Ramakrishna and Vivekananda

[Raghavendra]

Namaste,
  I have been following this thread. There are some observations about
this thread I would like to make.
Some/Most of the list members would agree with me in that the
Ramakrishna Mission has played a great role in bringing concepts of
Advaita to the layman through their excellent publications. Most of the
books given out in the book list by a list member,for instance

The Goal and the Way by Swami Satprakashananda (RK)
vedantasara of Sadananda by Swami Nikhilananda (RK)
Crest jewel of discrimination (Vivekachudamani) by Swami Prabhavananda
(RK)
(or by Swami Madhavananda, RK or Swami Turiyananda, RK)

are from the Ramakrishna mission. People (especially those who lack
knowledge of Sanskrit) have benefited from these publications.

In the translation of the Shankara Digvijaya translated by Tapasyananda,
there is a beautiful shloka at the introduction, which holds Sri
Shankara and Sri Ramakrishna as avatars. The last two lines are
---
bhuvanavijayakhyaatim shankaram bhhaashhyakaaram |
vimalaparamahamsam raamakrishNam bhaajamah ||

 The reason for my mentioning this is to show that the RK math holds Sri
Shankara in high esteem. Please do not misinterpret my statement here.
This does not mean that followers of Sri Shankara should respect Sri
Ramakrishna in turn, but that the RK mission accords Advaita Vedanta
great respect as the pinnacle of all experience.

Swami Vivekananda might be a marginal figure in Vedanta by himself, but
not when you take the RK Mission into picture.

All said and done, there seems to be difference between Traditional
Advaita, which is shaankaraadvaita and what others call advaita. Since
this list is devoted to shaankaraadvaita, let us discuss the topic of
the list and stop this thread.

Thank you,
Raghavendra.

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