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MY MASTER

SWAMI iVIVEKANANDA

WITH AN APPENDED EXTRACT FROM THE

THEISTIC QUARTERLY REVIEW

NEW YORK

THE BAKER & TAYLOR COMPANY 1901

^loi

k%sr

THE BAKER & TAYLOR COMPANY

ROBERT DRUMMOND, PRINTER* NEW YORK

Om Namo Bhagavate Rdmakrishndya (Salutation to Blessed

RUmakrishna

PREFACE

The following lecture, which was delivered New York under the auspices of the

Vedanta Society, describes most remarkable

men

briefly

one of the

that India has given to

the nineteenth century.

He was known

Paramhamsa Srimat Ramakrishna, and

as is

regarded by thousands of his fellow-country-

men

a Divine Incarnation, although he

would not claim tion.

ing

The

for himself

any high

influence of his teachings

itself felt

in all

posi-

mak-

parts of India, and has

even extended to Europe and America.

The

frontispiece represents the temple near

which he passed the

last

years of his

life.

lived in a small house in the extensive gardens

surrounding the temple, and great crowds of people came to

listen to vii

his words.

Since

PREFACE his death a yearly festival has

been held on

the anniversary of his birth, arid

attended by increasing numbers.

Paramhamsa means, and

literally, "

each year

The

title

Great Soul,"

given by the Hindus to such

men

only

as have attained to the highest spiritual illumination.

Srimat

title

of respect,

and

used here in the sense of " most revered."

The Editor. viii

MY MASTER tt\\7HENEVER virtue subsides and vice come down

prevails, I

to help

kind," declares Krishna, in the

Whenever

Gita.

this

man-

Bhagavad

world of ours, on ac-

count of growth, on account of added cumstances, requires a

wave

power

.comes,

on two planes, the rial,

new

cir-

adjustment, a

and as man

acting

and the mate-

spiritual

waves of adjustment come on both

planes.

the one side, of adjustment

the material plane, Europe has mainly been

the basis during

modern

times, and of the

adjustment on the other, the

spiritual plane,

Asia 'has been the basis throughout the tory of the world.

To-day,

one more adjustment on the to-day,

when

man

requires

spiritual plane;

material ideas 9

his-

are

the

MY MASTER height of their glory and power; to-day,

when man ture,

Ukely to forget his divine na-

through

matter, and

his

growing dependence on

likely to

be reduced to a mere

money-making machine, an adjustment and the power

necessary,

coming, the

away the clouds

voice has spoken, to drive

The power

of gathering materialism.

motion which,

no distant

has

been

set in

will

bring unto mankind once more the

memory

of their real nature,

power

place from which this

of the division of labor.

that one

man shall possess

how childish we are

universe.

will start will

on the plan

It is

vain to say

everything.

The baby

ishness thinks that his doll session that

and again the

This world of ours

be Asia.

date,

be coveted

So a nation which

Yet

in his child-

the only posin this is

whole

great in the

possession of material powers thinks that that

is all

that

to be coveted, that that 10

MY MASTER all

that

meant by progress, that that

meant by

civilization,

and

is all

there are

other nations which do not care to possess,

and do not possess these powers, they not

to live, their whole existence

fit

less.

may

think that mere material civilization

From

the Orient

possess everything- that

sun or above uality,

it,

the other

Each each has

its

glory.

spirit-

the Orien-

the Occidental type.

of these types has

The

its

grandeur,

present adjustment

be the harmonizing, the mingling of

these two ideals.

world of is

This

it?

under the

and does not possess

what matters

tal type,

came the

voice which once told the world that

will

use-

the other hand, another nation

utterly useless.

man

are

the Oriental, the

spirit is as real as

the world of senses.

to the Occidental

In the

spiritual, the

Oriental finds everything he wants or hopes for; in

finds all that

makes

life

real to

MY MASTER To the

him.

Occidental he

the Oriental, the Occidental

a dreamer; to is

a dreamer,

playing with dolls of five minutes, and he

men and

laughs to think that grown-up

women

make

should

much

of a handful

of matter which they will have to leave

sooner or

Each

later.

calls the

But the Oriental

dreamer.

ideal is as nec-

essary for the progress of the as

the Occidental, and

happy, and never will make.

make

that happiness

ways

lord of his

us believe

this, will

It is

the

claim

it is al-

man who

mind who alone can become

happy, and none

He who

in the machine, but

mind.

in the

is this

it is

race

Machines never made mankind

necessary.

trying to

human

think

other a

power

But what,

else.

of machinery?

man who can

after

Why

all,

should

send a current of electricity

through a wire be called a very great man,

and a very

intelligent

man?

Does not na-

MY MASTER ture do a million times

moment?

Why

more than

not then

What

worship nature?

that every

down and

fall

matters

you

have power over the whole of the world,

you have mastered every atom verse?

That

will

not

yourself, until

Man

in the uni-

make you happy un-

you have the power

less

of happiness in

you have conquered

born to conquer nature,

yourself.

it is

true,

but the Occidental means by " nature " only the physical or external nature. that external nature

powers and

more majestic

rivers,

varieties.

moon and

its

and with

Yet there

internal nature of

higher than the sun,

true

majestic, with

mountains, and oceans, and its infinite

stars,

man,

higher

than this earth of ours, higher than the physical universe, transcending these lives of

ours and

study.

There the Orientals

;

little

afifords 'another field of

excel, just as

the Occidentals excel in the other. 13

There-

MY MASTER fore

whenever there

fitting that,

spiritual adjustment,

the Orient.

should come from

It is also fitting

that

when

the

Oriental wants to learn about ma.chine-mak-

ing he should

sit

at the feet of the Occi-

dental and learn from him.

When

the Oc-

cident wants to learn about the spirit, about

God, about the

soul,

about the meaning and

the mystery of this universe, she must

sit

the feet of the Orient to learn. I life

am going of

one

to present before you the

man who

has been the mover of

But before going

such a wave in India. into the

life

of this

man

I will try

to present

before you the secret of India, what India

means.

those whose eyes have been

blinded by the glamor of material things,

whose whole dedication

life is

to eating

and drinking and enjoying, whose whole ideal of possession

whole

lands and gold,

whose

ideal of pleasure is in the sensations,

MY MASTER *

whose god

Hfe of ease

and comfort

money, and whose goal in this world,

and

death after that, whose minds never look

who

forward, and

rarely think of anything

higher than the sense objects in the midst of

which they

dia,

what do they

Poverty, squalor,

see?

darkness, hideousness every-

superstition,

where.

such as these go to In-

live, if

Why?

Because in their minds en-

ligihtenment

means

politeness.

Whereas Occidental nations

have used every terial position,

There

lives

dress, education, social

effort to

improve their ma-

India has done differently.

the only race in the world

which, in the whole history of humanity,

never went beyond their frontiers to con-

quer anyone,

who

never coveted that which

belonged to anyone fault

was that

else,

their lands

and whose only

were so

their wits so keen, that they

fertile,

and

accumulated

wealth by the hard labor of their hands, and 15

MY MASTER so tempted other nations to

They are contented

spoil them.

spoiled,

come and

and to be

to be de-

world the secrets of

human

world

this

Supreme, to lay bare

visions of the

and

called barbarians,

want to send to

return they

de-

for the

nature, to rend

the veil that conceals the real man, because

they

know

the dream, because they

know

that behind this materialism lives the real

divine nature of nish,

man which no

no crime can

which the

fire

spoil,

can tar-

sin

can

lust

cannot burn, nor the water

wet, which heat cannot dry, nor death

and to them real as

this true

at the

rah; just as

Just as

mouth you

of a

the

man

you are brave to

cannon with a hur-

are brave in the

patriotism' to stand lives for

nature of

kill;

any material object to the senses

an Occidental.

jump

kill,

name

up and give up your

your country, so are they brave in

name

God.

There 16

it is

that

when a

MY MASTER man

declares that this

that

it is all

a world of ideas,

a dream, he casts off clothes

and property to demonstrate that what he believes

man

has

and thinks

sits

on the banks

known

that

life is

There

true.

of a river,

eternal,

it is

that

when he

and wants to

give up his body just as nothing, just as you

can give up a their

bit of straw.

