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R.K BIOGRAPHY

Ramakrishna Parmahamsa is perhaps the best known saint of nineteenth century India. Rama krishna was born in a poor Brahmin family in 1836, in a small town near Calcutta, West Bengal. As a young man, rama krishna was artistic and a popular storyteller and actor. His parents were religious, and prone to visions and spiritual dreams. Ramakrishna's father had a vision of the god Gadadhara (Vishnu) while on a religious pilgrimage. In the vision, the god told him that he would be born into the family as a son.

Young Ramakrishna was prone to experiences of spiritual reverie and temporary loss of consciousness. His early spiritual experiences included going into a state of rapture while watching the flight of a cranes, and loosing consciousness of the outer world while playing the role of the god Shiva in a school play.

Ramakrishna had little interest in school or practical things of the world. In 1866, rama krishna became a priest at a recently dedicated temple to the Goddess Kali located near Calcutta on the Ganges River. It was built by a pious widow, Rani Rasmani. Ramakrishna became a full-time devotee to the goddess spending increasing amounts of time giving offerings and meditating on her. Rama krishna meditated in a sacred grove of five trees on the edge of the temple grounds seeking a vision of the goddess Kali.

At one point he became frustrated, feeling he could not live any longer without seeing Kali. Rama krishna demanded that the goddess appear to him. He threatened to take his own life with a ritual dagger (normally held in the hand of the Kali statue). At this point, he explained how the goddess appeared to him as an ocean of light:

When I jumped up like a madman and seized [a sword], suddenly the blessed Mother revealed herself. The buildings with their different parts, the temple, and everything vanished from my sight, leaving no trace whatsoever, and in their stead I saw a limitless, infinite, effulgent Ocean of Consciousness. As far as the eye could see, the shining billows were madly rushing at me from all sides with a terrific noise, to swallow me up. I was caught in the rush and collapsed, unconscious … within me there was a steady flow of undiluted bliss, altogether new, and I felt the presence of the Divine Mother.

Mahendranath Gupta, Ramakrsna Kathamrta translated by Swami Nikhilananda as The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (Mylapore: Sri Ramakrsna Math, 1952), Book 1, p. 15

Ramakrishna's behavior became more erratic as time passed and began to worry his family and employer. Rama krishna would take on ritual and mythical roles identifying with figures from the Puranas (medieval Indian holy books describing the adventures of gods). Rama krishna parents found him a wife hoping his mental instability was a result of his celibacy.

About this time, an elderly holy woman named Bhairavi Brahmani appeared and determined that Ramakrishna's madness was "spiritual madness" rather than ordinary madness. Rama krishna was literally mad for the vision of God. She convened a group of respected religious leaders who examined Ramakrishna's symptoms. They concluded that this was a case of divine madness similar in nature to that of other famous saints such as Caitanya (a fifteenth century Bengali saint). From this point on, people began to treat Ramakrishna with more respect though his unusual behavior in worship and meditation continued. The holy women stayed with Ramakrishna for some time teaching him yogic and tantric meditation techniques.

A yogin named Totapuri then became Ramakrishna's mentor. He adopted the role of renunciant and learned a nondualist form of Vedanta philosophy from him. In this system, God is understood to be the formless unmanifest energy that supports the cosmos. He experienced a deep form of trance (nirvilkalpa samadhi) under the guidance of this teacher. This state can be described as complete absorption of the soul into the divine ocean of consciousness.

Disciples began to appear at this point in Ramakrishna's life. He embarked on a long period of teaching where he gathered a group of disciples around him. This period of his life is well documented by two sets of books written by his disciples. These references are listed below.

Ramakrishna explained on different occasions that god is both formed and formless and can appear to the devotee either way. Rama krishna often asked visitors whether they conceived of god as having qualities or as being beyond qualities. Rama krishna then proceeded to teach the devotee according to the way he or she viewed the divine. His acceptance of different approaches to the worship of God and the validity of different religious paths, such as Christianity and Islam, is in the best tradition of the universalist approach to religion common throughout India today.

One extraordinary quality of Ramakrishna's message was its universal appeal to a broad cross section of Indian society. In the West, religions like Christianity and Judaism tend to be exclusive, and find the contradictions that arise from a religion that is too broad to be objectionable. If one religious approach is right, the others must be wrong.

However, the Indian mind tends to more readily accept someone like Ramakrishna who preaches universality of religion and accepts and even promotes individuality in the seeker's approach to God. This is illustrated by Ramakrishna describing God as a mother who cooks fish differently for her children according to their tastes, temperaments, and their ability to digest different types of dishes. For Ramakrishna, God is both the mother of the universe and of individual souls who are her children. In India, a mother is often idealized as one who sacrifices herself for her children and goes to great lengths to satisfy them, and bring them happiness. God, as a Mother, therefore makes different religions and belief systems according to each person's needs and tastes.

