Swami Siddheswarananda (1897-1957) was a monk of the Ramakrishna Mission. [1]
Gopal Marar of the Kottilil house or Tharavaad (maternal joint family) of Thrissur, was a prince of the House of Cochin, Kerala in his pre-monastic days. He was initiated by Swami Brahmananda and popularly called Gopal Maharaj. [2] A charming person, he served as the President of the Mysore branch of Ramakrishna Math. During this time, he was instrumental in shaping the career of Puttappa, legendary Kannada poet Kuvempu. He had great regard for Sri Ramana Maharshi. He founded the Ramakrishna Ashrama at Gretz (Centre Vedantique Ramakrichna), outside Paris, France, in 1947 and spread the message of Vedanta in the French language, becoming well known in France as an author and lecturer.
Some of his writings are:
Swami Vivekananda, born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world; and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, and bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion. Vivekananda became a popular figure after the 1893 Parliament of Religions in Chicago, where he began his famous speech with the words, "Sisters and brothers of America...," before introducing Hinduism to Americans. He was so impactful at the Parliament that an American newspaper described him as, “an orator by divine right and undoubtedly the greatest figure at the Parliament”. After great success at the Parliament, in the subsequent years, Vivekananda delivered hundreds of lectures across the United States, England and Europe, disseminating the core tenets of Hindu philosophy, and founded the Vedanta Society of New York and the Vedanta Society of San Francisco, both of which became the foundations for Vedanta Societies in Western world.
Ramakrishna Paramahansa, also spelled Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, born Gadadhar Chattopadhyaya, was an Indian Hindu mystic and religious leader; who after adhering to various religious practices from the Hindu traditions of Bhakti yoga, Tantra, and Advaita Vedanta, as well as from Islam and Christianity, proclaimed that the world's various religions are "so many paths to reach one and the same goal", thus validating the essential unity of religions. Ramakrishna's followers came to regard him as an avatara, or divine incarnation, as did some of the prominent Hindu scholars of his day.
Ramakrishna Mission (RKM) is a Hindu religious and spiritual organisation which forms the core of a worldwide spiritual movement known as the Ramakrishna Movement or the Vedanta Movement. The mission is named after and inspired by the Indian spiritual Guru Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and founded by Ramakrishna's chief disciple Swami Vivekananda on 1 May 1897. The organisation mainly propagates the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta–Advaita Vedanta and four yogic ideals– Jnana, Bhakti, Karma, and Raja yoga.
Sivananda Saraswati was a yoga guru, a Hindu spiritual teacher, and a proponent of Vedanta. Sivananda was born Kuppuswami in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. He studied medicine and served in British Malaya as a physician for several years before taking up monasticism.
Swami Prabhavananda was an Indian philosopher, monk of the Ramakrishna Order, and religious teacher. He moved to America in 1923 to take up the role of assistant minister in the San Francisco Vedanta Society. In 1928 he was the minister of a small group in Portland, OR, but in 1930 he founded the Vedanta Society of Southern California. The Swami spent the rest of his life there, writing and collaborating with some of the most distinguished authors and intellectuals of the time, including Aldous Huxley, Christopher Isherwood, and Gerald Heard.
Sarada Devi, born Kshemankari / Thakurmani / Saradamani Mukhopadhyay, was the wife and spiritual consort of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a nineteenth-century Hindu mystic. Sarada Devi is also reverentially addressed as the Holy Mother by the followers of the Sri Ramakrishna monastic order. The Sri Sarada Math and Ramakrishna Sarada Mission situated at Dakshineshwar is based on the ideals and life of Sarada Devi. She played an important role in the growth of the Ramakrishna Movement.
Shuddhananda who was the fifth president of the Ramakrishna Order, was a direct monastic disciple of Vivekananda. He joined the Ramakrishna Math in 1897. He became a trustee of Ramakrishna Math and a member of the governing body of Ramakrishna Mission in May 1903. He also took up the editorship of the Bengali magazine called Udbodhan for sometime. He was appointed as the secretary of the math and the mission in 1927 and as the vice president in 1937. In 1938, he became the president of the order. His tenure was short, as he died in 1938. He is renowned in the literary circles to have translated most of Vivekananda's original works from English to Bengali.
Swami Tapasyananda (1904-1991) was a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Mission. He was born in family of Ottapalam in Kerala, in 1904. His pre-monastic name was K. P. Balakrishnan Menon. In 1921, when he was just 17 years old, he met Swami Brahmananda- a direct disciple and spiritual son of Sri Ramakrishna, in Chennai. He received Mantra-Diksha from Swami Shivananda in 1924, and joined the Order in 1926, at 22 years age after completing in post graduation. In 1932, he received Sannyasa from Swami Shivananda. He was a disciple of Swami Shivananda, one of the eminent disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. The Swami was a vice-president of the Ramakrishna Order from 1985-1991, giving Mantra-Diksha to a large number of devotees. He was an erudite scholar in Indian and Western philosophy. He has to his credit many books in English, including the translations of many scriptures. His translation of Bhagavata Purana in four volumes has been highly acclaimed in intellectual and devotional circles. He was the president of Ramakrishna Math, Chennai from 1971-1991. Swamiji was well known for his austere life and intuitive intellect. His deity was Lord Khrishna and he practiced spritual activity as told by his Guruji, but his Guruji was not a complete Saint/Swami who was authorised by almighty to give naam diksha. He was a prolific writer. Some of the books authored by him are listed below. He translated many Hindu classics into English from original Sanskrit. He founded Ramakrishna Mission Hospital at Thiruvananthapuram.