Therein

lies

heroism, ready to face death as a

brother, because they are convinced that

there

no death

for them.

strength that has

Therein Hes the

made them

through hundreds of years

invincible

of oppression

and foreign invasions, and foreign tyranny.

The nation

lives to-day,

and

even in the days of the spiritual giants

have never

Asia produces giants

in that nation

direst

disaster,

failed to arise.

in spirituality just as

the Occident produces giants in poHtics, giants in science.

present century,

In the beginning of the

when Western 17

influence

MY MASTER began to pour into India, when Western conquerors, with sword in hand,

came to

demonstrate to the children of the sages that they were mere barbarians, a race of

dreamers, that their religion was but mythology, and

God and

soul and everything

they had been struggling

for,

were mere

words without meaning, that the thousands thousands of years

of years of struggle, the

of endless vain,

renunciation,

had

all

been

the question began to be agitated

among young men

the

universities

whether the whole national existence up to this date

gin

had been a

anew on

away

they must be-

the Occidental plan, tear

their old books,

drive

failure,

burn

their philosophies,

their preachers,

and break down

their temples.

Did not the Occidental conqueror, the

man who demonstrated sword and gun, say that 18

his religion with all

the old ways

MY MASTER were mere superstition and idolatry? dren brought up and educated

Chil-

in the

new

schools started on the Occidental plan,

drank

and

it is

arose.

from

in these ideas

not to be wondered at that doubts

But instead

perstition

West

and making a

say? "

away

of throwing

su-

real search after

became " What does

truth, the test of truth

the

their childhood

The

priests

must go, the

Vedas must be burned, because the West

Out

has said so.

of the feeling of unrest

thus produced, there arose a wave of socalled

reform in India.

you wish

to be a true reformer, three

The

things are necessary.

you

really feel for

tion?

Do you

much misery

supersti-

men

are your

really feel that

Does

whole being?

;

much ignorance and

Do you

brothers?

to feel do

your brothers?

really feel that there

the world, so

first is

this idea

Does

run

come in

into your

your blood?

MY MASTER Does

Does

your veins?

tingle in

course through every nerve and filament of

Are you

your body?

sympathy? step.

you

You must

of that idea of

are, that is

think next

The

found any remedy. all

full

only the if

first

you have

old ideas

may be

and around these

superstition, but in

masses of superstition are nuggets of gold

and

truth.

Have you

discovered means by

which to keep that gold alone, without any of the dross?

you have done

only the second step, one

What

essary.

that, that

more thing is

your motive?

nec-

Are you

sure that you are not actuated by greed for gold, by thirst for fame, or power? really sure that

you can stand to your

and work on, even to crush

Are you sure you

want, and will perform your

duty, and that alone, even

stake?

ideals,

the whole world wants

you down?

know what you

Are you

your

life is

Are you sure that you'will perse20

MY MASTER vere so long as

life

endures, so long as one

pulsation in the heart will last?

Then you

are a real reformer, you are a teacher, a master, a blessing to mankind!

But man

so impatient, so short-sighted!

has not

the patience to wait, he has not the power

to see.

wants to

rule,

Why?

immediately.

he wants

results

wants to reap

the fruits himself, and does not really care for others.

Duty "

what he wants. rig'ht,

for duty's sake

To work you have

but not to the

Krishna.

Why

not the

fruits thereof," says

cling to results?

Ours are

take care of

the duties.

Let the

themselves.

But man has no patience, he

fruits

takes up any scheme and the larger of would-be reformers

can be classed under

have

to India

all

this

over the world,

heading.

said, the idea of

when

seemed

number

reform came the wave of

materialism that had invaded her shores 21

MY MASTER would sweep away the teachings

the

But the nation had borne the

Sages.

shocks of a thousand such waves of change.

This one was mild in comparison. after

wave had flooded the

Wave

land, breaking

and crushing everything for hundreds years; the sword had flashed, and

" Victory

unto Allah " had rent the skies of India, but these floods subsided, leaving the national ideals

unchanged.

The Indian Deathless as that

nation

stands and

will

killed.

stand so long

remain as the back-

shall

spirit

cannot

ground, so long as her people do not give

Beggars they may

their spirituality.

remain,

poor and poverty-stricken;

dirt

and squalor may surround them perhaps throughout

their

all

God,

time, but let

let

them not forget

are the children of the Sages.

West even

the

them not give

man

Just as in the

in the street

that they

wants to

MY MASTER trace his descent from of the

some robber-baron

Middle Ages, so

Emperor on

even an

in India

the throne wants to trace his

descent from some beggar-sage in the forest,

from a man who wore the bark of a

hved upon the

fruits of the forest

muned with God. scent

That

and com-

the type of de-

want, and while holiness

supremely venerated, India cannot It

was while reforms

were being inaugurated child

was born

tree,

thus

die.

of various kinds

in India,

that a

poor Brahmin parents on

the 20th of February, 1835, in one of the re-

mote

villages of Bengal.

The

father

mother were very orthodox people. life

of a really

orthodox Brahmin

continuous renunciation.

and

The one of

Very few things

can he do, and over and beyond them the

orthodox Brahman must not occupy himself

with any secular business.

time he must not receive 23

gifts

At the same from every-

MY MASTER body.

You may

You have

that Hfe becomes.

Brahmins and

how

imagine

rigorous

heard of the

many

their priest-craft

times,

but very few of you have ever stopped to ask what makes this wonderful band of

They

the rulers of their fellows.

poorest of

all

are the

the classes in the country, and

the secret of their

power

lies in their

They never covet

ciation.

men

wealth.

renunTheirs

the poorest priesthood in the world, and

therefore the most powerful.

Even

in this

poverty, a Brahmin's wife will never allow

a poor

man

to pass through the village

without giving him something to is

and because she

her duty to be served

that everyone

comes. as

That

considered the highest duty of the mother

in India; is

eat.

God

That

last;

the mother

she must see

served before her turn

why

in India.

the mother

regarded

This particular woman,

the mother of our present subject, was the 24,

MY MASTER very type of a Hindu mother.

The higher

The

the caste the greater the restrictions.

lowest caste people can eat and drink any-

thing they scale

like,

but as

more and more

when they reach

men

rise in

restrictions

the social

come, and

the highest caste the Brah-

min, the hereditary priesthood of India,

much

their lives, as I have said, are very

circumscribed.

Compared

man-

to western

ners their lives are of continuous asceticism.

But they have great

they get liold of an idea they carry its

when

steadiness; it

out to

very conclusion, and they keep hold of

generation after generation until they

something out of idea and

but

it is

it.

Once

not easy to take

give it

make

them an

back again,

hard to make them grasp a new

idea.

The orthodox Hindus

therefore, are very

exclusive, living entirely within their

own

horizon of thought and feeling.

lives

Their

MY MASTER are laid tle

down

our old books

and the

detail,

least detail is

every

lit-

grasped

with almost adamantine firmness by them. starve rather than eat a meal

They would

cooked by the hands of a man not belonging to their

own

But

small section of caste.

withal, they have intensity

earnestness.

That force

and religious

life

and tremendous of intense faith

occurs often

orthodox Hindus, because

among

the

their very ortho-

doxy comes from the tremendous conviction that

it is

perseverance it is

may

not

all

think

which they hold on with such

that that to

Now

right.

right,

but to them

written in our books that a

is.

man

should always be charitable even to the extreme.

man

starves himself to death to

help another man, to save that man's is all

right;

min

that.

it is

even held that a

And

it is

life, it

man ought

expected of a Brah-

to carry this idea out to the very ex-

MY MASTER Those who are acquainted with the

treme.

literature of India will ful

remember

a beauti-

old story about this extreme charity,

how

a whole

family,

the

Mahabharata, starved themselves to death

and gave is

their last

meal to a beggar.

This

not an exaggeration, for such things

exist.

The

mother

that.

still

characters of the father and

Master were very much

Very poor they were and yet many

a time the mother would starve herself a

Of them

whole day to help a poor man. this child

child

was born and he was a peculiar

from very babyhood.

bered his past from his scious for

birth,

He rememand was con-

what purpose he came

into the

world, and every power was devoted to the fulfilment of that purpose.

quite

young his

sent to school.

school; the

father died

While he was

and the boy was

Brahmin's boy must go

caste

restricts

him to a

MY MASTER learned profession only.

