Article XXIX: Sri Ramakrishna and Tantra

Sri Ramakrishna was a profound teacher of Vedanta, and his primary disciple was Swami Vivekananda who initiated the Avaita Ashrama in the name of Sri Ramakrishna. Ramakrishna is said to have realized God and true enlightenment not only through Hinduism, but through Christianity, and Islam as well. In Ramakrishna's own words, "So many religions, so many paths to reach the same goal. I have practiced Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, and in Hinduism again, the ways of the different sects. I have found that it is the same God towards whom all are directing their steps, though along different paths." However, before Christianity, before Islam, before Vedanta, and before the Vaishnava path of devotion, Sri Ramakrishna's first spiritual instruction and realization came from Tantra. His Tantric guru's name was Yogeswari, and in his own words Ramakrishna said he completed, "all the sixty-four kinds of spiritual disciplines mentioned in the principal Tantras."