The Vedanta Kesari October 2014

101

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Price: ` 10

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The Vedanta Kesari THE LION OF VEDANTA

A Cultural and Spiritual Monthly of the Ramakrishna Order since 1914

on the

O ctober 2014

Swami Brahmananda’s Temple, Banks of Ganga, Belur Math

India's Timeless Wisdom

A person does not become an “elder” just because his hair turns white (that is, he has advanced in age). The devatas consider only him as elder, who is well learned, even if, young in age.

—Traditional Saying

Editor: Swami Atmashraddhananda Managing Editor: Swami Gautamananda Printed and published by Swami Vimurtananda on behalf of Sri Ramakrishna Math Trust B E R 2 0 1 4 h e V e d a n t a KMath e s aRoad, r i ~ 2Mylapore, ~ O C T OChennai fromT No.31, Ramakrishna - 4 and Printed at Sri Ramakrishna Printing Press, No.31 Ramakrishna Math Road, Mylapore, Chennai - 4. Ph: 044 - 24621110

The Vedanta Kesari VOL. 101, No. 10

ISSN 0042-2983

101

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Publication

A CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL MONTHLY OF THE RAMAKRISHNA ORDER

Started at the instance of Swami Vivekananda in 1895 as Brahmavâdin, it assumed the name The Vedanta Kesari in 1914.

For free edition on the Web, please visit: www.chennaimath.org

CONTENTS OCTOBER 2014

Vedic Prayers

405

Editorial  ‘Is it Possible?’: The Question That We Ask Often

406

Articles  Pilgrimage to Mount Kailash 414 Swami Damodarananda  When Loss Becomes Gain 421 Pravrajika Virajaprana  Thakur-Ma, One Reality 424 Sudesh  Knowing the Self—Through the Path of Unselfish Work 431 Brahmachari Tridivachaitanya  Education For Self-development: Swami Vivekananda’s Views On Education 435 Amulya Ranjan Mohapatra New Find  Unpublished Letters of Swami Saradananda

428

Compilation  Insights into Some Keywords: In Swami Vivekananda’s Words 430 The Order on the March 438 Book Reviews 441 Feature  Simhâvalokanam (With the Swamis in America) Cover Story: Page 6

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The Vedanta Kesari Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai 600 004 h (044) 2462 1110 (4 lines) Fax : (044) 2493 4589 Email : thevedantakesari@chennaimath.org Website : www.chennaimath.org TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS

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N Cover Story N Swami Brahmananda’s Temple on the banks of Ganga, Belur Math Dedicated to Swami Brahmananda, the spiritual son of Sri Ramakrishna and the first President of the Ramakrishna Order, the temple is located in the holy precincts of the sprawling Belur Math— on the banks of Ganga. Also known as ‘Raja Maharaj’, ‘Rakhal Maharaj’ or simply ‘Maharaj’, Swami Brahmananda was a spiritual luminary. The temple in the picture stands on the spot where his body was cremated after his passing away in 1922 and was built in a short period of two years. Shyam Ghosh, a disciple of Swami Brahmananda, bore the expenses. Shyam Ghosh was the son of Navagopal Ghosh, a householder disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. The temple was dedicated by Swami Shivananda, the second President of the Ramakrishna Order, in 1924, on Sri Maharaj’s birthday. (Seen in the picture are the steps leading to the Samadhi Mandir of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi). o

T he V edanta K esari P atrons ’ S cheme We invite our readers to join as patrons of the magazine. They can do so by sending Rs.2000/- or more. Names of the patrons will be announced in the journal under the Patrons' Scheme and they will receive the magazine for 20 years. Please send your contribution to The Manager, The Vedanta Kesari by DD/MO drawn in favour of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai with a note that the enclosed amount is for the Patrons' Scheme. (This scheme is valid in India only).

DONORS Mr. Kagalkar A N, Mysore Mr. Sharath Srivatsa, Bangalore

PATRON Rs. 5000 Rs. 2500

695. Mr. Kagalkar A N, Mysore

The Vedanta Kesari Library Scheme SL.NO. NAMES OF SPONSORS

5802. Mr. Dharam Vir Seth, Uttarakhand 5803.

-do- 5804.

-do- 5805. Mrs. Shanthi N. Kudva, Bangalore 5806. Mrs. Sudarshan Bhutani, Delhi 5807.

-do- 5808. Mr. N. Seshadri, Bangalore 5809. Mr. Anu V. Zachariah, Bangalore 5810.

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AWARDEE INSTITUTIONS

Dairy Science College, Hebbal, Bangalore - 560 024 Government Degree College, Medak Dist., A.P. - 502 110 Dairy Science College, Hebbal, Bangalore - 560 024 M.S.R.S. College, Karnataka - 574 116 Agra College, Agra, Uttar Pradesh Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi - 110 029 Adarash Shiksan Samiti, Gadag, Karnataka - 562 101 Vidyanikethan PU College, Bangalore - 560 040 Peet Memorial Training College, Allapuzha Dist., Kerala - 690 To be continued . . .

The Vedanta Kesari VOL. 101, No. 10, OCTOBER 2014 ISSN 0042-2983

E ACH

SOUL IS POTENTIALLY DIVINE.

T HE GOAL IS TO MANIFEST THE DIVINITY WITHIN. 7

Vedic Prayers

Tr. by Swami Sarvananda

B There may be weakness, says the Vedanta, but never mind, we want to grow.

Disease was found out as soon as man was born. Everyone knows his disease; it requires no one to tell us what our diseases are. But thinking all the time that we are diseased will not cure us—medicine is necessary. We may forget anything outside, we may try to become hypocrites to the external world, but in our heart of hearts we all know our weaknesses. But, says the Vedanta, being reminded of weakness does not help much; give strength, and strength does not come by thinking of weakness all the time. The remedy for weakness is not brooding over weakness, but thinking of strength. Teach men of the strength that is already within them. Instead of telling them they are sinners, the Vedanta takes the opposite position, and says, ‘You are pure and perfect, and what you call sin does not belong to you.’ Sins are very low degrees of Self-manifestation; manifest your Self in a high degree. That is the one thing to remember; all of us can do that. Never say, ‘No’, never say, ‘I cannot’, for you are infinite. Even time and space are as nothing compared with your nature.

You can do anything and everything, you are almighty.

—Swami Vivekananda, CW, 2: 300 T h e

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Editorial

‘Is it Possible?’

The Question That We Ask Often Is it possible?

We ask this question throughout the day in different ways and contexts. When we look at or observe or hear something, we often ask, ‘Is it possible?’ Either we ask this question or have asked this question earlier and are convinced about its answer and now carry on with it as an accomplished fact. We believe it to be true, requiring no question.

Indeed, ‘Is it so’, or ‘is it possible’—our daily dealings are laced with this question.

A school teacher, for instance, looking at a small, raw child, asks, ‘Is it possible to reform this unruly boy or girl and make him or her a better person and a good student?’ A thief on knowing that a house has many diamond and gold ornaments asks, ‘Is it possible to steal ornaments from this house without being caught?’ A scientist, examining a physical force or material, asks, ‘Is it possible to find out a cheaper and more efficient way of using it?’ A musician, having heard a musical note, asks, ‘Is it possible to sing this note in a melodious and smooth way?’ An athlete, impressed with another athlete’s performance, asks, ‘Is it possible to run so fast?!’ A gardener, tending an almost dead rose plant, asks ‘Will it survive and grow up to give good roses?’

An economist, concerned with matters of money and wealth, asks, ‘Can this decision of the government make the economy grow?’

A policeman asks, ‘Can society be freed from crimes and wickedness that I have to handle day and night?’

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And above all, all men and women ask, ‘Is it possible to be happy and be without all problems in this life?’ ‘Can one be strong and yet be kind?’ ‘Can one be scientific and yet spiritual?’ ‘Can one change oneself for good?’

All change and progress in life begins with this question and end in making it possible.

Not only this. We ask this question also when something goes wrong: ‘Is this possible?’

‘How could it happen?’ Here we question the possibility of something that has happened.

‘Why should it have happened?’ ‘It should not have happened.’

Life is a series of decisions based on what we think of the answer (yes or no) to a possibility—followed by actions. Not that all our actions bring in the results we expected.

We thought it was possible, may be, that this action will bring a desired result but that is not always the case. We plan many things but not all of them become feasible or possible.

Understanding of the possibilities of life is the key to living a meaningful life. Not just possibly but surely!

Pushing the Limits Every action behind it has a faith in its possibility. However faint, however silent and invisible be the faith in some possibility associated with that action, it has to be there.

There has to be a possibility-quotient—the inherent potential of something that ‘could happen’. It may refer to a probability, based on ‘facts’ and ‘conditions’ that will make it

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happen. But our ‘facts’ keep changing and so also our possibilities. The early man living in jungles, covering himself with tree barks and eating raw flesh or fruits never thought it was possible to make a concrete house, weave and wear fine clothes and eat cooked food. It was not ‘possible’—obviously.

No one thought, taking a more recent example, a computer chip could become such an all-pervasive part of modern living!

The first computer was so large in size and heavy in weight that people thought that what a burdensome invention it was! No one believed in its possibility of becoming such an indispensable part of life. In fact, such a possibility was considered impossible.

So, belief in the possibility or the impossibility, questioning it and pushing the limits that we put on its results is basic to progress or a positive change. At the material level, whenever such possibilities are explored and actualized, we call it material progress.

The same holds true in our dealing with our own selves. Dealing with oneself is called in the Indian Tradition spirituality.

Sri Krishna says in the Gita, ‘Svabhavo Adhyatma Uchyate’—‘One’s own being is called spirituality (adhyatma).’ Facing oneself, taming and refining ourselves, is the core of all spiritual striving. When we grapple with our own fears and anxieties, and try to discover the ultimate core of our being, we are on the path of spirituality.

There are profound possibilities in man. Rightly did someone called Vedanta as the ‘science of human possibilities.’ Swami Vivekananda points out, Do you know how much energy, how many powers, how many forces are still lurking behind that frame of yours? What scientist has known all that is in man? Millions of years have passed since man first came here, and yet but T h e

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one infinitesimal part of his powers has been manifested. Therefore, you must not say that you are weak. How do you know what possibilities lie behind that degradation on the surface? You know but little of that which is within you. For behind you is the ocean of infinite power and blessedness.1

Human beings may be compared to an iceberg. An iceberg is an ice mountain, often a broken part of a glacier, floating on the ocean surface. Though it looks big on the surface, it is several times larger, bigger than that which is visible. What is visible is just the tip of a large mountain. Likewise, man has tremendous possibilities, only a few of which are visible.

Man the unknown is much bigger than man the known.

The story is told of an elephant that used to be tied at the end of the day with a strong iron chain put around its hind legs. It was a practice with it for years till one day the elephant keeper had misplaced the chain and was in a quandary as how to tie the elephant.

The keeper’s father, a wise and old man, simply solved the situation by going near the elephant and making a gesture of putting the usual chain around its legs, making the elephant believe that it is tied up. Just gesture!

And the elephant stood ‘tied’ whole night!

Likewise man has many imaginary chains tied to his mental legs and hands. The process of discovering new possibilities is to discover the falsity of these mental chains and step into higher and better realms of existence.

All Avataras and saints come in our midst to set an example of how these inner shackles can be torn apart and how one can live morally and spiritually enriching lives.

For instance, we ask, ‘God! Is it possible that there is a God?’ As a young man Swami Vivekananda too asked this question to Sri Ramakrishna. During his second meeting

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with him, in Sri Ramakrishna’s room at Dakshineshwar temple complex, young Naren asked him this question in his own way and got his answer. Describing this meeting, Swami Vivekananda said later, I sat and watched him . . . there was a marked consistency between his words and life. He used the most simple language, and I thought, ‘Can this man be a great teacher?’ I crept near him and asked him the question which I had asked so often: ‘Have you seen God, sir?’ ‘Yes, I see Him just as I see you here, only in a much intenser sense.’ ‘God can be realized,’ he went on, ‘one can see and talk to Him as I am seeing and talking to you. But who cares? People shed torrents of tears for their wife and children, for wealth or property, but who does so for the sake of God? If one weeps sincerely for Him, He surely manifests Himself’. That impressed me at once. For the first time I found a man who dared to say that he had seen God, that religion was a reality to be felt, to be sensed in an infinitely more intense way than we can sense the world.

As I heard these things from his lips, I could not but believe that he was saying them not like an ordinary preacher, but from the depths of his own realizations.2

This does not mean that we should take to wicked or destructive ways and damage a car or harm a human being. Never! ‘You can do anything and everything,’ is an exhortation to explore newer possibilities in constructive and beneficial areas of life. We should not misinterpret a statement!

Harnessing the ‘Inner Possibilities’ Now, just as there are numerous ‘outer’ possibilities in various fields of life such as science, arts, economics, art and so on, there are abundant ‘inner possibilities’ as well.

These inner possibilities mainly lie in the field of development of one’s character and personality. Why? Because man alone of all known living beings can change his character.

A tiger remains a tiger and an elephant remains an elephant but man, however degraded he may be, he can change himself.

In Swamiji’s words, Let a man go down as low as possible; there must come a time when out of sheer desperation he will take an upward curve and will learn to have faith in himself. But it is better for us that we should know it from the very first. Why should we have all these bitter experiences in order to gain faith in ourselves? We can see that all the difference between man and man is owing to the existence or non-existence of faith in himself. Faith in ourselves will do everything.

I have experienced it in my own life, and am still doing so; and as I grow older that faith is becoming stronger and stronger.

At another time, Sri Ramakrishna spoke of this possibility of existence of God in his homely language thus, You see many stars in the sky at night, but not when the sun rises. Can you therefore say that there are no stars in the heavens during the day?

O man, because you cannot find God in the days of your ignorance, say not that there is no God.3

There are many possibilities but one should be open to explore them in a right way.

These possibilities should not be negated.

But a word of caution here: exploring new possibilities must be understood in the right perspective. For example, Swami Vivekananda says, ‘You can do anything and everything.’

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As Sri Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita,4 If even a very wicked person worships Me, with devotion to none else, he should be regarded as good, for he has rightly resolved.

Much depends on what we think is possible. There may be many possibilities in life but the point is what we think to be

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possible. That thinking, followed by action, opens up the possibilities. Both good and good possibilities linger around us. Says Swami Vivekananda,5 We are the heirs of good and evil thought. If we make ourselves pure and the instruments of good thoughts, these will enter us. The good soul will not be receptive to evil thoughts. Evil thoughts find the best field in evil people; they are like microbes which germinate and increase only when they find a suitable soil.

Finding out a ‘suitable soil’ refers to the sum total of many factors which are necessary for a good or bad thought to take roots in a person’s mind. Of all these factors, the most important is Shraddha which includes, among others qualities such as respect, humility and courage, a faith in the possibility of something. ‘Is it possible’ is related to the faith or Shraddha that we have in it. Shraddha is the aggregate of all positive thoughts and feelings—a joining together of faith in the possibilities of our potential.

