1. What is the Ramakrishna Order?
An order means, in this context, a group of monks living together and having a common allegiance. The Ramakrishna Order is a well-defined body of monks which owes its origin to Sri Ramakrishna and his eminent disciples, the foremost of whom was Swami Vivekananda. Mention must be made here of Sri Sarada Devi, whose spiritual stature was equal to that of Sri Ramakrishna and who guided the Order with motherly love and spiritual ministration for more than three decades since its inception. She is called the Holy Mother of the Order.
Ramakrishna Order means, for all practical purposes, two registered organizations – ‘Ramakrishna Math’ and ‘Ramakrishna Mission’, with their common Headquarters at Belur Math and more than 200 branches worldwide. To know more about the history, ideal and activities of these twin organizations, please visit our website.
An order means, in this context, a group of monks living together and having a common allegiance. The Ramakrishna Order is a well-defined body of monks which owes its origin to Sri Ramakrishna and his eminent disciples, the foremost of whom was Swami Vivekananda. Mention must be made here of Sri Sarada Devi, whose spiritual stature was equal to that of Sri Ramakrishna and who guided the Order with motherly love and spiritual ministration for more than three decades since its inception. She is called the Holy Mother of the Order.
Ramakrishna Order means, for all practical purposes, two registered organizations – ‘Ramakrishna Math’ and ‘Ramakrishna Mission’, with their common Headquarters at Belur Math and more than 200 branches worldwide. To know more about the history, ideal and activities of these twin organizations, please visit our website.
2. What does it mean to “join” the Ramakrishna Order?
Joining the Ramakrishna Order signifies leaving behind one’s family and friends, profession and attainments, all worldly interests, pleasures and concerns, and embracing the monastic life. The person will henceforth live in a monastery, usually known as Math or Ashrama, of the Ramakrishna Order devoting his life exclusively to spiritual pursuits and selfless service.
Joining the Ramakrishna Order signifies leaving behind one’s family and friends, profession and attainments, all worldly interests, pleasures and concerns, and embracing the monastic life. The person will henceforth live in a monastery, usually known as Math or Ashrama, of the Ramakrishna Order devoting his life exclusively to spiritual pursuits and selfless service.
3. What are the essential conditions for becoming a monk in the Ramakrishna Order?
Interested young men (please note: not women) who are at least graduates and within the age-group of 18 to 28 are eligible to join the Ramakrishna Order. The upper age limit is 30 for engineering / medical graduates and post-graduates, and 36 for Westerners. For more details, please write to the Headquarters (Belur Math) at mail@rkmm.org
Interested young men (please note: not women) who are at least graduates and within the age-group of 18 to 28 are eligible to join the Ramakrishna Order. The upper age limit is 30 for engineering / medical graduates and post-graduates, and 36 for Westerners. For more details, please write to the Headquarters (Belur Math) at mail@rkmm.org
4. What are the options for young women who are interested in embracing monastic life?
Ramakrishna Order is a monastic organization for men only. For women there is a parallel organization known as Sri Sarada Math which follows the same ideals as ours. Interested women may directly contact the Sarada Math at its headquarters in Dakshineshwar, Kolkata. Email address: saradamath.office@gmail.com
Ramakrishna Order is a monastic organization for men only. For women there is a parallel organization known as Sri Sarada Math which follows the same ideals as ours. Interested women may directly contact the Sarada Math at its headquarters in Dakshineshwar, Kolkata. Email address: saradamath.office@gmail.com
5. I’m married. Can I join the Ramakrishna Order?
We are sorry! Only unmarried men are allowed to join the Ramakrishna Order. A person who was married but now divorced is not eligible either.
But you are welcome to get associated with us as a devotee or volunteer. Please contact the head of our branch centre nearer to the place of your stay.
We are sorry! Only unmarried men are allowed to join the Ramakrishna Order. A person who was married but now divorced is not eligible either.
