By Charles Feldman (Prana)
I have been involved with the Vedanta Society for about 19 years now. But one thing I have never been able to feel confident about is: How do we know for sure that Sri Ramakrishna is an Avatar? After all, he is not as well known as Krishna, Buddha, Shankaracharya, or Chaitanya, and some Gurus who are alive now are regarded by their followers as an Avatar. Once I asked someone from India if they had heard of Sri Ramakrishna, and they said they had not. I know that Sri Ramakrishna might in the future become as well known as these others, but I have always asked myself: How do we know for sure?
I concluded just the other day that I can regard Sri Ramakrishna as a spiritual authority, but I couldn't be sure he is an Avatar. But then, I read an article by Swami Tyagananda in Chicago Calling, the e-magazine from the Vedanta Society of Chicago. Swami Tyagananda had the kind of confidence that Sri Ramakrishna is an Avatar that I wished that I could have. Then a thought occurred to me: If Sri Ramakrishna is not an Avatar, who is? And I realized that I couldn't think of anyone else who could qualify to be an Avatar for today, at least not for me. This thought totally changed my outlook. There is no one I could regard as an Avatar other than Sri Ramakrishna. Now, I can feel confident that Sri Ramakrishna is an Avatar, at least for me, and for others who regard him as such. My qualms have been resolved.
