The Vedanta Kesari

Contributed articles; previously published in Vedanta kesari, a monthly.

The Indian tradition lays down various schemas to organize life. This book analyses them in the modern context. Shrutis and Smritis are seen through Swami Vivekananda’s eyes. Complex concepts of dharma, caste, moksha, and karma yoga have been explained.A careful reading of this work convinces one that new moral codes in consonance with traditional values and modern needs have to be created. Evolving out of the December 2002 special issue of the English magazine The Vedanta Kesari, this work could be a manual of morality in the lines of the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda.

This beautiful book contains a photographic record of the work of Walter Spies, a German artist, and Beryl de Zoete, a British writer and dance critic, co-authors of the classic Dance and Drama in Bali (1938). These photographs, many previously unpublished, are chosen from the Horniman Museum Library collection to vividly evoke rural life in Bali, with its dance-drama traditions, and challenge the more lurid aspects of Bali's image in the 1930s.

Everyone is a natural Bhaktahi devotee. The difference only lies in the fact as to what we are devoted to. Most people are devoted to earning and accumulating money, in becoming famous and powerful, in pursuits that satisfy their ego and senses and so on. While they are devotees of the world, the genuine, real Bhakta is a devotee of the Unchanging Reality, Eternal Beloved called God and wants to pour all his love towards Him and Him alone. Such is the ideal of Bhakti.This book explores the rich Bhakti-traditions and describes various aspects of it.

The constant refrain of the book is that globalization, in addition to being an economic phenomenon, is concerned about the restructuring of society and the way we live. It delves into the core of globalization, its drawbacks and how the religions of the world and the Ramakrishna movement can help us learn to live with it and adapt it to our needs. The 33 articles in the book have been authored by monks of the Ramakrishna Order, renowned authors and authorities in various disciplines. They were first published in 1999 in the annual issue of the Vedanta Kesari, the monthly magazine of the Ramakrishna Order.

The first American edition of the conversations and teachings of the Holy Mother as recorded by her disciples, both lay and monastic, this fascinating collection brings to life the Holy Mother's teachings on human affliction, self-control, and peace in ways both personal and profound.