Healing Through Faith and Love

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===================================================Healing Through Faith and Love - A Case Study of Sri Ramakrishna===================================================It is a little known fact that actors in Bengali theatre, priorto entering the stage, bow down before the image of an unshaved,rustic-looking, middle-aged man, who is now unofficially thepatron deity of all dramatic performance in the region. Itbecomes all the more intriguing when we realize that thegentleman in question was an unlettered individual who was neverformally related to theatre and saw only a few plays during hisown lifetime.Illustration:http://www.exoticindia.com/artimages/ramakrishna.jpgThe story of how this came to be about begins on

February 28,1844, with the birth of a boy named Girish at Calcutta. Girishlost his mother when he was eleven and his father at fourteen.>From his boyhood, he was a voracious reader but left school>sincehe found the formal atmosphere detrimental to the process oflearning. Without the restraining hand of a loving guardian,Girish's life drifted into drunkenness, debauchery, waywardnessand obstinacy. He had to earn his living through a succession ofoffice jobs, which he found thoroughly boring. His spare time wasdevoted to the theatre, both as playwright and performer. He was,in fact, a bohemian artist. An early marriage proved unable tostabilize his lifestyle and his wife passed away when he wasthirty. Thus did he lose his mother in childhood, father inboyhood and wife in early manhood.For the next fifteen years he worked in various capacities indifferent offices. He continued to indulge his appetites but

alsoremained devoted to writing and acting. In his late thirties, hehad already begun to be recognized as the father of modernBengali drama. He was single-handedly revitalizing the revival oftheatre by producing a vast body of dramatic work in the Bengalilanguage, and at the same time was molding the first generationof actors and actresses by leading from the front; in fact, suchwas his versatility that he often played two or three roles inthe same play. In 1883, the Star Theatre was opened in Calcuttawith his money; this later developed into an active center forthe evolution of Bengali drama.In Girish's case, talent and licentiousness gradually achieved astate of peaceful co-existence. He himself sized up hispersonality as follows: 'from my early boyhood I was molded in adifferent way. I never learned to walk a straight path. I alwayspreferred a crooked way. From childhood it had been my nature todo the very thing

I was forbidden to do.'Illustration: http://www.exoticindia.com/artimages/girish.jpgSkepticismThe course of Girish's tumultuous life continued till he read oneday about a holy personality who was living in the famous shrineof Goddess Kali (Dakshineshwar) near Calcutta.Illustration:http://www.exoticindia.com/artimages/dakshineswar.jpgA skeptical Girish, without ever having met the sage, concludedthat he was probably a fake. However, soon after he heard thatthe guru would be visiting his neighborhood and decided to seehim firsthand. It was nearing sunset when Girish reached theplace, and lamps were being

brought into the room. Yet theascetic kept asking, "Is it evening?" This confirmed Girish'searlier opinion, 'what pretentious play-acting, it is dusk,lights are burning in front of him, yet he cannot tell whether itis evening or not' thus murmuring under his breath and notrecognizing the saint's super conscious stage, he left thepremises. Thus was the first impression of Girish Chandra Ghosh,the father of modern Bengali theatre, regarding Sri Ramakrishna,the beloved saint and priest of one of India's most renowned Kalitemples.Illustration: http://www.exoticindia.com/artimages/paramhansa.jpgSome years later, Girish saw the holy man again, at the house ofa common acquaintance. In his own words: 'after reaching there, Ifound that the sage had already arrived and a dancing

girl wasseated by his side and singing devotional hymns. Quite a largegathering had assembled in the room. Suddenly my eyes were openedto a new vision by the holy man's conduct. I used to think thatthose who consider themselves param-yogis or gurus do not speakwith anybody. They do not salute anybody. If strongly urged theyallow others to serve them. But his behavior was quite different.With the utmost humility he was showing respect to everybody bybowing his head on the ground. An old friend of mine, pointing athim, said sarcastically: "The dancing girl seems to have aprevious intimacy with him. That's why he is laughing and jokingwith her." But I did not like these insinuations. Just then,another of my friends said, "I have had enough of this, let'sgo."' Girish went with him. He had half wanted to stay, but wastoo embarrassed to admit this, even to himself.Lessons in HumilityOnly a few days after this, on

