M The Apostle The Evangelist Volume 9

Swami Nityatmananda lived in the company of Sri M. for a long time, maintained a diary and elaborated it in sixteen parts of Sri Ma Darshan. The book is also available in English under the title ‘M., the Apostle & the Evangelist.’ All the sixteen parts are available in Bengali too. It is a continuation of the Kathamrita. This work is the result of twenty years of hard and incessant work and tapasya, on the banks of the Ganga in Rishikesh, in the Himalayas. In this series of 16 volumes the reader is brought in close touch with the life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna family: Thakur, Swamiji, Holy Mother, M., Swami Shivananda, Swami Abhedananda and others. And there is the elucidation according to Sri Ramakrishna’s line of thought, of the Upanishads, the Gita, the Bible, Guru Granth Sahib, the Holy Quran and other scriptures. The third specialty of this work is the commentary on the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna by the author himself. Says Swami Shraddhananda, “One wonders at the unusual capacity of Swami Nityatmananda in recording these day to day conversations of this Vyasadeva of our time – M. – and later developing his notes into his masterly work. One cannot fail to discover the special training he received from Sri M. himself in this direction while he was serving as a teacher in M.’s school and living with him for years.” When he read it, Swami Jagadananda remarked, “The author has presented M.’s words lifelike. After reading his Kathamrita, a study of this book will throw new light on the Kathamrita. There is no doubt about it.” The great American and senior sadhu, Swami Atulananda, wrote, “This book may serve a double purpose. To those who are acquainted with M.’s Kathamrita, it may be welcome as a companion volume, and to those not yet acquainted with the Kathamrita, it may arouse a desire to make that acquaintance. For this book, which is a record of M.’s talks with his admirers about his reminiscences, not only reveals new facts about the life of Sri Ramakrishna, but throws new light on that wonderful life.” Swami Virajananda, the late President of Sri Ramakrishna Math and Mission, heard the manuscript read to him by his Secretary when he visited Dehradun for the last time, and he was delighted to hear it. He told to the author, “What a wonderful thing you have written! Why didn’t you show it to me earlier? Never mind, now go and finish the writing. Human life is so uncertain. If you complete the writing itself, publication can be taken up by others… Ah! The move is as dramatic as the subject is sublime…’

Swami Vivekananda believed that eternal spiritual values alone can hold the ship of human society firmly and give stability to it and, in the process, bring meaning to the varied human activities and endeavours. This book in 9 volumes comprising the speeches and writings of the Revered Swami Ranganathananda, the 13th President of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, posit the 'Eternal Spiritual Values' as an answer to the many fundamental social, political, economic, and spiritual problems that beset the modern age. Swami Ranganathananda travelled across the world and enthralled people with his magnificent exposition of India's ageless culture. He gave due place to the role of science and technology in human affairs, while remaining firmly rooted in the Indian scriptures. He beckoned to the past only to illumine the present; he held up the spiritual goals of the Vedas and the Upanishads but didn't decry the material benefits of modern science and technology. His exposition of Indian spiritual and social values is as much derived from an intensive study of ancient and modern books as from his own authentic experience as a Sannyasin. Published by Advaita Ashrama, a publication branch of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, volumes 1 and 2 deal with ‘Philosophy and Spirituality’, volumes 3 and 4 with ‘Great Spiritual Teachers’, volumes 5 and 6 with ‘Education for Human Excellence’, and volumes 7, 8 and 9 with ‘Democracy for Total Human Development’. This is volume 9 of the nine-volume series.

‘Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita Centenary Memorial' is a Volume published in 1982 on completion of hundred years of Master Mahasay's first meeting with Sri Ramakrishna. This contains articles from prominent sadhus of Sri Ramakrishna Order and devotees on the four subjects 1. Sri Ramakrishna, 2. The Kathamrita, 3. Sri M. and 4. Sri Ma Darshan. The Volume has been, therefore, divided into four parts: 1. Sri Ramakrishna, 2. The Kathamrita, 3. Sri M. and 4. Sri Ma Darshan. Needless to say that the editors were guided into this scheme by Thakur's great dictum: 'Bhakta— Bhagavata-Bhagavan', which if we may interpret means, that God, His Word and His (genuine) Devotee are one and the same. Thus the Volume achieves a unique unity in spite of its being so unplanned! The 26th of February 1882! On this day was created religious history, for from all available evidence, it was on this day that Sri M., the apostle and the evangelist, met his Lord and Master, Sri Ramakrishna, for the first time and heard His divine word which was to bring the Kathamrita, the Nectar of His Word into being, for the peace and bliss of the strifetorn restless world. On being asked which was the greatest event of his life, Sri M., himself said without a moment's hesitation: "The day I had my first darshana of Thakur (Sri Ramakrishna) in February 1882." To celebrate this great day Sri Ma Trust promised a yajna, by collecting all available views on the Kathamrita and its Recorder and publish them in the form of a Centenary Memorial which we hoped would help remind our readers of the glory of the Great Master, his Word and his Evangelist. Sadhus and devotees of Sri Ramakrishna were therefore invited to offer their ahutis (oblations) in the form of write-ups into this holy venture.

