Lessons to learn from the lives of Sri Ramakrishna’s disciples – Part 10

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna quotes the words of Sri Ramakrishna, “The goal of human life is to love God. The point is to love God even as the mother loves her child, the chaste wife her husband, and the worldly man his wealth. Add together these three forces of love, these three powers of attractions, and give it all to God. Then, you will certainly see Him.”

Swami Ramakrishnananda, one of the direct monastic disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, had intense love and devotion to his Master Sri Ramakrishna. He went to Madras and established the Madras branch of Ramakrishna Mission at the behest of Swami Vivekananda. He had to face lot of hurdles in his mission but his love for his Master helped him overcome all those hurdles. Here are some interesting anecdotes from his life.

Once, there were no provisions in the temple (at Madras) storeroom to prepare food for offering to Sri Ramakrishna at 4:00 p.m. (the normal time of offering evening snacks to Sri Ramakrishna). At 3:00 p.m. the matter was conveyed to Swami Ramakrishnananda, and it greatly upset him. He took it as a test from the Master. He did not become angry with the monks for not informing him beforehand; all his anger was solely turned against the Master. He burst out, “You want to test me? I will eat sand and do Swamiji’s [Swami Vivekananda, who sent him to Madras] work here. You are testing me, I know. But you should also know my grim resolve. I would rather die and perish here than budge an inch from this place. Do your worst, if you will!” His face glowed in terrible anguish and fervour; he began to pace back and forth in the hall.

At 3:30 p.m. someone knocked at the front door. Mr. Kondaih Chetty, an old student of the swami, came with some flour, ghee, sugar candy, and dried fruits. He also offered five rupees as donation. The swami burst out in childlike glee, and bade the monks to bring two stoves, and made some nice preparations for the offering. At 4:00 p.m. the refreshment was offered to the Master as usual.

The building of Madras Monastery had developed cracks and when it rained water would seep in through the roof in several places. At such times, Swami Ramakrishnananda would go to the shrine to see whether water was leaking through the ceiling. One night it began to drip inside the shrine, exactly on Sri Ramakrishna’s picture. The swami stood there holding an umbrella till the night passed and the rain stopped. He did not move the picture to a safer side because that would wake his Master from sleep at an untimely hour, which would be wrong.

Swami Ramakrishnananda kept the Master alive in his mind through his intense love. His service to his Master is now legendary in the Ramakrishna Order. Swami Bodhananda recalled about Swami Ramakrishnananda, “His offering of flowers, his waving of the big fan on the Master’s bed on hot and sultry nights, his cooking the meals for the offering, his deftness, neatness, promptness, and thoroughness in every detail left an indelible impression on the mind of the beholder. Even the hardest heart would be moved by his superhuman devotion.”

Love cannot be defined. A real lover gets joy and finds fulfillment in life by serving and giving his everything to the beloved. Swami Ramakrishnananda’s love for his Master indeed brought to life the teaching of his Master that love for God should be as intense as the combined love of a mother for her child, a chaste wife for her husband, and a worldly man for his wealth. Swami Ramakrishnananda's life was a demonstration of how to love and serve God.

Lessons to learn from the lives of Sri Ramakrishna’s disciples – Part 9

Sri Ramakrishna often used to say, “Bhagavatha, Bhaktha, Bhagwan” to mean that the holy scripture, the devotee, and the God, all the three are equal. Therefore, service to devotees is service to God. Sri Ramakrishna’s disciples followed this teaching of the Master (Sri Ramakrishna). Here is an anecdote from the life of Swami Premananda displaying this quality.

Once during the birth anniversary of Sri Ramakrishna, M. (Mahendranath Gupta, the recorder of the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna) came to Belur Math to pay his homage to the Master. He was not well. After saluting the Master in the shrine, M. sat under the mango tree in the courtyard. He carried some puffed rice for refreshment and enquired if there is any curd (yogurt) in the storeroom. A young monk went to check and found a pot of curd that had not yet been offered to the Master; for that reason, it could not be given to M. (The usual procedure followed in temples and other Hindu religious institutions is to offer everything to God and then distribute the offerings to the devotees. Nothing is consumed without offering it at the feet of God.)

While the monk was returning from the storeroom, Swami Premananda learned from him that M. needed curd. Swami Premananda immediately took the pot and, standing in front of the Master’s picture, offered it to him with closed eyes. He then gave it to the monk to serve M.

Afterwards Premananda told a monk with emotion, “Today the Master saved me from a grave error. Do you know M. was an immediate companion of the Master? The master eats food through the mouths of these devotees. Have you not read in the Gospel, where the Master says that if you feed one of them, you will attain virtue equivalent to feeding one thousand monks? In the Ramakrishna incarnation, M. is the Sage Vyasa [the recorder] and again the Sage Narada [the singer]. Day and night the gospel of the Master comes from his lips like a fountain. The Master saved me today from a serious mistake.”

