15 March 1992

SWAMI SIDDHARTHANANDA

　　Introduction: Sri Ramakrishna was an extraordinary personality. He had so many varied aspects of character that one may rightly say that he lived in one body the lives of the perfected men that humanity has ever produced. He was the cord that threaded into a single garland all the highest spiritual ideals of the past and the present alike.

　　He was the living embodiment of the words and teachings that he spoke. Though he lived in a materialistic age, he was untouched by its evil effects. His was the spontaneous growth of a soul towards the highest. His life affords a unique study for those who aspire to truth, to victory over the senses, to the realization of God. He who casts his life in Sri Ramakrishna's mold will, no doubt,attain success, peace and the highest fulfillment.

　　Extraordinary Discrimination and Religious Practice: As a boy he was wonderful. From his young age, he was intensely religious and rigid in the observance of sacred rites. Discrimination formed one of the strongest traits of his character.

　　At the age of seven, he was sent to the village school for education. He pondered over the ultimate aim of intellectual knowledge and firmly concluded that education was only a means of earning livelihood. As the cultures soar high above the sky but their whole attention is bent on finding some rotten carcass on the ground, likewise the so-called educated people with all their knowledge fix their mind on money and bread only. Once his conclusion was reached by him, the matter was settled for ever.

　　Though his school life ended abruptly, he did not yield to idleness. He was determined to gain the knowledge which destroys ignorance, the light which dispels darkness of the mind. He wanted to gain that knowledge by knowing which all else can be known as was taught by the ancient rishis. The Upanishad teaches by knowing a lump of clay all that is made of clay becomes known.

　　The spirit of discrimination, coupled with the resolute will not to turn back as long as the goal is not reached, formed the secret of his success all through the life. He distinctly perceived by his analytical mind that the chief bar to God-vision was the heart's clinging to the world. He now set his whole heart upon the conquest of this deadliest foe of man.

　　He reduced the countless forms in which the world-attachment shows itself into two, namely, lust and gold. By the mighty sword of discrimination,he vanquished them one after another. Taking in one hand a lump of clay and in another a silver coin, he sat down to meditation.

　　Addressing the mind he said; 'This is silver and this is clay. By the one you can build huge temples and palaces, ride in carriages and supply all the wants of the body. By the other, you can make bricks, tiles and the beautiful statues and so on. But what is either of these for except the enjoyment of the senses? Both being matter, they never take one beyond it. Being themselves finite, they never lead one to the Infinite. Why do you vainly hanker after such? Let them both be the same to you.'

　　Meditating upon this over and over again, his mind was strongly impressed with the idea that both were the same. He ended by throwing them into the water of the river Ganga. It should be remembered that this was not a mere intellectual achievement. It was actualized renunciation true to the word and spirit. Renunciation was a dominant feature of his character. Henceforth he could not touch any coin without having his fingers stiffened or paralyzed. On one occasion some one put a coin under the mattress of his bed when he was away. Coming back he could not sit on it. It seemed to him a couch of thorns as long as the coin was not taken out.

　　The other great barrier that he saw in the path of spirituality was the idea of sex. This animal instinct must be removed from the mind to attain enlightenment. With this scrutinize discrimination he regarded the body as the bundle of bones and flesh.

　　Of all the human emotions of mutual relationship, none is so pure and high, none so ennobling and unselfish, as the relation of a child to its mother. So there is but one way of escape from carnal passion and that is to know all women as mother -- as the manifestation of Divine Motherhood. He established himself in this knowledge and experience by practicing hard spiritual discipline. He could not see even his own wife in any other light.

　　Conquest of Egoism: He started to conquer egoism -- which is the hardest of all to get rid of. Egoism springs up again and again like a banyan tree, however often it may be cut down. He saw that this egoism was fattening itself and eating into his devotion.

　　He asked to himself; 'What is this idea of "me and mine"? Who is always boasting and saying -- I am the son of so and so, I do this, I do that, I am so very religious, who is there to compare with me, do they not know me, it is my house, my hand, my wealth? -- This pest of "me and mine" always harassing us, disturbing the equanimity and peace of mind. It must be eradicated.'