The

education in India,

prevalent in

still

old system of

many

parts of the country, especially in connection with

Sannyasins, was very different

The

from the modern system.

had not to pay. edge it.

students

was thought that knowl-

so sacred that no

man ought

Knowledge must be given

without any price.

to sell

freely

and

The teachers used

take students without charge, and not only so,

but most of them gave their students

food and clothes.

support these teach-

ers the wealthy families sions,

such as a marriage

on certain occafestival,

ceremonies for the dead, made

They were considered most claimants to their turn

the

or at the

gifts to

them.

and

fore-

first

certain gifts,

and they

had to maintain their students.

This boy about

whom

speaking had

an elder brother, a learned professor, and

went to study with him. After a short time 28

MY MASTER the boy became convinced that the aim of all

secular learning

was mere material ad-

vancement, and he resolved to give up study and devote himself to the pursuit of spiritual

The

knowledge.

being

father

dead, the family was very poor, and this boy

had

make

his

own

living.

went to a

place near Calcutta and became a temple

To become

priest.

temple

priest

thought very degrading to a Brahmin.

Our

temples are not churches in your sense

of the word, they are not places for public

worship,

for,

properly speaking, there

such thing as public worship

Temples are erected mostly by

India.

rich persons

as a meritorious religious act. If

man

has

build a temple.

much

property he wants to

In that he puts a symbol

or an image of an Incarnation of God, and dedicates

to worship in the

The worship

name

akin to that which 29

God.

con-

MY MASTER ducted in

much

Roman

like the

Catholic churches, very

Mass, reading certain sen-

waving a

tences from the Sacred Books,

and treating the

light before the image,

image

in every respect as

man.

This

that

is all

The man who goes

to a temple

More more

ligion in India

afifair

and

religious

his

in the privacy of his

not con-

man than he who

to each

all

properly the latter

considered the

vate

treat a great

done in the temple.

sidered thereby a better

never goes.

man

worship

man, his is

own home.

for re-

own

pri-

conducted It

has been

held from the most ancient times in our

country that tion to

a degenerating occupa-

become a temple

another idea behind ucation, but in a far

it,

fees for their

work

of sacred things.

There

that, just as with ed-

religion, the fact that

priest.

intense sense with

temple priests take

making merchandise

So you may imagine the 30

MY MASTER feelings of that

boy when he was forced

through poverty to take up the only occupation open to him, that of a temple priest.

There have been various poets

whose songs have passed down ple; t'hey are

and

sung

which

India,

to the peo-

in the streets of Calcutta

Most

every village.

ligious songs,

Bengal

and

their

of these are re-

one central

idea,

perhaps peculiar to the religions of

There

the idea of realization.

not a book in India on religion which does not breathe this idea.

God, is

feel

Man must

realize

God, see God, talk to God.

That

The Indian atmosphere

is full

religion.

of stories of saintly persons having visions of

Such doctrines form "the

God.

their religion;

and

all

these ancient books

and scriptures are the writings

who came facts.

basis of

of persons

into direct contact with spiritual

These books were not written

intellect,

for the

nor can any reasoning understand 31

MY MASTER them, because they have been written by

men who have write,

seen the things of which they

and they can be understood only by

men who have same

height.

raised themselves to the

They say there

thing as realization even in this is

such a

is life,

and

open to everyone, and religion begins

with the opening of this faculty, This

call it so.

ligions

and

this is

the central idea in

why we may

find

may

all re-

one man

with the most finished oratorical powers, or tlie

most convincing

logic,

preaching the

highest doctrines and yet unable to get people to listen to him;

and another, a poor

man, who scarcely can speak the language of his

own

motherland, yet with half the

nation worshipping as God.

The

idea

him

in his

somehow

own

lifetime

or other has

got abroad that he has raised himself to that state of realization, that religion

a matter of conjecture to him, that he 32

MY MASTER is

no more groping

in the dark in such

mentous questions as

quarters to see

all

immor-

and God; and people

tality of the soul,

come from

religion, the

mo-

him and

gradually they begin to worship him; as an

Incarnation of God.

In the temple was an image of the " ful

Mother."

Bliss-

This boy had to conduct the

worship morning and evening and by and

this

one idea

filled his

anything behind there Is

this

Mother

mind,

image?

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

" Is there

true that

of Bliss in the universe?

true that she lives and guides this uni-

verse, or

a dream?

is it all

ality in religion? "

to almost every

Is there

any

This scepticism comes

Hindu

child.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

standing scepticism of our country that

re-

are doing real?

And

the this

theories will

not satisfy us, although there are ready at

hand almost

all

the theories that have ever

been made with regard to God and 33

soul.

MY MASTER Neither books nor theories can satisfy

us,

the one idea that gets hold of thousands of

our people

this idea of realization.

true that there I see

Him? Can

God?

If it

I realize

Western mind may think practicable, but to us

For

cal.

men

this idea

For

lives.

it is

true,

very im-

intensely practi-

will give

them

die

many

through the hardships they

have to undergo. this

their

thousands of Hindus

this idea

every year give up their homes and of

can

The

the truth? all this

must seem most

the Western mind

visionary,

and

see the reason for this point of view. after years of residence in the

West,

can

But I still

think this idea the most practical thing in life.

Life

but momentary whether you are a

toiler in the streets,

millions.

Life

or an

Emperor

ruling

but momentary, whether

you have the best

of health or the worst. 34.

MY MASTER There

but one solution of

Hindu, and that solution

God and ReHgion. comes explained,

amount

That

these be true,

call

life

life is

be-

but a

our idea, but no

of reasoning can demonstrate

can only make rests.

what they

Otherwise,

useless burden.

says the

becomes bearable, be-

life

comes enjoyable.

life,

it; it

probable, and there

Facts are only in the senses and

have to sense Religion to demonstrate

ourselves.

own

have to sense God to be

convinced that there

but our

a God.

perceptions can

Nothing

make

these

things real to us.

This idea took possession of the boy and his

whole

that.

life

Day

became concentrated upon day he would weep and

after

say:

"Mother,

istest,

is it

all

true that

poetry?

Mother an imagination guided people, or

Thou

ex-

Is the Blissful

of poets

and mis-

there such a reaUty? 35

MY MASTER We in

have seen that of books, of education

our sense of the word, he had none and

much

tlie

more healthy was

natural, so

much

the

mind, so

much

the

his

purer his thoughts, undiluted by drinking

This thought

thoughts of others.

in the

which was uppermost in

mind gained

his

strength every day until he could think of

nothing

else.

could no

no more attend

the worship properly, could to the various details in

more conduct

all

their minute-

Often he would forget to place the

ness.

food offering before the image, sometimes

he would forget to wave the times he would

wave

temple. tle

wood

About

many

for

left it

that

other

the lights a whole day,

and forget everything

came impossible

light,

else.

him

last

to serve in the

and entered into a

was near and

this part of his life

lived

tell

lit-

there.

he has told

times that he could not 36

be-

when the

MY MASTER sun rose or

set,

thoug-ht of himself

all

lost

and forgot to

eat.

nor how he Hved.

During this period he was lovingly watched over by a relative

who

put into his

mouth

food Which he mechanically swallowed.

Days and nights thus passed with

When

boy.

the

a whole day would pass, to-

wards evening, when the peals of

bells in

the temples would reach the forest, the

and the voices of the persons

chimes, singing,

would make the boy very

and he would

sad,

gone

vain,

gone and

One day

Mother, and Thou dost

One day

not come.

cry:

of this short

has

life

have not known the Truth."

In the agony of his soul, sometimes he his face against the

would rub

ground and

weep. This the

the tremendous thirst that seizes

human

said to

me:

heart.

Later on, this very child,

man

suppose there

MY MASTER bag the

one room, and a robber

of gold in

room next

do you think that rob-

it,

ber can sleep?

His mind

can not.

be always thinking

room and

how

will

to get into that

get possession of that gold.

you think then that a man firmly persuaded that there

a reality behind

tions, that there is a

who

never

amount

dies,

all

these sensa-

God, that there

One

that

a bliss

bliss,

One

the infinite

compared to

which these pleasures of the senses are simply playthings, can rest contented without

struggling to attain efiforts for

Can he cease

it?

a moment?

