Vedanta developed within Hinduism specifically with the aim of bringing together the diverse sects of Hinduism, while recognizing that there is not only one religion, but that instead each of us can find or develop the religion that elevates his being.

The land and history of India have been propitious for religious encounters: Buddhism, Christianity and Islam have, since their origin, taken root in India, where the Sikh religion, Jainism, the Parsi religion, and others also exist. The Vedanta’s perspective on the various sects of Hinduism applies of course to all the other religions: each one is a path of truth, but none alone can fully account for the manifestations of the Infinite.

The Ramakrishna Mission has, among others, tasked itself with encouraging and participating in inter-religious dialogue. This has been so since its origin—indeed, one of the first public actions of Swami Vivekananda was to participate in the first World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893.

“Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work or worship or psychic control or philosophy – by one or more of all of these – and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines or dogmas, or rituals or books, or temples or forms, are but secondary details.”

Swami Vivekananda

Shortly after Ramakrishna’s passing, his sannyasin disciples established a monastic order bearing his name and under the authority of Swami Vivekananda, in accordance with Ramakrishna’s instructions. Little by little the Order established twin organisations, each of whose activities are guided by a fundamental principle:

• The Ramakrishna Math, which teaches Vedanta based on the example of it given by Ramakrishna’s own life

• The Ramakrishna Mission, which serves, along the participation of lay disciples, all human beings, each of whom is deemed to be manifestations of the Divine, regardless of caste, creed, or race.

Today the Order includes about one thousand sannyasin members.

Although both institutions engage in charitable and philanthropic activities, the Math puts greater emphasis on spiritual life and teaching, while the Mission focuses more on charitable works (which are nevertheless always accompanied by a spiritual dimension).

To carry out their activities, both the Math and the Mission receive subsidies from the central government of India, the provincial authorities, as well as various public organisations. Many gifts, donations, and revenues are received from other sources as well, for example from the entry fees of students with the means to pay.

Both the Math and Mission have their headquarters at the Belur monastery, located on the banks of the Ganges upstream from Kolkata.

The Order’s symbol summarises its ideal: the soul, symbolised by a swan, serenely floats on the ocean of unattached work (karma yoga), and is both supported by the pure lotus of devotion (bhakti yoga) and illuminated by the rising sun of knowledge (jnana yoga). This group is encircled by the serpent that sets everything in motion (raja yoga). The Sanskrit “May He illumine us” completes the picture.

Thanks to his own influence, as well as that of Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna is known beyond India. Indeed, the Nobel laureate Romain Rolland published a biography of Ramakrishna in 1929, while in 1932 the philosopher Henri Bergson referred to Ramakrishna in The Swo Sources of Morality and Religion(Chapter III). Elsewhere, Gandhi, Nehru, Rabrindanath Tagore and Subas Chandra Bose have all credited Swami Vivekananda as a key influence in their social awareness and political pursuits. Further afield, the life and works of Aldous Huxley and Christopher Isherwood are also connected with the Ramakrishna Movement.

More recently, in 1998 the Indian government awarded the Gandhi Peace Prize to the Ramakrishna Movement for “its activity in favour of social wellbeing, tolerance and non-violence by coming to the assistance of disadvantaged peoples”.

In 2002, the Ramakrishna Movement received an Honourable Mention during the awarding of the Madanjeet Singh Prize at the UNESCO. As part of this Mention, the jury recognised the Mission’s "unrelenting efforts to promote the principles of tolerance and non-violence in assisting disadvantaged groups”.

The Ramakrishna Mission was founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1897. As a philanthropic organisation, it administers hospitals, dispensaries, schools, colleges, orphanages, as well as specialised schools for the blind and also religious and cultural centres in all States of India. Both the Indian government and the country’s citizens have praised the Mission’s activities, in particular its contributions during periods of famine, floods, drought, disease and other catastrophes.

The Mission’s establishments beyond India are devoted to teaching Vedanta with the ultimate aim of achieving the harmony between religions, harmony between the East and the West, harmony between tradition and modernity, peace among all mankind. The Mission seeks to bring this about by developing all of Man’s capacities, and by supporting spiritual accomplishment, without discrimination as to beliefs or nationalities.