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| Ramakrishna and His Disciples | 
 enlarge | Author: Christopher Isherwood
Publisher: Vedanta Press
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy New: $3.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (6 reviews)
Sales Rank: 381591
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 340
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6 x 1.2
ISBN: 087481037X
Dewey Decimal Number: 291
EAN: 9780874810370
ASIN: 087481037X
Publication Date: December 1980
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
This is a biography of one of India's greatest saints, written for the West by one of Englands greatest authors.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
Ramakrishna and his disciples May 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Absolutely engrossing and inspiring,specially in these times where mankind
needs badly a more spiritual approach to everyday life.
God in the House May 25, 2007
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I began reading this book with a jaundiced sensibility, entirely expecting that this was going to be yet another sanitized version of a purported Messiah's life. It quickly became apparent that cream does rise to the surface, with regard to both the Author and the subject matter. Christopher Isherwood, a reknowned novelist of the 30's, knows how to stay out of the way and let the story speak for itself. It was refreshing to read a book which was truly inspiring. This is the story of a Saint who was in love with Love. He was the apotheosis of the the spiritual fervor of India. Ramakrishna's life was not about his teachings, but about his example. Philosophers may come and go but great souls never die. My advice to everyone is to sacrifice some TV time and read this book instead. It will take you back to what's real and forever.
A blissful experience January 5, 2005
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
This has to rate as one of my top 10 books ever read. It is a wonderfully moving and enjoyable recounting of the life of Sri Ramakrishna. Ramakrishna was a holy man in India in the late 1800's who had one foot in this world and one in the next. He would be discoursing with his followers or answering a devotee's question and suddenly he would be in samadhi. One really becomes enveloped in bliss while reading about this wonderful man who studied all of the world's spiritual traditions so he could appreciate their unity and was so profoundly practical and loving. It is a joy to read as it is written by an author at the top of his craft.
Meeting a Master's Mandala December 6, 2004
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
Ramakrishna is an interesting case-an Avatar of God born and living in an age of imperial rationalism, a master famous for teaching Advaita and for his worship of a personal God, and a man often fearful of women while remaining intensely devoted to the black Mother goddess, Kali. Even his closest disciples found him a mystery, and could not always bring themselves to agree with him (c.f. Narendra's carnivory).
Isherwood, to his credit, doesn't try to explain these paradoxes. He just tells a story, largely based on The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (good reading, by the way), of men he's clearly in love with; Isherwood leaves interpretation mostly to the reader. A biography such as this one, explaining in detail how a teacher's work was received and by whom, helps us understand how a particular body of knowledge works as it does. And Isherwood's prose has the same level of craft as, say, Thomas Hardy's. This is, simply, a fine biography, clearly a work of deep devotion.
Really good teachers teach with their lives as examples, so biographies can be a precious commodity. Want more? You may find Kieth Dowman's text Masters of Mahamudra useful to you; in one volume you get the biographies of eighty-four mahasiddhas.
May your own biography be a long, peaceful, and productive one.
 informative July 16, 2001
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
if you're looking for a book on ramakrishna that's an easy read , this is it . its a good introduction , and one that probably goes down well with a reader not too familiar with hindu thought and hagiography . its a well organised book , covering the life of sri sri ramakrishna in approximate chronological order . too little has been said of his disciples , especially one titled "ramakrishna and his disciples " . don't expect an in depth look at ramakrishna (nor his disciples ), there are other books which delve more deeply . isherwood takes time to explain certain hindu concepts which should prove useful for the neophyte . anyone with prior knowledge of ramakrishna's life would find this book a decent re-hash of material found in other books ( most notably those by the vedanta press ) . all in all , worth the buy .
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