This new edition of two classic spiritual biographies of Sri Ramakrishna offers an intimate portrait of the life of this great teacher. An essential spiritual guide for people of all faiths and backgrounds, it presents a unique look at the deeper spirit within the Ramakrishna legend, and illuminates an important link in the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda movement.
Swami Nikhilananda (1895–1973), born Dinesh Chandra Das Gupta was a direct disciple of Sri Sarada Devi. In 1933, he founded the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of New York, a branch of Ramakrishna Mission, and remained its head until his death in 1973. An accomplished writer and thinker, Nikhilananda's greatest contribution was the translation of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita from Bengali into English, published under the title The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942).
Inspiring for spiritual process. Loved it. Indeed Sri Ramakrishna is the face of silence. Brief biography of Sri Ramakrishna by Swami Nikhilandana is awesome.
This book is unique because it is written by a writer settled in the west rather than most books which are usually written by Sri Ramakrishna's disciples. In this book the author clearly delineates in his discussion with one of the swami's the difference between illumination, enlightenment and Samadhi. why a disciple need's a guru. the seven stages/valleys which a seeker needs to transcend to experience divinity is explained lucidly. when a seeker asks Sri Ramakrishna whether the seven valleys which a seeker crosses is the same for all seekers and sri Ramakrishna answers 'whether he is a Buddha or any other seeker everyone has to cross it to experience the final union with divine called samadhi'.
Two different sections in this book, each written by the different author; this book is basically two different bios of Ramakrishna's life, but somehow it's not repetitive and still was interesting. Great read.
A combination of two separate accounts (books) on Sri Ramakrishna - Swami Nikhilananda's biographical succinct account of the saint; The face of silence - Dhan Gopal Mukerji's gathering of legends verbally from various sources that were associated with the saint during his lifetime. Several new details which haven't been chronicled in other books are presented to the reader.