The Cultural Heritage of India: Sri Ramakrishna Centenary Memorial.

Belur Math: Sri Ramakrishna Centenary Committee, (1936). First edition. Three large octavo volumes with numerous full page illustrations from photographs. Publisher's burgundy faux-morocco, front covers with a gilt Indian design, gilt spine lettering, pictorial dust jackets. Discreet and small presentation stamp to front blank. A couple of minor chips to jacket extremities but a wonderful set.Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886) was an Indian mystic and yogi during the 19th-century.Ramakrishna was given to spiritual ecstasies from a young age, and was influenced by several religious traditions, including devotion toward the goddess Kali, Tantra and Vaishnava bhakti, and Advaita Vedanta. The perception amongst Bengali elites of what they considered his exemplary life, led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda, which acquired worldwide influence in the spread of modern Hinduism. Despite initial reservations, Vivekananda became Ramakrishna's most influential follower, popularizing a modern interpretation of Indian traditions which harmonised Tantra, Yoga and Advaita Vedanta. Vivekanda established the Ramakrishna order, which eventually spread its mission posts throughout the world. "Born into an aristocratic Bengali family of Calcutta, Vivekananda was inclined towards spirituality. He was influenced by his Guru, Ramakrishna Deva, from whom he learnt that all living beings were an embodiment of the divine self; therefore, service to God could be rendered by service to mankind. After Ramakrishna's death, Vivekananda toured the Indian subcontinent extensively and acquired first-hand knowledge of the conditions prevailing in British India. He later travelled to the United States, representing India at the 1893 Parliament of the World Religions. Vivekananda conducted hundreds of public and private lectures and classes, disseminating tenets of Hindu philosophy in the United States, England and Europe. In India, Vivekananda is regarded as a patriotic saint and his birthday is celebrated there as National Youth Day".From the introduction: "It was decided that the Memorial Volume should be dedicated to the developments in the souls and culture of India, so that numerous topics dealt with might all be viewed in the light of the eternal theme of Indian spiritual thought, namely, to seek, know and realize the one in the many."