Service to devotees is service to God. From the advaita point of view, God manifests in every living being. That’s why Swami Vivekananda went one step further and emphasized the importance of serving the poor and destitute.

Once, in 1901, some laborers were engaged in leveling the grounds of the monastery. One day, he arranged a feast for them and, when the meal was over, he told them, “You are Narayanas. Today I have entertained the Lord Himself by feeding you.”

Later, addressing the inmates of Belur Math, he said, “See how simple-hearted these poor, illiterate people are! Will you be able to relieve their misery to some extent at least? …Let us go from village to village, devoting ourselves to the service of the poor. … Let us, through the force of our character and spirituality and our austere living, convince the rich about their duties to the masses, and get money and the means wherewith to serve the poor and the distressed. …Unless they are elevated, the Great Mother India will never awake! What are we good for if we cannot provide facilities for their food and clothing? Alas, they are ignorant of the ways of the world and hence fail to eke out a living though laboring hard day and night for it. Gather all your forces together to remove the veil from their eyes. What I see clear as daylight is that the same Brahman, the same Sakti, is in them as in me! Only there is a difference in the degree of manifestation— that is all.”

A little later he said: 'After so much tapasya, austerity, I have known that the highest truth is this: "He is present in all beings. These are all the manifested forms of Him. There is no other God to seek for! He alone is worshipping God, who serves all beings."'

Anyone who exploits a fellow human, near or distant, offends God and will pay for it sooner or later. All of us are children of the same God, and the same God is residing in the heart of each one of us. Hence service to fellow humans is service to God.

Lessons to learn from the lives of Sri Ramakrishna’s disciples – Part 8

Sri Ramakrishna disapproved of wastage of resources. Once, in Dakshineshwar, he asked a devotee to light the oil lamp in his room. The devotee used four match sticks and yet could not light the lamp. Then the Master (Sri Ramakrishna) got down from the cot and lighted the lamp himself. He said to the devotee, “The householders save their hard-earned money and give it to the monks. Is it proper to misuse their money?” Another day, Latu (later Swami Adbuthananda) was about to use a match stick to ignite the Master’s tobacco, and he scolded Latu, “Go to the kichen and get the fire from there.”

Sri Ramakrishna’s disciples followed this teaching completely. At the Belur Mutt, Swami Premananda, one of the direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, would watch the activities of the newly joined brahmacharins very carefully. If someone peeled a potato too deeply, the swami would remind him that the vegetables had been bought with the devotees’ hard-earned money and great sacrifice of their comfort; it was not proper for the monks to misuse those things. Swami Premananda could not tolerate any waste and he imprinted this idea in the minds of newcomers.

My eyes filled with tears when I read the above details in the book God Lived With Them by Swami Chetanananda.

This careful use of funds is followed even today in every branch of Ramakrishna Mission. Some months ago, I visited the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama at Belgaum, in Karnataka, India. I heard that there is no cook at the ashram and the brahmacharins themselves cooked the food. The various daily activities of the ashram are divided among the inmates, a few of the brahmacharins are given the work of puja (daily worship), some take care of the garden, cooking work is assigned to some, and cleaning vessels to some others.

It is very true that devotees donate money sacrificing their comforts. We can be rest assured that every penny of our hard-earned money donated to any branch of Ramakrishna Mission will be carefully utilized as Sri Ramakrishna himself had shown the way by leading his life accordingly and also by training his disciples to value the resources at their expense.

Lessons to learn from the lives of Sri Ramakrishna’s disciples – Part 7

Sri Ramakrishna understood the universality in the teachings of various religions of the world by practicing each religion for a certain period of time and realizing God through each of them.

When he was working as a priest of the Kali temple at Dakshineshwar (near Calcutta), he was seized by a desire to know whether the image in the temple is just a stone or the existence of such a Goddess is true. He yearned for a vision of the Mother of the Universe, Goddess Kali, and after many months of struggle he got a vision of the Divine Mother. Mother Herself then became the teacher and initiated him into the truths he sought.

His next desire was to get a vision of Lord Krishna. For this he practised Vaishnavism under the guidance of a vaishnava monk. He was amazed to find that it is the same Goddess Kali who is also visualized as Krishna! There are numerous sects in Hinduism and each sect claims its own deity as the ultimate God. Sri Ramakrishna practiced every sect of Hinduism and found they all reached the same goal.