Swami Vivekananda says,6

of us can do that. Never say, ‘No’, never say, ‘I cannot’, for you are infinite. Even time and space are as nothing compared with your nature.

You can do anything and everything, you are almighty.

Conclusion We begin our journey with ‘Is it possible’ and finally end by ‘It is possible’. And not only that it is possible but is most beneficial to do. Thus we progress, journeying from ‘lower truth to higher truth’. In this journey, what is needed most? Renunciation. Renunciation?

One need not shrink on hearing the term renunciation. It does not mean a loss or painful giving up. It is a natural force working out all grand changes in our lives. Explains Swami Vivekananda,

The remedy for weakness is not brooding over weakness, but thinking of strength. Teach men of the strength that is already within them. Instead of telling them they are sinners, the Vedanta takes the opposite position, and says, ‘You are pure and perfect, and what you call sin does not belong to you.’ Sins are very low degrees of Self-manifestation; manifest your Self in a high degree. That is the one thing to remember; all

Renounce the lower so that you may get the higher. What is the foundation of society?

Morality, ethics, laws. Renounce. Renounce all temptation to take your neighbour’s property, to put hands upon your neighbour, all the pleasure of tyrannising over the weak, all the pleasure of cheating others by telling lies. Is not morality the foundation of society?

Sacrifice! Give up! Not for zero. Not for nothing.

But to get the higher. But who can do this? You cannot, until you have got the higher. You may talk. You may struggle. You may try to do many things. But renunciation comes by itself when you have got the higher. Then the lesser falls away by itself. This is practical religion.7 o

References 1. CW, 2.301 5. CW, 6.134

2. Life, 1.77

3. Sayings of Ramakrishna, p.23

6. CW, 2:300

7. CW, 4.243

4. Bhagavad Gita, 9.30

Have faith and dive deep into the fathomless ocean, and you are sure to find the eternal treasure, the pearl beyond price. Do not lose heart if, after a little struggle, you fail to find it.

—Swami Brahmananda T h e

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Simhâvalokanam From the Archives of The Vedanta Kesari (August, 1924-25, Pp. 169 - 175)

With the Swamis in America VIRAJA DEVI

Early in March 1900, the Swami Vivekananda gave a series of three lectures on ‘Indian Ideals’ in Redmen’s Hall, Union Square, San Francisco, and it was at the first lecture of this series that I had the blessed privilege of hearing him. Being in ill health, both mentally and physically, it was a great effort to go to the lecture, and as I sat in the hall waiting for the Swami to come, I began to wonder whether I had not made a mistake in coming to hear him; but all doubts vanished when the Swami’s majestic figure entered the hall. He talked for about two hours telling us of India’s Ideals and taking us with him, as it were, to his own country so that we might understand him a little, and be able to comprehend even in the least the great truths he taught. After the lecture I was introduced to the Swami, but feeling overawed by his wonderful presence, I did not speak, but sat down at a distance and watched him, while waiting for friends who were busy settling up the business connected with the lectures. After the second lecture, I was again waiting, sitting at a distance watching the Swami, when he looked across and beckoned to me to come to him. I went and stood before him, as he sat in a chair. He said, ‘Madam, if you want to see me privately, you come to the flat on Trunk Street, no charge there, none of this botheration about money.’

I told him I should like very much to see him. He said, ‘Come tomorrow morning’ and I thanked him. Much of the night was spent thinking of all the questions I should ask him, as many questions had been troubling me for months and no one to whom I had gone was able to help me. On arriving at the flat next morning, I was told that the Swami was going out, so could not see any one. I said I knew he would see me because he had told me I might come, so I was allowed to go up the stairs and into the front sitting-room. In a little while the Swami came into the room, dressed in his long overcoat and little round hat, chanting softly. He sat on a chair on the opposite side of the room and continued chanting softly in his incomparable way. Presently he said, ‘Well, Madame’. I could not speak but began to weep and kept on weeping as though the flood-gates had been opened. The Swami continued chanting for a while, the said, ‘Come tomorrow about the same time.’

Thus ended my first interview with the Blessed Swami Vivekananda, and as I went from his presence, my problems were solved and my questions were answered, though he T h e

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had not asked me anything. It is now over 24 years since that interview with Swami, yet it stands out in memory as the greatest blessing of my life. I had the wonderful privilege of seeing Swamiji every day for a month, and was in the meditation class, which he held in Trunk Street.

I used to stay after the class and help him cook lunch, etc., or rather, he allowed me to be in the kitchen with him and do odd jobs for him, while he talked Vedanta and chanted and cooked. One verse from the Gita he chanted a great deal is verse 61, Chapter 18: ‘The Lord dwelleth in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna, by His illusive power, causing all beings to revolve as though mounted on a potter’s wheel.’

He chanted it in the Sanskrit, and every now and then would stop and talk of it. He was so wonderful, his nature so many-sided, at times so child-like, at times the Vedanta Lion, but to me always the kind and loving parent. He told me not to call him Swami, but to call him ‘Babaji,’ as the children did in India. Once when walking along the street with Swamiji after a lecture, all at once he seemed to me so big, as though he towered above the ordinary mortals. The people on the street looked like pigmies, and he had such a majestic presence, that people stepped aside to left him pass by. One evening after the lecture, Swamiji insisted upon taking a party of about 10 to 12 of us to have ice-cream. Some ordered ice-cream and some icecream soda. Swamiji was fond of ice-cream but did not care for ice­-cream soda. The waitress who took the order made a mistake and brought ice-cream soda for the Swami; she said she would change it for him. The proprietor spoke to the waitress about it, and when Swamiji heard him, he called out, ‘Don’t you scold that poor girl. I’ll take all the ice-cream soda if you are going to scold her.’

After living in Fork Street for a month, Swamiji went to Alameda and stayed at the ‘Home of Truth’. It was quite a large house and was surrounded by a beautiful garden, which the Swamiji used to walk about . . . There was quite a large porch on the house on which Swamiji sat sometimes talking to the few of us who gathered around him. The Easter-Sunday night was the full moon, the Nisteria was in full bloom and draped the porch like a curtain. Swamiji sat on the porch. . . and telling funny stories, then he told of how his feet hurt him when he wore shoes in Chicago, and of his experience with a lady-doctor who had undertaken to doctor his toe. He said, ‘Oh my toe, my toe, whenever I think of that lady-doctor my toe hurts’. Then one of the party asked him to talk on ‘Renunciation.’

‘Renunciation?’ said Swamiji, ‘Babies, what do you know of renunciation?’ ‘Are we too T h e

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young even to hear of it?’ was asked. Swamiji was silent for a while and then gave a most illuminating and inspiring talk. He spoke of discipleship and of entire resignation to the Guru, which was quite a new teaching to the Western world. While in Alameda Swamiji used to cook Hindu dishes for himself on Sunday after­noons and I again had the privilege of being with him and partaking of his dishes, and although I attended all Swamiji’s public lectures both in San Francisco and Alameda, it was this close contact with the Swamiji that I most deeply cherish. Once after being quiet for some time Swamiji said, ‘Madame, be broad-minded, always see two ways. When I am on the Heights I say, “I am He,” and when I have a stomach-ache, I say, “Mother, have mercy on me.” Always see two ways.’ On another occasion he said, ‘Learn to be the witness. If there are two dogs fighting on the street and I go out there, I get mixed up in the fight, but if I stay quietly in my room I witness the fight from the window. So learn to be the witness.’ While in Alameda Swamiji gave public lectures in Tucker Hall. He gave one wonderful lecture ‘The Ultimate Destiny of Man’ and finished by placing his hand on his chest and saying, ‘I am God’. A most awed silence fell upon the audience and many people thought it blasphemy for Swamiji to say such a thing.

Once he did something in rather an unconventional way and I was a little shocked at him. He said, ‘Oh Madame, you always want this little outside to be so nice. It is not the outside that matters, it is the inside.’

How little we understood the Swamiji! We had no knowledge of what he really was.

Sometimes he would tell me things, and I in the abundance of my ignorance, would tell him I did not think that way, and he would laugh and say, ‘Don’t you?’ His love and toleration was wonderful. Swamiji was not in good health—much lecturing told upon him. He used to say he did not like platform work, ‘Public lecturing is killing. At eight o’clock I am to speak on “Love”. At eight o’clock I do not feel like love!’ After he finished lecturing in Alameda, the Swami went to Camp Taylor and a little later started for the East and we in California never saw him again. Yet we who were blessed by his presence cannot feel he is entirely gone from us. He lives in our memories and in the teachings he gave us. Before he left he told me if I ever got into psychic difficulty again to call on him and he would hear me wherever he was, even though hundreds of miles away, and it may be he can hear even now.

A few months after Swamiji left, Swami Turiyananda arrived in San Francisco. He held a meditation class at the home of Mr. and Mrs. C. F. Peterson. He also lectured at the Home of Truth at 2173, California Street one Sunday evening. After the lecture he asked for questions and someone asked him ‘What is attachment?’ to which the Swami replied ‘Me and mine’. Swami did not stay long in San Francisco at this time. He went to the Shanti Ashrama with twelve students, where they went through the hardships of pioneers, but in return received the beautiful teachings given by the Swami.

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The Swami consecrated the Ashrama and gradually temporary cabins were put up and the meditation cabin was built which still stands as a monument to the work of the Swami Turiyananda. I was not at the Ashrama at that time, but used to see the Swami and attended his Gita classes given in San Francisco. Once when in San Francisco the Swami was asked if there was anything he needed for the Ashrama to which he replied, ‘Souls, consecrated souls’. One Gita lesson Swami gave on verse 47, Chapter II, ‘To work you have the right, but not to the fruits thereof.’ He repeated these words over and over again, and said we are always looking for fruits, always peeping to see what is coming, what we are going to get.

Swami Turiyananda was succeeded by the beloved and energetic Swami Trigunatita.

During his ministration, the Temple was built and all the permanent buildings were put up at the Ashrama. The Swami himself led a life of the greatest asceticism whether in the Temple or at the Ashrama, allowing himself little sleep and working continually. When at the Ashrama he did all the cooking for 37 people, gave three classes a day on the meditation platform and two Gita classes at meal times. His energy was untiring, nothing was too small to demand his attention. He was interested in all the little details and daily occurrences in the lives of his students. He was like a fond mother always looking out for the welfare of her children, training them in various ways as their nature required, now by strict discipline, now gently taking them by the hand and leading them into paths of peace and blessedness.

After a time the Swami Prakashananda came to the Temple and the two Swamis worked together, both taking part in the public lectures, etc. Swami Prakashananda not only helped with platform work, but he used to clean the auditorium and do many things considered menial work, in the spirit of true humility and service, thus giving many valuable lessons by his example.

The Swami Trigunatita conducted a Sanskrit class, the members of which were supposed to be able to stand rather severe training. Swami said that his heart did not work in that class, only his head. In this class he gave many never to be forgotten and valuable lessons, though at the time they were perhaps not fully appreciated. Swami passed away on January 10th, 1915, in San Francisco and his ashes were buried on the Hill of Realization at the Shanti Ashrama, April 13th ( I think it was) 1916, the Swami Prakashananda officiating at the service held by the Swami and a few students who had accompanied him to the Ashrama. In the passing away of Swami Trigunatita those of us who had been blessed by his teaching, by his unending patience, and his ever watchful care of us felt we had sustained an irretrievable loss, yet we feel his presence with us and the work for which he gave his life is being ably carried on by the much beloved Swami Prakashananda. Long may he be spared to remain with us, and now we have also with us Swami Prabhavananda who is giving instructive and illuminating discourses and we feel blessed by his presence amongst us. o T h e

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Pilgrimage to Mount Kailash SWAMI DAMODARANANDA

Swami Damodarananda was a senior and venerable monk of the Ramakrishna Order. This article recounts the hardships and rewards of his pilgrimage to Mount Kailash undertaken some sixty years ago. His narrative is a valuable documentation of the challenges one faces in the Himalayan terrain especially when, six decades ago, the present day gadgets and amenities were unheard of. His vivid description of the traditional route to the holy mountain adds to its historicity. This article was first published in the April-May 2014 issues of the Prabuddha Bharata, the monthly journal from Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Uttarakhand. The reproduction of the article is in keeping with the earnest wish of the author to have this published in the Vedanta Kesari as well—before his sudden demise in July 2014 at Belur Math.

This is a story, after about sixty years, of my walking all the way to Mount Kailash and back.

Every religion has its prophets, saints, sages, sacred places, and holy days of special worship. Devotees of all religions do pilgrimages as an act of purification.

These acts are accompanied with prayers, worship, and meditation. Bharata, that is India, is filled with many sacred places—from Kanyakumari in the south, to Kamakhya in the east; from Badrinath-Kedarnath in the north, to Dwarkanath-Somnath in the west; and Vishvanath at Varanasi sits in the centre.

Thus lakhs of devotees, since ancient times, have availed of the ample opportunities to offer their devotions to the innumerable sacred places dedicated to God in the form of thousands of gods and goddesses. Pilgrimages and prayers lead one to a better and nobler life, with deeper spiritual insights and perceptions.

In a way, a pilgrimage reflects the journey, often hard, of human life to its goal—God. In 1947, after the partition of India, I returned as a refugee along with the others, T h e

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from our Lahore centre, which is now in Pakistan. Posted to the Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama, Vrindavan, I was trained to offer seva, service, in almost all the hospital departments. I finally ended up being a radiologist.

Badrinath In 1952 there arose in me a strong desire to go on a pilgrimage to Badrinath, also known as Badri-Narayana, and Kedarnath. I requested Swami Madhavananda, the then General Secretary, permission to fulfil my desire.

Revered Maharaj did grant me permission, after a brief exchange of correspondence, through Swami Kripananda, head of the Sevashrama. I began preparing for the pilgrimage by collecting warm clothing, a stout lathi, stick, a kamandalu, sadhu’s water pot, and so on. Sometime in July or thereabouts I started from Vrindavan for New Delhi and from there to Haridwar and Rishikesh.

At Rishikesh revered Jagabandhu Maharaj, Swami Nityatmananda, was doing Tapasya in one of our kutias, huts. I was fortunate to

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stay with him for three or four days. Before leaving I requested him to bless me so that

by Sri Ramakrishna’s grace I should have a safe, enjoyable, and fruitful yatra, journey.

The swami immediately reminded me that both Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother, being on our right and left side respectively, are ever protecting and looking after us. This holy attitude further fortified my love and devotion for Sri Thakur and Sri Ma. In retrospect, it helped give me a deeper spiritual insight and safely brought me back to Bharata, the divine spiritual land, after a terribly difficult yatra facing unforeseen deadly circumstances and problems.

The next day I crossed the Laxman Jhulla Bridge at Rishikesh to start my climb through the winding mountain roads. I slowly made my way up and down the mountains and reached Vashistha Guha, where our Swami Purushottamananda, a disciple of Swami Brahmananda, was staying. Having stayed with him for a day or so, and after receiving his blessing, I moved onwards and upwards.