No.

come mad with longing." This .

his

will be-

divine

mad-

ness seized this boy.

that time he

no teacher; nobody to

tell

him anything ex-

had

cept that everyone thought that he was out

This

of his mind. of things. ties of

the ordinary condition

man throws

the world

aside the vani-

we hear him 38

called

mad,

MY MASTER but such of such

men

Out

are the salt of the earth.

madness have come the powers

that

have moved this world of ours, and out of such madness alone

will

going to be in the

of the future, that are

world.

come the powers

days, weeks,

months passed

continuous struggle of the soul to arrive at Truth.

The boy began

to see visions, to see

wonderful things, the secrets of

his nature

were beginning to open to him.

Veil after

was,

veil

were,

Mother Herself became the initiated the

this

ofif.

teacher,

and

boy into the truths he sought.

time there came to this place a

an, beautiful to look at, learned

pare.

taken

being

Later on

this Saint

wom-

beyond com-

used to say about

her that she was not learned, but was the em-

bodiment self,

of learning; she

human

was learning

it-

form. There too, you find the

peculiarity of the Indian nation.

midst of the ignorance in which 39

In the

the" average

MY MASTER Hindu woman

the midst of

lives, in

what

called in western countries her lack of free-

dom, there could

preme

spirituality.

women

for

away

arise a

woman

of this su-

She was a Sannyasini,

up the

also give

world, throw

do not marry, and de-

their property,

vote themselves to the worship of the Lord.

She came, and when she heard in the forest

of this

boy

she ofifered to go to see him,

and hers was the

first

help he received.

once she recognized what his trouble was,

and she the

son, blessed

man upon whom such madness comes.

The whole wealth,

some is

said to him:

men

some

for a

the

of this universe

for pleasure,

hundred other

man who

mad

are very few."

This

mad; some

some

for fame,

Blessed

things.

after

for

Such

God.

woman remained

near the boy for years, taught him the forms of the religions of India, initiated different practices of

Yoga, and, 40

him as

in the

were,

MY MASTER guided and brought into harmony

mendous

this tre-

river of spirituality.

Later there came to the same

forest, a

Sannyasin, one of the beggar-friars of India,

He was He did

a learned man, a philosopher.

a peculiar man, he was an

idealist.

not believe that this world existed in ity,

real-

and to demonstrate that he would never

go under a

he would always

live

out of

doors, in storm and sunshine alike.

This

roof,

man began

to teach the boy the philosophy

of the Vedas,

and he found very soon, to

his

astonishment, that the pupil was in some

spent

months there with the boy,

after

respects wiser than the master. several

which he

initiated

him

into the order of

Sannyasins and took his departure.

The

relatives of this

boy thought that

madness could be cured

him married.

Sometimes

children are married

41.

his

they could get in India

young

their parents

and

MY MASTER relatives

without giving their

own

consent

This boy had been married

in the matter.

at the age of about eighteen to a little girl

Of course such a marriage

of five.

The

betrothal.

when

for the

bride to his ever, the

older,

when

it is

cus-

husband to go and bring

own home.

husband had

had a wife.

but a

marriage takes place

grows

the wife

tomary

real

In her

this case,

his

how-

entirely forgotten he

far-off

home the

girl

had

heard that her husband had become a religious enthusiast

sidered insane

and that he was even con-

by many.

She resolved to

learn the truth for herself, so she set out

and walked

to the place

When

was.

at last she

where her husband stood in her hus-

band's presence, he at once admitted her right to his son,

man

ligious

life;

life is

obligations.

although in India any per-

woman, who embraces a thereby freed from

The young man 42

fell

all

re-

other

at the feet

MY MASTER of his wife

and said

look upon every

your

" I

woman

have learned to

as Mother, but I

service."

The maiden was and was able

to understand her husband's

and

aspirations

a pure and noble soul,

sympathize

with

them.

She quickly told him that she had no wish

him down

to drag

but that

to a

life

of worldliness;

she desired was to remain near

all

him, to serve him, and to learn of him.

She became one of

Thus through

dis-

to lead the

life

The next of this

his wife's consent the

was removed and he was

last barrier

free

he had chosen.

desire that seized

man was

had not known any

upon the soul

know

the truth about

to that time he

the various religions.

most devoted

always revering him as a divine be-

ciples,

ing.

his

religion but his own.

wanted to understand what other

ligions

were

like.

So he sought teachers

re-

MY MASTER By

other religions.

you must

teacliers

ways remember what we mean not a book-worm, but a

one who knows truth centuries after.

man

in India

of realization,

at first-hand

found a

al-

and not

Mohammedan

Saint and went to live with him; he under-

went the

disciplines prescribed

to his astonishment found that

by him, and

when

fully carried out, these devotional

led

faith-

methods

him to the same goal he had already

tained.

at-

gathered similar experience

from following the true religion of Jesus the Christ.

went to the various

existing in our country that to him,

into

were available

and whatever he took up he went with his whole heart.

actly as he

he arrived

was

and

told,

at the

same

actual experience he

did ex-

in every instance

result.

came

goal of every religion is

sects

Thus from

know

that the

the same, that each

trying to teach the same thing, the differ-

MY MASTER ence being largely in method, and

At the

in language.

religions have the

Then came

core,

all

still

sects

and

all

same aim.

him

the conviction that to

be perfect, the sex idea must go, because soul has no sex, soul

male.

It is

neither male nor fe-

only in the body that sex exists,

and the man who desires to reach the

spirit

cannot at the same time hold to sex tinctions. line

Having been born

mascu-

in a

man now wanted

body, this

to bring

the feminine idea into everything.

gan to think dressed like a

dis-

be-

was a woman, he

that he

woman, spoke

woman,

gave up the occupations of men, and lived

among after

the

women

years

of his

this

all

family, until,

discipline,

became changed, and he idea of sex;

own

his

mind

entirely forgot the

thought of that vanished

and the whole view

to him. 45

life

became changed

MY MASTER We

West about worshipping

hear in the

woman, but

this is usually for

and beauty.

This

her youth

man meant by

worship-

ping woman, that to him every woman's face

was that

nothing but

man

that.

women whom

would not touch, and

bathed in

other form

Thou

Thee, Mother,

and

art the universe.

carnality has vanished,

life

salute of

from which

all

when every woman's

transfigured,

face of the Divine

in an-

Think

salute Thee."

become

" Mother, in

in the street,

the blessedness of that

face has

falling at their

tears, saying:

one form Thou art

and

myself have seen this

standing before those

society feet

of the Blissful Mother,

and only the

Mother, the BHssful One,

the Protectress of the

human

race shines

upon the man who can look upon every

woman is

with that love and reverence

That

Do you mean to say that behind every woman can ever

what we want.

the divinity

MY MASTER be cheated?

Unconsciously it

never was and never

detects fraud,

ingly

feels

asserts

the

will be.

Unfailingly

itself.

detects hypocrisy, unerr-

warmth

of truth, the light

of spirituality, the holiness of purity.

purity uality

is is

absolutely necessary

Such

real spirit-

to be attained.

This rigorous, unsullied purity came into the

life

of that

we have

our

man; lives

all

the struggles which

were past

for him.

His

hard-earned jewels of spirituality, for which

he had given three-quarters of

now

his

life,

were

ready to be given to humanity, and

then began his mission.

His teaching and

preaching were peculiar, he would never take the position of a teacher. try a teacher

person, he

In our coun-

a most highly venerated

regarded as

God

Himself.

have not even the same respect for our ther and mother.

fa-

Father and mother give

us our body, but the teacher shows us the

MY MASTER way

to salvation.

are his children,

are born in the spiritual line of the teacher.

All

Hindus come to pay respect

to an extra-

ordinary teacher, they crowd around him.

And

here was

such a teacher, but the

teacher had no thought whether he was to

be respected or not, he had not the least idea that that

he was a great

teacher, he thought

was Mother who was doing every-

thing and not he.

He always said:

" If

good comes from

Mother

who

lips, it is

speaks; what have

That was

his

one idea about

the

do with his

man sought no

was,

first

uality,

and

results will

first

come

earn

come

cord to seek the honey, so

up.

spirit-

of themselves.

