Swamiji speaks about the world-transforming role of Sri Ramakrishna.
This time the Master [Sri Ramakrishna] came to excavate the long-buried fruits of who? Of ALL saints and sages, of all countries, of all ages. From the crudest form of worship to the most sublime, dizzy heights of philosophy he awakened. He injected the 'germ' of life and gave each one the dishes [sustenance] of 'It'.
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Bhagavan never, ever condemned, even the prostitute, from whom we would turn our head and walk away. Once, someone asked Master, 'What do you think about that woman?' Master answered: That 'bad woman' and that Mother Kali in the shrine are the same manifestation. It is my Divine Mother.
He did not condemn. He did not see the petty imperfections of the mind. But he saw the completeness, the perfection, the contentment of the heart – love. Love is blind, they say. Blind through human eyes, but ever-enlightening through God's eyes.
It was again this Ramakrishna Paramahamsa who took a man like Girish [Chandra Gosh – the famous playwright and father of Bengali theatre – pictured] who was a drunkard and sinner from inception, and do you know what he told him? He told him, 'You are divine. You are God.'
Nobody had told Girish these words that he was divine. Girish got the shock of his life. 'But I drink – I gamble.' That doesn't matter, said Sri Ramakrishna. You are still [the Divine] Mother's child.
Girish couldn't believe his ears. Swamiji explains Girish's incomprehension. He thought Sri Ramakrishna too, must be drunk. As Swamiji says, what we are inside we see outside. Ultimately, Girish was turned into a saint.
Please listen to Swamiji explain how this wonderful lila [divine play] played out – even between Hriday [Master's nephew and then attendant] Girish and Sri Ramakrishna.
Girish returned to Sri Ramakrishna one day and said, 'I don't know how to give up this drinking.' Master said, 'Don't worry. Whenever you drink, just take Mother's name.' You simply have to hear Swamiji telling this story. Right down to how associating with Girish, had people speaking ill of Sri Ramakrishna for 'keeping bad company'.
Swamiji concludes the story by saying, 'Thus, Master, with his all-transforming love, transformed the sinner into a saint.'
Swamiji says that this 'orthodox man', Sri Ramakrishna, gave new life to Christianity. Gave life to Buddhism. Brought back all the ancient gods. How can that man's organisation be factional or sectarian? How can that man's organisation be a party organisation? How can it ever happen? Remember, if you and I can be an umbrella – he is the sky!
Swamiji tells the story of how even Swami Vivekananda briefly doubted Sri Ramakrishna. Swamiji says, here for the first time, a disciple doubting his Guru, is put in black and white [written about].
Swamiji wraps up the homily with a deeply moving retelling of Sri Ramakrishna's supposed 'madness'. And how Master very deliberately tested his own mind on multiple occasions. A stunning final story and outcome.
To be blessed by these insights, please click on the link below. Jai Sri Ramakrishna!
Duration: 11:03
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.
However, if you'd prefer a straight-up PDF version, please click HERE. (Depending on the age of your device or the browser you use, you may need to download a a PDF reader.)
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 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.
The image in today's post was crafted using prompts to Microsoft Copilot AI. (Artificial Intelligence).