　　He struggled and struggled, but the idea would not go easily. He saw that this idea had its existence in ignorance only. It is only with the advent of knowledge that the 'me and mine' changes places with "Thee and Thine". Or, the idea of 'I' leaves its narrow cell and expands itself into the universal 'I', the Universal Self. Then there is nothing but 'I', I am all, everywhere, at all time. This is the 'I' of knowledge -- the ripe 'I', as he used to say in comparison with the unripe 'I' -- the 'I' of ignorance.

　　Finally his mastery over the narrow self was so complete that he could not utter the first person singular or first person possessive singular when speaking of himself. He would always say 'This body', instead of 'Do come to me', 'Mother wishes' instead of 'I would', 'Do come here' instead of 'Do come to me'. He always dealt a death blow at the 'I'-idea whenever it reached its head.

　　Once a rich disciple presented him with a valuable shawl and himself put it around him. A few minutes after what was his surprise to see Sri Ramakrishna throw away the shawl in the mire. Addressing himself at the same time he was saying, 'Now you are rightly served, you are, you fool of egoism.'

　　A True Teacher: He never posed himself as a teacher of men and yet he was one of the greatest teachers of the world. He never thought that people came to him to be taught. If pressed by some one to teach, he would say like a child 'What do I know? I know only that my Mother is and that I am Her child.' If he would tell anything to anyone, he would say 'My Mother says so'. If anyone in his presence would call him a teacher or guru, he would be vexed beyond measure. He would rebuke such people and say 'Who is whose guru? The Lord is the guru of all.'

　　The preacher must be one who is fully devoid of the teacher-idea. It is pride and egotism that ruins. Another point that Sri Ramakrishna laid upon was that the teacher, before attempting to preach, must receive a commission from the Lord. He must have full credentials behind him or his teaching will be a waste of words with no abiding result.

　　He used to say: 'A single policeman can quell a riot with ease, only because the badge of divine authority and then he is irresistible. He is never in want of thought and arguments. His stock of knowledge is inexhaustible, for he draws his inspiration from the infinite source of knowledge.

　　He hated self-advertisement. Referring to it, he used to say, 'It is as if inviting a hundred persons to dinner while providing for one.' 'The flower, when it is full-blown, does not go to invite the bees, they come of themselves. The true teacher does not go to look for audiences. They flick of themselves around him and ask for his advice. 'This is true preaching and this was fully exemplified in the life of Sri Ramakrishna.

　　Sri Ramakrishna would not see whether one was a worshiper of Vishnu, or Rama, or Kali, or Christ. He would judge a person by the depth of his sincerity of heart. How would only see if one was sincere, no matter if one believed in anything or not, no matter if one was looked down upon as a sinner.

　　He would never condemn a sinner. Nor would he bid him to give up bad habits immediately, for he knew he could not do so then and there. But he would ask him to come there now and then, so that by the influence of the holy association he might come round in time.

　　He cared not a straw for the opinion of others. Truth, plain truth he would say. He would point out even the faults of powerful or famous man, whether he liked it or not, for he had no selfish motives. A sincere man who is struggling with his weaknesses can never take offense if they are pointed out. It is only those that are deluded by egotism and pride who feel offended at this. The one thing he prized above all was sincerity. Be sincere, this is the one qualification of discipleship.

　　His relation with those who came to him was of the sweetest character. His all-embracing love for each and every body was truly divine. In his eyes everything was full of life and consciousness. Sometimes he could not even pluck a flower, and felt hurt if he saw anyone treading on the grass.

　　He was a personification of humility. He taught this virtue daily to all those who used to visit him. No one can boast of having ever given him, before receiving from him, a salutation. Once a reputed doctor of Calcutta was called to attend a patient at Dakshineswar. On his way back he strolled by the Ganga through the temple garden of Rani Rasmani.

　　Various kinds of flower bloomed in the cool evening in air. The physician happened to see Sri Ramakrishna walking near by. Taking him to be a gardener of the place, the doctor ordered him to pluck few flowers for him which Sri Ramakrishna instantly obeyed. What was the astonishment of the doctor, when years afterwards he came to examine his throat. He cried out in amazement: 'Woe unto me! What had I done, I had ordered him to pluck flowers for me.'

