Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, Volume I

These five volumes leave me speechless. Superbly translated, impeccable flow, no stones left unturned to drive home the spirit of Thakur - exactly as M. would have liked it.While Swami Nikhilananda ji Mj's translation - the first one - is great, I find this one somehow closer to my heart.Why? One reason is the ordering. These volumes follow M.'s original ordering of the five volumes.There is a reason M. ordered those volumes in that way. It simply brings out the best. In sequence. One after the other. Just like a ladder. One rung after another.Whereas the other translation follows chronological ordering, which is historically accurate, but misses an important point - the development of spiritual thoughts, beliefs, visions, and realization - from the perspective of the Seeker.Great volume altogether. Can hardly recommend it enough!May God Bless Us All. Hari Om Tat Sat.Jai Ma!

I enjoyed reading this boom immensely. However, the book itself is defective; after page 94 i find page 89, so pages 89 to page 104 are duplicated.Still, i have already ordered Volume 2, and i believe I will wind up reading all five volumes. As to amazon, everything I have ordered in the past has arrived on the promised day! thank you.

Incredible book. Not my favorite binding, as it came with a plastic laminate over the hard cover. A good value nonetheless.

This is a most excellent translation of a remarkable book. I prefer it to "The Gospel Of Sri Ramakrishna" as it is published as a word by word translation of the entirety of the five volume text. the "Gospel" edited a few things that Westerners would have found shocking in the 40's, and arranged everything chronologically, in one large volume. These volumes were arranged in a way that each one was a teaching for a particular stage on the path to realization. Book one progresses "vertically" through to book five. This edition replaces Ramakrishna's oft repeated warnings about the temptations of "women and gold" with the terms "lust and greed." Anyone who was familiar with Ramakrishna knows that He regarded women as manifestations of the Divine Mother and worthy of the deepest respect. These volumes do not, however, contain all the great photographs that the "Gospel" contains, and for this reason alone it is worth it to me to own both editions.In these pages you will find pure delight for the spiritual seeker. It is a masterpiece of literature, a masterpiece of spiritual teaching, and a first hand account of 19th century Bengal that is full of wonderful atmospheric details. Ramakrishna's day and age really come to life in these pages. They are full of Bhakti as well as Jnana, and full of the experience of the Immanent Divine Mother as well as the Transcendent Brahman, which to Ramakrishna are as inseparable as milk and its whiteness. All religions to Ramakrishna are but different paths to the same goal, and his life experiences of practicing Christianity, Islam, and many different sects of Hinduism were a proof and testament to this. In short, this is the most remarkable book I have ever read in my life. A pure delight to read, and I cannot recommend it enough.