At every ten to fifteen miles one came across a chatti, rest house. These chattis were equipped with the simple facilities for shelter, provisions, cooking, eating, and sleeping.

Somewhere, as suggested by friends, I branched off at Govind Ghat to go to Hemkund Lokpal, the huge holy lake where

Govind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, meditated for spiritual illumination. There was a small Gurudwara near the glacier and the freezing lake where no one lived. I could hear the ice on the mountain cracking and falling into the huge lake. The icy water was flowed down through a stream.

As I was returning from there, I happened to pass through a vast area of natural wild flowers called the Valley of Flowers. The sight of a staggering variety of flowers, medicinal herbs, and roots was so powerful that even now, after all these decades, it flashes forth and is quite fresh in my mind.

I returned to the main road leading to the Badrinath shrine, reaching in due course Joshi Math, or Jyotir Math, one of the four Maths established by Acharya Shankara. He established this Math for the dissemination of Vedanta in the northern parts of India. The other Maths Acharya Shankara established are at Puri in the east, Dwarka in the west, and Sringeri in the south.

Badrinath Finally, moving upwards from Joshi Math, I reached Badrinath within a day or two.

It is situated on the banks of the Alakananda River, a tributary of the Ganga. It is said that the image of Badri-Narayana was thrown into the river by the Buddhists and Buddha’s Valley of Flowers

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image was installed in its place. When later Acharya Shankara arrived at Badrinath he discovered, through his spiritual insight, the image of Narayana lying in the Alakananda, further purifying the holy water of the Ganga. The Acharya immediately made all arrangements to lift the Bhagavan’s image and reinstall it. This was done with all due Vedic rites by priests especially brought from the Malabar area in South India. This tradition still continues and hence the temple priests are brahmanas from Malabar.

Every morning I used to bathe in the tank called tapta-kunda, a hot water spring, which issues out of the ground. After bathing I would go straight to the temple and sit on one of the built-in stone benches, constructed on both sides of the temple prayer hall. I used to sit opposite the learned priests who repeated the Vishnu Sahasranama Stotra. With prayer book in hand I would join them in the recitation. This sacred recitation went on throughout the abhishekam, holy bath, of the image of Narayana. The abhishekam consist of pancha-amrita—milk, curds, ghee, honey, and sugar. Finally, everything is washed away by pouring pure water to keep the holy image clean and sparkling. Then detailed decorations followed with sandal paste, colour, various perfumes, clothes, ornaments, and flowers.

After this ceremony the screen was drawn aside, as the deity was ready to receive the devotees’ darshan.

In most of the pilgrim places situated in the Himalayas, free food is offered to the visiting monks by various charitable organizations. The most famous among them is ‘Kali Kamliwala T h e

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Chhatra’. I used to stand in the queue, along with the other visiting monks, for the bhiksha, holy alms. In the evening as well we would obtain supper, which we then took to our kutias where we could eat at leisure.

Kedarnath From Badrinath I began walking through dangerous terrain towards Kedarnath, the abode of Shiva on the banks of the Mandakini River, another tributary of the Ganga. It is at a higher altitude than Badrinath and also much colder. The snow-capped peaks are just a little further away behind the temple. Once, when I dared to walk in the evening towards the glaciers, I saw a sadhu sitting and meditating.

This was dangerous as a cold wind was blowing. Unless the constitution is very strong, one might end up in deep absorption and enter final samadhi. Hence, in such situations it is always safer to meditate inside one’s room or the Shiva temple.

Being anxious to earn more punya, merit, one day at about ten in the morning I went down to bathe in the Mandakini. I knew full

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well that the water was too cold—minus 10 or 20 degrees centigrade. I thought I could have a quick dip and come out. But once I jumped in and was in the freezing waters, my body became numb. At that time the only thought was to save myself by coming out of the water before I froze. Somehow, with ebbing strength, I emerged out of the water by the grace of Kedareshwara Mahadeva—Shiva—and was saved from the terrible calamity of freezing into mahasamadhi in the Mandakini.

After this incident I was inspired to spend more time with Shiva in the temple— praying, meditating, and reciting hymns. Thus enjoying my ever-inspiring holy pilgrimage, I returned to Badrinath after a few days planning for my yatra to Mount Kailash.

Meanwhile, I joined some pilgrims that were going to the Tunganath Mahadeva temple, to the east of Badrinath. This temple was also established by Acharya Shankara when he was discovering the sacred shrines in the Himalayas. This temple is one of the Pancha-Kedars, five Kedar temples; situated at the hight of about 12,000 feet it is the highest among the five Shiva temples. I found it to be very scarcely populated. The altitude and freezing cold dissuades people from living there. Only those appointed for temple work and its management stayed there, apart from the few pilgrims, despite all the difficulties.

Towards Tibet After visiting and offering obeisance to Badrinath, Kedarnath, and Tunganath, I set out for holy Kailash and Manasarovar. I was told that there were two passes to enter Tibet.

One near Badrinath called Mana Pass and the other called Niti Pass. Mana Pass is at a very high altitude, and pilgrims opting to go through it have to face a lot of difficulties while climbing the steep slopes. As such I T h e

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was advised to go through the Niti Pass, which being lower was easier to negotiate, but would entail an extra week of travel. Another attraction of this route for me was that on the way there is Kalpeshvara Shiva temple, situated at the height of about 7,200 feet.

I prepared chattu, powdered fried Bengal gram, to last me for about a week. Chattu has to be taken along with water and salt. I took this, along with fruits if available, when I became hungry. Thus I walked along a narrow stream through cultivated terraced fields, higher and higher, finally reaching the small temple of Kalpeshvara Shiva. It seemed some saints had performed Tapasya there earlier.

After offering my prayers at the temple and seeing a house nearby, I slowly made my way towards it. It consisted of one big room.

Different items required for the simple house were kept in different corners of the house.

Only one woman was there suckling her baby, who was lying on the lap, and at the same time cooking at the hearth in the centre of the house. A steel plate for baking bread was placed on it. She was preparing rotis without a rolling pin, expertly stretching the dough with both her hands. As she placed the phulka on the plate, it began baking and puffing up, the woman offered the hot flattened bread to me saying in Hindi, ‘Baba-lo’, Baba please take! She also gave me a preparation of some vegetables to go along with the phulkas.

After eating the bhiksha I thanked and took leave of her to climb higher in the mountains. Thus I walked on and on up and down the mountains, through one terraced hill of cultivation to the next, but always higher and higher.

There were very few pilgrims going to Mount Kailash during those days. I was alone, walking along, not knowing the path to cross over to Tibet. Under these circumstances I was

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told to follow the shepherds with flocks of goats and sheep. These shepherds inhabited the mountainous regions bordering India and Tibet. During the summer they work as tradesmen, plying their trade between India and Tibet. They were hardy and used to climbing high altitudes and precipitous mountain paths with ease. These rugged and brave people were used to facing all sorts of unusual challenges. Their principal vocation was to rear sheep, goats, yaks, mules, and horses, which they used for carrying heavy loads of articles such as rice, dal, salt, and other household needs and articles. They also traded in beads and other items used by women as ornaments, as these items were not available in Tibet. They pack these articles in jute bags and carry them on the backs of animals to Tibet.

In exchange they bring to India rolls of wool, packed on both sides of the mules and horses for feeding the woollen mills of North India, which prepare woollen garments.

So I joined one such group of traders and, halting for a day, rested in their tents. I was kindly given a corner to rest. Of course I ate my chattu with water and salt while they ate meat by killing one of the old or weak animals—either sheep or goat. As they did this, they asked me to move away and look elsewhere.

Thus climbing on to higher altitudes, we reached the Indian police check post. The last climb before the check post was very steep. Even the yaks and horses were panting!

No one is allowed to go to Tibet without permission from the Indian Government. The police asked me for the permit. I told them that I was a pilgrim to Kailash and Manasarovar.

They doubted me because I was a young monk of thirty-five years. They thought that I was a communist in a monk’s garb, trying to escape to China for getting indoctrination and training in communistic ideas. I told them my name and that I belonged to the Ramakrishna Mission, presently serving at the Sevashrama at Vrindavan. I also showed them a letter addressed to me, care of the Sevashrama in Vrindavan.

Finally, being convinced of my genuineness, they allowed me to continue across the border. They told me however to return to India by the same Niti Pass. But, as circumstances unfolded in the course of my pilgrimage, I had to return to India through a different route, the precipitous Hoti Pass.

I reached the Tibetan plateau with my shepherds friends and crossed the Tibetan check Post.

A Himalayan river along the road—a recent picture

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The Tibetan Plateau and Mandi The Dalai Lama ruled from Lhasa. There were ancient cultural and other ties between the two countries. India was loosely governing the Tibetans, perhaps mostly due to the Hindu pilgrims going every year to Mount Kailash.

The Tibetan plateau is the highest in the world, covering a vast land. The average altitude of the plateau is 10,000 feet above sea level. I began walking onwards along with the shepherds, who were doing business with the Tibetans, supplying them with several items they carried from the foothills of the Himalayas to the plateau of Tibet.

From the Tibetan check post we proceeded further to reach a mandi, temporary summer market place, where Indian goods were being exchanged for wool. All exchanges were done according to the barter system. Wool was the only wealth of Tibet exchangeable for Indian goods. There were many tents in that summer bazar. Fortunately there was no rain and the sun was bright. In this weather the Tibetans came from various parts to exchange their goods. It was the oncein-a-year opportunity to trade.

I was in one of the tents where business with the Tibetans was going on. There a young man came to exchange some goods with the Indian trader. I saw the young man’s eyes were red. I realized he had an eye infection. Since I was working in the Vrindavan Eye Hospital, I had carried a first-aid box for use in case of emergency. Working in the hospital had given me knowledge about the use of medicines. My first-aid box contained some antibiotic tablets, sulphanilamide powder, and some medicine for eye problems.

I wanted to help this young man by giving some medicines, which I conveyed to the tradesman as he knew the Tibetan language. I explained that his eyes had become T h e

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red because of some infection and that I had medicines that I could give him. He should apply the medicine three times a day. The Tibetan looked at me and told me through the tradesman that he would go to his tent and be back.

In a little while the man returned with a leather bundle, which he offered to me in exchange of the medicines. The Indian trader explained to me that Tibetans do not accept anything freely given by sadhus, that they would like to give me something in return, for what the young man had brought a gift shaped like a football in a leather bag. The ‘football’ was nothing but sheep or yak or goat’s butter, which does not melt due to the cold and the leather package. I accepted the leather bag and the young man accepted the medicines and bid me goodbye by saying ‘namaste’. Tibet, being a Buddhist country, has much respect for monks and has developed a sense of charity that is part of their religion and daily life.

In general Buddhists are very generous and charitable. The attitude of the young man bears testimony to this fact. Here I may mention another incident that happened when I was going to Mandalay, the old capital of Burma. I was travelling by boat on the river Irawati. It was lunch time and a Burmese mother, a fellow traveller, came to me and did pranams. She conveyed in gestures, as I did not know her language, to take lunch.

As I had eaten to my full, I had no desire to eat then, which I conveyed to her again in signs, thanking her for her offering by doing namaste. I want to reiterate here that Buddhist people are very hospitable and charitable to monks and nuns, whichever denomination he or she may belong to.

I met some Tibetans who told me that there was a great holy place in a town called Manglang. It was a Buddhist pilgrim centre

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situated in the extreme west of the Tibetan plateau. I was told that on the eastern part of the Tibetan plateau is located the holy Manasarovar Lake and Mount Kailash. After obtaining some more information about the route, I set out to the western part of Tibet to reach Manglang. Since it was a beaten track, I had no difficulty in finding the way, except for walking long hours. I was alone and did not see any human beings—only goats, sheep, and yaks. The whole place was barren.

Around seven in the evening I reached the Buddhist temple in Manglang. As soon as I entered the temple the monks saw me. They welcomed and offered me cheese and sheep milk, which is available in plenty, along with salted hot tea. Their way of making cottage cheese is very simple: by exposing the goat’s or sheep’s milk in the scorching sun it gets split into whey and cheese. Due to heat the water

evaporates and the cheese is thus naturally formed. Since I was a vegetarian, they gave me cheese with the salted tea available always in the tents and temples. As that is a cold country, they did not drink water and instead drank salted tea.

After filling my stomach and getting over my tiredness, I went to the temple. I saw there a huge Buddha statue twenty feet high, seated on a chair, as it were. Surrounding this huge Buddha image they had decorated small images of Buddha in a meditative posture.

Everywhere and in every corner in the huge temple, between the images, plenty of manuscripts in Tibetan were lying here and there along with smaller Buddha images.

I asked them about the manuscripts and they told me that they were manuscripts of Buddhism. So I rested there and meditated in that huge temple.

(To be continued. . .)

Awed by the Himalayas!

I had lost myself at the sight of the lofty snow clad mountain rock of Kedarnath. I, therefore, did not notice the surroundings. I did not know where I had been sitting all along. I had lost my ‘I’ness as it were. It is indeed almost impossible to put down in words how I was feeling. I thought that I had seen whatever there was to be seen anywhere.

After a while I regained my consciousness and I found myself seated on a carpet of fresh fragrant flowers. All the surrounding area was covered with beds of flowers. I was intently looking at this beautiful natural surroundings. I was almost looking like a king seated on a rich throne bedecked with precious jewels. It was indeed an indescribable situation.

I was now present at one of the supernal spots on this earth. The King of the Mountains was unfolding his glory before me and I was viewing it with a peace-filled mind. I painfully realized that while I had been viewing the Himalayas so far my eyes never penetrated the outer crust. But now I was in his lap and was amazed by his glory. I remembered Arjuna standing stupefied before Sri Krishna showing him His all-comprehensive form (Viswarupa).

Himalaya really appears here as a symbol of the great God—the Master of the Universe. I was almost convinced that the same Universal Spirit, which is beyond the comprehension of human senses, which controls every thing in the universe and which resides in the core of every being, has manifested Itself in this huge form. How else could a man, with his limited intelligence and cloudy vision, have a glimpse of the divine? This was all due to His compassion.

—Swami Akhandananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna T h e

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When Loss Becomes Gain PRAVRAJIKA VIRAJAPRANA

(Continued from the previous issue. . .)

The Practice of Non-attachment For spiritual seekers this process of letting go, non-attachment, is a deliberate practice. Our teachers encourage us to cultivate this attitude, of letting go before we are forced to. Although it appears to be an oxymoron, everything we have ever fervently wanted is gained by letting go. What is it after all that we are letting go of; what are we losing, by letting go? To begin with, we should definitely let go of the nonessentials in our life, the clutter. Not just getting rid of the physical clutter, of all the unnecessary items that surround and engulf our time and attention, though that’s a help, but more importantly clearing out the personal emotional and mental clutter that dampens the free flow of our inner spirit.

