SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI

                    SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI

SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI

SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI

SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI (1879 - 1950 )

Born : 30th Dec. 1879 at Tiruchulni in Tamilnadu (48 KM from Madurai)
Mahanirvan: 14th April, 1950.
Father : Sundaram Ayar ; Mother : Aallagamma

By   
Swami Sivananda Saraswati


                                                                    Introduction

Sri Ramana Maharshi was born on 30th December, 1879. He was known as Venkataraman. Born in a pious middle class Brahmin family, he went to a mission school and learnt a little English.

                                                                    Flight From Home

On the 29th of August 1896, Venkataraman left his home in the district of Madurai in search of his Father, Lord Arunachala, to whom he reported himself on the 1st of September 1896, thus:

O Lord, obedient to Thy call
Here have I come, deserting all,
No boon I ask; no loss bemoan,
Take me in and make me Thine own.

From that day till the end of his earthly sojourn, Venkataraman made Arunachala (Tiruvannamalai) his abode, transmitting through Mouna, the golden language of his egoless state, the Message of Eternal Truth, to the four corners of the globe.

Venkataraman left a note behind to his rebuking brother: "I have, in search of my Father, according to His command, started from this place. On a virtuous enterprise, indeed, I have this day embarked. Therefore, for this action none need grieve or trace this one. No money need be spent for searching me".

                                                              The Great Enlightenment

"It was about six weeks before I left Madurai for good, in the middle of the year 1896, that the great change in my life took place" said Sri Ramana Maharshi, when asked by devotees as to how he was transformed, "It was so sudden. One day I sat up alone on the first floor of my uncle’s house. I was in my usual good health. But a sudden and unmistakable fear of death seized me. I felt I was going to die and at once set about thinking as to what I should do. I did not care to consult anyone, be he a doctor, elder or friend. I felt I had to solve the problem myself then and there. The shock of the fear of death made me at once introspective or ‘introverted’. I said to myself mentally, ‘Now that death is come, what does it mean? Who is it that is dying? This body dies’. I at once dramatised the situation. I extended my limbs and held them rigid as though rigor mortis had set in. I imitated a corpse to lend an air of reality to my further investigation. I held my breath and kept my mouth closed, pressing the lips tightly together, so that no sound could escape. ‘Well then’ I said to myself, ‘this body is dead. It will be carried to the crematory and there burnt and reduced to ashes. But with the death of my body, am I dead? Is the body I? This body is silent and inert. But I am still aware of the full force of my personality and even of the sound of I within myself as apart from the body. The material body dies, but the Spirit transcending it cannot be touched by death. I am therefore the deathless Spirit’. All this was not a feat of intellectual gymnastics, but came as a flash before me vividly as living Truth, which I perceived immediately, without any argument almost. I was something very real, the only real thing in that state, and all the conscious activity that was connected with my body was centred on that. The I or myself was holding the focus of attention with a powerful fascination. Fear of death vanished at once and for ever. The absorption in the Self has continued from that moment right up to now".

                                                           Tapas of Maharshi

Ramana practised Tapas in the thousand-pillared Mandapam, near the Patala Linga, in Subrahmanya’s shrine, in the Mango garden, the Sadguru Swami cave and Cora hills. From 1909 to 1916 he lived in the Virupakshi Cave.

During his days of Tapas, mischievous boys pelted him with stones and hurled tiles at him; and yet Ramana was ever peaceful and calm through the strength of meditation and penance.

Ramana Maharshi was known as Brahmana Swami in Tiruvannamalai. Kavya Kanta Ganapathy Sastri, the great Sanskrit scholar, came to Ramana’s Ashram in 1908 and stayed with Maharshi and wrote the Ramana Gita.

The life of the Maharshi was one continued meditation, Ananda Anubhavam. Maharshi established peace within. He lived in the Light of the Lord within. He encouraged others to do the same thing. To him all the world was one.

Maharshi seldom talked, and whenever he did speak, he did so only because it was absolutely necessary.

                                                                   His Divine Message

Ramana was a living example of the teaching of the Upanishads. His life was at once the message and the philosophy of his teachings. He spoke to the hearts of men.

The great Maharshi found Himself within himself and then gave out to the world the grand but simple message of his great life, "Know Thyself".

"Know Thyself. All else will be known to thee of its own accord. Discriminate between the undying, unchanging, all-pervading, infinite Atma and the ever-changing, phenomenal and perishable universe and body. Enquire, ‘Who am I?’ Make the mind calm. Free yourself from all thoughts other than the simple thought of the Self or Atma. Dive deep into the chambers of your heart. Find out the real, infinite ‘I’. Rest there peacefully for ever and become identical with the Supreme Self." This is the gist of the philosophy and teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi.

Sri Ramana says, "The world is so unhappy because it is ignorant of the true Self. Man’s real nature is happiness. Happiness is inborn in the true Self. Man’s search for happiness is an unconscious search for his true Self. The true Self is imperishable; therefore, when a man finds it, he finds a happiness which does not come to an end.

"In the interior cavity of the heart, the One Supreme Being is ever glowing with the Self-conscious emanation I...I... To realise Him, enter into the heart with an one-pointed mind—by quest within or diving deep or control of breath—and abide with the Self of self".

Sri Ramana’s Who am I?, Upadesa Saram and Ullathu Narpathu are pearls of direct wisdom, expressed in aphoristic terseness.

Sri B.V. Narasimha Swami, the late President of the All India Sai Samaj, has published a thrilling life of Ramana entitled, "Self-realisation". Yogi Suddhananda Bharati has written the life of Sri Ramana in Tamil.

Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi has set at naught the prattle of materialists that Self-realisation and Samadhi are things of the remote past, and that in the present age, they are impossible of achievement to man. He has shown by his lifelong Samadhi that it is still possible to realise the Supreme and live in that realisation.

Beloved aspirant! Take heart. Gird up your loins. Apply yourself intensely to Yoga Sadhana. You will soon attain Videha Kaivalya and shine for ever as an illumined sage.

                                                   The Light Shines Brighter Than Ever

Lieut-Col. P.V. Karamchandani, I.M.S., D.M.O., North Arcot District, attended on Sri Ramana when the latter suffered from a kind of malignant tumour in his upper left arm above the elbow. The Maharshi was operated four times.

A meteor hit the sky at 8-47 p.m. on the 14th April, 1950, when Sri Ramana Maharshi left his mortal coil and entered Mahasamadhi.

The all-pervading Light which shone through the embodiment of that Light in Maharshi Ramana had once again resolved itself into its original state. A lifelong proof of the Upanishads was what we called Maharshi Ramana. That proof will for ever exist, reassuring us of the Ultimate Reality.

The saint is no more in his mortal frame. But the Light of his soul is now merged in every receptive individual soul. Maharshi Ramana lives in our heart. His passing away should not be grieved for. For he had fulfilled the mission of his life. He had achieved the highest goal, Self-realisation. So there is nothing to grieve for. The death of only those that are not able to achieve the goal of life or do their duty has any reason to be mourned. The Light of the Maharshi’s soul shines today brighter than ever.

In the heart of humanity the saint shall live for ever, guiding, encouraging, goading and inspiring, so that millions and millions might seek and find the Great Truth that Ramana realised.

Too well did Sri Ramana expound the Vedanta philosophy, not through bookish knowledge, but by practical experience. His teachings imparted through all-absorbing ‘Silence’ embodied the highest ideals and the ultimate reaches in divine realisation. To ever assert one’s latent divinity, to ever strive to live in the consciousness of the immortal Self and to remain as an unaffected witness of the transitory phases of life immersed in that Supreme Silence—was the clarion call of the Maharshi. Dogmas and religious prejudices he cared not for! For he was far above those mundane limitations. With him lived orthodox Brahmin priests, Moslems and Christians and the so-called Indian untouchables. They were all alike to him.

As an architect-supreme of Truth-transcendental, Ramana Maharshi led, and now leads on, the weary travellers on earth towards the Goal through his unfathomable Silence.

To pay the most befitting homage to that saintly personality is to follow his teachings and to grow up in that ideal model.

