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Karma and our Spiritual life - II Swami Samachittananda
(Continued from the previous issue…)
We must have a combined approach. The mixture of Jnana and Bhakti, knowledge, and devotion. That is what Sri Ramakrishna used to say as ‘Jnana-mishra bhakti’, devotion coupled with knowledge. Why are we devoted to Sri Ramakrishna? Are we devoted to someone who was born in 1836 and passed away in 1886? The devotees of Sri Krishna and Sri Rama may not even know when they were born. It is not the historical personality who is the object of our devotion. Why do we worship and keep repeating his name? The spiritually evolved generation admires and worships the principle in a form of a saint or a prophet or an Incarnation. We do not have a single song, single hymn, where the physical appearance of Sri Ramakrishna is described. Sometimes out of devotion a devotee may say, “Oh! you have a beautiful smile on Lotus (bhakti yoga) your face” etc. But there is no gross expression about his physical body. When we say Sri Ramakrishna is our ideal, what is it about him that you like and how can He be your ideal? It is not his physical form, but it is the qualities He possessed and principles he represented for realizing God. Why do we worship him? Because he realized those Principles. 4
