Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna (1836–1886) was a Bengali Hindu mystic and religious teacher whose spiritual practice and teachings inspired the Ramakrishna movement.
Swami Vivekananda: An Indian Hindu monk who introduced Vedanta and yoga to wider audiences, including at the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions. His speeches and organizing transformed Ramakrishna’s teachings into an international movement.
Bhakti: A Hindu path of devotion that cultivates a personal relationship with the divine. Devotional love, especially toward Kali, shaped many of Ramakrishna’s spiritual practices.
Samadhi: A state of deep meditative absorption described in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain traditions. Ramakrishna’s reported absorptions were central evidence of his intense spiritual experiences.
Dakshineswar Kali Temple: A Hindu temple complex on the Hooghly River near Kolkata, established in 1855 by Rani Rashmoni. Ramakrishna served there as a priest and spent much of his spiritual life at the temple.
Sarada Devi: A Bengali spiritual teacher revered as the Holy Mother by followers of the Ramakrishna tradition. Ramakrishna’s wife became a spiritual guide and a central figure in the movement after his death.
Kali: A Hindu goddess associated with time, transformation, and power, worshipped in several traditions. Ramakrishna served as a priest at her temple and described intense experiences of her presence.
Sadhana: A disciplined spiritual practice undertaken to realize a religious or contemplative goal. He treated sustained practice within different traditions as a way to approach divine realization.
Kolkata: A major city in eastern India, historically known as Calcutta under British rule. The city’s religious and intellectual circles brought Ramakrishna into contact with reformers and disciples.
Mahendranath Gupta: A Bengali schoolteacher who recorded conversations with Ramakrishna under the name M. His detailed records preserve many of Ramakrishna’s sayings and encounters.
Advaita Vedanta: A Hindu philosophical tradition that teaches the ultimate nonduality of self and reality. Ramakrishna’s nondual experiences became one strand of his spiritual life and later interpretation.