By Charlie Feldman (Prana)
Yesterday, in the course of a few minutes, multiple examples of Sri Ramakrishna's renunciation occurred to me, and I thought I would share them with you:
We know he renounced lust because he never consummated his marriage, and he would at times be so caught up in samadhi that his cloth would slip off, and there was no sexual significance in that. It is said he was like a child in this respect.
We know he renounced wealth and greed, because one time when the authorities told him he had to leave his home at Dakshineswar, he got up without a second thought and started to leave, although he had no place to go. Also, as a youth, he had no use for a bread-winning education.
We know he renounced lust because he never consummated his marriage, and he would at times be so caught up in samadhi that his cloth would slip off, and there was no sexual significance in that. It is said he was like a child in this respect.
We know he renounced wealth and greed, because one time when the authorities told him he had to leave his home at Dakshineswar, he got up without a second thought and started to leave, although he had no place to go. Also, as a youth, he had no use for a bread-winning education.
We know he renounced anger, because when someone at Dakshineswar kicked him because the person thought he was faking his ecstatic states, Sri Ramakrishna not only didn't retaliate, but forbade anyone to tell Mathur Babu, because he didn't want the person to get in trouble.
We know he renounced pride, because when Naren told Sri Ramakrishna he shouldn't care about him so much, Sri Ramakrishna didn't argue, but asked the Divine Mother if it was true. Also, Sri Ramakrishna did not like anyone to call him Guru, and he didn't like anyone to write about him in the newspaper.
I have been aware of all of these incidents for a while, but when you take them together, I think they prove the point that Sri Ramakrishna lived a life of great renunciation.
We know he renounced pride, because when Naren told Sri Ramakrishna he shouldn't care about him so much, Sri Ramakrishna didn't argue, but asked the Divine Mother if it was true. Also, Sri Ramakrishna did not like anyone to call him Guru, and he didn't like anyone to write about him in the newspaper.
I have been aware of all of these incidents for a while, but when you take them together, I think they prove the point that Sri Ramakrishna lived a life of great renunciation.
No comments:
Post a Comment