`Love leads to God'
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Sri Ramakrishna's birth anniversary was celebrated on February 25. SRIDHAR-CHAAMA capture the essence of the saint's philosophy.
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Sri Ramakrishna
HIS OWN wife, to him, was none other than the goddess that he worshipped daily, as were the women of low repute whom he chanced to meet. He swept the corridors in their premises, using his tresses as a mop. He never possessed any money in his lifetime. He was not a literate but explained even great truths hidden in scriptures for the benefit of the common man. He sought divine consultation with Mother when necessary as he would contact a friend next door and insisted that he was no different from others.
One of the greatest men of India who spread spiritual knowledge through a simple language of chanting God's name, prayer and meditation was Sri Ramakrishna. He indicated that the Supreme Being is simple without complexities and the path to reach Him is simple. He maintained that education and devotion were two different things.
"You cannot squeeze out of the almanac that predicts a heavy downpour even a single drop of rain. We must shed our mental aberrations and complexes and approach God with faith, love and purity like a child. He is present in every particle of the world.
Only the manifestation of the divine energy is different in different objects. Learning shastras is okay but it has to be done carefully, because it is a mixture of sand and sugar and only with able guidance from a preceptor would we be able to separate the sweetness from dust.
Researches do not lead to God. Love and devotion do."
Sri Ramakrishna's prescriptions for a spiritual life were simple, downright and bereft of scholastic pretensions. He advised spiritual aspirants to overcome obsession towards carnality and worship of the Mammon. He advised them to put their passions to rest, if necessary by force. His ridiculously simple prescriptions for spiritual living worked wonders in the lives of thousands of his believers. Girish Ghosh was a case in point. He was a man of all vices and sought refuge in Sri Ramakrishna when things went out of his control. He openly declined when the master wanted him to remember God just twice in a day, in the morning and evening. He could not even thank Him at the time of having his food and going to sleep.
Whereupon Sri Ramakrishna wanted him to just leave his matters with him and be freed of responsibilities. The strategy worked and the incorrigible man changed beyond recognition in a very short time.
Also, there can be no hatred or violence in religion. Even as the jackfruit is tasted by peeling the outer skin by smearing oil on the palms, detachment from the world is possible by continuously chanting God's names.
When a logician wanted to know how the knowledge, knower and object could be related, Sri Ramakrishna plainly said he was unaware of all those niceties of scholarly learning. The only thing he knew and felt certain about was that he knew his Mother Divine and that he was Her son. He read new meanings into our attitudes on things like worship at a temple. Common man does it to wash off his sin, but Sri Ramakrishna quotes from the Mahabharata to prove the contrary.
King Yudhistira wanted to get rid of sins by passing them onto Sri Krishna once and his younger brother Bhima warned him not to do it, as "What is given to the Lord would come back to you a thousand fold." So always the best from us has to be offered to God, in a spirit of sacrifice.
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