Ramakrishna Math of Jnana. The encircling serpent is indicative of Yoga and the awakened Kundalini Shakti, while the swan in the picture stands for Paramatman (Supreme Self). Therefore, the idea of the picture is that by the union of Karma, Jnana, Bhakti and Yoga, the vision of Paramatman is obtained."" The basic philosophy of life put before the Ramakrishna Order by Vivekananda automatically led to a bifurcation of its activities into two important, but parallel, areas. The atmamoksha aspect resulted in the establishment of the Ramakrishna Math, an organisation catering predominantly to the spiritual needs of the monks of the order as
Bhakti has been a common form of religious activity in world religions throughout human history. It is found in Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism. Bhakti (called "bhatti" in Pali language) has been a common aspect of Buddhism, where offerings and group prayers are made to images such the images of the Buddha and the "Bodhisattvas", or to deities such as wrathful deities. Karel Werner notes that Bhakti has been a significant practice in Theravada Buddhism, and states, "there can be no doubt that deep devotion or "bhakti / bhatti" does exist in Buddhism and that it had its beginnings in the