AldousHuxley = 'Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English novelist, essayist, and critic, is best known for his\ novel Brave New World, which is one of the classical work of science fiction. Although an agnostic,\ Huxley showed interest in Indian philosophy. His work, The Perennial Philosophy, was acclaimed as\ "the masterpiece of all anthologies" by New York Times. Huxley also wrote the\ Foreword to Swami Nikhilananda's English translation of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.' ArnoldToynbee = 'Arnold Toynbee (1889 – 1975), the noted British historian was Professor of Modern Greek and\ Byzantine History at the University of London (1919 –24), Director of Studies at the Royal Institute of\ International Affairs (1925 – 1955), in addition to serving as Research Professor of International History\ at the University of London. Author of many works, Toynbee is best known for his monumental twelve–volume\ series A Study of Historypublished between 1934 – 1961, which is a study of 26 civilizations in world\ history analyzing their genesis, growth and decay.' Aryan = 'An anglicized derivation from Sanskrit Arya, literally meaning a noble; in ancient times, an inhabitant\ of Aryavarta or the Vedic India.' Asoka = 'The great Indian emperor of third century, B.C.E.' Aurobindo = 'Sri Aurobindo (1872 - 1950) was an Indian nationalist, freedom fighter, poet, and yogi who originated a new system\ of yoga called 'Integral Yoga'.' Avadhuta = 'A holy man mentioned in the Bhagavata.' Bengali = 'The people of the state of West Bengal (India), and the Republic of Bangladesh. Also the language spoken\ by them.' Brahmin = 'Brahmin or Brahmana. The priestly caste of the four castes in the Hindu Society. Note: Not to be confused with\ Brahman, which is Godhead, the Absolute, or the Supreme Reality of Vedanta.' Brahmo = 'Member of the Brahmo Samaj, a theistic organization of India founded by Raja Rammohan Roy in 1828.' Buddha = 'Prince Siddhartha or Shakyamuni—the founder of Buddhism. Lit. one who is enlightened.' Chaitanya = 'Fifteenth century prophet from Navadvip (West Bengal, India), who preached Bhakti\ or Divine Love as the path to God realization. Lit. the word means "spiritual consciousness".' DivineTrio = 'Sri Ramakrishna (1836–1886)
The Holy Mother Maa Sharada (1853–1920)
Swami Vivekananda(1863–1902).' Emerson = 'Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882); American essayist, philosopher, and poet, best known for his leading the\ Transcendentalist movement of the mid 1800s.' FrancisCollins = 'Author of the New York Times best seller "The Language of God", Dr. Francis S. Collins,\ M.D., Ph.D., is a leading American physician-geneticist noted for his landmark discoveries of disease genes, and his\ leadership of the Human Genome Project.' Freud = 'Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939), Jewish-Austrian neurologist, founded the psychoanalytic school of psychiatry. He is\ best known for his theories of the unconscious mind, and for the clinical practice of psychoanalysis. Freud formulated sexual\ desire as the primary motivational energy of human life, which and some of his theories have been modified by modern advances\ in the field of psychology.' Girish = 'One of the miracles of Sri Ramakrishna, Girish Chandra Ghosh was a playwright, actor, and director of Bengali theatre. A\ drunkard, leading a bohemian lifestyle, Girish's character was completely transformed when he came in contact with Ramakrishna when\ Ramakrishna came to see one of Girish's play at the Star Theatre. Soon Girish became not only a devotee of Ramakrishna but also publicly\ started saying that Ramakrishna was none other than a Divine Incarnation.' guru = 'Spiritual teacher; an expert in any field of knowledge.' HustonSmith = 'Internationally known and revered as the premier teacher of world religions and for his bestselling book\ The World\'s Religions; he taught at MIT, Syracuse and other universities, and talked about religion on a five–part\ Emmy–nominated PBS television series with Bill Moyers.' Isherwood = 'Christopher Isherwood (1904–1986) British–American novelist and playwright best known for his stories\ about Berlin in the early 1930s. His novel Goodbye to Berlin (1939), considered among the most significant political\ novel of the 20th century, later inspired the famous musical Cabaret. A Vedantist and a devotee of Sri Ramakrishna,\ Isherwood co–authored, with his guru Swami Prabhavananda, Sanskrit–to–English translations of\ The