07 the vedanta kesari july 2013

The Vedanta Kesari THE LION OF VEDANTA A Cultural and Spiritual Monthly of the Ramakrishna Order since 1914

Vedanta Temple, Santa Barbara, USA

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India’s Timeless Wisdom

Disease, sorrow, suffering, bondage, alienation—all these are the fruits of the tree of ‘sin against oneself’ reaped by embodied souls. —Hitopadesha

Editor: Swami Atmashraddhananda Managing Editor: Swami Gautamananda Printed and published by Swami Asutoshananda on behalf of Sri Ramakrishna Math Trust from No.31, Ramakrishna Math Road, Mylapore, Chennai - 4 and Printed at 1 3 T h e V e Printing d a n t a Press, K e s aNo.31 r i ~ II ~ J U L Y 2 0Math Sri Ramakrishna Ramakrishna Road, Mylapore, Chennai - 4. Ph: 044 - 24621110

The Vedanta Kesari VOL. 100, No. 7

ISSN 0042-2983

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 Vedic Prayers

JULY 2013

Editorial  The Goal of Life

245 246

Articles  Swami Vivekananda and the Psychic Powers Sudesh  Brahma-sutras—What They are and What They Teach Swami Golokananda  Sage Vasishtha’s Advice to Prince Rama Swami Sarvadevananda  Entering the Himalayas—Lord Shiva’s Abode—A Pilgrimage to Almora Pravrajika Brahmaprana  Holy Mother and Her Teachings Swami Sudarshanananda  Dealing with Uncertainty V. Kumar Murty New Find  Unpublished Letters of Swami Saradananda

251 257 261 264 272 275

270

Glimpses of Swamiji  Face the Brutes 274 The Order on the March 279 Book Review

281

Features  Simhâvalokanam 250  Sri Ramakrishna Tells Stories 260 Cover Story: Page 4

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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 : mail@chennaimath.org Website : www.chennaimath.org TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS

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We accept online donations also.

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N Cover Story N Vedanta Temple, Santa Barbara, USA Nestled in the foothills of Santa Barbara, California, the Vedanta Temple is part of Vedanta Society of Southern California, a branch of the Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math. The temple was designed by the renowned architect Lutah Maria Riggs, who was inspired by early South Indian wood temples. Acquired in 1946 by Swami Prabhavananda (a disciple of Swami Brahmananda), an eminent scholar-monk and the founder of Vedanta Society of Southern California, and initially used as a retreat for lay and monastic members of the Vedanta Society in Hollywood, the temple was later built and dedicated in 1956 by Swami Prabhavananda, Swami Nirvanananda, Swami Madhavananda and other luminaries of the Ramakrishna Order. 

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 Ms. Pemalata Naik, Mumbai Mr. K.V. Nageswara Rao

PATRONS Rs. 1000 Rs. 1041

662. P.I. Narayanan Kutty, Kerala 663. Mr. Pyarelal G. Bhan, Maharashtra 664. M/s.Ragra R.N.M. Academy, Medinipur

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

AWARDEE INSTITUTIONS

5712. Sri. A. N.Charterjer, Vishakapatanam 5713. Dr. S. Nagraj Rao, Bangalore 5714.

-do- 5715. Sri Veerkumar, Bangalore 5716. Sri V.N. Purohit, Kolkata 5717. Dr. Triveni Shekaraiah, U.K. 5718.

-do- 5719.

-do- 5720.

-do- 5721.

-do- 5722.

-do-

Sree Sankara Balasramam, Trivandrum, Kerala - 695 507 Bapuji D.ED. College, Koppal, Karnataka - 583 230 Amrita School of Arts & Sciences, Mysore, Karnataka - 570 026 B.R.B. College of Commerce, Raichur, Karnataka - 584 102 Sri Raghunath Balika Vidyalaya, Sikar, Rajasthan - 332 311 Doordarshan Kendra, Indore - 453 001 Doordarshan Kendra, Pondicherry - 605 006 Doordarshan Kendra, Patna - 800 001 Doordarshan Kendra, Coimbatore - 641 018 Doordarshan Kendra,Jaipur - 302 001 Doordarshan Kendra, Rajkot - 360 001 To be continued . . .

VOL. 100, No. 7, JULY 2013 ISSN 0042-2983

E ACH

SOUL IS POTENTIALLY DIVINE.

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GOAL IS TO MANIFEST THE DIVINITY WITHIN. 5

Vedic Prayers

Tr. by Swami Sarvananda

BB Man is an infinite circle whose circumference is nowhere, but the centre is located in one spot; and God is an infinite circle whose circumference is nowhere, but whose centre is everywhere.

He works through all hands, sees through all eyes, walks on all feet, breathes through all bodies, lives in all life, speaks through every mouth, and thinks through every brain. Man can become like God and acquire control over the whole universe if he multiplies infinitely his centre of self-consciousness. Consciousness, therefore, is the chief thing to understand. —Swami Vivekananda, CW, 2:33

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Editorial

The Goal of Life Life Needs a Goal ‘Unfortunately in this life’, said Swami Vivekananda, the vast majority of persons are groping through this dark life without any ideal at all. If a man with an ideal makes a thousand mistakes, I am sure that the man without an ideal makes fifty thousand. Therefore, it is better to have an ideal.1

Ideal, purpose, aim, objective—by whichever name we might call it, man needs a goal in life. Life without a goal is like a ship lost in the endless expanse of water. Man without an ideal or goal in life cannot focus on anything or channel his energies and time towards anything. It is an aimless, unproductive life that he leads then. What should he do with his life? His energies and time? With himself? Life becomes a burden, a drifting dry leaf in the winds of time.

On the other hand, ‘goal’ is intrinsic to life. One does not and cannot live without a purpose, prayojanam. No man lives without fulfilling his basic needs such as food, water, clothing, shelter and other ‘now-considered’ needs of life. As the well-known adage in Sanskrit says: Prayojanam anuddishyam mando api na pravartate Without a purpose in view, even a fool does not do something.

‘Goal’ or ‘wanting’, therefore, is a characteristic of all men and women. Goal has to be there—sometimes even ‘goal-lessness’ may the goal! One eats, for instance, for one feels hungry—one eats in order to live.

Why? He clings to life and cannot help it.

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To remain alive, he has to eat . . . and so on.

[Suicide is only an act of seeking a different set of circumstances for living.] Simple acts of eating, sleeping, working, and so on are a kind of ‘goals’; they are part of our physical life, thanks to nature’s programming. But can eating a sumptuous meal be the goal of life! Or sleeping!

Again, from the highest spiritual sense, man has no goal—as Atman, he is self-fulfilled.

By definition, Atman has no wants and no deficiency. It is the Eternal One, purna, a perfect one. What goal should he pursue?!

Between these two extremes of life, the bare act of living and the state of Selfawareness, there is the other fact which holds true of 99.9 percent of people—we need a worthy goal of life. We need a goal of life or else there is no purpose for living. Merely eating is not living. Being alive does not mean just breathing, eating and moving. One needs a goal which gives meaning to life—something which enriches our existence and gives us a sense of meaning. This is what Swamiji meant when he said that one should have a goal in life—notwithstanding all the failures and obstacles one faces in following it.

Four Goals of Human Life When one moves away from the insane thinking of destruction and disorder that an extreme state of goal-less-ness will give rise to, one begins to see the various types of goals that human beings pursue. Man is bound to have variety of goals in life. For some people the goal is money, for some fame, some

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intellectual achievements, some have political ambitions and so on. The list is endless. What does man want? According to Hindu scheme of life, man has four inherent goals of life.

These are—dharma, artha, kama and moksha.

Dharma stands for righteousness and higher values, artha means money or anything else that gives one means to fulfill one’s needs including the need for a meaning of life, kama is desire and moksha is spiritual liberation and self-realization.

In this enumeration, dharma comes first which points to the primacy of right conduct and values. However, there is another way of enumerating these four, seen from the window of evolution that pursuing these goals leads to.

In this method, first comes kama, the desire to enjoy. Says an eminent writer,2

Then comes artha, or desire for money and wealth. Says the same author further that a time comes

They [human beings] begin by wanting pleasure.

This is natural. We are all born with built-in pleasure-pain reactors. If we ignored these, leaving our hands on hot stoves or stepping out of second-story windows, we would soon die. What could be more obvious, then, than to follow the promptings of pleasure and entrust our lives to it? . . . Go after it—there is nothing wrong with it; it is one of the four legitimate ends of life. The world is awash with beauty and heavy with sensual delights. Moreover, there are worlds above this one where pleasures increase by powers of a million at each rung, and these worlds, too, we shall experience in due course.

Like everything else, hedonism requires good sense. Not every impulse can be followed with impu­ n ity. Small immediate goals must be sacrificed for long-range gains, and impulses that would injure others must be curbed to avoid antagonisms and remorse. Only the stupid will lie, steal, or cheat for immediate profit, or succumb to addictions. But as long as the basic rules of morality are obeyed, you are free to seek all the pleasure you want.

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. . . when one realizes that pleasure is not all that one wants. The reason everyone eventually comes to this discovery is not because pleasure is wicked, but because it is too trivial to satisfy one’s total nature. Pleasure is essentially private, and the self is too small an object for perpetual enthusiasm. . . Sooner or later everyone wants to experience more than a kaleido­ s cope of momentary pleasures, however delectable.

When this time comes the individual’s interests usually shift to the second major goal of life, which is worldly success with its three prongs of wealth, fame, and power. . . . Drives for power, position, and possessions run deep. Nor should they be disparaged per se.

A modicum of worldly success is indispensable for supporting a household and discharging civic duties responsibly. Beyond this minimum, worldly achievements confer dignity and selfrespect. In the end, however, these rewards too have their term. For they all harbor limitations that we can detail: 1. Wealth, fame, and power are exclusive, hence competitive, hence precarious. Unlike mental and spiritual values, they do not multiply when shared; they cannot be distributed without diminish­ing one’s own portion. If I own a dollar, that dollar is not yours; while I am sitting on a chair, you cannot occupy it. Similarly with fame and power. The idea of a nation in which everyone is famous is a con­tradiction in terms; and if power were distributed equally, no one would be powerful in the sense in which we customarily use the word. From the competitiveness of these goods to their precarious-ness is a short step. As other people want them too, who knows when success will change hands?

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money, fame, and power. It is when they make these things their chief ambition that their lusts cannot be satisfied. For these are not the things people really want, and people can never get enough of what they do not really want. . .

3. The third problem with worldly success is identical with that of hedonism. It too centers meaning in the self, which proves to be too small for perpetual enthusiasm. Neither fortune nor station can obscure the realization that one lacks so much else. In the end every­one wants more from life than a country home, a sports car, and posh vacations.

4. The final reason why worldly success cannot satisfy us com­pletely is that its achievements are ephemeral. Wealth, fame, and power do not survive bodily death—‘You can’t take it with you,’ as we routinely say. And since we cannot, this keeps these things from satis­fying us wholly, for we are creatures who can envision eternity and must instinctively rue by contrast the brief purchase on time that worldly success commands.’

These two, pleasure and success, are called the Path of Desire (pravritti). Then come dharma and moksha. They constitute the Path of Renunciation (nivritti). It (i.e., dharma in a general sense) has two aspects: The first [is] ‘the community,’ as the obvious candidate for something greater than our­selves.

In supporting at once our own life and the lives of others, the community has an importance no single life can command. . .

This transfer marks the first great step in religion.

It produces the religion of duty, after pleasure and success, the third great aim of life . . . Its power over the mature is tremendous. . . . It details duties appropriate to age, temperament, and social status. . . Duty, too, yields notable rewards, only to leave the human spirit unfilled.

Its rewards require maturity to be appreciated, but given maturity, they are substantial. Faithful T h e

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performance of duty brings respect and gratitude from one’s peers. More important, however, is the self-respect that comes from doing one’s part. But in the end even these rewards prove insufficient. For even when time turns community into history, history, standing alone, is finite and hence ultimately tragic. . . The final human good must lie elsewhere. . . The world’s offerings are not bad. By and large they are good.

Some of them are good enough to com­mand our enthusiasm for many lifetimes . . . . . . Pleasure, success, and duty are never humanity’s ultimate goals. At best they are means that we assume will take us in the direction of what we really want. What we really want are things that lie at a deeper level.

First, we want being. Everyone wants to be rather than not be; normally, no one wants to die. . . None of us take happily to the thought of a future in which we shall have no part. . .

Second, we want to know. Whether it be scientists probing the secrets of nature, a typical family watching the nightly news, or neighbors catching up on local gossip, we are insatiably curious. . .

The third thing people seek is joy, a feeling tone that is the oppo­site of frustration, futility, and boredom.

These are what people really want. . . A distinctive feature of human nature is its capacity to think of something that has no limits: the infinite. This capacity affects all human life . . . Mention any good, and we can imagine more of it—and, so imagining, want that more.

Medical science has doubled life expectancy, but has living twice as long made people readier to die? To state the full truth, then, we must say that what people would really like to have is infinite being, infinite knowledge, and infinite bliss. They might have to settle for less, but this is what they really want. To gather the wants into a single word, what people really want is liberation (moksha)—release from the finitude that restricts J U LY

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us from limitless being, consciousness, and bliss our hearts desire.

Pleasure, success, responsible discharge of duty, and liberation—we have completed the circuit of what people think they want and what they want in actuality.

While this is an overview of what man wants, and how he travels from a beginner’s goal to the ultimate goal of life, there are many sub-categories of the goals. But all goals, ultimately, have only one end in view—how to make one’s life a worthy and fulfilling experience. In Sri Ramakrishna’s homely language, God or Self realization is the goal of life.

Goal Orientation Goal is necessary, having a goal-orientation is even more important. Says Swami Vivekananda, Our great defect in life is that we are so much drawn to the ideal, the goal is so much more enchanting, so much more alluring, so much bigger in our mental horizon, that we lose sight of the details altogether.3

While not having a goal is indeed unfortunate, what is even more unfortunate is to accept an ideal and forget following it or start following some other ideal claiming all the while that one is following the earlier References :

ideal! One should have a goal but what is more important is that one be sincere enough to see that goal is kept in view always.