Swamiji told some of his students at Thousand Island Park, ‘As soon as we say “I” we are humbugged.’6 Through self-restraint and detachment, the Spirit is able to work through us unimpeded by the meddling of the ego. As we slowly get rid of the expendables, including our misplaced identities, and we have many such revolving around our physical, mental, and emotional selves, we develop a sense of inner freedom, which allows us to gradually shift our identity from matter, the ego, to Spirit. Swamiji cautions

us: ‘This assumed individuality is really a delusion; it is ignoble to try to cling to this apparent individuality.’7 At the time King Janaka was told that his kingdom in Mithila was burning to the ground, he calmly replied, ‘Nothing that is mine burns.’ Another incident to illustrate the freedom that comes with the loss of expendables is when the African American sage and scientist George Washington Carver was informed that he had lost his entire life’s savings in the crash of an Alabama bank, he humorously remarked, ‘Well, I guess somebody found a use for it. I was not using it myself.’ ‘By letting go, it all gets done; the world is won by those who let it go!’

Swamiji wrote a letter to Sister Nivedita in which he said, ‘We put all our energies to concentrate and get attached to one thing; but the other part equally difficult, though negative, we seldom pay any attention to—the faculty of detaching ourselves at a moment’s notice from anything.’8 ‘Almost all our suffering,’ Swamiji says, ‘is caused by our not having the power of detachment. . .

Attach yourselves to the Lord and to nothing else, because everything else is unreal [that is, flimsy, passing]. Attachment to the unreal will bring misery.’9

A nun at the Vedanta Society of Northern California, San Francisco, USA, since 1972, Pravrajika Virajaprana is the editor and compiler of Photographs of Swami Vivekananda. She has contributed many thoughtprovoking articles for Vedanta Kesari and Prabuddha Bharata. This article is based on her talk on the same subject delivered at the Vedanta Society in February 2011. o T h e

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To extend Swamiji’s statement: Why is attachment painful? Because whatever does not last, can and will be lost, and then we’re miserable. Swamiji seems to plead with us: ‘Should we not put forth a thousand-fold more strength and energy to acquire that which never fades, but remains with us forever? . . .

Everything else is left behind with the body.’

In order to cultivate this art of letting go, we have to be convinced that what we will gain from the practice of detachment, though an apparently negative practice, is far superior.

As Swamiji beautifully expresses it: There is only one way to attain freedom . . . by giving up this little life, giving up this little universe, giving up this earth, heaven, body, mind—everything that is limited and conditioned. If we give up our attachment to this little universe, we shall be free immediately.10

So what is it that we gain? The realization of our true Self, which is ‘birthless, constant and eternal,’ a state of consciousness where there is no change, modification, movement, no increase nor decrease, but an imperishable continual awareness of bliss and uninterrupted joy. How do we gain this wonderful covetable state? Through the practice of yoga.

In Karma Yoga, Swamiji remarks, Nonattachment is the basis of all the yogas. . . .

Nonattachment does not mean anything that we may do in relation to our external body; it is all in the mind. The binding link of ‘I and mine’ is in the mind.11

So the intent is not leaving our families, friends, quitting our jobs and abandoning our responsibilities, whatever has fallen to our lot, shaving our head and standing on a corner with a begging bowl—that would be counter intuitive.

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The instruction is to do whatever we have to do, fulfill our duties and responsibilities, and have whatever relationships we happen to be in, in a balanced, Sattvic way, with the spirit of detachment. Further, we are not asked to renounce action; we have to act because our bodies and minds are a part of nature, and nature being composed of the three Gunas forces us to act. We are compelled; we can never remain inactive, no matter who we are or where we are. But what is needed is separating one’s self not only from personal attachments, but from all activity.

Ideally we should be like water on a lotus leaf; the water just beads up and rolls off without adhering to it in any way. Our boat should float on the water, but we should definitely keep all water out of the boat.

Otherwise, we’ll sink. So, our teachers are not suggesting that we give up the world per se. The world isn’t the problem; it’s the worldliness that is within us that needs to be uprooted. Worldliness is synonymous with selfishness. Normally we identify with what we do and herein lies the problem. To let go of all of our personal investment is not easy. Our identity and the meaning we derive from work is all tied up with one another. But clinging to the divided self is a no-win situation. Swamiji says, ‘The moment you isolate yourself, everything hurts you, but the moment you expand and feel for others, you gain help.’ By letting go [of the ego], it all gets done.

The Science of Non-attachment Swamiji’s Karma Yoga and the Bhagavad Gita contain the science of nonattachment. And in Swamiji’s letters we find nonattachment in action; in his own actions and in the innumerable hints and practical applications of this practice that he

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gives in the course of his correspondence with different people under a variety of circumstances. Swami Turiyananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, remarked regarding Swamiji’s letters, ‘They are perfect illustrations of non-attachment.’

The Gita makes the most practical suggestion: to utilize our work as a means to lose our false self and simultaneously regain or recover our true Self. All attachment arises from the truncated self. The senses adhere in the sense objects, not in the Self. The Gita says: ‘Actions are done in all cases by the Gunas of Prakriti. He whose mind is deluded through egoism thinks, “I am the doer.”’12 Nature functions through the Gunas; the Gunas act on the Gunas.

As we go on subduing, reining in the little ‘I’, the real ‘I’ slowly begins to emerge.

The sense of agency, our false identification, and ownership are attenuated through the practice of nonattachment. We are advised to train ourselves through abhyasa (constant practice) and vairagya (dispassion) not to anticipate or expect certain outcomes from our action. Regardless whether we anticipate it or not, the result of our action is going to come anyway. So why be anxious? Simultaneously through this practice, the mind is purified as we slowly separate ourselves from nature.

After all, in truth, we are not the doer. If we have no sense of agency, the idea that there should be something in it for me, then nothing can be lost. Sri Krishna says giving up attachment, that is, the idea of being an agent, and the desire for the result, is his conclusive and final view.

Therefore, work done with attachment binds us; the same work done with non-

attachment frees us. This attitude of nonattachment arises from the practice of yoga.

In his commentary on the second chapter of the Katha Upanishad, Adi Shankaracharya states, that ‘Yoga (union) is really viyoga (disunion) for in this state the yogi is disconnected, detached from all troubles.’

Loss becomes gain; disunion becomes union.

The practice of yoga always presupposes detachment. As Swamiji said, ‘Nonattachment is the basis of all the yogas.’13 Nonattachment allows us to overcome and deny the power of anything or anyone to act upon us. What is the sign of this? No matter what happens to us, we will remain steady. Then only can we also be a witness to our thoughts and experience the vast boundless being that we truly are. In the third chapter of the Gita, the Lord says: ‘Therefore, always perform action which has to be done, unattached; verily a person attains the highest by performing action unattached.’ ‘The world,’ Lao Tsu says, ‘is won by those who let it go.’

So according to Swamiji and Sri Krishna, one of the most effective ways of shifting our identity from the selfishness of the small self, to our true Self is through nonattached work, service, or worship of God in man because they are life oriented. Living and working in the right spirit can be a progressive revelation of Self-Knowledge. Swamiji felt that every unselfish activity should be capable of revealing the Truth. ‘The Way is gained by daily loss.’ By losing our self, we find our Self.

Christ said, ‘He who looses this life gains life eternal.’ ‘Loss upon loss until at last comes rest’—the awareness of our true infinite Self which alone is bliss. ‘By letting go, it all gets done.’ o (Concluded.)

References 6. CW, 7: 15 11. CW, 1: 101 T h e

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10. cf. CW, 1: 97-98

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Article

Thakur-Ma, One Reality SUDESH

This article explores the divine relationship or oneness of Sri Ramakrishna and Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi. Sri Ramakrishna and Holy Mother are reverentially and affectionately addressed as Thakur or Sri Thakur and Ma or Sri Ma respectively, by the monks and devotees of the Ramakrishna Order.

Holy Mother once said, ‘He who is the Master, am I.’ Yet who could realize the absolute unity and non-duality of Thakur and Ma Sri Sarda Devi, that it was One Reality which appeared in two forms to purify the impure, to soothe the afflicted and to illumine the ignorant?

Who could gauge the identity of Thakur and Ma in their lofty divine effulgence; so imperceptible was Holy Mother’s transcendent glory shrouded as it was in her unostentatious life of rural simplicity and humanity? It was the Gracious Mother herself who revealed her identity with her divine consort to a few intimate disciples. When Saryubala questioned the Mother about prayer, meditation and realization she replied, Look upon the Master and myself as nondifferent and meditate on the vision that you get at any time.1

To Manada-Shankar Holy Mother wrote in a letter that if he felt more inclined towards meditating on her, he could do so, because there was no difference between the two personalities except that of form, and the some entity that indwelt the Master’s body inhabited the Mother’s also. The letter she sent three weeks later also affirmed, ‘He who is the Master, am I’.2

Blessed were those who realized it.

Gopaler-Ma was then in her death-bed when the Mother went to visit her. She stretched forth her hand to take hold of something.

Mother did not understand what she wanted.

The woman devotee in attendance explained that she wanted the sacred dust of Mother’s feet, who was to her none other than the Master as identified with her Gopala. The Mother had so long been revering GopalerMa as though she were her mother-in-law.

But at that moment none cared to stand on formalities. The Mother made no objection.3 Whose Darshan—of the Mother’s or the Master’s?

When a devotee said that he had the darshan of Holy Mother, Swami Akhandananda remarked, ‘When you had the darshan of Holy Mother, the same result of having the darshan of Sri Ramakrishna will accrue to you. To have the darshan of the Mother or the Master is the same thing.’4 We are dazed and enchanted to see the actual demonstration of this analogous mysterious phenomena through the transfiguration of Ma into Thakur and vice versa.

Swami Abhedananda described the reaction of the Mother when he first read out

o A devotee from Ambala, Sudesh regularly contributes inspiring articles to The Vedanta Kesari.

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‘Prakritim Paramam’, his hymn in her adoration.

She protested as to why a hymn should be composed on her. However, when Swami Abhedananda sang, ‘Ramakrishna gata prana’ meaning, salutations to one whose heart and soul is in Ramakrishna, she became still. When the next words, ‘tannama shravana priyam’ meaning, one who rejoices in listening to the glory and name of Sri Ramakrishna were sung, tears of joy began to flow from her eyes.

And when ‘Tadbhava ranjita karam’, i.e. whose mind is totally coloured with the ideas of Sri Ramakrishna were uttered, the Swami saw that the Mother was no more there. Instead, Sri Ramakrishna was sitting in her place.

In another instance we are amazed to see the transformation of Thakur to Ma and again back to Thakur; even after they were merged in the Indivisible and were not present in their physical forms. Swami Shantananda Puri, a disciple of Swami Purushottamananda of Rishikesh wrote: From Belur Math I got recommendation letters to visit Kamarpukur and Jayrambati. I was not very enthusiastic about going to Jayrambati.

From the early days, my reverence for Thakur never extend to Holy Mother . . . Somehow I T h e

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was of the opinion that the merits of the consorts of great men were always being exaggerated.

On the third day of my stay at Kamarpukur, I was sitting in meditation before Thakur who was dressed that day in an ochre-coloured cloth. When I happened to open my eyes, I saw before me a statue of Holy Mother with her hair flowing over her shoulders, with head covered and draped in a pure white sari with a thick red line border. For several minutes I continued to look at it and there was no change. I pinched myself to ensure that I was really awake. Again I went into meditation but, in my curiosity, as many time as I opened my eyes it was the Holy Mother who was before me. Finally, when I got up, I found that it was again Thakur draped in an ochre-coloured dhoti. I was confused and unable to understand the significance of this strange vision. Perhaps Thakur wanted to reveal to me that Holy Mother was not different from him.

So I decided to go to Jayrambati the next day. . .5

The Embodiments of Shiva and Shakti Once Surendranath told the Mother that he worshipped the Goddess (his Ishta) through the image of the Master. Afterwards while surrendering the fruits of Japa, uttering the words, ‘O Great Goddess, through Thy grace,’

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and so forth, created confusion in his mind.

The Mother said: Our Master alone is Mahesvara (Supreme God) and Mahesvari (Supreme Goddess) as well. He alone is the embodiment of all mystsic syllables.

One can worship through him all Gods and Goddesses.6

On another occasion Mother disclosed to another devotee the truth of the unity of Shiva and Shakti in her holy person. Wishing to accept Naresh Chandra Chakravorty’s worship, during his visit to Jayrambati, Mother directed him to bring both yellow and white flowers as she loved yellow flowers and the Master the white ones. Getting a hint from Mother, Naresh Chandra offered white flowers at her right foot and yellow one’s at her left. Thus she disclosed to him the truth of the unity of Shiva and Shakti in her holy person. That is why she wanted the white flowers for the snow-white Shiva as identical with Sri Ramakrishna, and the yellow one’s for the golden-coloured Shakti as embodied in herself.7 The one who gives Mantra-diksha to a disciple is the Guru. But the Mother after initiating the disciples would tell them that it was not she but Thakur who had given them the mantra; that he was their Guru and the Ishta. So identified and unified was she with Thakur! Once Swami Keshavananda expressed his sorrow at not having been able to see the Master when he incarnated. The Mother pointed to her own person and said, ‘He is here in this body in a subtle form. The Master himself declared, “I shall live within you in a subtle form.”’8 The Mother has revealed that it was One Reality—the Supreme Brahman, manifested in two forms as Purusha and Prakriti or Male and Female Principles; so different apparently yet identified. Saint Jnaneswara has beautifully T h e

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expressed this idea in the words which he used to invoke the Supreme Reality: Sardham kena cha kasyardham sivayou samarupinoh; jnatun na sakyate lagnum iti dvaitachhalan muhuh; advaitam atmanastattvam darsayontau mithyastaram; tau vande jagam adyau tayostattvabhipattaye.9 I bow down to Shiva and Shakti, the cause of the world, for clearly knowing and realising their innate nature; their mutual union is incomprehensible because we cannot know who is complementary or supplementary to whom and whose half is who; we find that this duality is only an appearance, for, to the persevering and tranquil enquirer they themselves reveal their real nature which is non-duality.

Swami Tapasyananda said, It is one of the great contributions of Sri Ramakrishna to Indian religious tradition that has identified the Shakti not as a mere counterpart of the Absolute, but as the Absolute Himself personalised—the Saguna Brahman of Vedanta who is the origin, the support and the end of the manifold universe.10

Who Knew Thakur as Holy Mother Did! Vak declared in the Devi Sukta: I know the Soul Supreme or Brahman, for there is no difference between Him and Me. . . I am the energy in Brahman, the Mother of all.11

Like Vak was Holy Mother who alone knew Thakur, the Purna-Brahman and revealed his divinity in an effortless way. Has not Thakur said, ‘She is Sarada, Saraswati; she has come to impart knowledge’. . . ‘She is full of the rarest wisdom. Is she of common run? She is my Shakti.’12 Who else but Mother, his Shakti could fathom and reveal the unfathomable depths and infinite glories of Thakur? In every

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situation she has hit it right in understanding him, instinctively, in a flash as it were. The ‘rarest wisdom’ the Mother imparted was not through lectures or precepts but through living inspiration.

