Lessons from Swamis

Thus, he presented an exemplary demonstration of dedicating one’s life for the good of the suffering masses. Swami Vivekananda, in his famous Sivashuktam wrote, परतहतकरणा्य प्राणप्रचछेदप्रीतम्, नतन्यनतन्यतिं नीलकण्ठं... “Who joyously sacrifices Himself for the good of others, whose throat is blue from drinking the poison intended for others, I prostrate before him.” And again, Swamiji said about Sri Ramakrishna, प्राणाप्बण जगत-तारण “He has sacrificed his life to redeem the world and thus cut the bonds of the Kali Yuga.” In a letter addressed to his brother-disciple Swami Ramakrishnanandaji, Swamiji wrote in Sanskrit, प्राणात्य्येऽतप परकल्याणतिकीषा्ब्वरः, “They alone are Sri Ramakrishna’s children who render services to the suffering people even at the risk of their own lives.” In the person of Swami Punyanandaji Maharaj, we saw the living testimony of those blazing words of Swami Vivekananda.

Whenever I remember Swami Punyanandaji’s life, I feel doubly assured that if we respond to Swamiji’s call sincerely, he will never let us down, though we may be very insignificant. By his infinite grace, Swamiji has granted us refuge at his holy feet; Swamiji certainly has seen us, is still watching us at every moment, protecting us, and leading us onward and onward. — Swami Suviranandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission

Swami Shiveshananda

Swami Shiveshananda (1894 -1975), was well-known as Dwaraka Maharaj. He joined the order at Belur Math in 1925 and received his mantra-diksha from Swami Shivanandaji and later also his sannya-diksha from him in 1931. He lived most of his monastic life at Belur Math. He attained mahasamadhi on 11 Oct 1975.

Shabari’s waiting

Swami Shivanandaji lived upstairs in the Old Math building where Swami Vivekananda spent his last days. In the courtyard below stands the mango tree which was there during Swami Vivekananda’s time as well. There is also a jackfruit tree and some other plants. Dwaraka Maharaj had been told by his guru to see that the courtyard was kept clean and that leaves from the tree did not litter the place. Dwaraka Maharaj knew about Shabari, who lived an ascetic life in the forest. Shabari had heard that Sri Rama would pass by her hermitage, and she waited and waited for months and years to have the darshan of Sri Rama. She was waiting earnestly to hear his footsteps. At last he came and Shabari’s dream was fulfilled.

Similarly, Dwaraka Maharaj was always watchful to see that leaves did not litter the courtyard. As soon as a leaf fell, he would rush forward to remove it! Thus his whole mind was given to his guru, Mahapurush Maharaj.

I have seen him reciting those verses that deal with the episode of Shabari from the Ramayana in Bengali poetry, tears pouring down from his eyes. In his room was a picture of old Shabari, which someone had got for him. His was a great example of how an ordinary act can also become a practical spiritual action. —Srimat Swami Smarananandaji Maharaj, President Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission

Swami Shivananda: A Living Light

SWAMI SHRADDHANANDA

In this hitherto unpublished article, Swami Shraddhananda reminisces about his interactions with his guru Swami Shivanandaji, one of the direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna and the 2nd President of the Ramakrishna Order. Shraddhanandaji joined the Order in 1930 and was the head of the Vedanta Society of Sacramento for many years till his mahasamadhi in July 1996. Mrs. Lali Maly, a devotee of the Sacramento ashrama from Union City, California, has sent this article to The Vedanta Kesari.

(Continued from the previous issue...)

Some of my friends said, “Well, what Still, my friends kept after me. “Every are you doing? Passing so much time evening,” they insisted, “you come right to in meditation and japa. While the Swami Shivanandaji’s room and do some guru is living, you should do some personal personal service.” service.” I had found that many samskaras arise He was ailing by this time. He was about when you take such a step as this, and so I seventy-six years old and his health was failing. thought meditation and prayer were more There was no electric fan and so he had to be important. Besides, there were so many other fanned in the summer. swamis for personal service. My friends would For two or three days I did that service. I not listen to me. Gradually, of course, the idea had continued to wear my normal dress. began to take root in me. Wearing the monastic robes would come after

