Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
| Ramakrishna Paramahamsa | |
| Birth | 18 February 1836. |
| Death | 16 August 1886. |
| Location of Samadhi | Location of Samadhi: Cossipore, Kolkata, India ; Today Worshipped in Belur Matt, Kolkata India |
| Teaching | SPH deeply imbibed the books and learned from the great saints of Ramakrishna Mutt on the great sciences such as Advaita and Bhava Samadhi. |
| Other Names | n/a |
| Place of Teaching | Kolkata, India |
| Guru | - |
| Associated Kingdom | Kailasa Paramparagatha Adi Arunachala Sarvajnapeetha Samrajyam |
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa only graced Planet Earth for 50 years with his physical presence but his contribution to the world is incomparable to any other enlightened being of the modern day. In such a short amount of time, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was able to deliver the most supreme teachings and initiations as well as generate the most perfect order of sanyasis. In the words of the Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism :
"Please understand, if I have to condense the whole life of Sri Ramakrishna, the essence of Ramakrishna’s life, I’ll condense it in one word; that is: “Commitment to Integrity”. He is such an embodiment of Integrity"
It was with this powerful integrity that Ramakrishna Paramahamsa served and related with Kali in the Dakshineshwar Temple of Calcutta as a pujari, or Hindu priest. Once when He was serving as the pujari in Dakshineshwar Kali Temple, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa had requested Devi to drop the skull which is in her hand. Obeying His request, simply, she did it and her devoted pujari had placed the shell-made bangle on her hand. When he was done, he asked her once again to hold the skull and she resumed holding it. The Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism Himself has narrated this divine manifestation and testified for its validity as an actual happening.
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was known for his tremendous devotion toward Kali and any form of the divine feminine. Though he was married, he and his wife Sarada Devi lived an extremely austere spiritual life together. More than his wife, he saw Sarada Devi as his own Divine mother and worshiped her.
Such was the intense Oneness with Parashakti that Ramakrishna had, he would often be in the bhaava samadhi, the intense spiritual experience of devotion and Oneness with a certain God or energy. In the intense bhaava samadhi of Devi, Ramakrishna himself blessed his disciples with the Darshan of Devi and appeared to his disciples dressed as a beautiful goddess, radiating the qualities of divine femininity and showed even physiological metamorphosis.
In around 1865, even when Ramakrishna Paramahamsa sought out the supreme oneness experience, he first asked for the permission of his mother, Kali, and then proceeded to follow the instructions of his guru Totapuri. Along with Totapuri, the Bhairavi named Bhairavi Brahmani was also a mentor and guide for his spiritual experiences who also took care of his physical health and food for many years.
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was diagnosed with cancer yet his disciples never noted any signs of suffering in his behavior, speech or body. He attracted the most sincere seekers and through them he initiated the most important dawn of a new age of spirituality.
Among Ramakrishna Paramahamsa's disciples the foremost leader whom he trained as his next inheritor was Swami Vivekananda, who was considered another incarnation. After his guru attained Mahasamadhi, it was Vivekananda who single-handedly led all of his brothers into taking sanyas and living the disciplined spiritual life authentically. Swami Vivekananda traveled to the United States west and brought the Hindu sciences and ancient knowledge to the western lifestyle, spearheading several movements toward real global peace and Enlightenment.
Other well known disciples of Ramakrishna are Swami Brahmananda who was looked at as the spiritual son of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Sarada Devi and Swami Saradananda who would write his whole biography, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the Great Master, one of the most beautiful, cogent and transformative spiritual literatures of the modern day.
