WORLD PEACE BY JOINING SCIENCE WITH PHILOSOPHY
1.
Morton School. Eight in the evening. M. is seated in a chair on the terrace facing north. In front of him on all three sides are seated the devotees.
Today it is Wednesday, 17 September, 1924, the first of Aswin, 1331 (B.Y.), Wednesday the fourth day of the dark fortnight, 19 Dandas / 5 Palas.
The Kathamrita is under print. That’s why M. is so very tired. On the one hand, he is old and on the other, there is such a burden of work on him. That’s why he is tired. Beside him are devotees — the Younger Nalini, the Younger Jiten, the Younger Romesh, Balai, Manoranjan, Jagabandhu and others.
The sky is overcast. It has not started raining yet. Very soon arrive Doctor Bakshi and his brother Vinay. To shake off his fatigue M. begins to talk on Godly matters. He says, "The mind rises in divine talk. One then does not feel fatigue so much. Sometimes one forgets the body."
M. (to the Younger Nalini) – Did you not go to the GodiaGaudia Math? It is so near, you should visit it. One must go there quickly, have darshan of Gauranga, offer namaskar to sadhus and then come back. They also repeat the name of God, you know.
M. (to the Younger Romesh) – You should also go there once in your morning walk. Wake up at six o’clock and go there. You may come back early in the morning and then again go there. (Everybody laughs loudly).
M. (to the bhaktas) – Can you see the stars in the sky?
Mohan – Yes, sir.
M. – Now have you been able to realize how insignificant is man? How does this doership come? One should see all this. Then one’s idea of doership vanishes. When one realizes that only God is the doer and the man is a non-doer one is saved. Then one may know that Mahamaya will not make him work in the play any more.
"But the sense of doership does not leave. Such is His enchanting power. Think you may in thousand ways, the sense of doership returns from somewhere or the other. So Thakur showed the way, ‘Live keeping the rascal as the servant-I.’ Here too, the pretence of doership remains outside, the inside is hollow."
Mohan – Can one live as a servant by trying to do so?
M. – No. Unless He wills it cannot be done. The main thing is His will. Even so, he who tries with heart and soul succeeds. By imploring and weeping the Mother removes a lot of the veil. One is able to see the inside at times. This does the trick. One has to make an effort. ‘I am going to do it,’ such should be the determination. And then one should make an effort.
"When this problem is solved, there is no other serious problem left in the life. Then one ever lives ever joyfully even in this world of happiness and grief. All troubles are generated by one’s independent claim. So Thakur said, ‘Everything is under Him.’
"So long as the body lasts one is in His jurisdiction. Till then one should live as the servant. One has to graft the ‘I’ to Him, that’s all."
M. thinks for a while and then resumes the conversation.
M. (to the bhaktas) – Everybody who peeps into his life becomes speechless. He sees His hand. In what a wonderful thing the body and mind reside, what a strange intellect is working behind it and what an amazing power it is?
"Outside there is the world, inside there is the mind and in between the senses. Besides, how many varieties there are of the mind, how many states it has — one of them being the memory.
"I was one, or one and a half years old. I am reminded of an incident of that period — of my childhood. I was standing in the kitchen one day and seeing the sunset from a corner. My mother and others were busy in domestic chores. It left it’s impression on my tabularasa."
M. (pointing at the sky ) – The yogis can go to all these regions. (Fixing his gaze quietly on the sky for a long time) They would take their subtle mind there. The gross body would body keeps lying here. It is like going out on an excursion, like one goes out in a train.
"It is a science. It is by means of it that the world of man has learnt about those regions. It is perhaps not so prevalent now. But what has happened once will happen again.
"The state of man’s mind changes with different conditions. It is the same with the society. The society also changes the state of man’s mind. That’s the reason why the rishis have divided time into Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. And they have also described the characteristics of all the periods in a broad manner.
"Science alone cannot erase all these doubts. On taking the evidence of the yogis it immediately solves the problem.
"Many scientists have tried to follow the path of the yogis. By joining physics with metaphysics all problems can be solved. And the union of science and philosophy shall bring world peace.
"In this country physics has not been made much use of. The rishis have gone up with the help of metaphysics. The West is also nearing metaphysics now with the help of physics. They have taken up physics. Till they take up metaphysics this confusion will subsist, as it generally happens in material civilization."
M. (to the Younger Jiten) – Where? Has Jiten Babu not come?
The Bhaktas (together) – But he is seated here.
M. – He is concealed in darkness.
The Elder Jiten – Can I ever stop talking nonsense? I was trying a bit today.
M. – No, you people only talk of Him. Even when you express some doubt, in principal you talk of Him.
2.
