Holy Mother, Swamiji, and Direct Disciples at Madras
A Compilation
Madras or Chennai has a long association with the Ramakrishna Movement from its inception. It was the people of Madras who first recognized the genius of Swami Vivekananda. Apart from Swamiji, the Holy Mother, Swami Brahmananda, Swami Ramakrishnananda and eight other direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna too visited Madras on different occasions. The first monastery of the Ramakrishna Math in South India was started in Madras by Swami Ramakrishnananda. In the pages of this book the reader will find narrated these associations of the Great Ones with Madras.
I have been asked many times, Why do you laugh so much and make so many jokes? I become serious sometimes--when I have a stomachache! The Lord is all blissfulness. He is the reality behind all that exists. He is the goodness, the truth in everything. You are His incarnations. That is what is glorious. The nearer you are to Him, the less you will have occasions to cry or weep. The further we are from Him, the more will long faces come. The more we know of Him, the more misery vanishes.
-Swami Vivekananda
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