The Mother did not look upon the Master as an ordinary immortal; according to her, he was none other than the all-pervading God Himself. And her conception of him transcended all forms and ascended to the formless Brahman. The Advaita Ashrama at Mayavati is dedicated to non-dualism. One who doubted if it was right for him to profess himself a member of the Advaita Ashrama when he leaned towards dualism appealed to the Holy Mother as a final resort, only to receive the reply, ‘Sri Ramakrishna was all Advaita. Why should you also not follow Advaita? All his disciples are Advaitins.’13 Who could refute?

Thakur saw everything gross and subtle, animate and inanimate, full of Consciousness of the Divine Mother, who Herself had become everything. He said, ‘I saw a wicked man in front of the Kali temple; but in him also I saw the power of the Divine Mother vibrating. That was why I fed a cat with the food that was to be offered to the Divine Mother.’14 And the Mother once fed the parrot Gangaram with Halwa, meant to be offered to Thakur.

Holy Mother identified Thakur with all deities and all creation. That is why she said that at one time she was in such a state that she could not drive away an ant from the food offered in front of the Master, under the belief that the Master himself was eating it.

How similarly attuned were the two souls!

In them we see living examples of Advaita at its highest. Seeing the innermost core of all which was Pure Self, they suffused all with the aroma of their redeeming love irrespective of whether a person was a saint or a sinner, virtuous or wicked, high or low, deserving or not deserving. Identified with the sorrows of the whole world they stretched out their saving hands in benediction to all, even the lunatics, drunkards, criminals and the fallen.

Such was their consuming compassion to bring illumination to Jivas that Thakur would not be deterred from his spiritual ministry even when he vomited blood.

And the Mother, at the entreaties of her attendants not to initiate people any more, particularly during her last illness, would reply that Thakur and herself had incarnated for that very purpose. If they did not accept the burden of the sins and sorrows of the suffering, who else would do it. ‘Did Sri Ramakrishna incarnate to eat only Rasogollas?’

(To be continued. . .)

References 1. Her Direct Disciples, In the Company of the Holy Mother (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1980), 201202.

2. Swami Gambhirananda, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi (Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1969), 457.

3. Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, 211.

4. Sri Sarada Devi the Great Wonder (New Delhi: Ramakrishna Mission, 1984), 23.

5. Vedanta Kesari, December 2003, 511.

6. Swami Tapasyananda, Sri Sarada Devi The Holy Mother (Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1969), T h e

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387-388.

7. Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, 458.

8. Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, ibid.

9. Anubhavamrta, 1.2.

10. Sri Sarada Devi The Holy Mother, 222.

11. Sri Sarada Devi the Great Wonder, 125.

12. Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, 114.

13. Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, 452.

14. M, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, trans. Swami Nikhilananda (Chennai: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 2002), 15.

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New Find

Unpublished Letters of Swami Saradananda1 Math. Belur. Howrah.

3.17.03. [17 March 1903] My dear Hari Maharaj2, I am sorry I could not write you for a long time. How are you just now & what are your plans for the summer? Will you go to Almora or where? I believe the heat at Brindaban has become already intense during day time.

The crayon photo has arrived but we have not yet got the delivery of it from the agent’s office.

Mrs.Sevier is our guest just now with Miss C.G. They are tenting on our grounds. The former will leave for Mayabati3 soon.

The Utsab went on well though there was a little shower of rain in the afternoon.

Sarada4 has written to you perhaps that he has made Dr.Logan to resign the Presidentship & stopped the paper.

Everything is going on in the Math as usual & all are well. Some are waiting to go to the Kumbha Mela.

I hope Krishnalal is well. Our blessings to him.

The Holy Mother is at Jairambati and doing well, I hear. I might go to see her in a month or two if I am not called in Japan.

With love to you as ever and prayers for your speedy recovery.

Yours affecly Sarat.

Jan 16 1903.

Math. Belur. Howrah.

My dear Hari Maharaj, I thank you for your kind letter of Jan 11 and especially for your permission to me to take the loan if necessary. I have consulted Rakhal Maharaj about it and decided to take Rs.2000/only for the present.

The balance of your money Rs.15000[?] will be kept in the Bengal Bank as a fixed deposit for four months at 4 percent per annum. The above sum will be kept there in three names, those of yourself, Raja & myself. This we have thought best to avoid emergencies. I have paid Rs.10/0 to the Swamiji’s Birthday Anniy fund. So you have now Rs.110/- with me at present.

I am sorry I forgot to inform you that I asked Latoo to buy a watch for him if he likes & he declined. A few days afterwards I offered him the gold coin and he made no objections. So I have paid him already.

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The Rs.60/- which you mention in Rakhal Maharaj’s letter must be the draft which Mrs. Kelly has sent directly to the Calcutta Bank. There is no necessity to get answers my dear Hari, in such cases. The best way is to wait patiently for a few days & then to write direct to the sender that you have not got it.

So you are not coming to the Math to join the Swamiji’s Birthday Celebration. Well, I would not prefer your remaining in Brindaban if you are suffering from insomnia; but would prefer your going up to Almora after January.

I hear from Raja that Sivananda has come to know about Guru Das’ big donation from you, for Sivada has requested Raja to help his Benaras work with it. You see my dear Hari, how it is not good that the donation should be talked about. The best way is to lay your plans patiently and go to work. If anybody knows then of the fund from which you are drawing, not to care for it. But perhaps you had some other motive in informing Sivananda & whatever proceeds from your mind I have always tried & found to be good, so I need not say anything.

With my love to you & regards as ever & blessings to Krishnalal & prayers for your speedy recovery.

Yours affectionately Sarat.

P.S. The Holy Mother has sent her blessings to you both. She is not coming to Calcutta in winter.

Sri Ramakrishna.

Copy Darjeeling The 12th July/03.

My dear Hari Maharaj I am adding these few lines. I have received your kind note of the 6th July. I am very sorry indeed you shall have to wait so long for the money. If you are in especial hurry I might exert & borrow it from others. Kindly write in reply.

I am glad to know you are better. It is so peaceful here I would like it so much if you come up here. I am sure you will gain by the quiet of this home. Besides Miss Christina’s company and her sympathy and regard for you will help you I am sure. With love & pronams Yours afflty Sarat.

[On the Envelope] Swami Turiyananda C/o. Babu Nikunja Vihari Mullick Trust of Gopeswara Mahadeva Brindaban, U.P.

[On the other side of the envelope] Sri Gurudeva Sri Ramakrishna

References 1. A direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna 2. Swami Turiyananda, a direct disciple

3. Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati 4. Swami Tirigunaitananda, a direct disciple

Courtesy: Ramakrishna Museum, Belur Math T h e

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Compilation

Insights into Some Keywords In Swami Vivekananda’s Words A few definitions and descriptive passages from the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda Jnana The word Jnana means knowledge. It is derived from the root Jna—to know—the same word from which your English word to know is derived. Jnana Yoga is Yoga by means of knowledge. What is the object of the Jnana Yoga? Freedom. Freedom from what? Freedom from our imperfections, freedom from the misery of life. Why are we miserable? We are miserable because we are bound. What is the bondage? The bondage is of nature. Who is it that binds us?

We, ourselves. (9.208) Karma The word Karma is derived from the Sanskrit kri, to do; all action is Karma.

Technically, this word also means the effects of actions. In connection with metaphysics, it sometimes means the effects, of which our past actions were the causes. But in Karma-Yoga we have simply to do with the word Karma as meaning work. (1.27) Psychologically the word Karma also implies causation. Any work, any action, any thought that produces an effect is called a Karma. Thus the law of Karma means the law of causation, of inevitable cause and sequence.

Wheresoever there is a cause, there an effect must be produced; this necessity cannot be resisted, and this law of Karma, according to our philosophy, is true throughout the T h e

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whole universe. Whatever we see, or feel, or do, whatever action there is anywhere in the universe, while being the effect of past work on the one hand, becomes, on the other, a cause in its turn, and produces its own effect.

(1.94) Bhakti Bhakti-Yoga is a real, genuine search after the Lord, a search beginning, continuing and ending in love. One single moment of the madness of extreme love to God brings us eternal freedom. ‘Bhakti’, says Narada in his explanation of the Bhaktiaphorisms, ‘is intense love to God’; ‘When a man gets it, he loves all, hates none; he becomes satisfied for ever’; ‘This love cannot be reduced to any earthly benefit’, because so long as worldly desires last, that kind of love does not come; ‘Bhakti is greater than Karma, greater than Yoga, because these are intended for an object in view, while Bhakti is its own fruition, its own means and its own end.’ (3.43) Yoga Is. . .

The word Yoga is the root of which our word yoke is a derivation—meaning ‘to join’—and Yoga means ‘joining ourselves with God’—joining me with my real Self. (9.269) (To be continued. . .)

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Article

Knowing the Self —Through the Path of Unselfish Work An Exposition of Swami Vivekananda’s Philosophy of Karma Yoga BRAHMACHARI TRIDIVACHAITANYA

(Continued from the previous issue. . .)

Knowing the Self Within When one reaches the pinnacle of selfsacrifice and becomes the embodiment of unselfishness and love, suddenly he discovers the truth about himself—he realizes that his real nature is the ever-free, ever-pure, eternal, illumined, immortal Self. There was a cloud covering his vision of Reality, making him believe that he is a small being limited by the body-mind complex.

On the destruction of selfishness by complete self-abnegation and self-sacrifice, the cloud of ignorance melts and the glorious effulgent Self shines forth. The individual-self (jiva), like a drop, realizes its identity with the Self-Ocean, one without a second and the substratum of everything that exists, and thus being freed from the limitation of time, space and causation becomes one with the ExistenceConsciousness-Bliss Absolute. Swamiji points out,

praying in churches and temples, on whom you were looking as the mystery of all mysteries shrouded in the clouds, is nearest of the near, is your own Self, the reality of your life, body, and soul. That is your own nature. Assert it, manifest it. Not to become pure, you are pure already. You are not to be perfect, you are that already.41

All knowledge of the external world is gained by objectifying it with the help of the senses, mind and intellect. But the Self cannot be known in this way because it is the eternal subject, the eternal witness of this phenomenal world including our body-mind complex.

To know the Self is to be the Self. Swamiji explains,

It is the God within your own self that is propelling you to seek for Him, to realize Him. After long searches here and there, in temples and in churches, in earths and in heavens, at last you come back, completing the circle from where you started, to your own soul and find that He for whom you have been seeking all over the world, for whom you have been weeping and

The Atman is self-luminous and has to be realized by Itself. How can that, which can be experienced only by itself, be known with the help of any other thing? Hence the Shruti says, ‘Vijnaataaramare kena vijaaneeyaat’—‘well, through what means is that to be known which is the Knower?’ Whatever you know, you know through the instrumentality of your mind. But mind is something material. It is active only because there is the pure Self behind it. So, how can you know that Self through your mind? . . . the mind cannot reach the pure Self, no, nor even the intellect. Our relative knowledge ends just there. Then, when the mind is free from

o A monastic inmate of Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata.

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Can you tell me where this ‘I’ exists? How can you speak of anything being killed, which never exists at all? Man only remains hypnotized with the false idea of an ego. When this ghost is off from us, all dreams vanish, and then it is found that the Self only exists from the highest Being to a blade of grass. This will have to be known, to be realized. All practice or worship is only for taking off this veil. When that will go, you will find that the Sun of Absolute Knowledge is shining in Its own lustre. For the Atman only is self-luminous and has to be realized by Itself.45

activity or functioning, it vanishes, and the Self is revealed.’42

The Hindu scriptures say, ‘One who knows Brahman, the Universal Self, verily becomes Brahman’ (Brahmavid brahmaiva bhavati).

Self-Realization is just being in the Self after giving up all attachments in the external world through non-identification with the body, senses, mind, intellect, and ego. By the practice of unselfishness and self-sacrifice, all attachments and false-identifications are attenuated and the Self manifests Itself more and more. Swamiji says, That which is nearest is least observed. The Atman is the nearest of the near, therefore the careless and unsteady mind of man gets no clue of It. But the man who is alert, calm, self-restrained and discriminating, ignores the external world and diving more and more into the inner world, realizes the glory of the Atman and becomes great. Then only he attains to the knowledge of the Atman, and realizes the truth, ‘I am the Atman’.43

The state that comes then is the real nature of the ego. The ‘I’ that remains then is omnipresent, all-pervading, the Self of all. Just as the Ghatakasha (the space enclosed by a jar), when the jar is broken, becomes the Mahakasha (the omnipresent sky), for with the destruction of the jar the enclosed space is not destroyed. The puny ‘I’ which you were thinking of as confined in the body, becomes spread out and is thus realized in the form of the all-pervading ‘I’ or the Self.46

You yourself will be the object of your meditation. Think and meditate that you are the omnipresent Atman. ‘I am neither the body, nor the mind, nor the Buddhi (determinative faculty), neither the gross nor the subtle body’—by this process of elimination, immerse your mind in the transcendent knowledge which is your real nature. Kill the mind by thus plunging it repeatedly in this. Then only you will realize the Essence of Intelligence, or be established in your real nature. Knower and known, meditator and the object meditated upon will then become one, and the cessation of all phenomenal superimpositions will follow.44

This is Self-Realization, the discovery of one’s own real nature and thereby abiding as the pure Self forever. All the distinctions vanish, destroying all the ideas of separation.

One experiences the unity of Existence, the all-pervading Oneness in the form of Pure Consciousness and Bliss Absolute, and goes beyond all duality comprising of the pairs of opposites like virtue and vice, pleasure and pain, good and bad, joy and sorrow, etc. the Ishopanisad says, ‘Tatra ko moha kah shoka ekatvam anupashyatah’—‘For him who sees oneness, where is there any grief or any delusion?’

Elaborating on this, Swamiji says,

The ego ‘I’ is the dividing line between the relative and the absolute. It keeps man identified with the body-mind complex, thus veiling the glorious infinite Self. But does this ‘I’ really exist? Swamiji clarifies,

He who sees in the world of manifoldness that One running through all, in this world of death he who finds that One Infinite Life, and in this world of insentience and ignorance he who finds that One Light and Knowledge, unto him

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belongs eternal peace. Unto none else, unto none else.47

Nirvana is before me! I feel it at times, the same infinite ocean of peace, without a ripple, a breath . . . stillness that makes you feel sure it is an illusion! . . . Oh, it is so calm! My thoughts seem to come from a great, great distance in the interior of my own heart. They seem like faint, distant whispers, and peace is upon everything, sweet, sweet peace—like that one feels for a few moments just before falling into sleep, when things are seen and felt like shadows—without fear, without love, without emotion. Peace that one feels alone, surrounded with statues and pictures . . . The world is, but not beautiful nor ugly, but as sensations without exciting any emotion. Oh, Joe, the blessedness of it!

