While in ecstasy Sri Ramakrishna's behavior would often be mysterious. One day in such a mood, he sat on the lap of a young man, Sharat Chandra by name, and remarked, `I was testing how much weight he could bear'. This Sharat Chandra who was later known as `Swami Saradananda' successfully bore the burden of running Sri Ramakrishna Math and Mission as its (General) Secretary for nearly three decades.

Sharat Chandra Chakravarti (b. 23rd December 1865) was born at Calcutta in a rich and orthodox Brahmin family. He and Shashi, who later became Swami Ramakrishnananda, were not only cousins and family friends but also studied together at the Metropolitan College of Calcutta.

The first contact of the two cousins with Sri Ramakrishna during October 1883 -- was a turning point in their lives. Friendship with Narendranath (Swami Vivekananda) gave a further fillup to their spiritual and monastic aspirations.

Sharat, who was an adept in serving the sick, both by temperament and by experience, was one of the few important disciples of Sri Ramakrishna who nursed him during his fatal illness. After his passing away, Sharat too joined the select band of monastics under the leadership of Narendra and became `Swami Saradananda'.

Like his other monastic brothers, Swami Saradananda also spent a few years as an itinerant
monk practising severe austerities. However, when Swami Vivekananda called him for continuing his work in the West, Saradananda went to London first and later to New York for the same. While he was proving to be a great success in the West, especially due to his spiritual attainments, he was recalled to India in 1898 by Swami Vivekananda to take over the executive responsibility of the Sri Ramakrishna Math and Mission as its (General) Secretary in which capacity he served till his last day.

The way he served Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother, was a model par excellence for anyone to emulate, In order to build a residence for her at Calcutta which would also house the office of the Udbodhan, the Bengali Monthly of the Ramakrishna Order, he labored hard. To repay the debts he had incurred in doing so, he wrote the now monumental work Sri Ramakrishna Lilaprasanga (`Sri Ramakrishna, the Great Master').

The Swami was as learned as he was spiritual. His courtesy and gentleness were so overwhelming that even the rudest of men would melt into submission. Equanimity and coolheadedness, even under very trying circumstances, were another remarkable characteristic of his.

Soon after successfully convening the Ramakrishna Mission Convention at Belur Math in 1926, he took ill and shuffled off the mortal coil on the 19th August 1927.

Teachings

Through selfless work the mind gets purified. And when the mind becomes pure, there arise knowledge and devotion in it.

Whatever work stands in the way of God-realization and increases discontent is bad work. You should wholly discard it.

The Ramakrishna Mission does not like to express any opinion, good or bad, about political discussions, for the Master did not instruct us to do anything of the kind, and Swamiji asked the Mission to keep itself aloof from such effort. That is why the Mission has been all along engaging itself in spirituality and service to humanity.

Now-a-days there are so many religious societies, but people lose all interest in them after a few days. What is the reason for this? The reason is our words are not in accord with our thoughts. The first step in religion is to be sincere to the core.

Nityaniranjan Ghosh, more commonly known as Niranjan, was probably born in village Rajahat-Vishnupur ( Bengal), but lived in Calcutta with his uncle. Physically well-built and majestic in appearance, he had somehow become associated with a group of spiritualists who has found in him a very good medium. Having heard about the great spiritual power of Sri Ramakrishna, Niranjan came to Dakshineswar one day. During this very first visit, the great Master told him, `My boy! If you think of ghosts and spooks, ghost and spook will you become! But if you think of God, divine will be your life. Which do you prefer ?' And this converted him from spiritualism to spiritual life. Though frank and open-hearted, he was subject to loosing temper and consequently all sense of proportions. Sri Ramakrishna took special care to help him overcome this weakness. Niranjan was one of the few who served the Master day and night during his illness. After his demise he took sannyasa along with others and became `Swami Niranjananda'. He was mainly instrumental in getting the major portion of the ashes of Sri Ramakrishna, to be later interred at the new Math built by Swami Vivekananda. He has a deep devotion for the Holy Mother. Though tender at heart, he could be fiercely stern in the face of hypocrisy. He breathed his last on the 9th may 1904.

Nityaniranjan Ghosh, more commonly known as Niranjan, was probably born in village Rajahat-Vishnupur ( Bengal), but lived in Calcutta with his uncle. Physically well-built and majestic in appearance, he had somehow become associated with a group of spiritualists who has found in him a very good medium. Having heard about the great spiritual power of Sri Ramakrishna, Niranjan came to Dakshineswar one day. During this very first visit, the great Master told him, `My boy! If you think of ghosts and spooks, ghost and spook will you become! But if you think of God, divine will be your life. Which do you prefer ?' And this converted him from spiritualism to spiritual life. Though frank and open-hearted, he was subject to loosing temper and consequently all sense of proportions. Sri Ramakrishna took special care to help him overcome this weakness. Niranjan was one of the few who served the Master day and night during his illness. After his demise he took sannyasa along with others and became `Swami Niranjananda'. He was mainly instrumental in getting the major portion of the ashes of Sri Ramakrishna, to be later interred at the new Math built by Swami Vivekananda. He has a deep devotion for the Holy Mother. Though tender at heart, he could be fiercely stern in the face of hypocrisy. He breathed his last on the 9th may 1904.