But you are welcome to get associated with us as a devotee or volunteer. Please contact the head of our branch centre nearer to the place of your stay.
6. Why academic qualification is insisted upon for a man who wants to renounce everything?
Although academic qualification is not a prerequisite for spiritual growth, it is nonetheless necessary for the following reasons:
- Embracing monastic life is a very significant decision and it needs a certain maturity of mind to arrive at this decision. Formal education, apart from everything else, usually helps to develop this maturity.
- The monks of Ramakrishna Order need to run schools, colleges, hospitals and many other institutions serving people in various ways. Also, they are invited to give talks in national or international forums and universities. A good academic qualification helps to handle all these more effectively.
- Some young men seem to opt for monastic life as a last resort or in desperation. Maybe they are afraid of studies and exams. Maybe they have failed in securing a job after their heart because of their poor academic performance or some other shortcoming. By insisting on a good academic record and age limit, we hope to ensure that such people do not sneak into the Order!
Although academic qualification is not a prerequisite for spiritual growth, it is nonetheless necessary for the following reasons:
- Embracing monastic life is a very significant decision and it needs a certain maturity of mind to arrive at this decision. Formal education, apart from everything else, usually helps to develop this maturity.
- The monks of Ramakrishna Order need to run schools, colleges, hospitals and many other institutions serving people in various ways. Also, they are invited to give talks in national or international forums and universities. A good academic qualification helps to handle all these more effectively.
- Some young men seem to opt for monastic life as a last resort or in desperation. Maybe they are afraid of studies and exams. Maybe they have failed in securing a job after their heart because of their poor academic performance or some other shortcoming. By insisting on a good academic record and age limit, we hope to ensure that such people do not sneak into the Order!
7. I’m a college/university student. Can I join the Order now?
It is strongly recommended that you continue your studies and finish the course which you have started. You may join the Order soon after that. Let not your studies be the first casualty of your spirit of renunciation!
Until the completion of your studies, you may keep in touch with any of our branches and serve as a volunteer in your free time there.
It is strongly recommended that you continue your studies and finish the course which you have started. You may join the Order soon after that. Let not your studies be the first casualty of your spirit of renunciation!
Until the completion of your studies, you may keep in touch with any of our branches and serve as a volunteer in your free time there.
8. Can I pursue my college or higher studies after joining the Order?
Candidates, in general, are expected to have finished their formal education before entering the monastery.
Candidates, in general, are expected to have finished their formal education before entering the monastery.
9. I’ve some health issues. Will that be an obstacle to my joining the Order?
A good health is important for joining, since a monk is expected to serve others rather than to be served by others. As part of the joining procedure, candidates, therefore, need to compulsorily undergo a thorough medical test to prove their fitness. Persons with chronic and debilitating illness (physical or mental) are not allowed to join the Order, lest they should fail to bear the hardship of monastic life and become liabilities to the Order.
A good health is important for joining, since a monk is expected to serve others rather than to be served by others. As part of the joining procedure, candidates, therefore, need to compulsorily undergo a thorough medical test to prove their fitness. Persons with chronic and debilitating illness (physical or mental) are not allowed to join the Order, lest they should fail to bear the hardship of monastic life and become liabilities to the Order.
10. I’ve not read books on Sri Ramakrishna or Swami Vivekananda. Can I join the Order?
It is not advisable for you to join immediately.
Please make time to read at least a few important books of Ramakrishna–Vivekananda literature.
Our list of recommended books is given below:
On Sri Ramakrishna
Sri Ramakrishna: A Biography by Swami Nikhilananda
Note: The most authentic and comprehensive biography on Sri Ramakrishna is Sri Sri Ramakrishna Lilaprasanga, written in Bengali by one of his monastic disciples, Swami Sardananda, and translated into English (by Swami Chetanananda) under the title Sri Ramakrishna: His Divine Play. As Lilaprasanga (or its translation) is a voluminous book, with more than a thousand pages, we have recommended, Sri Ramakrishna: A Biography by Swami Nikhilananda. This is a good book giving biographical details in about 300 pages. After joining the Order, the candidates should read the Lilaprasanga either in original or its translation.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna by Mahendra Nath Gupta
Note: This is a translation of the Bengali original: Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita. Available in Hindi and other Indian languages.
