SRK

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Sri Ramakrishna's Contribution to Vedantic Thought

 

Classical Vedanta maintains that " Supreme Being " is infinite and without

attributes; and as such " to will something " is not possible for such

Supreme Reality. In fact, thus, the statement 'He willed to become many'

can be taken as the beginning of Maya; for, the " Will " cannot be an

attribute of the One who is without attributes. Change is not possible

in One who is changeless.

 

The difficulty arises because an attempt is made to describe that is not

'describable'. The difference between 'one know tries to know', the

means of knowledge, and the thing to be known is empirical and not real,

but because of avidya we continue to think this way. Avidya is

beginningless ignorance that superimposes atman on non-atman. Thus, the

person trying to know separates himself from the means and the object of

knowledge. However, all the three viz. knower, the object of knowledge,

and the means of knowledge lose their significance in the 'universality

of the witnessing Atman'. Here the only way of cognition is direct

experience - 'pratyaksha anubhava' - or intuition. By the association of

Atman or final Reality one is able to perceive, He is the eye of an eye,

the ear of an ear, through Him can one smell, feel touch, and taste. To

objectify the Atman, as an object of knowledge, thus becomes a cliché,

an impossible proposition, for then it would be endless argument: " who

sees the Atman " ? Atman sees the Atman!

 

In the life of Sri Ramakrishna we get glimpses of explanation to these

vexing questions and paradoxes. In the plethora of scriptural

commentaries and philosophical discussions we fail to find the final

resting place where we can claim to have satisfactorily resolved these

issues, the idea about the nature of highest Reality. Some people

maintain that there are two absolutes (Purusha and Prakriti of Samkhya),

some say that God is both efficient and material cause of this universe

manifesting as both individual beings and insentient material world,

still others say that the Being, the individual self, the world have

absolute independent existence (Dvaita of Madhva), while many religions

feel it prudent not to discuss the matter in public! Has the life and

teachings of Sri Ramakrishna to offer some different explanation and

additions to Vedanta?

 

In his unique spiritual experiences Sri Ramakrishna could experience

both the personal and impersonal aspect of Divine. For him the Absolute

Consciousness was both Being and Will. Otherwise how can one explain

return of a yogi to normal human consciousness after having entered the

fathomless dark waters of the ocean: The Nirvikalpa Samadhi? It is the

Will of Supreme Reality that alone can make it possible for someone to

come back from the place of no return. And if someone puts forward the

theory of " Prarabdha Karma " (the Karmic Force that determines one's

present life), it can be refuted on the basis of " burning away of all

the seeds of all the Karmas, including Prarabdha karmas, in the state if

Nirvikalpa Samadhi " . It cannot be accepted that only Prarabdha remains,

and other karmas like stored up karmas etc. are burnt out.

 

It is the same Absolute, which is in a state of Being and Will, like a

snake in a coiled up state (dormant) and in state of motion (active).

Both the states are possible for the same snake, so is the case with

Supreme Reality. Various philosophies describe this truth as Shiva and

Shakti, Radha and Krishna, Brahma and Maya, Nitya and Lila. And may I

say the modern physics has come to similar conclusion when it is put in

dilemma of 'particle and wave' phenomenon! One Truth manifests as these

two modes of reality depending upon the consciousness the sadhaka has

attained to at the time of perception. The same sadhaka can have

visions, spiritual moods, and samadhi at different levels of

consciousness. The power and source of power are one, like the sun and

its rays, diamond and its luster, fire and its power to burn, milk and

its whiteness. One is the state of absolute peace; other is the state of

relative manifestation of that peace. The Virat or universal aspect of

this Being-Will terrifies a few, as it did to Arjuna. The Tandava Dance

of Shiva manifests the power of dissolution, and thus death and

suffering, sorrow and pain are all real aspects of that one Supreme

Being in motion.

 

Swami Vivekananda thus has repeatedly emphasized the need to see Mother

in 'death and destruction', in 'creation and terror'. Comforts and

pleasures are welcome, but they cannot be the sole aim in life, for then

knowledge would remain incomplete. The essence of fruit is its juice or

pulp, no doubt, but the study of fruit - the complete knowledge about

fruit - would remain incomplete if we do not take into consideration its

outer shell, skin, and seeds. This Advaita is painful to accept

initially, and practice of it is indeed sought with many a problem; but

that's what is precisely meant by " walking over a razor's edge " .

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c s shah

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