Seeking to reach goal is always a pointer that there is some possibility, an unexplored but realizable something. Like a tree is potential in a seed, realization lies potential in our seeking. Goal orientation is seeking turned into realization and goal is seeking lying potential.

It is vital to have right goal, and only then hard work to reach it. A popular illustration in this context is: a man had to reach the top of a wall to repair a window there. He got a ladder and began climbing. Scorching sun and strong winds and a long climb needed a strong determination. He had it. But when he finally reached the top, he found that he had put the ladder against a wrong wall! Yes, not only hard work but the right ‘wall’ is equally important.

Finally, one should be consistent and loyal to the ultimate goal of life. One should not profess something in public and follow something else in private. Honesty, integrity is the key to reaching the goal of life. Whatever goal at the moment one may be following, one should not forget that reaching the ultimate goal of life, or discovering the Self (or the Lord) within, is what makes a life truly fulfilling and meaningful. o

1. CW, 2:152 2. C.f., The World’s Religions, Huston Smith, a Harper San Francisco publication, 1998, pp.13-26 3. CW, 2.1

The aim of all sciences, philosophies, and religions is to discover the eternal truth which is called in Sanskrit satyam. That eternal truth is the ideal of all philosophers, scientists, and great thinkers of the world. Religions are but so many attempts of the human mind to discover that eternal truth, that eternal wisdom.

—Swami Abhedananda

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Simhâvalokanam From the Archives of The Vedanta Kesari (July, 1923-24, Pp. 567-568)

Two Thought-Currents—the Social and the Super-Social.

(By Brahmachari Saswata Chaitanya) Two thought-currents seem to be working in society, the one being almost purely social or at best socio-spiritual, and the other super-social and almost purely spiritual. The one tends to preserve all the customs and conventions of society, its accepted standards and traditions; the other tends to question the value of a life in society and its workings in enabling man to evolve his higher nature and being of a more philosophic kind tries to transcend them. . .

The forces of Bhoga (enjoyment) and Karma (action) on the one hand, and Tyaga (renunciation) and Jnana (contemplation) on the other, have been acting on Indian society from almost prehistoric times. The workings of these two forces have resulted in the growth of two sections of society, the one formed of Karmakandins or those who believe that ceremonials and rituals as enjoined in the Vedas are necessary for spiritual perfection and the other formed of Jnanakandins or those who believe that only the knowledge of truths as embodied in the Upanishads can help them in attaining the goal of life. The ancient Aryan society possessed in an extraordinary degree highly spiritual tendencies and therefore accepting the spiritual ideal tried to work it out in its life. Though the ideal was honoured and accepted, every one in the Aryan fold could not carry it out in its entirety and perfection, and so society naturally came to consist of two sections, one of which tried to realise the spiritual ideal through the various ashramas and was contented or rather had to content itself, by reason of its limited capacities, to achieve its set goal of life slowly and gradually, and the other, endowed with greater mental strength, keenness of introspection and depth of philosophic thought, and above all with greater boldness of heart and an almost burning passion for the ideal, tried to reach the summum bonum of its existence by taking its stand in the purity and loneliness of the Atman, denying its worldly duties and responsibilities, and living an exalted life of great steadfastness and intense fervour.

In the Sathapatha Brahmana we are told that before marriage and after completing the investigation into the nature of the Dharma or Vedic injunctions, the man of the world desired to acquire the means of attaining to the three regions (of man, of Pitris. and of Devas), namely a son and the two-fold, wealth, . . called human (manusha), . . . and ‘Godly (daiva)’ . . . But the renunciation of these is enjoined on him who seeks only the region of the Self and is free from desire. o T h e

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Swami Vivekananda and the Psychic Powers SUDESH

Rejects Supernatural Powers Once Sri Ramakrishna told Narendra [future Swami Vivekananda] that through the practice of spiritual disciplines he had acquired supernatural powers. The Divine Mother had make known to him, he said, that Narendra would have to do much work for Her. Therefore, he was thinking of imparting those powers to him, so that he could use them when necessary.

Narendra asked if they would help him to realize God. Sri Ramakrishna replied that they would not help him do that but they would be helpful when after realizing God he would be engaged in doing His work.

Narendra, the young aspirant as he was, outright rejected the proposal saying that by accepting them he might forget the ideal and using them for some selfish purpose, come to grief. Delighted, Sri Ramakrishna embraced him, saying that the real purpose of life indeed was God-realization, what Naren aspired. And yet! What obnoxious and perverted means people employ to acquire those powers!

During his itinerant days Narendra (now Swami Vivekananda) arrived at Limbdi in Gujarat and learnt of a place where sadhus lived. The sadhus welcomed him. Tired and hungry as he was, he accepted the invitation.

But he was horrified to discover that the inmates belonged to a degenerate group of sexworshippers. He thought of leaving the place

but was bewildered to find that he was locked in. The high priest of the sect summoned him and said, ‘You are a sadhu with a magnetic personality. Evidently you have practised Brahmacharya (celibacy) for years. We shall break your Brahmacharya in order to perform a special type of spiritual practice, and thereby acquire for ourselves certain psychic powers.’1 Swamiji, however, managed to escape with the help of Thakur Saheb, the prince of the state, to whom he sent a message through a boy devotee. This shows how spiritual life and purity was more important to Swamiji than pursuit of the weird and bizzare things in the name of religion.

Manifestation of Psychic Powers In Swamiji We have seen that Swamiji had not accepted the ‘powers’ which Sri Ramakrishna offered him. Yet, during the years 1893 and 1894, Swamiji felt extraordinary Yoga powers spontaneously manifest in him. He could change, if he so wished, the whole trend of thought and life of anyone by the power of his words or a simple touch. He could see clearly things happening at a great distance.

This could be explained by the fact that as soon as he turned inwards into the chidakasha, the space eternal, whatever subject he concentrated upon yielded all its secrets to him. The whole range of ancient and

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

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modern literature, art, music stood revealed to his inner vision. Through his spiritual insight he could see into the future of world events and of nations’ progress. On many occasions his students found him answering, to their entire satisfaction, all sorts of unasked questions, literary or scientific, historical and metaphysical.

Wheresoever he went, in the East or the West, crowds of people flocked to him consisting partly of curiosity seekers and partly of sincere seekers animated with the desire to pursue truth and to learn the all-embracing character of India’s religion and philosophy. Some also came intending to startle and confound him through their irrefutable logic and scientific theories and defeat him at every point. But Swamiji had a rare power of gauging the mental reach of a self-confident visitor, raise him above his habitual and fixed beliefs and enlarge his vision. Soon they found out that it would be wiser to draw gems on any subject from one who was ‘the shoreless sea of radiant knowledge’ instead of trying to assess his mental and intellectual abilities.

The power to prophesize was clearly seen manifested in Swamiji. Once he startled his disciples by saying that the next great upheaval which was to bring about a new epoch would come from Russia or China.

This he said when China was still under the autocratic rule of the Manchu Emperors and its internal condition was politically very wretched. But with his penetrating insight Swamiji saw that China would grow and become powerful in future.

Of Indian freedom, he said that India would be free within fifty years and had a sacred mission to bring before humanity the teachings of Vedanta, conducive to bring about world peace and the integration of T h e

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varied systems of world religions and cultures.

Europe was on the edge of a volcano and unless the fires were extinguished by a flood of spirituality, it would blow up. It was not an expression of opinion with Swamiji, but an authoritative statement about something he knew. Like a ‘crystal’ he reflected the consciousness of all who came to him to be taught. And he guided all along the lines which would accelerate their progress towards Realization. Sister Christine in her reminiscences of Swamiji wrote: His method was different which each disciple.

With some it was an incessant hammering. The severest asceticism was imposed with regard to diet, habits, even clothing and conversation. With others his method was not so easy to understand, for the habit of asceticism was not encouraged.

Was it because in this case, there was spiritual vanity to be overcome and because good had become a bondage? With one the method was ridicule—loving ridicule—with another it was sternness. We watched the transformation of those who put themselves into line with it. . . Our pet foibles were gently smiled out of existence.

We were taught to reject the false and hold to the true fearlessly, no matter what the cost.

Perhaps our purposes and aims had been small and scattered. In time we learnt to lift them into a higher region, and to unite all little aims into one great aim, the goal which is the real purpose of life.2

A disciple from Madras said: One had to live in his presence as in the vicinity of a dangerous explosive. The moment a bad thought entered one’s mind, it would flash across his also.3

Though possessed of these powers, Swamiji did not consider them to be marks of spirituality. Very rarely did he deliberately exercise them. Whenever he did, it was always for the benefit of others. Here is an instance:

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Swamiji was holding classes for a few earnest disciples at Thousand Island Park in the year 1895. He intended to initiate a few on Monday, July 8. Mrs. Funke and Miss Christine Greenstidel arrived there on Saturday, July 6.

He wanted to assess if they were fit students ready to be initiated. He said to them, rather shyly, ‘I have a power which I seldom use— the power of reading the mind. If you will permit me, I should like to read your mind, as I wish to initiate you with others tomorrow.’4 They assented joyfully. And Swamiji, with his power of reading the inner contents of a person’s mind, saw that they would progress in spiritual life and that one of them would be indissolubly connected with India.

One day, in England, Swami Saradananda, who was suffering from malaria and was much reduced and weak, sat at the Swami’s feet feeling like a child and in that calm spirit of surrender to his brotherdisciple—who was to him no other than Sri Ramakrishna in another body—asked for his blessings and the promise of knowledge and salvation. In a moment he was calm and by Swamiji’s will power, he became healthy and strong. Swami Saradananda testified to this psychic power of Swami Vivekananda, never revealed to him before. There may be many others, who had the occasion of seeing this phase of the Swami which revealed his great powers, the siddhis [psychic powers] that came to him but remained suppressed as he hated to demonstrate them.5 But Swamiji did not possess psychic powers as they are ordinarily understood.

They were power of the Self manifested spontaneously.

Often, Swamiji had to deliver extempore twelve to fourteen lectures a week. Sometimes he felt that he had exhausted himself intellectually and wondered what he would say in his T h e

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lecture the following day. At such times he was aided in wonderful ways. At the dead of night he would hear a voice saying it all, which he repeated the next day. To his close disciples he would explain that those experiences revealed the powers and potentialities of the Self; he would deny that there was anything miraculous about them. They were probably the expressions of his great spiritual and yogic powers.

Psychic Powers: Impediments to Spiritual Progress Swamiji warned his students against the occult, pointing out that psychic powers were hindrances to real spiritual progress, lest they become entangled in pseudo-mysticism.

Sometimes they come spontaneously to one when one practices spiritual disciplines, but one who pays attention to them strays away from the Path Divine. He becomes egoistic if he acquires such miraculous powers and gets entangled in a net of desires. He wants to control, dominate or impress others and thereby satisfy his baser passions, or get name and fame or extract money etc. So miraclemongering has to be shunned, said he.

Swamiji’s Life describes one such incident:

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During one of his long railway journeys the Swami had as fellow-passenger a learned occultist, who besieged him with all sorts of questions. Had he been in the Himalayas?

Had he met any Mahatmas there, possessed of supernormal powers? And so forth. The Swami, wishing to disabuse the man, encouraged him to talk. Then he himself gave such a spell-binding description of the miracles of the Mahatmas that his listener gaped in amazement. Had they told him anything about the duration of the present cycle?—the listener asked. Yes, the Swami said, he had had a long talk on that with the Mahatmas: they had spoken to him about the J U LY

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coming end of the cycle, and about the part that they would play in the regeneration of mankind and the re-establishment of the Satya-yuga [Golden Age]; and so on and so forth. The man credulously hung on every word that fell from the Swami’s lips. Gratified by the acquisition of so much new knowledge, he invited the Swami to have some food, which he readily consented to do, since he had not eaten anything for a whole day. His admirers had bought him a second-class ticket, but they had not been able to persuade him to take either money or food with him, for he was then living by the ideal of taking no thought for the morrow.

The Swami saw that the man had a good heart, but because of his credulous nature he had become entangled in pseudo-mysticism. When the meal was over, therefore, he spoke to him frankly and sternly: ‘You who boast so much of your learning and enlightenment, how could you unhesitatingly swallow such wild, fantastic tales?’ The man hung his head at this reproof and said not a word.

The Swami continued: ‘My friend, you look intelligent. It befits a person of your type to exercise your own discrimination. Spirituality has nothing to do with the display of psychical powers, which, when analysed, show that the man who occupies himself with them is a slave of desire and a most egotistical person.

Spirituality involves the acquisition of that true power which is character. It is the vanquishing of passion and the rooting out of desire. All this chasing after psychical illusions, which means nothing in the solution of the great problems of our life, is a terrible waste of energy, the most intense form of selfishness, and leads to degeneracy of mind. It is this nonsense which is demoralizing our nation. What we need now is strong common sense, a public spirit, and a philosophy and religion which will make us men.’

On hearing this, the man was overcome with shame, and understood the rightness of the T h e

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Swami’s attitude. He promised to follow his advice in future.’6

In London, during the course of an interview with one of the correspondents of the Westminster Gazette, Swamiji told him why he had renounced the world and adopted the sannyasi’s life. ‘I am the exponent of no occult societies’, he said, ‘nor do I believe that good can come of such bodies. . . I call upon men to make themselves conscious of this divinity within.’7 Swamiji taught chastity and renunciation of the world’s vanities and its unsubstantial fleeting attachments as the means to liberation from this samsara of maya and attainment of the Goal Supreme.

Some More Examples Here are a few examples of how those who get entangled in these powers, their mind strays far away from Existence-Knowledge-Bliss.

In Sri Ramakrishna the Great Master, the story is told of Chandra and Girija, who were helped by the Brahmani in their sadhana. Both were aspirants of a high order. But their desire for realizing God remained unfulfilled. They attained some powers of working miracles and were, on account of that, doomed to lose their way in the woods of occultism.