His favorite illustration was, " lotus opens, the bees

His principle

one.

form character,

it?

work, and

to the day of his death he never gave

This

any

When

of their let

own

the ac-

the lotus of

your character be full-blown and the results 48

MY MASTER will follow."

This

Master taught

a great lesson to learn.

of times, yet I often forget

into a cave, shuts 'himself in,

thought and

will penetrate the

man

power

and thinks one

dies, that

human

thought

race.

Such

there-

your thoughts to others.

First

have something to give.

alone teaches

has something to give, for teaching

not talking, teaching trines,

communicating.

flower.

literal sense.

This

This idea

not imparting doc-

Spirituahty

can be communicated just as really as

you a

no hurry

of thought; be in

fore to give

give

goes

adamantine walls of that

penetrate the whole

who

under-

vibrate through space, and at last

cave,

the

Few

it.

stand the power of thought.

really great

hundreds

this lesson

can

true in the most

very old in India

West

and

finds illustration in the

lief,

in the theory, of apostolic succession.

Therefore,

first

make

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

character

in the be-

^that is

the

MY MASTER Truth to

for yourself,

whom

Master

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;he

be many

will

afterwards; they

This was the attitude of

criticised

For years never did

and there

you can teach

come.

will all

Know

duty you can perform.

highest

no one.

lived with that

hear those

lips utter

condemnation for any

same sympathy

sect.

for all of

man, but one word

tic,

had the

them; he had

found the 'harmony between them.

may be

intellectual, or devotional,

A man or mys-

or active, and the various religions rep-

Yet

resent one or the other of these types. it is

possible to combine

man, and this ing to do.

demned no

all

the four in one

what future humanity

That was one, but

his idea.

saw the good

go-

con-

in all.

People came by thousands to see

this

wonderful man, to hear him speak in a patois, every

and

word

instinct with light.

which was forceful

For

it is

not what

MY MASTER is it

spoken,

much

spoken,

less the

language

which

the personality of the

speaker which dwells in everything he says

Every one of us

that carries weight. this at times.

hear most splendid ora-

most wonderfully reasoned out

tions,

and we go home and forget

courses,

At other times we hear

a few

words

simplest of language, and t'hey

all

our

lives,

become

in the

accompany

part and parcel of

words of a man who can put

personality.

The

his personality

them take 'effect, but he must have

mendous

dis-

it all.

ourselves and produce lasting results.

into

feels

All teaching

tre-

giv-

ing and taking, the teacher gives and the taught receives, but the one must have

something to give, and fhe other must be

open to This

receive.

man came

to live near Calcutta, the

capital of India, the sity

most important univer-

town in our country, 51

w'hich

was send-

MY MASTER ing out sceptics and materialists by the hundreds every year, yet the great

men from

the different universities used to

come and

listen to

him.

heard of

went to hear him.

guage, and

looked just

thought, " Can this I crept

all

"Yes," he

proveit,sdr?" I see

much

Him

my life:

just as I see

For the

man who dared religion

in an infinitely

" Do

can sense the world.

you believe in

"Can you

replied.

you

here, only in a

time

to be

saw God, that

felt,

began

that man, day after day, and 52

to be sensed

way than we

intense I

had found a

to say that he

had been

That impressed me

first

was a reality,

be a

"How?" "Because

"Yes."

intenser sense."

at once.

man

near to him and

asked him the question which

God, sir?"

used the most simple lan-

great teacher? "

asking others

with nothing remarkable

ordinary man,

about him.

man, and

this

come near

actually

saw

MY MASTER that religion could be given.

One

one glance, can make a whole

life

touch,

change.

had read about Buddha and Christ and

Mohammed, about

all

those different lu-

minaries of ancient times,

stand up and say, "

man became

was brushed

done, and

really

world."

aside.

to be all

could be "

Master used to say:

ligion can be given

now found

the

myself saw this man,

scepticism

bly,

they would

Be thou whole," and

whole.

and when

true,

how

Re-

and taken more tangi-

than anything

else in the

therefore spiritual

have

first;

something to give, and then stand before the world and give

it.

Religion

nor doctrines nor theories, nor

not

is it

talk,

secta-

Religion cannot live in sects and

rianism. societies.

It is

the relation between the

God; how can

soul and ciety?

business,

be made into a so-

would then degenerate

and wherever there 53

into a

business, or

MY MASTER business principles in religion, spirituality

Religion does not consist in erecting

dies.

temples, or building churches, or attending public worship.

not to be found in

It is

books, nor in words, nor in lectures, nor in Religion consists in realiz-

organizations. ation.

a fact,

much we may

satisfy us,

hear, but

and that

we will

one thing

only

renunciation.

will

possible for every

try.

The

of this attempt to realize religion

give up.

truth for

our own realization,

and such an experience us,

that nothing

However we may argue, how-

ourselves.

one of

know

we know the

will satisfy us until

ever

all

far as

can,

first is

ideal

that of

we must

Light and darkness, enjoyment of

the world and enjoyment of

go together.

God

cannot serve

will

never

God and

Mammon." The second

idea that I learned from

Master, and which

is 54,

perhaps the most

MY MASTER vital,

the wonderful truth that the re-

ligions of the world are not contradictory

nor antagonistic;

One

phases of finite

and

will ever exist,

religions

this Religion

In-

ex-

Therefore we must respect

and we must

as far as

One

through eternity

all

and

various

various countries, in va-

itself in

rious ways.

but

are

Eternal ReHgion.

Rehgion existed

pressing

all

they

try to accept

all

them

Religions manifest

can.

themselves not only according to race and geographical position, but according to dividual powers.

In one

manifesting

work.

itself

In another

it is

man

intense

religion activity,

manifesting

itself

inis

as as

intense devotion, in yet another as mysticism, in others as philosophy, and so forth. It is

wrong when we say

methods are not tral secret that

yet

many

right."

to others:

the Truth

at the

same 55

Your

learn this cen-

may be one and

time, that

we may

MY MASTER have different visions of the same Truth

from

different standpoints,

must be done.

exactly what

Then, instead of antagon-

ism to anyone, we

pathy with

shall

have

Knowing

all.

will require

tions of the

same

sym-

that as long as

there are different natures

world they

infinite

bom

into this

different applica-

religious truths,

shall

understand that we are bound to have forbearance with each other. is

Just as nature

unity in variety, an infinite variation in

the phenomenal, and behind ations, the Infinite, the

Absolute, so

crocosm

and

Unchangeable, the

with every man; the mi-

but a miniature repetition of the

macrocosm; in

it is

these vari-

all

in spite of all these variations,

ithrougli

them

all

runs this eternal

harmony, and we have to recognize

this.

find to be

the crying necessity of the day.

Coming

This idea, above

all

other ideas,

from a country which 56

a 'hotbed of re-

MY MASTER ligious sects

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;through good fortune or

fortune, everyone

who

ill

has a religious idea

wants to send an advance guard there

from

childhood

have been acquainted

with the various sects of the world; even

Mormons came

the

Welcome them which to preach

more than

root

preach in India.

That

all!

the soil on

There

religion. in

you come

preach religion, however curious

thing

be,

no time, and you have every

chance of becoming a living god time.

may

have hundreds and thousands of

followers in

life

Hindus

politics to the

they do not understand, but

will

takes

any other country.

you come and teach

you

we want

glad

is so, it is

in India.

The

your

the one

sects

among

the Hindus are various, almost infinite in

number, and some

hopelessly contradictory.

you they

them apparently Yet they

all tell

are but different manifestations of 57

MY MASTER "

Religion.

diflferent rivers,

taking their

from different mountains, running

start

crooked or straight,

come and mingle

all

their waters in the ocean, so the different sects,

with their different points of view,

last

not

all

come

theory,

Thee."

unto>

has to be

Oh,

ligions are

all

it is

some

other re-

of a prehistoric

bits

little

One man

oldest religion

yes, there are

liberal idea that

evolution, but " ours things.")

recognized,

(Some even have the

very good things."

most wonderfully

way which we

but not in that patronizing see with some.

This

the fulfilment of

says because his

the best another ;

the same claim because his

the

makes latest.

We have to recognize that each one of them has the same saving power as every other. It is

a mass of superstition that you have

heard everywhere, either in the temple or the church, that there 58

any difference.

