A big Pile of Books from the Ramakrishna Mission

I suppose I've been a little extra book crazy lately, perhaps its a winter thing. However, I can't help but be reminded of my old friend, Nat. He's probably in Belize right now, or perhaps he's finally made it to Antarctica. Nat was a small fellow, much smaller than average. I think it made clothes shopping difficult. When Nat would have a particularly good day at the thrift shops, he would say, "Somebody died in my size!", and smile real big. It was a bit morbid, and was probably true on at least one occasion. He thought it was hilarious. And it must have stuck with me, because when I walked into the "Last Word Bookstore" (40th and Walnut) today and looked at the 'Hinduism' section, my first thought was, "My God, a Ramakrishna devotee died." There were so many books from the Ramakrishna Mission, that they wouldn't even all fit on the shelves. They overflowed onto the floor. Not the best book Karma, I know, but I wasn't going to get in a fight with the bookstore guy about it. Enough Ramakrishna and Vivekenanda to keep you busy for a long, long time. Of course, there was some other good stuff, some Ramana Maharshi thrown in for good measure, and a few hardbacks from india written by obscure swamis. You could tell it all came from the same guy. I wonder what happened to him. Did he die? Did he become a Christian? Did he move to India? I hope he moved to India.
I was proud of myself, I didn't buy even one. I spent this week's book allowance on those that bag of tantra from craig's list, and it is keeping me plenty busy.
I just thought I should put it out there, in case anyone else in in the market for "The Complete Works of Swami Vivekenanda"($35), or in case anyone feels like making me a present. Hah!
Keep your lamps trimmed and burning...