September 21, 1884, the saint andsome of his devotees visited the Star Theatre, to see a playbased on the life of the great Vaishnava devotee Shri Chaitanya,authored and directed by Girish. The latter reminisced: 'I wasstrolling in the outer compound of the theatre one day when adisciple of Sri Ramakrishna came up to me and said: "The guru hascome to see the play. If you will allow him a free pass, well andgood. Otherwise we will buy a ticket for him." I replied: "Hewill not have to purchase the ticket. But others will have to."Saying this, I proceeded to greet him. I found him alighting fromthe carriage and entering the compound of the theatre. I wantedto salute him, but before I could do so he saluted me. I returnedhis greeting. He saluted me again. I bowed my head and he did thesame to me. I thought this might continue forever, so I let himperform the last salute (which I answered mentally) and led himupstairs to his

seat in the box.'This was Girish's third meeting with Ramakrishna; but hisintellect continued to refuse to accept another human being as aguru. This is how he reasoned: 'after all, the guru is a man. Thedisciple also is a man. Why should one man stand before anotherwith folded palms and follow him like a slave? But time aftertime in the presence of Sri Ramakrishna my pride crumbled intodust. Meeting me at the theatre, he had first saluted me. Howcould my pride remain in the presence of such a humble man? Thememory of his humility created an indelible impression on mymind.'Three days later, Girish was sitting on the porch of a friend'shouse when he saw Ramakrishna approaching along the street: 'Nosooner had I turned my eyes towards him than he saluted me. Ireturned it. He continued on his way. For no accountable reasonmy heart felt drawn towards him by an invisible string. I felt astrong urge to follow him. Just

then, a person brought to me amessage from him and said: "Sri Ramakrishna is calling you." Iwent. He was seated with a number of devotees around him. As soonas I sat down I asked the following question:"What is a guru?""A guru is like the matchmaker who arranges for the union of thebride with his bridegroom. Likewise a guru prepares for themeeting of the individual soul with his beloved, the DivineSpirit." Actually, Sri Ramakrishna did not use the wordmatchmaker, but a slang _expression, which left a more forcefulimpression. Then he said: "You need not worry, your guru hasalready been chosen."Girish, however, was a complex personality: a mixture of shyness,aggression, humility and arrogance. Although in one corner of hisheart he did believe that Ramakrishna was the guru who he hadhoped for, another part of his old self revolted against theidea. On December 14th of the same year, the playwright was

inhis dressing room when a devotee came up to inform him ofRamakrishna's arrival. "All right," Girish said rather haughtily,"take him to the box and give him a seat.""But won't you come and receive him personally?" The devoteeasked."What does he need me for? " said the annoyed Girish.Nevertheless, he followed the disciple downstairs. At the sightof Ramakrishna's peaceful countenance Girish's mood changed. Henot only escorted the saint upstairs but also bowed down beforehim and touched his feet. Later Girish said: 'seeing his sereneand radiant face, my stony heart melted. I rebuked myself inshame, and that guilt still haunts my memory. To think that I hadrefused to greet this sweet and gentle soul! Then I conducted himupstairs. There I saluted him touching his feet. Even now I donot understand the reason, but at that moment a radical changecame over me and I was a different man.'The Transforming Power

of Faith'Soon he started conversing with me. He spoke of several thingswhile I listened longingly. I felt a spiritual current passing,as it were, through my body from foot to head and head to foot.All of a sudden Sri Ramakrishna lost outer consciousness and wentinto ecstasy, and in that mood he started talking with a youngdevotee. Many years earlier I had heard some slandering remarksagainst him, made by a very wicked man. I remembered those words,and at that moment his ecstasy broke and his mood changed.Pointing towards me, he said, "There is some crookedness in yourheart." I thought, 'Yes indeed. Plenty of it - of various kinds."But I was at loss to understand which kind he was particularlyreferring to. I asked, "How shall I get rid of it?Have faith,"Shri Ramakrishna replied.Illustration: http://www.exoticindia.com/artimages/samadhi.jpgOn another occasion when Ramakrishna offered Girish a spiritualdiscourse, the latter stopped him short saying: "I won't listento any advice. I have written cartloads of it myself. It doesn'thelp. Do something that will transform my life." Girish had awriter's skepticism about the authority of the written word.Ramakrishna was highly pleased to hear his view and asked adisciple to sing a particular song whose words went like this:"Go into solitude and shut yourself in a cave. Peace is notthere. Peace is where faith is, for faith is the root of all." Atthat moment Girish felt himself cleansed of all impurities anddoubts: 'my arrogant head bowed low at his feet. In him I hadfound my sanctuary and all my fear was gone.'Girish's faith however required constant strengthening; years ofsuffering and torment had damaged it severely.

In a later meetinghe again directed the question to Ramakrishna:"Will the crookedness of my heart go?""Yes it will go."Girish repeated the question and received the same reply. Theprocess was replayed twice until one of the other disciplesreprimanded Girish: "Enough. He has already answered you. Why doyou bother him again?" The theatre veteran turned towards thedevotee to rebuke him since no one who dared criticize him everescaped the lash of his tongue. But he controlled himselfthinking: 'my friend is right. He who does not believe when toldonce will not believe even if he is told a hundred times.'Venerating with PoisonOne night, while Girish was in a brothel with two of his friends,he felt a sudden desire to see Ramakrishna. Despite the latenessof the hour he and his friends hired a carriage to Dakshineshwar.They were very drunk and everyone was asleep. But when the threetipsily staggered

into Ramakrishna's room, he received themjoyfully. Going into ecstasy, he grasped both of Girish's handsand began to sing and dance with him. The dramatist thusdescribed his feelings: 'here is a man whose love embraces all -even a wicked man like me, whose own family would condemn me inthis state. Surely, this holy man, respected by the righteous, isalso the savior of the fallen.'Girish, however, was not always so pleasant when drunk. Once atthe theatre he publicly abused Ramakrishna, using the coarsestand most brutal words. All those present were shocked and advisedthe sage to sever all links with the playwright.It is interesting to read what Girish himself says about thisincident:'Although I had come to regard Sri Ramakrishna as my very own,the scars of past impressions were not so easily healed. One day,under the influence of liquor, I began to abuse him in mostunutterable language. The devotees of the

master grew furious andwere about to punish me, but he restrained them. Abuse continuedto flow from my lips in a torrent. Sri Ramakrishna kept quiet andsilently returned to Dakshineshwar. There was no remorse in myheart. As a spoiled child may carelessly berate his father, sodid I abuse him without any fear of punishment. Soon my behaviorbecame common gossip, and I began to realize my mistake. But atthe same time I had so much faith in his love, which I felt to beinfinite, that I did not for a moment fear that Sri Ramakrishnacould ever desert me.'A common friend reminded Ramakrishna of the story of the serpentKaliya, who, while battling Krishna, spewed enormous quantitiesof venom and said: "Lord you have given me only poison, whereshall I get the nectar to worship you?" Similarly, Girish too hadworshipped Ramakrishna with abuse, which was in accordance withhis nature.Illustration: http://www.exoticindia.com/artimages/pe61.jpgRamakrishna smiled and immediately asked for a carriage to go toGirish's house, where he found the latter repentant. Seeing theguru, Girish was overwhelmed. He said, "Master if you had notcome today, I would have concluded that you had not attained thatsupreme state of knowledge where praise and blame are equal, andthat you could not be called a truly illumined soul." On anotheroccasion Ramakrishna had told Girish: "You utter many abusive andvulgar words; but that doesn't matter. It's better for thesethings to come out. There are some people who fall ill on accountof blood poisoning; the more the poisoned blood finds an outlet,the better it is for them. You too will be purer by the day. Infact, people will marvel at you."Binding Through

FreedomOne night, Girish drank himself into unconsciousness at the houseof a prostitute. In the morning, he hastened to visitRamakrishna. He was full of remorse but had not neglected tobring a bottle of wine with him in the carriage. On arriving atDakshineshwar, he wept repentantly and embraced Ramakrishna'sfeet. Then, suddenly, he felt in urgent need of drink, anddiscovered, to his dismay, that the carriage had already drivenoff. But presently a smiling Ramakrishna produced not only thebottle, but Girish's shoes and scarf as well; he had privatelyasked a devotee to bring them from the carriage before it left.Girish could not control himself; he drank shamelessly beforethem all - and, having done so, was again remorseful. "Drink toyour heart's content" Ramakrishna told him, "It won't be for muchlonger." Girish said later that this was the beginning hisabstention from intoxicating drinks. But the abstention

wasgradual; and this was certainly not the last time that Girish wasdrunk in his guru's presence. Sri Ramakrishna never forbadeGirish to drink because he knew that it takes time to changedeep-rooted habits. Yet the silent influence of the guru's loveworked wonders. In the playwright's own words: 'from my earlychildhood it had been my nature to do the very thing that I wasforbidden to do. But Sri Ramakrishna was a unique teacher. Neverfor a moment did he restrict me, and that worked a miracle in mylife. He literally accepted my sins and left my soul free. If anyof his devotees would speak of sin and sinfulness, he wouldrebuke him saying, "Stop that. Why talk of sin? He who repeatedlysays, 'I am a worm, I am a worm,' becomes a worm. He, who thinks,'I am free,' becomes free. Always have that positive attitudethat you are free, and no sin will cling to you."'The Power of AttorneyOne day Girish finally

surrendered himself at the feet ofRamakrishna and asked him for instruction. "Do just what you aredoing now," said the guru. "Hold on to god with one hand and tothe material world with the other. Think of god once in themorning and once in the evening, no matter how much work you havepending." Girish agreed that this sounded simple enough. But hethen reflected on his disorganized life, so much on the mercy ofimpulses and emergencies and realized that he did not even havefixed hours for eating and sleeping; how then could he promise toremember god? Making a false commitment was out of the question.Ramakrishna, as if reading his mind said: "Very well, thenremember god just before you eat or sleep. No matter what time ofthe day it is." Girish however, couldn't even make this simplepromise, the fact being that any kind of self-discipline wasrepugnant to him. "In that case," said Ramakrishna, "give me yourpower of attorney.

From this moment on, I'll take fullresponsibility for you. You won't have to do anything at all."Girish was overjoyed. This is what he had been wanting all thetime; to be rid of responsibility and guilt forever. He readilyagreed to the suggestion and thought to himself, 'now will I beas free as air.' He was however mistaken - as he soon found out.By consenting, he had turned himself into Ramakrishna's slave.Whenever Girish indulged himself, he was forced to think of thetremendous moral burden he would be placing on his guru. In fact,he found it hard to not constantly think of Sri Ramakrishnabefore performing any action.The Garlic ContainerOne day he went to a brothel intending to spend the night there.At midnight however, he experienced an unbearable burningsensation all over his body and had to immediately leave theplace to return home. Girish was reminded of the time whenRamakrishna had compared him to

a cup of garlic paste. Thoughsuch a container may be washed an umpteen number of times, it isnot possible to get rid of the smell altogether. "Will my smellgo?" Girish had enquired. "Yes it will. All offensive odorvanishes when the vessel is heated in a blazing fire." Was thisthe same heat that was tormenting him now? So wondered theplaywright.In later years he would tell young devotees that the way ofcomplete self-surrender was actually much harder than the way ofself-reliance and effort: "Look at me, I'm not even free tobreathe, Sri Ramakrishna has taken full possession of my heartand bound it with his love."The Guru as Mother (In Girish's Own Words)'One day, when I arrived at Dakshineshwar, Sri Ramakrishna wasjust finishing his noonday meal. He offered me his dessert, butas I was about to eat it, he said: "Wait. Let me feed youmyself." Then he put the pudding into my mouth with his ownfingers, and I

ate as hungrily and unself-consciously as a smallbaby. I forgot that I was an adult. I felt like a child whosemother was feeding him. But now when I remember how these lips ofmine had touched many impure lips, and how my guru had fed me,touching them with his holy hand, I am overwhelmed with emotionand say to myself: "Did this actually happen? Or was it only adream?" I heard from a fellow devotee that Sri Ramakrishna saw meas a little baby in a divine vision. And from then, whenever Iwas with him, I would actually feel like a child.'Here it is also relevant to observe that though Girish had thecompany of his mother till the age of eleven, he only had alimited interaction with her. This restriction was due to aninnate fear on the part of the parent that if she came near herchildren she would lose them; blaming herself for the many suchbereavements she had already suffered before Girish.The Vision of

BhairavaLong before he had met the dramatist, Sri Ramakrishna had avision, which he described as follows: 'One day, when I wasmeditating in the Kali temple, I saw a naked boy skipping intothe temple. He had a tuft of hair on the crown of his head, andwas carrying a flask of wine under his left arm and a vessel ofnectar in his right. "Who are you?" I asked. "I am Bhairava," hereplied. On my asking the reason for his coming, he answered, "Todo your work." Years later when Girish came to me I recognizedthat Bhairava in him.'In fact, Ramakrishna had often chided his disciples who deridedGirish's enchantment with the bottle, saying, "What harm canalcohol possibly cause to someone who embodies Bhairava himself?None other than our beloved Mother Kali can ever judge orrestrain him. We, who are her mere servants, may not even dare todo so. Girish is not a hypocrite, he is the same, inside andoutside." The analogy with

Bhairava is both apt and instructive.Bhairava was generated from the wrath of Shiva, when the latterwas forced to listen to the vain boastings of another deity(Brahma). Having such provocative origins, holding within himselfa simmering potential, Bhairava is thus visualized in Indianthought as an ambivalent, excitable and dangerous character,reflecting the emotions aroused at his birth, and even today isworshipped with offerings of alcohol in many shrines acrossIndia.Illustration: http://www.exoticindia.com/artimages/he11.jpgThe bonding through sharing of food was further strengthened whenone day Girish went to the house of a friend, who too was adevotee of Ramakrishna. He found the host cleaning rice. Now, thelatter was a rich landlord with many servants, but

neverthelesshe was performing this unaccustomed job himself. Girish wasamazed and enquired of the reason. The householder replied: " Themaster is coming today, and he will have his lunch here. So I amcleaning the rice myself."Girish was touched by this extraordinary devotion. He reflectedon his own ability to be of such service to Ramakrishna. Hereturned home and lay on the bed thinking, 'Indeed, god comes tothe home of those who have devotion like my friend. I am awretched drunkard. There is no one here who can receive themaster in the proper manner and feed him.' Just then there was aknock on his door. Startled he jumped up. In front of him stoodthe master. "Girish I am hungry, could you give me something toeat?" There was no food in the house. Asking Sri Ramakrishna towait, he rushed to a restaurant nearby and brought home somefried bread and potato curry. The food, coarse and hard, was muchdifferent from

what the frail guru's constitution permitted.Nevertheless, he relished it with visible joy and delight.A Unique SolutionAs time progressed and age took over Ramakrishna, his healthbegan to deteriorate. On the advise of doctors he was movedoutside the city where the air was felt to be better.Illustration:http://www.exoticindia.com/artimages/healthhouse.jpgAn arrangement was made whereby the householder disciplescontributed money for his treatment, food and rent. The younger,unmarried devotees, who later would establish the RamakrishnaMission, managed the household, including the nursing andshopping. After a while however, some of the householders feltthat the expenditure was getting out of hand and demanded that astrict accounting system be maintained.

The youngsters feltoffended and decided not to accept any more money from them. Whenthe situation reached a flashpoint, Girish came forward with asolution. He simply set fire to the account book in front ofeverybody. Then he told the householders to each contributeaccording to his means and that he would make up the shortfall.To the unmarried monks he said: "Don't worry. I shall sell myhouse if the need arises and spend every bit of the money for themaster." Whatever might have been the fate of Ramakrishna'sphysical well being, one thing was certain - Girish's healing wascomplete - and he later remarked in humor: 'Had I known thatthere was such a huge pit in which to throw one's sins, I wouldhave committed many more.' It was this transformed soul who beganthe practice of paying homage to Sri Ramakrishna before thecommencement of a theatrical performance.===========================================This article by Shri

Nitin Kumar.===========================================Bibliography:Blurton, T. Richard. Hindu Art: London, 1992.Chetanananda, Swami. Ramakrishna As We Saw Him: Calcutta, 1999.Chetanananda, Swami. They Lived with God (Life Stories of SomeDevotees of Sri Ramakrishna): Kolkata, 2002.Isherwood, Christopher. Ramakrishna and His Disciples: Kolkata,2001.M. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (Tr. into English by SwamiNikhilananda): Madras, 1996.M. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna 2 vols. (Tr. into Hindi bySuryakant Tripathi Nirala): Nagpur, 2004.Mishra, Krishanbihari. Ramakrishna Paramhamsa Kalpatru ki UtsavLila (Hindi): New Delhi, 2004.Muller, F. Max. Ramakrishna His Life and Sayings: Kolkata, 2005.Ramakrishna Sri. Sayings of: Madras, 2004.Ramakrishna Sri. Tales and Parables of: Chennai, 2004.Rolland, Romain. The Life of Ramakrishna: Kolkata, 2003.Saradananda, Swami. Sri

Ramakrishna and His Divine Play (Tr. bySwami Chetanananda): St. Louis, 2003.---------------------------The illustrations along with the text can be read at theHTML version of the article athttp://www.exoticindia.com/article/ramakrishna/---------------------------This article was send as a newsletter from the website:http://www.exoticindia.com

 

 

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