President of Ramakrishna Mission Swami Smaranananda Passes away

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed his deepest condolences at the passing of Shrimat Swami Smaranananda Ji Maharaj, who was the President of Ramakrishna Mission. 

• Shrimat Swami Smaranananda passed away at the age of 95. He took office as the 16th President of Ramakrishna Mission in 2017.

About Ramakrishna Mission

• In 1897, Vivekananda founded Ramakrishna Mission near Calcutta (now Kolkata) with two objectives: 
  • to spread the teachings of Vedanta through the life of Hindu saint Ramakrishna (1836-86) and 
  • to improve the social conditions of Indian people. 
• Ramakrishna, who drew from his own spiritual experiences with various religious disciplines, including Christianity and Islam, believed that all religions lead to the same goal.
•  A small but dedicated group of disciples grew around him, including Narendranath Datta (later known as Vivekananda), who was chosen by Ramakrishna as his successor.
• This group established the Ramakrishna math on the banks of the Ganges near Kolkata in 1898. 
• In 1953, the Sri Sarada Math was founded in Calcutta and in 1959, it became a separate entity following Vivekananda's earlier wishes. 
• The Ramakrishna Sarada Mission, along with its sister organization, operates several centers throughout India. 
• The organization promotes the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta-Advaita Vedanta, as well as four yogic ideals: Jnana, Bhakti, Karma, and Raja yoga. 
• The mission's work is based on the principles of Karma Yoga, which involves selfless work dedicated to God. 
• The movement is headquartered at Belur Math on the banks of the Ganges in West Bengal, striving for religious harmony, social equality, peace, all-round development of human faculties, and spiritual fulfillment for all humanity.

Core Principles:

The Ramakrishna Mission is based on the principles taught by Swami Vivekananda, which were influenced by the life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna.

The Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission organization is based on two core principles. 

1. The first is the potential divinity of all beings. 
2. The second is the oneness of existence, which means that the universe is united.

It means: 

• Principle of Freedom or liberation
• Synthesis of the four yogas — jnana yoga, bhakti yoga, karmayoga and rajayoga.
• Harmony of religions
• Harmony of secular and sacred, or human and divine