May peace be unto all!

source : http://www.dlshq.org/saints/ramana.htm

BIRTH CHART of SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI

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SWAMI RAM TIRTHA

                                                SWAMI RAM TIRTHA 



                                                    SWAMI RAM TIRTHA (1873 - 1906 )

Swami Rama Tirtha, previously known as Gossain Tirtha Rama, was born in 1873, at Murariwala, a village in the district of Gujranwala, Punjab, India. His mother passed away when he was but a few days old and he was brought up by his elder brother, Gossain Gurudas.

As a child, Rama was very fond of listening to recitations from the holy scriptures and attending Kathas. He often put questions to holy men and even offered explanations. He was very intelligent and loved solitude.

Rama was barely ten years old when his father got him married. His father left him under the care of his friend, Bhakta Dhana Rama, a man of great purity and simplicity of life. Rama regarded him as his Guru, and offered to him his body and soul in deep devotion. His surrender to his Guru was so complete that he never did anything without first consulting him. He wrote numerous loving letters to him.

Rama was a brilliant student, especially in mathematics. After completing his degree, he served for a while as Professor of Mathematics in the Forman Christian College. It was at this stage that his spiritual life began to blossom. He began to read the Gita and became a great devotee of Lord Krishna. His intense longing gave him a vision of Sri Krishna. He used to deliver lectures on Bhakti under the auspices of the Sanatana Dharma Sabha of Lahore.

Rama Tirtha commenced his spiritual life as a Bhakta of God and then turned to Vedanta, studying under the inspiration of Sri Madhava Tirtha of the Dwaraka Math.

A great impetus was given to his spiritual life by Swami Vivekananda, whom he saw for the first time at Lahore. The sight of the great Swami as a Sannyasin kindled in him the longing to don the ochre robe.

His passion for the vision of the all-pervading Lord began to grow more and more. He longed and pined for oneness with God. Indifferent to food and clothes, he was always filled with ecstatic joy. Tears would often flow in a limpid stream down his cheeks. It was not long before he had the vision he yearned for, and thereafter he lived, moved and had his being in God.

Swami Rama was a living Vedantin. He saw and felt God in all names and forms. His beautiful words are often addressed to the trees, rivers and mountains.

Rama soon resigned his post and left for the forest. His wife and two children and a few others accompanied him to the Himalayas. Owing to ill-health, his wife later returned with one of her sons. The other was left at Tehri for his schooling there.

Rama Tirtha took Sannyas a few days before the passing of Swami Vivekananda. Swami Madhava Tirtha had already allowed him to take Sannyas whenever he wished.

A few years later he returned to the plains to preach. The effect of his presence was marvellous. His infectious joy and his bird-like warbling of Om enchanted everyone.

Swami Rama's burning desire to spread the message of Vedanta made him leave the shores of India for Japan. He went with his disciple Swami Narayana. After a successful visit to Tokyo, he departed for the U.S.A. He spent about a year and a half in San Francisco under the hospitality of Dr Albert Hiller. He gained a large following and started many societies, one of them being the Hermetic Brotherhood, dedicated to the study of Vedanta. His charming personality had a great impact on the Americans. Devout Americans even looked upon him as the living Christ

On his return to India, Swami Rama continued to lecture in the plains, but his health began to break down. He went back to the Himalayas and settled at Vasishtha Ashram. He gave up his body in the Ganges on 17 October, 1906, when he was only thirty-three.

The Rama Tirtha Publication League has brought out most of the writings of this great saint of India. They are given in several volumes, entitled, In the Woods of God-realisation. His inspiring writings show us that he saw his Beloved Lord in all names and forms. In many of his poems he sings the glory of nature.

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Swami Rama Tirtha's biography above has been reproduced from Swami Sivananda's
  "Yoga Lessons for Children (Vol. 7)", published by the Divine Life Society of South Africa.

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More on Swami Rama Tirtha's life and teachings from Swami Sivananda's Life of Saints.

Swami Rama Tirtha, a direct descendant of Gosain Tulsi Das, the immortal author of the widely read Hindi Ramayan, was born in 1873, at Muraliwala, in the district of Gujranwala, Punjab.

Rama Tirtha was a very bright student, a genius possessing unusual intelligence, contemplative nature and an intrinsic love of mathematics and solitude. He topped the list in B.A. and took his M.A. degree in Mathematics, a subject in which he was exceptionally bright.

For two years, Rama Tirtha was a Professor of Mathematics in the Lahore Foreman Christian College, and he acted as a Reader for a short time in the Lahore Oriental College.

In the year 1900, Rama Tirtha went to the forest and soon became a Sannyasin. He went to America and Japan and thrilled the Americans and the Japanese with his inspiring and soul-elevating speeches. In Egypt he was accorded a hearty welcome by the Mohammedans, to whom he delivered a lecture in Persian in their mosque. Rama Tirtha was ever cheerful and brilliant with eyes beaming with divine lustre and joy. He was perfectly at home in Persian, English, Hindi, Urdu and Sanskrit literature.

Rama Tirtha was a great ascetic and an enlightened mystic. He practised Yoga on the banks of the river Ravi. Later he lived in the forests of Brahmapuri, on the banks of the river Ganges, five miles away from Rishikesh and attained Self-realisation.

Today Rama Tirtha is not present amongst us in his mortal coil, but he is truly ever alive, eternal and imperishable, ever shining as a beacon-star in the spiritual firmament of the world. He had the highest realisation of the Satchidananda as the all-inclusive Bliss-supreme. The ancient sages and modern saints have proved this ineffable nature of the Supreme, not by logical proofs of perception and knowledge, but by actual experience of it which cannot be communicated to others for want of means. And Swami Rama Tirtha was one among such Experiencers of the Ultimate Bliss.

Under the holy guidance of Sri R.S. Narayana Swami, a direct disciple of Swami Rama Tirtha, the Ramatirtha Publication League was established at Lucknow. Every lover and admirer of Sri Rama Tirtha’s soul-inspiring teachings owes a deep debt of gratitude to Sri Narayana Swamiji and the League for taking immense pains in making Rama Tirtha’s works available to the world.

Sri Swami Rama Tirtha is one of the brightest jewels of India’s genius. Rama belongs to that prophetic group of inspired seers who rang up the curtain of Indian Renaissance and ushered in the era of a strongly positive, aggressive and all-conquering spirituality. His advent into Bharatavarsha was potent with a great significance to man in modern times.

From Rama India has inherited the dual gems of Vedantic boldness and spiritual patriotism. The spiritual patriotism of Rama is something unique and grand. Every son of India should absorb it and make it his own. Swami Rama emphatically declared that if you must have intense and real patriotism, then you must deify the Motherland, behold Bharatavarsha as the living Goddess. "If you must realise unity with God, realise first your unity with the Whole Nation. Let this intense feeling of identity with every creature within this land be throbbing in every fibre of your frame" said Rama, "Let every son of India stand for the Whole, seeing that the Whole of India is embodied in every son. When streams, stones and trees are personified and sacrificed to in India, why not sanctify, deify the great Mother that cradles you and nourishes you? Through Prana-pratishtha you vitalize an idol of stone or an effigy of clay. How much more worthwhile would it be to call forth the inherent glory and evoke fire and life in the Deity that is Mother India?". Thus, to Rama, the national Dharma of love to the motherland was a spiritual Dharma of Virat Prem. Let every Indian today fervently take this legacy into his heart. By this act show your real appreciation of the great seer; show your gratitude to the great seer. Thus can you glorify his life and his teachings.

The highest realisation of patriotism, Rama believed, lay in fully identifying yourself with the land of your birth. Remember his words: "Tune yourself in love with your country and people". Be a spiritual soldier. Lay down your life in the interest of your land abnegating the little ego, and having thus loved the country, feel anything and the country will feel with you. March and the country will follow. This, indeed, is practical Vedanta.

Rama Tirtha infused in the minds of people a new joy, a happy conviction that it was not for nothing that we lived in a miserable earth, and that we did not, after a long struggle in the sea of life, reach a waterless desert where our sorrows would be repeated. He lived practical philosophy, and through that showed to the world that it was possible to rejoice in the bliss of the Self even in this very life, and that everyone could partake of this bliss if one sincerely strived for it.

