Guest guest Posted June 6, 2004 Report Share Posted June 6, 2004 Swami Vivekananda’s doubts Swami Vivekananda (SV) is considered as an Incarnation of Shiva. The the book 'Sri Ramakrishna the Great Master' says he had the experience of Samadhi a number of times after he met Sri Ramakrishna (SRK), the first one by a mere touch of SRK. Yet, we read that just before the Mahasamadhi of SRK, SV doubted if SRK was really an Incarnation as he claimed. The thought was read by SRK and he replied in the affirmative. Yet the fact is that: In spite of all his previous interaction with his Guru SRK and his own spiritual experiences which were of very high order, SV doubted SRK’s divine origin. How this can be explained? If he himself, who proclaimed his Guru to the world as Incarnation, couldn’t believe it, how others will be convinced? The matter didn’t stop there, in his days as a wandering monk, the Swami wanted intensely to become a disciple of Pavahari Baba, a lonely saint. A vision of the Guru (who had already left the world) prevented him from doing so. This becomes very hard to take when we consider the status of SRK / SV as Incarnations. I welcome your views on these questions. Sincerely, Suresh Friends. Fun. Try the all-new Messenger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 7, 2004 Report Share Posted June 7, 2004 As an analogy (admittedly imperfect), consider Sri Rama's life - his sorrow when his wife was abducted, his worry and anger when his brother was felled by Indrajeet and his equanimity when told that he would not be crowned. Here is an incarntion of Vishnu going through these human emotions. Why would we be surprised if Swami Vivekananda too went through these human emotions ? The fact that he went through what most of us go through serves as a guidepost to us. And it also showed that he " walked the talk " - did not accept anything without questioning at face value, but once he was convinced he never let go of his faith. Others on the list would undoubtedly be able to have a better interpretation of these incidents. Regards, Girish Suresh Shenoy <sureshrshenoy wrote: Swami Vivekananda’s doubts Swami Vivekananda (SV) is considered as an Incarnation of Shiva. The the book 'Sri Ramakrishna the Great Master' says he had the experience of Samadhi a number of times after he met Sri Ramakrishna (SRK), the first one by a mere touch of SRK. Yet, we read that just before the Mahasamadhi of SRK, SV doubted if SRK was really an Incarnation as he claimed. The thought was read by SRK and he replied in the affirmative. Yet the fact is that: In spite of all his previous interaction with his Guru SRK and his own spiritual experiences which were of very high order, SV doubted SRK’s divine origin. How this can be explained? If he himself, who proclaimed his Guru to the world as Incarnation, couldn’t believe it, how others will be convinced? The matter didn’t stop there, in his days as a wandering monk, the Swami wanted intensely to become a disciple of Pavahari Baba, a lonely saint. A vision of the Guru (who had already left the world) prevented him from doing so. This becomes very hard to take when we consider the status of SRK / SV as Incarnations. I welcome your views on these questions. Sincerely, Suresh Friends. Fun. Try the all-new Messenger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 7, 2004 Report Share Posted June 7, 2004 Dear Suresh Further to your last three emails posted on the list. We wish you well in establishing a Sri Ramakrishna devotee group in Dubai. We hope that some of our list members who are based in Dubai (or the Middle East) will contact you directly. Further to the other two emails you have posted to the list:- One on the question of 'Islam' and its validity and the other about doubts Sw Vivekananda may have had about Sri Ramakrishna. It is good to discuss such matters but we must advise caution when coming to simplistic conclusions on such issues. What form of Islamic experience Sri Ramakrishna had is not easy for us to judge or explain. Nor are we in a position to evaluate the inner workings of Swami Vivekananda's mind when he may have expressed doubts about his master's God-head. " To understand a Vivekananda one has to be of the same calibre as Vivekananda.' regards jay jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 8, 2004 Report Share Posted June 8, 2004 Suresh, I agree with Girish. To my knowledge and understanding, only a purnavatar is not fazed by the multiple factes that life shows. In all of recorded history, there has been only 1 purnavatar - Sri Krishna (of course, I have not heard of Jesus or Mohammed called in these terms and I am not in a position to declare their status, hence I am being cautious by exlcuding them from this title). Lord Rama is declared to be an " amshaavatar " - 1/8th of an incarnation, hence he went through some real " human " emotions and drama like anxiety, agony, pain etc. Sri Krishna was the ultimate hero though - perfect from birth, and also aware of the same, yet very humble and playful. Self-assured was the keyword of this great avatar. magnificient! If this is the case with the great incarnations of the Lord, what then to say of Swami Vivekananda? (this statement is made with utmost respect to the great Swami) Swami was a brilliant intellectual who, in my view, struggled throughout his life, to bring a balance between his towering intellect and his intense compassion / bhava... I fancy that Divine Mother (you may call it " Vishnumaya " also), of whom he was a devotee par excellence, took great delight (the 'lila' of the Divine) in torturing his intellect with such doubts as you mentioned below. This also serves us with a useful tip: if Swami went through such severe tests in his life, then we ordinary mortals can be EASILY engulfed into maya, if needed.... Only the Grace of the Guru / God prevents us from being tossed about. Jai Ma! Ramakrishna , Girish <girish_srv> wrote: > As an analogy (admittedly imperfect), consider Sri Rama's life - his sorrow when his wife was abducted, his worry and anger when his brother was felled by Indrajeet and his equanimity when told that he would not be crowned. > Here is an incarntion of Vishnu going through these human emotions. Why would we be surprised if Swami Vivekananda too went through these human emotions ? The fact that he went through what most of us go through serves as a guidepost to us. And it also showed that he " walked the talk " - did not accept anything without questioning at face value, but once he was convinced he never let go of his faith. > Others on the list would undoubtedly be able to have a better interpretation of these incidents. > > Regards, > Girish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.