Chandra attained success in working a miracle with a tiny ball. With that ball, sanctified by a Mantra on his person, he could vanish from the vision of ordinary eyes and could easily get in and get out unseen even from carefully protected and unapproachable places. Egoism grew in Chandra and soon the attachment to lust and gold grew in his mind. He became enamoured of the daughter of a respectable well-to-do man and began to frequent his house by means of that miraculous power. On account of the increase

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of his egoism and selfishness, Chandra lost the power and met with various kinds of humiliation.8 Swamiji also had many yogic powers but how grand and sublime! When he began to speak, many a times his audience could not see his form and felt that it was just a voice ringing through the void. They themselves felt raised beyond bodily consciousness and entered into an inner sphere. Sister Christine wrote: Once we had gathered in the class room, it seemed as if we had left the body and bodily consciousness outside. . . Vivekananda’s flights carried us with him to supernal heights. We saw the promised land.9

Mahendranath Dutta in his reminiscences of Swamiji (translated from Bengali into English by Swami Yogeshananda) gives a detailed description of how Vivekananda’s body, mind and spirit soared during his public talks.

Swamiji, taking up a subject, would begin in a soft manner. Gradually his mood would change and (voice) become louder . . . Then his body would become straight as a rod. His hips, spine, neck and head all seemed as if suspended by a common string. Slowly his meditative mood would deepen; his tone of voice would become altogether altered. His rhythmical sonorous voice would come from his throat in an unobstructed stream . . . It was as if in a boundless space a vibration had arisen, been converted into waves and that sound was penetrating everyone’s ear and body—to the very marrow of the bones. Yet everyone at such times had this particular feeling that they had no body. Body-consciousness was totally removed. Place was absent: even the consciousness that one was sitting somewhere was gone. Time was nothing, and there was no awareness of one speaking and others listening.

Speaker and audience were totally one. Neither had a gross body and from the vast firmament, T h e

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the sound was becoming a single wave-current vibration. Then he would often say, ‘I am a voice without a form.’10

Another devotee by name Girija had acquired a strange power. Once Sri Ramakrishna went with him to the house of Shambhu Babu situated near the Dakshniswar temple. Absorbed in divine moods, he talked a long time on God. None of them was conscious when the first quarter of the night passed away. While returning to the Kali temple, Sri Ramakrishna was slipping at every step as it was pitch dark. Seeing his difficulty, Girija said, ‘Wait a little, brother; I shall show you the light.’11 Saying so, he stood turned about and illumined the road with a long stream of effulgent light emanating from his neck.

The whole of the road till the gate of the Kali temple was clearly seen.

This, however, was a material light and had nothing to do with spirituality. Such powers only make a man vain. The possessor desires to show them off and dominate others.

Swamiji, on the other hand, manifested the Light of the Self which transfigured his human personality in the revelation of Pure Divinity.

He did not merely talk of religious verities; he gave spiritual light as though showering all those in his proximity with it. To them he seemed like a radiant being from that ineffable region whose glory neither ‘sun, nor moon, nor stars that twinkle bright’ can describe. One who brought some of the glory, the power, the radiance of that supernal region to this sorrowful world and scattered the clouds of darkness and ignorance.

Swamiji’s audience felt themselves lifted up into an atmosphere so rarefied, so vital that they went out to meet life’s vicissitudes with new courage, and new hope. It was not just the power of his words but there was something else; an influence, an atmosphere

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charged with the desire to escape from bondage. Basking in the radiance of that great soul they felt their inner powers and potentialities, their slumbering souls awakened to realize their true nature which was divine and self luminous.

words. . . As wholesome food satisfies the hungry and fresh water quenches the thirsty, so my longing for truth was satisfied through the teaching of this wonderful man [Swami Vivekananda]. . .

[He once said] ‘I could have thousands more at my lectures if I wanted them. It is the sincere student who will help to make this work a success and not merely the large audiences. If I succeed in my while life to help one man to reach freedom, I shall feel that my labours have not been in vain, but quite successful.’ This remark filled me with the desire to be one of his students.

Conclusion M.J.Van Haagen in his reminiscences of Swamiji wrote: When a man steps from darkness into a very bright light, his eyes are dazed for a while. And when we are asked to describe that joy which lights our very soul, our answer would be, as it were, mere groping in the darkness for

. . . His teaching bore to us the peace of mind of the Aryan rishis. . .12 o

References: 1. Life of Swami Vivekananda by Eastern and Western Disciples, Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, 1: 288-289 2. Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda, Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, p.196 3. Life I : 371 4. Life II : 30-31 5. Reminiscences : 408 6. Life I : 350-351

7. Life II : 46 8. Sri Ramakrishna, The Great Master by Swami Saradananda, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Madras, Vol I : 537-538 9. Life II : 33-34 10. Quoted in Prabuddha Bharata, July 2012 : 369-370 11. Great Master : 539-540 12. Reminiscences : 143-143

Powers sometimes come of themselves to the spiritual aspirant, but the moment he cares for them, he is gone; his further progress is stopped. These powers, again, do not last. Not to speak of using them for selfish purposes, even using them for other ends means losing them. A man set out from home in search of the gems in the sea. When he came to the seashore he found variously coloured pebbles and shells scattered there and he set himself to fill his pockets with these; he forgot all about the gems in the sea.

—Swami Turiyananda

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Brahma-sutras What They are and What They Teach SWAMI GOLOKANANDA

The Six Systems of Indian Philosophy There are twelve systems of Indian Philosophy, six of which, popularly known as shad darsanas (the six systems), acknowledge the authority of the Vedas. The remaining six do not. They are the four systems of Buddhism, Jainism and the sage Charvaka’s materialistic philosophy. Each of these systems is believed to be founded by a Rishi (sage). All these sages present their world-views based on their observations and analysis. The sages Kanada, Gautama, Patanjali, Kapila, Jaimini and Veda Vyasa founded the six Vedic systems of Nyaya, Vaiseshika, Yoga, Samkhya, Purva Mimamsa and Uttara Mimamsa respectively.

Obviously, conclusions of these various schools of thought are not identical. Among the six systems which owe allegiance to the Vedas, it is the two Mimamsas that show the closest affinity to the Vedas.

The word mimamsa means ‘sublime thoughts’ (pujaka vicara), or ‘divine thoughts’, as opposed to mundane thoughts. The word Mimamsa is used for two systems—Purva Mimamsa and Uttara Mimamsa.

Purva Mimamsa is based upon the ritualistic portion of the Vedas known as Karma Kanda. Uttara Mimamsa is known variously as Brahma Sutra, Vedanta Sutra, Badarayana Sutra and Bhikshu Sutra. It is also called Shariraka Mimamsa because the scope of its study pertains to the self, the Jiva

presiding over the psycho-physical system, that is to say the true nature and destiny of the individual self. Shariraka means that ‘which dwells within the sharira or body.’

The Brahma Sutras The Brahma Sutras is one of the three basic Hindu scriptures known as Prasthana Traya, the three ways of knowing the ultimate truth that is Brahman. The magnificent edifice of Sanatana Dharma or Hinduism, as we know it today, is built on these three strong foundations.

The Upanishads constitute the Shruti Prasthana (shruti, ‘to hear’). They are also called Shrutis and are vested with the highest authority in the Hindu tradition. Then there is the Smriti Prasthana. Smriti is a term that covers all codified social laws and also legends and history embodied in Purana (religious epics devoted to various deities and their exploits) and Itihasa (national epics), which are literature that illustrate and elaborate Vedic philosophy.

The Brahma Sutras is called the Nyaya Prasthana or exposition of the truth of the Upanishads, also called Vedanta with the help of philosophical reasoning.

According to another method of stating this division, the Upanishads are called Upadesha prasthana (injunctive text), the Bhagavad Gita, as Sadhana prasthana (prac-

o Swami Golokananda is the Adhyaksha of Ramakrishna Ashrama, Thiruvalla, Kerala.

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tical text), and the Brahma Sutras as Yukti prasthana (logical text)

unquestioningly, instead allows scope for threadbare discussion.

The Sutra-Literature The Sutras or aphorisms are elliptic sentences in which only the absolute minimum of words is used, combining brevity with accurateness. It was the tradition of Hindu teachers of old to compose their treatises in Sutra form. Sutra literature obtains in all branches of ancient Indian learning. Thus we have, for example, the Bhakti Sutras of Narada and Shandilya, and the grammatical treatise of Panini, Panineeya Sutras or simply Panineeyam.

By its very nature, Sutra literature is inaccessible to ordinary people without the help of a commentary. Of the several explications of the text of the Brahma Sutras the most widely known is the Bhashya or commentary, composed by Sri Shankara. He gives a picturesque description of the great treatise by portraying it as a beautiful garland made up of Upanishadic passages.

The 555 sutras of the Brahma-sutras are classified into 192 Adhikaranas and divided into four chapters. Each Adhikarana deals with a specific theme discussed in the Upanishads.

It states the crux of the relevant Upanishadic passage, debates the various views on it, and determines the meaning. For example the theme of the second Adhikarana is ‘that which is the cause of the universe.’ Quoting the Taittiriya Upanishad (III. i. I), the Sutra establishes that Brahman is the cause of the origin sustenance and final sanctuary of the universe: ‘That from which all these beings are born, by which they are sustained, towards which they move and into which they merge is Brahman’ (yato va imani bhutani jayante; yat prayantyabhisamvisantiti; tad vijijnasaswa, tat brahmeti). The Brahma Sutras do not insist that the statements of the Vedas must be accepted

Study of Inner and outer Worlds Both Vedanta and modern science attempt to arrive at the truth of the universe around us by more or less the same method of analysis. For example we arrive at the general principles of anatomy and physiology by studying a few typical individual bodies. It is enough to study the body of one individual to understand the structure and functions of all human bodies. The investigation, if carried on further, can lead to more generalized principles that explain the physical structure of all living things including animals and plants; because there are uniform laws governing all animate things.

Similarly Vedanta takes man as the unit of study to understand the truth about man and the universe. It seeks to reveal what truly constitutes man, his true individuality. The scope of the physical sciences is confined to the study of the objective universe, i.e. anything that may be considered as apart from the observer. This includes what we call the mind and the intellect, the cerebral and sensory system. It is the method of science to analyze sensory data to understand nature.

Unfortunately, this method per se precludes the study of the experiencer of the universe, the subject, or as the Vedantic term is—the seer, drashta.

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The Seer and the Seen There are two things in nature, the perceiver and the perceived. The Upanishads or Vedanta concerns itself with the study of the perceiver, which essentially man is. He is the only intelligent observer in the universe.

The conclusion of Vedanta is that the essential nature of man is intelligence or ‘light’, as the

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Vedantic literature puts it metaphorically.

It is the intelligence, consciousness within ourselves that makes the universe intelligible.

It is the inner light that lights all nature, her luminaries and all. In fact Indian Philosophy gives as much importance to the perceiver as the perceived.

Sri Shankaracharya sums up the conclusion of Vedanta through simple questionsanswers between a teacher and his disciple: What gives you light? The sun by day, lamps and other lights in the night.

By what light do you see the sun and the lamps? Eyes.

When you close your eyes, what is the light? Mind.

What is the light by which you see (know) the mind? There I am the light.

Here the teacher concludes the catechism with the statement: You are the light of lights.

The disciple agrees: Revered Sir, that I am.

So the essential nature of the perceiver is intelligence, light or as the Vedanta puts it, ‘I am Existence-Knowledge-Bliss absolute.’

Man is divine; the stature of every being is that of Divinity itself. Brahma Sutras takes up important passages from the Upanishads and codifies their insights into a systemized philosophy of the nature of man and the universe.

Sri Ramakrishna tells us the essential message of the Brahma Sutras in a parable. It brings home to us the truth that each one of us is verily the Divinity Itself: A lioness, hungry and big with child, went in search of a prey, and at long last found a flock of sheep grazing.

It couched in the bushes waiting for its chance,

pounced on a sheep and at that very instant gave birth to a cub and died. The cub grew up among the flock eating grass and bleating like a lamb. Once another lion came upon the flock and was surprised and ashamed to find one of his kind eating grass and bleating like a sheep!

It was disgraceful, thought he, that the king of the forest and all its animals should live a life of subservience like this.

One day the lion caught hold of the lioncub and dragged it to a stream nearby and told him to look at its image in the water, and realize his own majesty. He thrust a chunk of meat into his unwilling mouth. As the cub chewed it, it began to relish it. The lion from the forest roared and the forest reverberated with the sound. The cub that has been growing up eating grass and bleating piteously at the slightest fright or distress, now roared such a mighty roar that the forest trembled. Sri Ramakrishna tells us through this story that we too like the sheep-lion think we are poor helpless creatures, although the truth is that each one of us is Brahman—infinite in power and knowledge.

All the great Acharyas of Hinduism, who are regarded as founders of Sampradayas (spiritual traditions) have written commentaries on Brahma Sutras. They combined in themselves a mighty intellect with purity of heart, which enabled them never to lose sight of the true purpose of the book in spite of their different philosophical viewpoints. Prominent among them are the commentaries written

by Shankara, Ramanuja, and Madhwa. The Vaishnava tradition following Sri Krishna Chaitanya holds Srimad Bhagavatam as the best commentary of Brahma Sutras. o

The object of the Vedanta philosophy is to free man from all bondages of life by making him conscious of his real Self called Paramatman, the Supreme Being. Vedanta philosophy, in short, teaches that Brahman alone is real, everything else is unreal, and the human soul is that Brahman, not separate from him.

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Sri Ramakrishna was a master story-teller. While he spoke of profound spiritual truths and mystery of human life, he amply used stories, anecdotes, examples and analogies to drive home his point. At times, while narrating a story, he would even make gestures and change the tone of his voice to bring in a lively element in his narrative. The following stories, mainly culled from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai) are an attempt to present before the readers Sri Ramakrishna’s rich store-house of stories which are both illuminating and simple.