On Sri Sarada Devi
Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi by Swami Gambhirananda, or
Sri Sarada Devi – The Holy Mother by Swami Tapasyananda
On Swami Vivekananda
The Life of Swami Vivekananda by His Eastern and Western Disciples (in 2 vols.), or
Yuganayak Vivekananda by Swami Gambhirananda (in 3 vols.)
(Originally written in Bengali. Available also in Hindi and other Indian languages)
Note: These two books mentioned above are the most comprehensive and authentic biographies of Swami Vivekananda published by our Order and hence, they are our first recommendation. Before his passing away, Sri Ramakrishna revealed his ideas about the future Order to Swami Vivekananda. Making him the leader of his other monastic disciples, he entrusted Swami Vivekananda with the responsibility of giving his ideas a concrete shape in the form of this Order so that his great ideals might live through this Order for posterity. Also, time and again it was proved to Sri Ramakrishna’s disciples, during his lifetime as well as in later years, that it was Swami Vivekananda who could rightly understand the significance of Sri Ramakrishna’s teachings more than anybody else. Therefore, to understand the uniqueness of Sri Ramakrishna as well as this Order, one must first study the life and works of Swami Vivekananda thoroughly.
But in case one finds the above books too large, one can start with a shorter biography noted below:
Swami Vivekananda : A Biography by Swami Nikhilananda
On monastic disciples of Sri Ramakrishna
God Lived With Them (By Swami Chetanananda), or
Sri Ramakrishna-Bhaktamalika by Swami Gambhirananda (in 2 vols.)
(Originally written in Bengali. Available also in English, Hindi and other major Indian languages)
Note: Besides Swami Vivekananda, Sri Ramakrishna had fifteen monastic disciples. They also contributed greatly to the formation of the Order under the leadership of Swami Vivekananda, and later, after Vivekananda’s passing away, in its growth for more than thirty years. So if you can go through the lives of at least a few of them (viz. Swami Brahmananda, Swami Shivananda, Swami Saradananda, Swami Akhandananda, Swami Premananda and Swami Ramakrishnananda) you will have a better idea about what monastic life really means in our Order. We, therefore, recommend one of the two books mentioned above.
Spiritual instructions
A Guide to Spiritual Life by Swami Brahmananda
For seekers of God by Swami Shivananda
Towards the Goal Supreme by Swami Virajananda
(All these titles are available in Bengali, Hindi and other Indian languages)
Selected lectures and books of Swami Vivekananda
Lectures from Colombo to Almora
Letters of Swami Vivekananda
Karma Yoga
Bhakti Yoga
Jnana Yoga
(All these titles are available in Bengali, Hindi and other Indian languages)
About monasticism in general and Ramakrishna Order in particular
The Glory of Monastic Life : By Swami Bhajanananda
Monasticism ‒ Ideal and Traditions : A Vedanta Kesari Presentation
Note: Please know that only a few basic books are listed on this page.
Studying these books will give you a good idea of the life you are going to embrace.
After joining the Order, you will have full exposure to our literature which is pretty vast and multifarious. Swami Vivekananda said that a monastic order goes downward without the cultivation of learning. Our monks try to follow these words of Swamiji to the best of their ability.
Please visit our websites <advaitaashrama.org> and <istore.chennaimath.org> to buy the books listed above.
It is not advisable for you to join immediately.
Please make time to read at least a few important books of Ramakrishna–Vivekananda literature.