Though counted among the disciples of Sri Ramakrishna and guided by him, Swami Yogananda was the first initiated disciple of Sri Sarada Devi, popularly known as the `Holy Mother.' Like the Mother whom he served meticulously with matchless devotion, his life was very unobtrusive for all outward appearances but very deep in inner mystic experiences, of which he sometimes gave a hint or two. Born in 1861 in an orthodox Brahmin family which was in indigent circumstances but had once been aristocratic and rich, Yogindra - the premonastic name of the Swami -- was by nature indrawn, gentle and shy. The desire to pluck a nice flower in Dakshineswar garden brought him face to face with Sri Ramakrishna whom Yogin mistook for gardener working there! He got the flower all right, but in the process, himself became a `flower plant' to be tended by a great gardener of lives. Though married, the world could never drag his mind down to worldliness. Just as pure gold cannot be shaped into ornaments but has got to be alloyed with a small quantity of other metals, Sri Ramakrishna had to `alloy' him with a bit of harshness to counter his too gentle a personality that could not last in this mundane world. But the disciple was not a goody goody simpleton. He could exercise his highly critical discernment even against his own guru or leader ( Swami Vivekananda ) when he thought it necessary. He was a good organizer. He had successfully attracted and inspired many a young man to the monastic life. He was extraordinarily devoted to the Holy Mother whom he served till the last day of his life. His congenitally frail constitution could not stand the rigors he chose to impose upon himself resulting in a rather premature death on March 28, 1899.

The name `Swami Premananda' given to Baburam by Swami Vivekananda at the time of accepting the monastic orders, was a true reflection of his basic trait universal love. Born to affluent parents on December 10, 1861, Baburam completed his early schooling in his village of Antpur (Bengal), came to Calcutta for higher education and joined the Metropolitan Institution. There he had the privilege of having Sri `M' ( Mahendranath Gupta ), the celebrated author of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna as his Headmaster and Rakhal ( Swami Brahmananda) as his class-mate. It was the latter who was instrumental in taking Baburam to Sri Ramakrishna. Sri Ramakrishna examined Baburam's features in his own, rather queer, way and was satisfied about his high spiritual potentialities. Increased contacts with Sri Ramakrishna intensified Baburam's inherent spiritual thirst which had been manifesting itself even from his childhood. After the passing away of Sri Ramakrishna, Baburam, along with his brother-disciples like Narendranath ( Swami Vivekananda ) and Rakhal embrace the monastic life, becoming `Swami Premananda.' He spent most of his life in the monasteries at Baranagore, Alambazar and Belur taking care of worship, internal management and training of the new monastic recruits. His innate motherly love endeared him to one and all. Many a young man was reformed by his golden touch. During his later sojourn in several parts of Bengal, especially in East Bengal ( present Bangladesh ), he inspired the youth to be useful to the society by voluntary service. Though a man of high spiritual attainments, he was wont to hiding them and very reticent in giving expression to them. The deadly disease of Kala Azar took him on the 30th July 1918.

Teachings

To follow the Master means to practise what he taught; otherwise nobody can advance by just offering to him a few flowers or through some momentary sentimental outbursts.

Can one become a great devotee of God simply by dancing and jumping or by quoting plentifully from the scriptures? What is wanted is freedom from selfishness - freedom from egotism... Mere talk will not do, this is an age of action.

Not mere theory; actualize it - there has been enough talk and writing. Put the books aside and let your actions speak. This is what the lives of the Master and Swamiji stand for.

The poor, the weak, the fallen, the ignorant - all these you have to make your own. And yet I warn you, that in loving one section of society you must not become hateful of the other, the rich.

