Mystics and Philosphers

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The portrait of Swami Vivekananda hung in the center of the living room of my

grandfather’s house so I knew that this was an important person and spent many

years discovering him. It has been many decades now since I read the Gospel of

Ramakrishna and how Swami Vivekananda met him.

 

I remember Naren asking the important people of his day regarding whether they

had seen God. No one could give him a satisfactory answer. Only Ramakrishna had

the confidence to say "Yes, I have seen God….."

 

I went to the following website and selected certain paragraphs about the early

years of Narendra (Swami Vivekananda). These illustrate the difference between

scholars, philosophers, and mystics. A genuine spiritual aspirant is not

satisfied with words and philosophy. His very being drives and compels him to

engage in spiritual practice and gain first hand knowledge of the Self as the

Self, His Own Being, the One without a Second, that the ancient sages have

called Sat-Chit-Ananda.

 

Here are some selected portions from http://www.btinternet.com/~vivekananda/

 

For a time the congregational prayers and the devotional songs of the Brahmo

Samaj exhilarated Narendra's mind, but soon he found that they did not give him

any real spiritual experience. He wanted to realize God, the goal of religion,

and so felt the imperative need of being instructed by a man who had seen God.

 

In his eagerness he went to Devendranath, the venerable leader of the Brahmo

Samaj, and asked him, even before the latter had uttered a word, 'Sir, have you

seen God?'

 

Devendranath was embarrassed and replied: 'My boy, you have the eyes of a yogi.

You should practise meditation.'

 

The youth was disappointed and felt that this teacher was not the man to help

him in his spiritual struggle. But he received no better answer from the leaders

of other religious sects. Then he remembered having heard the name of

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa from Professor Hastie, who while lecturing his class on

Wordsworth's poem The Excursion, had spoken of trances, remarking that such

religious ecstasies were the result of purity and concentration. He had said,

further, that an exalted experience of this kind was a rare phenomenon,

especially in modern times. 'I have known,' he had said, 'only one person who

has realized that blessed state, and he is Ramakrishna of Dakshineswar. You will

understand trances if you visit the saint.'

 

Narendra had also heard about Sri Ramakrishna from a relative, Ramchandra Datta,

who was one of the foremost householder disciples of the Master. Learning of

Narendra's unwillingness to marry and ascribing it to his desire to lead a

spiritual life, Ramchandra had said to him, 'If you really want to cultivate

spirituality, then visit Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar.'

 

Narendra met Ramakrishna for the first time in November 1881 at the house of the

Master's devotee Surendranath Mitra, the young man having been invited there to

entertain the visitors with his melodious music. The Paramahamsa was much

impressed by his sincerity and devotion, and after a few inquiries asked him to

visit him at Dakshineswar. Narendra accepted. He wished to learn if Ramakrishna

was the man to help him in his spiritual quest……….

 

 

They returned to the room and Naren asked the Master, 'Sir, have you seen God?'

Without a moment's hesitation the reply was given: 'Yes, I have seen God. I see

Him as I see you here, only more clearly. God can be seen. One can talk to him.

But who cares for God? People shed torrents of tears for their wives, children,

wealth, and property, but who weeps for the vision of God? If one cries

sincerely for God, one can surely see Him.'