Swami Rama was an exemplary figure in the field of Vedantic life. He was a practical, bold Vedantin. He lived a dynamic life in the spirit of the Self. Very high were his ideals, sublime were his views, and perennial and spontaneous was his love. He was Divinity personified and love-incarnate. He is ever alive as a dynamic soul-force, ever shedding the spiritual effulgence in the heart of every seeker after Truth. His teachings are inspiring, elevating and illuminating—a fountain of his intuitive experiences.

The teachings of Rama Tirtha are peculiarly direct and forceful. They are unique. Rama Tirtha did not teach any particular Yoga or Sadhana or propound any abstract philosophical theory. He taught the actual living of Vedanta, of Yoga and Sadhana. This he taught by his own personal example. In himself he embodied an exposition of illumined living. Thus Rama Tirtha’s very personality itself preached and taught as much as any of the innumerable discourses and lectures he delivered to crowded audiences from platforms that ranged from Tokyo to Toronto.

To the West, Swami Rama appeared not merely as a wise man of the East but as the Wisdom of the East come in tangible form. Rama Tirtha was a blissful being inebriated with the ecstasy of Spiritual 

Consciousness. And his bliss was infectious. His glance flashed forth Vedanta. His smile radiated the joy of the Spirit. Vedanta streamed forth in his inspired utterance and in his whole life; every action, gesture and movement vibrated with the thrill of Vedantic Consciousness.

Rama Tirtha demonstrated how Vedanta might be lived. His life was an expression of the supreme art of living life in all its richness of vision and fullness of joy. Rama Tirtha presented Vedanta not so much as a knowing and a realising, as a becoming and a being. It was Swami Rama Tirtha’s unique distinction that he expounded Vedanta as a supreme yet simple art of living. He did not try to take people to Vedanta, but he took Vedanta to the common man. Swami Rama Tirtha took Vedanta into the quiet homes, into the busy offices, into the crowded streets and into the noisy markets of the western world.

Both to the East and to the West, therefore, Swami Rama’s life has been a boon and a blessing. For India, he vivified Vedanta with the vitality of his own inspired life and shining example. He shook India out of fantasy, superstition and misconception; he shocked America to wakefulness and an awareness of the intrinsic worth of the practicality of Atmic living. He revealed how the central secret of all lofty activity lay in attunement with the Divine Law of oneness, harmony and bliss.

To rise above the petty self and act impersonally—this was the key to divine living. His call to his countrymen was: "May you wake up to your oneness with Life, Light and Love (Sat-Chit-Ananda) and immediately the Central Bliss will commence springing forth from you in the shape of happy heroic work and both wisdom and virtue. This is inspired life, this is your birthright".

To the Americans Rama taught the way of perfect morality and total abstinence. Keeping the body in active struggle and the mind in rest and loving abstinence means salvation from sin and sorrow, right here in this very life. Active realisation of at-one-ment with the All allows us a life of balanced recklessness. This sums up Rama’s message to the land of the Dollar.

In short, Swami Rama’s thrilling life is a flashing example of rare Prem and a divine spontaneity. Listen! Here Rama’s voice whispers: "You have simply to shine as the Soul of All, as the Source of Light, as the Spring of Delight, O Blessed One! And energy, life activity will naturally begin to radiate from you. The flower blooms, and lo! fragrance begins to emanate of itself". Awake India! Respond to this call of Rama. Realise the Bliss that is Yourself. Come now, live the life in the Atman. From this moment let Rama enter into your heart and animate your actions and inspire your actions and inspire your very life! May his Divine Spirit vivify and raise India to her pristine glory and Vedantic grandeur! Live in Om!

Source : http://www.dlshq.org/saints/ramatirtha.htm

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SRI AUROBINDO

                         SRI AUROBINDO
SRI AUROBINDO ( 1871 - 1950 )
Born : 15th August 1871 ( 5 AM ) at Calcutta
Maha Samadhi : 5th Dec. 1950 ( 1:30 AM ) at Pondicherry
Father :Sri Krishnadhan Ghosh
Mother : Smt. Swamalata
                                                                               By 

Sri Swami Sivananda

                                                                  Birth and Parentage

On Thursday, the 15th August, 1871, at about 5 a.m., Sri Aurobindo was born of Sri Krishnadhan and Swamalata, at Calcutta, in Bengal, in a reputed Ghosh family of Konnagar. Sri Krishnadhan went to England and returned an M.D., full of honours.

Raj Narayan Bose, an acknowledged leader in Bengali literature, a writer in the "Modern Review" and the grandfather of Indian nationalism was Sri Aurobindo’s maternal grandfather. Aurobindo owes not only his rich spiritual nature, but even his very superior literary capacity, to his mother’s line.

                                                            An Accomplished Scholar

Aurobindo was sent to the Loretto Convent School at Darjeeling when he was four years old. As a boy, Aurobindo received his early education in a public school in England.

The old headmaster of the school observed, "Of all the boys who passed through my hands during the last 25 or 30 years, Aurobindo was by far the most richly endowed with intellectual capacity".

From school Aurobindo went to King’s College, Cambridge, where he distinguished himself as a student of European classics. He passed the Indian Civil Service Examination with great credit in 1890. Failing, however, to stand the required test in horsemanship, he was not allowed to enter the Covenantal Service of the Indian Government. But, returning to India, he became the Vice-principal of the State college in Baroda. He was held in great respect by the Maharaja of Baroda.

Aurobindo’s scholarship soon attracted the notice of all. He was loved by the educated classes in Baroda State. He was exceedingly popular with the general public. Sri K.M. Munshi was one of his students. Munshi admired and loved Aurobindo. To the younger generation, Aurobindo became a veritable god and by them he was called as "Aru Da", meaning "elder brother Aurobindo". Aurobindo married Mrinalini Devi.

Aurobindo was an accomplished scholar in Greek. He got high distinction in Latin. He learnt French very well and picked up a little of German and Italian to study Goethe and Dante in the original. He was steeped in the lore of our ancient Vedic scriptures.

Sri Aurobindo was a genius in history and poetry, a scholar in English and Latin. He was in England for fourteen years. When he was only seven years of age, Dr. K.D. Ghosh sent him to England to be steeped in Western education. That early age was chosen deliberately in order that Aurobindo might forget the native touch and learn to adopt the Western forms instead.

                                                           Apostle of Indian Nationalism

It was in 1893 that Aurobindo came back to India. He drew a salary of Rs. 750/- in the Baroda Educational Service. From 1893 to 1906 he drank deep from the fountains of Sanskrit and Bengali literature, philosophy and political science. He then resigned his job and joined the Bengal National College on a salary of Rs. 150/-. He plunged headlong into the revolutionary movement. He was a great figure in the nationalist movements of the time.

Aurobindo edited the English daily Bande Mataram and wrote fearless and pointed editorials. During the next few months, he started the English weekly Dharma. He spread his message: "Our ideal of Swaraj is absolute autonomy, absolute self-rule, free from foreign control". In those days, Aurobindo openly advocated the boycott of British goods, British courts and everything British. He always asked the people to prepare themselves for passive resistance.

Sri Aurobindo, the prophet of Indian nationalism, was one of the pioneers of political awakening in India. He was the leader of the revolutionary movement. He played a great part in the country’s national struggle from 1908. He was in the forefront of the national struggle during the days of the partition of Bengal.

                                                        Awakened to the Divine Mission

The famous Alipore Bomb Case was the turning point in Sri Aurobindo’s life. For a year Aurobindo was an undertrial prisoner in solitary confinement in the Alipore Central Jail. It was in a dingy cell of the Alipore Jail that he dreamt the dream of his future life, the divine mission ordained for him by God.

Aurobindo bore the rigours of the imprisonment, the bad food, the inadequate clothes, the lack of light and free air, the strain of boredom and the creeping solitariness of the gloomy cell. He utilized this period of incarceration for an intense study and practice of the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. Chittaranjan Das defended Sri Aurobindo, who was acquitted after a memorable trial.

                                                                  His Practice of Yoga

Sri Aurobindo began his Yoga in 1904. He had no helper or Guru in Yoga till he met Lele, a Maharashtrian Yogi in Baroda; and that was only for a short time. Meditating only for three days with Lele, Aurobindo followed the Yogi’s instructions for silencing the mind and freeing it from the constant pressure of thought.