Everything is good and beautiful; for things are all losing their relative proportions to me—my body among the first. Om That Existence!49

The End of All Spiritual Practices The realization of the identity of one’s individual self (Atman) with the Universal Self (Brahman) is the culmination of all spiritual sadhanas. When the ‘I’ that was identified with the body is realized as the Universal Self, the world of relative existence becomes as unreal as a dream, and supreme freedom is realized as one’s own real nature.

Swamiji explains, You have only got to know that you are Eternal Brahman. You are already that, only the intervention of a non-intelligent mind (which is called Maya in the scriptures) is hiding that knowledge. When the mind composed of subtle matter is quelled, the Atman is effulgent by Its own radiance. One proof of the fact that Maya or mind is an illusion is that the mind by itself is non–intelligent and of the nature of darkness; and it is the light of the Atman behind, that makes it appear as intelligent. When you will understand this, the mind will merge in the unbroken Ocean of Intelligence; then you will realize: Ayamatma Brahma—‘This Atman is Brahman’. 48

After his ceaseless activity, employing all the faculties of body, mind and soul for the upliftment of mankind, Swamiji at last reached the point of silence in the Self during the last part of his life. A childlike carefree mood and simplicity came over him, and he became an embodiment of divine love and peace. He knew that he had conquered death; now keeping the body or letting it go did not matter at all. As the Self began to manifest more and more through him, the world lost its importance and seemed to be like a dream.

Swamiji himself describes his state of mind in a letter to Miss MacLeod: T h e

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Again, to Mary Hale, Swamiji wrote, Now I am nearing that Peace, the eternal silence.

Now I mean to see things as they are, everything in that peace, perfect in its way. ‘He whose joy is only in himself, whose desires are only in himself, he has learned his lessons.’ This is the great lesson that we are here to learn through myriads of births and heavens and hells—that there is nothing to be asked for, desired for, beyond one’s Self. ‘The greatest thing I can obtain is my Self.’ ‘I am free’, therefore I require none else for my happiness. ‘Alone through eternity, because I was free, am free, and will remain free for ever.’ I preached the theory so long, but oh, joy! . . . I am realizing it now every day. Yes, I am—‘I am free.’ ‘Alone, alone, I am the one without a second.’50

This is what the Vedantic scriptures call ‘Jivanmukti’ i.e. freedom while living.

An Enduring Inspiration Swami Vivekananda laid down his life for setting up this Ideal of self-sacrifice as the highest spiritual discipline. Whatever spiritual path one chooses according to his

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temperament, whether Jnana, Bhakti, Karma or Yoga or a combination of two or more of these, it should be imbued with the spirit of self-sacrifice. This attitude of unselfishness not only prevents us from straying away from our spiritual path but also leads to complete satisfaction and fulfillment in day-to-day life. All our relationships with the world, the society, and people become divine and thus lose its binding effect. Swamiji reminds, This is the one prayer, to remember our true nature, the God who is always within us, thinking of it always as infinite, almighty, evergood, ever-beneficent, selfless, bereft of all limitations. And because that nature is selfless, it is strong and fearless; for only to selfishness comes fear. He who has nothing to desire for himself, whom does he fear, and what can frighten him? What fear has death for him?

What fear has evil for him? . . . we must think from this moment that our old self is dead and gone . . .

The old Mr., Mrs., and Miss so-and-so are gone, they were mere superstitions, and what remains is the ever-pure, the ever-strong, the almighty, the all-knowing—that alone remains for us, and then all fear vanishes from us. Who can injure us, the omnipresent? All weakness has vanished from us, and our only work is to arouse this knowledge in our fellow-beings. We see that they too are the same pure self, only they do not know it; we must teach them, we must help them to rouse up their infinite nature.51

upon and serve every man, woman and child as God Himself. Such selfless service to humanity with love and devotion is the true worship of God. This path shown by Swamiji is the only practical way of implementing the grand philosophy and universal truths of Vedanta in our everyday life leading to Selfrealization or God-realization. Only the one who is ready to sacrifice himself unto death for the good of all is qualified to realize the Supreme Truth. This is the message of Swami Vivekananda inspiring millions to tread the path of Selfrealization through self-sacrifice: Stand up, men and women, in this spirit, dare to believe in the Truth, dare to practise the Truth! The world requires a few hundred bold men and women. Practise that boldness which dares know the Truth, which dares show the Truth in life, which does not quake before death, nay, welcomes death, makes a man know that he is the Spirit, that, in the whole universe, nothing can kill him. Then you will be free. Then you will know your real Soul.52

Resounding his Eternal Call, Swamiji roars:

Realizing the identity of the individual soul and the Universal Self, one should look

Say to your own minds, ‘I am He, I am He’.

Let this ring day and night in your minds like a song, and at the point of death declare, ‘I am He’. That is the Truth; the infinite strength of the world is yours. Drive out the superstition that has covered your minds. Let us be brave. Know the Truth and practise the Truth. The goal may be distant, but awake, arise, and stop not till the goal is reached.53 (Concluded.)

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Article

Education For

Self-development

Swami Vivekananda’s Views On Education AMULYA RANJAN MOHAPATRA

Swamiji On Education While Swami Vivekananda was a great spiritual teacher who tirelessly worked for the good of humanity, his was a multi-faceted personality. He was a deep thinker on issues related to education and had a precise and clear idea about education, its purpose and method.

Swamiji was a keen observer in all matters of life. About the kind of education prevalent then—and sadly not much has changed!—he told a disciple: We have had a negative education all along from our boyhood. We have only learnt that we are nobodies. Seldom are we given to understand that great men were ever born in our country.

Nothing positive has been taught to us. We do not even know how to use our hands and feet!

We master all the facts and figures concerning the ancestors of the English, but we are sadly unmindful about our own. We have learnt only weakness. Being a conquered race, we have brought ourselves to believe that we are weak and have no independence in anything. So, how can it be but that the Shraddha is lost? The idea of true Shraddha must be brought back once more to us, the faith in our own selves must be reawakened, and, then only, all the problems which face our country will gradually be solved by ourselves. 1

The Real Purpose of Education Unfortunately, education has been reduced to a process of collection of some information and ideas. At the most, some people learn certain skills in managing machines or keeping accounts and so on.

Very little is done to build character and the deeper aspects of human personality.

Man-making, the real purpose of education according to Swamiji, is hardly referred to.

Education should help one build a noble and strong character. Man-making, and not money-making, should be the goal of life.

Swamiji rightly said, You consider a man as educated if only he can pass some examinations and deliver good lectures. The education which does not help the common mass of people to equip themselves for the struggle for life, which does not bring out strength of character, a spirit of philanthropy, and the courage of a lion—is it worth the name?

Real education is that which enables one to stand on one’s own legs. The education that you are receiving now in schools and colleges is only making you a race of dyspeptics. You are working like machines merely, and living a jelly-fish existence.2

Pointing out the real purpose of education, Swamiji told,

Developing faith in oneself is what Swamiji wanted. Our education should help us in doing this.

Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and runs riot there, undigested, all your life. We must have life-

o Dr. Amulya Ranjan Mohapatra is a devotee from Koraput in Odisha.

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building, man-making, character-making assimilation of ideas. If you have assimilated five ideas and made them your life and character, you have more education than any man who has got by heart a whole library. ‘The ass carrying its load of sandalwood knows only the weight and not the value of the sandalwood.’ If education is identical with information, the libraries are the greatest sages in the world, and encyclopaedias are the Rishis.3

According to Swami Vivekananda, ‘Education is the manifestation of perfection already in man.’4 The goal of human existence is to manifest the perfection and the divinity within us. ‘Each soul,’ Swamiji said, ‘is potentially divine’.5 To manifest this divinity within, which is of the nature of perfection— that is the real purpose of education. This manifestation becomes possible only when we have an all-round development of personality.

All aspects of human personality— physical, intellectual, moral and spiritual —should be well developed in order to manifest the divinity within. Education thus is a comprehensive system for the development not only of the intellect but the harmonious development of body, intellect and values. It is a process of bringing into harmony all faculties of human personality.

Brahmacharya: the Guiding Force The one great pillar of the capacity to learn and the ability to build sound character is the observance of Brahmacharya. Swami Vivekananda observed,

key to developing the power of concentration.

Only a concentrated mind has the power to learn. A scattered mind cannot retain what it hears nor can think deeply on serious issues of life. It is like a spent force, living a downto-animal life.

All knowledge is within us. In Swamiji’s words, All knowledge, therefore, secular or spiritual, is in the human mind. In many cases it is not discovered, but remains covered, and when the covering is being slowly taken off, we say, ‘We are learning,’ and the advance of knowledge is made by the advance of this process of uncovering. The man from whom this veil is being lifted is the more knowing man, the man upon whom it lies thick is ignorant, and the man from whom it has entirely gone is all - knowing, omniscient. There have been omniscient men, and, I believe, there will be yet; and that there will be myriads of them in the cycles to come.

Like fire in a piece of flint, knowledge exists in the mind; suggestion is the friction which brings it out.7

The practice of Brahmacharya should be accompanied by Shraddha, or immense faith in one’s potentialities. Shraddha is what makes a person successful in life. The Gita (4.39) says, ‘Shraddhavan Labhate Jnanam’—a man of Shraddha acquires knowledge. Faith is necessary in all fields of life—in learning computers as well as in

The chaste brain has tremendous energy and gigantic will-power. Without chastity there can be no spiritual strength. Continence gives wonderful control over mankind.6

In the ancient Vedic tradition, the whole period of learning was called Brahmacharya.

Self-control, the basis of Brahmacharya, is the T h e

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building one’s character. It is the most potent factor of humanity.

Shraddha awakens the inner potential.

According to Swamiji, the work of a teacher is only to help awaken this Shraddha. He said, You cannot make a plant grow in soil unsuited to it. A child teaches itself. But you can help it to go forward in its own way. What you can do is not of the positive nature, but of the negative.

You can take away the obstacles, but knowledge comes out of its own nature. Loosen the soil a little, so that it may come out easily. Put a hedge around it; see that it is not killed by anything, and there your work stops. You cannot do anything else. The rest is a manifestation from within its own nature. So with the education of a child; a child educates itself. You come to hear me, and when you go home, compare what you have learnt, and you will find you have thought out the same thing; I have only given it expression. I can never teach you anything: you will have to teach yourself, but I can help you perhaps in giving expression to that thought.8

The ideal of all education, all training should be this man-making. The man-making

mission of Swamiji can be made possible by religion. He said, ‘I look upon religion as the innermost core of education.’ And to Swamiji, religion is not in doctrine, in dogmas, nor in intellectual argumentation, it is being and becoming, it is realization of the divinity within.

It is the harmony of ancient and modern ideals of life and knowledge that is the core of Swamiji’s ideas. He opined, What we want is Western science coupled with Vedanta, Brahmacharya as the guiding motto, and also Shraddha and faith in one’s own self.9

Conclusion Education is complete only when it helps one develop a complete personality. All qualities, good and bad, are hidden in us or already in man. Our education should help us imbibe only good qualities. Without moral and spiritual education, life remains an aimless journey. It is the need of the hour. All right thinking people, teachers, education policy makers, parents and others should pay heed to it. o

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Whatever progress and success humanity has achieved ever since the creation of the world is all due to the concentration of the mind. The leaders of our civilization during the early ages were men who were really Yogis. Every invention, every new discovery is purely the outcome of concentration. A poet, a philosopher, a scientist, a warrior—all these have to be Yogis in the first place; then alone can they turn out to be great. Although these may not style themselves Yogis, they are actually so. A rose called by any their name will not be the less sweet for that. You should all be good Yogis, and then alone can you be ideal among mankind. In whatever Station of life you may be, if you can concentrate your mind, you are sure to be best in that field. When such is the case, is it not the duty of all to struggle hard to attain this mental concentration? Concentration is the mother of untold wealth, both material and spiritual.

—Swami Ramakrishnananda T h e

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The Order on the March Ramakrishna Math and Mission—News and Notes

Commemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda The following centres held various programmes to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. (Main programmes conducted by them are mentioned against their names.)

Bhubaneswar: A seminar on Value Education for Parents & Professionals on 27 July which was attended by about 400 parents and professionals.

Delhi: Three three-day workshops between 30 June and 23 July in which 208 teachers were trained for conducting value education programmes in schools.

The centre signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for implementing its ‘Awakened Citizen Programme’ in which teachers will be trained in imparting value education to students adopting a three-year teaching module developed by the centre.

Hyderabad: ‘Vivekananda Centre for Counselling and Positive Thinking’ started in January 2011 has so far attended to about 1000 cases pertaining to the problems of children, youths, women, etc.

Itanagar: A youth convention on 19 July in which about 400 youths took part.

A spiritual retreat on 20 July which was attended by about 300 devotees.

Mangalore: A two-day national seminar on Education - The Challenges and Solution in the Light of the Teachings of Swami Vivekananda on 11 and 12 July in which about 250 college students participated.

Swamiji’s Ancestral House, Kolkata: A classical dance programme by Pandit Birju Maharaj (Brijmohan Mishra) on 21 June which was attended by about 450 people.

On the centre’s initiative, three public meetings were held at different places in and around Kolkata on 22, 26 and 30 June. In all, about 1350 people attended the programmes.

Vivekananda University: With the help of a number of organizations, the University conducted 52 value education programmes for professionals from various fields from 14 November 2013 to 15 March 2014 in which about 15,000 people took part. During the same period, 44 value education programmes for parents and teachers were also held in which nearly 12,000 people participated. All these programmes were spread out in 19 districts of West Bengal.

A two-day value education workshop for medical professionals was conducted at the Institute of Culture, Kolkata, on 15 and 16 February in which about 300 doctors, nurses and paramedical staff participated. o Sri Ramakrishna Vijayam Short-story Competition Literature mirrors the dynamics and the principles that govern a society. It not only mirrors the society, it also influences and transforms it in many ways. The short-story literature is particularly useful in this matter. Besides the stories from the epics such as Mahabharata and Ramayana, there are numerous stories through which Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda impart their message of service and spirituality in a simple and effective way.

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Sri Ramakrishna Vijayam, the 94-year old Tamil monthly published from Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, conducted a ‘Short-story Competition’ aiming at reaching human values to the youth. It is important to note that of the subscription base of 1,75,000 per month, 1,00,000 are youth.

The Short-story Competition invited the stories from its readers under ‘Karu Unmai; Uru Karpanai’ (factual theme; imaginary description) highlighting human values.

There was an enthusiastic response to the invitation. Of the 1000 entries, 700 wrote a story for the first time. These included stories of devotion to God, family stories advocating love, inspirational stories instilling confidence by relentless fight against failures, stories glorifying women and our nation and so on.

Eight main prizes and ten consolation prizes were given away at a function held at the newly opened Vivekananda Cultural th Centre in the Vivekanandar Illam premises on 29 August 2014, the Vinayaka Chaturthi day. The prize-distribution function included lectures by many eminent speakers in Tamil. Sri S. Gurumurthy, well-known columnist, addressed the gathering. The event was widely reported in the print media. o Puppet Show on Swamiji held at Chennai Math Jointly produced and presented by Ramakrishna Mission, New Delhi, and Bharatiya Lok Kala Mandal, a cultural institution based in Udaipur, Rajasthan, a colourful puppet show focusing on the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda was organized at Mylapore Ramakrishna Math on 15 August 2014. Especially conceived and creatively designed to attract the youth through this traditional folk art form, this one-hour long puppet show has been made to mark 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.

