Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (February 18, 1836 – August 16, 1886) was a Bengali religious leader. A devotee of the goddess Kali and a teacher of Advaita Vedanta Hinduism, he preached that "all religions lead to the same goal." He placed "spiritual religion" above "blind ritualism."

Ramakrishna said that his experience of nirvikalpa samadhi (absorption in the all-encompassing Consciousness) convinced him that the gods of the various religions are merely so many interpretations of the Absolute, and that the Ultimate Reality could never be expressed in human terms. This is in agreement with the Rigvedic proclamation that "Truth is one but sages call it by many a name." As a result of this opinion, Ramakrishna actually spent periods of his life practising his own understandings of Islam, Christianity and various other Yogic and Tantric sects within Hinduism.

Ramakrishna also said that this experience of nirvikalpa samadhi gave him an understanding of the two sides of maya (illusion), to which he referred as avidyamaya and vidyamaya: He explained that avidyamaya represents the dark forces of creation (eg sensual desire, evil passions, greed, lust and cruelty), which keep the world system on lower planes of consciousness. These forces are responsible for human entrapment in the round of birth and death, and they must be fought and vanquished. Vidyamaya, on the other hand, represents the higher forces of creation (e.g. spiritual virtues, enlightening qualities, kindness, purity, love, and devotion), which elevate human beings to the higher planes of consciousness. With the help of vidyamaya, devotees can rid themselves of avidyamaya and achieve the ultimate goal of becoming mayatita – that is, free from maya.

The four key concepts in Ramakrishna's teachings were the following:

• the oneness of existence
• the divinity of human beings
• the unity of God
• the harmony of religions

A personal account of his life and teachings, is recorded by his disciple, Mahendranath Gupta, simply known as "M", in the Gospel of Ramakrishna. Like Adi Sankara had done more than a thousand years earlier, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa revitalized Hinduism which had been fraught with excessive ritualism and superstition in the nineteenth century and helped it better respond to challenges from Islam, Christianity and the dawn of the modern era.

The Hindu Renaissance that India experienced in the 19th century may be said to have been spurred by his life and work. Although the Brahmo Samaj and the Arya Samaj preceded the Ramakrishna Mission, their influence on a larger level was limited. With the emergence of the Mission, however, the situation changed dramatically. The Ramakrishna Mission was founded by Swami Vivekananda, but it was his spiritual master, Ramakrishna, who indirectly provided the main impetus for this movement.

It could be argued that Ramakrishna's vision of Hinduism, and its popularisation by western converts like Christopher Isherwood, have largely coloured western notions of what Hinduism is. Others, like Andrew Harvey and Ken Wilber, see the beginning of a new universal consciousness with Ramakrishna's life.

Quotation

• "Knowledge leads to unity. Ignorance, to disunity."

See also

• Sarada Devi – Ramakrishna's wife, affectionately known as "Holy Mother"

External links

• Ramakrishna Kathamrita literally, The Nectar of Ramakrishna, usually translated as The Gospel of Rmakrishna.
• Main page of Ramakrishna Math, Chennai
• American website
• Sri Ramakrishna Biography and selected works

• Kali's Child Revisited "Didn't Anyone Check the Documentation ?" – a negative critique of Kripal's scholarship by Swami Tyagananda

Further reading

• The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (I & II)- Mahendranatha Gupta ISBN 982–3
• Sri Ramakrishna Upanishad – C. Rajagopalachari ISBN 038–9
• Ramakrishna and His Divine Play – Swami Saradananda ISBN 0–916356–65–5
• The life of Ramakrishna – Romain Rolland ISBN 02001
• Ramakrishna and his disciples – Christopher Isherwood ISBN 02002
• Ramakrishna : a biography in pictures ISBN 02003
• Ramakrishna as we saw Him – Swami Chetanananda ISBN 02011
• Kali's Child : The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna – Jeffrey J. Kripal ISBN 0226453774