Today it is 18 September 1924. M. is seated on a mat facing south on the terrace of the Morton School — in front of Antevasi’s cabin. Near by are seated Priyanath Brahmachari, the Doctor, Vinay, Jagabandhu, Siddheshwar and others. Siddheshwar Neogi is a student of the Morton School studying for his matriculation. His uncle (father’s younger brother) is a sadhu of the Belur Math. He has a good disposition. Sometimes, he comes to visit M. M. converses.
M.(to Siddheshwar) – Is everything well?
Siddheshwar – No, sir. I suffer from headache these days.
M. – Had you been coming here, I would have cured it earlier. Now look here. You should go out for long walks. Go to the Mirzapur Park and just roam about. (M. with his eyes smiling) There is a way to cure the disease. (With a simulated graveness) You are all my own. This is something very secret. (In a very thin tone) Examining everybody’s faeces. (Everybody laughs noisily with a burst of laughter).
"Logic — in English logic there is the Law of Difference. According to it, if you change your food you get rid of the disease. What you cannot digest you can find by examining the faeces. What you cannot digest give it up. Sickness comes from taking (wrong) food."
Mohan – Doesn’t it come from external causes?
M. – That is in exceptional cases. Like one falls from the roof. Will he not be ill?
M. (to Siddheshwar) – When there is pain of the head one should not practise too much meditation. One should then repeat His name a lot. One should hear His name and keep company of sadhus. And one should roam about seeing His leela. (Pointing at the outer world with his eyes) By seeing all one is reminded of Him alone. One should roam about and sleep well. Didn’t you go to the Khadi fair being held in the Mirzapur Park?. Just go there once to see it. When you have headache don’t let your mind go inwards. All this is His splendour. See it all, walk a lot, eat and sleep. And come to me sometimes.
Today it is 19 September 1924, Friday, the third of Aswin, 1331 (B.Y.). It is six in the evening. M. is going out for a drive in the Doctor’s car. With him are Jagabandhu, Vinay and the Doctor. The car goes through the Amherst Street, Maniktala Road and stops at the north-western corner of the Cornwalis Square. M. comes down the car with his companions. He sends the Doctor to his house in Cossipore and himself enters the Cornwalis Square from the gate of that corner along with Vinay and Jagabandhu. They walk towards the east. Holding the railing of the tank in front of the rest house, he sees the tank. Then he proceeds towards the south. Then coming out of the gate of the western corner he crosses the Cornwalis Street and walks towards the south by the western footpath. Having crossed the Maniktala road he sees the lecture hall of the Christian missionaries situated at the corner of the road
It is evening. The Durga Puja is to be celebrated within a few days. The shops are decorated with various kinds of articles. There is a flood of electric lights. The merchandise is dazzling under the glow of this light in the shops. All are full of joy at the coming of the All-Blissful Mother. Why has He arranged all these festivals? All are scalded by the fire of the world. Too much of sorrow breaks the man. So He has planned this joy of festival from time to time. This permits people to forget their grief and enjoy themselves holding the Mother. It is to protect the world that such moments of merrymaking are there. Besides, they tell us that the world is transitory and God is eternal. It is with all these that He protects the world.
Pointing at a shop he says, "Just see, how many people are here while there are none there."
M. proceeds towards the south. He points towards a single storey old house situated behind the thatched houses on the main road to the south of Srimani Bazaar and says, "I used to come here to study. I was five then. My teacher was a nice man. Quite often he would pick me up in his arms and leave me home."
Pointing towards a big building on the other side of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, he says, "I came there to partake of a feast when I was four with my mother by a palanquin. It was Dr. Gobind’s house then." Pointing at a single storey house in the opposite directionother side of Sankar Ghosh Lane, he says, "When I was about eight I used to study there. The school had shifted to this building after the school had differences with Vidyasagar Mahashay. When I was about ten I saw Vidyasagar Mahashay for the first time. He was walking away clattering his shoes. Everybody said that there goes Vidyasagar."
In the meanwhile, M. comes to Thanthania and stands in front of Mother Kali. He returns at about nine at night with the bhaktas to the Morton School after offering the pranams to the Mother and having Her darshan.
Today it is 20 September 1924, Saturday, fourth of Aswin, 1331 (B.Y.). The seventh day of the dark fortnight, 32 Dandas / 28 Palas.
The roof of the Morton School. It is two in the afternoon. Many bhaktas of Saturday have arrived — the Stout Sudhir, Bhavarani, Bholanath, ‘Kalo’ and others. They come one day in a week on their return from the office. Antevasi is lying on a bench in front of his tin cabin. He is talking with the devotees. M. has shut himself in his room and resting.
At five o’clock M. comes out and sits on a chair on the terrace facing north. He makes kind enquiries from the bhaktas and reads the proof with Antevasi. The Kathamrita is under print. Antevasi holds the copy while M. corrects the proof. He says to Antevasi, "Please read more loudly. Let others also hear."
Jiten Mukherji comes in about six. He says, "My wife has also come." M. goes and standing in the staircase room exchanges a few words. The couple offers pranam and departs.
M. comes and again takes his seat on the terrace. Antevasi sees the proofs all by himself. M. says to him, "You may teach them. They will help you in your work."
M. (to the devotees ) – Why has it been arranged this way? So that the bhaktas may forget their worldly sorrows and grief by hearing His nectarine words. Man’s mind always remains restless by these things, you know. The ordinary man forgets God during his happy times. That is why, He has provided sorrow. It reminds man of Him. By remembering Him one does not get drowned completely in grief and sorrows. One gains strength to bear. The devotee thinks, ‘This grief is also given by Him. So I must bear it. He is benevolence Himself. Undoubtedly this sorrow will bring me good.’
"One gets a taste of eternal joy by sublimating one’s grief (joining it with God). How can this be done?, The way to it has been shown by Thakur to people with his nectarine words of his lips to the people. Didn’t he say, ‘I am the avatara.’ And he said, ‘It is the Mother who talks through this mouth.’ He who has put faith in his words is saved.
"Just see, what an affair! He who has bound one with maya, comes as a a man and tells the way how to free oneself from it. Says he: Live by contracting a relationship with God — I am His servant, His child, such feelings. One develops love for Him by doing so. One is saved thus.
"This is a very easy path. To create a double personality — one, worldly and the other, divine. The real self of man is divine. The rishis say, ‘, ‘The man is the son of the Immortal Bliss —,’ child of God.’ Understand this and it is done."
The next day M. takes part in the worship at Navavidhan Brahmo Samaj throughout the evening.
3.
The terrace of the Morton School. 2 p.m. Two young men are sitting on a bench in front of the tin cabin and reading the the Kathamrita, appendix — ‘Incarnation of God and sadhana taking women as companions.’ Having talked to the two boys for a while Antevasi handeds it to them to read. It is appearing in the monthly magazine Basumati these days. Both the young men are studying for their M. A. in college — one in the Bangwasi College and the other in the South Suburban College. They are desirous of M.’s darshans.
At four o’clock M. comes to the terrace. The boys offer pranams to M. One of them has very much the face of a devotee — he is eighteen. M. talks happily with him. Then he talks to his companion.
M. (to the latter) – Will you study logic? It is called science of reasoning. By reading it one can catch the defect in one’s reasoning. One should first know the shortcomings of one’s thinking. There are so many complexities in one’s intellect, like a thread in the reel.
"He who has the power of great thinking can easily catch one’s defects. Without it one does not succeed in one’s undertaking. Suppose you have to grow paddy on a plot of a land. You are first to take out all the rubbish from underbelow the earth with the help of a plough. Then if you sow again with the help of the plough you would get a good crop.
"It does not work if you plough superficially just on the surface. May be there is a brick some three cubits below.
"It is the same with man’s mind and intellect. If you clean the intellect and then place the seed you will reap the fruit a hundred- fold. Otherwise, the plant will sprout but will die.
"Now how to clean the intellect? Thakur said, ‘By keeping the company of the sadhus.’ That is to say, keep company of those who have a clean intellect and who have erased all their sensory desires. By doing so yours will also become like them. The rubbish of the mind means desires — sensory desires."
M. (to both the young men) – If the minds of some does not go to the sadhus, it means that they have a lot of sensuous desires. Perhaps, it is the beginning of their human life. Thakur used to see Narayana in all. Yet he could not sit long with such people. He used to feel as if his breathing is going to stop. Those who lived with him had always to live with dhyana, japa and talk on God — all these.
"Did he hate anybody? No. He had such a pure mind that it could not live with lower things — shuddha-papa-viddham (pure, untouched by sin)."
M. – There was a challenge of the modern civilization. It is only in this way that the devotees could gain awareness of where they stood. Even his bones and skin were pure.
"One should pray to God, ‘Grant me jnana and bhakti.’ Swami Vivekananda prayed to Mother Kali to grant him jnana and bhakti. He had gone to Her to ask for something else because of the trials of life he was facing. But he asked jnana and bhakti — he could not ask for anything else."
The student from Bangwasi college – To call on God for jnana and bhakti is also sakama (with a motive).
