Service to Man is Service to God
Swami Vivekananda
Our Ideology
Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission
The Ramakrishna Mission, a widely acclaimed spiritual organization of international repute, having its headquarters at Belur Math, Howrah, West Bengal, India, was founded by Swami Vivekananda in May 1897 as an instrument for the dissemination of Sri Ramakrishna’s lofty spiritual teachings and the rich cultural heritage of India.
The Mission’s goal is to achieve this by translating its ideal into practical activities for the elevation of humanity irrespective of caste, creed, religion and nationality, looking upon people as the veritable manifestations of the Divine. Swamiji’s aims and ideals found pithy expression in his utterance that he made before the members of the Mission, monastic and lay, namely ‘Atmano Mokshartham Jagaddhitaya Cha’, for one’s own spiritual liberation and for the well-being of the world.
The Ramakrishna Mission was registered on 4th May, 1909 under the Societies Registration Act (Act XXI of 1860 revised according to the West Bengal Act XXVI of 1961) and its registration no. is S/ 917 of 1909-10. The Mission branches are spread all over India and in many other countries of the world.
As mentioned earlier, the ideal that the Ramakrishna Mission stands for is liberation of the individual self and the well-being of the world. Its aim is to practice and preach the Sanatana Dharma or the Eternal Religion as embodied in the lives and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Maa Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda, while its motto is renunciation and service and harmony of the religions. Its method is work and worship.
As a natural outcome of its work and motto, the activities of the Ramakrishna Mission include worship, training of monastic aspirants, preaching, dissemination of general and technical education with an ethical and spiritual background, medical service, famine and distress relief work, rural uplift, work among the toiling and emerging people of all classes and cultural activities etc.
