Swami Akhilananda was born on 25 February 1894 as Nirode Chandra Sanyal in Netrakona in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(now in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

). At the age of 25, Akhilananda joined the Ramakrishna Order, he was

initiated Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformation ...

by Swami Brahmananda, a direct disciple of

Sri Ramakrishna Ramakrishna Paramahansa ( bn, রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস, Ramôkṛṣṇo Pôromohôṅso; , 18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886),——— — also spelled Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, born Gadadhar Chattopadhyaya,, was an In ...

. In November 1926, he went to Boston to assist

Swami Paramananda Paramananda (1884–1940) was a swami and one of the early Indian teachers who went to the United States to spread the Vedanta philosophy and religion there. He was a mystic, a poet and an innovator in spiritual community living. Biography Bi ...

. He established the Vedanta Society of Providence in 1928 and the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society of Boston in 1941. Akhilanaanda wrote several books, including ''Hindu Psychology, Its Meaning for the West''. This book had a significant impact on the inter-faith dialogue of the US of that time. In his review, Seward Hiltner wrote about the methods described in the book: "These methods, and the conceptions which underlie them, revolve about 'how lower human propensities can be transformed into higher qualities'." Concluding his review, he said, "This is a fascinating book. But we should not be beguiled into overlooking the extent to which its fundamental assumptions clash with our best understanding of the Christian view of life." Akhilananda also authored the ''Hindu View of Christ'', which fostered greater understanding of the teachings of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

from the standpoint of

Vedanta ''Vedanta'' (; sa, वेदान्त, ), also ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six (''āstika'') schools of Hindu philosophy. Literally meaning "end of the Vedas", Vedanta reflects ideas that emerged from, or were aligned with, t ...

. Jan Jongeneel has highlighted these intersections while referring to Akhilananda's ''Hindu View of Christ'' alongside works of a number of other swamis of the

Ramakrishna Mission Ramakrishna Mission (RKM) is a Hindu religious and spiritual organisation which forms the core of a worldwide spiritual movement known as the ''Ramakrishna Movement'' or the ''Vedanta Movement''. The mission is named after and inspired by th ...

. In addition Akhilananda maintained longstanding personal friendships with

Edgar S. Brightman Edgar Sheffield Brightman (September 20, 1884 – February 25, 1953) was an American philosopher and Christianity, Christian theologian in the Methodism, Methodist tradition, associated with Boston University and Liberal Christianity, liberal ...

and

Walter George Muelder Walter George Muelder (1907–2004) was an American social ethicist, public theology, public theologian, ecumenist, and Methodist minister. He studied under Edgar S. Brightman at Boston University and began his teaching career at Berea College and ...

, both prominent American philosophers and Christian theologians in the Methodist tradition. Akhilananda died on 23 September 1962.

Works

* *''Hindu View of Christ'', Branden Books, 1949.. *''Modern Problems and Religion'', Bruce Humphries, 1964.. *

References

{{authority control 20th-century Hindu religious leaders 20th-century Hindu philosophers and theologians Monks of the Ramakrishna Mission Indian religious writers Bengali Hindus 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers 1894 births 1962 deaths