Swamiji and Stories of His Life Paramhansa Yogananda once said to a group of disciples: “You must not let the symphony of your life go unfinished.” This phrase perfectly describes the last years of Swami Kriyananda’s life, which were a crescendo of divine love and untiring service to humanity. Who was Swami Kriyananda? What was it like to know this close and direct disciple of the great Master, Paramhansa Yogananda? In Swamiji, Miriam Rodgers shares an intimate and up-close look at lessons she learned through her connection as Swami Kriyananda’s nurse for the last eight years of his life. In this profoundly moving biographical account filled with never before heard stories, you’ll glimpse the interior castle of Swami Kriyananda’s consciousness. Throughout history, the saints alone are the true custodians of religion. Saints like Swami Kriyananda draw their understanding from the direct experience of truth and of God, not from superficial reasoning or book learning. You’ll be spellbound and inspired by the story of Swamiji.
This book is a compilation of various accounts of the stay of Sri Sarada Devi, and Swamis Vivekananda, Brahmananda, Shivananda, Ramakrishnananda, Abhedananda, Vijnanananda, Subodhananda, Niranjanananda, Turiyananda, Trigunatitananda, and Premananda in the city of Madras (now called Chennai). Meticulously referenced, this book contains many valuable photographs and interesting less known facts—like Swami Subodhananda learning Tamil. A tribute to the spirit of Chennai in spearheading the cause of the Ramakrishna movement, it could well be a prized possession of all the admirers of the movement and the city.
‘As I grow older’, said Swami Vivekananda, ‘I find that I look more and more for greatness in little things. I want to know what a great man eats and wears, and how he speaks to his servants [and so on].’ This book presents an intimate picture of Revered Swami Yatiswarananda Maharaj, one such spiritually great man in the Order of Monks founded by Swami Vivekananda—the Ramakrishna Order (popularly known as Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission). This volume does this by putting together the reminiscences of monks, initiated lay devotees or even casual visitors or people who heard his lectures as well as some of the personal letters and instructions he wrote or gave and other related material.
Swami Akhandananda was one of the sixteen monastic disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. He was one of the pillars of the Ramakrishna Movement’s service activities. He practised till the very end of his life his Master’s call: Worship jiva as Shiva. This book reminisces the inspiring saga of that adventurous monk who was wholeheartedly dedicated to the tireless service of God in man. Published by Advaita Ashrama, a publication house of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, India.
Tapas Shakti is the spiritual power of a Self realized yogi attained through meditation in the state of consciousness called samadhi or enlightenment. In samadhi, the person is in bliss and no longer aware of time or the body. Shri Shri Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj spontaneously entered samadhi at age fourteen. He meditated in samadhi 23 hours each day for eight years, then at least 12 hours daily for another four years. At times he remained in samadhi for weeks or months without interruption. He completed his twelve-year tapas on August 7, 1961. This book contains a rare and detailed account of a yogi's tapas together with Shivabalayogi's biography, his conversations on a wide variety of subjects, and personal experiences of some of the many thousands of lives Shivabalayogi has transformed. This edition is a reprint of the original 1992 publication.
This volume has five contributors, of diverse nationalities and backgrounds, but who share a common bond of great reverence and love for the Himalayan Master, Swami Rama. They approached him at different times, for different reasons and with different aspirations. Despite these differences in age, background, temperament and nationality, they found in Swami Rama a true friend, profound philosopher and compassionate guide. The differences in the narrators and their narratives serve an important purpose-the opportunity to view Swami Rama from many different perspectives from which one can try to construct for oneself a composite portrait of Seami Rama, the multi-faceted phenomenon who graced our lives.