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Unreality of All Worldly Relationships A guru said to his disciple: ‘The world is illusory. Come away with me.’

‘But, revered sir,’ said the disciple, ‘my people at home-my father, my mother, my wife-love me so much. How can I give them up?’

The guru said: No doubt you now have this feeling of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ and say that they love you; but this is all an illusion of your mind. I shall teach you a trick, and you will know whether they love you truly or not.

Saying this, the teacher gave the disciple a pill and said to him: ‘Swallow this at home.

You will appear to be a corpse, but you will not lose consciousness. You will see everything and hear everything. Then I shall come to your house and gradually you will regain your normal state.’

The disciple fallowed the teacher's instructions and lay on his bed like a dead person: The house was filled with loud wailing. His mother, his wife, and the others lay on the ground weeping bitterly. Just then a brahmin entered the house and said to them, ‘What is the matter with you?’ ‘This boy is dead’, they replied. The brahmin felt

his pulse and said: ‘How is that? No, he is not dead. I have a medicine for him that will cure him completely.’ The joy of the relatives was unbounded; it seemed to them that heaven itself had come down into their house.

‘But’, said the brahmin, ‘I must tell you something else. Another person must take some of this medicine first and then the boy must swallow the rest. But the other person will die. I see he has so many dear relatives here; one of them will certainly agree to take the medicine. I see his wife and mother crying bitterly. Surely they will not hesitate to take it.’

At once the weeping stopped and all sat quiet. The mother said: 'Well, this is a big family. Suppose I die; then who will look after the family?' She fell into a reflective mood.

The wife, who had been crying a minute before and bemoaning her ill luck, said: 'Well, he has gone the way of mortals. I have these two or three young children. Who will look after them if I die?'

The disciple saw everything and heard everything. He stood up at once and said to the teacher: ‘Let us go, revered sir. I will follow you.’ (p. 770-771)

Live in the world but be not worldly, as says the verse: ‘Make the frog dance in the company of the snake, but do not allow the snake to swallow it. Catch fish, but do not touch the water’.

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Sage Vasishtha’s Advice to Prince Rama Notes on Yoga-Vasishtha-Sara Translated by Swami Dhireshananda SWAMI SARVADEVANANDA

(Continued from the previous issue. . . ) ‘The principle of gentle persuasion (sama) is of no use to get rid of maya and its effect on the world, which is the root of all sufferings, since maya will not be eliminated if one sets up a friendly relationship with it.

The rule of dana, that is, using donations or money to achieve the purpose is also a failure, as through it the illusion will increase even more. Maya cannot be satisfied by any means.

It cannot be subjugated by offering the objects of enjoyment. The principle of aggravating dissension among forces opposed to each other (bheda) will not also work, because maya itself creates all types of separations. It is meaningless to use the principle of punishment (danda) since maya is too hard and tough to sever; it cannot be destroyed by punishment.

It is true that, many a times it is possible to have control over many living beings, by using deceit and magic, but maya itself is deceiving and magical by nature. It is impossible to destroy it totally even by these means as well.

Therefore, at last, there remains only one means—that is, to ‘ignore’ it with the understanding that it is false. Maya can be controlled only by this means of ‘ignoring’ (upeksha). In a nutshell, the first six means are for the people who are starving for worldly prosperity and the last one, meaning the means

of ‘ignoring deliberately’ is for the seekers of liberation.’

Ignoring maya, it is one’s duty to concentrate on Brahman, yena shabdam rasam rupam gandham janasi raghava, tamatmanam param brahma janihiparameshvaram.

8.3 O Rama, That by which you become aware of the objects of sound, taste, form, smell and so forth; know that inmost-Self as the controller of everything, the supreme-Ishvara, and the supreme Brahman. In addition to that, the

worshipper of the Self is being instructed to practice thus:

aham sarvamidam vishvam paramatmahamavyayah, na bhutam nasti no bhavi matto’nya diti bhavaya. 8.8 This entire universe1 is verily My appearance alone. I am also the imperishable supreme Self. There is nothing other than Me which is originated, nor is at present, neither it will be there in the future. Keep reflecting like this.

What is the appropriate worship of Brahman or the real adoration and praise of the Self is being described in this concluding verse of this chapter: grahyagrahakasamvandhe samanye sarvadehinam, yoginah savadhanatvam yattadarcanamatmanah. 8.11 All embodied beings have somewhat a similar understanding that the empirical actions having

Swami Sarvadevananda is the Head of Vedanta Society of Southern California, USA. This article is based on excerpts from his English translation of Yoga Vasishtha (translated into Bengali by Swami Dhireshananda, Udbodhan Office, Kolkata). The translation is likely to be published in a couple of months. o T h e

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relationship with the perceiver and the perceived are true. The yogis or the seekers of the Truth, being restrained from that, carefully engage themselves in the thought of Brahman alone.

This is verily the proper worship of the Self.

there in the wood, the butter that subsists in the cow are gained with effort; and as the iron that is in the iron-ore is extracted through the great effort of blasting and so forth; similarly, the Self1 present in this body is realized through careful analysis (of listening, reflecting, contemplating) alone.

Chapter nine begins with the result of being established in the Self: sarvameva cidakasham brahmeti ghananishcaye, sthitim yate shamam yati jivo nihsnehadipavat. 9.2 If one gets established in this type of firm conviction that this entire visible universe is Brahman, extremely pure conscious-space and nothing other than that; then, the individuality spontaneously comes to an end, just as the flame of a lamp dies out without oil.

The Consciousness is everything with this supreme conclusion this chapter is concluded:

And this Self-establishment depends solely on the discriminative faculty of the aspirant:

Whatever exists and shines is verily the essential nature of the Self. Anything (name and form) that is cognized by others or appears in other forms does not exist. Only Consciousness or Knowledge; which by its essential nature is the extremely pure Self, remains. The objects to receive, the receiver and the like, are all false imaginations.

yadasti yadbhati tadatmarupam yaccanyato bhati na canyadasti, svabhavasamvitpratibhati kevalo grahyam grahiteti mrisha vikalpah. 9.32

mritsnebhake yathebhatvam shishuradhyasya valgati, adhyasyatmani dehadin murihastadvadviceshtate. 9.5 As a child plays variously with a baby elephant made out of clay, imposing the idea of a real one, in the same manner, the ignorant person also plays and acts diversely, superimposing the body and so forth on the Self.

One should remember: agnisangad yatha lohamagnitvamupagacchati, atmasangattatha gacchatyatmatamindriyadikam. 9.12 Due to its association with the fire the iron attains the fire-quality, in the same manner, due to the closeness of the Self, the sense organs, etc., also attain the nature of the Self. On the other hand the Self happens to get the non-Self nature due to the association with the inert ones.

Through all these nine chapters the importance of and means towards attaining concentration on Brahman are described.

But what is Brahman, is answered in the last chapter, ‘Emptiness and non-emptiness’ (Shunya-ashunya-pada-prakarana). The Brahman we are instructed to meditate on is: dvayormadhye gatam nitymastinastiti pakshayoh, prakashanaam prakashanamatmanam samupasmahe.

10.7

Since Self-forgetfulness is a natural phenomenon, extreme effort is necessary for Self-realization:

We meditate on that Self which illumines all the luminous objects and is eternally interspersed between these two sides of existence and nonexistence.

ikshau gurio tile tailam kashthe vanhirdrishadyah, dhenavajyam vapushyatma labhyate caiva yatnatah.

9.16

It is actually the state beyond all thoughts and resolutions.

The molasses that exist in the sugar cane, the oil that is present in the sesame seeds, the fire that is T h e

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One attains the undying bliss directly if one can always remember to meditate the state that arises at the end of the waking condition and at the beginning of the sleep state.

‘This chapter dwells on the knowledge of the Self alone, but the beauty of this universe or the world in light of the Atman is well depicted also. This very world is described as shunya-ashunya-pada [a state beyond the void and the non-void]. The world is verily Brahman; therefore it is not void. Without Brahman the world is empty.’

When Brahman is realized as the all pervading, undivided Reality, and then only, this vast universe is perceived as the supremeSelf alone. yadaiva brahmano rupam tatam buddhamakhanditam, tada vistirnah samsarah parameshvaratam gatah.

10.17 ‘I am that supreme-Self which is consciousness alone and Brahman,’ this type of reflection is called contemplation. When this type of reflection becomes uninterrupted, then it is verily termed as the highest samadhi1. so’ham cinmatrameveti cintanam dhyanamucyate, dhyanasyavismritih samyak samadhirabhidhiyate.

10.24

In this context the commentator has described not only savikalpa and nirvikalpa samadhi in detail, but also has clearly explained the term shunya-ashunya-pada as an adjective for Brahman, which is unchanging

(kutastha) and eternal (nitya). ‘Whether bereft of the world’ or ‘together with the world’ Brahman cannot undergo any change. In the relative sense Brahman is imagined by maya and is associated with the world. Again, in the absolute sense, in Its real nature, It is devoid of the world. In truth, there is no difference between these two perceptions. saumyambhasi yatha vicirnacasti na ca nasti ca, tatha jagad brahmanidam shunya-ashunyapadam gatam. 10.34 In the calm water there is no wave; yet it cannot be said, ‘there is no wave at all either.’2 In the similar manner, this universe attains the state of emptiness and fullness3 in Brahman.

Let us close by returning to Swami Satswarupananda: ’As there is no separation, then there is neither new nor old; nothing is ever born or unborn, but ever existing—the shoreless consciousness (aparavara samvit). This is the very core message of Vedanta and also the message of the Yoga Vasishtha Sara. Standing upon the rock-solid foundation of pure discrimination and Self-realization, this book boldly announces this immortal principle, not quoting any scriptures, not even the Vedas or Vedantic texts.

Every drop of the limited belongs to the Unlimited. Where is the distinction between the finite and the Infinite? There is only One that is unlimited, the limited is mere imagination.’ o (Concluded.)

Notes 1 ‘I am That, consciousness alone’, such reflection is called meditation. When the concept of meditation is forgotten, it is called right type of samadhi or samyak samadhi.

2. Because, if the waves were not there at all, then where from would appear from?

3. The universe exists in the Brahman; at the same T h e

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time it is not there either. This means, ‘the existence of worldly-characteristics’ and the ‘total absence of the worldly-characteristics’ both verily exist in Brahman. The inner meaning is: the universe is perceived in Brahman in the phenomenal state; but from the noumenal or philosophical state the universe is not there.”

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Entering the Himalayas—Lord Shiva’s Abode A Pilgrimage to Almora PRAVRAJIKA BRAHMAPRANA

(Continued from the previous issue. . . ) Paatal Devi The next morning from my guest quarters, Nanda Devi’s unearthly visage was the first to greet me as I descended the steep hillside steps to the convent shrine room. After breakfast, Prabhaprana and I, with Govind as our driver, began our day-long pilgrimage.

Our first stop was Paatal Devi, an ancient Shakti pitha—the sacred spot of a natural stone yoni etched into the floor of a small cave inside the temple. Here also Swami Vivekananda had come in the fall of 1890 after his stop at the nearby cave of Kasar Devi.

In 1777, the Paatal Devi temple had been erected along with simple kutirs for monks’ quarters adjacent to the mandir, or temple compound. The kutir where Swami Vivekananda stayed is now occupied by a poor, recently widowed mother. The local temple authorities had taken pity on this woman and her child and given permission for them to stay in one the monks’ quarters and clean the temple premises in return for this special favour.

It was at the spot of the Paatal Devi temple that Vivekananda first received

the word a telegram had arrived at Lala Badri Shah’s Almora home, divulging the

Paatal Devi

Pravrajika Brahmaprana is a nun of the Vedanta Society of Southern California, Hollywood. She has compiled and edited several books on Vedanta, including The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume 9; Vivekacudamani of Sri Sankaracarya, translated by Swami Turiyananda; and With the Swamis in America and India. Brahmaprana has also written numerous articles on the philosophy and practice of Vedanta for journals and anthologies in America and abroad. (Pravrajika Brahmaprana’s pilgrimage to Almora took place in October 2012.) o T h e

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shocking news of his sister’s suicide. The Swami, torn with agony, was suddenly awakened to the plight of Indian women and later worked toward women’s upliftment in India as part of his mission on earth.

Muslim Graveyard From Paatal Devi we drove to the nearby Muslim graveyard where Swami Vivekananda almost passed away from hunger due to the exertion of his pilgrimage, and sank to the ground with The way to Muslim graveyard where Swamiji was given cucumber exhaustion. The keeper of the cemetery, a Muslim fakir by name after Swami Vivekananda’s mahasamadhi in Zulfikar Ali, saw the swami’s dire plight and 1902. offered him a cucumber, the only food he His bed upon which his photograph rests had. Vivekananda asked him to put it into against the pillow is to the left of the main his mouth as he was even too weak to do altar. To the right is a dazzling painting of this much himself, but the Muslim protested, Mother Durga, the Protectress of the Universe.

‘Maharaj, I am a Muslim!’

On the left wall of the inner shrine and chapel ‘That doesn’t matter at all. Are we not are two wall-mounted glass cases where brothers?’ Swamiji declared with a smile. On Swami Turiyananda’s personal articles are that spot Gertrude Sen, wife of renowned kept–everything from safety razor, shaving scientist Boshi Sen, erected a memorial cream bottle, food utensils, and spectacles to to immortalize Vivekananda’s boundless well-worn slippers and a crucifix, darkened gratitude toward this Muslim fakir to whom with the years! It was difficult to leave one’s he owed his life. One could say that this seat in meditation; the atmosphere resonated simple monument is a testament to this with the sound of silence—palpably tranquil, living example of Advaita Vedanta—or what like the shimmering calm of a vast, placid lake. interfaith understanding can bring at its root Swami Turiyananda established this sacred level. space of utter peace in Almora as well as at Shanti Ashrama, in Northern California—a Ramakrishna Mission Kutir, Almora retreat must for any seeker who hankers for From there we drove a mile or two solitude and deeper meditation. to the Ramakrishna Kutir, a centre of the Ramakrishna Order, and descended the steep In the Footsteps of Vivekananda staircase past the library and guest cottages to After lunch prasad and a tour of the the temple, erected on the spot where Swami Ramakrishna Kutir, we left for Sarada Math.

