Ramakrishna Mission
The Ramakrishna Mission is the monastic and service organization founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1897 at Belur (the Mission; the Ramakrishna Math, the monastic brotherhood, was founded 1886/1898–99), carrying his master Sri Ramakrishna’s teaching into organized service — “Shiva in Jiva” (God in the suffering) as the motive of work.
Overview
Twin organizations: the Math (monastic order — sannyasis dedicated to realization and teaching) and the Mission (service arm — schools, hospitals, disaster relief, rural development). Headquartered at Belur Math (Howrah, on the Hooghly opposite Dakshineswar), with centers across India and abroad.
Core teachings
Practical Vedanta: the realization of the divinity of the soul as the goal, service of humanity as worship; harmony of religions (Ramakrishna’s experimental pluralism); renunciation and service combined — the Mission’s distinctive synthesis.
Practice and work
Daily worship and meditation at the centers; Ramakrishna-Vivekananda literature (the Complete Works, the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna); schools and colleges (Vidyapith at Deoghar, Narendrapur, Belur’s colleges), hospitals, and a century of disaster relief.
Modern status
A registered society (registered 1909 under the Societies Registration Act, 1860); dozens of centers worldwide; one of India’s most respected educational and relief organizations; its spirituality remains orthodox Advaita-inflected bhakti.
Verification notes
- Founding dates (Math 1886 at Baranagar; Mission 1897; Belur Math consecrated 1898/99) are documented.
- Audited against Wikipedia (September 2026).