ABOUT M. According to the Yugantar, one of the two pillars of Neo-Vedanta is the mighty, lionic Swami Vivekananda and the other, M., the humble, quiet, wise and illumined proclaimer singing day and night the glory of the Godman, Sri Ramakrishna. About him Sri Ramakrishna said, "With these very eyes, I saw you among the singers of Sri Chaitanya's sankirtana... You belong to the ever-perfect class... You are my own, of the same substance as father and son... You trade in the Jewellery of the Spirit... Ma! illumine him. Otherwise how will he illumine others. Except for me he knows nothing." Swami Vivekananda wrote to him, "You have hit Ramakrishna in the right point... (he) is with you evidently." Sri Ma Sarada Devi wrote to M., "When I heard you (read the Kathamrita) I felt those were His very words." Christopher Isherwood said of M., "The ideas and ideals Sri Ramakrishna taught to the house-holder found their embodiment in M." ABOUT THE BOOK The author has freely drawn on the Kathamrita, Sri Ma Darshan (M., the Apostle and the Evangelist), Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, Ramakrishna & his Disciples and on some articles which have appeared from time to time in the Prabuddha Bharata and the Vedantal Kesari in compiling this short life. Sri Ma Trust brought out A Short Life of M., in 1977. The present edition is a somewhat enlarged and corrected version of the same. The Trust has also brought out a bigger book on M. and the Kathamrita under the title, 'Life of M. and Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathmrita.'

A compilation of apocryphal Christian texts, many translated into English for the first time, with comprehensive introductions. This second volume of New Testament Apocrypha continues the work of the first by making available to English readers more apocryphal texts. Twenty-nine texts are featured, including The Adoration of the Magi and The Life of Mary Magdalene, each carefully introduced, copiously annotated, and translated into English by eminent scholars. These fascinating texts provide insights into the beliefs, expressions, and practices of a range of Christian communities from the early centuries through late antiquity and into the medieval period.

The Book of Martyrs by John Foxe written in the 16th century has long been the go-to source for studying the lives and martyrdom of the apostles. Whilst other scholars have written individual treatments on the more prominent apostles such as Peter, Paul, John, and James, there is little published information on the other apostles. In The Fate of the Apostles, Sean McDowell offers a comprehensive, reasoned, historical analysis of the fate of the twelve disciples of Jesus along with the apostles Paul, and James. McDowell assesses the evidence for each apostle’s martyrdom as well as determining its significance to the reliability of their testimony. The question of the fate of the apostles also gets to the heart of the reliability of the kerygma: did the apostles really believe Jesus appeared to them after his death, or did they fabricate the entire story? How reliable are the resurrection accounts? The willingness of the apostles to die for their faith is a popular argument in resurrection studies and McDowell offers insightful scholarly analysis of this argument to break new ground within the spheres of New Testament studies, Church History, and apologetics.

Volume III of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita in English. This book is a word-by-word translation of the original Bengali Edition of the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna... It contains the dialogues of the Bengali saint Ramakrishna written with almost stenographic accuracy. This edition is a different translation of the Swami Nikhilananda Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna which was published in the forties and showed the restraint of that era. All 5 volumes of the set are now available in English. This is volume 3 of the new edition. The expression woman and gold has been replaced by lust and greed or lust and gold. If you have read the Nikhilananda version, this translation will seem like a new Gospel.

Acts is the sequel to Luke's gospel and tells the story of Jesus's followers during the 30 years after his death. It describes how the 12 apostles, formerly Jesus's disciples, spread the message of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean against a background of persecution. With an introduction by P.D. James