The Holy Trinity

His teachings emphasized God-realization as the highest goal of life, love and devotion for God, the oneness of existence, and the harmony of religions.

The key concepts in Ramakrishna’s teachings were the oneness of existence; the divinity of all living beings; the unity of God and the harmony of religions; that the primal bondage in human life is lust and greed (kamini and kanchana in Bengali).

Ramakrishna emphasized that God-realization is the supreme goal of all living beings. Religion, for him, was merely a means for the achievement of this goal. Ramakrishna’s mystical realization, classified by Hindu tradition as nirvikalpa samadhi (literally, “constant meditation”, thought to be absorption in the all-encompassing Consciousness), led him to believe that the various religions are different ways to reach The Absolute, and that the Ultimate Reality could never be expressed in human terms.

As a consequence of this view, Ramakrishna actually spent periods of his life practicing his own understandings of Islam, Christianity and various Yogic and Tantric sects within Hinduism.

Recommended Reading

• The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
• Ramakrishna and His Disciples
• Sri Ramakrishna: The Great Master
• Sri Ramakrishna: A Prophet for the New Age

Sarada Devi – The Holy Mother

The affectionate term “Holy Mother” refers to Sarada Devi (1853-1920), Ramakrishna’s wife and spiritual counterpart. According to the custom then prevalent in India, she was betrothed to him while still a child. At the age of 18, she left her parental home Jayrambati to join her husband, who lived at Dakshineswar, some sixty miles away, near Calcutta.

Sarada Devi was a spiritual and intellectual leader in her own right. She served Ramakrishna and his disciples for many years. After Ramakrishna’s passing away, she carried on his religious ministry, serving as guide and inspiration of the new spiritual movement.

On account of her immaculate purity, extraordinary forbearance, selfless service, unconditional love, wisdom and spiritual illumination, Swami Vivekananda regarded Sri Sarada Devi as the ideal for women in the modern age. He believed that with the advent of Holy Mother, the spiritual awakening of women in modern times had begun.

Recommended Reading

• Holy Mother
• Sri Sarada Devi: The Great Wonder
• The Gospel of the Holy Mother
• Holy Mother, Sri Sarada Devi
• Teachings of Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother

Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda whose pre-monastic name was Narendranath Dutta and was affectionately known to some as Naren (January 12, 1863 – July 4, 1902) was one of the most famous and influential spiritual leaders of the philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga.

His father, Vishwanath Datta, was a successful attorney, and his mother, Bhuvaneshwari Devi, was endowed with deep devotion, strong character and other qualities. A precocious boy, Narendra excelled in music, gymnastics and studies. By the time he graduated from Calcutta University, he had acquired a vast knowledge of different subjects, especially Western philosophy and history. Born with a yogic temperament, he used to practice meditation even from his boyhood.

He was the chief disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and was the founder of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. Many consider him an icon for his fearless courage, his positive exhortations to the youth, his broad outlook on social problems, and countless lectures and discourses on Vedanta philosophy.

His speeches at the World’s Parliament of Religions held in September 1893 made him famous as an ‘orator by divine right’ and as a ‘Messenger of Indian wisdom to the Western world’.

Recommended Reading

• Living at the Source
• What Religion Is
• Vivekananda: The Yogas and Other Works
• The Life of Swami Vivekananda
• Swami Vivekananda in the West: New Discoveries
• The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda