Sri Ramakrishna's Message of Peace to a Strife-Torn World.

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Sri Ramakrishna's Message of Peace to a Strife-Torn World.

- Swami Sarvapriyananda

The author is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order, serving at the

Ramakrishna Mission Sarada Pitha, Belur Math.¨

(From The Vedanta Keshari: Published by the Ramakrishna Math,

Chennai)

 

Excerpts:

 

The Sevenfold Harmony

A crisp bit of analysis of Sri Ramakrishna's message by Swami

Ghanananda, a senior monk of the Ramakrishna order, reveals a

sevenfold harmony.2 While we have taken considerable liberty with

Swami Ghananandaji's terminology, what follows below is the essence

of his analysis; it is a sweeping (and breathtaking) philosophical

vision of the harmony which is the birthright of each human being

and of mankind as a whole.

 

1. The Harmony of Religions:

All religions are true as they are paths to the same goal of

superconscious realisation. The light of the spirit comes from the

same source, but is expressed differently. He even held that the

avatara is always one and the same. 'Plunging into the ocean of

life, He rises up in one place and is known as Krishna; diving again

and rising elsewhere, He is known as Christ.'3 His well-known

analogy was that of water in a pond--people call it jal, pani, aqua

and so on, but, all the while it is the same water. The importance

of this insight cannot be undervalued, even in this 21st century. It

is true that the modern man isn't very concerned about religious

quarrels (with a few notable exceptions, of course); in most free

societies you are unlikely to be persecuted for your religious

beliefs. But, this 'liberalism' is born of indifference; large

numbers of people have actually lost interest in God. They are

neither theistic nor atheistic, nor even agnostic--they are simply

not interested.

 

Sri Ramakrishna's harmony of religions is very different from this

vacuous liberalism of unbelief. His universalism was born of living

experience in each of the various faiths he actually practised.

 

2. The Harmony of Philosophies:

Sri Ramakrishna taught that spiritual life begins with dualism,

proceeds through qualified non-dualism, and culminates in non-

dualism. The sadhaka believes that there is a fundamental difference

between his own self and God. Then he experiences God as the whole

of which he is a part, and finally, comes the realisation that

duality is an illusion, the non-dual reality being all that truly

exists. Dvaita, Visishtadvaita, and Advaita are all true and,

indeed, are important stages in the spiritual journey of man. Here

lies the resolution of a philosophical war which has witnessed a

thousand years of polemics, at the very least.

 

3. The Harmony of Sadhana:

All spiritual practices (yogas) can be classified into four main

groups--jnana-yoga (the path of knowledge), bhakti-yoga (the path of

devotion), karma-yoga (the path of work), and raja-yoga (the path of

meditation). Sri Ramakrishna experienced the truth by all these

paths and thus reconciled them. He proclaimed: 'Knowledge and Love

of God are ultimately one. There is no difference between pure

Knowledge and pure Love.'

 

4. The Harmony Between the Personal and Impersonal Aspects of God:

Sri Ramakrishna also reconciled the ideal of the Personal God and

the impersonal Absolute, as well as the various forms of Personal

God. When water freezes into ice it assumes various forms and when

ice melts all forms disappear into water. In the same way, forms

arise out of the Formless. Sri Ramakrishna warned all those who came

to him, not be narrow and sectarian, not to put a limit to the

manifestations of God. Brahman and Shakti are one, declared Sri

Ramakrishna time and again. We see how he enlightened even the great

Advaitist Totapuri, his own Guru, about the reality of Personal God.

At the same time, he taught that one should concentrate on one's own

ishta (the chosen ideal).

 

5. The Harmony Between Different Superconscious Realisations:

The two major categories of superconscious realisation are savikalpa

samadhi and nirvikalpa samadhi. Savikalpa samadhi prepares the path

to the realisation of the Absolute, nirvikalpa samadhi. Shakti

reveals Brahman. Swami Brahmananda used to say, 'Mother has the keys

to Brahmajnana. Without Her grace, nothing is possible.' Sri

Ramakrishna said, 'It is within Her (Divine Mother's) power to give

Brahmajnana, which She does by causing the effacement of the lower

self.' In simpler terms, meditation on a form of God prepares the

mind for meditation on his impersonal aspect.

 

6. The Harmony of Sects Within the Same Religion:

It is often true that sects within a religion are more virulently

opposed to each other than religions are to one another. Shias and

Sunnis, Catholics and Protestants, Shakta and Vaishnava--the bitter

list of intra-religious disputes, sometimes openly violent,

sometimes polemical, is endless. Sri Ramakrishna stressed the basic

unity of the different forms of God. Just as sugar is shaped into

various forms--dolls, birds, horses, and elephants--and yet, remains

the same sugar, God assumes various forms--Kali, Krishna, Shiva--for

His devotee. Sri Ramakrishna's parable of the chameleon is highly

instructive in this context. Various people saw a chameleon in

different shades of colour; they fell into argument about the true

colour of the animal. Was it red, green or blue? Then, a man who

lived under the tree and had seen the chameleon in all its colours

came forward and said, 'The chameleon is red, green, blue, and so

many other colours. It is also colourless at times!' So is the

reality of God.

 

7. The Harmony of Duties of Different Varnas and Ashramas:

Each station in life (ashrama) and each division of society (varna)

has its own ideal. Sri Ramakrishna held that whatever the varna or

the ashrama, God is the goal, and so everybody should do his utmost

to realise God in this life. Superiority does not depend on varna or

ashrama. Human qualities are more important. He used a pun to

explain it. 'He is a man (manush) who has discrimination (man and

hunsh).' [in Bengali, it means one whose man, i.e. mind, is hunsh,

i.e. alert.]