Biographical

There is an old story of a man who was a worshipper of Shiva.

A certain king used to inquire of all the Sannyasins that came to his country, "Which is the greater man--he who gives up the world and becomes a Sannyasin, or he who lives in the world and performs his duties as a householder?"

There was a great prophet in India, Guru Nanak, born 400 years ago. Some of you have heard of the Sikhs, the fighting people. He was a follower of the Sikh religion.

(As told to the opera singer, Emma Calve who was repulsed at the thought of the loss of her ego/individuality.(from her autobiography, My Life, 1922, Appleton)

When Buddha was born, he was so pure that whosoever looked at his face from a distance immediately gave up the ceremonial religion and became a monk and became saved. So the gods held a meeting. They said, 'We are undone.' Because most of the gods live upon the ceremonials. These sacrifices go

There was a king called Ashvapati. The king had a daughter, who was so good and beautiful that she was called Savitri, which is the name of a sacred prayer of the Hindus. When Savitri grew old enough, her father asked her to choose a husband for herself. These ancient Indian princesses were very ind

Hiranyakashipu was the king of the Daityas. The Daityas, though born of the same parentage as the Devas or gods, were always, at war with the latter. The Daityas had no part in the oblations and offerings of mankind, or in the government of the world and its guidance. But sometimes they waxed st

There was a great monarch named Bharata. The land which is called India by foreigners is known to her children as Bhârata Varsha. Now, it is enjoined on every Hindu when he becomes old, to give up all worldly pursuits — to leave the cares of the world, its wealth, happiness, and enjoyments to hi

To worship is inherent in every man's nature; only the highest philosophy can rise to pure abstraction. So man will ever personify his God in order to worship Him. This is very good, as long as the symbol, be it what it may, is worshipped as a symbol of the Divinity behind and not in and for itself.

The Proof of Astrology: The Astrologer, the King and the Minister

A pious missionary went out on business. All of a sudden his three sons died of cholera. His wife covered the three dead bodies of her beloved children with a sheet and was awaiting her husband at the gate. When he returned, she detained him at the gate and put him the question, "My dear husband,

The hero of widow re­marriage, and of the aboliton of polygamy.

Of course you must understand, there is a difference between desire and desire. The master said, "My child, if you desire after God, God shall come to you." The disciple did not understand his master fully. One day both went to bathe in a river, and the master said, "Plunge in", and the boy did

I MET Swami Vivekananda for the first time at Trivandrum in December 1892, and was then privileged to see and know a good deal of him. He came to Trivandrum in the course of an extended Indian tour, fulfilling the time-honoured practice obtaining among Indian monks of paying a visit to, and mak

The year-end holidays are celebrated annually at the Los Angeles center with an eight-hour group meditation on December 24th (Spiritual Christmas), followed the next day by a banquet (Social Christmas). The festivities this year were augmented by the presence of dear friends and students fro

Newly discovered photographs of Mrs. Bagley and her mansion, where Vivekananda stayed while in Detroit

‘They Lived With God’ By Swami Chetanananda Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati

From "They Lived With God - Life Stories of Some Devotees of Sri Ramakrishna" - by Swami Chetanananda, Advaita Ashrama, Publication Department, 5 Dehi Entally Road, Calcutta 700 014.

INDIAN languages are curiously rich in tender diminutives, the use of which so much depends on association that they are incapable of translation. It is clear, for instance, that if we address a little girl of three as Ma , or a boy of the same age as Bap , that delicate mingling of gravity and

A reminiscence of M by Paramahansa Yogananda (from the Autobiogrpahy of a Yogi)

Silently I had entered the room in great awe. The angelic appearance of Master Mahasaya fairly dazzled me. With silky white beard and large lustrous eyes, he seemed an incarnation of purity. His upraised chin and folded hands apprized me that my first visit had disturbed him in the midst of

He was a sannyasin- of the Ramakrishna Order and served at Calcutta, Madras and Deogarh Vidyapeeth.

Householder Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna Life of Nag Mahashaya (Durga Charan Nag)

From his book “TRAVEL   AND   TALK” Published in 1897 By London CHATTO    &    WINDUS and NEW   YORK :   DODD,   MEAD,  &  COMPANY

It is empty now, the place on my desk where the little ship" of flowers has stood all day. But out on the chill edge of the Ganges, as darkness comes on, the tiny bark lies drifting hither and thither, scarcely deter­mined yet betwixt ebb and flow, as we, with a few of the children, launched it

THE TRUE BEING in man is ever free, ever pure, and remains ever untouched by good or evil. Good and evil have no absolute reality. They exist only so long as man identifies himself with the ego, the false self. When the ego is completely annihilated, man is freed from the

MANY AND VARIED are the forms of meditation. One form is that in which Brahman is likened to a boundless ocean, and the jiva to a fish, swimming happily about, feeling the soothing, living presence everywhere. In another form the body is regarded as a vessel

( Translated from the teachings of Swami Adbhutananda as recorded by a disciple. )

This article first appeared in 1935 in 'Udbodhan,' the Bengali monthly of the Ramakrishna Order. It forms a part of the book 'Religion and Its Practice' published by Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata. It is not known who translated it into English. It was republished in the Vedanta Kesari Magazine –