In terms of mass appeal to different classes of society, His message appealed to the upper classes who are likely to follow a Vedantist or philosophical approach to religion by sometimes describing God as a non-dual formless essence.

His description of Kali as an ocean of light had much in common with the ocean of Brahman that the Brahmins (the traditional priest caste) seek to encounter when they are initiated into the Gayatri mantra, or the mantra of the sun. One divine ocean of consciousness may be difficult to distinguish from another.

Ramakrishna also appealed to those with an interest in yoga and esoteric practices by practicing a non-dual form of meditation prescribed by Totapuri which seeks samadhi.

The most popular religious practice by far in India is bhakti, or devotion to a deity. Ramakrishna's message was welcomed by both the rural and urban religious people who did puja to different deities. As an example, Ramakrishna worshipped the divine mother Kali as a protective and benevolent deity (Kali also has a fierce and destructive side which she generally does not show to those who worship her). These devotees saw him as a great teacher and bhakta who sang the names of God and talked incessantly about God. They too did puja and sang the names of their chosen deities in hopes of having healthy children, getting good jobs or marriages, producing a plentiful harvest, or entering into the deity's paradise after death. Ramakrishna believed the sincere devotee could even hope for a vision or dream of the divine mother or other deity. Though he was devoted to Kali, he showed respect and gave guidance to many visitors who worshiped other gods and spoke highly of the past Indian saints who were devoted to other deities.

Those who followed the Vedic prescription of religious universalism summed up in the phrase "There is but one Truth, but sages call it by different names" noted that Ramakrishna practiced the rituals of many religions, and found that they all brought him to the same divine reality in the end. For those who worshiped many different saints and deities throughout India, this universal approach echoed their own multi-faceted religious practices.

Finally, for those with a strong sense of Hindu nationalism, Ramakrishna's chief disciple, Swami Vivekananda, entered onto the world stage by doing a keynote address at the World Parliament of Religions meeting in Chicago in 1893, and he electrified his audience. Hindus for generations could point to their indigenous traditions with pride after his exemplary speech.

Vivekananda also promoted a more activist form of Hinduism, which focused on education, feeding the poor, and developing libraries and other institutions. His works were a way of showing Hindus that it was not only the Christian missionaries that could benefit society, but that Hindu religion was also valuable with respect to improving society and combating social ills.

Ramakrishna died of cancer of the throat in 1886, leaving his wife Sarada Devi who was considered a saint in her own right to take charge of his disciples and carry on his message.

Ramakrishna and Psychological Reductionism

An unusual development in modern attempts to understand Ramakrishna’s life has been the recent application of psychoanalytic theory to his experience. While a large majority of psychologists consider psychoanalytic theory to be discredited, historians of religion have resuscitated this moribund methodology in an attempt to explain the existence of Ramakrishna’s mystical experience. Though numerous psychologists and writers have been doing this kind of psychological reductionism over the years, it has recently been done with a major focus on sexual abuse. One author has claimed that Ramakrishna's mystical states (and through generalization all mystical states) are a pathological response to alleged childhood sexual trauma.

There are, however, some serious problems with the attempt to apply this form of psychological reductionism to Ramakrishna. First, the most recent proponent and popularizer of this theory is not a psychologist and has no formal training in psychoanalytic (or any clinical) theory. Second, he is doing his analysis based on a set of biographical texts rather than direct contact with an individual patient in a clinical environment. Psychoanalysis is a highly interactive process, and analysis of textual data cannot begin to approximate the complex and detailed information provided by the one-on-one relationship that develops between patient and analyst. Applying the psychoanalytic method to one or more texts about a person is therefore likely to result in a failure to understand the patient. Third, the author is working in a thoroughly non-western culture where is it highly questionable whether Western psychoanalytic theory even applies. Fourth, the author has been shown to have difficulty understanding the nuances of the Bengali culture in general as well as the Bengali language in which Ramakrishna's biographical texts are written. He spent a mere eight months in West Bengal most of it apparently in libraries and on this basis makes grandiose claims about understanding both the mind and cultural environment of the renowned saint.

Also the Bengali language is rich with meaning and many words and idioms have literally dozens of definitions and interpretations. So a scholar doing translation can easily intentionally distort meanings by looking at a long list of possible definitions and choose the most lurid and sexually-oriented interpretation. But even if we assume good faith on the part of scholars, this limited exposure to the language makes them subject to serious errors in translation and to misinterpretation of both historical and textual data.

These would be serious problems even if psychoanalysis was supported by a great deal of experimental data and was a widely accepted and respected theory in psychology. Combining them with the fact that psychoanalytic theory is disrespected and ignored by most of today’s psychologists seems to call the whole reductionist enterprise into question.

This work is a recent addition to a long series of psycho-biographies in which the biographer sees every virtue in their subject as a secret vice or weakness. Thus the great people of history become either traumatized victims, or master manipulators and con men.

The fact that some respected historians of religion have eagerly embraced this antiquated Freudian methodology in an attempt to understand Ramakrishna and mystical phenomena in general is an indication that the field may be in trouble. Historians of religion and those in the field of religious studies who grant awards to books based on cultural and psychoanalytic illiteracy seem to be at a loss to find a better methodology by which to understand saints and their religious experience.

Shortly after Sri Ramakrishna’s Mahasamadhi in August 1886, a monastic order bearing his name was formed by his sannyasin disciples headed by Swami Vivekananda, in pursuance of Sri Ramakrishna’s instructions. The first math (monastery) at Baranagar (near Kolkata) had a very humble beginning in a small rented house. The life therein was not only austere but also full of hardships. In 1899, the Ramakrishna Math was moved to its present home at Belur, on the western bank of Ganges, about six kms. north of Kolkata. It was registered as a Trust in 1901. The Ramakrishna Mission was started by Swami Vivekananda in May 1897 and was registered in 1909 under the Societies Act XXI of 1860

The Ramakrishna Math and Mission, excluding the Headquarters at Belur Math, have 171 centers (128 in India and 43 in other countries), spread over different parts of the world. The main goals and objectives of these twin organizations, based on the principle of Practical Vedanta, are:

To spread the idea of the potential divinity of every being and how to manifest it through every action and thought.
To spread the idea of harmony of religions based on Sri Ramakrishna’s experience that all religions lead to the realization of the same Reality known by different names in different religions. The Math and Mission honour and revere the founders of all world religions such as Buddha, Christ and Mohammed.
To treat all work as worship, and service to man as service to God.
To make all possible attempts to alleviate human suffering by spreading education, rendering medical service, extending help to villagers through rural development centres, etc.
To work for the all-round welfare of humanity, especially for the uplift of the poor and the downtrodden.
To develop harmonious personalities by the combined practice of Jnana, Bhakti, Yoga and Karma.

Though Ramakrishna Math and Mission with their respective branches are distinct legal entities, they are closely related, in as much as the Governing Body of the Mission is made up of the Trustees of the Math. The administrative work of the Mission is mostly carried out by the monks of Ramakrishna Math, and both have their Headquarters at Belur Math. Though both the organizations undertake charitable and philanthropic activities, the former lays emphasis on the training of the monastic members and on religious preaching while the latter is devoted mainly to welfare services of various kinds actuated by a spiritual outlook. Man is to be served not only as a fellow being, but as the greatest manifestation of the Divine. However, the name ‘Ramakrishna Mission’ is loosely associated by people with Math activities also. It is necessary, moreover, to point out that the appropriation of the name of Sri Ramakrishna or Swami Vivekananda by an institution does not necessarily imply that it is affiliated either to Ramakrishna Math or Mission which have their Headquarters at Belur Math (P.O. Belur Math, Dt. Howrah, India-711202).

Rama krishna Math and the Mission own separate funds and keep separate accounts. Though the Math and the Mission receive grants from the Central and State Governments and Public Bodies for their social and welfare activities, the other activities of the Math are financed from the offerings received, sale of publications, etc. and the Mission is supported by fees from students (wherever Mission centre run schools), public donations, etc. The accounts of both the Math and the Mission are annually audited by qualified auditors.

Branch Centers

As of March 2011 excluding the Headquarters at Belur, there are 172 branches, of which 75 are Mission centers, 69 Math centers and 28 combined Math and Mission centers. Out of 172 centers, 129 centers are located in India and 43 are abroad. Moreover, there were 33 sub-centers attached to different branches where monastic workers reside permanently.

Besides maintaining a number of ashramas and temples with their programmes of worship, religious services and preaching, Ramakrishna Math and the Mission run several schools, colleges, libraries, students’ homes, sevashramas (hospitals) with indoor facilities, clinics, dispensaries, rural and tribal development centres, homes for the invalid, etc. In addition, there are many centers run by lay devotees in many States in India under different names associated with Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda, especially in those areas where Ramakrishna Math or Mission do not have any official center.

The Ramakrishna Movement has contributed largely for the uplift of the downtrodden. Its services, especially in the fields of education, health and relief work in times of distress are well-known.

Emblem of Ramakrishna Mission

The common emblem of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission is a symbolic representation of their ideology. It was originally drawn by Swami Vivekananda himself. The wavy waters represent Karma, the lotus represents Bhakti, the rising sun represnts Jnana, the encircling serpent represents Yoga, and the Swan represents Paramatman, the Supreme Self. The idea of the emblem is that, by a synthesis of all the four Yogas, the Supreme Self is realized.

Motto of Ramakrishna Math and Mission

The motto of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission is: ātmano mokṣartham jagad hitāya cha, “For one’s own liberation, and for the welfare of the world”.