References
- In this talk from Ramakrishna Jayanti, His Divine Holiness worships and reveres Ramakrishna and speaks on his immense contribution to Hinduism. In His life, HDH names Ramakrishna Paramahamsa as the Second greatest influence in His life next to Arunagiri Yogishwara. This talk is titled, "Source Of Tyaga Is Directly The Prana Of Paramashiva"
- On 16 December 2012, HDH speaks on the Raw Authenticity of Sri Ramakrishna which manifested in His life in so many divine manifestations through the worship of Kali and his own spiritual experiences. https://nithyanandapedia.org/wiki/December_16_2012_-_1
- In this talk HDH speaks on the greatness of the enlightenment eco-system which Ramakrishna Paramahamsa manifested around through the sanyasis of Ramakrishna Order. He recommends the tamil translation of the book Brahma sutra published by Swami Ashutoshananda. https://nithyanandapedia.org/wiki/January_19_2020
- In this talk, HDH speaks on the power of initiation. HDH gives the example of when one of Ramakrishna's devotees came to him and asked to heal him from alcoholism. Ramakrishna tells him to offer little alcohol to Kali and he will stop drinking. Just as he told, the devotee did and was immediately not able to drink. https://nithyanandapedia.org/wiki/September_22_2011
- In this talk, HDH narrates an example from Ramakrishna's life on the power of following Dharma. This story gives us an example of how Ramakrishna Paramahamsa has influenced HDH'S life. https://nithyanandapedia.org/wiki/February_07_2012
- In this talk from 10 May 2014 on "What is The DNA of Enlightenment HDH" explains that after analyzing the life of Ramakrishna, his power was not in his oration skills but the pure consciousness radiating from him. https://nithyanandapedia.org/wiki/May_10_2014
- On 6 August 2014 in the talk "Carry the space of completion", HDH speaks on the greatness of Swami Vivekananda, whom he says is the only one he calls as "Swamiji". https://nithyanandapedia.org/wiki/August_06_2013
- On 21 November 2013, HDH speaks on Ramakrishna's own veneration of the sanyas sampraya and tradition. He recalls that that though Ramakrishna is a grihasta he himself still tells that "A failed sanyasi is a thousand times better than a successful grihasta". HDH commends Ramakrishna Paramahamsa for how he supported and created the ecosystem for sanyasis to live in this talk titled " sannyas brings out the best in you"
Reverence for Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
The Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism reveres and worships Ramakrishna Paramahamsa with gratitude toward his immense contribution to Hindus and to the world. From a young age of 13-14, the Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism read the books Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna and Ramakrishna the Great Master and sincerely imbibed the teachings from Ramakrishna's discourses and his life. He says that He was so moved and inspired by these books, SPH learned Bengali just to read Ramakrishna Paramahamsa's words in their original form.
"There is a beautiful book called Sri Sri Ramakrishna Punthi in Bengali. In English it is translated as ‘Portrait of Sri Ramakrishna’, and I started learning, reading and writing Bengali just to read this book, and my Sannyas Guru Hamsananda Puri he was staying in place called Tel Ghat in Calcutta. There was a huge company or Burn Standard Motors, I forgot company name. In front of that company there is a small Ghat called Tail Ghat where he used to stay. He is old person who can’t read. He was too old, I think he must be at least above one hundred. Only above hundred we call old in India, and he can’t read. He will ask me, “Hey, read this Ramakrishna Punthi” and I still remember how just in few hours, in forty eight hours, he just literally blessed Me to read and write Bengali and still I remember some of the lines…
Jai jai ramakrishna vanja kalapatru
Ja jai ramakrishna jagater guru
Jai jai ramakrishna shabaya sharana Ishta gosti gaan
It’s an inaugural verse.
I bow down to Ramakrishna who is vanja kalapatru.
I bow down to Ramakrishna who is Jagater Guru, means the Universal Guru.