Turiyananda had stayed for seven years, But on the way, Prabhaprana asked Govind to T h e

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Swami Turiyananda’s room, Almora Ashrama

pull over to view the sloping forest land below us. She then explained: ‘One time in Almora, Vivekananda was with one of his brother disciples (probably Swami Akhandananda) as they made their way toward their next stop one evening.

Suddenly the swami turned to his brother-monk and said, ‘You go by the road, and I will cut through this forest.’ Swami Akhandananda agreed, but soon afterwards became curious and somewhat puzzled by this odd travel arrangement. So he followed Swamiji deep into the pine forest. Suddenly through the branches, he saw a white light ahead which became brighter and brighter as he approached a clearing. There he saw his brother-monk embracing Sri Ramakrishna.

‘Ah, that is why you wanted to come alone into this leopard-infested forest!’ he later told Swamiji.

At Lala Badri Shah’s Home, Almora After sharing this reminiscence, Prabhaprana and I returned to our jeep and rode further, past Boshi Sen’s Institute, where he had made his cutting-edge discoveries of consciousness within plants, until Prabhaprana T h e

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Inside Swami Turiyananda’s room

Lala Badri Shah

once again beckoned the driver to turn off to the side of the road. To our left was a

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British preconceptions of India as she butted up against his passionate love for Indian ideals and culture. But gradually her center of gravity was made to shift from a deep-rooted European world view to a more Indianized outlook of India’s ancient tradition and culture.

Only then did the painful assaults end and Vivekananda announced: ‘There must be a change. I am going away into the forests to be alone; and when I come back, I shall bring peace.’ In Sister Nivedita’s words: He lifted his hands and blessed, with silent depths of blessing, his most rebellious disciple, by this time kneeling before him. But though such a moment may heal a wound, it cannot restore an illusion that has been broken into fragments.

A recent picture of Lala Badri Shah's house

steep cliff and to the right a staircase leading upward to Lala Badri Shah’s house. Lala Badri Shah was a wealthy landowner and close disciple of Swami Vivekananda. In May 1898, Sister Nivedita, Josephine MacLeod, and Sara Bull–all prominent Western disciples of Vivekananda—had stayed at his home in Almora. Every day Swamiji used to walk from Shah’s Thompson cottage a mile or so away to his Oakley House for breakfast followed by several hours of conversation with Sister Nivedita and his two other women disciples.

Long, long ago, Sri Ramakrishna had told his disciples that the day would come when his beloved Naren would manifest his own great gift of bestowing knowledge with a touch. That evening, at Almora, I proved the truth of this prophecy. For alone, in meditation, I found myself gazing deep into an Infinite Good, to

Swami Vivekananda and Sister Nivedita It was here under a pine tree that Swamiji transmitted a nondual spiritual experience to Sister Nivedita and gave her a glimpse of Brahman—but only after a period of rigorous training. Sister Nivedita later divulged how her guru ruthlessly tore at her T h e

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Nivedita Cottage, Almora the recognition of which no egoistic reasoning had led me. And I understood, for the first time, that the greatest teachers may destroy in us a personal relation, only in order to bestow the Impersonal Vision in its place.6

Darshan of an Unpublished Reminiscence of Swami Vivekananda Today Lala Badri Shah’s home has become a hotel run by the Shah family. The proprietor greeted us as Prabhaprana and I climbed the stairs and walked to Sister Nivedita’s corner room. Then we made our way to the room where Swamiji had stayed as Shah’s special guest, at the opposite end of the mansion. This was to be Prabhaprana’s special surprise for me.

Inside this beautifully maintained room, was the cot and easy chair that Swamiji had used, along with an armoire and standing mirror atop a chest of drawers. Various smaller articles the swami also used such as a lamp, water pot, and hubble bubble were encased in a wall-mounted glass case.

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But above the chest of drawers was the most unusual first-generation tinted photograph of Vivekananda that I had ever seen anywhere. His eyes captivated me and I felt as though they followed me around the room—so living this photograph seemed. I was struck dumb—unlike his other photographs Swamiji’s eyes did not bear the expression of Lord Shiva; they were, without doubt, none other than the lotus eyes of Lord Krishna.

When the proprietor’s wife, Indu, entered the room, with her help I managed to take the best photograph possible.

Then she and Prabhaprana shared their story: Indu’s mother-in-law, Janaki Devi, was just newly married when she went to the home of her husband’s grandfather, Lala Badri Shah, a devoted disciple of Swami Vivekananda.

Janaki Devi understood that her grandfatherin-law paid the utmost respect to all sadhus who visited his home. Therefore, one day when one striking sadhu came to his home, she brought him a tall glass of milk. The monk drank the entire glass, then asked her, ‘Who do you love most?’

‘Lord Krishna,’ she responded.

‘Very good,’ he nodded with pleasure, then left. The sadhu was none other than Swami Vivekananda.

Shortly thereafter another sadhu came to Shah’s home and gave the young bride a scroll that was securely wrapped in a tube, ‘Don’t open this for 20 years,’ he instructed her.

Time past, then one day 20 years later as the woman was busy moving her household

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A photo of Swamiji’s portrait at Shah family’s house

belongings, she found the scroll and opened it. It was a colour-tinted photograph of Swami Vivekananda, perhaps taken in San Francisco.

A most extraordinary photo—it became living.

When Indu was newly married, she used to make fun of her mother-in-law, who long back was the young bride who had met Swamiji. Indu shared how Janaki Devi would stand before this photograph of Swamiji and talk to him. Later when Pravrajika Prabhaprana came to Almora, she used to go to the Shah residence to hear Janaki Devi herself divulge her stories of Shah, Swamiji, and his photo. She used to say: ‘If I stand to the left of the photo, he is looking at me. And if I stand to the right, he is also looking at me.

I talk to him, and he answers. You also can

talk to him and he will answer. Go! Go and ask!’

One day Indu’s mother-in-law shared with Prabhaprana, ‘He (meaning Swamiji) also tells me news before it happens.’ Once when Janaki Devi was staying with her son in Haldwani, she suddenly awoke in the middle of the night to find Swamiji standing by her bedside with tears flowing from his eyes.

‘What’s wrong, Swamiji?’ she asked.

‘Please go to your home immediately’ was his only reply. Then he vanished.

Thereupon the woman woke her son and insisted that they begin their journey to Almora immediately, in spite of all his protests. When they arrived, she found her husband, who was Lala Badri Shah’s grandson, on his deathbed. She gave him Ganges water and he soon breathed his last. Such was how this photo of Swami Vivekananda became living and guided her life.

Stories such as this come from the real India, the spiritual India. And from such stories it is possible to touch the outer realm of the awesome giant of a Man, that special being, we call an ishvarakoti. Vivekananda had initiated the young bride by drinking her glass of milk, thus swallowing her karmas. And in his own inscrutable way he arranged for his photo, bearing Lord Krishna’s likeness, to land in her hands. That the young bride could not help but be mesmerized by it, worship and adore it, was surely also his doing. By Lala Badri Shah’s association with Swamiji, generations of his family members have been blessed, for rarely has the world seen such a spiritual giant as Vivekananda.

(To be continued. . .)

Reference 6

Eastern and Western Disciples, The Life of Swami Vivekananda, vol. 2 (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1981), 336-8 (abridged and lightly edited).

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New Find

Unpublished Letters of Swami Saradananda1 Nov 8th 1900 Math. Belur. Howrah. India.

Dear Granny2 Your kind postal of Oct 12th and very kind letter Oct 18th have reached me duly. I thank you very much for them both. The last mail day was a festival day, dedicated to the worship of the Devi, so I could not drop you a line. Besides I was not feeling well.

To tell the truth I was suffering from a fourth relapse of dysentery. But do you not be anxious to hear this truth. It is the nature of this disease that a little cold, a little anxiety or mental strain will help to its recurrence. I came to Calcutta—though I give the Math address in this—and I am still there & under an able physician, who has cured me in a week’s treatment. I am walking now about 2 miles a day by his direction & have regulated my diet accordingly.

I am in no. 57 Bagbazar. Fortunately my friend has been compelled to take shelter here too since the heavy rains, her rooms having been damaged considerably. She has taken the cooking of my diet on her own hands & superintends everything. The doctor will give me leave to go to the Math after 4 or 5 more days. So you see I am in good hands & need not be anxious. Mr.Sanyal too comes twice daily & sees that I want nothing, besides giving me the pleasure of his company.

He is sending his kind regards to you, & my friend her heart’s love. The latter will start for the pilgrimage after a month or two i.e., at the expiration of a certain vow, wh. she has been keeping these months. My father is still suffering though he seems to have improved in his general health.

One most sad news—Captain Sevier is dead. He died on Oct 28th last & had the same disease as my father. Mrs.Sevier is very calm … [as the original paper is damaged, some part of the letter missing.]

Calcutta has been a heavy one. Many villages are still suffering from the effects of the inundation & in some people are really starving. We are in the field & cooperating with the Sorabazar Benevolent Society who have raised some funds & wanted our help to distribute the funds in the stricken districts. Swamis Trigunatita & Sadananda went to survey & report the distress in two different directions. Their reports were appalling. Relief works have already been opened & food grains are distributed from these to the starving. This is the first work we have done jointly with another body & I think it promises good.

The sickness of myself & my father are making a great drain of the money in the Bank. Again if the Doctor prescribes a change for me it will prove a still greater drain. I would not like to do it myself under any other circumstances—but as you have so kindly desired I will use what is necessary for this purpose. My sincere thanks and gratefulness to you dear G. for it. I will send you an account of the expenses a month or two later, say by the end of December.

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Sarada Devi’s health is not good. We have requested her to come to Calcutta & she might come soon. It will mean an expense of about Rs.100/- per month though. I do not know yet whence to meet it especially as Mrs.Sevier’s help might be withdrawn on account of the late bereavement.

However we expect to raise some local subscriptions among the Calcutta disciples of Sri R. I will inform you later of the result.

My mother & friend and their hearts’ love to you always.

Have you heard anything of Agni? I believe this will reach you while Santi will be with you.

Kindly tender her my kindest regards & tell her I have spoken of her to my friend & she has sent her love to her. They two will make great friends, I believe if they ever know each other, as you are always cherished with love & esteem. I am thankful to Sri R. that He has given me these two friends in this dreary world. Tell Santi I have received her letter & my thanks for the same.

With kindest regards to yourself, Santi & Margot & love & gratefulness to you as ever Yours affly Saradananda.

Mrs. Sara C. Bull C/o Baring Brothers (Bankers) 31 New Cavenchih[?] Street London. England July 18th 1901.

Math. Belur. Howrah. India.

Dearest Granny – Your kind letter of June 19th was more than welcome. It will be such joy to meet you again in India. I cannot tell you how I am looking forward to the time. I hope Olea would come too. My kindest regards to her when you write her next.

It is so kind of you to take flowers for me to Edwina dear & Mr.Bull. I thank you very much for the same.

I could not write you last two mails for I had to run up to Darjeeling again for a fortnight. The Banerjee’s wanted me badly for some family affairs of theirs.

The Swamiji is as before. I have recovered a good deal as enough to pull myself on till winter next.

Srimati Sarada Devi wishes her love & blessings to yourself & Nivedita, to whom our love & blessings.

I do not know whether or not you have heard that my brother has got his degree of the Tuft’s College on June 19th. My father & mother are as before & sending their cordial regards. My friend ever inquires of you & would send her love.

Yours affecly With heart’s love to you as ever Saradananda.

Mrs.Sara C. Bull c/o Bergens Kredit Bank, BERGEN. 2. Mrs. Sara Bull References 1. A direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Courtesy: Ramakrishna Museum, Belur Math

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Holy Mother and Her Teachings SWAMI SUDARSHANANANDA

Who is Holy Mother?

Sri Sarada Devi was the divine consort of Sri Ramakrishna. Her disciples and devotees called her the Holy Mother.

Born in 1853 in a small village called Jayarambati in West Bengal, she was married to Sri Ramakrishna when she was just five years old.

It all happened under divinelyordained circumstances. At the age of eighteen she came to live with Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar, after hearing that he had gone mad. Her life in Dakshineswar for about thirteen years was that of total devotion and service to her husband, motherin-law and innumerable devotees who came to Sri Ramakrishna. What a lot of household work she used to do at Dakshineswar—from early morning till late at night—and that too in the midst of countless inconveniences and hardships! It leaves one amazed to read details of her life!

Sri Ramakrishna took her under his guidance and tenderly imparted her meticulous understanding of human character and how to live in absolute resignation to God. He literally worshipped her as to him the Divine Mother Kali in the temple and she were one and the same. Through his worship he awakened in her the sense of motherhood of all creatures. Her plain, stern life, selfeffacement and maternal love to one and all, is matchless and outdoes all examples.

Her life was ‘one long quietness of prayer’ and singleness of devotion. Her abundant love was a reliable relief to all distressed hearts. She was a safe haven of perpetual peace and emancipation from fears and fretfulness of worldly life. Her life was a synthetic image of the wonderful ideals of Jnana, Bhakti and Karma, a magnificent combination, unique in spiritual history of mankind. In her life of utter simplicity, purity, piety and selfdedication, the modern world has discovered the wonderful ideal of motherhood which the world needs today.

Holy Mother’s life was simply outstanding. She was a dedicated consort, an ideal nun, a loving mother and a perfect teacher, all rolled into one. She was, in reality, ‘Sri Ramakrishna’s absolute declaration as to the final word on Indian womanhood.’

After Sri Ramakrishna’s passing away, it was the Holy Mother who took upon herself the responsibility of looking after his spiritual children and the growing Order of Monks named after Sri Ramakrishna.