Sri Aurobindo himself once wrote in a letter about his practice of Yoga: "I began my Yoga in 1904 without a Guru. In 1908 I received important help from a Mahratti Yogi and discovered the foundations of my Sadhana". He started Yoga by himself, getting the rule from a friend, a disciple of Brahmananda of Ganga Mutt. It was confined at first to assiduous practice of Pranayama, for six or more hours a day. Aurobindo practised and meditated on the teachings of the Gita and the Upanishads.

                                                              Ashram at Pondicherry

Sri Aurobindo migrated from Calcutta to Chandranagar and later reached Pondicherry on April 4, 1910. At Pondicherry, he stayed at a friend’s place. At first, he lived there with four or five companions. Gradually the number of members increased. An Ashram grew up around him. Now there are hundreds of inmates in the Ashram accommodated in more than a hundred houses. The Ashramites are engaged in various activities connected with the Ashram—some in the dairy, some in the vegetable garden, yet, others in the laundry and the small bakery. Most of the young girls work in the Ashram’s own printing press. To the Ashram inmates, all activities form a part of their Sadhana. Here life is an undivided whole, not consisting of water-tight compartments.

The Ashram has a school of its own. Here stress is laid on physical culture. Vocational education is imparted to pupils between the ages of 14 to 18.

In 1920, Mira, a French lady—wife of one Paul Richard—who was imbued with the same ideal, joined the Sri Aurobindo circle. She, became the Mother and presided over the Ashram. Every morning she gave Darshan to the eager devotees from the balcony adjoining her room. She supervised every little item of the organization of the Ashram.

The Ashramites in Sri Aurobindo Ashram are not Sannyasins. Aurobindo himself was not a Sannyasin, but a Rishi. The Ashram is a cosmopolitan one. There are Christians, Zoroastrians, Muslims and members of other creeds.

Aurobindo gave Darshan to his devotees on four days a year.

All the activities of the Ashram are managed by the Sadhaks.

The Ashram started the "Arya", an English spiritual journal under the management of the Mother and Paul Richard. The most significant works of Aurobindo appeared serially in the magazine. The Arya stopped publication after six and a half years.

Sri Rabindranath Tagore once visited the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and said to Aurobindo: "You have the word and we are waiting to accept it from you. India will speak through your voice to the world".

                                                      Sri Aurobindo’s Philosophy

Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy is in a sense practical. It is based on facts, experience and personal realisations and on having the vision of a seer or Rishi. Aurobindo’s spirituality is inseparably united with reason.

The goal aimed at by Sri Aurobindo is not merely the liberation of the individual from the chain that fetters him, but "to work out the will of the Divine in the world, to effect a spiritual transformation and to bring down the divine nature and a divine life into the mental, vital and physical nature and life of humanity".

"A fixed and unfailing aspiration that calls from below and a Supreme Grace that answers from above are two powers which in their conjunction can effect this. If the transformation is to be integral, integral should be the rejection of all that withstands it" says the Master Sri Aurobindo.

"The call upon us" says Sri Aurobindo, "is to grow into the image of God, to dwell in Him and with Him and be a channel of His joy and might and an instrument of His works. Purified from all that is Asubha (Evil), we have to act in the world as dynamos of that Divine Electricity and send it thrilling and radiating through mankind, so that wherever one of us stands, hundreds around may become full of His light and force, full of God and full of Ananda. Churches, theologies, philosophies have failed to save mankind because they have busied themselves with intellectual creeds and institutions....as if these could save mankind, and have neglected the one thing needful, the power and purification of the soul".

Aurobindo’s Life Divine is, and will always remain, a force guiding the thoughts of men all over the world. His other publications are Essays on Gita, Ideal and Progress, Isa Upanishad, The Superman, Evolution, Heraclitus, The Ideal of the Karmayogin, The Brain of India, the Renaissance in India, Bases of Yoga, Kalidasa, Vikramorvasi or The Hero and the Nymph, Poems, The Riddle of This World, etc.

                                                          The Sage’s Mahasamadhi

Sri Aurobindo passed away at 1.30 a.m. on 5th December, 1950 at Pondicherry. He was 78 years old. He was suffering from kidney trouble for a fortnight and was attended upon by Dr. Prabhakar. Sen.

One more glorious child of Mother India, thus laid himself to rest in Her bosom. One more lamp that had shed its light of divine wisdom throughout the world thus disappeared in its own lustre, even as camphor dissolves into the fire. Sri Aurobindo thus attained union with Sri Aravinda—the lotus-eyed Lord of the Universe.

Sri Aurobindo was a poet, politician and philosopher. His writings—philosophic and poetic—are Indian in spirit and Western in rhythm and colour. He was the greatest intellectual of our age and a major force for the life of the spirit. India will not forget his services to politics and philosophy. The world will remember with gratitude his invaluable works in the realms of philosophy and religion.

Aurobindo was one of the greatest of world figures. He was an inspiration to the nationalists of India. Looked at as a religious teacher, his writings will live as long as the world survives.

The crest jewel of renascent India, the bravest among the patriots, the sharpest among the intellectuals, and the subtlest among the seers, Sri Aurobindo fulfilled the glorious purpose of demonstrating to the world that real India, the India of the Vedic seers, could survive and absorb into herself all alien cultures, and that at the hands of one who knew the proper synthesis, Eastern and Western cultures could find their happy blend, without necessarily having to antagonize one another. Sri Aurobindo’s Life Divine—the divine life that he lived and preached—will live for ever, inspiring mankind. Posterity will hail him as a member of the galaxy of Vedic seers. May his Light ever shine.

Source : http://www.dlshq.org/saints/aurobindo.htm

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MAHATMA GANDHI

                                                   MAHATMA GANDHI ( 1869 - 1948 )

By

Sri Swami Sivananda

Introduction

MOHANDAS Karamchand Gandhi, the youngest son of Karamchand Gandhi and Putlibai, was born on October 2, 1869. His birthplace was Porbander, a small seaside town in the Kathiawar peninsula of western India. His mother was a devout and religious woman who attended temple services daily and never ate before she prayed.

At school in Porbander, Gandhiji was very shy and lacked the confidence and poise necessary to talk to strangers. But he was admirably punctual and obedient, and participated actively in school games.

In compliance with the prevailing custom of child marriage, Mohandas married at the age of thirteen. Kasturbai, his illiterate wife, was simple, persevering, bold and independent.

A Student of Law in England

Karamchand Gandhi died in the year 1885, leaving little property for his family. In 1887, Mohandas completed his matriculation and left for England to study law. He lived in London, where he found the life strange and difficult to adjust to. Although he adopted English dress and took dancing and violin lessons, he was nevertheless quite unsuccessful in conforming to the British mode of life. His friends tried to compel him to eat meat but he abstained, adhering very rigidly to a vegetarian diet. He joined vegetarian clubs and very soon became a champion of vegetarianism. It was in fact in England where Gandhiji’s experiments in diet began.

A transformation in Gandhiji’s life and character now began to take place. His heart ached deeply for religion. He was inspired by meetings with Madame Blavatsky and Annie Besant. He read their books on Theosophy and read the Bible. He was impressed by the similarity of the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount and the Gita. He began reading the Gita only during his second year in London, and in it found the comfort and solace he sought.

Gandhiji studied French, Latin and science. He was called to the Bar in 1891, after which he at once sailed for India. On his return to his native land he began to study Indian Law. At Rajkot he established a moderately successful practice. While there, he was insulted by a political agent, a British officer who was prejudiced against Gandhiji’s brother. This insult changed the course of his life, inspiring him with the desire to learn something about the politics his of country.

Fight Against Racial Prejudice in S.A.

At this time, Gandhiji accepted an offer from the Meman firm of Porbander to go to South Africa as their legal representative. He arrived in Natal in 1893 and was immediately requested to go to Pretoria where his presence was required. He confronted difficulty when he entered a first-class compartment on a train to the Transvaal. At Pietermaritzburg he was ejected from the train with all his luggage. He now became resolved to fight colour prejudice.

The ill-treatment that the Indians received at the hands of colonialists was abhorrent to Gandhiji, and he was determined to champion their cause. This led him, in 1894, to found the Natal Indian Congress. In 1899, on the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War, he led the Indian Ambulance Corps of one thousand members. They engaged in active service and on one occasion were under attack of heavy fire.