Jai jai ramakrishna Ishta gosti gaan shabaya sharana renu maager-adam
-- The Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism "Why Do Hindus Offer Milk and Ghee on Shiva Linga"
Upon his own gurus leaving the body in 1995, their final guidance was for SPH to begin the revival of KAILASA by volunteering in The Ramakrishna Mutt of Mylapore Chennai. In the second half of 1995 he began living and serving there itself. From 1995-1998, the Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism became a highly responsible member of the Ramakrishna Mutt and demonstrated the peak authenticity in action by serving the elderly dedicated sadhus of the order, such as Swami Ranganathanandaji and Swami Kamalatmanandaji, managing the Annalaya and publications and archives departments of the establishment.
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HDH in Sri Ramakrishna Mutt in Mylapore Chennai in 1996
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HDH along with Swami Ranganathanandaji (who is the senior Swami seated next to HDH) along with other initiates during the Mantra Deeksha
Serving Swami Ranganathanandaji
In 1996, the Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism received mantra deeksha from Swami Ranganathanandaji the 13th President Ramakrishna Mutt and the Ramakrishna Mission upon joining the Ramakrishna Mutt. From 1997-1998, HDH personally served and worked as His first assistant. HDH regards Swami Ranganathanandaji as a spiritual giant of the modern day, who lived radiating the energy of Sri Ramakrishna Himself. At one point, HDH recalls receiving the famous verse from Bhagavad Gita, "Yogaha Karmasu Koushalam" meaning "Yoga is Efficiency in Action" from Swami Ranganathanandaji as an initiation. As this was an initiation received by Swami Ranganathanandaji, HDH lovingly adopts the Bengali pronunciation of the verse and says instead "Yogaha Karmasu Kouchalam".
References
- HDH speaks on the initiation which He received from Swami Ranganathanandaji in the talk "Yoga is Perfection in Action" which He delivered as apart of the Bhagavad Gita series https://nithyanandapedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita_-_Yoga_is_Perfection_in_Action
Photographs with Swami Ranganathanandaji
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1998 || HDH and Swami Ranganathanandaji
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1998 | HDH along with monastic members of the Sri Ramakrishna Order. Here, HDH is seated at the center alongside Swami Ranganathanandaji.
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1998 || HDH among the Ramakrishna Order of Sanyasis and Brahmacharis
In 1998, the Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism moved from the Chennai Mutt to Belur. From Belur, SPH studied under the tutelege of and served the great sadhu Hamsananda Puri until he left the body. In 1999, SPH would go on to continue his work for the Revival of KAILASA. Before leaving the body Hamsananda Puri gave sanyas to HDH and coronated Him as the leader and reviver of Kashi Sarvajnapeetham.
In 2000, after SPH experienced the First Great Pause, where the superconsciousness began radiating from Him much more intensely, SPH took up leading the revival of the enlightened civilization in a grand and organized way.
References
- In the talk "How to Become a Hero" on 20th August 2020, HDH recalls how His guru Mataji Vibhutananda Puri had guided him to join the Ramakrishna Mutt after His guru left the body. He narrates am incident which happened as He was volunteering there as well as His close relationship with Swami Kamalatmanandaji https://nithyanandapedia.org/wiki/August_20_2020
- In this talk from 31 December 2019, HDH explains that when He left Ramakrishna Mission, He was fulfilled with His purpose there. https://nithyanandapedia.org/wiki/Dec_31_2019
- Before leaving to join the Ramakrishna Mission, HDH recalls He had the darshan of Ramakrishna and felt closely connected to him. Even when He felt the connection was weakened when He had join the Mutt, He says that when He accepted the system which was in place He did not have that feeling anymore and could keep His personal love and devotion to Ramakrishna unperturbed https://nithyanandapedia.org/wiki/September_19_2012
Ramakrishna Dhyanapeetam
On the 14th April of 2001, with gratitude to his own guru, SPH inaugurated the first Kailasa, where he constructed the first temple-monastery complex under the name "Ramakrishna Dhyanapeetham", establishing Ramakrishna as one of the gurus in the Guru Parampara of SPH for the millions of disciples and followers all over the world.
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Ramakrishna Dhyanapeetham, sign board on the first construction which He personally built.