The Ramakrishna Kathamritam - Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

 

If you want to get the best of spiritual knowledge in the simplest of terms read "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna". To non English readers it is the "Ramakrishna Kathamrita".

Sri Ramakrishna had an erudite devotee. He however was very humble. Being educated he did not believe in idol worship. He sought the formless divine. However Sri Ramakrishna made him snap out of it. He accepted the form of God. According to Sri Ramakrishna the all powerful formless Brahman has the power and ability to take on a form.

Slowly Sri Ramakrishna broke many of his concepts and steered him towards God realization. The devotee became totally detached and his mind was constantly abiding with God. His state became like the bird who sits on her eggs. Though her eyes are open her mind is totally absorbed in the to be hatched offspring. This is the symbol of the Jivanmukta. Only the form remains. The person is no longer in it.

The devotee was a frequent visitor and also accompanied Sri Ramakrishna during his visits to the city and to the homes of devotee. He maintained a diary where he wrote cryptic notes. Sri Ramakrishna did not like people recording his talks. But he never objected in case of this devotee. The devotee too thought the notes were personal.

After the death of Sri Ramakrishna, the devotee was requested to publish his diary entries. But the notes were very sparse. The devotee then meditated on the notes and the events came surging to his mind. His pen flowed as he captured what came.

People reading the manuscript, including Swami Vivekananda, were amazed at the clarity. They were transported back to those times. They encouraged the devotee to do more. Ultimately the book was published one volume after another and became a runaway bestseller.

The book is unputdownable as you start reading it. The author is mentioned as Sri M. His realization had erased the person. Only the shadow remained. It is like Sri Ramana Maharshi writing the letter to his parents as he left home. At the end of it he could not write his name as his individuality had disappeared.

The book is a daily read for the devotees of Sri Ramakrishna. Reading the book leads to self realization. You may go on to read many a scripture after that but at every step you will remember the words in the book. What the plethora of scriptural texts of the world says is expertly summarized in the simple words of Sri Ramakrishna.

The lofty spiritual giant, whose photograph of meditation is considered to be the highest realized state, was a very simple child of the Mother. He spoke the dialect of all and used homely similes to transfer the wealth of spirituality to the common man. As he himself said, Mother will be angry with me as I have distributed the greatest of spiritual secrets in the village market.

If you have not read this gem of a book then procure and read it now.