In his Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna class (12/16/2014, Tuesday) class, Swamiji emphatically said, "We are more fortunate than the people around Sri Ramakrishna." I cannot fathom the import of that statement. With great difficulty I imagine the form of Sri Ramakrishna in meditation. Many times this imagination may not be stable and attempts have to be made repeatedly to focus well so that the act of "seeing" Him becomes natural and uninterrupted. I wonder sometimes, when will this imagination be alive (i.e., the deity meditated upon responds to you continuously as any other person around you would do in your daily activity)? When will it happen? Some of you may imagine of His being alive much more concretely than I could do (as some of my fellow class-students revealed to me), nevertheless it is only a stronger imagination (although commendable).
In the midst of these struggles, if someone told me, all I have to do is to open my eyes and I will see Him, what more could I ask for? And the more wonderful surprise if I am told that I can not only see Him, but also talk to Him and even listen to Him! And furthermore, I am told that I can actually even serve Him by offering food or other essentials (if He accepts them)! After you have been told all that, you are also then told curtly, "You know what? You are actually more fortunate now by imagining Him. So forget this notion of actually seeing, listening to, talking to, serving Him." How would that go with you?
The goal of some devotional schools in India who regard God with personal attributes (say, Vaishnava) is: sālokya (living in the same realm of God), sāmīpya (being near to God), sārūpya (having the same form of God), and sāyujya (merging with God). These four goals of spiritual life of a devotee have been mentioned above in the hierarchy of a better state of mind with the sālokya being the lowest while sāyujya being the highest state of all. Now someone can make great efforts to enter these different states of mind with no incarnation around, but by actually living with God who is in flesh and blood (incarnation), the first two states of sālokya and sāmīpya are automatically obtained with no effort! So aren't the conditions more favorable if God is available in flesh and blood and thereby those physically around Him being more fortunate?
After Sri Ramakrishna's passing away, Sri Sarada Devi along with many other disciples and devotees felt great pain and misery. At that point, if someone tells them that they are actually better off with Sri Ramakrishna being not in body anymore, would they agree? Would you agree?
Two comments:
ReplyDeleteTwo comments:
1. Your question in the last paragraph has missed the point which Swamiji was making. I take Swamiji's comments to be valid in the context of time. We are fortunate to have access to Sri Ramakrishna's teachings meticulously recorded by M and others who were close to him. Had we lived then and were fortunate enough to have had some contact with him and had the wisdom to see his greatness our understanding of him would still had been limited to our own capacity.
2. The teachings of Sri Ramamkrishna are more profound than his physical personality. The purpose for which these souls incarnate is to benefit humanity at large. Living our lives according to his teachings is the greatest homage we can pay to him and also bring transformation to our lives. Meditating on his physical form opens our inner being to his qualities which are limitless.
1. Your question in the last paragraph has missed the point which Swamiji was making. I take Swamiji's comments to be valid in the context of time. We are fortunate to have access to Sri Ramakrishna's teachings meticulously recorded by M and others who were close to him. Had we lived then and were fortunate enough to have had some contact with him and had the wisdom to see his greatness our understanding of him would still had been limited to our own capacity.
2. The teachings of Sri Ramamkrishna are more profound than his physical personality. The purpose for which these souls incarnate is to benefit humanity at large. Living our lives according to his teachings is the greatest homage we can pay to him and also bring transformation to our lives. Meditating on his physical form opens our inner being to his qualities which are limitless.
This post seems very vocal. It is not only disagreeing with Swamiji but also concluding that Swamiji has emphatically told something incogitable.
ReplyDeleteHere is what Jesus said, “Blessed are they who have not seen me but have faith in me”
On one occasion Swami Vivekananda too said ''Blessed are those who have seen Sri Ramakrishna. All of you, too, will get his vision. When you have come here, YOU ARE VERY NEAR TO HIM. Nobody has been able to understand him who came on earth as Sri Ramakrishna. Even his own nearest devotees have NO REAL CLUE to it. Only some have a little inkling of it. All will understand in time."
Yes, we are more blessed as we are going to get special betel rolls lovingly made by Holy Mother. --- “On one occasion when Holy Mother was busy making betel rolls, she was seen to be making two different kinds - one batch with attractive spices and extras, the other batch was plain. When asked, she explained that the special rolls are to bring some of the more distant devotees closer, while all that are needed are ordinary ones for those who are already close.”
Those who were close him must have done their part, now it is our time to exert some pressure to push the gate to make it open. As Swamiji told in Gospel Class,
gate is already unlocked…a push is needed.
If I were born in Dakshineshwar in Sri Ramakrishna's time, I probably I
ReplyDeletewould have gained nothing, like most people in his neighborhood. Being
here and now, thanks to the Gospel, and thanks to holy company, every
week we get to peek into his divine play.
It is a good assumption that you would not have been spiritually inclined. Of course you could say my standpoint that you would be devoted is also an assumption too. But I am just going by an interpolation rather than an abrupt change that you assumed: if some books, lectures by holy people and meditation could motivate you this much, how much more would a direct vision, hearing of an incarnation would do?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the motivational quotations.
ReplyDelete1. Agreed. Swamiji and you are saying that had we been not around Dakshineshwar/Calcutta those days, the time now is better than time then as we have access to the literature and we would have totally missed knowing these teachings. But if the comparison is between us now and people just around Sri Ramakrishna then, I still think the people around Sri Ramakrishna are better off.
ReplyDelete2. Teachings are profound is true. But for a bhakta who loves the God with form, all teachings do not matter as much as the vision of God matters. But I do agree with the gist of what you say here.
Thanks for those who read and commented. As Mr. Aswani said, Swamiji must be comparing the people present outside Dakshineshwar/Calcutta who had no access to Sri Ramakrishna and the people like us now. Of course we are better off than them. But if we are comparing people who had access to Sri Ramkrishna those days and people like us now, then I think opinions seem to differ. Some think they will not be devoted as much as they are now in that case. I answered that in the comment to Mr. Abhijit's comment. Anyway, I guess people have different opinions on this subject.
ReplyDeleteSri Tulasidas also said that the name of the Rama is more important than Rama Himself because with the chanting of name you can get Rama Himself. Swamiji quotes this one very often. But I could never fathom this quote too. When you have the form Himself (in flesh and blood), then how does name matter? Anyway, some unresolved questions remain that way. Have good year ahead.