- Swami Ramdas
Swami Ramdas (1884-1963) was a
philosopher ,philanthropist , andpilgrim . Giving up worldly possessions at a young age, he became a wandering monk. The inspirational story of his travels throughoutIndia and his message of Universal Love has been presented in several different books and he is regarded by many as a spiritual master.Infobox Person
name = Swami Ramdas
caption = Swami Ramdas
dead = dead
birth_date = 1884
birth_place =Kerala ,India
death_date = 1963
Biography
Vittal Rao was born in
Kerala, India in 1884 to Sri Balakrishna Rao and Smt. Lalita Bai. He worked as a spinning master in a cotton mill and in 1908 he married. He experienced difficulties, both in his financial pursuits and domestic life, and seeking relief from his circumstances, he began to chant "Ram " – a name of God. Soon after, his father gave to him a holy mantra to repeat, the "Ram Mantra" - 'Om Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram'.He quickly became detached from materialistic pleasures and left on a pilgrimage, taking on the name Ramdas, and living on charity (though he never accepted money). His practice was to view the world as forms of Ram – and thus to see everything that might befall him as the will of God. His mantra practice also gradually became a round the clock practice.
In 1922 he encountered the sage,
Ramana Maharshi , and received his grace. As a result of this, he went into his first retreat, living for 21 days in solitude in a cave inArunachala . Upon leaving this cave he was filled with the realization that, “All was Rama, nothing but Rama” ["The Mountain Path", [http://www.ramana-maharshi.org/m_path/m_path.htm] ]After continuing to live on the roads for many years, his devotees established
Anandashram for him inKanhangad ,Kerala in 1931. The ashram worked to improve the living conditions of the local people, and continues to this day to share Swami Ramdas’ vision of Universal Love and Service.A list of Ramdas' well known disciples includes Swami Satchidananda, Mataji Krishnabai ,
Yogi Ramsuratkumar and swami mudrananda.He died in 1963.
Quotations
Resources
*"The Essential Swami Ramdas"
World Wisdom , 2005
*"Servant of God"Motilal Banarsidass, India, 1999
*"In the Vision of God vol 1"Blue Dove Press , 1994
*"In the Vision of God Vol. 2"Blue Dove Press , 1995External Links
* [http://www.anandashram.org/ Homepage of Anandashram]
* [http://www.spiritual-learning.com/ramdas.html Excerpts and Real Audio clips]References
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