Sri
Ramakrishna, who was born in 1836 and passed away in 1886, represents
the very core of the spiritual realizations of the seers and sages of
India. His whole life was literally an uninterrupted contemplation of
God. He reached a depth of God-consciousness that transcends all time
and place and has a universal appeal. Seekers of God of all religions
feel irresistibly drawn to his life and teachings. Sri Ramakrishna,
as a silent force, influences the spiritual thought currents of our
time. He is a figure of recent history and his life and teachings have
not yet been obscured by loving legends and doubtful myths. Through
his God-intoxicated life Sri Ramakrishna proved that the revelation
of God takes place at all times and that God-realization is not the
monopoly of any particular age, country, or people. In him, deepest
spirituality and broadest catholicity stood side by side. The God-man
of nineteenth-century India did not found any cult, nor did he show
a new path to salvation. His message was his God-consciousness. When
God-consciousness falls short, traditions become dogmatic and oppressive
and religious teachings lose their transforming power. At a time when
the very foundation of religion, faith in God, was crumbling under the
relentless blows of materialism and skepticism, Sri Ramakrishna, through
his burning spiritual realizations, demonstrated beyond doubt the reality
of God and the validity of the time-honored teachings of all the prophets
and saviors of the past, and thus restored the falling edifice of religion
on a secure foundation. Drawn by the magnetism of Sri Ramakrishna's
divine personality, people flocked to him from far and near -- men and
women, young and old, philosophers and theologians, philanthropists
and humanists, atheists and agnostics, Hindus and Brahmos, Christians
and Muslims, seekers of truth of all races, creeds and castes. His small
room in the Dakshineswar temple garden on the outskirts of the city
of Calcutta became a veritable parliament of religions. Everyone who
came to him felt uplifted by his profound God-consciousness, boundless
love, and universal outlook. Each seeker saw in him the highest manifestation
of his own ideal. By coming near him the impure became pure, the pure
became purer, and the sinner was transformed into a saint. The greatest
contribution of Sri Ramakrishna to the modern world is his message of
the harmony of religions. To Sri Ramakrishna all religions are the revelation
of God in His diverse aspects to satisfy the manifold demands of human
minds. Like different photographs of a building taken from different
angles, different religions give us the pictures of one truth from different
standpoints. They are not contradictory but complementary. Sri Ramakrishna
faithfully practiced the spiritual disciplines of different religions
and came to the realization that all of them lead to the same goal.
Thus he declared, "As many faiths, so many paths." The paths
vary, but the goal remains the same. Harmony of religions is not uniformity;
it is unity in diversity. It is not a fusion of religions, but a fellowship
of religions based on their common goal -- communion with God. This
harmony is to be realized by deepening our individual God-consciousness.
In the present-day world, threatened by nuclear war and torn by religious
intolerance, Sri Ramakrishna's message of harmony gives us hope and
shows the way. May his life and teachings ever inspire us.
Swami Adiswarananda
Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of New York
Sri
Ramakrishna, who was born in 1836 and passed away in 1886, represents
the very core of the spiritual realizations of the seers and sages of
India. His whole life was literally an uninterrupted contemplation of
God. He reached a depth of God-consciousness that transcends all time
and place and has a universal appeal. Seekers of God of all religions
feel irresistibly drawn to his life and teachings. Sri Ramakrishna,
as a silent force, influences the spiritual thought currents of our
time. He is a figure of recent history and his life and teachings have
not yet been obscured by loving legends and doubtful myths. Through
his God-intoxicated life Sri Ramakrishna proved that the revelation
of God takes place at all times and that God-realization is not the
monopoly of any particular age, country, or people. In him, deepest
spirituality and broadest catholicity stood side by side. The God-man
of nineteenth-century India did not found any cult, nor did he show
a new path to salvation. His message was his God-consciousness. When
God-consciousness falls short, traditions become dogmatic and oppressive
and religious teachings lose their transforming power. At a time when
the very foundation of religion, faith in God, was crumbling under the
relentless blows of materialism and skepticism, Sri Ramakrishna, through
his burning spiritual realizations, demonstrated beyond doubt the reality
of God and the validity of the time-honored teachings of all the prophets
and saviors of the past, and thus restored the falling edifice of religion
on a secure foundation. Drawn by the magnetism of Sri Ramakrishna's
divine personality, people flocked to him from far and near -- men and
women, young and old, philosophers and theologians, philanthropists
and humanists, atheists and agnostics, Hindus and Brahmos, Christians
and Muslims, seekers of truth of all races, creeds and castes. His small
room in the Dakshineswar temple garden on the outskirts of the city
of Calcutta became a veritable parliament of religions. Everyone who
came to him felt uplifted by his profound God-consciousness, boundless
love, and universal outlook. Each seeker saw in him the highest manifestation
of his own ideal. By coming near him the impure became pure, the pure
became purer, and the sinner was transformed into a saint. The greatest
contribution of Sri Ramakrishna to the modern world is his message of
the harmony of religions. To Sri Ramakrishna all religions are the revelation
of God in His diverse aspects to satisfy the manifold demands of human
minds. Like different photographs of a building taken from different
angles, different religions give us the pictures of one truth from different
standpoints. They are not contradictory but complementary. Sri Ramakrishna
faithfully practiced the spiritual disciplines of different religions
and came to the realization that all of them lead to the same goal.
Thus he declared, "As many faiths, so many paths." The paths
vary, but the goal remains the same. Harmony of religions is not uniformity;
it is unity in diversity. It is not a fusion of religions, but a fellowship
of religions based on their common goal -- communion with God. This
harmony is to be realized by deepening our individual God-consciousness.
In the present-day world, threatened by nuclear war and torn by religious
intolerance, Sri Ramakrishna's message of harmony gives us hope and
shows the way. May his life and teachings ever inspire us.