Visit To The Sinthi Bramo Samaj

October 19, 1884

ON THIS DAY Sri Ramakrishna again visited the Sinthi Brahmo Samaj. It was the occasion of the autumn festival of the Samaj, which was being celebrated at Benimadhav Pal’s garden house. The hall was decorated with flowers and greens, flags and festoons, of various colours. Outside, the blue autumn sky with its fleecy clouds was reflected in the water of the lake.

Sri Ramakrishna arrived at half past four in the afternoon. Entering the hall, he bowed down before the altar. The Brahmo devotees, among whom could be noticed Vijay and Trailokya, sat around him. A sub-judge, who was a member of the Brahmo Samaj, was with them.

Trailokya was entertaining the devotees with his melodious music.

MASTER (to Trailokya): “That song of yours, ‘O Mother, make me mad with Thy love’, I enjoy very much. Won’t you sing it?”

Trailokya sang:

O Mother, make me mad with Thy love! What need have I of knowledge or reason? Make me drunk with Thy love’s Wine; O Thou who stealest Thy bhaktas’ hearts, Drown me deep in the Sea of Thy love! Here in this world, this madhouse of Thine, Some laugh, some weep, some dance for joy: Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Gaurānga, All are drunk with the Wine of Thy love. O Mother, when shall I be blessed By joining their blissful company?

As he listened to the song, the Master’s mind underwent a transformation, and presently he went into deep samādhi. Coming down a little to the plane of the sense world, he gave instruction to the devotees. His mind was still charged with the divine experience. His words were spoken as if in a state of intoxication. Gradually he became again fully conscious of the world.

MASTER: “O Mother! I don’t want the bliss of divine inebriation. I shall eat siddhi.

Occult powers

(To the devotees) “By ‘siddhi’ I mean the attainment of the spiritual goal and not one of the eight occult powers. About the occult powers, Sri Krishna said to Arjuna, ‘Friend, if you find anyone who has acquired even one of the eight powers, then know for certain 680he will not realize Me.’ For powers surely beget pride, and God cannot be realized if there is the slightest trace of pride.

Four classes of devotees

“According to a certain school of thought there are four classes of devotees: the pravartaka, the sadhaka, the siddha, and the siddha of the siddha. He who has just begun religious life is a pravartaka. Such a man puts his denominational marks on his body and forehead, wears a rosary around his neck, and scrupulously follows other outer conventions.

The sadhaka has advanced farther. His desire for outer show has become less. He longs for the realization of God and prays to Him sincerely. He repeats the name of God and calls on Him with a guileless heart. Now, whom should we call the siddha? He who has the absolute conviction that Cod exists and is the sole Doer; he who has seen God. And who is the siddha of the siddha? He who has not merely seen God, but has intimately talked with Him as Father, Son, or Beloved.

Difference between intellectual understanding and actual vision

“It is one thing to believe beyond a doubt that fire exists in wood, but it is quite another to get the fire from the wood, cook rice with its help, appease one’s hunger, and so be satisfied. These are two entirely different things.

“No one can put a limit to spiritual experience. If you refer to one experience, there is another beyond that, and still another, and so on.

Advice to Brahmo

(In an ecstatic mood, referring to the Brahmos) ‘They are Brahma jnanis. They believe in the formless Deity. That is good.

(To the Brahmo devotees) “Be firm in one ideal-either in God with form or in the formless God. Then alone will you realize God; otherwise not. With firm and unwavering belief the followers of God with form will realize Him, as will those who speak of Him as formless. You may eat a cake with icing either straight or sidewise; it will taste sweet either way.

(All laugh.)

“But you must have firm conviction, you must pray to Him whole-heartedly.

Faith of the worldly-minded

Do you know what the God of worldly people is like? It is like children’s saying to one another while at play, ‘I swear by God.’ They have learnt the word from the quarrels of their aunts or grandmothers. Or it is like God to a dandy. The dandy, all spick and span, his lips red from chewing betel-leaf, walks in the garden, cane in hand, and, plucking a flower, exclaims to his friend, ‘Ah! What a beautiful flower God has made!’ But this feeling of a worldly person is momentary. It lasts as long as a drop of water on a red-hot frying-pan.

“You must be firm in one ideal. Dive deep. Otherwise you cannot get the gems at the bottom of the ocean. You cannot pick up the gems if you only float on the surface.” With these words the Master sang in the sweet voice that had bewitched the hearts of devotees like Keshab:

Dive deep, O mind, dive deep in the Ocean of God’s Beauty; If you descend to the uttermost depths, There you will find the gem of Love. . . . The devotees felt as if they were in paradise itself. Seek the Creator and not the world’s beauty

MASTER (to the Brahmos): “Dive deep. Learn to love God. Plunge into divine love. You see, I have heard how you pray. Why do you Brahmos dwell so much on the glories of God? Is there such great need of your saying over and over again, ‘O God, You have created the sky, the great oceans, the lunar world, the solar world, and the stellar world’?

“Everybody is wonder-struck at the mere sight of a rich man’s garden house. People become speechless at the sight of the trees, the flowers, the ponds, the drawing-room, the pictures. But alas, how few are they who seek the owner of all these! Only one or two inquire after him. He who seeks God with a longing heart can see Him, talk to Him as I am talking to you. Believe my words when I say that God can be seen. But ah! To whom am I saying these words? Who will believe me?