ABOUT US
The Ramakrishna Seminary at Kali Mandir
OUR VISION
Ramakrishna Seminary an educational ministry of Kali Mandir, a California 501(c)(3) tax-except, non-profit religious organization founded in 1993 that runs a traditional Hindu temple, ashram, monastery, and seminary, dedicated to the worship of the Divine Mother Kali. The seminary is dedicated to the training of serious spiritual aspirants in aspects of applied theology. The seminary is rooted in the universal teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836-1886), the great world-teacher and incarnation of divinity who taught the transcendent unity of religion, the motherhood of God, and the mystical path of love and devotion.
At Ramakrishna Seminary, we hold our educational resources and scholarship to a high standard of academic rigor, while focusing on the practical applications of religious thought and philosophy to the active spiritual lives of our students. Emphasis is given to personal spiritual development, cultural authenticity and service of God in the world.
WHAT WE DO
We offer a broad curriculum of classes and courses that can be taken as single-themed open courses or as part of larger certificate or diploma programs. Local students may attend classes on site in the atmosphere of a traditional Hindu ashram and gurukulam. Distance learners may study from anywhere in the world and participate in weekly live webinars for group discussions with the instructors, with access to video recordings of all classes and lectures, and opportunities to communicate with instructors, fellow students and staff. A private school website will be available for downloading supplemental material.
OUR CAMPUS
Ramakrishna Seminary is located on the holy grounds of Kali Mandir Ramakrishna Ashram in Laguna Beach, California. We are in the sacred Laguna Canyon, two miles from the Pacific Ocean, surrounded by the natural and protected beauty of the Laguna Cove Wilderness Park. The spiritual heart of the ashram is the temple of the Divine Mother Sri Ma Dakshineswari Kali. The ashram also includes shrines to other forms of divinity, meditation gardens and a small residential monastery.
Onsite classes are given to a small group of students, outside, at the ashram's dhuni (sacred fire altar).
Although operating informally since 1993 in the training of the priests, monks and devotees of Kali Mandir, in 2019 Ramakrishna Seminary began offering formal classes and courses to the greater spiritual community online under the direction of Rev. Dr. Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati.
