The Master's Training Of His Disciples

Monday, October 26, 1885

IT WAS 10am when M. arrived at the Syampukur house on his way to Dr. Sarkar to report the Master’s condition.

Dr. Sarkar had declared the illness incurable. His words cast gloom over the minds of the Master’s devotees and disciples. With unflagging devotion and zeal they nursed the patient-their teacher, guide, philosopher, and friend.

A band of young disciples, led by Narendra, was preparing to renounce the world and dedicate their lives to the realization of God and the service of humanity.

People flocked to the Master day and night. In spite of the excruciating pain in his throat, he welcomed them all with a cheerful face. There seemed to be no limit to his solicitude for their welfare.

His face beamed as he talked to them about God. Dr. Sarkar, seeing that conversation aggravated the illness, forbade him to talk to people.

“You must not talk to others,” the physician had said to the Master, “but you may make an exception in my case.” The doctor used to spend six or seven hours in Sri Ramakrishna’s company, drinking in every word that fell from his lips. MASTER: “I am feeling much relieved. I am very well today.

Is It because of the medicine? Then why shouldn’t I continue it?”

M: “I am going to the doctor. I shall tell him everything. He will advise what is best.”

MASTER: “I haven’t seen Purna for two or three days. I am worried about him.”

M. (to Kāli): “Why don’t you see Purna and ask him to come?”

KĀLI: “I shall go immediately.”

MASTER (to M.): “The doctor’s son is a nice boy. Please ask him to come.”

M. arrived at Dr. Sarkar’s house and found him with two or three friends.

DOCTOR (to M.): “I was talking about you just a minute ago. You said you would come at ten; I have been waiting for you an hour and a half. Your delay has made me worry about him [meaning Sri Ramakrishna].

(To a friend) “Please sing that song.”

The friend sang: Proclaim the glory of God’s name as long as life remains in you;

The dazzling splendour of His radiance floods the universe!

Like nectar streams His boundless love, filling the hearts ofmen with joy:

The very thought of His compassion sends a thrill through every limb!

How can one fittingly describe Him? Through His abounding grace

The bitter sorrows of this life are all forgotten instantly.

On every side-on land below, in sky above, beneath the seas:

In every region of this earth-men seek Him tirelessly, And as they seek Him, ever ask: Where is His limit, where His end?

True Wisdom’s Dwelling-place is He, the Elixir of Eternal Life,

The Sleepless, Ever-wakeful Eye, the Pure and Stainless One:

The vision of His face removes all trace of sorrow from our hearts.

DOCTOR (to M.): “Isn’t it a beautiful song? How do you like that line, ‘Where is His limit, where His end?’ "

M: “Yes, that’s a very fine line. It fills the mind with the idea of the Infinite.”

DOCTOR (tenderly, to M.): “It is already late in the morning. Have you taken your lunch?

I finish mine before ten and then begin my professional calls; otherwise I don’t feel well.

Look here, I have been thinking of giving a feast to you all [meaning Sri Ramakrishna’s devotees] one day.”

M: “That will be fine, sir.”

DOCTOR: “Where shall I arrange it? Here or at the Syampukur house? Whatever you suggest.”

M: “It doesn’t matter, sir. Wherever you arrange it we shall be very happy to dine with you.”

The conversation turned to Kāli, the Divine Mother.

DOCTOR: “Kāli is an old hag of the Sonthals.”

M. burst into loud laughter and said, “Where did you get that?”

DOCTOR: “Oh, I have heard something like that.”

(M. laughs.)

Dr. Sarkar on ecstasy

They began to talk about the ecstasy that Vijay and the others had experienced the previous day in the Master’s room. The doctor also had been present on the occasion.

DOCTOR: “Yes, I witnessed that ecstasy. But is excessive ecstasy good for one?“M: “The Master says that an excess of ecstasy harms no one, if it is the result of the contemplation of God. He further says that the lustre of a gem gives light and soothes the body; It does not burn.”

DOCTOR: “Oh, the lustre of a gem! That’s only a reflected light.”

M: “He also says that a man does not die by sinking in the Lake of Immortality. God is that Lake. A plunge in that Lake does not injure a man; on the contrary it makes him immortal. Of course, he will become immortal only if he has faith in God.”

DOCTOR: “Yes, that is true.”

The doctor took M. in his carriage. He had to see a few patients on the way to Syampukur. They continued their conversation in the carriage. Dr. Sarkar referred to Mahima Chakravarty’s pride.

Master’s humility & M. and Dr. Sarkar

M: “He visits the Master. Even if he has a little pride, it will not last long. If one only sits in the Master’s presence awhile, one’s pride crumbles to pieces. It is because the Master himself is totally free from egotism. Pride cannot exist in the presence of humility. A celebrated man like Pundit Iswar Chandra Vidyāsāgar showed great modesty and humility in the Master’s presence. The Paramahamsa visited his house; it was nine o’clock in the evening when the Master took his leave. Vidyāsāgar came all the way from the library to the gate of his compound to see him off. He himself carried the light to show the way. As the Master’s carriage started off, Vidysagar stood there with folded hands.”

DOCTOR: “Well, what does Vidyāsāgar think of him?”

M: “That day he showed the Master great respect. But when I talked with him later, I found out that he didn’t much care for what the Vaishnavas call emotion or ecstasy. He shares your views on such things.”

DOCTOR: “Neither do I care very much for any such display of emotion as folding one’s hands or touching others’ feet with one’s head. To me the head is the same as the feet. But if a man thinks differently of the feet, let him do whatever he likes.”

M: “We know that you do not care for a display of feelings. Perhaps you remember that the Master now and then refers to you as a ‘deep soul’. He said to you yesterday that when an elephant plunges into a small pool it makes a big splash, but when it goes into a big lake you see hardly a ripple. The elephant of emotion cannot produce any effect at all in a deep soul. The Master says that you are a ‘deep soul’.”

DOCTOR: “I don’t deserve the compliment. After all, what is bhava? It is only a feeling.

There are other aspects of feeling, such as bhakti. When it runs to excess, some can suppress It and some cannot.“M: “Divine ecstasy may or may not be explainable; but, sir, it cannot be denied that ecstasy, or love of God, is a unique thing. I have seen in your library Stebbing’s book on Darwinism.

According to Stebbing the human mind is wonderful, whether it be the result of evolution or of special creation. He gives a beautiful illustration from the theory of light. Light is wonderful, whether you know the wave theory of light or not.”

DOCTOR: “Yes. Have you noticed further that Stebbing accepts both Darwin and God?” The conversation again turned to Sri Ramakrishna.

DOCTOR: “I find that he is a worshipper of the Goddess Kāli.”

M: “But wit h him the meaning of Kāli is different. What the Vedas call the Supreme Brahman, he calls Kāli. What the Mussulmans call Allah and the Christians call God, he calls Kāli. He does not see many gods; he sees only one God. What the Brahma jnanis of olden times called Brahman, what the yogis call Ātman and the bhaktas call the Bhagavan, he calls Kāli.