She entered into Mahasamadhi on 20 July, 1920 at Calcutta, leaving behind a rich legacy and tradition of love, compassion and genuine spiritual living.

No ‘Fault-finding’!

Holy Mother’s most famous teaching is,

o The author is a monk at the Ramakrishna Mission, Shillong, Meghalya T h e

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If you want peace of mind, do not find fault with others. Rather see your own faults. Learn to make the whole world your own. No one is a stranger, my child; the whole world is your own.

This was Mother’s last advice, given five days before her passing away. These words were addressed to a grief-stricken ladydevotee who felt Mother’s end was nearing.

Mother said that one should not find fault with others. This is a very profound and lofty teaching, specially in today’s world of inter-personal conflicts. Of course, this ‘fault-finding’ is not relevant when love is the motivating force behind it and correcting someone is the purpose—as in the case of parents or teachers disciplining their children or wards.

Mother’s words concern only instances where people find fault with others out of abhorrence or envy or a ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude. If one keeps away from finding fault with others—since ‘to err is human and to forgive, divine’—one can develop truly warm and good interpersonal relations.

Mother also said that one should seek to find one’s own fault because ‘no one is a stranger’. By noticing our own faults and shortcomings through self-introspection, we begin also to get rid of them. This will make one look at others with greater consideration and understanding.

Behind the golden counsel that ‘no one is a stranger’ and that the ‘whole world is our own’, is the great Vedantic truth taught by innumerable sages over several millennia. It is the message of Oneness of Existence. ‘If the same God exists in the hearts of all including myself, then finding fault with others will be as good as to mistreatment with myself.’ Once this fact is revealed, the whole array of human afflictions disappears, giving way to a loving and inclusive living.

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Persevere In Your Search for God Holy Mother said that when one realizes God, He grants knowledge and illumination from within; one knows it oneself. In the fullness of one’s spiritual realization one will find that He who resides in one’s heart, resides in the hearts of others as well—the oppressed, the persecuted, the untouchable, and the outcast.

Mother further said, ‘Continue to pray without losing heart. Everything will happen in time.’

Love of God Is Essential One’s love of God depends entirely upon one’s inner feelings. Love of God is the essential thing. Once Sri Rama was highly pleased with his faithful devotee, Hanuman, and gave him a necklace of pearls. Hanuman with all humility received it, turned it over and over and broke one of the pearls with his teeth and looked inside. He then threw away the whole necklace of pearls. Lakshmana who was watching him exclaimed, ‘Here is a monkey who does not know the worth of pearls. Not only has he spoiled the necklace by breaking a pearl with his teeth but he has thrown away as if it were a clod of earth.’

Rama told him to ask Hanuman why he had acted in this manner. On being questioned Hanuman replied, ‘I looked to see whether the necklace contained any image or name of Rama. As I did not find either I threw it away.’

Conclusion Thus one finds in Holy Mother’s teachings profound wisdom enwrapped in simple counsels and stories, told in day-to-day language. She continues to inspire millions across the world with her remarkable life and teachings. She, is literally, the Mother of all! o

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Glimpses of Swamiji

Face the Brutes One morning, after visiting the temple of Mother Durga [at Varanasi], Swami Vivekananda was passing through a place where there were a large tank of water on one side and a high wall on the other.

Here he was surrounded by a troop of large monkeys. They were not willing to allow him to pass along that way. They howled and shrieked and clutched at his feet as he strode.

As they pressed closer, he began to run; but the faster he ran, the faster came the monkeys, and they began to bite at him.

When it seemed impossible for him to escape, he heard an old sannyasi calling out to him: ‘Face the brutes.’ The words brought him to his senses. He turned and boldly faced the irate monkeys. As soon as he did that,

they fell back and fled. With reverence and gratitude he gave the traditional greeting to the sannyasi, who smilingly responded with the same, and walked away.

In a New York lecture years later, the Swami referred to this incident and pointed to its moral: That is a lesson for all life—face the terrible, face it boldly. Like the monkeys, the hardships of life fall back when we cease to flee before them. If we are ever to gain freedom, it must be by conquering nature, never by running away.

Cowards never win victories. We have to fight fear and troubles and ignorance if we expect them to flee before us. o

Reference: Life of Swami Vivekananda by His Eastern and Western Disciples, Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, 1: 214

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Dealing with Uncertainty V. KUMAR MURTY

Introduction It is said that we can be certain about two things: death and taxes. Everything else is uncertain. In spite of this, there is a tendency within us to seek certainty. We think that we will find reassurance, comfort and security in certainty.

There are two extremes of people, who are not troubled by uncertainty. At one extreme are the dullards. If they utter such phrases as ‘what will happen, will happen’, it is because they are too indolent to make the attempt to know what will happen, much less to try and affect it. Then there are people at the other extreme, namely those people who are perfectly capable of analyzing a situation and making the effort to know the answers, but who have also placed the entire question in a broader context which gives them a perspective from which they are able to deal with uncertainty. Most of us are somewhere in between these extremes. For us, dealing with uncertainty is not a philosophical or speculative question, but an existential one.

Nevertheless, once the question is raised, it is interesting to examine it in its different aspects. We shall discuss four principles regarding uncertainty.

Uncertainty is Intrinsic Firstly, uncertainty is an intrinsic aspect of the phenomenal world. All knowledge has ignorance as its counterpart. The more we

know, the more we discover there is yet to be known. Our attempt to gain knowledge is really our attempt to gain certainty. But the paradox is that certainty does not seem to exist without uncertainty.

This principle of uncertainty arising from our attempt to gain certainty, or the coexistence of the apparently contradictory states of certainty and uncertainty is a fundamental concept of Vedanta. It is called maya.

This word is familiar to many, but over millennia, it has attracted much misunderstanding. We are thankful to Swami Vivekananda who, in his masterly essays in Jnana Yoga, explained it so clearly that a child could understand it. It is to be considered one of his important philosophical contributions.

So, what is maya? Swami Vivekananda explains it thus: There is this contradiction in knowledge. It seems that man can know everything, if he only wants to know; but before he has gone a few steps, he finds an adamantine wall which he cannot pass. All his work is in a circle, and he cannot go beyond that circle. The problems which are nearest and dearest to him are impelling him on and calling, day and night, for a solution, but he cannot solve them, because he cannot go beyond his intellect. And yet that desire is implanted strongly in him.1

Understanding that uncertainty is intrinsic is a first step in learning to deal with

The author is a Professor of Mathematics and Chair of the Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences at the University of Toronto. He gives regular lessons to young students’ group attached to the Vedanta Society of Toronto, Canada. o T h e

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it. We will never be in a position where uncertainty does not exist, and we are not alone in this. Everyone is subject to the same limitation. This philosophical understanding is itself a way of dealing with uncertainty.

Not All Uncertainty is the Same Secondly, not all instances of uncertainty are the same. Not all cases disturb us or require our active intervention. Will the sun rise tomorrow? Will the current legislation in front of parliament be passed or not? Will gravitation and quantum theory be unified in our lifetime? All of these are interesting questions and even important ones, but we need not lose sleep over them. On the other hand, questions such as whether I will be able to complete my assignment on time, whether a loved one will be able to overcome a disease or whether we will be able to make our mortgage payment this month loom larger in our mental horizon and are potential sources of anxiety and worry.

If we are faced with several uncertainties at the same time, we may implicitly or explicitly order them in some manner and we may find that we are better at handling some of these than others.

For example, if we have to write an exam and we are also concerned about a sick member of the family, we will tend to prioritize these in some way. Perhaps the fact that we have to deal with an illness in the family might make us more philosophical in our approach to the exam. Had this other difficulty not existed, perhaps the uncertainty surrounding the exam would have overwhelmed us. No amount of advice from others to take it in perspective would have helped us. But the existence of the second problem gives us perspective and helps us to deal with the first problem. Perhaps we T h e

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will tell ourselves ‘let me study as well as I can for the exam and write it and accept the consequences’.

In this case, we are forced to prioritize.

But it is better if we could do this without being forced. For this, we need to give some time to reflect on what our priorities are.

Reflection is actually an important tool in dealing with uncertainty. If something troubles us, let us try and discover where it stands in relation to our priorities and that will help us to have perspective. Socrates said that an unexamined life is not worth living. We have to examine ourselves through reflection.

That will also reveal how we came to the situation we are in, and how we formulated our priorities. How is it that we consider the outcome of a particular issue to be so important for us?

Reflection is a skill. It is not brooding. In brooding we simply emphasize our current way of thinking by replaying it again and again. In reflection, we also replay thoughts, but watch them as a witness. We try to stand apart from the play of thoughts to observe.

In that process of observation, there is the possibility of discovering something new or the possibility of altering our perspective. For example, it is possible that our imagination is running wild and we are actually exaggerating a relatively minor matter into a major cause for concern. In order for reflection to be effective, there has to be a degree of detachment, and a willingness to consider other perspectives.

If we find detachment to be difficult, here is an exercise that we can all try. Suppose we are told that we have only six months to live.

What would we do with that time? Suppose we only have one month. What would we do? This exercise will help us to identify our priorities in life (and in death). Such thought experiments can be done regularly and it will

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help us to develop both detachment and the ability to reflect effectively.

Uncertainty is a Subjective State The third principle is that uncertainty is a psychological phenomenon and not a material one. It is not the case that a set of material circumstances will engender the same degree of certainty or uncertainty in all individuals.

As it is a psychological issue, our efforts to deal with it have to be at the level of mind.

Uncertainty in the Small Becomes Certainty in the Large The fourth principle is that uncertainty in the small tends to get averaged into a degree of certainty when viewed in the large. I do not know whether Dr. X will get the Nobel Prize in Physics this year, but I know with almost 100% certainty that some physicist will get the Nobel Prize in Physics this year. An increase in scale decreases the degree of uncertainty.

As another example, consider the surface of a table. It appears quite smooth. But if we were to look at a microscopic level, we would see many undulations. From that microscopic view, our conclusion would have been that the surface is quite uneven. It is true at that level but not at a larger level.

Similarly, the laws of physics are deterministic at the macroscopic level, but become probabilistic statements at the atomic level.

Dealing with Uncertainty Now that we have reflected on the nature of uncertainty and its diverse manifestations, we can consider the problem of how to deal with it from an existential point of view. We should look at the issue from practical angle.

We have identified four principles: (a) Uncertainty is an intrinsic aspect of the phenomenal world.

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(b) There are varieties of uncertainty.

Not all instances of uncertainty disturb us equally or require our active intervention. (c) Uncertainty is a psychological state. (d) Uncertainty in the small tends to become averaged into a greater degree of certainty in the large.

Thus, principle (a) teaches us that it is not a case that we will ever be able to eliminate uncertainty. It is therefore necessary to learn to deal with it. Moreover, principle (b) teaches us that in dealing with it, we need only address those instances that pose an existential problem for us. Dealing with it involves two aspects. The first is to apply principle (c), namely that we are dealing with a psychological state. The second is to apply principle (d) and seek certainty in a larger perspective.

To address our mental state, we have to satisfy ourselves that we are doing and have done everything we can to remove the uncertainty. We should not have a doubt that if we had taken this action or made that effort, we might not be in the current state of uncertainty. Those who exert themselves to reach their goals, to shape their life according to their dreams will find themselves in a better position to face uncertainty. They have the satisfaction of knowing that they have done everything within their power. That has the potential to produce an inner calmness, which is necessary for taking a bigger picture.

There is the story of a bird that was resting on a ship when the ship was in harbour. While the bird was asleep, the ship left harbour and went out into the ocean. Later, when the bird awoke and found that it was surrounded by water in an unfamiliar setting, it decided to try and fly back to land. It did not know which direction to fly in, so in turn it flew in each of North, East, West and South.

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In each case, it flew as far as it could and when its wings were getting tired, it turned back and returned to the ship. Having exhausted all directions and not being able to find land, it resigned itself to its condition and decided to wait on the ship itself. Sri Ramakrishna told this story to explain the idea that surrendering oneself to a higher ideal becomes possible when one has exerted oneself in making every possible effort. He would say ‘tire your wings’.

Self-exertion is a good way of dealing with worry. Anxiety and worry deplete our energy and contribute nothing to our wellbeing. Since we are so rooted in our physical aspect, engaging it in constructive action will tend to draw the mind in that direction as well.

It is said that an idle mind is the devil’s own workshop. An idle mind does not actually sit still. It tends to generate unproductive and unhelpful thoughts. Keeping the mind constructively occupied is an essential component of dealing with uncertainty.

The extent to which one has to ‘tire your wings’ depends on the personality of the individual. Some have a natural calm bent of mind. If we look at the life of Sri Rama, we find that he had the ability to remain calm at all times and to not be unnerved or perturbed by circumstances. We know how on the eve of his coronation, he was asked to give up the throne, give up living in the palace with his family and to go into exile for fourteen years.

While everyone around him was outraged, distraught and emotional, Rama took it with great calmness and asked for blessings from the very person who was responsible for this sudden change of circumstance. The Bhagavad Gita says ‘samatvam yoga uchyate’—equanimity is yoga—and Rama was the embodiment of this ideal.

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To reach that level of self-surrender, we might reflect on the fact that whatever has a beginning has an ending. The problems we are facing now had a beginning and they will have an ending. No problem lasts forever.

Taking the stance of the witness of all the changes and all the phenomena that we see around us, we will discover a greater degree of calmness and ability to withstand uncertainty.

It may seem paradoxical at first, but the same witness attitude will also loosen our desire for certainty. Things come and go, or as the Gita says, nature functions. While everything else comes and goes, the witness is the only constant. My body is constantly changing.

My mind is constantly changing. But I, as the witness of all these changes do not change.