In 1901, Gandhiji’s health broke down and he returned to India. After a year or two he was again summoned to South Africa. While there, in 1901, he founded the newspaper, Indian Opinion.Five years later, when a native rebellion broke out in Natal, Gandhiji offered a Stretcher-Bearer Corps. During the First World War he raised an Ambulance Corps and conducted a recruiting campaign in Karia.

It was in South Africa that Gandhiji first adopted Satyagraha, the method of non-violence, to fight the injustice to which Indians were subjected. The entire Indian community rallied around him magnificently, for he had readily identified himself with all.

His powerful Satyagraha campaign with which he confronted the unjust laws of the local government was overwhelmingly successful. He showed that this "soul force", as he called it, could be universally applied to bring peace and abolish despotism and ever-growing militarism.

Struggle for Independence

His mission accomplished, Gandhiji arrived in India in 1915. In 1918, he assumed leadership of the Indian National Congress and associated himself with the Khilafat movement. He used the peaceful method of non-co-operation and non-violence for achieving freedom for his country from the yoke of foreign rule.

The Gandhi movement spread like wild fire. He roused the masses to political consciousness and proved to them that they possessed immense soul-force. He was sentenced to six years imprisonment and was released in February, 1924. In that same year he became President of the Indian National Congress.

In April 1930, the Salt Satyagraha was started by Gandhiji. For his breach of the Salt Laws he was interned on the 5th May, 1930. He was released on the 25th January, 1931 in order to attend the Round Table Conference in London. He was again arrested in January, 1933 and released in May of the same year.

Gandhiji’s intense love for his fellow men, his long fasts, his great sacrifices for his country’s cause, indomitable will, moral force and deep spiritual life, won for him the hearts of his countrymen. In their excessive devotion, love and reverence for him they bestowed upon him the title of "Mahatma", meaning "Great Soul". They addressed him affectionately as Bapuji. It means "beloved father".

The tremendous soul-power of which Gandhiji spoke was essentially derived from the chanting of Ram-Nam and the study of the Gita and Ramayana. Not a day passed without a study of the second chapter of the Gita, in which, Gandhiji felt, was contained its entire philosophy.

On the 15th of August, 1947, Gandhiji won freedom for India. Soon after this he was shot at three times at point-blank range by Nathuram Vinayak Godse, a Hindu extremist. On Gandhiji’s lips, just before he gave up his last breath, were the words "Hey Ram!"

Thus passed the life of a great soul.

The Pattern of a Perfect Life

Bharatavarsha, as India is known, has always been a land of eternal ideals and sublime idealism, and of supermen who converted these ideals into actuality in their everyday life. Gandhiji was such an ideal superman. His name has become synonymous with unbending moral rectitude, heroic allegiance to truth, and perfect righteousness both in private and public life.

Mahatma Gandhi’s life is a monument to the triumph of spirit over flesh, a living witness to the victory of the divine over the base nature of man. A continuous exercise of self-restraint and discipline, along with deep prayer and an invincible faith in the Divine, enabled him to successfully resist all kinds of temptations, overcome all obstacles and gain full mastery over himself.

Gandhiji’s firm and tenacious adherence to the cause of the poor, the downtrodden Harijans, and the common man of the Indian village, is indeed worthy of emulation. Through all the vicissitudes of time and power and fame, he kept before the vision of the Indian Congress the fundamental purpose for which it came into being—the amelioration of the suffering of the poor. Uncrowned king of the land, he remained a friend of the poor; he lived for them, moved among them as one of them, and served them with all his heart. He saw God in them, and in their service wore out his body.

As the Father of the Nation in every sense of the term, Gandhiji brought about a re-orientation in the outlook of the average Indian, and instilled into him the love of God, his religion and his motherland, all of which had been eclipsed for more than a century by the unhealthy influence of Western culture, manners and language.

Mahatmaji demonstrated how a life of complete detachment and renunciation may be led while remaining in the thick of battle. His was a supreme example of one who had completely annihilated the ego, the little "I", and led a divine life in the world. His life was like that of a lotus leaf in water.

Albert Einstein, the famous scientist who propounded the theory of relativity, said of Gandhiji: "Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a man in flesh and blood once trod upon this earth".

May the Mahatma’s light of love illuminate the hearts of nations and individuals! May his dream of world unity materialise this very day! May his spirit bless us all with the vision and strength to realise in our everyday life all his lofty ideals of truth, purity, non-violence and faith in the Divine!

Source :http://www.dlshq.org/saints/gandhi.htm

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SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

                   SWAMI VIVEKANANDA



                                               SWAMI VIVEKANANDA ( 1863 - 1902 )
Born : 12th January 1863 at Calcutta
Mahasamadhi : 1902
Father : Sri Viswanath Datta
Mother : Smt Bhubaneswari Devi

This illustrious patriot-saint of modern India was born in Calcutta on 12 January, 1863. He was named Narendra. His father, Viswanath Datta, was a brilliant lawyer. He was highly respected for his intelligence and culture. His mother, Devi Bhuvaneshwari, was a devout woman with a great ability for training her children. As a boy, Narendra was very naughty and self-willed, and often had to be placed under a water tap to curb his mischief. Nevertheless, he was very generous, loving and devoted, with a strange attraction for wandering Sadhus. He enjoyed doing worship of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna with his mother.

After his matriculation, Narendra went to college. He was rarely absent from social parties. He was the "soul of social circles" and no gathering was deemed complete without his presence.

One day, his neighbour received a surprise visit from the saint of Dakshineshwar, Sri Ramakrishna. Narendra was also invited to sing devotional songs. As he sang, he sent thrill after thrill through Sri Ramakrishna until the saint fell into a state of ecstasy. When he became normal again, he made Narendra sit beside him and enquired lovingly of the boy. With time their friendship grew.

The death of his father forced Narendra to find work and support the family. During these years of great struggle, his sheet anchor was his Guru, Sri Ramakrishna. Narendra yearned intensely for God and began to plague the Master for realisation.

Narendra, now known as Swami Vivekananda, founded an Ashram near Calcutta, in order to organise better the Master's mission. This was the beginning of the Ramakrishna Mission.

From 1888 to 1890 Swami Vivekananda travelled widely. He went on a pilgrimage all over the country, studying the conditions of the people. Wherever he went, his magnetic personality created a great impression.

In 1893, Swami Vivekananda went to America to attend the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. His powerful speech at the opening session of the Parliament brought him instant fame and acclaimed him as a great orator and the most ideal interpreter of India's wisdom. He instantly became very popular in America.

Swami Vivekananda's powerful personality and his passionate call of service of the poor, is still influencing people all over India and the world.

Swami Vivekananda arrived in America penniless and depending only on God's Grace. After the Parliament he began to receive the homage and hospitality of all America. He lectured at all the important centres. As a true Sannyasin he refused to sell religion for the sake of amassing money. He preached the gospel of unity of faiths and scattered the seeds of purity, knowledge and faith. After his stay of two years in America he toured England and Europe for three months.

The tremendous ovation he received on his return to India in no way took his mind away from his mission of bringing religion to the doors of the poorest. His aim was to awaken the masses by reviving Vedic religion, and to clean it of the dross and impurity that had clung to it for so many centuries.

In 1902 Swami Vivekananda entered Mahasamadhi. Six years of discipleship under Sri Ramakrishna had taken him to the realms of God-vision. Seven years of travelling in India had broadened his outlook on life. Nine years of a national and international career were all that were left for him; yet, how filled with glorious work those nine years were!

Swami Vivekananda's gospel was one of hope, faith and strength. He never succumbed to despair, for he knew that India was capable of expansion and growth. His clarion call to the nation was: "Awake, arise, and stop not till the goal is reached."

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Swami Vivekananda's biography has been reproduced from Swami Sivananda's
"Yoga Lessons for Children (Vol. 7)", published by the Divine Life Society of South Africa.

