Who was Shri Paramahamsa Ramakrishna?

He was a Bengali holy man, born in 1836 and dying in 1886, who served as priest of the Kali temple at Dakshineswar near Calcutta and became the most influential Hindu mystic of the nineteenth century.

What kind of mystical experiences did Ramakrishna report?

He described visions of the goddess Kali and repeated states of samadhi in which ordinary consciousness was suspended, and he treated these experiences rather than scholarship as the ground of what he taught.

Which religious paths did Ramakrishna practise for himself?

He practised Tantra, Vaishnava devotion and, under the monk Totapuri, the Advaita discipline of non-dual realisation, and he also lived for periods as a Muslim and as a Christian devotee.

What conclusion did Ramakrishna draw from practising several paths?

He concluded that as many faiths there are, so many paths, and compared religions to the different flights of steps by which people reach the water of one lake.

What is meant by neo-Vedanta?

It is the modern restatement of Advaita as the essence of Hinduism, presenting the tradition as rational, universal and tolerant, and binding realisation to social service.

WJEC A-Level Religious Studies 603-0277-X

Christianity: Religious Figures and Sacred TextsChristianity

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Christianity: Key Religious ConceptsChristianity

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Christianity: Religious Life and Moral PrinciplesChristianity

Topic overview Faith, works and justification The community of believers and the role of churches Key moral principles of Christianity Evaluating justification, the Church and moral priorities

Christianity: Practices and Religious IdentityChristianity

Topic overview Diversity in baptism Diversity in the Eucharist Diversity in Christmas and Easter Evaluating baptism, Eucharist and festivals

Islam: Religious Figures and Sacred TextsIslam

Topic overview Muhammad in Makkah: jahiliyya and the Night of Power The Hijrah and Muhammad's leadership in Madinah The Qur'an as a source of wisdom and authority Evaluating Muhammad's leadership and the authority of the Qur'an

Islam: Key Religious ConceptsIslam

Topic overview Tawhid, shirk and the shahadah Nabi, rasul, nadir and risalah Malaikah and akhirah Evaluating the concepts of Allah, prophethood and judgement

Islam: Religious Life and Moral PrinciplesIslam

Topic overview Salah and the forms of Muslim prayer Zakah, sadaqah and the Hajj The five categories of action as a framework for living Evaluating prayer, giving and the categories of action

Islam: Practices and Religious IdentityIslam

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Judaism: Religious Figures and Sacred TextsJudaism

Topic overview Abraham and the covenant of circumcision Moses and the covenant of law at Sinai The Torah as a source of wisdom and authority Debates about covenant and the authority of Torah

Judaism: Key Religious ConceptsJudaism

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Judaism: Religious Life and Moral PrinciplesJudaism

Topic overview Diversity of views about the 613 mitzvot Tefillah, the Amidah and tzedakah The Ten Sayings as a basis for religious and ethical life Debates about mitzvot, prayer and the Ten Sayings

Judaism: Practices and Religious IdentityJudaism

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Buddhism: Religious Figures and Sacred TextsBuddhism

Topic overview The birth narratives and the Four Sights The Awakening of the Buddha under the Bodhi Tree The Patimokkha and the Four Parajikas Debating the Buddha's biography, Awakening and the monastic code

Buddhism: Key Religious ConceptsBuddhism

Topic overview The three lakshanas: dukkha, anicca and anatta Pratityasamutpada, karma and rebirth Arhat and bodhisattva Debating the marks of existence, rebirth and the goals of the path

Buddhism: Religious Life and Moral PrinciplesBuddhism

Topic overview The Four Noble Truths The Eightfold Path and the Middle Way The dasa sila and the lay and monastic sanghas Debating the truths, the path and the precepts

Buddhism: Practices and Religious IdentityBuddhism

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Hinduism: Religious Figures and Sacred TextsHinduism

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Hinduism: Key Religious ConceptsHinduism

Topic overview Brahman, atman and the nature of the self The Trimurti, cyclic time and Saguna Brahman Karma, samsara and reincarnation Evaluating Brahman, the Trimurti and karma

Hinduism: Religious Life and Moral PrinciplesHinduism

Topic overview Varnashramadharma: the four varnas and four ashramas The status of the Dalits Ahimsa, satyagraha and non-violence Evaluating duty, varna and ahimsa