Bhagavad-Gita and Patanjali's Yoga Sutra.' Ishtam = 'The chosen Spiritual Ideal or Deity, a devotee worships and meditates on.' JulianHuxley = 'Sir Julian Huxley FRS (1887–1975) was an eminent British evolutionary biologist and humanist. Swami\ Ranganathananda often quoted Julian Huxley in his discourses. In 1970, the Swami also had an interesting correspondence on Vedanta\ vs. Evolutionary Biology, which is included as an Appendix in Swami's book The Message of the Upanishads,\ pub. 1985, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai, India.' Jung = 'Carl Gustav or CG Jung (1875–1961), Swiss psychiatrist, and an influential thinker of the twentieth century founded\ Analytical Psychology, a.k.a. Jungian psychology. Jung, considered to be the first Western psychologist, stated that the human\ Psyche is "by nature religious". His classic work Modern Man in Search of a Soul is often quoted in articles and books\ on Vedanta.' Kapila = 'The sage who lived before the time of Buddha, is generally regarded as the founder of the Samkhya\ philosophy, one of the six systems of Indian philosophies.' Krishna = 'One of the Avataras, or an incarnation of God according to the Hindu religion, who taught the Bhagavad-Gita to\ Arjuna in the Hindu Epic poem The Mahabharata; One of the Ideal Deities of the Vaishnava sect of Hinduism.' M = 'Mahendranath Gupta, a school teacher, was one of the foremost householder disciples of Sri Ramakrishna.\ Under the pen name of "M" (pronounced as "Ma"), Mahendranath recorded the Sri Sri Ramakrishna\ Kathamrita in Bengali, which was later translated into English as The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.' MaaSharada = 'Maa Sharada or The Holy Mother, the names Sri Sarada Devi (1853–1920), the Divine Consort and wife of Sri\ Ramakrishna is known among her devotees.' MahapurushMaharaj = 'Swami Shivananda (1854-1934), a direct disciple Ramakrishna who was popularly known by\ this name. Mahapurush means "great soul" and Swamis are also addressed as Maharaj,\ which literally means "a great king" or "emperor."' Maharaj = 'Swami Brahmananda (1863-1922), a direct disciple of Ramakrishna who was popularly known by this\ name. Frequently Swamis are also addressed as Maharaj, which literally means "a great king" or\ "emperor."' Maharashtrian = 'Also known as Marathi, the people of Maharashtra (the western state of India, capital: Mumbai), who speak the\ Marathi language.' Manu = 'The Hindu Law giver.' Mathur = 'Mathur or Mathuranath was son-in-law of Rani Rasmani who built the Dakshineshwar temple where Ramakrishna spent\ most of his adult life. A great devotee, Mathur provided Ramakrishna with all his necessities while he lived\ at the temple garden.' Nachiketa = 'The legendary character of the Katha Upanishad, the young student and the embodiment of\ one–pointed love of truth, who is taught by Yama, the king of Death about the mystery of life and death.' Paramahamsa = 'One belonging to the highest order of sannyasis. Sri Ramakrishna is usually addressed as\ ’Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.’' Partha = 'Another name of Arjuna who was taught the Bhagavad-Gita by Sri Krishna in the Hindu epic Mahabharata.' Pravrajika = 'Pronounced prav-raa-jika. Title of a Sannyasini, or a nun in the Hindu tradition.' Radhakrishnan = 'Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975), Indian philosopher, author, and statesman was the first\ Vice President of India (1952–1962), and the second President of India (1962–1967). One of the foremost\ scholars of comparative religion and philosophy, he built a bridge between Eastern and Western thought.' Rajagopalachari = 'Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari (1878–1972), known as Rajaji or C.R., the second\ Governor–General of independent India, a statesman, and writer, was the first recipient of India’s highest\ civilian award Bharat Ratna.' Rama = ' Also known as "Ramachandra". The hero of the Hindu epic Ramayana; regarded by Hindus\ as one of the Divine Incarnations or Avataras.' Ramakrishna = 'Sri Ramakrishna, pronounced rama–krish–na. The nineteenth century prophet of India (1836–1886).\ Practiced not only the different sects of Hinduism, but also Christianity and Islam; realized Truth, and then re–established\ the fundamental teachings of the Vedas and Vedanta by unequivocally declaring:\
    \
  1. All religions are True\
  2. Our true nature is Divine, and\
  3. Our only purpose as humans is to realize that Divinity\
