“Suppose at the Name of the Lord your hair stands on end or tears of joy start from your eyes; verily I say unto you the term is over for your ‘work for the Lord.’” – Sri Ramakrishna (1836 – 1886).

These are the first words of the great Hindu saint Sri Ramakrishna chronicled by his future disciple, Mahendranath Gupta (M.) in the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. It is an extraordinary document of spirituality, which makes spirituality simple to practice for a person in any situation in life. You practice spirituality while continuing to carry out the duties and responsibilities of life, but those duties are not the end of life. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna takes you where you stand and lifts you up one step at a time without stopping until you reach the highest heights of spirituality.

“Sandhya ends in Gayatri; Gayatri, in the simple symbol Om.”- Sri Ramakrishna

The drama of his banter, songs, preaching, ecstasy, worship, and love is vividly and minutely recorded by M. in the setting of Dakshineswar Temple and surrounding areas. Great monks, students, businessmen, meditators, and seekers of truth came to him and nobody went away empty-handed.

"Here the Gods are ministered unto from day to day -- from morning till night. Here too holy men and the poor are daily fed out of the offerings made to the Deity." – Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

This lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on July 19, 2014.