Stories to guide you to success Awaken the hidden wisdom of your heart Live free of the seven deadly behavioral attributes that threaten to disrupt our lives! We can resolve most problems by applying the wisdom of our heart; all we have to do is listen carefully. However, in practice, a range of detrimental yet common attributes that we experience in large doses prevent us from listening to our inner voice. In The Code, author Mukta Mahajani identifies these negative attributes as the Ego, Over-Competitiveness, Jealousy, Overexpectations, Overambition, Anger and Procrastination. These attributes flare up when we face challenging situations. We explode when the world does not go our way and our relationships with others suffer as a result. Based on meaningful quotes from world leaders and revered religious texts, this book weaves short stories about the impact of these attributes. These narratives are designed to help us reset our mindset and resolve the issues we face in our day-to-day life. They help us understand that we have the inherent power to make the right choice at all times. Mukta Mahajani is an author and international speaker on Alternate Dispute Resolution methods with degrees in psychology, anthropology and law. In a career spanning over 20 years, Mukta has worked with the World Bank Group where her research has been published, and also guest lectured at New York City Bar Association, Mumbai University, ICADR Hyderabad and IIT Bombay among other institutions.
All the stories in this book revolve around the teachings of Swami Paramananda, a teacher who renounced worldly life to adopt sanyas. Even as a teacher, he taught through stories. His students loved it, since it was easier to comprehend the subject. They referred to his stories as Guruji's stories. Guruji would tell students and disciples his favourite stories - each based upon an eternal truth - and explain these in greater detail, if necessary. Guruji's stories are based upon popular proverbs on life and living. Each story is inspiring and thought-provoking. There are stories emphasising the need to learn. Others teach one to differentiate between good and bad. Some motivate listeners to act, encouraging mutual respect, care, compassion and charity. Based upon real-life experiences, each story affirms an eternal truth. Although meant for youngsters, adults will also enjoy this collection of 50 stories.
Writings of Swami Atulananda is a compilation of selected articles written by Swami Atulananda and published in Prabuddha Bharata , the monthly magazine of the Ramakrishna Order. In this book, readers will be able to get a glimpse of Swami Atulananda’s insightful mind as he shares his ideas on various spiritual topics. These topics are extremely useful both for spiritual aspirants as well as the beginners who are curious to know about spiritual life. Published by Advaita Ashrama, a publication house of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, India.
Srila Prabhupada-lilamrta tells the story of a remarkable individual and a remarkable achievement. The individual is A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada: philosopher, scholar, religious leader, saint. The achievement is the revolutionary transplantation of a timeless spiritual culture from ancient India to twentieth-century America. This first of two volumes begins with the story of the events leading up to Srila Prabhupada's meeting his guru, an encounter that ignited in Srila Prabhupada a slowburning flame of desire to take Krishna consciousness to the Western world. His early life was a period of patient and transcendent determination as he prepared for a mission that would later be crowned with astounding success. In August and September of 1965 Srila Prabhupada traveled alone aboard a steamship from India to New York City, with no more than the equivalent of eight dollars in his pocket and no institutional backing, but with unshakable faith in Lord Krishna and the instructions of his spiritual master. It is the 1960s, an era in which the children of those who fought World War II were leading a sweeping revolt against a society losing its soul to godless mass consumerism. Into this milieu Srila Prabhupada brought a vision for a new kind of society, a society born of a radical transformation of human consciousness from materialism to the loftiest spiritual and ethical idealism. By 1967 he had arrived in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district, America's counter-culture capital, where he continued his work of calling America's youth to live up to their higher spiritual ideals and distributing the holy name of Krishna indiscriminately. By the end of the volume, we have seen Srila Prabhupada in England (meeting the Beatles), Holland, Japan, Africa, and finally back in India, where he triumphantly returned with his "dancing white elephants" – a group of his mostly Caucasian Western followers. The research team assembled by the author traveled throughout the world to gather thousands of hours of interviews with hundreds of people who knew Srila Prabhupada; diaries and memoirs from his students; and more than seven thousand of Srila Prabhupada's letters. Then the author and his team distilled this voluminous firsthand source material into a rich composite view of Srila Prabhupada, a dazzling and colorful picture of one of the most remarkable lives of our times.
