Swami Paramananda (Ramakrishna Mission)
Encyclopedia
Swami
Paramananda (1884–1940) was one of the early India
n teachers who came to the United States
to spread the Vedanta
philosophy
and religion
in America. He was a mystic, a poet and an innovator in spiritual community living.
in British India and is now part of Bangladesh
. His father, Ananda Mohan Guha-Thakurta, was well known as a progressive, a champion for women's education, a legacy he was to pass along to his sons. His mother, Brahmamoyee Basu, bore eight children before dying of cancer
in her early forties, when Suresh was nine years old. Suresh was known for his affectionate nature and cheerfulness. When Suresh was sixteen, his father began to lose his eyesight. As a result, Suresh read devotional texts aloud and one that was particularly compelling was a collection of "Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna," a revered saint
who had died fourteen years prior.
to visit the monastery
and temple
founded by Ramakrishna's disciples. There he met his teacher, Swami Vivekananda
, who was the foremost disciple of Sri Ramakrishna and the first swami to teach in America. Paramananda was initiated a month before his eighteenth birthday, becoming a monk (sannyasin) of the Ramakrishna Order and the youngest disciple of Swami Vivekananda. The President of the Ramakrishna Math
, Swami Brahmananda, would call Suresh "Basanta Kokhil" [spring-bird], or simply "Basanta" [spring] and that became his new nickname. He trained under the mentorship of Swami Ramakrishnananda, also a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, and founder of the Madras Math, a thousand miles south of Calcutta.
Vedanta Society. He lived and taught there until 1909, when Paramananda established the Vedanta Centre of Boston
. He lectured throughout the United States, Europe and Asia for thirty-four years, until his passing in 1940. He founded four centers still thriving today, two in the United States and two in Calcutta, India. The American ashram
as are in Cohasset, Massachusetts
and La Crescenta, California. Like his teacher, Swami Vivekananda, Paramananda believed in equality between men and women. He established disciplined communities of nuns under the supervision of Sister Devamata (1867–1942) his American first disciple
, whom he ordained to teach Vedanta
from the platform in 1910. Throughout the entire history of the community, women were accorded positions of leadership in all areas of the work. The first Indian woman to join the community was Gayatri Devi (1906–1995), who was brought by Paramananda in 1926 to be trained as one of his assistants. Srimata Gayatri Devi became the spiritual leader of the centers upon Swami Paramananda's death in 1940 and the first Indian woman to be ordained a teacher in America.
and The Upanishads as well as four volumes of mystical poetry, “The Vigil”, “Rhythm of Life”, “Soul’s Secret Door” and “My Creed” and many other books and publications.
Swami
A swami sometimes abbreviated "Sw." is an ascetic or yogi who has been initiated into the religious monastic order founded by Adi Sankara, or to a religious teacher.The Oxford English Dictionary gives the etymology as...
Paramananda (1884–1940) was one of the early India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n teachers who came to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to spread the Vedanta
Vedanta
Vedānta was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal...
philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
in America. He was a mystic, a poet and an innovator in spiritual community living.
Birth and early life
Swami Paramananda was born on February 5, 1884 as Suresh Chandra Guha-Thakurta, the youngest son of a prestigious family, in the village of Banaripara. The village is in the district of Barisal, which was then part of East BengalEast Bengal
East Bengal was the name used during two periods in the 20th century for a territory that roughly corresponded to the modern state of Bangladesh. Both instances involved a violent partition of Bengal....
in British India and is now part of Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
. His father, Ananda Mohan Guha-Thakurta, was well known as a progressive, a champion for women's education, a legacy he was to pass along to his sons. His mother, Brahmamoyee Basu, bore eight children before dying of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in her early forties, when Suresh was nine years old. Suresh was known for his affectionate nature and cheerfulness. When Suresh was sixteen, his father began to lose his eyesight. As a result, Suresh read devotional texts aloud and one that was particularly compelling was a collection of "Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna," a revered saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
who had died fourteen years prior.
Joining the Ramakrishna Order
On his seventeenth birthday, Suresh joined a group of older men from the village in a journey to Belur MathBelur Math
' or Belur Mutt is the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, founded by Swami Vivekananda, a chief disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. It is located on the west bank of Hooghly River, Belur, West Bengal, India and is one of the significant institutions in Calcutta...
to visit the monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
and temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
founded by Ramakrishna's disciples. There he met his teacher, Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...
, who was the foremost disciple of Sri Ramakrishna and the first swami to teach in America. Paramananda was initiated a month before his eighteenth birthday, becoming a monk (sannyasin) of the Ramakrishna Order and the youngest disciple of Swami Vivekananda. The President of the Ramakrishna Math
Ramakrishna Math
Ramakrishna Math is a religious monastic order, considered part of the Hindu reform movements. It was set up by Swami Vivekananda to follow the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna...
