Swamiji says don’t force Sri Ramakrishna on anyone. All paths lead to the same goal.
Swamiji talks about different perceptions of Sri Ramakrishna and says we must not prescribe how other people might choose to view Master.
Swamiji goes on to explain how pandits and religious authorities of the time, disputed the acceptability of Tulsidas' re-writing of the Ramayana in Hindi. They insisted it should have been only in Sanskrit.
Listen to Swamiji tell the wonderful story of how it was decided to put the available Sanskrit scriptures and the Hindi version of the Ramayana to the test, in a Lord Shiva temple. And how Lord Shiva did indeed validate Tulsidas' Ramayana.
Swamiji says that just as Lord Shiva validated the Ramayana, so Sri Ramakrishna validated all the scriptures in this age. He practised each religion and experienced the same outcome from all. And he was therefore able to say from personal experience, that religions are like rivers. They all end in that ONE ocean, called God.
Swamiji touches on Swami Vivekananda having asked Master [Sri Ramakrishna] about the alternative, 'impure' ways of realising God. Sri Ramakrishna said that there are indeed such ways, but they were neither suitable nor necessary, when, as Swamiji says, we have the 'pure' approaches so clearly mapped out.
Swamiji stresses that Sri Ramakrishna came to increase the love that devotees have for their own Ishta Deva [chosen Ideal or Deity]. Not to have people worship him instead. Swamiji says it is we who get this wrong, and try to force Sri Ramakrishna on other people, when it is ONE spirit taking many forms. [Master himself said that there are innumerable paths to God. He said, 'As many devotees – as many paths.' The Divine catering to every imaginable personality, psychological, intellectual or emotional type.]
Swamiji re-tells the story of the transformation that Sri Ramakrishna wrought in Girish Chandra Gosh's life. He told the seriously alcoholic and debauched Girish, who at that time simply couldn't govern or manage himself, 'Then give me your power of attorney.' Swamiji laughingly recounts how Girsh said that if he'd known Sri Ramakrishna had such a great capacity for absorbing sins, he would have committed more of them! 😂 Girish, with Sri Ramakrishna's grace, became a saint.
Swamiji gives an example – which he stresses we may not understand from the perspective of logic – of how the Rishi Narada would encourage some people who were doing bad things, to do even more bad things. [To speed up their spiritual evolution through the bad, towards good again?]
Swamiji wraps up the discussion by urging us to let people get on with walking their path the way they choose to. Leave them to their own business. [His regular recommendation to us was always, MYOB – meaning, Mind Your Own Business.] Swamiji jokingly says MYOB is the greatest mantra in the Ramakrishna Centre in South Africa.
To benefit from these words of wisdom, please click on the link below. Jai Sri Ramakrishna!
Duration: 12:03
Click here for the Flipbook version of: → Swamiji's biography
It's a free-to-read, draft 396 page, extended version of 'A Life Lived For Others. No need to install a PDF reader. It'll work in your present browser.
However, if you'd prefer a straight-up PDF version, please click HERE.
Dear Devotee, if we use the term 'He or he', when referring to Swamiji, it's not impolite or disrespectful. It's to minimise the repetitiveness of saying or writing 'Swamiji' too many times.
The original audio recordings of these posts were made by close Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa and Swami Shivapadananda devotee, Mother Radha. The audio editing and noise reduction of the original 1970s-onwards tapes, has been lovingly engineered, over many years, by her son and our dear gurubhai, Brother Tim. May Sri Ramakrishna and Swamiji bless them both.
Admin tip: Underlined words are links. If you click on them, they'll take you to an explanation of the particular word or term. [In these overviews, Admin comments are typically in a smaller green font, and square bracketed, like this statement.]
Dear reader, if you spot typos or or other errors, please feel free to email the site admin on info@imbizo.com with your suggested correction/s.
Context: As always, care should be taken to remember that what Swamiji was saying, was often very specific to the needs of people with him at the time. Please bear this in mind.
Links to our Guru Parampara (spiritual lineage) organisations, which will broaden your knowledge base: Ramakrishna Math and Mission and our alma maters, the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa and the Sri Sarada Devi Ashram in Durban. The Ramakrishna Centre of Johannesburg is also active in Gauteng province in South Africa.
There are various publications [The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna etc.] which you can download at no charge, from the Ramakrishna Centre of SA website page, HERE.