Reflections on Swami Satprakashananda's Reminiscence of Maharaj, part 2

 By Br. Aadi

Staying with Maharaj began to kindle a light in Harish's heart. Maharaj told Harish, "You will have a new life," and he began to feel that the spiritual realm was an open book. This is a wonderful idea that the meaning of the universe can be read. It is a poetry of Brahman. And we can also write it. If we cannot read the universe then we cannot read a book either, then words are empty and dry. By reading the universe we see the commonality of all ideas, events, and people, and we get to know the Writer of it all. Until then, our lives are made up of disconnected chapters, more like a pile of unfinished stories than a book. The love of God, the continuous attention to That thread which runs through the happy and sad chapters of spiritual lives, is the strong spine holding together the pages of the good book of His life.

Reflections on Swami Satprakashananda's Reminiscence of Maharaj, part 1

By Br. Aadi

Swami Satprakashananda was exposed to Ramakrishna Mission's ideals from a young age. Then he was called Harish, and the desire kindled in him to meet the living beings from whom these ideals emanated. He went to the field of the Lila and first saw Holy Mother and M. A day or two later, he went to Belur Math to see Maharaj, a.k.a. Swami Brahmananda. When Swamis Prabhavananda and Akhilananda first went to Belur Math, Maharaj was the very first person that they saw. Young Harish had the same luck but said that he would have taken this auspicious event as a mere coincidence if not for having heard that those two had the same experience. 

Harish saw Maharaj irregularly for the next few years; whenever he was at Belur Math, Maharaj happened to be away. During that time Harish became close with Swami Premananda. One day at Dacca, Swami Premananda introduced him to Maharaj, saying that this boy is trying to secure a plot of land for the mission. Maharaj said that he knows this boy from a few years back.  He asked Harish if he could find a place for us. Harish initially thought about the land that he was trying to secure and, a bit confused, replied "It is all for you, Maharaj." Thinking back later, he saw the hidden and more real meaning of Maharaj's question. It's not that Maharaj wasn't asking about the land, but that more importantly he was asking if Harish could find a place in his heart for the Divine presence. Maharaj's words often had a deeper meaning that would only be revealed some time afterwards.