April 2004 Zushi Retreat
Fetes Sri Ramakrishnaﾕs 169th Birth Anniversary

On Sunday, March 21st, the Vedanta Society of Japan celebrated the 169th birth anniversary of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Deva at the Zushi Centre. Although the day's programme started at 6 a.m. with mangalarati, chanting, bhajans and meditation, most visitors began arriving after 10 a.m. to participate in the offering and meditation in the main shrine room conducted by Swami Medhasananda at 10:30.

At 11 a.m. the Swami directed everyone's attention to the adjacent meeting room to commence the morning talk session. After chanting, a brief reading from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna in English and Japanese and a song by Mr. Subhas Mukhopadhyay accompanied on tabla by Mr. Dinesh Chandra, the Swami introduced the special guest speaker H. E. Sri Manilal Tripathi, Ambassador of India to Japan.

Early in his talk, Ambassador Tripathi stated that the best homage one could pay Sri Ramakrishna on this birth anniversary "would be to rededicate ourselves to the essence of His spiritual legacy." Early in his talk, Ambassador Tripathi stated that the best homage one could pay Sri Ramakrishna on this birth anniversary "would be to rededicate ourselves to the essence of His spiritual legacy." He went on to ask, "What did Sri Ramakrishna teach? What is the essence of His spiritual legacy?"

"To my mind," he continued, "the most profound aspect of Sri Ramakrishna's sayings was the easy manner in which he was able to express His thoughts and ideas. He had the remarkable gift of being able explain the most complex philosophical propositions in the simplest of language that everyone could easily understand."

"As Sri Ramakrishna saw it," he summated, "religion is not a house in which one lives. It is like a road or path that one takes to reach a destination. And there could be many paths to reach the same destination. If this truth, explained by Him in such simple terms, is correctly perceived, there would be no room for religious dogmatism or rigidity. There would be no intolerance. There would be no disharmony, least of all bloodshed in the name of religion."

The Ambassador went on to point out that Sri Ramakrishna did not preach a new religion; that He wanted each one to follow his own faith and his own calling with greater devotion; that His desire was that each human being should understand and love the rest of mankind. "...the simple words of eternal wisdom that Sri Ramakrishna uttered and Vivekananda devoted his lifetime to spread, can bring us back to the path of sanity."

Before concluding his remarks with a verse from Chapter 6 of the Bhagavad Gita, the Ambassador summarized his remarks by saying, "Swami Vivekananda and the Ramakrishna Mission brought into focus the philosophy of karma yoga - the yoga of action - in a manner that all can comprehend easily: serve mankind in any way you can without ulterior motives; that is the surest way to attain the Truth. The best way to honour the legacy of Sri Ramakrishna and Vivekananda would be to dedicate ourselves to this human dimension of religion; to undertake to revive, nurture and promote this spirit of service and of harmony."

After thanking the Ambassador for his presentation, the Swami referred to his speech by stating that with the founding of the Ramakrishna Order the idea of service and secular relief as practiced by the monks of the Order had not been a significant part of the Indian ethos since the decline of Buddhism.

He also pointed out in this connection that even among the 'monk class', themselves elective outcasts of society, the monks of the Ramakrishna Order were once regarded as the 'sweeper class' of monks. This was because they served one and all, regardless of social constraints, religion or ethnicity. They would nurse patients, clean hospitals or whatever was required in the spirit of service. The dedication of these early missionaries and the growing regard for the teachings of Ramakrishna as postulated by Swami Vivekananda gradually changed this attitude. Now many other monastic orders in India who once ridiculed or marginalized the Ramakrishna Order operate hospitals and dispensaries in the spirit of service as well.

Next the Swami took up his topic, ﾔThe Appeal of Sri Ramakrishnaﾕ. "This appeal is simple and yet profound. Look at that photograph," he said pointing to garlanded picture on the wall behind him. "On the surface, not much is really remarkable about it. Not especially handsome or even clean-shaven. Certainly not impressively dressed," he said with a smile. "And yet, to those who have eyes to see, there is something very special there."

"In fact, during his lifetime at Dakshineswar many neighbors referred to him as 'that mad priest of the Kali Temple.' When Narendra, the future Swami Vivekananda, was confronted by one of his professors, a Christian who admired and recognised the great potential in the young student, as to why he would go to Sri Ramakrishna, an ordinary temple priest, the answer was direct, 'Sir, I had no other way; no alternative but to surrender.' "

"Again, when the famous religious leader and great orator, Keshab Chandra Sen, and his followers would visit Dakshineswar, he would listen to Sri Ramakrishna in rapt attention. At times some of his followers would be embarrassed by Keshab's silence and urge their leader to make his own comments. At this Keshab told them to keep quiet and listen, saying to interject his ideas would be like 'trying to sell a needle to a blacksmith.' "

"The young disciples would argue and fight with the Master before surrendering. They realised He understood more about them they knew of themselves. They were like glass cases and the Master could perceive their present, past and future, their conscious and subconscious mind, offering the highest goal of human life, liberation, with tremendous, unselfish love. Swami Vivekananda, himself, had said that even with his long association with the Master, 'I could not fathom the depth of Sri Ramakrishna.' "

The Swami concluded his remarks with a story regarding the circumstances behind the photograph now revered in households and Vedanta Centres the world over. Sri Ramakrishna had originally refused to have his picture taken when devotees first proposed the idea. Undaunted, arrangements were made for a photographer to come to Dakshineswar, but Sri Ramakrishna, declining to be photographed, left the room and sat on the terrace of the Vishnu Temple. Narendra, who happend to be present, came to the rescue. He made the Master enter into samadi instantly by initiating spiritual conversation. Then, at his bidding, the photo was immediately taken. Later when the photo was shown to Sri Ramakrishna, he commented that it represented the highest state of yogic samadi. ﾒSo even a photo of Sri Ramakrishna, which appears to be outwardly ordinary and unimpressive, is really extraordinary with a tremendous appeal to devotees and to any spiritually advanced soulsﾓ, the Swami said.