MY MASTER The same God answers you, nor

all,

and

not

nor any body of men, that

re-

sponsible for the safety and salvation of the

same Al-

least little bit of the soul; the

mighty God I

responsible for

all

of them.

do not understand how people declare

themselves to be believers in God, and at the

same time think that God has handed

over to a

body

little

men

all

truth,

and

that they are the guardians of the rest of

humanity. of

any man.

thing better,

not try to disturb the

If if

faith

you can give him some-

you can get hold

of a

man

where he stands and give him a push upwards, do so, but do not destroy what he has.

The only

true teacher

convert himself as

come down

who can

were, into a thousand

persons at a moment's notice. true teacher

who

The only

can immediately

to the level of the student, and

transfer his soul to the student's soul 59

and

MY MASTER see throug'h the student's eyes

through his

his ears

and understand through

Such a teacher can

mind.

and none

and hear

really teach

All these negative, break-

else.

ing-down, destructive teachers that are in the world can never do any good.

In the presence of that

Master

found out

man could be perfect, even in this body.

Those

lips

criticised

never cursed anyone, never even

anyone.

Those eyes were beyond that

mind had

of thinking evil.

He saw

the possibility of seeing lost the

nothing purity,

power but that

good.

evil,

That

tremendous

tremendous renunciation

" Neither

the one secret of spirituality.

through wealth, nor through progeny, but

through renunciation alone,

immortality

to be reached," say the Vedas. that thou hast

and give to the poor, and

low me," says the

all

" Sell

all

fol-

Christ.

great saints and prophets have ex60

MY MASTER pressed

and have carried

it,

How

Hves.

the background of

wherever as

and you

and

always find that

will

spirituality will decrease in the

That man was the embodiment

ratio.

of renunciation.

sary for a

give up this

religious thought

will the senses creep into the field of

religion,

same

be,

all

Renunciation

idea of renunciation, lessens, the

this

In our country

man who becomes

all

it is

neces-

a Sannyasin to

worldly wealth and position, and

Master carried out

There

literally.

were many who would have blest,

out in their

can great spirituality come

without that renunciation? is

felt

themselves

he would only have accepted a pres-

ent from their hands,

who would

have given him thousands

gladly

he would have

taken them, but these were the only

from

whom

he would turn away.

men

He was

a triumphant example, a living realization of the complete conquest of lust 61

and desire

MY MASTER for

He was beyond

money.

either,

and such men are necessary

century.

Such renunciation

these days

for this

necessary in

when men have begun

that they cannot live a

to think

month without what

they call their " necessities,"

and which

they are increasing in geometrical is

ideas of

all

ratio.

necessary in a time like this that a

man

demonstrate to the sceptics of

shall arise to

the world that there yet breathes a

does not care a straw for the fame that

all

man who

the gold or

in the universe.

all

Yet there

are such men.

The

first

part of

Master's

life

was

spent in acquiring spirituality, and the re-

maining years in

in distributing

it.

Men came

crowds to hear him and he would talk

twenty hours in the twenty-four, and that not for

one day, but

months,

until at last the

under

the

pressure 62

for

months and

body broke down this

tremendous

MY MASTER His intense love for mankind would

strain.

him

not

let

the

refuse ta help even the humblest

who sought

thousands

Gradually there developed a

his

vital

aid.

throat

disorder and yet he could not be persuaded

As soon

to refrain from these exertions. as he heard that people

him he would

insist

were asking to see

upon having them

mitted and would answer tions.

There was no

man asked him Yogi,

why do you

their ques-

Once

rest for him.

" Sir,

all

ad-

you are a great

not put your mind a

lit-

tle

on your body and cure your disease?

first

he did not answer, but

when

the

question had been repeated he gently said: "

friend, I

sage, but

world.

you

have thought you were a talk like other

men

This mind has been given to the

Lord, do you mean to say that take is

of the

back and put

should

upon the body which

but a mere cage of the soul? 63

MY MASTER So he went on preaching to the people, and the news spread that

his

body was

about to pass away, and the people began to flock to

You

him

in greater

crowds than

ever.

cannot imagine the way they come to great

these

religious

teachers

crowd around them and make gods while they are yet living.

ready to touch simply the

ments.

It is

through

India,

them

Thousands are

hem

of their gar-

this appreciation of

spirituality in others that spirituality is pro-

duced.

Whatever any man wants and ap-

preciates, that he will get,

with nations.

and

it is

you go to India and

a political lecture, however grand

you

the

will scarcely find

it,

people to listen to

and hundreds

just to look at you, to

When was

deliver

may be,

you, but just go and teach religion,

not merely talk

will

live

it,

crowd

touch your

the people heard that this holy

likely to

same

feet.

man

go from them soon, they be64

MY MASTER gan

before,

come around him more than and

Master went on teaching

them without the

ever

least

regard for his health.

could not prevent

Many

this.

of the

people came from long distances, and

would not questions.

he had answered their

rest until

'he

While

can speak

must

teach them," he would say, and he was as

good

One day he told

as his word.

he would lay

down

the

body that

us that

day,

and

repeating the most sacred word of the

Vedas he entered into Samadhi and so passed away.

His thoughts and his

known

to very few

message were

who were

capable of

teaching them.

Among

few young boys

who had renounced

the

his

others, he left a

world, and were ready to carry

work.

Attempts were made

But they stood of that great

firm,

life

to crush them.

having the inspiration

before them. 65

Having had

MY MASTER the contact of that blessed Hfe for years,

These young men

they stood their ground.

were living as Sannyasins, begging through the streets of the city where they were born,

although some of them came from

class families.

first

first-

they met with great

antagonism, but they persevered and went

on from day to day spreading dia the

all

over In-

message of that great man,

until the

w'hole country

was

had preached.

This

filled

with the ideas he

man from

a remote

vil-

lage of Bengal, without education, simply

by the sheer force

of his

realized the truth

leaving only a few

own determination,

and gave

young boys

to others, to

keep

alive.

To-day the name

ramhamsa

known

millions of people.

man

of Sri all

Ramakrishna Pa-

over India witfi

Nay, the power of that

has spread beyond India, and

has ever been a

its

word 66

of truth, a

there

word

MY MASTER spirituality that I

the world,

owe

have spoken anywhere in it

Master; only the

mistakes are mine.

This

the message of Sri Ramakrishna

modern world.

to the

doctrines,

do not care

for

not care for

dogmas, or

sects,

or churches or temples; they count for

compared with the essence

tle

man which

in each

that this

developed

more powerful

he for good.

in a

doctrines and creeds have

them.

Show by your

does not but

and the

man, the

Earn that

acquire that, and criticise no one, for

first,

all

of existence

spirituality,

that

some good

mean words, nor names, nor it

means

Only those

lives that religion

spiritual

sects,

realization.

Only those can understand who have

ity

lit-

felt.

that have attained to spiritual-

can communicate

to others, can be

great teachers of mankind.

the powers of light." 67

They alone

are

MY MASTER The more such men country, raised;

the

are produced in a

and that country where such men

absolutely do not exist

nothing can save

simply doomed,

and

realize truth

is,

spirit-

for yourself."

would have you give up fellow beings.

my Mas-

Therefore,

it.

message to mankind

ter's

ual

country will 5e

that

for the sake of

He would

He your

have you cease

talking about love for your brother, and set to

has

work

come

for renunciation, for realization,

and then you

will see the

no need

any

harmony

You

religions of the world.

there

The time

to prove your words.

in all the

know

will

quarrel,

that

and then

only will you be ready to help humanity.

proclaim and

tal

unity underlying

mission of

make

clear the

all

my Master.

fundamen-

religions

was the

Other teachers have

taught special religions which bear their

names, but

this great

Teacher of the nine-

MY MASTER teenth century

left

made no

claim for himself

every religion undisturbed because

he had realized

that, in reality, they are all

part and parcel of one Eternal Religion. 69

PARAMttAMSA SRIMAT RAMAKRISHNA The nary tap

following brief account of this extraordi-

man

taken from an article written by Pro-

Chunder Mazoomdar, which appeared

in the

TTteistic

Quarterly Review,

serves to

show the sentiments he inspired among

his contemporaries.

