Ramakrishna, also called Ramakrishna Paramahansa, born RamakrishnaChattopadhay, was an Indian Hindu mystic. He was a devotee of the goddess Kali, but adhered to various religious practices from the Hindu traditions of Vaishnavism, Tantric Shaktism, and Advaita Vedanta, as well as Christianity and Islam. He advocated the essential unity of religions and proclaimed that world religions are "so many paths to reach one and the same goal". His parable-based teachings espoused the ultimate unity of diverse religions as being means to enable the realization of the same God. He is regarded by his followers as an avatar.
Sri 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 Brahmananda Saraswati, also known as Guru Dev, was the Shankaracharya of the Jyotir Math monastery in India. Born into a Saryupareen Brahmin family, he left home at the age of nine in search of a spiritual master. At age fourteen, he became a disciple of Svāmī Kṛṣṇānanda Sarasvatī. At the age of 34, he was initiated into the order of Sannyas and became the Śaṅkarācārya of Jyotir Math in 1941 at age 70, the first person to hold that office in 150 years. His disciples included Swami Shantanand Saraswati, Transcendental Meditation founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Svāmī Swarūpānanda Sarasvatī and Swami Karpatri. According to the partisans of Shantānand Saraswati, Brahmānanda made a will five months before his death in 1953, naming Shantānand as his successor.
Satyananda Saraswati, was a Sanyasi, yoga teacher and guru in both his native India and the West. He was a student of Sivananda Saraswati, the founder of the Divine Life Society, and founded the Bihar School of Yoga in 1964. He wrote over 80 books, including the popular 1969 manual Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha.
Rāmprasād Sen was a Hindu Shakta poet and saint of 18th-century Bengal. His bhakti poems, known as Ramprasadi, are still popular in Bengal—they are usually addressed to the Hindu goddess Kali and written in Bengali. Stories of Ramprasad's life typically include legends and myths mixed with biographical details.
The Aghori are a Hindu monastic order of ascetic Shaivite sadhus based in Uttar Pradesh, India. They are the only surviving sect derived from the Kāpālika tradition, a Tantric, non-Puranic form of Shaivism which originated in Medieval India between the 4th and 8th century CE.
Anandamayi Ma was an Indian saint, teacher, and mystic. She was revered as an incarnation of Hindu goddess Durga.
The Tirtha lineage of Siddhayoga is a mystical sect of Shaivite Hinduism. It believes in direct encounters with life-force or kundalini shakti, and understanding of the Shastras. It places importance on the guru-disciple bond, as, according to this tradition, the guru transfers shakti, the divine energy, to the disciple through a transformative process known as Shaktipat. Shakti is said to be automatically infused into a disciple by a guru in a process called Shaktipat.
Chidananda Saraswati was president of the Divine Life Society, Rishikesh, India. He is well known in India as a yogi and spiritual leader. He succeeded as president of the Divine Life Society in 1963, after the death of his predecessor, Sivananda Saraswati, who founded the Society.
Adbhutananda, born Rakhturam, was a direct monastic disciple of Ramakrishna, a Yogi of nineteenth century Bengal. He is familiarly known as Latu Maharaj among the followers of Ramakrishna. Adbhutananda was the first monastic disciple to come to Ramakrishna. While most of Ramakrishna's direct disciples came from the Bengali intelligentsia, Adbhutananda's lack of formal education made him unique among them. He was a servant boy of a devotee of Ramakrishna, and he later became his monastic disciple. Though unlettered, Adbhutananda was considered as a monk with great spiritual insight by Ramakrishna's followers, and Vivekananda regarded him as "the greatest miracle of Ramakrishna".
Potuluri Veerabrahmam, was a Hindu saint who lived in Andhra Pradesh. He is known for the Kalagnanam, a book of predictions written in Telugu around the 16th century.
Shri Gaudapadacharya Math, also known as Kavaḷē maṭha, located in Kavale, Ponda, Goa, is the oldest matha of the Smarthan Saraswat Brahman Samaj. It was founded by Gauḍapāda around 740 AD, whose student was Govinda Bhagavatpada, the guru of Adi Shankara, a highly influential figure in Hinduism. There is also a belief that Gauḍapāda himself established the Shri Gaudapadacharya matha when he lived in Gomantak (Goa). Thus, the matha came to be known as Shri Saunstan Gaudapadacharya matha. Unlike other mathas, Shri Gaudapadacharya matha is not a polemical center established to influence the faith of all Hindus, its jurisdiction is limited to only Dakshinatya Saraswat Brahmins. The Peetadhipathi "head monk" is Śrī Gauḍapadācārya. Smartist Goud Saraswat Brahman Samaj and Rajapur Saraswat Brahmin are its main disciples.
