"Joe" & Swami Vivekananda

Josephine MacLeod (1858-1949), nicknamed "Joe" by Swamiji, was easily the most interesting of his associates in the West. However, she did not become a sannyasin like her friends Sister Nivedita & Sister Christine, but remained a Christian, claiming Swamiji made her a better Christian. She also did not like to be called his disciple, but a "friend."

She first met Swamiji in 1895, a day she remembered as her "Spiritual Birthday." He said that he could never repay the service she had done for the Ramakrishna Order & India. She funded the start of the "Udbodhan Press", the publications wing of the order.

After Swamiji's passing away, she went into depression for 2 years & after recovery, helped the Order in many ways. She & her married sister had access to people in high places, which they used to ward off the problems caused to the Order by the British government, which suspected that the monks of the Order were sympathisers of the Freedom movement.

Many anecdotes are extant of her colourful personality. When she had a stomach upset, she would fast for many days, ending with a lobster dinner! When Swami Brahmananda, the first President of the Order was visiting Bangalore, she also happened to visit & wanted to meet him. But Swami Brahmananda was averse to meeting ladies, however elderly they may be & tried to avoid her. But she was not to be put off & tracked him down exclaiming, "You naughty boy, why are you avoiding me?" She also visited Belur Math frequently, admonishing the monks there for any perceived lapses, so that she had become a "Holy Terror" to them!

She remained unmarried & passed away, fittingly at the Vedanta Society at California.