Even

October,

1879.

the celebrated leader

of the Brahmo-Somaj, Keshub Chandra Sen, often

came by

to hear Sri

Ramakrishna and was influenced

his teachings to a considerable extent.

was born on the 20th of February, 1833. this

world on the i6th of August, 1886. 70

He left

PARAMHAMSA SRIMAT RAMAKRISHNA jyr

Y mind

is still

atmosphere

man

diffuses

floating in the luminous

which that wonderful

around 'him whenever and

wherever he goes.

mind

not yet

dis-

enchanted of the mysterious and indefinable pathos which he pours into

meets me.

What

tween him and me?

there in

whenever he

common

be-

a Europeanized, civ-

ilized, self-centered, semi-sceptical, so-called

educated reasoner, and he a poor, ate,

illiter-

unpolished, half-idolatrous, friendless

Hindu devotee?

Why

hours to attend to him, to Disraeli

should I

who have

sit

and a whole host

scholars

and divines? and follower of 71

Max

European

who am an

long

listened

and Fawcett, Stanley and

Miiller,

disciple

ardent

Christ, a friend

and

PARAMHAMSA RAMAKRISHNA admirer of liberal-minded Christian missionaries

and preachers, a devoted adherent

and worker

Somaj

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;why should And

him?

of the rationalistic

me who do

it is

not

Brahmo-

be spellbound to hear

I only,

but dozens like

has been inter-

the same.

viewed and examined by many, crowds

pour

in to visit

and

talk Avith him.

Some

our clever intellectual fools have found nothing in him, some of the contemptuous Christian missionaries

would

call

him an im-

postor, or a self-deluded enthusiast.

weighed their objections write

now

saint

He is a Brahmin body

ties

have

and what

I write deliberately.

The Hindu

well,

caste,

man under he

forty.

well-formed

naturally, but the dreadful austeri-

through which

his character

has de-

veloped appear to have disordered his system.

Yet, in the midst of this emaciation

his face retains a fullness, a child-like ten-

PARAMHAMSA RAMAKRISHNA derness, a profound visible humbleness, an

unspeakable sweetness of expression and a smile that I

have seen on no other face that

can remember.

Hindu

saint

always

particular about his externals.

wears

the garua cloth, eats according to strict forms, refuses to have intercourse with men,

and

a rigid observer of caste.

ways proud and professes

secret

wisdom.

This

singularly devoid of such claims.

men

is al-

always guruji, a universal counsellor

and a dispenser of charms.

and

diet

do not

dilifer

from those

man

His dress of other

except in the general negligence he

shows towards both, and as to openly breaks

every day.

mently repudiates the teacher, he

He most

title

caste,

veheor

guru,

shows impatient displeasure

any exceptional honor which people try to

pay to him, and emphatically disclaims the

knowledge

of secrets

and mysteries.

PARAMHAMSA RAMAKRISHNA protests against being lionized,

shows

his strong dislike to

The

praised by the curious.

carefully shuns.

dinary about him.

society of the

has nothing extraor-

His religion

his only

And what is his religion?

recommendation.

orthodox Hinduism,

but.

Hinduism

Ramakrishna Paramhamsa

a strange type. (for that is

be visited and

and carnally-inclined he

worldly-minded

It is

and openly

the

name

of this saint),

the

worshipper of no particular Hindu god.

He is

not a Shivaite, he

not a Vaishnava, he

Yet he

is all these.

not a Shakta, he

not a Vedantist.

worships Shiva, he

worships Kali, he worships Rama, he worships Krishna, and

a confirmed advocate

of Vedantist doctrines. doctrines,

all

accepts

all

the embodiments, usages, and

devotional practices of every religious

Each

in turn

the

is infallible

idolater, yet is

faithful 74,

to him.

cult. is

and most devoted

PARAMHAMSA RAMAKRISHNA meditator of the perfectionsof theone formless, infinite

whom

Deity

he terms, " Ak-

handa Sach-chidananda," ("Indivisible Existence-Knowledge-Bliss.") His religion, unordinary Hindu sadhus,

like the religion of

does not mean^ too

much dogma, or

troversial proficiency, or the

con-

outward wor-

ship with flowers and sandal-wood; incense

and

his worship his

His religion means ecstasy,

offering.

means transcendental

insight,

whole nature burns day and night with

the permanent

and

faith

fire

feeling.

and fever of a strange His conversation

ceaseless breaking forth of this inward fire

and

lasts

utors

are

long hoursweary,

'he,

While

though outwardly

feeble, is as fres'b as ever.

rapturous

ecstasy

and

his interloc-

merges into

outward

uncon-

sciousness often during the day, oftenest in

conversation

when he speaks

of his favorite

spiritual experiences, or hears

any striking

PARAMHAMSA RAMAKRISHNA But how

response to them.

is it

possible

that he has such a fervent regard for

Hindu

What

deities together?

deities is a force,

supreme

Who

unchangeable

blessedness and the Light of

Take and

for instance Shiva.

realizes

re-

and form-

lation of the soul to that eternal

Being

hini

an incarnated

principle tending to reveal the

less

the se-

cret of his singular eclecticism?

each of these

all tlie

His

in'

Wisdom.

The

saint views

Shiva as the incarnation of con-

templativeness and Yoga.

Forgetful of

all

worldly care and concern, merged and ab-

sorbed in Samadhi, in the meditation of the inefifable perfections of

the supreme Brah-

man, insensible to pain and privation,

and

loneliness, ever joyful in the blessed-

ness of Divine rene, his

toil

communion, calm,

immovable

abode

is,

templative

like the

Mahadeo

silent, se-

Himalayas where

the ideal of

all

and self-absorbed men. 76

con-

The

PARAMHAMSA RAMAKRISHNA venomous serpents coil

around

his beatified

The presence

hurt him.

him

of evil

and worldliness

form but cannot

of death surrounds

in various forms of dread

but cannot daunt him.

and danger,

Shiva takes upon

himself the burdens and cares of

the

all

world, and swallows the deadliest poison to confer immortality

nounces

all

Shiva

others.

re-

wealth and enjoyment for the

benefit of others,

companion

upon

makes

his faithful wife the

of his austerities

and

solitude,

and takes the ashes and the

tiger skin as his

only ornaments.

the

Yogis.

And

this

Shiva

god

good man, while

of the

expati-

ating on the attributes of Shiva, would be

immersed

in the sublimity of his ideal,

and

become entranced, and remain unconscious for a

long time.

Then, perhaps, he would talk of Krishna,

whom

he realizes as the incarnation of love.

" Behold," he says, " fhe countenance of 77

PARAMHAMSA RAMAKRISHNA Does

Krishna as represented popularly.

resemble a man's face, or a woman's? there a

shadow

of sensuality in

hair of masculine coarseness?

thefe a

It is a

tender

fullness of boyish delicacy

and

many

multiform, he

women to

won

it; is

female face that Krishna has; in

his affectionateness,

the

girlish grace.

sided and

the hearts of

men and

the religion oiBhakti (Devotion).

That Divine love can take the form of every sanctified

human

relation

sion of Krishna to prove.

monopolizing of

all

the great mis-

As a loving

child

the fondness of the hearts

aged parents; as a loving companion and

friend

and

attracting the profoundest

afifection of

men and

loyalty

brethren; as an

admired and adored master, the sweetness

and tenderness

whose girls

whose

teaching

afifectionate persuasions

and

women

and

converted

to the self-consecration of

a heartfelt piety, Krishna, the beauty and 78

PARAMHAMSA RAMAKRISHNA depth of Whose character remain

yond the reach of men's

still

be-

appreciation, intro-

duced the religion of love into Hindustan.

Then

the

good man would say how

for long

years he dressed himself as a cowherd, or a

milkmaid, to be able to realize the experiences of that form of piety in which the

human

soul was like a faithful wife, and a

loyal friend to the loving Spirit

Lord and only

Krishna

friend.

