Ramakrishna Movement - A Symbol of World Cultural Unity

Abstract

Recently the Ramakrishna Order, on organization of sannyasins who have dedicated their lives for the good of the world and for their own
salvation, completed one hundred years of its useful existence. As if by divine providence, this year coincided with the 150th Birth Anniversary of
Sri Ramakrishna, the founder of this vital Movement. This twice-blessed occasion was celebrated all over India, and even in some foreign countries,
with pomp and gaiety. Special worship sessions, processions, youth programmes, scholarly discourses by the elite of the society on the message of
Sri Ramakrishna, and philanthropic and charitable acts of service to the downtrodden and the needy were the main items of the celebrations.
Peasants and pleibians, kings and commanders alike, participated in these celebrations with equal zest. Speaking on this occasion at a function
organized by the Ramakrishna Mission, New Delhi, Sri Rajiv Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India, observed: "The Ramakrishna Movement is a
great national endeavour, combining inspiration and idealism with compassion and action in the form of religious service for the common man.
The Movement has taught a philosophy which could be related to the social problems of education and health, women's uplift, relief in natural
or man-made calamities. The Ramakrishna schools and colleges are among the best and are spread to distant corners of our country. I thank
and felicitate the Ramakrishna Order for the century of service to the nation and its people. I am sure the organisation will blaze many a trail,
show a true religion of compassion for all beings, respect for all religions, service to the depressed and the oppressed, meditation and action, purification of the self and of the society true to the precepts of Vivekananda."