He then aspired to know the truth of the various religions of the world. So he sought teachers of other religions. He found a Mohammedan saint and placed himself under him; he underwent the disciplines prescribed by him, and to his astonishment found that when faithfully carried out, these devotional methods led him to the same goal he had already attained. He gathered similar experience by following Christianity as well.

He went to all the sects he could find, and whatever he took up he went into it with his whole heart. He did exactly as he was told, and in every instance he arrived at the same result. Thus from actual experience, he came to know that God is unique. The goal of every religion is the same, that each is trying to teach the same thing, the difference being largely in method and more so in language.

Therefore he emphasized that through earnestness and yearning, all lovers of God will ultimately reach the same goal. His disciples followed this teaching of their Master (Sri Ramakrishna) and there are many instances in their lives when they supported and blessed non-Hindu devotees. Here are a few interesting anecdotes.

In January 1925, Swami Shivananda visited Cuddapah, a small town in the state Andhra Pradesh in India, where Hindu and Muslim devotees had together established ‘Ramakrishna Samaj’. Later the swami recalled his meeting with a highly esteemed muslim who had received the title of Khan Bahadur from the British Government. Khan Bahadur belonged to the Sufi sect of Islam but was very devoted to Sri Ramakrishna. Almost every morning and evening during the period of his stay, the swami found Khan Bahadur seated in a corner of the shrine room of the Samaj in deep humility, intently looking at the portrait of Sri Ramakrishna on the altar. He was convinced that the Prophet Muhammad was born as Sri Ramakrishna for the good of the world.

In September 1926, Swami Shivananda inaugurated the building of a new ashrama in Ootacamund. Learning that he was there, a muslim doctor and his family came all the way from Bombay to see him. In the course of the conversation, the doctor told the swami that his wife was particularly eager to speak to him. Subsequently, the doctor’s wife saluted the swami with great devotion and disclosed many intimate things relating to her spiritual life. Since childhood she had been a devotee of Krishna. She worshipped child Krishna and occasionally had visions of him. After reading about the life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, she became very much devoted to him. It was her conviction that her chosen deity Krishna was born again as Sri Ramakrishna. Swami Shivananda observed that she had profound love and devotion for Sri Ramakrishna. She was quite intense in her spiritual practices and Sri Ramakrishna had blessed her in many ways. While leaving she asked the swami to touch her head with his hand as it had once touched Sri Ramakrishna! Then she wept a lot. Swami Shivananda was greatly moved by her devotion and he told himself again and again, “Glory be unto the Lord! Blessed is Thy power.”

Sri Ramakrishna never encouraged a narrow outlook regarding religious faiths. Let us always remember his message, “As many faiths, so many paths.”

Lessons to learn from the lives of Sri Ramakrishna’s disciples – Part 6

In Part 5 we defined the meaning of ‘initiation’ (in a footnote) and how it helps a person in gaining spirituality. Of course, it is a very rudimentary definition since the writer of this blog is only a beginner in the path of spirituality and in no way be considered spiritually evolved. After writing the blog, we came across some good points about initiation that we wish to share in this part.

Swami Saradananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, once told the monks about the role of Guru and how a real Guru takes responsibility for the spiritual growth of the disciple: “It is not easy to give initiation. You will have to work for your disciples. An illumined guru has to perform special japam for their inner growth and spiritual welfare. The relationship between the guru and disciple is established by God. The real guru takes the burden of his disciples. He works for them through silent prayer and meditation. He has no rest until all of them have become illumined.”1

It reminds the beautiful story of the Good Shepherd that Jesus Christ told his followers. A shepherd had 100 sheep. One day, one of the sheep strayed away. When the shepherd counted his sheep and found there were only 99, he left all those 99 sheep and went in search of his lost sheep. He would not rest until he found it and brought it back. God is like that shepherd. When people do bad things they are lost from God and it makes Him very sad. But He would keep calling them gently until they find their way and return to Him.

Some people get initiation but after sometime they lose interest and stop practicing japa and meditation. Once, a young monk told Swami Brahmananda that he is practicing japa and meditation mechanically and not getting any taste for it and asked what should be done. The swami said, “In the beginning it is best to form a routine and follow it strictly. It does not matter whether you like or dislike it. … Do it for a period of at least four years. …if you have not made tangible progress, come back and slap my face.”2

Swami Brahmananda also said, “The effect of holy company definitely yields positive results. A bee hidden in a flower offered in worship touches the feet of God. Similarly, by association with a holy man one surpasses even the gods and attains liberation.”3

We always aspire for the choicest food, finest clothes, best institutions to get educated and renowned organizations to work with. It is equally important to seek the company of holy people.

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1,2,3 From the book God lived with them by Swami Chetanananda.

Lessons to learn from the lives of Sri Ramakrishna’s disciples – Part 5

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.