One day I went with the idea of rendering passing the period of the probationer. My personal service to my guru. Swami friends had said, “Why should you look like a Shivanandaji smoked the hubble-bubble. At student? You are no longer a student. You home, my father was a veteran tobacco smoker, should shave your head and leave a tuft of hair and at one time I had prepared his tobacco. So in the back as brahmacharis do.” I had done as hopefully I said, “Maharaj, I would like to they said. But, I had had no instruction from my prepare your tobacco.” Delighted, he asked, “Do guru to do so, and he stared at me. “Who is this? you know how to prepare tobacco? All right. That boy. He has become a sadhu.” Try.” Then, after two or three days, he said, “I

But it had been a long time since I had see, my boy, that you are not prepared yet to do prepared tobacco for my father, and I found this personal service, so I think you had that I had forgotten how to do it. A brother- better spend the time in meditation. That disciple rescued me as I was floundering, and I would be more beneficial for you.” My managed to complete that task. vanity was hurt. Many thoughts were racing

around in my mind, and after some days I went to him.

“Maharaj, do you think I am not prepared for this life? Do you think I should go back and finish my studies?” “My idea,” he answered gently, “was that you have just come, and that you should spend more time in meditation. That will be of more benefit to you. Not that I want you to go back. You will remain here.” This was very encouraging to me.

Much later, when I reflected on these things, I realised how graceful he was. He knew that I was not ready, but he said, “Let him have a chance.”

My problems and questions continued. I remember in the early years of my staying at the Math, I had another problem — it was about Holy Mother. So, one day I asked him, “Maharaj, what is the place of Holy Mother?” In those days, very few knew about Holy Mother. It was the custom of the devotees to keep Mother in secret, in the heart. He stared at me, and closed his eyes, and said, “Sri Ramakrishna is identical with Holy Mother.”

There were trials in my studies, too. Of course, there were many Sanskrit classes and the Upanishad classes where I had become a regular student. Naturally many questions would come, and I thought, “Since I am here, I must utilise my guru.” Once, being very confused by some of the things I had read in the Sanskrit books, I asked Swami Shivanandaji, “Maharaj, there are two paths. Which is the better path to follow?”

He replied, “If you want the path of knowledge, you can have that, and you will have mukti. And there is also the path of devotion, and if you want that, you can have that. That is the path you will take if you want a combination of love and knowledge. Knowledge is the harder path to follow. But the best thing is perfect self-abandonment. Say ‘Lord, Lord, I am Thine; if it be Thy will that I have mukti, or that I have devotion, let it be up to Thee.’ Perfect self-abandonment in the Lord. That is the thing.”

Then one day, after I had asked him many questions, he said, “You are asking these questions as if it were a mathematical problem. Your questions are very superficial, and you have not the understanding to pose a good question.” All my vanity was being crushed. He knew I had that sense of vanity, and so sometimes he would say, “These university boys are worthless. They think that they have passed these exams, but they are quite impractical and are worthless.” Still, patiently, he would continue. “You are a mere boy now. You must just go on and live this life, and if you can live this life for seven or eight years, then much will come. This life is quite a different life. You should not have the same kind of ambition as getting a college degree. One struggles hard for years, and has ups and downs, and so you must have patience, you must have patience.”

Again, one day he asked me, “What are you studying now?” I answered, “The Upanishads.” “Upanishads! Does it not conflict with your devotion?” he asked. I was really confused and still replied, “No, not much.” Maharaj then explained, “These ideas of Advaita must be carefully approached, and a life of devotion must be lived.”

Then, gradually, what he had expected came to happen. I began to think, “What is this personal God?” One day I asked, “I have a question, Maharaj. Well, I do my japa and meditation, but sometimes I don’t like the idea of a personal God. Even the name of God seems not at all pleasing to me. I want to repeat only the word Om without the idea of a personal God.” He was very grave and appeared to be sad, and kept quiet for some time. “All right, my boy. There are two ways for the realisation of

God. One is the path of knowledge, and the other is the path of devotion. There is no contradiction between the two. In the beginning they seem to be different. You need not repeat the mantra, but don’t think that the personal God is different from the impersonal God. Rather, you should first pray to the personal god and then you go on to Om.” He did not quite encourage the idea, but he subdued me that way. After doing that for some time, I thought it was foolish. But he would say, smiling, “All right. Go on, go on.”