The show has travelled extensively across the centres of Ramakrishna Math and Mission in north, northeast, and western India.

Travelling by a private bus, the 15-member team of artists from Rajasthan has performed more than 175 shows in Hindi, reaching out to 2.3 lakh people in India. The puppet show in English was presented for the first time at Chennai, marking its entry to South India.

At Chennai Math, 600 people watched the event. For many, it was a first time ‘live’ experience. The show was much appreciated by one and all. o T h e

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News of Branch Centres (in India) Viveknagar (Tripura) Ashrama organized a blood donation camp on 29 June which was inaugurated

by Sri Manik Sarkar, Chief Minister of Tripura. A total of 76 persons donated blood in the camp.

On the sacred occasion of Ratha Yatra, Puri Math conducted a medical camp in June-July in which about 700 patients were treated. The Ashrama also served lemonade to 25,000 pilgrims. Books on religious topics were distributed among 1000 students.

Puri Mission Ashrama served lemonade to about 5000 pilgrims and distributed 7000 pouches of drinking water during the Ratha Yatra festival. In the medical camp organized on this occasion 106 patients were treated. The centre also served lemonade to pedestrians throughout the summer.

Vivekananda University held its ninth foundation anniversary celebration and the annual convocation at its Belur campus on 4 July. Smt Smriti Zubin Irani, Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India, was the Guest-in-Chief and delivered the convocation address. The General Secretary, who is also the Chancellor of the University, presided over the meeting and awarded the certificates, degrees and diplomas to 123 students who successfully graduated from the Belur, Narendrapur and Ranchi faculties of the University.

The General Secretary inaugurated the newly started ‘Ma Sarada Vocational Training Centre’ at Baghbazar centre on 11 July.

Nagpur centre has launched Jnana Vahini, a mobile bookstall. It was flagged off by Swami Smarananandaji on 17 July.

On 20 July Swami Smarananandaji released a CD containing the archives of 56 years of Jivan Vikas, the Marathi monthly published by Nagpur centre.

Lucknow centre provided Vitamin-A capsules to 2598 underprivileged children of 4 schools in Lucknow district and free glasses to 71 children with refractory errors in the month of July. o Relief News Flood Relief: Odisha: Following heavy rainfall, some areas of Jajpur district were affected by flood.

Many mud-houses were destroyed and agricultural lands inundated. Kothar centre immediately started primary relief. The centre distributed 5000 kg chira (rice flakes), 2500 kg chattu (gram flour), 1300 kg gur (molasses), 2500 kg salt, 5104 packets of biscuits and 25,200 matchboxes among 2500 affected families of 20 wards in Jajpur district from 25 to 28 July.

Uttarakhand: Continuing its primary relief in Chamoli district, Dehradun centre distributed 53,800 kg rice, 10,760 kg dal (lentils), 10,760 litres edible oil, 4304 kg salt, 200 blankets and 460 solar lanterns among 2152 families of 32 villages from 27 June to 9 July.

West Bengal: In the wake of inundation and water logging caused by high tides in South 24 Parganas district, Manasadwip centre served cooked food (rice, dal and vegetable curry) and distributed 1940 kg muri (puffed rice), 665 kg sewai (vermicelli), 332 kg sugar, 66 kg milk powder and 66 kg dry fruits among 2110 families of 25 villages in Mousuni (Namkhana block) and Sagar Island from 22 to 31 July.

Drought Relief: Rajasthan: From 26 June to 27 July, Khetri centre distributed 4,10,000 litres of drinking water among 1360 families facing acute water scarcity. o

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Book Reviews For review in The Vedanta Kesari,

publishers need to send us two copies of their latest publication.

Swami Vivekananda – New Perspectives – An Anthology on Swami Vivekananda Published by Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Gol Park, Kolkata 700 029.

2013, Hardback, Pp759, Rs.100.

The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture occasionally organizes seminars and conferences, and publishes the proceedings, thus enriching the scriptural literature. The book under review is one such publication. It is an anthology of essays written by different authors, mostly about Swami Vivekananda’s stay in the West. The book is an offering to Swami Vivekananda in connection with the celebrations of the 150th birth anniversary of Swamiji, with the hope that the message it contains may help and guide present-day humanity in finding the true path of progress in the crossroads it finds itself in currently.

There are in all 32 contributions, divided into three parts. The first part, titled ‘Understanding Vivekananda’, consists of 9 articles. The second part, called ‘Swami Vivekananda in Global Perspective’, contains 14 contributions. The last part, titled ‘Swami Vivekananda’s Legacy’, has 9 articles.

The first part is dedicated to the description of the various facets of Swamiji’s personality. The articles are fairly detailed and deal with their subject in an exhaustive manner. They give an idea of the multi-faceted personality of Swamiji. It is, indeed, incredible how much he has achieved in his rather brief life of about 40 years. So much has so far been written about his achievements and still there is a wide scope for further discoveries.

The very first article by Swami Ritananda reveals how much Swamiji had influenced the T h e

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people he came into contact with, both in India and abroad. The same can be said of the other articles in this part, each emphasizing one or the other aspect of Swamiji’s personality.

The second part deals with the impact Swamiji made on the West, especially its thinkers.

It is well known how he interacted with great thinkers and scientists like Prof. John Henry Wright, Robert Ingersoll, Prof. William James and Nikola Tesla. The article on this topic deals with this topic exhaustively.

Another interesting article in this part is about the comparison between the Chinese philosopher Xu Yun and Swamiji. Though they lived around the same time and though Swamiji had made a brief visit to China on his way to the Parliament, they had not met each other. The author has compared their thoughts and brought out certain similarities.

To the best of the knowledge of the reviewer, this is the first time that somebody has written about this subject.

The third and the last part is about the impact of Swamiji’s ideas on the modern world. The very fact that his 150th birth anniversary evoked such a wide response in India and abroad is an indication that the world cannot forgot him.

The present book is enriched by a large number of photographs related to Swami Vivekananda. This adds to the value of the book.

Of all the possible effects of Swamiji on modern India, the one engaging most attention is the impact on modern youth. For the modern youth of India, living in a highly confused and mad society, Swamiji’s life and teachings are like a lighthouse, always showing the way out of dangers and pitfalls. In this direction, the anthologies such as this brought out by institutions like the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture are doing yeoman service.

May the Institute of Culture continue this great work and may it grow from strength to strength! ___________________________ DR NVC SWAMY, BANGALORE

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Sri Ramakrishna – Love That Knows No Limits

By M Sivaramkrishna Published by Indus Source Books, P O Box 6194, Malabar Hill P O, Mumbai 400 006; 2012, Paperback, Pp.276, Rs 275/A certain incident has been recounted by the author in this book, which at once sets the stage for the contents. Here is the incident: A humble glass-bangle maker named Sankari Shrinivas ‘had an unusual insight into Gadai’s advent.’ Sri Ramakrishna himself had a very high opinion of the bangle seller’s piety and spirituality; he often had animated discussions with him on the Bhagavatam. One day, as he was making a garland for Shiva’s worship, Gadadhar came there. Shrinivas went to a sweet shop and bought some sweetmeats and, making sure that no one was about, put the garland round Gadadhar’s neck and offered him the sweetmeats as a token of his worship. Folding his hands he said the following prophetic words: ‘I have become old and feel my end approaching. I shall not have the good luck to see the many wonderful things that you will do in the world. I only pray that you will ever look with compassion upon this unworthy servant of yours’ (page 62, Sri Ramakrishna…).

This book is about the wonderful things that Sankari Shrinivas predicted about Gadadhar, later known as Sri Ramakrishna. More than anything, it is a reminder, if one were needed, of the many wonderful things he set in motion to enrich the lives, minds and spirits of later generation, in other words ourselves who have had the good fortune of knowing about him through the words of those who documented and gave commentaries on his wondrous life.

The book consists of 64 chapters, which may sound daunting but is actually not, because of the very simple way in which the chapters have been planned. The first fourteen chapters take us through the conception and early boyhood of Sri Ramakrishna. Here the author has given an account of the tradition of truth and adherence to its basics as the bedrock on which spirituality is founded.

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Readers are reminded of the obduracy of Khudiram when his wealthy patron requested him to lie for him. Khudiram had to shift to Kamarpukur, a move he resolutely faced rather than stay on under false pretences. This is a lesson in itself and one that, in these times, cannot be repeated too often.

We are given descriptions of Gadadhar’s sweetness and innocence as a child and several occurrences where he was seen to be special, when, simply by being, he automatically evoked the trust and the love of all those around him. One of the most amusing is the episode in Durgadas’ house when he managed to gain entry into the inner quarters. The writer uses events in the young Gadadhar’s life to show that the marvellous events of later life were only a sequel to his early experiences. His losing consciousness at the sight of the flight of the snow-white cranes against dark rain clouds, his complete identification with Shiva when required to play the part in a village play are very well-known.

However this did not mean that Gadadhar was unsociable. He had a wide group of friends and was fun-loving. He could also spend time in solitude—a harbinger of future events.

Chapters 16 to 21 give a vivid account of the changes wrought in the wake of Khudiram’s death. The responsibility of the family fell on the shoulders of the eldest son, Ramkumar and we are very quickly taken through the next few years to the move to Kolkata, the construction of the temple to Bhavatarini and the advent of Rani Rasmani and her son-in-law into the life of Gadadhar. The stage was now set for the ‘phenomenon’ as Christopher Isherwood called Sri Ramakrishna, to change the world’s thinking both through his own words and actions and later through Swami Vivekananda.

The next ten chapters move through Sri Ramakrishna’s intense spiritual struggles, his gurus Totapuri, Bhairavi Brahmani and his final realization. In these chapters, the author discusses the various means used for spiritual realization, including Tantra in a manner which is accessible to all his readers. The writer then takes us through Sri Ramakrishna’s marriage and the advent of the Holy Mother whose strength and power he knew only too well. He trained her as his foremost disciple because he knew that many others were to follow, young men, unspoilt by life, who had the passion of renunciation burning in their hearts.

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Chief among these was Narendranath Datta, later to be known as Swami Vivekananda. In the chapter entitled ‘Paradigms for Seekers’, the writer retells the episode in young Naren’s life when he could not ask Bhavatarini for succour for his now impoverished family. It was his Mentor’s divine play that prevented his forming this prayer.

The last part of Sri Thakur’s life is movingly told. The dreadful cancer that laid Sri Ramakrishna low, his passing, the deep mourning, makes for an intense reading experience. The author says that Sri Ramakrishna did not pass away but passed into the hearts and minds of his countless followers.

Dr Sivaramkrishna is no stranger to anyone who is familiar with current RamakrishnaVivekananda literature, having written countless articles and books on the subject. His clear, unhurried style, at once simple and richly intense style makes him accessible to all manner of readers.

He has again re-interpreted a marvel and a wonder for 21st century readers, thereby proving what Sankari Shrinivas said all those years ago to be true and right and good. ___________________________ PREMA RAGHUNATH, CHENNAI

Ishavasya Upanishad and the True Import of Dharma

By Swami Tyagishananda Published by Viveka Hamsa Prakashana 569, 3rd Cross, Srinivasa Nagar, Bangalore 560050 2013, First Edition, Paperback, pp.385, Rs.200.

Swami Tyagishananda was the President of Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama in Bangalore from 1938 to 1951, the year of his Mahasamadhi. He received Sannyasa Diksha

by Swami Shivananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. Swami Tyagishananda was much known for his severe asceticism. The book under review consists of the notes dictated by the Swami in the scriptural classes [1946-1949] to the late Swami Kirtidananda when the latter joined the Ramakrishna Order.

The author, who says that Dharma is the core of the Isha Upanishad, has attempted to interpret it in the light of the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and T h e

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Swamiji. The author’s sound knowledge of Sanskrit grammar enables him to detect the deeper meaning in the Upanishad. His profound erudition won him the esteem of many eminent scholars of his times.

His scholarship and research acumen are patent on every page. Arguments are so forceful, convincing and well-substantiated that even those who come to scoff will remain to pray.

He has summed up the teachings of the Upanishad in the following words: ’The very setting of the Isha Upanishad gives a further clue in understanding Jivanmukti as the essence of its teachings. In the first place, it comes at the end of the Shukla Yajur Veda which deals with Yajna. It represents the culmination of the life of worship and service.’

Tyagishananda was not happy with many of the orthodox interpretations of the scriptures particularly those concerned with Dharma. He views Dharma not as duty but as service. Duty connotes bondage while service is a sign of freedom.

Dharma is a misnomer if carried out of fear of hell.

A human being is Dharma personified. One who is not conscious of one’s Dharma is less than a man. The author goes to the extent of saying that only a Jivanmuktha is entitled to be called a man.

Swamiji must have had this in mind when he talked of ‘man-making education’, the author says. The Isha Upanishad teaches one of knowing, loving and serving God by identifying oneself with the universe. Did not Sri Ramakrishna say that God has become the universe?

The author interprets ’svadharma’ as one’s willing cooperation with the initial forces of evolution to elevate oneself to a higher status by manifesting one’s own divinity and perfection and by seeing one’s Self in the Self of others and seeing the Self of others in one’s own. ‘Yajna’[Gita-chap.

3], according to him, is the inner urge with which the Jiva is created. That divinity, that original perfection Swamiji meant when he defined religion and education is his characteristic way.

Scriptures, according to Tyagishananda, give conflicting definitions of Dharma. Hence, it is wiser to listen to the still, small voice, he says, heard by realized souls. The Swami says that Sri Ramakrishna preferred Mother’s words to scriptures whenever he was in a conflict. When Arjuna wants to know what happens to a man who does not obey Shastras but practices sacrifice and service with

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Shraddha for the purpose of realization of God as his inner light guides him Bhagavan tells him that if such an act is based on Sattvika Buddhi and Sattvika Shraddha that action is Dharma. Srimad Bhagavatam says that Tyaga and Yoga are the essence of Dharma.

The book under review is full of extended references from the scriptures, which, if accompanied by translations, would benefit the reader a great deal. Appendix-1 provides detailed explanations of text-indexed items. Appendix-2 carries the text of the Upanishad and its translation. While typos are to be taken care of, the publishers must be thanked for resurrecting a sixty-year-old valuable research treatise on a vital spiritual subject of general interest. _______________________ K.PANCHAPAGESAN, BANGALORE

Say no to Negatives

By J. P. Vaswani Published by Gita Publishing House, Sadhu Vaswani Mission, 10, Sadhu Vaswani Path, Pune - 411 001, 2013, paperback, pp.439, Rs.190 A resolve to ‘Say No To Negatives’ is a positive step for peace and contentment, the lesson for the present generation. The mind with a brooding disposition effortlessly identifies what is not in possession forgetting many favourable situations that already exist. This has the potential to dehumanize the human being.