If we feel that we do not have the strength to do this, then we can instead reflect on the great spiritual giants who were able to do it and actually carry it into their everyday life. Swami Vivekananda says ‘Stand as a rock. You are indestructible. You are the Self, the God of the Universe.’ By recalling such statements, gradually conviction and strength do come. Probing more deeply into the nature of ‘I’, we discover that it is neither material nor psychological. It is pure consciousness and pure love. And it is not only ‘I’ but also ‘you’ and ‘us’. If we fully identify with that state of pure loving consciousness, there is no question of uncertainty, but there is no question of certainty either. At the level of spirit, such distinctions do not make sense.

And this is the final answer: ultimately the way of dealing with uncertainty is by giving up both certainty and uncertainty and embracing our identity with pure spirit, pure loving consciousness.

(To be continued . . .)

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Reference: 1. ‘Maya and Illusion’ in Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Advaita Ashrama, 1976, Volume 2, p. 91.

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The Order on the March Ramakrishna Math and Mission—News and Notes Centenary Celebration of Thiruvalla Centre Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Thiruvalla in Kerala, entered its 100th year on 9 May 2013.

A function was held on 12 May, 2013 to mark the centenary celebrations. Sri M.K.Narayanan, the Governor of West Bengal, inaugurated the celebrations held in the Ashrama temple. Sri M. K. Narayanan in his inaugural speech observed that the Ramakrishna Mission has been able to give shape to a moral community who are the conscience keepers of the nation. He reminded the audience that no spiritual leader other than Swami Vivekananda had stressed the vital need of uplifting the downtrodden masses nor exercised so deep an influence on our great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Netaji and Rajagopalachari.

Swami Samagrananda, a senior monk of the Ashrama, recalled how Sri Ramakrishna trained his young disciples to become great Sannyasins who benefited mankind spiritually and how Swami Nirmalananda brought this spirit of renunciation and service to Thiruvalla. He mentioned some of the great swamis of the order who chanted the name of the lord for decades in this Ashrama and built up its spiritual atmosphere. Swami Golokananda, the President of the Thiruvalla Ashrama, in his concluding speech, observed that the advent of Sri Ramakrishna is so great an event in religious history that it has led to the reinvigoration of all religious creeds and sects in the world. Swami Sarvabhutananda, Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Kanpur, Sri P.N.Narendranathan Nair, President, Nair Service Society and Sri C.K.Viswanathan also spoke. o Celebrations at Vedanta Society of New York, USA On the occasion of 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, Vedanta Society of New York released a book by Swami Tathagatananda, Celebrating of 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’, and a special Souvenir.

Speakers at the seminar

Dance performance

The Society also held a 3-day Seminar from 17 to 19th May 2013. Many senior monks of the Ramakrishna Order in USA spoke on various aspects of Swamiji’s life and message and of Vedanta.

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‘Unity of Existence’ a documentary on Swami Vivekananda, and ‘Vivekananda by Vivekananda’, a film produced by Chennai Math, were screened on the occasion. An interfaith religious conference and a dance performance ‘Voice of Freedom’ were held as part of the celebrations.

About 700 persons attended the three-day celebration. o Value Orientation Programme by Institute of Culture As in earlier years, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Gol Park, Kolkata, organized Value Orientation Programme in this year also.

The man-making message of Swami Vivekananda was carried on through 212 Youth Conferences held in 14 districts of West Bengal. These were conducted in three stages—Organization Level, School Level and District Level in which approximately 24000 young men and 22000 young women participated between April 2012-March 2013. A booklet on Swamiji was distributed to each of the participants.

The Institute also organized six Teachers’ Conferences, in which 1080 teachers participated, besides an Organization Representatives’ Conference in which 620 representatives from 313 Organizations took part.

A Central Youth Convention for rural youth, comprising 2300 Youth delegates from 250 Organizations was held. One Central Youth Competition for Speech, Recitation and Songs and Essay was held in which many from 12 districts took part. o Drought Relief by Pune Centre Ramakrishna Math, Pune, continued its drought relief work to the nearby villages by providing potable water through tankers. The Math transported 13,10,000 litres of drinking water to 17 villages in the month of May 2013, benefiting some 30,000 needy people.

Programme by the Youth Forum Vivekananda Youth Forum, a youth wing functioning under the auspices of Vivekanandar Illam, organised a function for the fishermen's children in Ayodhya Nagar, a slum in Triplicane, near Marina Beach in Chennai. The programme was held to mark the 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. It included an exhibition of pictures depicting the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda (titled Arise, Awake), screening of short motivational films and group Supply of water by the Pune Math singing of Bhajans.

Around 200 children took part in this event. The Youth Forum has been conducting similar programme in different schools in and around Chennai. Consisting of local youth, the Youth Forum meets every Sunday, serves patients in a local government hospital, help in cleaning the Math and campus and take part in other activities. o Explaining the exhibition panels by a volunteer T h e

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Book Review

For review in The Vedanta Kesari, publishers need to send us two copies of their latest publication.

The Light of the Modern World

By Swami Bhajanananda.

Published by Advaita Ashrama, 5, Dehi Entally Road, Kolkata - 700 014. 2012, Hardbound, Pp.268, Rs.100.

A holy lamp burnt bright in the Kali temple at Dakshineshwar. It chased away shadows like lust, anger and jealousy in the minds of people who came there to worship. The glow united the young and the old in an endeavour to come face to face with God. A few years later, a spark from this lamp went to America and raised the light high and began to hunt the evils in mankind like communalism, casteism and the pride of wealth. Slowly but surely, this holy lamp is seeking to unite the human family with the golden ties of friendship, devotion, knowledge and self-sacrifice.

The holy lamp was Sri Ramakrishna. Swami Bhajanananda, who has an uncanny way of divining the questions that rise in us as we struggle with the exigencies of earthly existence, has sought to answer some of them with his well-known clarity of perception. The major question: Who is Sri Ramakrishna? Swami Bhajanananda modifies an Aurobindonian pronouncement regarding Brahman to assure us that ‘the real Sri Ramakrishna is unknown but not unknowable.’ He is the New Man, the avatar who has inaugurated a new Satya Yuga, as Swami Vivekananda assured us. He did not jettison the past but gave a new orientation to the received tradition. He was a bhakta who was often self-lost in God-consciousness. At the same time, he refused to be a frog in the well. He sought to know the ‘other’ side. Not for himself did he go through the religious experiences of Islam or Christianity T h e

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but to show us the way to understand the basic unity of all faiths. As for himself, like Rama, he thought of himself as a human being and loved to be one among his disciples and friends. Aatmaanam maanusham manye!

According to Swami Bhajanananda, the most valuable gift of Sri Ramakrishna to humanity is his separating religion from spirituality. Religious customs and rituals often give rise to conflicts, due to ignorance.

‘Sri Ramakrishna held that spirituality forms the core or most essential aspect of all religions.

When he said that all religions lead to the same goal, what he meant was that the spiritual paths of all religions lead to the same ultimate goal.

The separation of the essential spiritual aspects of religions from their outer forms that Sri Ramakrishna brought about has now become a widely accepted view. More and more people, especially in the West, now regard themselves as spiritual rather than as religious.’ (p. 118) From Swami Bhajanananda’s closely argued text, we realize that the spiritual renaissance initiated by Sri Ramakrishna is now verily like the holy tree Yggdrasill which we come across in Norse mythology. Like our Aswatha, the tree has innumerable healthy branches and its three roots are said to extend to three life-giving water sources in the heavens. While the Triveni of Sri Ramakrishna, Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda continues to pour blessings on this global Ramakrishna Movement, the branches as Institutions engage themselves in study, education, social work, publications and such activities, proving that all life is yoga. The Near and the Far come under the universal outlook of the Order: ‘Sri Ramakrishna represents the universal Prototype of divinity on earth, and he can be identified with the Impersonal (nirguna) aspect or with any of the different Personal (saguna) aspects of the ultimate Reality.’ (p. 134) Love, service, harmony. Such are the key words in the Ramakrishna Movement, so well

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orchestrated by the innumerable organizations that have been inspired by it. A very welcome addition to Ramakrishna-Vivekananda literature, The Light of the Modern World has a delightful getup and a meaningful cover with the image of Sri Ramakrishna in Samadhi—ecstasy.

Such periodical publications reiterating the message of the Movement are necessary, like trimming the wick of a lamp now and then, to keep the glow steady and bright. So we have here a reminder, a beautiful tribute to the nutan manush on his 175th birth anniversary. ___________________________ PREMA NANDAKUMAR, TRICHY

V i ve k an an d a as t h e Turning Point. The rise of a new spiritual wave

Edited by Swami Shuddhidananda Published Advaita Ashrama, 5 Delhi Entally Road, Kolkata 700014, January 2013, Hardbound, Pp.667, Rs.250.

Self-sacrifice is not new to the Indian clime. Time and again there have been men and women who have personified spiritual heroism and given their all for obeying the call of duty and have worked for suffering humanity. It could be Prince Rama quietly accepting the parental command to go away to the forest or Adi Sankara choosing to renounce worldly life to find answers for the riddle of existence. Thus, we are not astonished by Swami Vivekananda’s life.

Rather, we feel humble that the Divine chose our land for the birth of this messenger of human unity who, in a matter of ten years, changed the religious and spiritual map of the world.

The brief speech he delivered on 11th September, 1893, is considered to have marked a turning point in the thinking of man at the global level. Vedanta had been introduced to the west three centuries ago when the Upanishads were studied with awe by scholars like Schelling, Schopenhauer and Sir Monier-Williams. But the unifying message imbedded in the sacred writings was revealed only today for the West. This was T h e

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Vedanta too, but the approach was altogether new.

Vedanta is not to teach us to reject life but transform earthly existence into a global brotherhood. This turning from traditional Vedanta to the neo-Vedanta of twentieth century affected Indians in a very big way.

What were the implications of this change in the varied fields of human endeavour? Has the change brought better understanding among human beings? Has Swami Vivekananda’s advent brought succour to the marginalized in India?

Or is this but a new religion? How far has his charismatic personality helped the spreading of the Sri Ramakrishna Movement? A battery of more than a score of scholars, invited by the renowned Advaita Ashrama, have addressed themselves to seeking answers for such questions. The result is a stimulating volume, sumptuous and yet nonmonotonous.

The personality of Swami Vivekananda, for instance. Swami Sunirmalananda’s description of a divine potter in Sri Ramakrishna is amazingly apt. And this potter’s apprentice turned ordinary mortals to achievers unparalleled. The work begun by the Master was carried forward by the disciple.

‘Despite his (Vivekananda’s) best intentions of being in Samadhi in the Himalayas, he had to go round India and the world and mend broken, discarded, defective and unbaked images into perfect idols’ Whatever he was doing, he remained in yogic concentration, says Swami Brahmeshananda. Swami Atmajnanananda’s essay on Swamiji’s personality is enchanting. An erudite intellectual with an enviable memory, Swamiji rejected miraculism. His clarity of perception regarding Indian traditions, his readiness to reject what was irrelevant and inhuman are but few of the facets. This is an inexhaustible subject indeed for Swamiji contained continents.

His immense compassion alongside his flashes of anger, his lion-hearted courage side by side with his tender heart, his deep thoughtfulness and serious nature alongside his wonderful and self-deprecating sense of humour, his tremendous attachments to those he especially loved together with his perfect detachment from all things ephemeral – all these diverse qualities in one larger-than-life individual are very rarely seen in any field, let alone in the spiritual world. (p. 457)

In fact, Swamiji seems to have touched with his wand each and every aspect of our lives.

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He was a patriot, and his utterances on national problems like the treatment of Dalits, the need for reservations and for tolerance in religious matters have helped courts when interpreting the Constitution of India. Pathways for a noble future for the youth, for women, for householders, for renunciates, for mankind itself to rise from humanhood to divinehood. How is it to be done?

M. Lakshmi Kumari unveils Swamiji’s Ladder of Light which is a four-fold yoga that integralises the Karma, Jnana, Raja and Bhakti pathways.

Karma, Raja and Bhakti yogas can be understood, perhaps, as they are disciplines. What of Jnana yoga? Is it mere acquisition of knowledge? No! As the essayist observes, ‘the superlative fine-tuning of the sadhaka’s inner self to the Universal Self is the essence of jnana yoga.’

Among other essays, Rajiv Malhotra’s has a detailed article on how Swamiji inspired American intellectuals widely and deeply. Two major areas are touched upon in the essay. By conveying the scientific basis of Vedanta (lectures on Sankhya philosophy), Swamiji influenced scientists and thinkers like Nikola Tesla and William James.

The other deals with human evolution. Drawing upon ancient Indian sources, Swamiji spoke of an involution, ‘the idea that God, manifested as the cosmos, has become involuted in the cosmos.

Evolution, then, is a consequence of this Godas-cosmos.’ In India itself, this idea was a great inspiration for Sri Aurobindo, who built his philosophy of the evolution of consciousness in his well-known book, The Life Divine. Malhotra insinuates that the American author, Ken Wilber has appropriated this idea, gathering it via Sri Aurobindo, and has even formulated an ‘Integral Theory’, a typical example of intellectual property theft: Wilber contrives to substitute himself as their originator, thereby reducing the entire system of Indian knowledge to an inferior subset of Western thought. He progressively de-contextualises Indian ideas from their sources, and then re-contextualises them in modern Western idiom, incorporating Hellenistic references, Western psychology, European philosophy, and eventually his own jargon. Since his audience is predominantly Western, he is able to claim all this as original. (p.577)

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nanda. Eloquence, sincerity and purposeful exertion flow into the pen of the essayists. While the editorial prologue explains the strategy in the placement of the essays, the epilogue relates the varied approaches to the Vivekananda phenomenon to the Millennium Development Goals Report 2011 of the United Nations. Indeed a good deal has been achieved, but a lot more has to be done. For that we need an army of men and women to come forward in the spirit of ‘renunciation and service’. We need a humanistic ethos to sweep over people, nations and continents. Vivekananda as the Turning Point is a helpful guide in this matter. Long ago, Swamiji gave each one of us a benediction, though he was actually addressing the Maharajah of Khetri: ‘With thee are those who see afar, With thee is the Lord of might, All blessings pour on thee, great soul, To thee may all come right!’