I remember one of the sadhus was studying the Mandukya Upanishad, which doesn’t recognise God or anything but the Self. The position is very rational. One night Swami Shivanandaji asked him, “What are you studying? Does it contain my Mother’s name? I don’t care for the Mandukya Upanishad. Knowledge has to have devotion, otherwise one is liable to be led astray any moment.” That was a revelation to me.

Although he was always loving, kind and affectionate, he later on decided, ‘This boy requires some other medicine.’ He scolded me, and he said, “You are a selfish boy, and you think you will have spiritual life in the way you are used to having in the world.”

But though he scolded me severely, I bore it well, because by that time I knew he was my well-wisher, and he did it for my good. Some of the other swamis were very sorry for me. When they asked, “Why has he scolded you so severely?”, I could only answer, “I cannot recall anything I did that would offend him. Of course, I am all the time asking questions.”

One day he said, “You must sweep this whole courtyard in addition to your studies.” It would take more than one hour with a broom and he would notice me from his room in the morning. The other sadhus felt very sad for me.

But matters got worse. When I would go to offer my pranams to him, he would not answer, but instead become very grave. He would be very cheerful until I put in my appearance, and then he would lapse into silence. By that time, I had matured a little. I thought this was my trial and I would not fail. I would stand it. With all reverence I would stand it.

He would get up at 3.00 A.M. and do his meditation and by 6 o’clock he was all through and ready to receive the swamis. The tea bell would ring at 6.30 A.M. Being in his room in the morning with all the sadhus was really a place of pilgrimage. Of course, no devotees from Calcutta would come at that early hour. From 6.00 to 6.30 A.M. would be reserved for the monastic inmates, and he would receive them with great affection, and that was their food for the day. “My son, how are you?” “My child, how are you?”

Just a few words and a kind look; and that worked on the minds of everyone who used to come. By that time his illness had aggravated. He was confined in his room and could not come down. But he radiated love. It was an hour of great joy and inspiration. However, whenever I appeared, he had not a word for me. I thought, “What is this?”

(To be continued...)

The more you weep for Him, the more will He be revealed in your heart. Weep with intense love, weep with the utmost longing.

— Swami Shivananda

(Continued from page 22...)

International Peace in the Light of Indian Philosophy

influenced by their prejudices, memories, ambitions, desires and fears operating at a collective level — societies are knowingly or unknowingly prompted by their instincts and act on their compulsions. These instincts in the societies are built over long periods of time and are deeply engraved in them. Experiences, jolts, lessons on the winding and excruciatingly long path of human history, particularly that which is related to the particular society, lie deeply buried inside the collective subconscious of the society and are carried on coded into scripture, legend, literature, music, folk art, conventions, festivals, traditions, language, mythology, culture and the like, which affect the external collective behaviour.

Thus the third thesis of this article is:

‘Just as individuals, societies too are influenced by instincts, desires, memories, ambitions fears etc., that lie in their collective subconscious.’ (Fig. 4)

Thus, for peace, there is a need to tackle the mind of a society/nation in preference to dealing with environment and external activity. Societies must either 1) seek to remove or deal with perverse cravings, especially because they are unseen, or alternatively, 2) sublimate them. An example of the former would be a removal of animosity towards the other nation by education and edification. An example of sublimation would be turning human energy from belligerence to research for human progress. A society which is slave to its instincts, which has inflated and misplaced pride, and is a victim of its mean passions, will surely indulge in atrocities in the name of nationalism or some such virtue—no matter how benign the environment and the neighbours.

Mahatma Gandhi’s approach Satyagraha

The Sanskrit word Sat, one of the three aspects of the Atman, connotes both ‘Truth’ and ‘Existence’. The universal virtue ‘truth’ (satya) thus derives directly from the infallible Existence aspect of the ever incontrovertible Atman and is thus unfailing. Mahatma Gandhi tested the veracity of this fact by ‘experimenting’ with truth in his own life since his childhood.14 Having been convinced that truth is a force in itself, he used it as a weapon to tackle injustice and atrocities in society. He declared, “The sword can kill, but it cannot compel.” He then invented a principle that is of the nature of ‘passive resistance’ which is free from weakness, fear and hatredand gave it the name satyagraha (which translates as truthfirmness or truth-insistence).