' Ranganathananda ='Swami Ranganathananda (1908–2005). Pronounced ranga–natha–nanda. 13th President\ of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission of India (1998–2005). Widely travelled and lectured all over the globe, authored\ over 50 books including the famous Eternal Values for a Changing Society(4 vols.) and the The Universal Message\ of the Bhagavad–Gita(3 vols.).' rishi = 'The general name for saints, ascetics, poet sages, and seers of Truth to whom the wisdom of\ the Vedas was revealed in their meditations and contemplations.' RomainRolland = 'The great French savant, novelist, dramatist, essayist, and mystic—Romain Rolland\ (1866–1944) was awarded Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915.' sadhaka = 'An aspirant devoted to the practice of spiritual discipline.' sadhu = 'A holy man, ascetic, or monk.' sakta ='Those who worship Sakti, or the Divine Mother.' sannyasi = 'Sannyasi (M), or sannyasini (F): An ascetic mendicant.' Shankara ='Also known as Shankaracharya. The seventh century prophet, philosopher, and the unrivaled propounder\ of Advaita, or the non-dualistic Vedanta philosophy.' Shivananda = 'Swami Shivananda (1854–1934); also known as 'Mahapurush Maharaj', a direct disciple of Sri\ Ramakrishna and the second President of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission of India (1922 – 1934).' Sita = 'Divine Consort of Rama, the hero of the Hindu epic Ramayana.' SisterGargi = 'Sister Gargi (or, Marie Louise Burke) recipient of the first Vivekananda Award given\ by the Ramakrishna Mission, was the author of the monumental six–volume Swami Vivekananda in the West: New\ Discoveries, and other books.' SisterNivedita = 'Margaret Noble (1867-1911), was an Anglo–Irish social worker, author, and teacher. She was a\ disciple of Swami Vivekananda who gave her the name Sister Nivedita.' Swami = 'A title of the Hindu monks or great ascetics.' Tagore = 'Sir Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941). Bengali writer who won the 1913 Nobel Prize for literature.' tantric = 'A follower of Tantra.' Tathagata = 'One of the names by which Gautama Buddha is known; the word also conveys the sense of a Messiah.' Thoreau = 'Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862). An American author, poet, naturalist, philosopher, and transcendentalist.\ He is best known for his book Walden, which deals with simple living with Nature, and his essay, Civil Disobedience\ that influenced the political thoughts and activities of Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.' Tathagatananda = 'Pronounced tatha–gata–nanda. Senior monk of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission of India and\ Minister and spiritual leader of the Vedanta Society of New York since 1977. Authored over a dozen books including\ Journey of the Upanishads to the West, Light from the Orient, and Albert Einstein: His Human Side.' Vaishnava = 'Member of a dualistic sect of India.' Vedantist = 'One who follows the principles of Vedanta.' Vivekananda = 'Vivekananda—addressed also as "Swamiji." Pronounced vive–kaa–nanda.\ Formerly, Narendra, and nicknamed Naren. Narendranath Dutta (1863-1902), the foremost monastic disciple of Ramakrishna,\ was the first Vedanta teacher to the West; lectured and taught Vedanta in the USA and Europe. Founded the Vedanta Society\ of New York in 1894, and established the Ramakrishna Math and Mission in Belur (India) in 1899.' Valmiki = 'Composer of the great Hindu epic Ramayana.' Vyasa = 'Composer of the great Hindu epic Mahabharata.' Whitman = 'Walter Whitman (1819 – 1892). An American poet, essayist, and journalist. Whitman, among the most influential\ poets of the United States, is best known for his poetry collection Leaves of Grass.' Yayati = 'Yyati, an emperor in the Purana, Srimad Bhagavatam, became prematurely old by a curse and was still haunted by\ the desire for sensual enjoyment. So, he approached his five sons and asked them to bear the burden of his old age and give\ their youth in return; whoever would bestow his youth on him would be the ruler of his kingdom. Only his youngest son agreed\ to his proposal. So, the son became old instantly and Yyati became young again and enjoyed life for a long time. But he was\ still not satisfied. Finally, one day he realized the truth. Returning to his son, he pronounced a great piece of wisdom in a\ beautiful verse: "Desire is not quenched by satisfying of desire; it only gets inflamed like fire into which butter is\ poured (to put it out)."' yogi = 'The spiritual aspirant who practices yoga.'