M. (laughing) – I see that he is somewhat logical. It seems you have read logic? Thakur said, ‘The hincha spinach is not to be counted as a spinach, nor sugar candy among sweetmeats.’ It is the some with it. Jnana, bhakti, discrimination, dispassion, ecstatic love and samadhi — the desire for these is not to be counted among sensuous desires. The reason? They free the jiva (the embodied soul), while the other desires bind him.
M. (to the young mean) – Well, have you had the darshan of Swami Abhedananda? Please go and have his darshan once. You will offer him pranam. Today it is his birth anniversary. He was in America for twenty five years. He has served Thakur for almost a year. What a great man he is! It iss such a good day for going there. You may not get such an opportunity again. Go and have his darshan.
The boys offer pranam to M. and set out to have darshan of Abhedananda Maharaj. He is living in the Vedanta Society. It is situated at 11, Eden Hospital Road, behind the Medical College.
It is late in the evening. M. is seated and meditates with the bhaktas on the terrace. After a while arrive Doctor Bakshi with his brother Vinay. At about eight o’clock M. leaves for Vedanta Society by Doctor Bakshi’s car. He has been invited there. With him are the Doctor, Vinay, the Younger Romesh and Jagabandhu. Gadadhar and the Younger Nalini also wanted to go there. But M. said to them, "No, you must stay on. You have already had his darshan during the day. Don’t go again. Rather if some devotees come, please send them there."
The Vedanta Society is in a big flat on the first floor. In the lecture room are seated M. and Swami Abhedananda on a thin carpet spread over the floor. On the carpet there is an oil cloth. M. faces Nnorth while Abhedananda Maharaj sits in front of him facing south. Though requested a lot by Abhedananda Maharaj M. does not take a chair. Is it to teach humanity?
A number of sadhus and bhaktas are seated around them. Some others are standing. They are all curious to see them seated together and to hear what they say.
A young man is seated behind Abhedananda Maharaj wondering. He thinks, how much love there is between these two co-disciples! Both of them are men of high spiritual attainment, intimate disciples of the avatara. While one is a sannyasi, the other is a householder. But both of them see within themselves Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna as their worshipful deity. All the sadhus and bhaktas have the darshan of both of these divine bhaktas’ sacred meeting, so full of divine love. And they hear their affectionate conversation, so full of deep and unworldly love.
Swami Abhedananda – Master Mahashay, please tell a little about Thakur. Knowing that you were to come, all these have been waiting so eagerly for a long time. Thakur himself engaged you in his lifetime in narrating his Kathamrita.
M. – Subodh Maharaj said to a pleader in Puri, ‘You talk of God-realization, but do you call on Him? Do you ever sit in dharna (lying at a temple imploring something) as they do in Tarkeshwar?’ What will it avail if you only speak about it? You have to develop a yearning for Him. It will happen only then.
"Here is a great saying of Thakur, ‘His darshan follows yearning just as sunrise follows the dawn.’ The avatara comes only to teach yearning. (To the bhaktas) How do you like it? Isn’t it good?
"One day the Younger Naren was talking about some other matters in the Cossipore garden. Hearing it Thakur said, ‘Son, don’t talk such things here. I don’t like them. Do talk on God.’
(To the bhaktas) "How do you like it? Isn’t it good? There is no end to his words. If one has to tell in one word all that he said, it is keep company of sadhus. (Pointing at Abhedananda Maharaj) Here is the concrete manifestation of his words."
M. rises and goes into every room of the ashrama. Library, the room for cane work, the dormitory and so on. Seeing all these he comes back and stands in front of Thakur’s shrine. In front of him stands a little girl, three years old.
Swami Abhedananda says with a smiling face, "Offer pranam, offer pranam to him. He is Narada Muni in person. Have you never seen Narada Muni in some play? Here is the real Narada Muni."
M. is dressed in a whitle dhoti and a white shirt of long cloth with a white shawl on his shoulder. On his forehead there is kesar (saffron), his hair flowing that too white and his white beard coming down to the chest. He has always the name of Sri Ramakrishna in his throat.
Now, both the brother disciples are in a tight embrace. Now M. departs. He has prasad in his hand.
M. returns to the Morton School after one hour and a half. It is 10 p.m. The regular visiting bhaktas are waiting for him on the roof. M. comes and sits on a chair facing north. Says he, "It was very nice there. I didn’t feel like coming back. Lest the Doctor Babu should be delayed I have come back?"
Morton School, Calcutta
Monday, 22 October 1924
Sixth of Aswin, 1331 (B.Y.)
The ninth day of the dark fortnight
42 Dandas / 48 Palas.