If we are ready to come forward to perform the tapasya of following Swami Vivekananda’s commands, the grace of the Divine is sure to do the rest. As the Upanishad calls out: tapah prabaavad deva prasaadaascha! ___________________________ PREMA NANDAKUMAR, TRICHY

Swami Vivekananda— Leader of sacred nationhood

By Prof S K Chakraborty Published by Advaita Ashrama, 5 Delhi Entally Road, Kolkata - 700014, June 2012, Hardback, pp.231, Rs 85 While ‘sacred institutions’ founded by many venerable leaders have become effete bodies, what distinguishes the ‘two-pronged’ institution founded by Swamiji?

The answer, says the author, is that the twin body was ‘inspired, mandated and empowered by Sri Ramakrishna’. It was then set on a firm foundation

by Swamiji and nurtured by successive generations of sannyasins as ‘sacred soldiers’ guided by the motto atmano mokshartham jagat hitaya ca.

A profusion of rare wisdom for a healthy development of human resource (the modern HRD)

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is one of the legacies gifted by Swamiji. Apart from the 9 volume Complete Works, a wealth of valuable material has been discovered from Indian and foreign sources. While research scholars would go into all of them, it would be impractical for many. Therefore, authors like Prof. Chakraborty deserve our appreciation and gratitude for collating Swamiji’s ideas and comments on core subjects that impact contemporary society.

The increasing influence of ‘materialism and sensuality’ at the cost of spirituality, is a dangerous trend, warned Swami Vivekananda. In independent India, says the author, ‘. . . the erroneous rejection, by time serving policy makers . . of the timeless gifts from the likes of Vivekananda . . .’ has seriously harmed the interests of the nation. This book attempts to revisit Swamiji’s glorious legacy to identify the circumstances.

It is unfortunate that while Sri Ramakrishna hailed Vivekananda as Lord Narayana born to enlighten humanity, Aurabindo admired his divinity, Sister Nivedita and Romain Rolland saw him as ‘the King’ and ‘Raja’ and intellectuals worldwide revered him, there is ignorance, cynicism and ingratitude among sections of ‘secular educated India’. Hence, says author, ‘…the sacred has to cleave its way through the adamantine walls of phony secularism’.

The guiding principles that govern the Ramakrishna Math and Mission have been laid down from the time they were formed. The chapter ‘The Master Architect’ reveals the foresight of Vivekananda. Contemporary management gurus will discover innovative ideas on ‘leadership’ and discipline maintenance in institutions.

Vivekananda emphasized the fatality of grafting a ‘foreign character of a few hundred years’ to replace our ‘national character evolved out of thousands of centuries’. It will be suicidal to let spirituality become secondary by prioritizing materialistic ‘civilization of the West . . . ’ Another casualty is patriotism. Admiring the patriotic, national spirit of Japanese, Swamiji was bitter about our hopeless sense of patriotism. As evidence, the author contrasts the success of the 2008 Beijing Olympics with the disgraceful aspects of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. With intense feeling Swamiji exhorted our countrymen to be proud of our glorious tradition, our ancestors ‘instead of being ashamed of them’. Warned T h e

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Swamiji, ‘Take away a nation’s institutions, customs and manners, and what will be left? They hold the nation together’ (p.92).

The 60 plus Indians are sad that children today have little knowledge of our tradition and culture, regrets the author. But how many among the 30 or 30 plus parents possess such knowledge or values? The priority being maximizing earnings they find no time to spare for their children and understand them. Similarly, the cultural invasion from the West cannot be the only reason for degradation of India. Politics having eroded education, truth is often the victim. Pressure tactics of interested groups have deprived students from gaining access to divergent views of opinion makers. The chapter ‘Leadership Philosophy for Nationhood’ invites attention to Swamiji’s warning about man-made cultural changes and the weaknesses of reports such as Human Development indices of UNDP (page 103-4).

In order to shake the fatalist attitude of a tamasic nation, Swamiji sought a rajasic revival but the sattvic guna failed to govern the transition.

Undue concern for ‘human rights’ has failed to recognize the importance of ‘duties’ that our sacred texts emphasise. The subject of ‘women’s liberation’ is an emotive issue in today’s context. But champions of the movement assert rightly that our society badly needs to be sensitized about dignity of women.

Strangely, savage treatment of women and children is more visible now in urban and the emerging ‘rurban’ societies (semi-urban) caused more by a perverted mindset, worsened by modern technology.

The abysmal state of ethical and moral values with political and business scandals forms the focus in the penultimate chapter. The author examines the reasons, possible solutions, etc., based on seven quotations from Swamiji’s Jnana Yoga lectures. In this context the wisdom of Swamiji and views of experts such as a former Attorney General of USA are noteworthy. The book concludes with a set of quotations that are gems from Swamiji and selected poems. They are highly edifying.

Prof. Chakraborty’s book is informative, with adequate material to provoke discussion. Reading through the quotations from Swamiji’s speeches and writings that have eternal relevance, we realize how he continues to inspire humanity as a potent ‘voice without a form’. _______________________________ P. S. SUNDARAM., MUMBAI

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DONATE FOR UNDER PRIVILEGED CHILDREN 100% INCOME TAX EXEMPTION

Ramakrishna Mission Students’ Home (started in 1905) gives wholesome education to many orphan and destitute students by providing free of charge education, food, accommodation etc. They study in our Residential High School and Residential Polytechnic College.

During the Centenary of our Home in 2004-05, we added two new courses—Diploma in Automobile Engineering and Diploma in Computer Engineering —to help more orphan and destitute students. With the increase of 272 students, the Home now serves around 670 students totally free of charge every year.

To meet the expenditure we have to raise additional Rs.1.33 crore annually. This is to meet the establishment costs on boarding, lodging, clothing and educational expenditure, besides a larger share Ramakrishna Mission Students’ Home of salary to the faculties as per norms. Hence, it is proposed to raise a 'Sponsorship Corpus Fund' of Rs.17 crores.

Government of India has notified 100% Income Tax exemption u/s 35AC of Income Tax, 1961 to the donors of this Sponsorship Fund. Individual Donors who donate to this project can avail this 100% IT exemption u/s 80GGA of IT Act 1961.

We appeal to all generous public and institutions to join us in the noble cause of educating orphan and destitute students.

Yours in the service of the Lord, Secretary Cheque, D.D. may be drawn in favour of ‘Ramakrishna Mission Students’ Home, Chennai - 4’ ‘Doing good to others is virtue (Dharma)’ —Swami Vivekananda

Ramakrishna Mission Students’ Home, 66, P.S. Sivasami Salai, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004 Phone: 044 - 24990264, 42107550 Fax: 044 - 4231 2830 E-mail: office@rkmshome.org www.rkmshome.org

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Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama Vivekananda Sarani, P.O. Asansol-713305, Dist. Burdwan, W. Bengal.

Ph. no: (0341) 2252937/2254567, 2252373; E-mail: rkmasansol@gmail.com

An Appeal

Dear Friends, Asansol is one of the important industrial cities of West Bengal. In 1926 a centre of the Ramakrishna Mission was started here and later a boys’ school (in 1939) along with a hostel (in 1953) were added. In 2001, the Ashrama and the school were shifted to a spacious 55-acre campus to meet the growing needs.

At present the Ashrama runs: v A higher secondary school (1100 students) v a vocational training centre (1300 students) v a free coaching centre for underprivileged children v a charitable dispensary (allopathy and homoeopathy) v a public library-cum-reading room. v Providing guidance to more than 25 private centres (not affiliated to the Ramakrishna Mission but function under its directions) in carrying out social welfare services.

In order to provide a suitable place for holding cultural and religious programmes, in 2008 we started the The Temple Under Construction construction of a commodious universal prayer-cum-meditation hall and an auditorium. The seating capacity of the universal prayer-cum-meditation hall is about 800 and of the hall around 1100. All these aim at providing a calm and serene ambience for meditation and prayer.

We require 3.92 crores to complete the project and are in urgent need of funds to complete the work. We fervently appeal to all our well-wishers, admirers and devotees to extend their helping hand in this matter. We seek help from all philanthropic institutions and generous individuals towards this noble endeavour.

Cheque/ Demand Drafts drawn in favour of ‘Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama’ may be sent to the above mentioned address. Your contribution is exempted from Income Tax under u/s 80G of I.T.Act 1961.You can also donate online through RTGS/ NEFT to our A/c No: 813787811, at INDIAN BANK, RKM Branch, Asansol, IFSC Code: IDIB000R083 (Please mention your postal address and PAN No. in online donations.)

With Namaskars and prayers, Yours in the Lord, Swami Sukhananda Secretary

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Ramakrishna Math, Belur

P.O. Belur Math, Dist. Howrah. West Bengal 711202 Phone: (033)2654-1144, 1180. Fax: (033) 2654-4346 Email: rkmhq@belurmath.org rkmhqoffice@gmail.com

Dear Friends, In “The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna” and “The Gospel of the Holy Mother” we come across the names of many blessed souls who came in contact with Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Sarada Devi. Needless to say, many people are interested to know about the descendants of those blessed souls—where they are living, what they are doing, and other details.

If you have authentic information about the descendants of the disciples and devotees of Sri Ramakrishna and Holy Mother, please send that to us. We would process the information and make it available to those who are interested in the matter.

Sd/General Secretary SRI RAMAKRISHNA ADVAITA ASHRAMA (HQS: Ramakrishna Math & Mission, Belur Math) P.O. Kalady, Ernakulam-683574, Kerala Phone: 0484-2462345, Mob: 9447051231 E-mail: srkaadv@dataone.in The Ashrama has been running a free hostel for the poor & underprivileged children from classes V to X since 1936. They are provided with food, uniforms, accommodation and education up to Xth Std. absolutely free of charge. They are enrolled in the school managed by the Ashrama within its campus.

There is an urgent need for repair and renovation of the old hostel buildings and also creating a ‘Hostel Corpus Fund’ of Rs. 2 Crores for maintaining the hostel with 100 boys.

We appeal to the generous public, friends and well wishers to donate liberally for this most essential educational project.

You are also welcome to donate towards various other regular activities: a) Daily Puja & Seva; b) General Maintenance of the Ashrama; c) Charitable Dispensary; d) Widows’ Welfare.

Donations towards the activities of the Ashrama are exempt from Income Tax under 80G. Cheques or Bank Drafts may be drawn in favour of ‘Sri Ramakrishna Advaita Ashrama, Kalady’ and sent to the above address. Donations also can be sent directly through RTGS/NEFT to our A/c No. 338602010009164 at Union Bank of India, Kalady (IFSC Code: UBIN0533866).

Swami Amaleshananda Adhyaksha

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The Secret of Happiness

New Release

Swami Brahmeshananda

A compilation of articles by the author, a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order, on the problem of the universal suffering and the struggle for happiness in which humanity is engaged from times immemorial. The book is based on the fact that ‘the solution of a problem does not mean release from it, for out of that solution new problems arise’. Hence, Spiritual solution can be the only lasting solution to the problem of suffering. This book points to the various ways in which eternal bliss can be achieved.

Pages x + 230

Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004

Price: Rs. 40/- + Postage: Rs.25/-for single copy.

Request for VPP will not be entertained

Universal Temple

Dedicated to Sri Ramakrishna G. Venkataramana Reddy Universal Temple of Sri Ramakrishna at Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai, is a landmark, incorporating features of many architectural traditions. Dedicated to Sri Ramakrishna, the temple draws hundreds of devotees and visitors daily. This book in multi-colour gives details of the origin and significance of the architectural designs of the temple. It has 40 pictures and also texts of the talks given by Swami Bhuteshananda and Swami Ranganathananda on the significance of Ramakrishna temples.

G. Venkataramana Reddy, the author, is wellknown for his designs of several Ramakrishna temples in different parts of India.

Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004 Pages viii + 72. Price: Rs. 75/- + Postage: Rs.25/-for single copy.

Request for VPP will not be entertained

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Welcome to a Spiritual Feast!

Reminiscences of Three Direct Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna

Swami Brahmananda As We Saw Him Hardbound, Pages xii + 588 Price: Rs. 200/- + Postage: Rs.35/- per copy

Swami Adbhutananda As We Saw Him Hardbound, Pages xvi + 464 Price: Rs. 175/- + Postage: Rs.25/- per copy

Swami Ramakrishnananda As We Saw Him Hardbound, Pages ix + 525 Price: Rs. 180/- + Postage: Rs.30/- per copy

request for vpp will not be entertained

Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004 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 34 Years of Service to Humanity 1979 - 2012 1. Navajeevan School & Hostel for Blind Children – Tirupati, Parlekhimundi, Golamunda 2. Navajeevan Free Eye Hospital

– Tirupati

3. Navajeevan Free Home for Aged – Tirupati, Rishikesh, Parlekhimundi and Chennai 4. Navajeevan Harijan Sewa Ashram

– Kothapeta

5. Navajeevan Sharanagati Vridhashram

– Tirupati

6. Navajeevan Rural Medical Centres

-

Berhampur [Orissa]

7. Navajeevan Eye Care Centres

-

Serango [Orissa]

8. Navajeevan Orphanage Homes – Tirupati, Parlehkimundi, Saluru, Golamunda, Berhampur, Pandukal, Vizag

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/-

5. Sponsor one free eye camp at Rural/Tribal area

– Rs. 50000/-

2. Sponsor 5 IOL Cataract Eye Operations

4. Sponsor one poor aged person for one year 6. Vidyadan—Educational aid for one Child

– Rs. 7000/– Rs. 5000/– Rs. 2000/-

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.

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

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Vol.100-7 The Vedanta Kesari (English Monthly) July 2013. Regd. with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under No.1084 / 57. POSTAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:TN / CH (C) / 190 / 12-14. LICENCED 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 Annual 10 years: ` 1000 2 0 1 3 T h e V e(inclusive d a n t a of K postage) e s a r i ~ IV ~ J U:L`Y 100 Contact: Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai. Website: www.chennaimath.org