Swami Nigamananda Paramahansa was an Indian yogi, guru and mystic in Eastern India. He is associated with the Shakta tradition and a spiritual master of vedanta, tantra, yoga, and prema or bhakti. His followers referred to him as Thakura.
Swami Niranjanananda (Senior), born as Nitya Niranjan Ghosh, usually called by the shortened name of Niranjan, was one of the foremost monks of Ramakrishna Mission and was one of the direct monastic disciples of Ramakrishna. Niranjanananda was one of those few disciples, whom Ramakrishna termed as "Nityasiddhas" or "Ishwarakotis" – that is, souls who are ever perfect. [Niranjanananda is termed Senior since there was another swami, Niranjanananda (Junior) also known as Pandalai Maharaj, later in the Ramakrishna Mission who died in 1972]. Even though his tenure with the newly formed Ramakrishna Mission was short-lived owing to his early death, he left an indelible mark in spiritual and philanthropic activities. He had a majestic appearance, being tall with broad shoulders and strong physique.
Bijoy Krishna Goswami, also known by the honorific Gosaiji, was a Hindu social reformer and religious figure in India during the British period.
Uttarāmnāya Śrī Jyotish Pītham or JyotirMath is one amongst the four cardinal pīthams established by the Ādi Śaṅkara 1300 years ago to preserve Hinduism and Advaita Vedānta, the doctrine of non-dualism. Located in the city of Joshimath, Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India, it is the uttarāmnāya matha or Northern Āmnāya Pītham, amongst the four Chaturamnay Peethams - Kalady Kerala, birthplace of Adi Shankara with the others being the Sringeri Śārada Pīṭhaṃ (Karnataka) in the South, Dvārakā Śāradā Pītham in the West and Purī Govardhanmaṭha Pīṭhaṃ in the east. Its appointees bear the title of Shankaracharya. It is the headquarters of Giri, Parvata & Sagara sects of the Dasnami Sampradaya. Their Vedantic mantra or Mahavakya is Ayamātmānam brahma and as per the tradition initiated by Adi Shankara it holds authority over Atharva Veda. The head of the matha is called Shankaracharya, the title derives from Adi Shankara.
Ram Chandra Datta was a householder disciple of Ramakrishna and a writer. Datta was a relative of Indian monk and social reformer Swami Vivekananda. After completing his graduation, he took job of a Government employee and a chemist. He invented an antidote for blood dysentery from an extract of an indigenous medicinal plant and started promoting "modern science".
Swami Sadananda, born Sharat Chandra Gupta, popularly known as Gupta Maharaj in the Ramakrishna Order, was a direct monastic disciple of Swami Vivekananda. He was the first disciple according to some sources. He took his monastic vows and joined Baranagar Math to serve the other disciples of Sri Ramakrishna in 1888–89 and subsequently joined the Belur Math when it was established. He was one of the leaders of early Ramakrishna Mission in its relief work. One of his significant contributions was providing relief to the citizens of Calcutta during the plague epidemic of 1898–99. He traveled to Japan in 1903. His later days were spent in company of Sister Nivedita as her protector and guide. His notable contribution in the later part of his life was preaching the message of Swami Vivekananda, especially among youth.
Sri Sri Yogiraj Swami Keshavananda Brahmachari (1830-1942) was a Kriya Yogi and master of the Tantras from West Bengal. He was an important disciple of Sri Shyamacharan Lahiri who is popularly known as Lahiri Mahasaya and was well known for his austere Yogic practices through which he had attained the highest degree of enlightenment within his lifetime. He spent a significant part of his lifetime in the Himalayas while being engaged in Yogic practices.
There are many stories about the spiritual powers of Telang Swami. According to the Robert Arnett writings, Telang Swami’s miracles are well documented and stored. He lived a great life for around 300 years and displayed his miraculous powers. Even he ate seldom, was weighing over 140 kg. It is noted that he was fully able to read the people’s mind like a book.
Many times he had seen drinking toxic poisons with no ill effect. Once upon a time, some of the disbeliever wanted to declare him as a scam. In this order they brought a bucket full with the calcium lime mixture. Trailanga Swami drank the full bucket without any ill effect. Then he broke his natural silence in order to clarify the law of karma, its reason and effect. Pilgrims at Varanasi saw him many times in a sitting position on the water surface of the river Ganges for many days. It is also believed that he was disappeared for long periods under the waves of water, and reappeared as well.