Non-violence

Similarly, love (or its obverse, non-injury) derives directly from the Bliss aspect of the incontrovertible Atman. Hence, it too is a force by itself. Gandhiji says, “The ‘law of love’ will work, just as the ‘law of gravitation’ will work, whether we accept it or not.” He exhorted his people to extend love even to the enemy. Gandhi’s aim was to ‘liquidate’ his enemy by destroying hatred and turning him into a friend: “Your enemy is your foolish brother. Minister to him when he is hurt; disobey him when he tries to hurt you. No enemy can ever be strong enough or savage enough to withstand the fire of love.”15

If love should be extended to everyone, how did he fight evildoers? The answer lies in the fact that his new kind of warfare was designed to kill not the man but his meanness,

not the thief but his desire to thieve, not the enemy but his enmity. People could see the “power of his weapon that healed as against the ineffective weapons that killed.”

Indian understanding of peace Peace is ‘still’ power

From the above discussion it is clear that peace is neither a ‘passive’ state nor some sort of complacency or benumbed silence, rather it is a calm, dynamic, ‘still’ power. This power is derived from inner strength coupled with understanding and love. Bravado, display of strength, war, attack, etc., come from hidden weakness or fear.16 A really strong person does not harm anyone.

Further, peace does not come from compromising differences, as an improvised or an ill-planned solution may provide; neither does it come from road-rolling differences as war intends to do. It may be noted that while war aims at settling differences, it invariably ends up creating them.

The symphony of diversity

How then does peace view differences? The answer is, it knows the principle ‘Variety is the first principle of life’ and ‘Unity in variety is the plan of creation’.17 Rather than ‘tolerating’ differences, which is a kind of suppression, it develops strength to assimilate them or, it may be said, it broadens the outlook and takes them within its enlightened stride. The Indian approach has always been seeking harmony within diversity. This harmony, however, is not a fusion, a jumble, or a medley or a muddle of things that are different in nature, rather, it is a symphony built from differing things in a variegated diversity.

Peace is dynamic

‘Peace’ in Indian understanding is not a static concept. Atman, the deeper, undeniable, self-existent and causal reality, has not only the static but also the dynamic aspect.

This is the one reason why Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violence is not passive, rather, it has the blazing power in it. His non-violence has not the strength of a stone that resists its own destruction, but something entirely ‘alive’ or ‘conscious’ that makes a statement, insists, faces, and even cares for the offender.

The dynamic aspect of Atman is power (shakti)—a power that permits and causes everything to move or change, the Atman itself remaining beyond the limitations of space, time and change. The great acharya Shankara calls Atman pura api nava, “ancient but new.” Owing to this understanding as a foundation, the builtin capability to change and adapt to different circumstances and times has percolated into the Indian concept of peace just as it has seeped deep into her culture, philosophies and ideas and even beliefs. The Indian concept of peace is not an ossified, petrified, fossilized, written in stone, defined-once-for-all concept, but has the capacity to change as social, economic, technological and cultural changes take place over time, yet remaining eternal and fresh. This is because Indian religious beliefs are not based on God’s commandments or instructions but on a perennial philosophy called the Vedanta, which consists of universal principles valid at all places and all times. Religions of non-Indic origin may not stand this test of capacity to change.

Afflictions and their causes The two types of ego

There are two types of ego in Indian philosophy. The first type of ego is ‘egoity’ which is an individuating principle. The second type of ego is ‘egoism’ which is some sort of self-centredness. These two types of egos are severally referred to in the Bhagavat Gita in verses 7:4 and 16:18 respectively and both are expressed by the same word ‘ahamkara’.