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Source : http://www.dlshq.org/saints/vivekananda.htm

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SRI RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHAMSA

     SRI RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHAMSA


SRI RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHAMSA (1836 - 1886)
Born : 18th February 1836 at Kamarpukur in Calcutta
Passed Away : 16th August 1886 at Cossipore, Calcutta
Father : Sri Khudiram Chattopadhyaya
Mother : Smt Chandramani Devi

On 18 February, 1836, a child was born at Kamarpukur near Calcutta, in Bengal. This divine child was destined to return to Hinduism the glory it had enjoyed before the foreign conquest of India.

The child was named Gadadhar. He later grew to become Sri Ramakrishna, who was described by Romain Rolland as "the perfection of two thousand years of the spiritual life of three hundred million people".

As a child, Sri Ramakrishna showed wonderful qualities of purity and love. He loved the company of Sadhus. When he was nineteen, his elder brother, Ramkumar, appointed him priest of the Kali temple at Dakshineshwar. It was the duty of the young priest to dress and decorate the image of the Divine Mother, Kali. His love for the Mother began to grow beyond all bounds.

To him, She alone was real and the world became a mere shadow. He poured his soul into his daily worship, and longed to obtain a vision of the Mother of the universe.

Sometimes, in agony he would rub his face against the ground and weep bitterly. Such was his longing to obtain Her vision. He reached a point when his agony was so great that life held no more meaning for him. It was then that he had his first vision of the Divine Mother. Thereafter, he would see the form of the Divine Mother often and get Her instructions and guidance.

Sri Ramakrishna was initiated into Vedantic meditation by Totapuri, a reputed monk who attained oneness with God after forty years of penance. Such was the devotion of Sri Ramakrishna that, to the amazement of his Guru, he attained in one day, what the Guru took forty years to achieve! In his very first sitting, he remained absorbed in the state of Samadhi or God-vision for three days!

Sri Ramakrishna was unique in every respect. He explored each of the world's great religions and found that he could have the vision of God by following any one of their paths. He could neither read nor write, yet he soon knew the basic teachings of all the sects of Hinduism.

When a Sufi taught him about Islam, Sri Ramakrishna lived the life of a devout Muslim and soon had the vision of Prophet Mohammed. Not long afterwards, he was attracted to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Soon he had the vision of Jesus also, and another of Mother Mary and the holy child. In the same manner he had a vision of Lord Buddha.

When Sri Ramakrishna was twenty-three, he selected as his bride, Sarada Devi, who was then five years old. But the couple never led a householder's life. The marvellous girl, who was herself a great soul, later became the Holy Mother, showering her Grace and blessings on the thousands who eagerly flocked to her for solace and comfort.

Sri Ramakrishna taught the world that God can be realised through all religions. This great truth came to him through his direct spiritual experience.
A great part of Sri Ramakrishna's life was spent in training his disciples, among whom Swami Vivekananda stood foremost. Swami Brahmananda, Swami Shivananda and Swami Saradananda were some of his other well-known disciples who expanded and spread his mission far and wide.
Sri Ramakrishna's teachings are given in a great work entitled, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. It consists of his daily talks recorded by one of his very faithful disciples, Mahendra Nath Gupta.

It is a marvellous book giving us the teachings of the great Master in a simple, lucid form.
Sri Ramakrishna left his physical body in the year 1886, after suffering for some time from throat cancer. His teachings, given by means of many stories and parables, are today read by almost every spiritual aspirant treading the path of Yoga. His spiritual impact on India and the world has been tremendous.

Mahatma Gandhiji said in a tribute to this great soul: "The story of Sri Ramakrishna's life is a story of religion in practice. His life enables us to see God face to face. Sri Ramakrishna was a living image of Godliness. His sayings are not those of a mere learned man but they are pages taken from the book of life."
Source : http://www.dlshq.org/saints/ramakrishna.htm

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Sri Ramakrishna's biography has been reproduced from Swami Sivananda's"Yoga Lessons for Children (Vol. 7)", published by the Divine Life Society of South Africa.

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Source : http://www.culturalindia.net/reformers/ramakrishna-paramhansa.html

Contributions

Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa was a popular saint of India. He had a strong faith in the existence of god. He regarded every woman of the society, including his wife, Sarada, as holy mother. Swami Vivekananda was one of the prominent disciples of Ramakrishna, who later formed the Ramakrishna Mission.


Life

The original name of Ramakrishna Paramhansa was Gadadhar Chattopadhyay. He was born into a poor and orthodox Brahmin family on 18 February, 1836 in Kamarpukur, Hooghly district of West Bengal. His parents were Khudiram Chattopadhyaya, and Chandramani Devi.


Though Gadadhar was very reluctant going to school, he had a god-gifted ability of painting and creating clay models. He was also good at learning things. He easily mastered the tales, based upon the religion. Young Gadadhar loved the nature so much that he used to spend much of his time in orchards and on the river-banks.


After the death of his father in 1843, the responsibilities of the family were handled by his elder brother Ramkumar. Ramkumar left home for Calcutta and started teaching Sanskrit in a local school. Ramkumar also served as a priest at different socio-religious functions. Young Gadadhar, back in his village started performing regular worshipping of their family-deity.


Ramkrishna at Dakshineswar

Dakhineswar MAAKALI Temple

Dakhineswar MaaKali Temple

Few months later, Ramkumar was invited to Dakshineswar temple by Rani Rasmoni, the founder of the temple. Ramkumar was appointed as the chief-priest of the temple. In 1852, Ramakrishna went to Calcutta and started assisting his brother at the same temple.


In 1856, after the death of Ramkumar, Ramakrishna took his place as the chief-priest of the Kali temple. It is believed that the name Ramakrishna was given to Gadadhar by the son-in-law of Rani Rasmoni.


After being given more responsibilities, Ramkrishna began to spend much time in the "Thakur-Ghar" (home of the deity). He considered Goddess Kali as the mother of all. He wanted to see the glimpse of the god. At times, he would go into the jungle and spend the entire night worshipping goddess Kali. The activities of Ramakrishna were viewed by many as gimmick. Many believed that Ramakrishna has become "mad". With an effort to bring Ramakrishna back into the normal life, her mother began to search for a bride. In 1959, Ramakrishna was married to five year old Sarada.


Sri Ramakrishna was the most 'rational mystic'. With scientific precision he put forward in most simple terms, as parables and stories, the eternal truth regarding God and God realization. He talked about God only after directly experiencing the reality of God. To get rid of the thought that he belonged to a higher brahmanical caste, he began to eat food cooked by the shudras or lower-caste.


Sarada Devi, Ramakrishna's wife

At the age of eighteen, Sarada, the bride of the Ramakrishna, was sent to Dakshineshwar to join her husband. It was believed that the Ramakrishna regarded Sarada as the holy mother. Sarada Devi is considered as the first disciple of Ramakrishna. Even after Ramakrishna's death in 1886, Sarada Devi led the movement and worked hard to make it a success.

Vivekananda, Ramakrishna & Sarada Devi

With Vivekananda

Ramakrishna met Vivekananda for the first time in November 1881 when Vivekananda visited Dakshineswar to know if the god really exists. In his reply Ramakrishna said, "Yes, I see God, just as I see you here, only in a much intenser sense, God can be realized."


At first Vivekananda did not believe Ramakrishna. He felt, how such a simple man could see the God. But, gradually he started developing faith in Ramkrishna. Few days later, Vivekananda realized that Ramakrishna's words were honest and uttered from a deep experience. Vivekananda started visiting Dakshineswar frequently and a relationship of "Master and disciple" developed between the two.


At Death-Bed

In 1885 Ramakrishna suffered from throat cancer. In order to consult the best physicians of Calcutta, Ramakrishna was shifted to Shyampukur by his disciples. But with the time, his health started deteriorating and he was taken to a large house at Cossipore. His condition worsened and on 16 August, 1886, he expired at the Cossipore garden house. After the death of Ramakrishna, the monastic disciples formed a fellowship at a half-ruined house at Baranagar, headed by Vivekananda. This was the initial stage of Ramakrishna Mission.

Deho rakhchen thakur swami Ramakrishna Paramahansa

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SAINT VAMAKSEPA

                    SAINT   BAMAKHEPA

                                                              SAINT BAMAKHEPA

Saint     Bamakhepa

Saint Bamakhepa at Tarapith

SAINT VAMAKSEPA




Born : 1837 in Village Atla near Tarapura in Birbhum, West Bengal
Passed Away : 1911
Source : http://www.om-guru.com/

Vamaksepa, more than any other teacher in this group of biographies, could best be characterized as a "mad saint". He was throughout his life continually violating the normative rules of society and religious practice.

