The Life and Teachings of Sai Baba of Shirdi Book

This is not exactly a biography of Sri Ramakrishna in the strictest of the term.

More accurately it can be called the story of Kathamitra - the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.

As the blurb puts it, Hixon holds the joint citizenship in several sacred worlds - Advaita Vedanta, Islamic Sufism, Vajrayana Buddhism, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and Soto Zen." He received mantra diksha from Swami Nkhilananda.

The Swami has done significant work in spreading the message of Sri Ramakrishna in the English-speaking world. His translations of Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita and Sri Ramakrishna Lalaprasanga are still held in very high esteem.

Hixon acknowledges his debt to the Swami in writing the book.

The author visualizes himself as a companion of Sri Ramakrishna. In the process, he is witnessing various encounters of the paramhansa with important personalities of the time: Keshab Sen, Iswarchandra Vidyasagar, Girish Ghosh, Bankim Chandra. In witnessing the frequent samadhis of Sri Ramakrishna he discovers the avatarhood of the God-intoxicated sage.

The greatest gift of Sri Ramakrsihna is that he has brought out the essence of the lofty philosophical treatises in a language that everybody can understand. Consider this: "Divine Reality is a limitless ocean of Consciousness and individual awareness is a jar. This vessel does not simply bear a finite amount of awareness but is totally immersed in the ocean of Consciousness and Bliss. There is water both inside and surrounding the jar. Yet until the jar is broken or dissolves, there remains a slight sense of distinction between inside and outside. Divine Mother keeps this jar of ego together for Her Play, Her Theatre."

Nuggets of wisdom like this are strewn across the book.

Those who have read the Gospel in original Bengali and those who have not will find the book appealing.