Holy Mother's Spiritual Teachings

Sri Sarada Devi, affectionately know as the Holy Mother to her devotees and disciples past and present, was born in 1853 in a remote village of Bengal called Jayrambati. Married to the Indian saint and worshipper of Mother Kali, Sri Ramakrishna, she became the helpmate in his spiritual mission. She learned from Sri Ramakrishna deep spiritual truths, as well as many aspects of practical daily life. In current times, it is difficult to imagine a married couple whose focus is exclusively spiritual, but such was the case with this divine couple.

After Sri Ramakrishna's passing, she quietly carried on his spiritual mission, providing instruction to many monks, nuns, and householders. So great was the depth of her spirituality that many monks trembled in awe in her presence. They were the recipients not only of her deep spirituality, but also her all-encompassing motherly love. With her own hands, she prepared, fed, and cared for many. To the end of her life in 1920, she was a role model spiritualizing daily life and demonstrating to all the "Motherhood of God."

Holy Mother's life is much more than the sequential list of events and circumstances. As can be read in numerous narrations of personal reminiscences of Sri Sarada Devi, people felt deeply touched by her love and kindness, which surpassed even the love of one's earthly mother. The very personal narrations reveal a divine being who embodied the blessed all-encompassing, all-forgiving, all-nurturing nature of divine Motherhood.

A Few of Her Teachings

The following teachings from Holy Mother continue to inspire devotees worldwide:

The aim of life is to realize God and remain immersed in contemplation of Him. God alone is real and everything else is false.

(Holy Mother, Being the Life of Sri Sarada Devi,
Wife of Sri Ramakrishna and Helpmate in His Mission)

God is one's very own. It is the eternal relationship. He is everyone's own. One realizes Him in proportion to the intensity of one's feelings for Him.

(Teachings of Sri Sarada Devi the Holy Mother)

If you want peace, do not find fault with others. Rather see your own faults. Learn to make the world your own. No one is a stranger, my child; the whole world is your own.

(Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother: Life and Conversations)

One who makes a habit of prayer will easily overcome all difficulties and remain calm and unruffled in the midst of the trials of life.

(Glimpses of a Great Soul: A Portrait Of Swami Saradananda)

I am the mother of the wicked, as I am the mother of the virtuous. Never fear. Whenever you are in distress, just say to yourself, 'I have a mother.'

(In the Company of Holy Mother)

Finally, as Swami Tathagatananda so aptly states:

Holy Mother's words remain with us always. We are near to her when we read about her life..the thoughts and ideas she expressed with artless simplicity belong to everyone. Her words are ours to ponder, ours to be consoled and encouraged by, ours to emulate with devotion and faith. In this respect, she is eternally accessible to anyone who reads her life story and teachings.

(Some Inspiring Illustrations of Sri Ramakrishna
Holy Mother and Swamiji and Their Love)

Source List

The brief source list below provides an introduction to the life and teachings of Holy Mother, Sri Sarada Devi:

In the Company of the Holy Mother, Her Direct Disciples, (Advaita Ashrama: Calcutta, 1963).

Sri Sarada Devi and Sri Sarada Math, Pravrajika Atmaprana, publ.(Ramakrishna Sarada Mission: New Delhi, 2003).

Holy Mother - Being the Life of Sri Sarada Devi, Wife of Sri Ramakrishna and Helpmate in His Mission, Swami Nikhilananda, (Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center: New York, 1962).

Reminiscences of Sri Sarada Devi by Monastics, Devotees, and Others, Swami Purnatmananda, ed. (Advaita Ashrama: Kolkata, 2004).

Some Inspiring Illustrations of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swamiji and Their Love, Swami Tathagatananda, (Ramakrishna Institute of Culture: Kolkata, 2011).

Teachings of Sri Sarada Devi the Holy Mother, (Sri Ramakrishna Math: Madras, 1985).