INTRODUCTION

The harmony of religions - this was the greatest contribution of Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna. His teaching that all religions lead to the same God, he imparted to all - the inner, the outer, the casual circles of his devotees and to all others who went to him. This liberal teaching of the oneness of all religions, he did not proclaim after studying the texts nor did he do so on hearsay. He proclaimed it, on the other hand, after experiencing it himself, after practising the principal religions of the world and realising their truth in his life.

Why did he proclaim this harmony of religions through his life in this age? What was the need? The answer is only this: During the present age the whole world has become one under the influence of science. The distance of time and space has almost disappeared. The whole world has become as if it were one family. He realised that if the different countries, different communities, different languages, dresses, food and thoughts of the world were not tied together by the same thread, controversies and counter-contoversies would assume frightful proportions.

He discovered that this thread would have to be that of religion. The principal religions of the world proclaim: The aim of human life is riddance from the sorrow; in other words attainment of happiness. Only human beings seek happiness. The source of all happiness is the Great Truth behind the (phenomenal) world. And this great Truth is the Self of human beings - sa ya eshah anima etada atmyam idam sarvam tat satyam sa atma, tat tvam asi shwetaketo. The rishis also knew that only a drop of happiness from this Self of happiness is the basis of all sense enjoyments. The great truth behind the world is otherwise known as ananda-swarupa (the Self of happiness), the Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute.

If the peoples of different countries are tied together by this ananda-swarupa in the thread of brotherhood - that the whole creation is born in the same womb and that all are therefore the children of the same father - all controversy, disputes, restlessness and distrust would vanish.

The Rigveda, the oldest scripture of the world says: Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti - There is but one Self or Truth, the Self of Happiness - Satchidananda is one. The devotees call it by different names.

With this aim in view, Sri Ramakrishna practised different religions and having attained perfection, having realised the complete truth of this ancient great saying, proclaimed to the world in a loud voice that all religions are true, that all religions are but different paths; that one can approach God, the Self of man, by any of these paths: Yato mata tato path, mata path.

A pond has many bathing points. Coming from one point, the Hindu says: I have brought jala; the Mohammedan comes from a different point and calls it pani; the Christian brings the same thing from another point and names it water. It is the same water called by so many names.

Because of difference in time, place and persons, God has given us so many religions. All faiths are paths but these faiths are not God. The same Supreme Being has been variously described as Ishwar, God or Allah by His devotees, in the manner they have understood Him.

Fish has been brought to the household. The mother of the family has five children. She cooks it in different way for each child and serves it as gravy or dry-spiced roast or roast-in-rice or fried fish, according to the taste of each child.

While practising different religions to realise their oneness, he (Thakur) first of all took to the Shakta creed of Hindus. Gradually he practised the Vaishnava path, the Puranic path, the Tantric and the Vedantic paths, one by one and arrived at the same great Truth. Then he practised two principal religions of the modern age, Christianity and Islam and again arrived at the same Truth. Buddhism he accepted only as different form of Hinduism, that’s why he didn’t practice it separately as a different discipline.

M., an intimate devotee of the inner circle of Sri Ramakrishna’s disciples is the immortal writer of the Kathamrita. He was also the chief person appointed by Sri Ramakrishna to spread his words. Having been blessed with one kala (one-sixteenth) of Her power by the Mother of the Universe, and at Her command, M. lived in his family as a sannyasi-in-the-household to educate humanity, as a teacher of the Bhagavata at the desire of Sri Ramakrishna.

Initiated by Sri Ramakrishna, M. was an outstanding teacher of Brahman-jnana. Many devotees took their lesson in Brahman-jnana from him before they embraced sannyasa. He is the great model, the ideal of Sri Ramakrishna’s conception of a true householder. Whatever was laid by Sri Ramakrishna as the way for a householder blossomed perfectly in M.’s life.

It was for this reason that Sri Ramakrishna repeatedly taught M. the above mentioned liberal precept of oneness of religions, namely, ‘As many religions so many paths.’ How M. followed his Master’s teachings and exhortation in his own life and imparted it to the devotees may now be presented to the readers by the following illustrations.

Not only did M. visit the temples of all the Hindu creeds, accompanied by the devotees he would also regularly go to all the three centres of the Brahmo Samaj - the Adi, the Sadharana and the Navavidhan. Likewise he would also visit the church, the mosque, the Buddha-vihara, the Jain temple, the Arya Samaj and the Gurudwara.

In 1924, during Christmas he went with the devotees to the Church of Mr. Long, the Saint Paul Cathedral situated close to his residence in the Amherst Street. Besides he visited the Methodist Church and some others in Dharmatala area in the same period. To his evening congregation he said: Did I possess this liberal insight - thinking of all belonging to us? No, it was Thakur’s kind gift. Thakur told us: Christ, Gauranga and I are one and the same. That’s why all Christian devotees appear as one’s own dear ones.