He was born in 1837, in the village of Atla near Tarapura (or Tarapith) in Birbhum, West Bengal, India. He was named Bamacara by his father, a religious man named Sarvananda Chatterji. He was the second son and had a sister who was later widowed. Because of his sister's religious zeal, she was called ksepsi,or madwoman.

As a child, Bama (or Vama in Hindi pronunciation) was subject to tantrums: when the Kali (goddess) image would not answer his prayers, he would roll on the ground screaming and crying. Thus, even as a child he was considered mad Bama, or Bama Kepsa.

He had little interest in studies, and the family was too poor to afford schooling for him. His father was a professional singer, and Bama would often sing songs with him. Bama's father was an ecstatic, falling into states of bhava (strong religious emotion) while he sang. While singing, he would sometimes forget who and where he was. Even when not performing, he spent so much time in bhava that his wife would beg him to pay some attention to his physical circumstances so they would not starve.

Bama described his father as a yogi. When Bama would role on the ground shouting "Jaya Tara" (victory to the goddess Tara) his mother became upset, but his father only smiled. His father also took Bama for his first visit to the burning ground (a place sacred to the goddess Tara) at Tarapith.

Bama took initiation from his family guru and had his sacred thread ceremony when he was sixteen years of age. His father died soon afterwards and his mother asked him to get work, to keep the family from poverty. However, he was absent-minded, and indifferent towards work and found it difficult to keep a job. He spent much of his time at Tarapith, the great burning ground and shrine of the goddess Tara. He spent days and nights there singing before the goddess' image.

In 1864, Brajabasi Kailaspati came to Tarapith as a monk (sannyasi) wearing sacred tulsi beads, and the red cloth of a renunciant. He violated traditional purity rules by eating with dogs and jackals. People thought him to be a powerful monk who practiced black magic (pisaca siddha). When Bama began to follow him and do as he did, the villagers began to refer to him as one without caste (he lost his Brahman priest status in their eyes and became an "outcaste").
Kailasapati was rumored to have brought a dead tulsi tree to life, walked on the flood-waters of the Dvaraka river, lived under water and flown in the sky. He was also said to have instructed ghosts and demons. Bama often saw ghosts and spirits assembled who would jump into trees and disappear into the dark when he was with his companion. Kailaspati explained that they had done meditation in this graveyard during their time on earth, but had died afraid and would come to him seeking advice.

Bama's actions became upsetting to the villagers. He saw a boy on the road who claimed to be the Narayana deity of one of the nearby houses. The boy asked Bama to take him with him and give him a drink. Bama dipped the stone idol given him by the boy into the river. Then he went back to the village collecting all the roadside statues of deities and took them with him installing all of them on a sand altar at the river's edge. The villagers were furious that their statues had disappeared, including a deity that had been inside a house. Bama hid in a hut, and blamed it on Narayana (the boy-deity he had met). Kailaspati returned the statues to the villagers who watched their statues more carefully after that.

In a dream, Bama saw the goddess Tara who told him to set fire to the rice paddy near the village. He set the fire and saw himself as Hanuman setting fire to Lanka (from the Ramayana). The fire spread through the village, and the villagers spent much time trying to put it out. In the midst of the flames he saw the goddess Tara, and he danced in ecstasy before her. He told the villagers he would atone for the fire by jumping into it which he did shouting "Jaya Tara" (victory to Tara). They could not find his burnt body, but he was seen later running into Kailaspati's hut. They wondered if he was a ghost, or somehow alive, or had learned magic and used it to protect himself from the flames. Bama later said he felt Tara's hands lift him out of the fire and throw him into the forest.

Bama's mother tried to have him locked up, as she thought him mad, but he escaped to Kailaspati. She feared Kailaspati and only watched from a distance. Bama called her "small mother" and the goddess Tara "big mother".

Bama took initiation from Kailaspati and saw a great light condensed into the form of the Tara mantra, which was his personal mantra. He saw a demoness with long teeth and fiery eyes, and later the environment was transformed- the bushes turned into mythical divine figures, and he heard the voice of Tara, who told him she lived forever in the "salmoni" tree, and that she would be its fiery light. The tree shot forth flames and he saw a blue light which took on Tara's form. Wearing a Tiger's skin, she stood on a corpse with four arms, matted hair, three eyes, and a protruding tongue. She wore snake ornaments, and an erect snake on her head. She embraced him and vanished at dawn. Some accounts say that this experience was preceded by a vision of Kailaspati walking on water in the form of Bhairava. Bama also learned about religion from Vedagya Moksyananda, who taught him religious texts - the Vedas, Puranas, and Tantras.

Bama was subject to mood swings, alternating emotional love and exhilaration, with anger and hatred. He would curse the Goddess Tara and her ancestors, throw bones and skulls, and frighten away visitors. He would call Tara stri meaning earthy women or prostitute, and said that she was a demoness who had harmed him and that he would have his revenge by calling down a thunderbolt upon her. He would rage and then sink into a trance.

Bama became a priest at Tara's temple at Tarapith, and his stay there was marked with confrontation. He roamed around the cremation grounds happily, making friends with the dogs, naming them, and sharing his food with them (very unacceptable actions for a Hindu). He would eat food to be offered to the goddess before the worship ceremony was finished thus making it impure and unsanctified. The caretakers of the temple were angry at this and beat him severely. He insisted that the goddess Tara asked him to take food in this way. After this, the temple owner, the Rani of Natore, had a dream:


She dreamt that the stone image of Mother Tara was leaving the temple at Tarapith and going to Kailasa. Tara Ma looked very sad, and tears were flowing down her face, and she wore no mark on her forehead. She was bewildered and emaciated. Her back was bleeding and full of cuts, and vultures and jackals followed behind her, lapping the blood from her wounds.

In fear, the Rani asked, "O Ma, why do you show me these terrible things, and why are you leaving us?"

The goddess answered, "My child, I have been in this sacred place (mahapitha) for ages. Now your priests have beaten my dear mad son, and as a mother, I have taken these blows upon myself. See how my back is bleeding, I am in great pain ... For four days I have been starving, because they have not allowed my mad son to eat my ritual food. So for four days I have refused to take their offerings of food ... My child, how can a mother take food before feeding her child? You must arrange for food to be offered to my son, before it is offered to me, at the temple. If not, I will leave there permanently.

Bama got his priest job back, and people began to visit him, to come as devotees, or simply to see him.

He performed worship after this, and a crowd gathered to see it. Bama did not follow the traditional rituals; he sat before the image and said laughingly, "So girl, you are having great fun, you will enjoy a great feast today. But you are just a piece of stone without life, how can you eat food?" He then ate all the food that was to be offered to the goddess and asked an assistant to sacrifice a goat- again without the traditional rites. He did not say any Sanskrit mantras, only a few in Bengali. He threw some leftover food to the image saying "there Ma, take that."
He took a handful of flowers marked with sandal paste and stood before the goddess. He cursed her and threw the flowers at the statue. He wet the flowers with his tears. Although the flowers were thrown with an attitude of abuse instead of reverence using mantras, they arranged themselves into a neat and beautiful garland around the goddess' neck, and the observers were amazed at the mantraless form of worship of the madman. He then went into trance which continued all day, and he emerged from it on the following day. He was not a priest who followed schedules- often the time for worship would have passed and no one could find Bama anywhere. He would later be seen in trance under a Hibiscus tree, on in the jungle, having arguments with the goddess.

Nilamadhava, a villager, wished to know if Bama was a saint, so he hired the prostitute Sundari to seduce Bama. On seeing her, Bama said, "Ma, you have come." He then began to suck her breast so vigorously that blood came out. In pain, Sundari began to shout, "Save me!" His devotees were shocked to see a prostitute there and told her to leave.

A variety of stories about Vamaksepa are told by Bengali Shakta devotees. They say that he drank liquor and ate human flesh from corpses, that he had supernatural powers, that he was in a continuous state ofbhavavesa for his entire life. Perhaps the story most often repeated was his unique worship of the image in the Tara temple, when he took his own urine in his hand and threw it at the image, saying, "This is the holy water of the Ganges".