Swami Brahmananda, the `Spiritual Son' of Sri Ramakrishna was the first president of the Ramakrishna Order. Known as Rakhal Chandra Ghosh in his premonastic days, he was born at Sikra, a village near Calcutta, on the 21st January 1863, of aristocratic parents. During the High School days of Calcutta he came into contact with Narendranath ( Swami Vivekananda ) which developed into an intimate lifelong friendship.Even from his child hood days he was given to devotional moods bordering on mysticism, which naturally led to indifference to studies. His father got him married at an early age to ward off the religious pursuits from his mind and fix him up in the world. Strange to say, this very tie of marriage brought him to Sri Ramakrishna who at once recognized in him his `spiritual Son' as per the vision vouchsafed to him by the Divine Mother. Thus started a course of spiritual intimacy and intensive training under the loving care of the Guru, which resulted in several exalted mystic moods and spiritual experiences. After the passing away of Sri Ramakrishna, Rakhal , along with Narendra and other brother-disciples, embraced monastic life under the name `Swami Brahmananda.' He spent several years as a wandering monk, visiting places of pilgrimage and practicing severe austerities. A little before the return of Swami Vivekananda from the West, he came back to the Baranagore Math and started living there. After his return and establishing the Ramakrishna Mission, Swami Vivekananda made over the responsibility of running the organization, to him remembering that Sri Ramakrishna had once remarked that Rakhal had the capacity to rule a kingdom. His uncanny sense in solving even knotty problem and spiritual eminence of Himalayan heights took the organization to new levels of glory and development. It was a long stewardship marked by work and worship remarkably blended together. During his tenure as the Head, he also guided many earnest spiritual seekers by taking them under his protection, thus fulfilling Swami Vivekananda's prophetic remark that Swami Brahmananda was veritably a spiritual dynamo. He passed away on 10th April 1922.

Teachings

Initiation into a mantra helps concentration of mind; otherwise your mind will change and fluctuate.

The mind is susceptible to suggestions. It learns whatever you teach it. If through discrimination you can impress upon it the joy and fullness of life in the spirit and the folly of worldly attachments, then your mind will devote itself more and more to God.

The way of steadying and purifying the mind is to retire into solitude, control all cravings and engage yourself in contemplation and meditation.

Work and worship must go hand in hand... Why are you afraid of work? Work for Him. You can overcome all disinclination for work if you consider it as dedication to God.

Swami Vivekananda

(1863 - 1902)

Swami Vivekananda is just another name for the phenomenon that exploded on the Indian scene towards the end of the nineteenth century and restored the self-confidence and self-respect of a nation that had been badly mauled for millennia. Born on the 12th January 1863, of an intellectual but compassionate father and a deeply religious mother, Narendranath - that was his original name - got a good education and cultural training under them. An innate desire for spiritual perfection brought him into contact with Sri Ramakrishna in the early part of 1882. The next four and a half years - until the Mahasamadhi of Sri Ramakrishna - were marked by turbulence and turmoil, the direct result of the perfect Master chiselling and shaping the perfect disciple, but ending in total submission of the latter to the former. As per the specific direction of his guru, Narendra along with the other young men who were his co-disciples, took to monastic orders and found a monastery in his guru's name at Baranagore (Calcutta) in 1886. Setting out on pilgrimage, mostly as a wandering monk, he finally arrived at Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of the Indian soil, sometime during 1892. There, while meditating on the rock inside the sea, the mission of his life was revealed to him. Then, things moved quickly. Setting sail for America on the 31st May 1893, he created history at the World Parliament of Religions held at Chicago during September of the same year. After whirlwind tours in America and England, he triumphantly returned to India via Colombo on the 15th January 1897. During the next five years he literally shook the Indian nation to its foundations, electrifying it to dynamic self-expression, through his speeches and writings as also conversations. These have been compiled and published in eight volumes, now well-known as `The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda.' They contain, as he himself once remarked, enough messages for a millennia. He formally established the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897 and consecrated the newly built Belur Math, the Head-quarters of the Ramakrishna Monastery, in 1899. He shuffled off the mortal coil on the 4th of July 1902. His was a multifaceted personality - a prophet, a patriot, a monk, a yogi, a social reformer, an educationalist, an artist, a poet and a humanist - all rolled into one. His dynamic life and message gave a new direction to the resurgent India. His work is being continued today by the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission, the twin organizations that he established with the motto: Atmano mokshartham jagaddhitya ca, `For the sake of self-realization and the good of mankind.' The Math is unique in that it has charted new avenues in Indian monasticism. The Mission is an ideal service organization embodying the teachings of practical Vedanta.

Teachings

One way for attaining bhakti is by repeating the name of God a number of times. Mantras have effect - the mere repetition of words ... To obtain bhakti, seek the company of holy men who have bhakti and read books like the Gita.

Our first duty is not to hate ourselves; because to advance we must have faith in ourselves first and then in God. He who has no faith in himself can never have faith in God.

Every duty is holy, and devotion to duty is the highest form of worship of God.

Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man.

To me the very essence of education is concentration of mind, not the collecting of facts.

That society is the greatest, where the highest truths become practical.

Faith, faith, faith in ourselves, faith in God - this is the secret of greatness ... Have faith in yourselves, and stand up on that faith and be strong; that is what we need.

The Hindus were bold, to their credit be it said, bold thinkers in all their ideas, so bold that one spark of their thought frightens the so-called bold thinkers of the West.

In my opinion, a race must first cultivate a great respect for motherhood, through the sanctification and inviolability of marriage.

Renunciation and service are the twin ideals of India. Intensify her in these channels and the rest will take care of itself.