Egoity defines any entity distinguishing itself from the rest of the world. For example, a pen is a pen, and not a pencil or a pot, because of its pen-egoity. Egoity by itself does not cause any harm, and provides a valid reason for the existence of individuals or nation-states as autonomous, independent, and functional units. No blame of selfishness etc., can be ascribed to it. On the other hand, egoism struggles desperately to perpetuate the separation of ‘me’ and ‘mine’ from the rest and also sees everything else as a threat (to its existence). An egoist person constantly suffers from an excessive and morbid need to augment and protect him/herself and, as a result, falls prey to attachment, hatred and fear. Attachment is self-centered love. Hatred and fear are selfcentered protection. Now, a nation or a society also displays almost all the characteristics of an individual such as greed, fear, desperation, selfcenteredness, aggrandizing, misunderstanding and so forth in its desperate attempts to preserve, expand, and protect its egoity—this attempt is egoism. Nations amass, covet, brag about themselves, they act in their own interests, and they hate, fear, attack, or lobby with other nations. Further, sacred literature of many religions mention that, similar to an individual, a nation as a whole, as an agent responsible for its acts, must bear the consequences and ‘pay for its sins’ or ‘reap what is sown’ just as an individual does.18

This brings us to thefourth thesis of this article, which is:

‘Just as individuals, societies are characterised by, 1) egoity, which is an individuating principle that defines any entity distinguishing itself from other entities, and, 2) egoism, or self-centredness, which forms when egoity falls into the clutches of attachment, hatred and fear.’ (Fig. 5)

Egoity may expand or contract too. For example, patriotism is the ripening and expansion of the individual since it is ‘inclusive’ of others. Nationalism, on the other hand, is some sort of contraction of the collective ego to one’s own nation since nationalism is rather ‘exclusive’ in character.

Patriotism and nationalism

Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, explained that patriotism is love for one’s countrymen while nationalism is hatred towards other country’s men. Although patriotism allows some opportunity for expansion, it displays some flaws too. This is because the attribute love, on which it is based, may sometimes turn into obstinate attachment (in this case, towards one’s own countrymen), which results in favouritism, bias, prejudice, and hatred for other nations. Lobbies of nations is an example of favouritism among nations. Unless love is pure, it degenerates into attachment and brings misery, and patriotism is no exception. It is for this reason that the Buddha recommended Metta, friendliness, and not love (Pali: Metta, from Sanskrit Maitri,

which means friendliness, kindness or good will, or love without attachment).

Attachment, hatred, and fear

Attachment, hatred, and fear are thus the three defects that have come into view in the discussion above (Fig. 5). Precisely these are the three dysfunctions identified in the ancient Indian tradition as the root of all suffering (see, for example, The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, 2.3-6). Attachment is the tendency to move towards the other object with the feeling of liking, hatred is the tendency to move towards the other object with the feeling of dislike (as in an attack), and fear is the tendency to move away from the other object with the feeling of dislike. Clearly, these three are the only possible combinations arising from two movements (towards and away) and two attitudes (like and dislike). In the context of international peace, at the collective level, the first dysfunction gives rise to favouritism (self-centred grouping of many nations), the second gives rise to an attack (as in war) and the third gives rise to taking cover. The yoga psychology identifies ‘egoity’ itself as the primary cause of all three dysfunctions (i.e., egoism), and its deeper root as ‘ignorance’.

It must be mentioned here that this ‘ignorance’ is not the ignorance of objects or the lack of any knowledge or information but is an existential ignorance—that is, ignorance of the true nature of one’s own self, which is divine and full of unconditional love. This matter is discussed here briefly to highlight the need to look for the causes of friction among nations at the deeper inner levels as opposed to only in the outer interactions.

Trends of human progress Evil and the evil-doer

One trend apparent in recent times is that man has noticed the difference between ‘evil’ and the ‘evil doer’. Earlier, when an evil was detected, the evil doer was punished. Nowadays, the trend is to remove evil itself from the society while the evil doer receives a sympathetic, humanitarian treatment. This is akin to the elimination of a disease, as opposed to quarantining or killing the person who has the disease. Or, to give another example, removing a possibility of war rather than capturing, dominating, or even gobbling up the warring state. Thus humanity is now tackling the system in which evil takes place believing that the people themselves are sincere adherents of the prevailing system and beliefs, and are therefore innocent. It must be noted that Indian culture has always been at home with this attitude of recognising a person’s guiltlessness. This is due to the discovery of Atman, early in the civilisation’s history, as one’s real self, which is pure, immaculate and untouchable by anything external such as evil or sin. Thus, in Indian culture, evil or sin is looked at as incidental, adventitious, or superimposed on one’s inherent divine self due to ignorance. This is in sharp contrast to the other cultures in which man is believed to be tainted to the core since birth and is inherently a sinner.