Our list of recommended books is given below:
On Sri Ramakrishna
Sri Ramakrishna: A Biography by Swami Nikhilananda
Note: The most authentic and comprehensive biography on Sri Ramakrishna is Sri Sri Ramakrishna Lilaprasanga, written in Bengali by one of his monastic disciples, Swami Sardananda, and translated into English (by Swami Chetanananda) under the title Sri Ramakrishna: His Divine Play. As Lilaprasanga (or its translation) is a voluminous book, with more than a thousand pages, we have recommended, Sri Ramakrishna: A Biography by Swami Nikhilananda. This is a good book giving biographical details in about 300 pages. After joining the Order, the candidates should read the Lilaprasanga either in original or its translation.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna by Mahendra Nath Gupta
Note: This is a translation of the Bengali original: Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita. Available in Hindi and other Indian languages.
On Sri Sarada Devi
Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi by Swami Gambhirananda, or
Sri Sarada Devi – The Holy Mother by Swami Tapasyananda
On Swami Vivekananda
The Life of Swami Vivekananda by His Eastern and Western Disciples (in 2 vols.), or
Yuganayak Vivekananda by Swami Gambhirananda (in 3 vols.)
(Originally written in Bengali. Available also in Hindi and other Indian languages)
Note: These two books mentioned above are the most comprehensive and authentic biographies of Swami Vivekananda published by our Order and hence, they are our first recommendation. Before his passing away, Sri Ramakrishna revealed his ideas about the future Order to Swami Vivekananda. Making him the leader of his other monastic disciples, he entrusted Swami Vivekananda with the responsibility of giving his ideas a concrete shape in the form of this Order so that his great ideals might live through this Order for posterity. Also, time and again it was proved to Sri Ramakrishna’s disciples, during his lifetime as well as in later years, that it was Swami Vivekananda who could rightly understand the significance of Sri Ramakrishna’s teachings more than anybody else. Therefore, to understand the uniqueness of Sri Ramakrishna as well as this Order, one must first study the life and works of Swami Vivekananda thoroughly.
But in case one finds the above books too large, one can start with a shorter biography noted below:
Swami Vivekananda : A Biography by Swami Nikhilananda
On monastic disciples of Sri Ramakrishna
God Lived With Them (By Swami Chetanananda), or
Sri Ramakrishna-Bhaktamalika by Swami Gambhirananda (in 2 vols.)
(Originally written in Bengali. Available also in English, Hindi and other major Indian languages)
Note: Besides Swami Vivekananda, Sri Ramakrishna had fifteen monastic disciples. They also contributed greatly to the formation of the Order under the leadership of Swami Vivekananda, and later, after Vivekananda’s passing away, in its growth for more than thirty years. So if you can go through the lives of at least a few of them (viz. Swami Brahmananda, Swami Shivananda, Swami Saradananda, Swami Akhandananda, Swami Premananda and Swami Ramakrishnananda) you will have a better idea about what monastic life really means in our Order. We, therefore, recommend one of the two books mentioned above.
Spiritual instructions
A Guide to Spiritual Life by Swami Brahmananda
For seekers of God by Swami Shivananda
Towards the Goal Supreme by Swami Virajananda
(All these titles are available in Bengali, Hindi and other Indian languages)
Selected lectures and books of Swami Vivekananda
Lectures from Colombo to Almora
Letters of Swami Vivekananda
Karma Yoga
Bhakti Yoga
Jnana Yoga
(All these titles are available in Bengali, Hindi and other Indian languages)
About monasticism in general and Ramakrishna Order in particular
The Glory of Monastic Life : By Swami Bhajanananda
Monasticism ‒ Ideal and Traditions : A Vedanta Kesari Presentation
Note: Please know that only a few basic books are listed on this page.
Studying these books will give you a good idea of the life you are going to embrace.
After joining the Order, you will have full exposure to our literature which is pretty vast and multifarious. Swami Vivekananda said that a monastic order goes downward without the cultivation of learning. Our monks try to follow these words of Swamiji to the best of their ability.
Please visit our websites <advaitaashrama.org> and <istore.chennaimath.org> to buy the books listed above.
