ISBN: 1-931816-00-X
ISBN 13: 978-1-931816-00-7
$16.00, $12.80 Online Price
204 main text, 216 total pages
9"x6" (Quality paperback)

New Interpretations by Paul Hourihan

BEST SPIRITUAL BOOK AWARD
for 2002-2003
from Sacramento Publishers & Authors Assn.

Aimed at readers open to a universalist, non-creedal approach to religion, and receptive to the truths of mysticism, this in-depth award-winning study by Paul Hourihan compares the lives and mysticism of Ramakrishna, the celebrated God-man of 19th century India, and Jesus Christ, the avatar of the West. 

The author covers Ramakrishna's life from his unique childhood to his remarkable marriage and beyond. Moreover, he  allows us to see Christ in a new way, by interpreting his life from the standpoint of India's yoga traditions and Vedanta philosophy. 

This  comparative study of religions enables us to grasp the uniqueness and universal character of both of these supreme figures in each of two vast religious traditions, and provides us with a much-needed unifying message of the truth that forms the basis of all enduring faiths.

Written by an American, this is a compelling introduction for Westerners to Ramakrishna's life and its unheralded influence on the twentieth century and our own time.

Interview with Paul Hourihan

Interviewer: Why did you write this book?

PH: I felt the book was needed because there was no other like it on the market. Namely, one written for Westerners who would like to become spiritual and enter into the path through the medium of a special personality like Ramakrishna. Also, there is no comparison of Christ and Ramakrishna that I'm aware of. Christ should be seen the way we see Ramakrishna, not as a man apart, not as an incarnation beyond compare, but like Ramakrishna, who enables us to see Christ in a new way.

When we study Ramakrishna's life with all its mysteries and experiences, and at the same time, in almost every other line, have a reference to Christ, this is the way to study Christ, not as someone unique from the start but someone who is struggling from the beginning to realize the identical truth that we are. The truth is not given to him; he has to struggle, fail, agonize, the way Ramakrishna did. The way we do. He is not the highest, just the first―like the first one in a group, all of whom will be saved, all of whom will cross the finish line. He is the one that reaches the goal first. We don't feel that he's the only runner; the others are runners too. They only take longer to reach the finish line. It is, after all, a marathon, and not a sprint.