Hinduism: Practices and Religious IdentityHinduism

Topic overview Puja in the home and the mandir Holi and the shaping of religious identity Durga Puja and the divine mother Evaluating puja, festivals and Durga

Sikhism: Religious Figures and Sacred TextsSikhism

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Sikhism: Key Religious ConceptsSikhism

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Sikhism: Religious Life and Moral PrinciplesSikhism

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Sikhism: Practices and Religious IdentitySikhism

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Ethical Thought: Divine Command, Virtue and Egoism

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Aquinas and Natural Law

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Fletcher and Situation Ethics

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Utilitarianism

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Inductive Arguments for the Existence of God

Topic overview The cosmological argument The teleological argument Hume's challenges and scientific alternatives Debating the inductive arguments

Deductive Arguments for the Existence of God

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The Problem of Evil and Suffering

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The Nature of Religious Experience

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Christianity: Texts, Authority and Key Figures

Topic overview The biblical canon and inspiration The early church and the kerygmata in Acts Crossan and Wright on Jesus Evaluating inspiration, the kerygmata and methods of studying Jesus

Christianity: Historical Developments in Religious Thought

Topic overview Christianity and secularisation in the UK Christianity and the challenge of science Pluralism, exclusivism and inclusivism Evaluating secularism, science and pluralism

Christianity: Social Developments in Religious Thought

Topic overview Christian attitudes towards wealth Migration and Christianity in the UK Feminist theology and the roles of men and women Evaluating wealth, migration and equality

Christianity: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues

Topic overview The Ecumenical Movement and the World Council of Churches The Charismatic Movement and religious experience Liberation theology and responses to poverty Evaluating ecumenism, charismatic experience and liberation theology

Islam: Texts, Authority and Key Figures

Topic overview The sources of shari'a and the law schools Shari'a today, ijtihad and taqlid Greater and lesser jihad Evaluating shari'a, ijtihad and jihad

Islam: Historical Developments in Religious Thought

Topic overview The Islamic state and the Constitution of Madinah Islamic teaching on creation and scientific cosmology Western perceptions of Islam and Islamophobia Evaluating Islam, democracy, science and public perception

Islam: Social Developments in Religious Thought

Topic overview Islamic attitudes to pluralism and conversion Family life, gender and Muslim feminism Muslims in Britain: migration, segregation and assimilation Evaluating pluralism, equality and life as a British Muslim

Islam: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues

Topic overview Shi'a Islam: succession, imamate and distinctive practice Sufi thought and devotional practice Crime and punishment in Islamic ethics Evaluating unity, mysticism and Islamic punishment

Judaism: Texts, Authority and Key Figures

Topic overview The Talmud: Mishnah, Gemara and the two recensions Midrash, halakhah and aggadah Rashi and Maimonides as interpreters Debates about the Talmud, midrash and the commentators

Judaism: Historical Developments in Religious Thought

Topic overview Zionism, nationalism and the challenge of secularisation Judaism and the challenge of science Holocaust theology Debates about Zionism, science and Holocaust theology

Judaism: Social Developments in Religious Thought

Topic overview Reform Judaism, the Pittsburgh Platform and pluralism Family life, gender and Jewish feminism Jewish life as a minority in Britain Debates about pluralism, equality and assimilation

Judaism: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues

Topic overview Hasidic Judaism and the Baal Shem Tov Kabbalah, the Zohar and the experience of God Embryo research and Jewish ethics Debates about Hasidism, mysticism and Jewish medical ethics

Buddhism: Texts, Authority and Key Figures

Topic overview The Pali Canon and the Tipitaka The Heart Sutra and the Parable of the Burning House The Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh Debating the Canon, the Mahayana sutras and contemporary teachers

Buddhism: Historical Developments in Religious Thought

Topic overview Zen, Pure Land and Nichiren in Japan Buddhism and the challenge of science Secularisation, Stephen Batchelor and David Brazier Debating Japanese Buddhism, science and the secular reading

Buddhism: Social Developments in Religious Thought

Topic overview Pluralism, testing the teachings and the Edicts of Ashoka Heritage and convert Buddhism in Britain Women, equality and feminist approaches Debating openness, British Buddhism and Buddhist feminism

Buddhism: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues

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Hinduism: Texts, Authority and Key Figures

Topic overview The Upanishads and the Katha dialogue Gandhi's religious and political contribution Ramakrishna, Vivekananda and neo-Vedanta Evaluating the Upanishads, Gandhi and Ramakrishna