A situation appearing formidable must be faced instead of attempting to circumvent it.

Negative thoughts generate negative energy that can spread like an epidemic. By allowing the mind to remain riled with thoughts of some unpleasant past events, we carry old baggage that should have been discarded.

The possibilities for generating negative emotions are immense. They ruin our lives if allowed to influence our emotions. ‘The mind is discursive while the soul is synergic. While the soul integrates everything, the mind analysis everything’, says the author.

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The author draws attention through ten chapters in this book to the negative influences such as pride, prejudice and jealousy and the way one should deal with them. Reference has been made to a survey that elicited confessions about one’s weaknesses. Respondents to the survey confess: ‘I am rude . . . expect everyone to love me . . . but I can’t do the same . . . I judge people harshly . . . I am never satisfied with . . . what I have . . . I can’t face trouble . . . ’ and so on. Prejudices have often no reasons or justification. The ethnic cleansing executed by Hitler mentioned by the author is an example of mindless prejudice.

Elders have an important role in promoting a sublime character in their children. Parents, points out Dada Vaswani, by their extreme views and excessive discipline cause prejudices in their children. Complexion, race, language, gender, religious beliefs and caste are among other sources of prejudice. We fail to broaden our outlook and benefit from outside sources. We choose to stay within a ’comfort zone’ while ‘successful people are known to have boldly stepped out of their comfort zones . . .’ Swami Vivekananda also encouraged us to broad base our outlook and assimilate new methods or ideas.

Women confined to home living in isolation and engaged in monotonous life suffer from negative feelings. The author refers to an initiative

by Sadhu Vaswani to help ‘purdah-clad kitchen bound women through ‘Sakhi Satsang’ enabling them to become decision makers and enjoy life.

Having listed innumerable potential sources of negative emotions, Dada Vaswani offers ‘Practical Tips’ that will help the distressed minds.

For example, one should compliment others and appreciate their work without resorting to ‘insincere compliments’. Have faith in God and forget your worries. ‘Don’t dwell on problems—dwell on solutions’. Remember the many blessings; make prayer a habit and cultivate a hobby like music or other fine arts. Keep company with good friends.

These are some remedies suggested.

More often than not, the unhappy mind tends to look out for solutions. ‘Happiness is your birthright! But happiness must come from within you’, observes the revered author. Also, the right means must be adopted. ________________________________ P.S. SUNDARAM, MUMBAI

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Come, Join Us in the Celebrations!

The Vedanta Kesari—A Journey of 100 Years Vedanta, ‘the essence of Vedas’, is the most ancient philosophy of the world.

Based on the integral vision of the Rishis, Vedanta proclaims the Divinity of Man and underlying unity of existence as its fundamental principle. Vedanta is not a religion but the essence of all religions, especially the Sanatana Dharma, the Religion Eternal.

The Vedanta Kesari,’the Lion of Vedanta’, is the spiritual and cultural monthly of the Ramakrishna Order published from Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai. The Vedanta Kesari now completes a century of its service to the cause of spreading Vedanta and Ramakrishna-Vivekananda ideology of holistic spirituality and man-making.

Swami Vivekananda played a pivotal role in spreading and popularizing the Vedanta philosophy in modern times. A group of Swami Vivekananda’s disciples in Madras, which included G. Venkataranga Rao, M.C. Nanjunda Rao and Alasinga Perumal, started on 14 September 1895 a monthly bearing the title Brahmavadin (‘The Messenger of Highest Truth’).

It continued its march for 14 years, until Alasinga’s demise in 1909. From 1909 to 1914, the publication of Brahmavadin became irregular. The last issue was brought out in 1914 (March-April). Soon after, the Brahmavadin’s legacy was continued by a new journal, The Vedanta Kesari, started by Sri Ramakrishna Math Chennai, and has been in circulation ever since.

The Vedanta Kesari, one of India’s oldest religious monthlies in English with an uninterrupted circulation for 100 years, will celebrate its centenary by bringing out a Centenary Issue in December 2014. The Centenary Issue will provide an overview of the Vedanta Kesari’s history and will feature various aspects of spirituality in contemporary times. This Spotlight Issue on Spirituality Today will contain articles from learned authors, monks and lay, on current trends in spirituality and holistic living.

Besides the Centenary Issue, we would also launch the updated digital archives of 100 years of the Vedanta Kesari with added search facilities.

We welcome readers and well-wishers to join us in celebrating the Centenary by liberally contributing to the Vedanta Kesari Centenary Fund. Your contributions may be sent in cash or DD /cheque in favour of ‘Sri Ramakrishna Math’, Mylapore, Chennai – 600004, with a cover note stating that your contribution is meant for the Vedanta Kesari Centenary Fund may be sent to: The Manager, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai – 600004, Tamilnadu.

Email: thevedantakesari@chennaimath.org

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RAMAKRISHNA MISSION SEVASHRAMA Vijnanananda Marg, Mutthiganj, ALLAHABAD - 211 003 (U.P.) Phone - 0532-2413369, Fax - 0532-2415235 Email: rkmathald@dataone.in, rkmsald@gmail.com Website: rkmallahabad.org

An Appeal for Endowment Fund Dear Devotees, Allahabad or Prayagraj, as it is fondly called, is a very holy place of pilgrimage in India and devotees from many countries throng here during the Kumbha Mela held after a regular interval.

Innumerable devotees gather here for Magh Mela every year held in the month of Magh (January - February). Devotees come to stay here for the Kalpavas for a month during this period. This is one of the most sacred features of the holy city.

Every year the Ramakrishna Math, Allahabad, arranges for the Magh Mela Camp in the month of Magh (January-February) for about one month (Kalpavas) starting from 15th January till Maghi purnima. For this annual event, we spend nearly Rs. 40 Lac every year. This cost might even increase due to steep increase in input costs.

Ramakrishna Math, Allahabad requests devotees and admirers to contribute liberally for Vijnanananda Endowment Fund.

During Kumbh Mela:

Endowment Amount

No: of days reservation in Camp

No: of family members who can stay in camp

100 donors on first come first served basis in each bracket

Rs. One Lakh or more

One day

Three

Rs. Two Lakhs or more

Two days

Three

50 donors on first come first served basis for two consecutive Kumbh Mela

Rs. 10 Lakhs or more

Five days

Three

Rs. 30 Lakhs or more

Ten days

Five

During Magh Mela:100 Rs. 10,000 or more Endowment donors on first Rs. 20,000 or more come first served basis in each bracket Rs. 50,000 or more

One day

One

One day

Three

Five days

Three

50 Endowment donors on first come first served basis

Ten days

Five

Rs. One Lakh or more

Endowment donors desirous of staying during the Kalpavas period would have to deposit an additional Rs.30,000 per member before the end of Sept. 2014. Fifty such donors would be allotted stay on first come first served basis.

Please contact our office to register your name for the Endowment Fund with your contact details. We could then send a form which can be filled by you and sent to us with the Endowment amount.

Swami Sarvabhutananda Secretary

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Ramakrishna Sarada Ashrama, Devaprayag An Appeal The Ramakrishna Sarada Ashrama was inaugurated on the auspicious occasion of the Chaitra Shukla Navaratri. The high-points of the week-long celebration were the enshrinement of Devi Durga, the presiding deity of Devaprayag Lord Raghunathji and Sri Thakur, Holy Mother Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda and also chanting, homa and cultural programmes.

Mokshaprana Centenary Bhawan Most Revered Mataji accompanied by Pravrajika Atmaprana Mataji had visited Devaprayag.

She was ecstatic after taking a bath at the sangam and said, ‘I have completed my journey to the Himalayas.’

To commemorate her visit to Devaprayag and also as a symbol of her immense love for Himalayas, a building is being constructed at Ramakrishna Sarada Ashrama in Devaprayag. The three-storeyed building will have the following facilities: 1. Five guest rooms in the names of Revered Bharatiprana, Mokshaprana, Muktiprana, Dayaprana and Shraddhaprana Mataji. 2. A library and a study room—Mokshaprana Path Bhawan.

3. A Sunday study circle for local students on value education and life-skills—Vivek Bodha. 4.

Spiritual Retreats—Moksha Satra. 5. Pre-primary School for local children—Sarada Kusum.

The project will cost about Rs 50 lakhs. We appeal fervently to all devotees, NGOS, service and welfare-oriented corporate houses to extend their kind and generous helping hand and receive the choicest blessings of Thakur, Ma, Swamiji and Revered Mataji.

Any person wishing to perpetuate the memory of their near and dear ones may donate minimum Rs. 50,000 and above and have the privilege of displaying a marble plaque in his/her name in the ashrama.

Communication: Swami Sarvatmananda, Ramakrishna Sarada Ashrama, Dak Banglow Road, PO: Devaprayag, Tehri Garhwal. Uttarakhand. Pin: 249301 Email: rmksarada@gmail.com; Phone: 09410520930, 9897452084 Cheque/DD may please be drawn in favour of Ramakrishna Sarada Ashrama.

For online donation: Our CBS A/C. Punjab National Bank, Devaprayag. A/C--0625000100098104 (IFS code: PUNB: 0062500). State Bank of India, Devaprayag. A/C No: 30932831669 (IFS code: SBIN 0014135)

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Value of Brahmacharya Swami Tathagatananda Brahmacharya or chastity in thought, word and deed is fundamental to all spiritual striving. It is the corner-stone of not only spiritual life but a healthy and strong society. ‘Chastity is the first virtue in man or woman,’ said Swami Vivekananda.

This handy booklet is based on an article

by Swami Tathagatananda, the Head of Vedanta Society of New York, USA. Highly recommended to all spiritual seekers.

Pages 38 + vi. Price: Rs. 20/- + Postage: Rs.20/-for single copy.

Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600004 Email: mail@chennaimath.org

Glimpses of Excellence Dr. Suruchi Pande

Pages 140 + x. Price: Rs. 110/+ Postage: Rs.30/-for single copy.

Printed in four-colours, the book gives a bird’s eye-view of the excellence achieved in ancient India in diverse fields. Copious citation of the research and literary evidences and references lend a stamp of authenticity to the book. It gives some glimpses of the skill, dexterity and perfection the ancient Indians achieved in various fields of human endeavour that can baffle even the experts of the today’s world!

Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600004 Email: mail@chennaimath.org

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Speaking Flute A Collection of Stories Swami Vimurtananda A collection of stories on higher values published at different points of time in Sri Ramakrishna Vijayam, the Tamil monthly of the Ramakrishna Order, the book has the English translation of 25 selected stories. The stories highlight the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda. Originally written in Tamil by Swami Vimurtananda, under the pen name Bhamathimaindan, and translated into English by a group of devotees.

Pages 218 + vi. Price: Rs. 85/- + Postage: Rs.30/-for single copy.

Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600004 Email: mail@chennaimath.org

Wisdom in Verses Translation of Dohavali of Goswami Tulasidas Swami Brahmeshananda Dohavali is an important work by the famous saint-poet Goswami Tulasidas. Written in Awadhi language, it contains both spiritual and secular wisdoms with specific emphasis on the devotion to Sri Rama and chanting Rama Nama. The book abounds in nuggets of wisdom as well as intence devotion to Sri Rama.

English translation is by Swami Brahmeshananda, a senior monk and a former Editor of The Vedanta Kesari and an author on spiritual matters.

Pages 222 + ix. Price: Rs. 70/- + Postage: Rs.30/-for single copy.

Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600004 Email: mail@chennaimath.org

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NAVAJEEVAN BLIND RELIEF CENTRE (FREE HOME FOR THE BLIND, ORPHAN AND AGED) TIRUCHANOOR, TIRUPATI - 517503. Ph : 0877-2239992, 9908537528 [Mob.] E-mail: sreenavajeevan@gmail.com Website: www.navajeevan.org

An Appeal 35 Years of Service to Humanity 1979 - 2014 1. Navajeevan School & Hostel for Blind Children – 2. Navajeevan Free Eye Hospital – 3. Navajeevan Free Home for Aged –

4. Navajeevan Annaksetram - 5. Navajeevan Sharanagati Vridhashram – 6. Navajeevan Rural Medical Centres - 7. Navajeevan Eye Care Centres - 8. Navajeevan Orphanage Children Homes –

Tirupati, Parlekhimundi, Golamunda Tirupati Tirupati, Rishikesh, Parlekhimundi and Chennai Kothapeta / Rishikesh Tirupati Berhampur [Orissa] Serango & Kalahandi [Orissa] Tirupati, Parlehkimundi, Saluru, Golamunda, Berhampur, Pandukal, Vizag & Araku

A Humble Request for Donation 1. Sponsor one day Annadan to Blind Children and aged

– Rs. 5000/-

3. Sponsor one blind child or Orphan child for one year

– Rs. 6000/-

2. Sponsor 5 IOL Cataract Eye Operations

4. Sponsor one poor aged person for one year

5. Sponsor one free eye camp at Rural/Tribal area 6. Vidyadan—Educational aid for one Child

– Rs. 7000/–

Rs. 5000/-

–

Rs. 2000/-

– Rs. 50000/-

Donor devotees can send their contributions by cheque/DD/MO to the above address on the occasion of birthday, wedding day or any other special occasion and receive prasadam of Lord Balaji Venkateswara of Tirupati as blessings.

Contributions to NAVAJEEVAN BLIND RELIEF CENTRE, Tirupati are eligible for Tax Relief U/S 80G of Income Tax Act. Our Bank details for online transfer : Bank Name : Indian Bank , Gandhi Road Branch, Tirupati SB A/c No: 463789382, Account Holder : Navajeevan Blind Relief Centre, Branch Code: T036, IFSC code: IDIB000T036,

‘We can attain salvation through social work’ – Swami Vivekananda K. Sridhar Acharya Founder/ President

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Let us be at peace, perfect peace, with ourselves, and give up our whole body and mind and everything as an eternal sacrifice unto the Lord... Day and night let us renounce our seeming self until it becomes a habit with us to do so... —Swami Vivekananda

Swamiji's statue at RIMSE, Mysore

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Vol.101-10 The Vedanta Kesari (English Monthly) October 2014. Regd. with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under No.1084 / 1957. POSTAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:TN / CH (C) / 190 / 12-14. LICENSED TO POST WITHOUT PREPAYMENT TN/PMG(CCR)/WPP-259 / 2012-14 Date of Publication: 24th of every month

Teach yourselves, teach everyone his/her real nature, call upon the sleeping soul and see how it awakes.

Power will come, glory will come, goodness will come, purity will come, and everything that is excellent will come, when this sleeping soul is roused to self-conscious activity.

—Swami Vivekananda

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Subscription (inclusive of postage) Annual : ` 100 10 years: ` 1000 56 ~ O C TWebsite: O B E R 2 www.chennaimath.org 0 1 4 Contact: Ramakrishna T h Sri e V e d a n t a K eMath, s a r i ~Chennai.