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About Swami Vivekananda’s
Lectures
This historic
footage, filmed live on August 17, 1975, was recently discovered
at
Vedanta Archives (www.vedantaarchives.org). The lectures, Gita
II and Gita III, were originally delivered to a
Western audience by Swami Vivekananda in San Francisco on May 28
and 29, 1900.
The lectures
are at once down-to-earth and inspiring. The plainspoken,
rational style makes the seemingly exotic topic of the Bhagavad
Gita readily accessible to all. The text is found in The
Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda* Volume I.
About Christopher
Isherwood’s Reading
It is
interesting to note that when Christopher Isherwood spoke at the
Vedata Society, he generally elected to read rather than put
forth his own opinions. This humility characterized his
discipleship. Having co-authored a distinguished translation of
the Bhagavd Gita with Swami Prabhavananda, he had a deep
interest in the topic and moreover an admiration for Swami
Vivekananda. Isherwood felt that these lectures were better
heard than read—when we viewed his engaging presentation of
these talks, we agreed.
 The
Technical Limitations of This Video
This black
& white video has been cleaned up as far as possible, but
there are still imperfections (see screen capture image). The
audio, however, is very good. It is introduced by a choral
offering that is off-camera and, likewise, ends with an
off-camera benediction by Isherwood.
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Swami
Vivekananda: 
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