Alternative stories say that he answered a crowd's protests in response to his actions by saying:
"When a child urinates or defecates while sitting on the Mother's lap, is she defiled? Can a mother think that she has been defiled by her loving child?"

Another story told by many informants describes his mother's death ceremony:
Bamdeb was in the Tarapith burning ground, amid rain and thunder, meditating. Eight miles away, over the river Daroga, his mother died. Bamdeb knew instantly, for he heard her voice as she died. He swam the river during the storm to get her body and swam back with her body to get her cremated at Tarapith, a holy place. The family and relatives objected, but he would not listen and shoved them aside, taking the body. Ten days after her death, there were last rites and food for hundreds of people. Rain clouds gathered, and a storm broke. But Bamdeb made a circle with a bone, and no rain fell inside that circle. All around was pouring rain, but in the circle all was dry.

Because of his continuous bhava, normal etiquette could be rejected. He would share the food offered to him with dogs, jackals, crows, and low-caste people, all from the same leaf, and would eat temple offerings on the burning grounds, sharing them with whoever or whatever wished to eat. He would drink liquor from the broken neck of the bottle, or from a skull. Yet he became highly respected, and was called Sri Sri Baba Vamaksepa. It was believed that he had gained spiritual perfection, and had regained all memories from previous lives.

He was harsh to disciples who did not appear sufficiently dedicated:
One person came and asked for initiation, saying that he wanted to renounce the world. Bama told him to bathe in the river. When he returned, Bama gave him a kick and told him angrily to leave and never come back. Bama's disciples protested, and he told them that this man was still thinking of his business in Calcutta while taking his ritual bath.

He also had unique curing techniques; these stories, too, were told by several Shakta informants:
A person came to Bamdeb with a swollen scrotum. He had no money and said, "I am in great pain because of this". Bamdeb stared at him and then kicked him in the scrotum. At first the man doubled over in pain, but then he was cured.... When a devotee was bitten by a snake, Bamdeb took the poison into himself, and he turned blue in trance. He cured another patient by squeezing his throat, although it looked to his devotees as if he were trying to murder him.
His rituals were famous for their sacrilegious (ashstriya) character, but as they were done in a state of bhava, they nevertheless had great power- to cure illness, to stop epidemics and natural disasters, to affect the mood of crowds.

At the Calcutta Kalighat temple, while in a state of bhava, he tried to lift the statue of the Mother and take her on his lap. When stopped by the priests, he shouted, "I do not want your black Kali! She looks like a demoness coming to devour [someone]. My Tara Ma is beautiful, with small feet. I do not want your black Kali- my Akasa Tara is good enough for me." People would call on him, asking him to pray to their household images, to enliven them with his bhava. He would fall into trance when he visited their statues, and often he performed neither worship nor chanting of mantras. He would loudly call into the air for the Mother, and many observers saw the statue appear to take the form of a human being. He could create such a powerful mood that even sarcastic people who came to laugh at him found the scene impressive.

Bama, who practiced a form of kundalini yoga, was interviewed by Promode Chatterji. The author tells some of Bama's ideas in his book of interviews with saints: Tantrabhilasir Sadhu-sangha:
Ma (the Mother goddess) is asleep in the muladhara chakra and should be awakened- if she is not awake, who is there to give one liberation? Only she can do this.... The first sign of the awakening of Kundalini is that the person does not feel satisfied with the ordinary state of life- one gets a great urge within to get over this confinement. The awakening of Kundalini gives men great pleasure, a kind of pleasure that ordinary men never attain ... as you pass through and move from one chakra to another, you feel the manifestations of the varied bhavas of Kundalini Sakti. But what is important, as a result of kundalini Shakti's functions in every chakra, is the kind of bhava it creates, a different bhava in each place, and the feeling of these bhavas brings such a state of bliss that it cannot be described.

He felt that the soul departs the body through the spinal channel at death, through an aperture in the skull, and it enters a state of emptiness and peace, nirvikalpa samadhi. This is the home of Tara Ma, which is beyond the material world, the heaven worlds, and the home of Kali. Tara's grace is necessary to reach this state.

Even in later life, he retained the madness of his youth. He would walk through monsoon rain and thunder, calling on the Mother or cursing her. At one point, he gathered all the warm clothes and shawls that he could find, which had been donated by his devotees, and set fire to them. As the flames rose high up in the air, he began shouting happily, "See how bright is Tara Ma’s image in the flames." His followers tried to stop him, but he told them that he was performing the ritual offering fire (homa) with clothes.

Shortly before his death, he became withdrawn and spent most of his time in trance and meditation. He ceased to talk with his disciples, speaking only rarely about death and Tara Ma. His love-hate relationship with her continued until his death in 1911.

Bamaksepa was a Shakta with strong shamanic tendencies, who became the symbol of devotion for millions of Bengali Saktas. Divine madness was present in him from childhood, when he would have tantrums because the stone image of the goddess would not speak to him. He was associated with impurity (sharing food with jackals, eating the flesh of corpses, refusing to bathe, using urine in ritual, performing corpse rituals, and daily consuming wine and hashish) and shamanic powers (reading minds, acquiring knowledge at a distance, perceiving ghosts, spirits, dakinis, and yoginis, having skill in nature-magic and healing). His healings often incorporated aggressive acts: one patient was cured by being kicked in the scrotum, another by being strangled. His techniques of' worship also included aggressive elements: he would curse both goddess and devotees, and set fires in which to have visions. Yet he is the saint seen by many Saktas as the ideal child of the Mother, more faithful to his goddess than any other devotee.

Westerners may find it difficult to understand Indian devotional traditions where devotion creates both powerful positive and negative emotions. However from the Indian standpoint, true surrender to the god means total involvement and dependence on him or her for everything. The acceptance of negative emotions in devotion along with the positive ones leads to a kind of obsession where the concentration on the god becomes almost yogic. This same intense concentration is cultivated by the yogic practitioner but without the strong emotional component that is normally part of the path of devotion.

The erratic behavior can be interpreted in two ways from a tantric standpoint. The second or "hero" stage of Tantra where one has passed beyond normal human desires strives to break free of the moral conventions of society by ritually performing the five forbidden actions. Such ritual action is normally highly controlled and disciplined involving concentrated use of mantra and visualization. However, the mad saint dispenses with the "ritual" performance, and chaotically violates society's norms in order to break free of the conventional nature of normal human awareness to encounter the divine reality. Such strange behavior also has the added advantage of scaring away unwanted attention from the curious which leaves much time for spiritual practice.

A second interpretation is that the mad saint has entered the third stage of tantric development (divine bhava) where he is identified with the divine reality and therefore is beyond the human realm altogether. His behavior therefore obeys no law or pattern, and appears chaotic to outsiders. Clearly both stages are dangerous when looked at from the standpoint of societal norms.

The last point that might help outsiders make sense of the actions of a saint such as Bama is understanding of the primary goal of Tantra. Contrary to many western writers who believe that Tantra is mostly concerned with sexuality and sexual ritual, the more important goal of Tantra is to face up to the greatest spiritual challenge in life- the fear of death. Sexuality is a passion that tantrics become detached from by spiritualizing sexual activity through complex ritual behavior. In the same way, the powerful passion of fear whose root is fear of death can also be controlled through tantric ritual.

This is why so many tantrikas in West Bengal spend time at burning grounds meditating on corpses, sitting on cadavers at midnight, worshiping liminal goddesses of life and death (Kali and Tara), and communicating with ghosts. The constant involvement with death reduces and even eliminates the fear of death. It also concentrates the tantrika's mind on the fleeting nature of life, and motivates the tantricka to seek a state of consciousness that is beyond life and death, and beyond duality itself.

Bamaksepa embodies the unorthodox (sometimes referred to as left-handed) path of Tantra in Bengal. It is a chaotic path that combines the extremes of passion, and the union of the opposites of hatred and devotion, sacred and sacrilegious, and life and death.
Source : http://www.hinduwebsite.com/masters.asp SPIRITUAL MASTERS, SAINTS AND GREAT SOULS OF HINDUISM

Samadhi Mandira at Tarapith

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