History of Sri Ramakrishna Advaita Ashrama, Kalady

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Sri Ramakrishna Advaita Ashrama, Kalady, is a monastic institution dedicated to service of God through service to man. It is affiliated to The Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math, West Bengal. Swami Agamananda, disciple of Swami Brahmananda, the first President of the Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, founded the ashrama in 1936. Its President is a Swami (monk) of the Ramakrishna Order of monks. The ashrama bases its teachings on Advaita Vedanta (the philosophy of Non-dualism), as exemplified in the lives and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda. Swami Vivekananda states: “Each soul is potentially Divine. The goal is to manifest this Divinity with in by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work or worship or psychic control or philosophy- by one or more all of these- and be free. This is whole of religion.”  Vedanta asserts that the goal of human life is to realize and manifest the divinity within each one. Our real nature is divine, and God-realization is our birthright.

Why does man look for a God? Why does man, in every nation, in every state of society, want a perfect ideal somewhere, either in man, in God, or elsewhere? Because that idea is within you. It was your own heart beating and you did not know; you were mistaking it for something external. It is the God within your own self that is propelling you to seek for Him, to realise Him. After long searches here and there, in temples and in churches, in earths and in heavens, at last you come back, completing the circle from where you started, to your own soul and find that He for whom you have been seeking all over the world, for whom you have been weeping and praying in churches and temples, on whom you were looking as the mystery of all mysteries shrouded in the clouds, is nearest of the near, is your own Self, the reality of your life, body, and soul. That is your own nature. Assert it, manifest it. Not to become pure, you are pure already. You are not to be perfect, you are that already. Nature is like that screen which is hiding the reality beyond. Every good thought that you think or act upon is simply tearing the veil, as it were; and the purity, the Infinity, the God behind, manifests Itself more and more.

                                                            Swami Vivekananda
(Complete Works, Volume 2, The Real Nature of Man)

 The Kalady Ashrama welcomes one and all to visit its serene and beautiful grounds and be inspired by its universal temple of worship dedicated to Sri Ramakrishna. Instructions and guidance are available to earnest spiritual seekers from the senior monk of the Order.

 The ashrama runs schools from Nursery to Higher Secondary levels. About 1500 students attend these schools. It operates several school buses on various routes on subsidized fares to facilitate easy conveyance for students. It also maintains a free Ayurvedic Dispensary, run by qualified Ayurvedic doctors. Medicines are given free of cost to low income people. The ashrama also runs a hostel for underprivileged (Tribal) boys. It provides free boarding, lodging and necessary medical care to resident school boys under the care of monastic wardens and qualified teachers. It also operates a typewriting training school and a day-care centre for children of working women. The Ashrama is a publisher of spiritual literature and has its own bookstore.