And then the same year he went with monks and devotees, on the birth aniversary of Bhagavan Buddha, to the Buddha Vihara of Kapalitola and the College Square on the thrice-blessed day of Vaishakha Purnima, the day of the full moon.

In 1922, in the month of January, he took part along with devotees in the prayer meeting of the Adi Brahmo Samaj. On coming out he said, "It was at this spot that Thakur had seen Keshab Sen in meditation for the first time. He (Keshab) was then twenty-seven. Thakur said: ‘The float of the fishing line of this lad has gone deep into the water; the fish is nibbling at the bait of the hook.’ The Adi Samaj has another attraction: the recitation of the Veda in the Vedic intonation and singing of the songs composed in Vedic phrases."

He would often go to the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, and would say, "Thakur came here too. Songs that are sung here are also inspiring. On seeing so many devotees calling on God together one is reminded of God’s words."

The sight of ten thousand devotees offering namaz together in the Jama Masjid in Delhi in 1913 made him very happy.

In 1925, on the 1st and 3rd of January he visited the four Sikh Gurudwaras of the Mechhua Bazar, Harrison Road, Cross Street and the Cotton Street. Coming out of the Gurudwara at the Mechhua Bazar, he stood near the foot of the staircase and whispered into the ears of Antevasi: O! Thakur has given such an impetus that one visits all these places as one’s own. The impetus is that one can attain Him by all these paths. In the Cross Street, he sat with the huge congregation and heard the recitation of the Sukhamani:

M. also said in the same evening congregation: ‘We visited four Gurudwaras yesterday. The birthday of Guru Gobind Singh is being celebrated. O, how beautiful was the decoration! We saw a spot superbly decorated with flowers. Such a thing can be done only when there is devotion and faith. It was indeed a Gurudwara, the abode of the Guru - Guru, that is God. When there is devotion for the Guru, it means one has imbibed devotion to God. There is no difference between the Guru and the chosen ideal.

"Thakur is taking us to so many places. Why? To make us realise that God Himself resides in all these forms. Thakur said: ‘I see that its the Mother everywhere.’ He put such glasses on our eyes that I see nothing but red. All appear to be my own. When I went to the Gurudwara yesterday I felt I had reached Amritsar. In the Darbar Sahib (the Golden Temple) there are festivities day and night. How intoxicated they are with the jnana and bhakti He has bestowed on them! Night and day nothing but worship, recitation and singing of hymns. And then distribution of the karah (flour pudding) prasad.

"The jiva remains bound by the five elements and through them only it gets freed. This is done by turning towards Him. One worships Him with the five senses: the sight, the taste, the smell, the speech and the touch. O what a superb decoration done with different flowers we saw! One has to offer Him what one likes the best. If we take anything as prasad, after offering it to Him we gradually attain liberation. But if we take it for self-satisfaction it only tightens our bonds."

On the 13th of August 1924, at 8 p.m. on the 14th day of the bright fortnight, M. said to the bhaktas in the staircase room of the Morton School, "We have received an invitation from the Navavidhan Brahmo Samaj for the festival of Bhadra. It will start tomorrow. You should participate in it. Thakur’s divine touch is there. How often he visited it! It has become a place of pilgrimage. By seeing one gets inspired. How much did Thakur love Keshab Babu! He had injected in him his high liberal values. That’s why the devotees of Navavidhan worship the formless Para-Brahman utering Ma-Ma. By your participation, you the bhaktas of Thakur, that very bhava will be revived further."

When the Elder Jiten expressed his disinclination to go there, M. was unhappy with him. Said he, "Thakur said to Ram Babu that the devotee should visit any place where there was a talk of God or a festical celebrated in His name, even if he did not receive any invitation. And then it has been said: Na aham vaikunthe tishthami yoginam hridaye na cha; yatra mad bhaktah gayanti tatra tishthami narada."

The Elder Jiten said, "I don’t like what they say. They don’t say the right things." Raising his voice M. said, "Who can rightly talk about Him? I challenge it. Can anyone do so? Only He can describe Himself correctly, none else can do so in the three worlds. ‘Brahman has never been defiled by the touch of human tougue,’ so said Thakur to Vidyasagar.

"The live sparks of Thakur had entered into Keshab. From him they have reached his disciples. May be they are dim now but still they remain particles of the same nectar."

M. was keen to see for himself at one time what the devotees of different creeds were doing in Calcutta. But this was not possible. So he formed a group of devotees to act as his agents. They would attend the prayers of different creeds and later describe it to him.

The eighth part of M., the Apostle and the Evangelist narrates this very nectar-like liberal teaching: ‘the oneness of all religions’ of Thakur, through the medium of the life, work and words of M. The whole world - this country, foreign countries, society and the individual - can all gain happiness and peace by imbibing this liberal teaching. Our offering this time is this liberal nectar-like teaching of religions.

Humbly,

The author