From Exclusivism to Universalism

The other trend that is developing in the world is that mankind is moving during its progress from Exclusivism to Inclusivism, then to Pluralism, and further to Universalism.

Exclusivism, in the present context, is the exploitation of one nation by the other using military power for its own benefit.

Inclusivism is a belief that one’s own country is superior, and therefore the other country must live as a protectorate and receive mercy and aid.

Pluralism evolves when an understanding develops that all nations have

their rights and dignity; each nation must tolerate the other nation’s presence. No active co-operation is expected in Pluralism.

Universalism, is a unique contribution of Swami Vivekananda. In Universalism, an underlying substratum is found in the midst of the externally differing variety.20 The substratum covers not only humans but life itself. It is discovered that life is driven by love.21 However, self-love is replaced by lovefor-all and societies or nations live as brothers. This is not an admixture or cross-breading of cultures or nations, nor is it beating the differences by force to form one uniform, homogeneous, amorphous substance without any individuality, rather, it is like weaving different cultures and nations into one single beautiful fabric called the mankind.

Man has moved (Fig. 6) from the state of a barbaric society to an agricultural society, and then to the industrial state. It is now becoming clear that mankind is advancing towards a state of ‘Knowledge Society’. Further progress will be towards spirituality that will tackle, at a collective level, existential problems. Then man will find himself in an ‘Enlightened Society’. “The time is to come when prophets will walk through every street in every city in the world.” prophesied Swami Vivekananda.22

Man’s future

Man’s essential nature, pure consciousness23, is not obvious in everyday experience because of a covering of ignorance. When the covering is removed, Atman shines forth. Newspapers and media usually portray pessimistic trends such as increasing crime, violence, corruption and the like. Yet, it should be understood that darkness is a cover on the inherent goodness. According to the Indian philosophy, the cover is incidental and thus will not prevail over the intrinsic force of light within man however hard this cover may appear. Any outer corruption cannot withstand the shattering force of the goodness within. Eons of obstinate darkness can be dispelled instantly by a single ray of light.24

Practical action points for peace

In view of the above perspective, a few practical action points are listed below for fostering international peace:

Each nation must (a) shift its attitude from passive tolerance to active acceptance of other nations, (b) break the prison walls of its own concepts and transcend the limitations set by its own standards, conventions or history, (c) free itself from egoism and doubt.

Just as it is foolish for a student sitting in a class-room to keep praising his/her own family, similarly, a country that continues to harp on its own glories forgetting that it is in a community of nations invites lampoon. Thus misplaced pride of one’s own country (the attitude ‘my country, right or wrong’) must be judiciously avoided.

Any ‘achievement’ by a country should not be arrogated as an achievement of that particular country in exclusion to others, but be recognised as an achievement of the whole of

humanity. This is an expansion of the collective ego leading to the dissipation of fragmented individualistic puny egos.

The patriotic statement ‘I must die for my nation’ has been much acclaimed because of the sense of sacrifice involved in it. However, the statement also means ‘I must kill someone’. The world must re-think the value of such patriotic statements. In other words, narrow nationalism must be replaced by universal internationalism.

Similarly, the adage ‘A nation must love peace, but keep its powder dry’ means that the killing mechanism must be kept switched on. Mankind must find an alternative to this type of double talk in the name of so-called ‘vigilance’.

Human rights ideology allows every country (or person) to defend itself (or himself). However, in practice, the tools of defence are hardly different from those of offence. Weapons that are designed, manufactured and deployed to kill cannot bring about lasting peace, however much these be labelled as ‘defence related’, although they may bring about a temporary lull. Thus it is necessary to redefine ‘defence’. Lack of knowledge about other countries breeds xenophobia and hatred for other people. Information about other countries, their cultures, heritage, religions, etc., must be spread and included in formal education. This will foster goodwill among countries and help unify humanity. (Concluded.) tt

References

11)Interestingly, the Sanskrit word ranakandu (rana=battle, kandu=itch), refers to a person ‘itching for war’. 12)Swami Nirvedananda, Hinduism at a Glance, p.59. 13)In the Western thought too there are the two:

