Sri Ramakrishna: The Face of Silence

by Nikhilananda

Sri Ramakrishna, one of the greatest spiritual personalities of our time, is widely recognized as the Prophet of the Harmony of Religions. After perfecting the practice of several religions – including Christianity, Islam and various traditions of Hinduism – he declared, “As many faiths, so many paths.”

For the first time, two classic biographies – Dhan Gopal Mukerji’s The Face of Silence (1926) and Swami Nikhilananda’s Sri Ramakrishna (1942) – are brought together to provide a fuller understanding of the life and spiritual significance of Sri Ramakrishna as well as the systems of Indian religious thought intimately connected with him. Pairing legend with fact, memory with history, this unique volume – including an Introduction to Sri Ramakrishna’s God-consciousness by Swami Adiswarananda – succeeds in intimately examining the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and conveying the true story of this great mystic, whose leaping flame of spiritual realization continues to influence the modern spiritual search.

Genres: Philosophy

344 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1926

About the author

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).

Reviews

[Kawshal Tripathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life changing

Inspiring for spiritual process. Loved it. Indeed Sri Ramakrishna is the face of silence. Brief biography of Sri Ramakrishna by Swami Nikhilandana is awesome.

[Pariselvakumar Panneerselvam · Rating 5 out of 5]

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'.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Harshitha D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written about a great man in a state of melancholy.

[Vijaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.