The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (Hardcover)

~ Swami Nikhilananda (Translator) "IT WAS ON A SUNDAY in spring, a few days after Sri Ramakrishna's birthday, that M. met him the first time..." (more)
Key Phrases: northeast verandah, southeast verandah, gopi maids, Sri Ramakrishna, Divine Mother, God Himself (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Certainly this is one of the notable books of our time, one of the marvelous books in all time. It is a book where gentle, deathless goodness softens whatever humiliation I might feel for any inadvertent glibness of comment; and where the piety - in the deepest Latin sense of the word - and the brilliant, easy scholarship of the translation are enough to knock us down. -- Stark Young

East and West agree that he was the most radiant religious personality of the nineteenth century. The record of his life and teachings is a mine of inspiration, wisdom, theology, and metaphysics. It is also a tremendous adventure story, the odyssey of a man who set out on the mystical way and journeyed to its end. The English version is a triumph of creative translation. -- Thomas Sugrue

I have examined the proofs of your new volume, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, and send you herewith my praises for a work of noble scholarship and utter devotion. You have added to the scriptures of our English tongue a new Bible. When the volume appears, I shall add it proudly and reverently to my Bible of Humanity. I feel inexpressibly grateful to you for your labors thus crowned with this great achievement. -- John Haynes Holmes, Minister of the Community Church, New York

Ramakrishna was a rare combination of individuality and universality, personality and impersonality. His words and example have been echoed in the hearts of Western men and women. . . His soul animates modern India. -- Romain Rolland

The Gospel. . . is a work of absorbing interest. Your biographical introduction sets the reader at once into the atmosphere of India, its customs and its ways of thinking about the unseen world and about deity. I take it to be a high merit of the book that you have not omitted the details which will seem most strange to the Western reader; you have allowed them to bear their own message and to offer themselves intact for judgment. As you tell the life of Sri Ramakrishna, it engages with so much of the spiritual history of India during the last century that one gains a living sense of the forward movement of that history. The whole promises to be a document of importance for every one who wishes to gain a personal impression of Indian religious aspiration and to realize how naturally it spans the wide gamut from the particular and local symbols to the most universal conceptions. -- William Ernest Hocking, Alford Professor of Philosophy in Harvard University

The spirit of Ramakrishna, as given in his reported conversations, and his life, as rendered in the admirable Introductions by Swami Nikhilananda, constitute a unique and absorbing document for any serious student of the philosophy of religion. Ramakrishna is revealed as that rarity, the real thing in metaphysical mysticism and saintliness. He belongs in the great tradition of classic religious leaders. His teachings and his spirit here come wonderfully alive, and Western readers will have a new dimension added to their conception of the religious life. -- Irwin Edman, Professor of Philosophy in Columbia University

The story of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa's life is a story of religion in practice. His life enables us to see God face to face. -- Mahatma Gandhi

This highly noteworthy document . . . conveys the personality of a great mystic in such an intimate, direct, and almost astounding manner that to read it must be an enriching experience for any intellect which is receptive and open to all things human. -- Thomas Mann

To read through these conversations in which mystical doctrine alternates with an unfamiliar kind of humor, and where discussions of the oddest aspects of Hindu mythology give place to the most profound and subtle utterances about the nature of Ultimate Reality, is in itself a liberal education in humility, tolerance and suspense of judgment. We must be grateful to the translator for his excellent version of a book so curious and delightful as a biographical document, so precious, at the same time, for what it teaches us of the life of the spirit. -- From the Forward to The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Aldous Huxley

Product Description

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna as translated by Swami Nikhilananda offers the reader a penetrating view into the spiritual wisdom of India. On account of his deep mystical experiences and constant absorption in God, Sri Ramakrishna (1836 - 1886) is regarded as being of the stature of Krishna, Buddha, and Christ. The Gospel is the record of Sri Ramakrishna's conversations, which are unique in their breadth and depth. Profound spiritual truths are described in simple words and vivid stories, revealing the divinity of man and the spiritual foundation of the universe. This volume is a mine of inspiration, wisdom, theology, and metaphysics.

This 1106 page volume contains an introduction (70 pages) by Swami Nikhilananda that narrates the main events of Sri Ramakrishna's life and briefly sketches the people and the doctrines associated with him. Also, includes 26 photographs, a detailed glossary, and an index.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 1062 pages
• Publisher: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center (June 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0911206019
• ISBN-13: 978-0911206012
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #252,860 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Universal teachings for all, January 12, 2003

By	"alliatus" (Toronto Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

His beautiful and elegant parables read like Jesus's in the Biblical Gospels, like Jesus had yet to say but did not manage to say because His life was nailed short; another way to look at it is maybe the parables are inspired by the same source.

"The worldly-minded never come to their senses, even though they suffer and have terrible experiences. Camels are very fond of thorny shrub. The more they eat of them, the more do their mouths bleed, yet they do not refrain from making them their food."

"As persons living in a house infested with venomous snakes are always alert and cautious, so should men living in the world be always on their guard against the allurement of lust and greed."

"As the fly sits now on an offering dedicated to gods and again on a festering wound, so the mind of the worldly is at one time deeply engaged in religious topics and at the next moment lost in the enjoyment of lust and wealth."

Although the 3rd cited parable mentioned "gods", if you are monotheist, I think Sri Ramakrishna would ask you to feel fine to read as "God"; "the Heaven/Buddha" if you are Buddhist...Truth is the Truth.

Regardless of your background and path of practice, I would like to quote from Swami Nikhilananda: "...In these pages seekers of all religions would find courage and faith, hope and illumination."

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A review of The Gospel of Sri Ramadrishna by M., February 17, 1999

By A Customer

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna is truly one of the spiritual treasures of the ages. It contains over 1,000 pages of dialogue capturing the words and essence of a man beloved not only in India but around the world as a pure expression of the divine. While the comparison may seen blasphemous to some, imagine the Gospels of Jesus recorded in faithful and impeccable detail with conversations enlarged upon ten times over, this will give the reader an idea of the content of this wonderful book. My own experience of reading this work is that it has immeasurably enriched my own spiritual quest. The mere act of reading the book has taken me many times to beautifully deep meditative states but each reader will have his own experience. I can only encourage the serious student to open her or his heart to its pages it could be the beginning of the most wonderful journey.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremelly beautifull, extremelly usefull, March 18, 2000

By	Jose S. Morel Filho (Santos, Brazil) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Simply the best book I have ever read. It's a very simple and profound book. It's lenghty size (more than 1000 pages) is like walking in a long white sand beach, you stroll the pages on and on, the stories seems to repeat itself like the scenery in a beach, but you never get tired, or bored, rather it always enlarge your view about very important spiritual matters. A book recommended for the ones questing for spiritual clarifications and guidance