　　Swami Vivekananda's Observation: Referring to Sri Ramakrishna's message, Swami Vivekananda says: 'This is the message of Sri Ramakrishna to the modern world. "Do not care for doctrines, do not care for dogmas, or sects, or churches or temples; they count for little compared with the essence of existence in each man, which is spirituality; and the more this is developed in a man, the more powerful is he for good. Earn that first, acquire that, and criticize no one, for all doctrines and creeds have some good in them.

　　"Show by your lives that religion does not mean words, or names, or sects, but that it means spiritual realization. Only those can understand who have felt. Only those who have attained to spirituality can communicate it to others, can be great teachers of mankind. They alone are the powers of light."

　　The more such men are produced in a country, the more that country will be raised; and that country where such men absolutely do not exist is simply doomed, nothing can save it. Therefore, my Master's message to mankind is "Be spiritual and realize Truth for yourself." ...The time has come for renunciation and realization; and then you will see the harmony in all the religions of the world. You will know that there is no need of any quarrel. And then only will you be ready to help humanity. To proclaim and make clear the fundamental unity underlying all religions was the mission of my Master. Other teachers have taught special religions which bear their names, but this great teacher of the nineteenth century made no claim for himself. He left every religion undisturbed because he had realized that, in reality, they are all parts and parcel of the one eternal religion.' (CW IV p.187 M Ms)

　　Teaching of Sri Ramakrishna: A father was once passing by a field having his two sons with him. One he had taken up in his arms and the other was walking along with him holding his father's hand. They saw a kite flying and this boy, having let go his hold of the father's hand, began to clap with joy, crying, 'See papa, there is a kite.'

　　But as he had let go the hold of his father's hand he stumbled and got hurt. The boy that was carried by the father also clapped his hand with joy, but did not fall as he was held by his father. The former represents self-help in spiritual life, while the latter indicates self-surrender. (Teaching of Sri Ramakrishna, Advaita Ashrama Nu.642)

　　A certain pious man constantly used to tell the beads of a rosary for years, silently uttering the name of his Chosen Deity. To him the Master said, 'Why do you stick to one place? Go forward.' The pious man replied, 'I cannot do so without His grace.' The Master said, 'His grace is blowing night and day over your head. Unfurl the sails of your boat, if you want to make rapid progress through the ocean of life. (Nu. 643)

　　A disciple having firm faith in the infinite power of his guru, walked over a river by simply uttering his name. The guru, seeing this, thought within himself, 'What? Is there such a power in my mere name? How very great and powerful then I must be.' The next day he himself tried to walk over the river uttering 'I,I,I,' but no sooner had he stepped into the water than he sank and was drowned. Faith can achieve miracles, while vanity of egotism is the death of man. (N.622)

　　Dive deep into the sea of Divine Love. Fear not. It is the sea of Immortality. I once said to Narendra, 'God is like a sea of sweetness. Would you dive deep into that sea? Suppose, my boy, there were a wide-mouthed vessel containing syrup of sugar, and you were a fly, anxious to drink of it, where would you sit and drink?

　　Narendra replied that he would like to drink from the edge, for if he happened to fall in, he was sure to be drowned and die. Thereupon I said to him 'You forget, my boy, that if you dive into the Divine Sea, you need fear neither danger nor death. Remember that the Sea of Satchidananda is the sea of Immortality filled with water of Everlasting Life. Be not afraid like some foolish people, that you may run to excess in your love of God.' (N.610)

　　It is a rare thing -- this love of God. Bhakti can arise only when there is a whole-hearted devotion to God such as that of a chaste wife for her husband. Pure bhakti is very difficult to obtain., In bhakti, the mind and soul must be absorbed in God. Then comes bhava, the higher form of bhakti. In bhava, a man becomes speechless; his breath is stilled; the kumbhaka-- that part of Yoga in which the indrawn breath remains suspended -- sets in of itself, as, when one shoots at a target, one becomes speechless and the breath is stopped. (N.363)

　　He alone enters the kingdom of heaven who is not thief of his own thoughts. In other words, guilelessness and simple faith are the roads to that kingdom.

　　Know certainly that the world is God's and not yours: you are His servant only, come to carry out His will. (N.279)