“Suppose at the Name of the Lord your hair stands on end or tears of joy start from your eyes; verily I say unto you the term is over for your ‘work for the Lord.’” – Sri Ramakrishna (1836 – 1886).
These are the first words of the great Hindu saint Sri Ramakrishna chronicled by his future disciple, Mahendranath Gupta (M.) in the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. It is an extraordinary document of spirituality, which makes spirituality simple to practice for a person in any situation in life. Spirituality can be practiced while continuing to carry out the duties and responsibilities of life, but those duties are not the end of life. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna takes you where you stand and lifts you up one step at a time without stopping until you reach the highest heights of spirituality.
“Sandhya ends in Gayatri; Gayatri, in the simple symbol Om.”- Sri Ramakrishna
The drama of his banter, songs, preaching, ecstasy, worship, and love is vividly and minutely recorded by M. in the setting of Dakshineswar Temple and surrounding areas. Great monks, students, businessmen, meditators, and seekers of truth came to him and nobody went away empty-handed.
“Here the Gods are ministered unto from day to day — from morning till night. Here too holy men and the poor are daily fed out of the offerings made to the Deity.” – Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
The speaker’s introduction:
Swami Tattwamayananda, currently the Minister of the Vedanta Society of Northern California, San Francisco, (originally founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1900) served in various centers of the Ramakrishna Order in India as editor, publisher, and teacher of Sanskrit, Advaitic texts such as Sri Shankaracharya’s commentaries on the ‘Prasthanatraya’ (the fundamental Sanskrit texts of Vedanta philosophy), Buddhism and Indian philosophy. He underwent traditional training in Hindu scriptures, Sanskrit, Vedic and Vedantic literature for many years, from his early days. Before coming to the United States in January 2012 he was teaching Sanskrit, Vedantic scriptures and Indian philosophy at the Training center in Belur Math, the institution that trains the monks of the Ramakrishna Order at the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission, Kolkata, India. Apart from his traditional education, the Swami has also received modern University education in English literature, psychology, European history, and Western philosophy. He is frequently invited for lectures on Yoga, Vedanta, and traditional Hindu scriptures and for participating in interfaith dialogues.
Swami Tattwamayananda’s discourses were given at the Lake Tahoe Retreat “The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna: Finding Fulfillment in Everyday Life” (July 19-27, 2014). Discourses were also given at the New Temple of the Vedanta Society of Northern California, San Francisco (founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1900).
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Categories: Religion & Spirituality
