he and Shashi had previously been companions of Christ.)