স্মৃতির মণিকোঠায় স্বামী প্রমেয়ানন্দ: Smritir Monikothay Swami Prameyananda (Reminiscences of Swami Prameyananda) Set of 2 Volumes

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"The truth is that religious life cannot be separated from the daily activities of our life. Even the smallest work that we do must have a spiritual dimension which can be turned into the worship of the Lord. If we really believe that the sole purpose of our life is to realise God or manifest our true nature, then we must struggle all twenty-four hours of our life to achieve this goal. If we separate our spiritual and daily life then there is no hope for us".

"Sri Ramakrishna assures us of our safety in the spiritual path. He says that all sins vanish if one remembers God; His name breaks the fetters of death and one must dive deep, otherwise the gems cannot be collected. This means that we must try constantly and only then we can dive deep and realise our true nature".

Just as the holy waters of the river Ganga flow timelessly towards its ultimate destination cleansing all that comes in its way, the 'Ramakrishna River of Compassion' flows eternally towards the Ocean of Bliss for the redemption and welfare of mankind. Swami Prameyanandaji Maharaj was one of those extraordinary monks who spared no pains during his lifetime to freely distribute this 'water of compassion' to embittered souls hankering for peace and cessation of worldly desires.

Whether as the Secretary to the tenth President of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission or as a Trustee of the Ramakrishna Order and finally as one of its Vice Presidents, Swami Prameyanandaji Maharaj had shown the path of eternal life to numerous people of all ages and temperaments. During the six decades of his customarily quiet but eventful monastic life, most of which was spent at Belur Math, he had the good fortune of coming in close contact with many of the direct disciples of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi as well as the close associates of some of the direct Apostles of Sri Ramakrishna. He not only imbibed from them the age-old traditions of the Order but also took upon himself the onerous responsibility of preserving these traditions in letter and spirit and passing them on to the future generation of monks to uphold this holy legacy for posterity. He was also an authority on ritualistic worship and would often receive queries on various aspects of puja. Revered Maharaj would provide logical, yet practical solution to all such problems with his customary simple words.

The unwritten saga of publicity-shunning but intensely spiritual monks like Swami Prameyanandaji Maharaj who led exemplary lives at the service of the Holy Trio, often get obliterated from the pages of history due to the natural ravages of time. Hence this humble attempt to document the inspiring life and message of Swami Prameyanandaji Maharaj and his memoirs lovingly penned by monastics and lay devotees alike. While many of his admirers and colleagues have since passed on to higher life, we have been fortunate enough to receive the blessings and reminiscences of many monks and lay devotees who were close to him and have acceded to our request of recording their memoirs for inclusion in this anthology.

Over the years, there has been a sea-change in writing styles. We have, however, endeavoured to retain the past trend while simultaneously trying to give a contemporary shape to the over- all style and content of this volume. We have included in this section the life story of Revered Maharaj, a few letters and his valuable memoirs which were written in English by the respective contributors. The memoirs written in Hindi have been duly translated into English and included in this section. An informal talk delivered by him at our Hollywood centre has been included here which will, no doubt, help us in shaping our daily spiritual lives. A photo album has been appended at the end and a link provided which will take the readers to a few precious moments with Revered Maharaj.