Pulkit Mathur

They say that God has made man in his image. So is there anything that differentiates a human being from God? The answer is a surprising one! – Ignorance. Ignorance is what separates man from God. Our souls are already a part of the divine consciousness of God, yet we remain ignorant of this truth and so the divinity within us remains unmanifested. Marisa04 / Pixabay “The Buddha is not a person but a (state of) realization to which anyone can attain.” – Swami Vivekananda explaining Lord Buddha’s last words on his death-bed. “Who was there ever like Him?” he once spoke of Buddha, his whole face aglow with inspiration. “The Lord – who never performed one action for Himself – with a heart that embraced the whole world! So full of pity that He – prince and monk – would give His life to save a little goat! So loving that He sacrificed himself to the hospitality of a pariah and blessed him!“ So immense was Swamiji’s reverence for Lord Buddha, Sister Nivedita relates, that he once told a lady “‘Madam, I am the servant of the servants of the servants of Buddha!’ as if even the title of a believer would seem, to his veneration, too exalted to claim.” So it is not at all surprising to note that the deeply cherished ideal – Lord Buddha Himself, choose to appear before his ardent devotee, to shower his blessings on 2 noteworthy occasions.

Lord Buddha was one of the great spiritual ideals of Swami Vivekananda (Swamiji), whom he worshiped with intense love and devotion, just as he did his guru Sri Ramakrishna. Marisa04 / Pixabay “The Buddha is not a person but a (state of) realization to which anyone can attain.” – Swami Vivekananda explaining Lord Buddha’s last words on his death-bed. “Who was there ever like Him?” he once spoke of Buddha, his whole face aglow with inspiration. “The Lord – who never performed one action for Himself – with a heart that embraced the whole world! So full of pity that He – prince and monk – would give His life to save a little goat! So loving that He sacrificed himself to the hospitality of a pariah and blessed him!“ So immense was Swamiji’s reverence for Lord Buddha, Sister Nivedita relates, that he once told a lady “‘Madam, I am the servant of the servants of the servants of Buddha!’ as if even the title of a believer would seem, to his veneration, too exalted to claim.” So it is not at all surprising to note that the deeply cherished ideal – Lord Buddha Himself, choose to appear before his ardent devotee, to shower his blessings on 2 noteworthy occasions.

The following discourse by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa has been taken from the book, Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna by ‘M’. Disciple: How can a person who is very much mired in materialism and worldly pursuits break their bondage and attain liberation? Sri Ramakrishna: He can free himself if by the grace of God he cultivates a spirit of strong renunciation. A man of strong renunciation seeks nothing but God. He has great inward resolution. Connect your consciousness with the Infinite Consciousness of God-realized sages. Subscribe to daily quote broadcast via WHATSAPP OR INSTAGRAM OR TELEGRAM

One day in Dakshineswar we had a long discussion with Swami Niranjanananda, a friend of ours, about whether human beings have free will; then we went to the Master for the definitive answer. The Master listened to us debate for a while and was amused. He then said seriously: “Is there any free will for anyone? Everything is happening and will happen eternally by God’s will. People understand this eventually. Let me give you an example: Here is a cow tied to a post with a long tether. She can walk one cubit from the post or up to the whole length of the tether.

The enclosed post has been excerpted from Swami Chetanananda’s beautiful write-up on the Holy Mother Sarada Ma. It showcases the lessons we can learn from the way Mother conducted herself through frustrating life events. Swami Chetanananda is a monk with the Ramakrishna Mission who has written many beautiful books. You can download and read Swami Chetanananda’s full essay on the Holy Mother

In it Mother narrates an incident from the Ramayana, which acts as a wonderful metaphor for the truth that sincerity is a quality which endears us to others and causes people to place their trust in us. A sincere person is tremendously valued for their integrity and so when such a person decides to speak up against an injustice, he or she is easily able to pierce through and destroy the false and hypocritical clouds of propaganda, which obstruct the vision of many, as people sit up and take notice of their words.

The following incidents occurred in the life of Swami Brahmananda, one of the 16 monastic disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. Fondly called as “Maharaj” by others, he was a divine soul, who had attained to the highest state of spiritual realization (Nirvikalpa Samadhi, or complete union with God), just as his brother disciple, Swami Vivekananda had done.

Shriram Sharma Acharya explains in a wonderfully simple way, why a mere verbal repetition of mantras (like a parrot) is not sufficient to take us to God-realization. Instead the mind and heart must also synchronize with the outward chanting. This inner synchronization is possible only if we grasp the true meaning of the mantra and accordingly work hard to transform all our thoughts and actions. Without such a purification of the mind and heart no amount of outward chanting will bear fruit.

The Swami (Swami Brahmananda) was a friend and saviour of the fallen, the dejected and the lowly. When Sri Ramakrishna was alive, Girish Chandra Ghosh (a devotee of Sri Ramakrishna) took many actors and actresses of his theater to him for his blessings. It is to be noted that at that time actresses were not accepted by society. They were considered immoral women. One of the actresses, named Tara, wrote in her memoirs how Swami Brahmananda’s love and blessings changed her life: Ever since I was a little girl, I worked on stage with Girish Chandra Ghosh and heard from him about Sri Ramakrishna. There was a photograph of Sri Ramakrishna in every theater with which Girish Babu was connected, and the actors and actresses used to bow down to the Master’s photograph before they appeared on stage.

Then Rama with Sita and his followers left Lanka. But there ran a murmur among the followers. “The test! The test!” they cried, “Sita has not given the test that she was perfectly pure in Ravana’s household.” “Pure! she is chastity itself” exclaimed Rama. “Never mind! We want the test,” persisted the people. Subsequently, a huge sacrificial fire was made ready, into which Sita had to plunge herself. Rama was in agony, thinking that Sita was lost; but in a moment, the God of fire himself appeared with a throne upon his head, and upon the throne was Sita. Then, there was universal rejoicing, and everybody was satisfied.

At one time she had pleased the king very much, and he offered to grant her two boons: “Ask any two things in my power and I will grant them to you,” said he, but she made no request then. She had forgotten all about it; but the evil-minded maidservant in her employ began to work upon her jealousy with regard to Rama being installed on the throne, and insinuated to her how nice it would be for her if her own son had succeeded the king; until the queen was almost mad with jealousy.

The Ramayana is the first of India’s most ancient spiritual epics. It predates even the Mahabharata, which itself is at least 3,500 years old. The Ramayana narrates the life story of Rama and Sita, the two great Incarnations of God.