Hinduism: Historical Developments in Religious Thought

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Hinduism: Social Developments in Religious Thought

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Hinduism: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues

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Sikhism: Historical Developments in Religious Thought

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Sikhism: Social Developments in Religious Thought

Topic overview Sikhism, science and secularisation The Sikh community in Britain Miri and piri and life as a minority Debates on science, secularisation and minority life

Sikhism: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues

Topic overview The Rahit Maryada and the Rahit Namas Naam japo, the shabads and the khands Sikhism, infertility and assisted reproduction Debates on the code of conduct, naam and bioethics

Meta-Ethics

Topic overview Naturalism, F. H. Bradley and the naturalistic fallacy Intuitionism and H. A. Prichard Emotivism and A. J. Ayer Evaluating the meta-ethical theories

Deontological Ethics: Finnis and Proportionalism

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Determinism and Predestination

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Free Will and Libertarianism

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Psychological Challenges and Atheism

Topic overview Freud on religion as illusion Jung on religion and the psyche Atheism and New Atheism Debating the psychological and atheistic challenges

Religious Experience and Miracles

Topic overview The influence of religious experience on faith and community Defining a miracle Hume and Swinburne on miracles Debating miracles and religious experience

Religious Language: Cognitive and Analogical

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Religious Language: Symbol, Myth and Language Games

Topic overview Symbol: Randall and Tillich Myth and demythologisation Language games: Wittgenstein Debating the non-cognitive approaches

New Testament: ParablesNew Testament

Topic overview Types and literary characteristics of the parables The purposes of the parables and how they are interpreted Close study of the prodigal son, the great banquet and the sower Debates about the parables and their value

New Testament: MiraclesNew Testament

Topic overview Types of miracle and the characteristics of the accounts The purpose of the miracle accounts and how they are interpreted Close study of the centurion's servant, the Gerasene demoniac and the feeding of the five thousand Debates about the miracles and their historical validity

New Testament: The Letters (1 Peter)New Testament

Topic overview Authorship, Silvanus and the readership of 1 Peter The purpose of 1 Peter and its place among the New Testament letters Close study of the set passages of 1 Peter Debates about authorship, submission and suffering in 1 Peter

New Testament: Apocalyptic LiteratureNew Testament

Topic overview Defining apocalyptic literature and its characteristics The purposes of apocalyptic writing and how Revelation is interpreted Close study of Revelation 1, 6 and 21 Debates about Revelation's genre, violence and value

Hinduism: Texts, Authority and Key Figures

Ramakrishna, Vivekananda and neo-Vedanta

3 things to know
A2 Unit 3

Overview

Mystical experiences did Ramakrishna report, ramakrishna Mission and vivekananda's idea of serving God in the poor.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Key term

How did Ramakrishna and Vivekananda affect Hindu attitudes to caste?

Key term

How did Ramakrishna hold together the personal and impersonal accounts of the divine?

Key term

How did Ramakrishna's teaching differ from Ram Mohan Roy's on the worship of images?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
Who was Shri Paramahamsa Ramakrishna?
Model answer
He was a Bengali holy man, born in 1836 and dying in 1886, who served as priest of the Kali temple at Dakshineswar near Calcutta and became the most influential Hindu mystic of the nineteenth century.
2
What kind of mystical experiences did Ramakrishna report?
Model answer
He described visions of the goddess Kali and repeated states of samadhi in which ordinary consciousness was suspended, and he treated these experiences rather than scholarship as the ground of what he taught.
3
Which religious paths did Ramakrishna practise for himself?
Model answer
He practised Tantra, Vaishnava devotion and, under the monk Totapuri, the Advaita discipline of non-dual realisation, and he also lived for periods as a Muslim and as a Christian devotee.
4
What conclusion did Ramakrishna draw from practising several paths?
Model answer
He concluded that as many faiths there are, so many paths, and compared religions to the different flights of steps by which people reach the water of one lake.
5
How did Ramakrishna hold together the personal and impersonal accounts of the divine?
Model answer
He affirmed the formless Brahman of Advaita while continuing to worship the Mother in her form, teaching that the divine with qualities and the divine beyond qualities are one reality described from two positions.
6
What is meant by neo-Vedanta?
Model answer
It is the modern restatement of Advaita as the essence of Hinduism, presenting the tradition as rational, universal and tolerant, and binding realisation to social service.

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