, Swami Brahmananda, would call Suresh "Basanta Kokhil" [spring-bird], or simply "Basanta" [spring] and that became his new nickname. He trained under the mentorship of Swami Ramakrishnananda, also a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, and founder of the Madras Math, a thousand miles south of Calcutta.
In the West
Swami Paramananda was sent to America in 1906 at the age of twenty-two to assist at the previously established New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Vedanta Society. He lived and taught there until 1909, when Paramananda established the Vedanta Centre of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. He lectured throughout the United States, Europe and Asia for thirty-four years, until his passing in 1940. He founded four centers still thriving today, two in the United States and two in Calcutta, India. The American ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
as are in Cohasset, Massachusetts
Cohasset, Massachusetts
Cohasset is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, though it is not contiguous with the main body of the county. The population was 7,542 at the 2010 census.- History :...
and La Crescenta, California. Like his teacher, Swami Vivekananda, Paramananda believed in equality between men and women. He established disciplined communities of nuns under the supervision of Sister Devamata (1867–1942) his American first disciple
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
, whom he ordained to teach Vedanta
Vedanta
Vedānta was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal...
from the platform in 1910. Throughout the entire history of the community, women were accorded positions of leadership in all areas of the work. The first Indian woman to join the community was Gayatri Devi (1906–1995), who was brought by Paramananda in 1926 to be trained as one of his assistants. Srimata Gayatri Devi became the spiritual leader of the centers upon Swami Paramananda's death in 1940 and the first Indian woman to be ordained a teacher in America.
Works
Swami Paramananda founded the "Message of the East" in 1909, the first Vedanta periodical published in the United States which continued for 55 years, offering articles, poetry and commentary on all religions in its monthly, and later quarterly, magazine. He authored translations of the Srimad Bhagavad GitaBhagavad Gita
The ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
and The Upanishads as well as four volumes of mystical poetry, “The Vigil”, “Rhythm of Life”, “Soul’s Secret Door” and “My Creed” and many other books and publications.
Books on and by Swami Paramananda
- A Bridge of Dreams - the Story of Paramananda a Modern Mystic and His Ideal of All-Conquering Love by Sara Ann Levinsky ISBN 0-89281-063-7
- Bhagavad Gita, Srimad translated by Swami Paramananda ISBN 0-911564-32-2
- Book of Daily Thoughts and Prayers by Swami Paramananda ISBN 0-911564-32-2
- Christ and Oriental Ideals by Swami Paramananda, Vedanta Centre Publishers
- Concentration and Meditation By Swami Paramananda, Vedanta Centre Publishers
- Emerson and Vedanta by Swami Paramananda, Vedanta Centre Publishers
- Faith is Power by Swami Paramananda, Vedanta Centre Publishers (first published as Faith as a Constructive Force)
- Healing Meditations by Swami Paramananda, Vedanta Centre Publishers
- Vedanta in Practice by Swami Paramananda, Vedanta Centre Publishers
- My Creed (Poetry) By Swami Paramananda, Vedanta Centre Publishers
- Right Resolutions by Swami Paramananda, Vedanta Centre Publishers
- Rhythm of Life (Poetry) by Swami Paramananda, Vedanta Centre Publishers
- Self-Mastery by Swami Paramananda, Vedanta Centre
- Silence as Yoga by Swami Paramananda ISBN 8-171201-81-4
- Soul's Secret Door (Poetry) by Swami Paramananda, Vedanta Centre Publishers
- Spiritual Healing by Swami Paramananda, Vedanta Centre Publishers
- Sri Ramakrishna and His Disciples by Sister Devamata La Crescenta, CA: Ananda-Ashram, 1928
- Swami Paramananda and His Work Volumes I and II, by Sister Devamata, Ananda Ashrama
- The Guru and the Disciple by Sister Daya, Vedanta Centre Publishers
- The Path of Devotion by Swami Paramananda, Vedanta Centre Publishers
- The Upanishads Translation by Swami Paramananda, Vedanta Centre Publishers
- The Vigil (Poetry) by Swami Paramananda, Vedanta Centre Publishers
- The Way of Peace and Blessedness by Swami Paramananda ISBN 0-766144-60-7
- Vedanta in Practice by Swami Paramananda, Vedanta Centre Publishers
External links
- Vedanta Centre, Cohasset, MA
- Ananda Ashrama, La Crescenta, CA
- Daily Thoughts and Prayers Writings and poetry by Swami Paramamanda
- The Gandharvas Ananda Ashrama musicians. Features videos of a music program at the Hollywood Vedanta Center (2006)
- Direct Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna