Shri Ramakrishna (1836-1886) was one of the greatest spiritual giants India has seen. Throughout his life he thought and practiced truth, universality, love and purity.

Born in a village Kamarpukur outside Calcutta, He was inclined towards a spiritual life right from his childhood and it intensified as he grew older. Later he became a temple priest, he was seized by an unquenchable thirst for union with God, and he immersed himself in intense meditation and other spiritual practices. Shri Ramakrishna was constantly absorbed in the thought of God. He would often go into high spiritual states where he would merge with the Infinite Reality. For him, the Vedantic teaching of unity of all existence was more than theory; he literally saw, and knew, this to be true. In his thirst for the divine, Ramakrishna followed different religious paths including various branches of Hinduism. Not content to stop there however, he also practised Islam and later meditated deeply on the Christ, experiencing the same divine Reality through these non-Hindu paths. Thus, he came to the conclusion, based on his direct experience, that all religions lead to the same goal.

Ramakrishna’s love for humanity was limitless. He often said human beings were the highest manifestations of God. To make this highest manifestation get right opportunity we have pledged our self for serving humanity. Service to God in humankind is one of the foremost ideals which we believe and practice.


Sri Sharada Devi

Sri Sarada Devi (1853-1920) was Sri Ramakrishna’s wife and spiritual counterpart and well known as “Holy Mother” for the love and guidance she has bestowed. 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 to join her husband, who lived some sixty miles away, near Calcutta.

By that time Sri Ramakrishna had dedicated his body and mind to the spiritual search and lived the life of a monk. Yet he received Saradadevi very kindly, feeling that Divine Providence had brought her. After nursing her to recovery from an illness contracted on the journey, Sri Ramakrishna one day asked her why she had come to join him. She replied that she had come only to help him in his chosen way, which–as she well knew–meant the way of complete renunciation of all earthly ties for the sake of God-realization. Thus she became his first disciple.

Within the ambience of her natural simplicity and modesty, she set a unique example of an ideal disciple, nun, wife, teacher, and also mother to her countless spiritual children. Her unconditional love and selfless service overwhelmed those who associated with her. All were her children irrespective of nationality, religious affiliation, or social position. No one was ever turned away. She accepted all.


Sri Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) was the foremost disciple of Sri Ramakrishna and a world spokesperson for Vedanta. He always thought universal principles rather than personalities, so we find little mention of Shri Ramakrishna in his teachings. His call for the youth and confidence in the human manifestation always inspires us and have been the motivational factor for every task or service we do.

Swami Vivekananda represented Hinduism at the first World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 where he was an instant success. Subsequently he was invited to speak all over America and Europe. He was a man with a great spiritual presence and tremendous intellect. Most of the Vedanta Societies, which were founded in America and Europe through the 1930s, can trace their origins directly to Vivekananda or the people who heard him speak from 1893 through 1900.