Far from honoring and bowing to "the Great Tradition", Franklin Jones and his followers have conducted an ongoing campaign of belittlement and character assassination against the most honored spiritual teachers in history.

One of the primary objects of their negative propaganda has been Ramakrishna, the 19th century Bengali saint who is arguably the cornerstone of modern transcendence-spirituality, East and West.

Early on Frank alluded in his talks to Ramakrishna as "a homosexual". Later he found an ally in the religious scholar Jeffrey Kripal (author of Kali's Child), who depicted Ramakrishna as a closet pederast whose mysticism was largely driven by his sexual cravings for young boys. (Kripal himself was discredited when it was shown that he manufactured his evidence by mistranslation and willful misreading of the Bengali texts on which he based his controversial thesis. A close reading of Kripal's book, in this writer's opinion, shows that he is far from objective in his approach. Although I was ready to be convinced by him when I picked up Kali's Child, I came away knowing that he had begun his research with a conclusion that he was desperate to prove. Like many other false scholars before him, he set out to project his own world-view upon an esteemed figure from the past, rather than discover and explicate some heretofore hidden truth about that figure.)

In their campaign to bring down Ramakrishna, Daist revisionists have now put forth statements (on the Ken Wilber Forum) that Ramakrishna was "virtually unknown, unnoticed and unacknowledged in his lifetime".

A simple search of the historical record proves otherwise. Herewith a few quotations from relevant sources.

"Fortunately the holy atmosphere of Dakshineswar attracted monks and holy men from all parts of the country. Sadhus of all denominations -- monists and dualist, Vaishnvas and Vedantists, Saktas and worshippers of Rama -- flocked there in ever increasing numbers. Ascetics and visionaries came to seek Sri Ramakrishna's advice. Vaishnavas had come during the period of Vaishnava sadhana, and Tantriks when he practiced the disciplines of Tantra. Vedantists began to arrive after the departure of the Totapuri. In the room of Sri Ramakrishna, who was then in bed with dysentery, the Vedantists engaged in scriptural discussions and, forgetting his own physical suffering, he solved their doubts by referring directly to his own experiences. Many of the visitors were genuine spiritual souls, the unseen pillars of Hinduism, and their spiritual lives were quickened in no small measure by the sage of Dakshineswar... At his request, Mathur provided him with large stores of food-stuffs, clothes, and so forth, for distribution among the wandering monks.

"Sri Ramakrishna used to say that when the flower blooms the bees come to it for honey of their own accord. Now many souls began to visit Dakshineswar to satisfy their spiritual hunger."

--from the Introduction by Swami Nikhilananda to The Gospel of Ramakrishna.

"Many noted intellectuals of the day began to visit Sri Ramakrishna, among them Keshab Sen, who was the first man of Western education to recognize his spiritual genius. Keshab, one of the great religious leaders in India at the time, had a large following and both in his sermons and in his magazines he spread the name and fame of the new saint. As a result many men and women were attracted to religion -- including college professors, actors, and scientists."

--Swami Prabhavananda, The Spiritual Heritage of India, Doubleday.

"The second religious group that gave Hindus a renewed confidence in their own tradition was associated with Sri Ramakrishna (1834-1886), the most famous of the 19th century Indian saints. ...His influence was felt throughout the social life of Bengal, where he passed his life in continuation of the bhakti tradition so deeply rooted in that region. ...Among the crowds that went to see Sri Ramakrishna were Keshub Chunder Sen (then at the height of his fame as an orator and a preacher), and Narenda Natha Datta. Sen found in the saint's presence evidence of the universality of religious experience, but young Datta found a master. He became Ramakrishna's favorite disciple, and took the name Vivekananda."

--A.T. Embree, The Hindu Tradition, Vintage Books.

Other statements by Daist diminishers have alleged that Vivekananda disputed Ramakrishna's standing as a divine incarnation -- or even as a Realizer. Let Vivekananda's own words refute these strange people:

"According to one's own capacity one has understood Sri Ramakrishna and so is discussing about him. It is not bad either to do so. But if any of his devotees has concluded that what he was understood of him is the only truth, then he is an object of pity. ...What he was, the concentrated embodiment of how many previous Avataras -- we could not understand a bit even spending the whole life in religious austerity. ...Such a synthesis of universal ideas you will not find in the history of the world again. Understand from this who was born in the person of Sri Ramakrishna.

"In time the whole world must accept the universal and catholic ideas of Sri Ramakrishna and of this, only the beginning has been made. Before this flood everybody will be swept off. He himself is his own parallel. Has he any exemplar?

"What shall I say about myself? You see, I must be one of his demons. In his presence even, I would sometimes speak ill of him, hearing which he would laugh.

"That Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was God incarnate, I have not the least doubt of, but then you must let people find out for themselves what he used to teach. Without studying Ramakrishna Paramahamsa first, one can never understand the real import of the Vedas, the Vedanta, of the Bhagavata and the other Puranas. His life is a searchlight of infinite power thrown upon the whole mass of Indian religious thought. He was the living commentary to the Vedas and to their aim. He had lived in one life the whole cycle of national religious existence in India.

"Whether Bhagavan Sri Krishna was born at all we are not sure; and the Avatars like Buddha and Chaitanya are monotonous. Ramakrishna is the latest and the most perfect -- the concentrated embodiment of knowledge, love, renunciation, catholicity and the desire to serve mankind. So where is anyone to compare to him?"

--quotes by Vivekananda from Sri Ramakrishna as I Knew Him.

Elias