Sri Ramakrishna looked upon every woman as the Blissful Mother – the Divine Mother, Goddess Kali. He would stand before those women whom society would not touch, and falling at their feet bathed in tears, saying, "Mother, in one form Thou art in the street, and in another form Thou art the universe. I salute Thee, Mother, I salute Thee."
Swami Vivekananda says, “Think of the blessedness of that life from which all carnality has vanished, which can look upon every woman with that love and reverence when every woman's face becomes transfigured, and only the face of the Divine Mother, the Blissful One, the Protectress of the human race, shines upon it!”
Only when one develops such an attitude it becomes possible to forgive and bless even people who have wandered from the path of virtue.
In Part 3 of this series we presented anecdotes from the life of Swami Brahmananda to show how he carried forward this attitude of Sri Ramakrishna and blessed even the sinners. Here is an episode from the life of Swami Shivananda expressing a similar attitude:
One morning Swami Shivananda (known as Mahapurush) was sitting on his cot. He seemed solemn and indrawn but suddenly said to the attendant standing near, “Will you go and see if there is someone who wants initiation?”1 When the attendant went out, he found a young woman from a village who wanted initiation. However, when enquired, he found out that she had kept bad company and gone astray, and had led a sinful life. In a sad tone she asked, “May I not see him [Mahapurushji] once?”
When the attendant returned, Swami Shivananda asked very earnestly, “Tell me, is someone there?” The attendant replied very reluctantly, “Maharaj it is a lady who wants initiation, but…” Mahapurush remarked, “What of that? Ask her to bathe in the Ganges and come to me after visiting the shrine. Sri Ramakrishna is the redeemer of the fallen. He came especially to uplift them. What will happen to them if he does not come to their rescue? One could not then call him the savior of the fallen.”
When the woman came to him after bath for initiation, he spoke to her as if he knew everything about her life: “What is there to fear, my daughter? You will certainly be blessed since you have taken refuge in Sri Ramakrishna, our Master and savior. Say this, 'Whatever sins I have committed in this life and in lives past, I offer them here [i.e., to the Master] and I will sin no more.' ” After initiation, the woman appeared to be an altogether new person.
There is a saying, “Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future.” An illumined guru purifies the minds of impure souls.
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1Initiation is the process of providing a mantra to a devotee who wants to get initiated into spiritual life. The mantra is usually the name of a God whom the Guru (spiritual teacher) thinks ideal for that specific devotee. Reciting the mantra kindles the spiritual fire in the devotee. As a small seed in course of time becomes a huge tree, cultivation of the habit of regular recitation of the mantra at specific hours of a day will yield great results in course of time. Readers who are hearing this for the first time may wonder whether it is really necessary to get such an initiation. Is it not sufficient to recite the name of my favorite God? In a majority of the cases, the Guru may suggest the name of one’s favorite God as the mantra for the devotee. But there may be some exceptions as well. The difference between them is exactly the same as taking the medicine prescribed by an expert physician after consultation and taking something of one’s choice and hoping that it will cure the illness. Another advantage in getting the mantra from a great Guru is that it is very powerful and yields great results even with little effort (even if it is the same as the one already being used for japa).
The most important point in the whole process is trust. The devotee should have complete faith in the Guru and recite the mantra regularly. Readers of this blog interested in getting such an initiation should contact the nearest branch of Ramakrishna Mission. Most of the branches have websites and one may even get information by writing to a branch of their choice.
Swami Vivekananda says, “Think of the blessedness of that life from which all carnality has vanished, which can look upon every woman with that love and reverence when every woman's face becomes transfigured, and only the face of the Divine Mother, the Blissful One, the Protectress of the human race, shines upon it!”
Only when one develops such an attitude it becomes possible to forgive and bless even people who have wandered from the path of virtue.
In Part 3 of this series we presented anecdotes from the life of Swami Brahmananda to show how he carried forward this attitude of Sri Ramakrishna and blessed even the sinners. Here is an episode from the life of Swami Shivananda expressing a similar attitude:
One morning Swami Shivananda (known as Mahapurush) was sitting on his cot. He seemed solemn and indrawn but suddenly said to the attendant standing near, “Will you go and see if there is someone who wants initiation?”1 When the attendant went out, he found a young woman from a village who wanted initiation. However, when enquired, he found out that she had kept bad company and gone astray, and had led a sinful life. In a sad tone she asked, “May I not see him [Mahapurushji] once?”
When the attendant returned, Swami Shivananda asked very earnestly, “Tell me, is someone there?” The attendant replied very reluctantly, “Maharaj it is a lady who wants initiation, but…” Mahapurush remarked, “What of that? Ask her to bathe in the Ganges and come to me after visiting the shrine. Sri Ramakrishna is the redeemer of the fallen. He came especially to uplift them. What will happen to them if he does not come to their rescue? One could not then call him the savior of the fallen.”
When the woman came to him after bath for initiation, he spoke to her as if he knew everything about her life: “What is there to fear, my daughter? You will certainly be blessed since you have taken refuge in Sri Ramakrishna, our Master and savior. Say this, 'Whatever sins I have committed in this life and in lives past, I offer them here [i.e., to the Master] and I will sin no more.' ” After initiation, the woman appeared to be an altogether new person.
There is a saying, “Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future.” An illumined guru purifies the minds of impure souls.
--------------------------
1Initiation is the process of providing a mantra to a devotee who wants to get initiated into spiritual life. The mantra is usually the name of a God whom the Guru (spiritual teacher) thinks ideal for that specific devotee. Reciting the mantra kindles the spiritual fire in the devotee. As a small seed in course of time becomes a huge tree, cultivation of the habit of regular recitation of the mantra at specific hours of a day will yield great results in course of time. Readers who are hearing this for the first time may wonder whether it is really necessary to get such an initiation. Is it not sufficient to recite the name of my favorite God? In a majority of the cases, the Guru may suggest the name of one’s favorite God as the mantra for the devotee. But there may be some exceptions as well. The difference between them is exactly the same as taking the medicine prescribed by an expert physician after consultation and taking something of one’s choice and hoping that it will cure the illness. Another advantage in getting the mantra from a great Guru is that it is very powerful and yields great results even with little effort (even if it is the same as the one already being used for japa).
The most important point in the whole process is trust. The devotee should have complete faith in the Guru and recite the mantra regularly. Readers of this blog interested in getting such an initiation should contact the nearest branch of Ramakrishna Mission. Most of the branches have websites and one may even get information by writing to a branch of their choice.
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