Then

carnation of Bhakti.

who

of that burning love of

our

the in-

in the intensity

God which

in his

simple heart, the devotee's form and features suddenly

grow

stifif

and motionless, un-

consciousness overtakes him, his eyes lose their sight, pale,

and tears

but smiling

trickle

face.

down

There

his fixed,

a tran-

scendent sense and meaning in that unconsciousness. in his soul

ception

What when he

who can

he perceives and enjoys has lost

say? 79

all

outward per-

Who will fathom the

PARAMHAMSA RAMAKRISHNA depth of that insensibility which the love of

God produces? thing, hears, all

But that he

and enjoys when he

the outward world there

not,

sees

why should

he, in the

some-

dead to

no doubt.

midst of that un-

consciousness, burst into floods of tears

and

break out into prayers, songs and utterances the force and pathos of which pierce

through the hardest heart, and bring tears to eyes that never before wept under the in-

fluence of rehgion?

Anon he would begin

whom

to talk of Kali,

he addresses as his mother.

She

the incarnation of the Shakti, or power of

God

as displayed in the character

woman.

fluence of

Kali

all

in-

the female prin-

ciple in the nature of the Deity.

nizes over

and

She tyran-

She brings down her

tyrants.

husband low upon the ground, and places her foot upon his bosomt

conquers

all

beings.

She charms and

Yet she 80

the

mother

PARAMHAMSA RAMAKRISHNA of creation.

Her tremendous power

guarantee that she can save and protect her

come to her

children, those that

mother, and ask the shelter of her

as their

feet.

Her

motherly solicitude excites the tenderest filial

affection in the hearts of her devotees,

and the

which expressed ful

Ramprosad Sen

itself in

the most wonder-

inspiration

songs of

piety ever sung, bears

filial

strange testimony to the reality and effect-

The

iveness of the worship of Kali. tion of Shakti (which literally is,

according to our

whole-souled, to the

motherhood

means Force)

saint,

rapturous

therefore,

God

nounced by our carnal relation.

'has

as represented of

long

woman. been

friend in every material

unconquerable by 81

re-

and

has a wife but has

never associated with her. says, is

child-like,

self-consecration

by the power and influence

Woman,

adora-

Woman,

man

except by

PARAMHAMSA RAMAKRISHNA who

him.

looks up to her as a son.

fascinates

and keeps the whole world from

the love of God. saints

Woman

The highest and

holiest

have been brought back to carnality

by the nameless power of woman.

and

sin

The

absolute conquest of lust has been his

lifelong ambition.

For long

years, there-

he says, he made the utmost

fore,

efforts to

be delivered from the influence of woman.

His heart-rending supplications and prayers such deliverance, sometimes uttered

for

aloud

his

retreat

on the

river-side,

brought crowds of people who

when he

cried

blessing their

whom

Kali,

hearts.

has successfully escaped the evil of

carnality

and could not help

him and wishing him success with

whole

cried,

bitterly

which he dreaded.

His Mother

he prayed, that

the goddess

made him recognize every woman

her incarnation, so that he 82

now honors

each

PARAMHAMSA RAMAKRISHNA member

of the other sex as

He bows

his

mother.

'his

head to the ground before

women, and before

he has

little girls;

upon worshipping not a few

in-

them

as a son might worship his mother.

The

sisted

purity of his thoughts and relations to-

wards

women

tive.

It is

idea.

It is

ally,

most unique and

instruc-

the opposite of the European

an attitude

essentially, tradition-

Hindu can

Yes, a

gloriously national.

honor woman. "

the

says

father,"

" was a worshipper of

Paramhamsa,

Rama.

too, have

When

accepted the Ramayat covenant.

my father,

the flowers

with which he used to worship

his favorite

I think of the piety of

god bloom again

Divine fragrance." dutiful son, the

it with my heart and Rama the truthful and fill

good and

faithful

husband,

the just and fatherly king, the staunch and affectionate friend,

regarded by him with

PARAMHAMSA RAMAKRISHNA the love and profound loyalty of a devoted

As a master

servant.

service

sufficient

faithful servant, as

and matchless life is

the privilege of

whose

reward to the favored, a master in whose dear

down

service the laying

a delightful duty, as a master

who

has

wholly enslaved the body and soul of his

adoring

slave, the

contemplation of whose

holy and glorious worth transcends every

thought of remuneration and return,

Rama the

viewed by Ramakrishna.

renowned follower

model

Rama,

Hanuman, is

him a

who

of a faithful servitor, a being

was devoted to

his master's cause, inspired

by such unworldly love and honor, such

superhuman

faithfulness as

scorned alike

death and danger, or hope of reward. the other sin which he spent his free from,

money

life

to be

The

sight

him with strange dread.

His

the love of money.

fills

avoidance of

women and 84

wealth

the

PARAMHAMSA RAMAKRISHNA whole secret of acter.

his matchless

moral char-

For a long time he practised a

gular discipline.

took in one hand a

piece of gold and in the other a earth.

sin-

would then look

lump

at both, re-

peatedly calling the gold earth, and the earth gold, and then shuffling the contents of

one hand into the other, he would keep

up the process difiference

His

until

lost all sense of the

between the gold and the

ideal of service

earth.

absolute unworldli-

ness and freedom from the desire of gain.

He loves and

serves

Rama because Rama is

the best and most loving master. ice of the true saint

The

serv-

the service of the

purest afifection and most unselfish loyalty.

Some this

of the songs he sings expressive of

touching devotedness are exceedingly

and show how very negligent we

pathetic,

often are.

Nor is

his reverence confined within

Hin-

PARAMHAMSA RAMAKRISHNA For long days he subjected himself

duism.

Ma-

to various disciplines to realize the

homedan idea of an let his

lem

diet,

he continually repeated sentences His reverence for Christ

He bows

deep and genuine.

the

name

attended

his

head

of Jesus, honors the doctrine of

his sonship,

and we believe he once or twice

Christian

These ideas

all

places

events

show the

Each form

of worship that

to indicate above

to the

worship. catholic

Hindu

saint.

we have

tried

religious culture of this great

living

beard grow, he fed himself on Mos-

from the Koran. is

all-powerful Allah.

Paramhamsa

and most enthusiastic

principle of

personal religion, and the accounts of discipline

and exercise through which he has

arrived at his present state of devotional

eclectism

are

most wonderful, although

they cannot be published.

never writes

anything, seldom argues, he never attempts 86

PARAMHAMSA RAMAKRISHNA to/instruct, he his soul in a

continually pouring out

rhapsody of

ances, he sings wonderfully,

spiritual utter-

and makes ob-

servations of singular wisdom.

uncon-

sciously throws a flood of marvelous light

upon

the obscurest passages of the Puranic

Shastras, and brings out the fundamental principles of the popular

Hindu

faith

with

a philosophical clearness which strangely contrasts Ufe.

itself

with his simple and

These incarnations, he

illiterate

says, are

but

the forces (Shakti) and dispensations (Lila)

and blessed Akhanda

of the eternally wise

Sachchiddnanda or formulated,

who

never can be changed

one endless and ever-

lasting ocean of light, truth If all his

and

joy.

utterances could be recorded

they would form a volume of strange and

wonderful wisdom.

If all his

observations

on men and things could be reproduced, people might think that the days of proph87

PARAMHAMSA RAMAKRISHNA ecy, of primeval, unlearned

But

turned.

it is

most

wisdom had

difficult to

re-

render

his sayings in English.*

A living evidence of the depth and sweetness of

Hindu

man.

religion

good and holy

this

has wholly controlled his

It is full of soul, full of

flesh.

the reality of re-

ligion, full of joy, full of blessed purity.

a Siddha

Hindu

ascetic he

a witness of

the falsehood and emptiness of the world.

His witness appeals to the profoundest heart of every Hindu.

has no other

thought, no other occupation, no other relation,

no other

than his God.

friend in his

That God

sufficient for him.

his

humble

more than

His spotless holiness,

deep unspeakable blessedness,

studied, endless fulness

life

wisdom,

his

un-

his childlike peace-

and affection towards

all

men,

his

â&#x20AC;˘ Prof. Max MuUer has recently given a number of these sayings to the -nrorld in a volume entitled " Ramalcrishna, His Life and Sayings."

PARAMHAMSA RAMAKRISHNA consuming, all-absorbing love for God are his only reward.

tinue

And may

he long con-

enjoy that reward!

Our own

ideal of religious life is different, but so long

as he

spared to us, gladly shall

his feet to learn

sit

from him the sublime pre-

cepts of purity, unworldliness, spirituality

and inebriation

in the love of

God.

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