Welcome & Purpose
Welcome
The Sri Sarada Mahila Samiti of Northern California is an association of women dedicated to the study of the universal teachings of the Holy Mother, Sri Sarada Devi and Sri Ramakrishna as taught by Swami Vivekananda in the West.
We promote well rounded character development, strengthening head, heart and hands. We focus on individual potential while being mindful of the welfare of all.
Our Purpose
Our purpose is to provide educational programs in the United States based on the ancient spiritual wisdom of India. We are also committed to offering financial support for projects in India and in other countries. Through our commitment to such an ideal as the Holy Mother and what Her teachings represent, we find that the spiritual well-being of each one of us is enhanced and deepened no matter which specific path we choose to follow.
Sri Sarada Devi, The Holy Mother
We gain inspiration especially from the Holy Mother, Sri Sarada Devi. In fact, some of us hold that we are now in the midst of the Age of Sri Sarada: it is she who guides and protects us. Day by day, her influence is spreading everywhere around the world.
Revered Pravrajika Shraddhaprana, the third President of Sri Sarada Math, declared to women of both the East and the West:
When we say that the Sarada Age has come, we also know that with it comes a thousand times greater responsibility for us mothers. It is always mothers who have sacrificed, whether willingly or otherwise. It is on the foundation of their sacrifices that this civilization stands, that society becomes strong, that a family learns its true meaning and significance.
The time has come now for India [and, we would add, the West] to regain its old excellence in the spiritual, social and ethical spheres. In order to achieve this, the greatest responsibility will have to be taken by mothers today and by those who are to be mothers tomorrow.
By mothers, I do not necessarily mean those who give birth to children, but I use the word in the meaning of matribhava, the motherly trait towards all, the capacity to look upon all children as our own, just as Sarada Devi did, for to her everybody was her own.
Samvit. September, 2000.
Revered Pravrajika Shraddhaprana
Our Members
Our members and friends draw from diverse spiritual traditions, personal experiences, cultural backgrounds, the creative arts, and academic disciplines.
We are young and old, multi-ethnic, married, single, students, career women, mothers and grandmothers, and retired women.
We offer a wide array of opportunities to promote well-rounded character development, strengthening head, heart, and hands.
Each one of us is dedicated to individual spiritual practice which is enhanced through collective activities.
We focus on individual potential while being mindful of the welfare of all.
About the Logo
Utilizing sacred symbols of both the East and the West, the Sri Sarada Mahila Samiti logo combines the ancient AUM symbol with the holy feet of Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother. She is considered by many to be an incarnation of the Divine Feminine of this age. It is customary in the East for a devotee to bow down at the feet of a revered holy person or god to express respect and adoration. Sri Sarada Mahila Samiti literally means: women gathering in the name of Sri Sarada Devi.