‘Positive freedom’—internal freedom to carry out one’s own free will, and, ‘Negative freedom’— freedom from external interference in one’s activity. However, most literature in the West is undecided about the Positive freedom because it fails to recognise that one’s ‘free’ will is enslaved by one’s own deeply engraved instincts and is thus not truly free. Bertrand Russell came close to the identification of true Positive freedom, he put it in the form of a paradox: ‘We can do as we please but we can’t please as we please.’ Eric Fromm wrote fittingly in his famous The Fear of Freedom: “… freedom from instinctual determination of one’s actions”. 14)M. K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth,

Tr. Mahadev Desai, (Ahmedabad: Navajeevan Press, 1940), p.16, 27, and passim. 15)Thomas H. and Thomas D. L., Great Religious Leaders, (Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1996), p.242. 16) Tradition has it that St. Paul, prior to his conversion when he was persecuting the followers of Jesus, the

Judaic sovereign Dharmaguru asked him: “What fear hides in your heart that you are committing this bravado?” 17) The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. 2:379 and 6:114 18) The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 3:369; and also, The Holy Bible, Job 4.8, Proverbs 11.18,

Mark 4.3-8, James 3.18 and passim. 19)Based on and adapted from Swami Bhajananandaji’s

Basic Principles of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras—an

Integral Approach in Swami Sarvabhutananda et al. (eds.), Some Responses to Classical Yoga in the Modern

Period. Kolkata: Ramakrishna Mission Institute of

Culture, 2010. 20) Harmony of religions. Swami Bhajanananda. Kolkata:

Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, 2009, 26. 21)Killing for food or stealing is also love—love for your family or yourself. It is love misplaced, but love indeed. 22) The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. 6:10 23)The view of the Chinese philosopher Mencius (372-289 B.C.E.) came close to this understanding—

Mencius asserted the innate goodness of the individual. 24)Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna p.26, 616, 703,

Atmabodha 3, 1 John 1:5

The Order on the March

News & Notes from Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission

A new branch centre of the Ramakrishna Mission has been started at Raiganj in the Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal.

Sri Amit Shah, Home Minister, Government of India, visited Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House, Kolkata, on 19 December. Sri Jagdeep Dhankhar, Governor of West Bengal, visited Sarisha Ashrama on 16 December. Sri T S Singh Deo, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Government of Chhattisgarh, inaugurated the new building for the outpatient department at Narainpur Ashrama on 3 December. A telemedicine centre was inaugurated at the dispensary of Shillong Ashrama on 5 December.

It is estimated that the COVID-19 lockdown has affected the emotional health of over 40 million children and teens hailing from poor families in India. To monitor their emotional health and create interventions, the Media Lab of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai developed an experimental WeMindYou App which detects any signs of fear, anxiety, and stress on the children’s face during online classes. This was experimented at the Meyyur, a village adopted by the Chennai Math. Children identified with such problems were trained in Yoga and meditation. A few weeks later a non-invasive EEG scan was conducted to see how the children had benefited from the interventions. Quick Base, an American company which conducted a virtual hackathon, awarded the first prize for this WeMindYou facial recognition project. The prize announced on 16 December carries a sum of 35,000 dollars.

In 1906, Swami Ramakrishnanandaji, a direct-disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, started a primary school in the Mint area of North Chennai for the most backward children living there. 300 children receive free education, nutritious food, and training in yoga and sports. This school has now been recognized as the Best School in North Chennai. Covid-19 Relief: Six ashrama centers in India and two abroad continued Covid-19 relief by distributing groceries, and homeopathy immunity boosters, digital note books etc. Cyclone Relief: In response to the cyclones Nivar and Burevi, the Order through Chengalpattu, Chennai Students’ Home, Thanjavur and Villupuram ashramas distributed about 59623 kg groceries, 16450 bars/ pieces of soap/toothpaste etc., 10,000 biscuit packets, 5000 milk-powder packets, and other items like mats and tarpaulins to 6665 families in 10 districts in Tamil Nadu. Winter Relief: 37 ashrama centres in India, distributed 22,286 blankets, sweaters, jackets etc., to the poor. Distress Relief: 16 centres in India distributed 500 dhotis, 1167 saris, 4672 shirts/trousers, 80 school bags, 1460 stationery items, groceries, snacks, etc. Rehabilitation: Manasadwip ashrama in Sagar Island rebuilt a primary school building destroyed by Cyclone Amphan in May 2020.