Sri Ramakrishna

[Guest guest]

Born on February 18, 1836 in a rural village of Bengal, Shree

Ramakrishna, the beloved of Kali of Dakshineshwar fame was described

as paramahamsa, avatar or "God-incarnate" by those who knew him. He

paid little attention to those who bestowed such titles upon him.

When he accidentally broke his arm, he jokingly remarked, "Have you

ever heard of God breaking his arm?" Very simply, Shree Ramakrishna

was a child madly in love with his Divine Mother Kali.

 

During his early meetings with Narendra Dutta (later known as Swami

Vivekananada), who was unaware of Master's divine nature, Master

felt deeply anguished at the newcomer's callous comments of his

exalted states of ecstasy and his outward affection toward him. Like

a wounded child, he complained to the Mother who gently consoled him

saying, "Why do you listen to him? In a few days he will believe

your every word." Upon his next meeting with Narendra as a

triumphant child, Master retorted, "You rogue, I won't listen to you

anymore. Mother says that I love you because I see God in you, and

the day I no longer see God in you, I shall not even be able to bear

the sight of you." Such was Master's child-like devotion to his

Mother Kali; he entrusted the whole of his being to Her.

 

Throughout his life, Master stressed the importance of devotion as a

path to God and proclaimed that devotion alone is the religion for

the age of Kali yuga. His message to all spiritual seekers who came

to him was that bhakti or love for God is the essence of all

spiritual discipline. Similarly, in the tradition and lineage of

Shree Ramakrisna's teachings, Shree Maa and Swami Satyananda

instruct us to cultivate bhava or devotion to know God. To the

object of our love we give attention - this is called worship. When

the intensity of our love grows, we concentrate all of our thoughts

on our beloved. This is what Shree Maa and Swamiji call meditation.

As a tribute to the great saint, Swamiji has included in his

book "Cosmic Puja" a section on the worship of Shree Ramakrisha:

 

Om sthapakaya ca dharmasya sarvadharmasvarupine

avatara varishthaya ramakrsnaya te namah

 

Om to He who establishes the Ideal of Perfection, the intrinsic

nature of all ideals; the manifestation of divinity which grants the

chosen boon, to You, Ramakrisna, we bow

 

Om namo bhagavate sri ramakrsnaya namo namah

 

Om we bow to the Supreme Divinity, the Respected Ramakrisna, we bow,

we bow

[Guest guest]

Dear Sarada,

I really love to listen to stories about Ramakrishna, to share stories about

him!

So many countless, countless times he would move into states of samadhi

and ecstasy, he was so in love with the Divine.

You may have heard this story--he was reciting a verse of the Shiva-

mahimna-stotra at the shiva lingams at Dakshineshwar, and went into great

ecstasy. The verse was,

 

"O Lord, if the Blue Mountain were the ink, the ocean the inkstand, the largest

branch of the Heavenly Tree the pen, the whole earth the writing-leaf, and if

by taking these the Goddess of Learning were to write for eternity, still the

end

of thy glories could not be told."

It is said he cried out in joy loudly, and the floor was wet with his tears.

When he regained consciousness he asked Mathur Babu, "Did I do anything

wrong?"

Jai Ramakrishna!

Truly such a beautiful Child of God

Nitya

 

 

 

 

 

, sarada_saraswati wrote:

> Born on February 18, 1836 in a rural village of Bengal, Shree

> Ramakrishna, the beloved of Kali of Dakshineshwar fame was described

> as paramahamsa, avatar or "God-incarnate" by those who knew him. He

> paid little attention to those who bestowed such titles upon him.

> When he accidentally broke his arm, he jokingly remarked, "Have you

> ever heard of God breaking his arm?" Very simply, Shree Ramakrishna

> was a child madly in love with his Divine Mother Kali.

>

> During his early meetings with Narendra Dutta (later known as Swami

> Vivekananada), who was unaware of Master's divine nature, Master

> felt deeply anguished at the newcomer's callous comments of his

> exalted states of ecstasy and his outward affection toward him. Like

> a wounded child, he complained to the Mother who gently consoled him

> saying, "Why do you listen to him? In a few days he will believe

> your every word." Upon his next meeting with Narendra as a

> triumphant child, Master retorted, "You rogue, I won't listen to you

> anymore. Mother says that I love you because I see God in you, and

> the day I no longer see God in you, I shall not even be able to bear

> the sight of you." Such was Master's child-like devotion to his

> Mother Kali; he entrusted the whole of his being to Her.

>

> Throughout his life, Master stressed the importance of devotion as a

> path to God and proclaimed that devotion alone is the religion for

> the age of Kali yuga. His message to all spiritual seekers who came

> to him was that bhakti or love for God is the essence of all

> spiritual discipline. Similarly, in the tradition and lineage of

> Shree Ramakrisna's teachings, Shree Maa and Swami Satyananda

> instruct us to cultivate bhava or devotion to know God. To the

> object of our love we give attention - this is called worship. When

> the intensity of our love grows, we concentrate all of our thoughts

> on our beloved. This is what Shree Maa and Swamiji call meditation.

> As a tribute to the great saint, Swamiji has included in his

> book "Cosmic Puja" a section on the worship of Shree Ramakrisha:

>

> Om sthapakaya ca dharmasya sarvadharmasvarupine

> avatara varishthaya ramakrsnaya te namah

>

> Om to He who establishes the Ideal of Perfection, the intrinsic

> nature of all ideals; the manifestation of divinity which grants the

> chosen boon, to You, Ramakrisna, we bow

>

> Om namo bhagavate sri ramakrsnaya namo namah

>

> Om we bow to the Supreme Divinity, the Respected Ramakrisna, we bow,

> we bow