Swami Vivekananda once described Madam Emma Calve as the foremost opera singer of the West.  Although Calve had heard about Swamiji as early as 1895,  it was in 1899, when Calve was visiting Chicago with the Metropolitan Opera Company that under tragic circumstances, she came close to the Swamiji.  Calve was performing in “Carmen”, a four-act opera but she was passing through severe depression. 

One day, it happened that her only daughter was burned to death through an accident. Calve could not bear the loss and wanted to commit suicide.  Her friends suggested that she could meet Swami Vivekananda, who was in Chicago, but she declined. On repeated requests, she finally decided to meet Swamiji.  She was deeply inspired by his words and his personality.  Swamiji  rescued  her  from the pit of her deepest distress and gave her a spiritual direction.  Calve accepted Swamiji as her spiritual mentor. Swamiji realized that beyond her genius as an artist, Madam Calve was sufficiently learned with great love for philosophical and religious literature.   Swamiji  taught  Calve  to  chant  “Om Hari Om Tat Sat” and a peace chant from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (1.3.28) as follows:

Asato ma sadgamaya

Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya

Mrityor mamritam gamaya 

And two lines from the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, (4.21) as,

Rudra yatte dakshinam mukham

tena mam pahi nityam.