Ramakrishna Math is the administrative legal organization of the Ramakrishna Order, considered part of the Hindu reform movements. It was set up by sanyasin disciples of Ramakrishna Paramhansa headed by Swami Vivekananda at Baranagar Math in Baranagar, a place near Calcutta, in 1886. India. The headquarters of Ramakrishna Math and its twin organisation, Ramakrishna Mission is at Belur Math.
Trailanga Swami, whose monastic name was Swami Ganapati Saraswati, was a Hindu yogi and mystic famed for his spiritual powers who lived in Varanasi, India. He is a legendary figure in Bengal, with stories told of his yogic powers and longevity. According to some accounts, Trailanga Swami lived to be 280 years old, residing at Varanasi between 1737 and 1887. He is regarded by devotees as an incarnation of Shiva. Sri Ramakrishna referred to him as "The walking Shiva of Varanasi".
Pavhari Baba (1798-1898) was a Hindu ascetic and saint. He was born in Premapur, Jaunpur in a Brahmin family. In his childhood he went to Ghazipur to study under the tutelage of his uncle who was a follower of Ramanuja or Shri sect. After finishing his studies he travelled to many places. At Girnar in Kathiawar he was initiated into Yoga.
Swami Abhedananda, born Kaliprasad Chandra, was a direct disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of Ramakrishna Vedanta Math. Swami Vivekananda sent him to the West to head the Vedanta Society of New York in 1897, and spread the message of Vedanta, a theme on which he authored several books through his life, and subsequently founded the Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, in Calcutta and Darjeeling.
Swami Nigamananda Paramahansa was an Indian yogi, guru and mystic well known in Eastern India. He is associated with the Shakta tradition and viewed as a perfect spiritual master of vedanta, tantra, yoga and prema or bhakti. His followers idealized him as their worshipped and beloved thakura.
Swami Vivekananda was a Hindu monk from India. His teachings and philosophy are a reinterpretation and synthesis of various strands of Hindu thought, most notably classical yoga and (Advanta) Vedanta, with western esotericism and Universalism. He blended religion with nationalism, and applied this reinterpretation to various aspect's of education, faith, character building as well as social issues pertaining to India. His influence extended also to the west, and he was instrumental in introducing Yoga to the west.
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) was an Indian Hindu monk and a key figure in the introduction of Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the western world. He was one of the most influential philosophers and social reformers in his contemporary India and the most successful and influential missionaries of Vedanta to the Western world. Indian Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore's suggested to study the works of Vivekananda to understand India. He also told, in Vivekananda there was nothing negative, but everything positive.
Khandana Bhava–Bandhana, or Sri Ramakrishna Aratrikam, or Sri Ramakrishna Arati,, is a Bengali song composed by Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda. The song, dedicated to the 19th-century saint Ramakrishna, was composed in 1898. It is a prayer song, based on Raga Mishra Kalyana, Tala Ferta used in Indian classical music.
Meditation played a very important role in the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda. He was interested in meditation from his childhood. His master Ramakrishna found him a dhyana - siddha . On 24 December 1892, Vivekananda reached Kanyakumari and meditated for three days on a large rock and took the resolution to dedicate his life to serve humanity. The event is known as the Kanyakumari resolve of 1892. He reportedly also meditated for a long time on the day of his death.
The relationship between Ramakrishna and Vivekananda began in November of 1881 when they met at the house of Surendra Nath Mitra. Ramakrishna asked Narendranath to sing. Impressed by his singing talent, he invited him to Dakshineswar. Narendra accepted the invitation. The meeting proved to be a turning point in the life of Narendranath. Initially Narendra did not accept Ramakrishna as his master and found him "mono maniac", but eventually he became one of the closest people in his life. Ramakrishna reportedly shaped the personality of Narendranath and prepared him to dedicate his life to serve the humanity. After the death of Ramakrishna, Narendra and his other monastic disciples established their first monastery at Baranagar.
Built and dedicated in 1956, the Santa Barbara Vedanta Temple is located on a 45-acre (18 ha) property situated between the foothills above the City of Santa Barbara, and below the peaks of the Santa Ynez Mountains. The temple has a clear view overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the Channel Islands of California.
Swami Sarvapriyananda is a Hindu monk (sannyasi) belonging to the Ramakrishna Order. He is the current resident Swami and head of the Vedanta Society of New York, a position he has been serving since January 2017.