CHAPTER-7:
AT THE FEET OF THE MASTER; PART-II
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| Sri Sarada Devi |
There is ample evidence to make one believe
that she attained to exalted states of spiritual consciousness during this
period of her life. But she was by nature so modest and unassuming that she
would seldom speak to others of such facts of her life as might glorify her in
their eyes. Sometimes certain happenings leaked out when any of her companions
happened to be by her side. One such instance we come across in the account
left by Yogin-Ma of an exalted spiritual mood she witnessed personally in the
Holy Mother. We give below her own words, a little abridged:
'When the
Mother first came to Dakshineswar, she had not experienced Samadhi. Though she
practised meditation and Japa every day with utmost devotion, we did not hear
of her going into Samadhi at that time. On the other hand she even felt
frightened at the sight of the Master's Samadhi in the days when she slept in
his room. After I had been acquainted with her for some time, she said to me
one day, "Please speak to the Master that through his grace I may
experience Samadhi. On account of the constant presence of devotees, I hardly
get any opportunity to speak to him about it myself." I thought it was
quite right that I should carry out her request.
'Next
morning Sri Ramakrishna was seated on his bed alone when I went to his room,
and after saluting him in the usual way, communicated the Mother's prayer to
him. He listened to it, but did not give any reply. Suddenly he became very
serious. When he was in that mood, no one dared to utter a word before him. So
I left the room after sitting there silently for a while. Coming to the
Nahabat, I found the Mother seated for her daily worship. I opened the door a
little and peeped in. Strange to say, she was giggling and the next moment
weeping. This went on alternately for some time. Tears were rolling down her
cheeks in an unceasing stream. Gradually she became very much absorbed into
herself. I knew she was in Samadhi. So I closed the door and came away.
'A long
while after, I went again to her room. She said to me, "Are you just
returning from the Master's room?" And I replied, "How is it, Mother,
that you say you never experience Samadhi and other high spiritual moods?"
She was abashed and smiled.
'After that
event I sometimes used to spend the night with her at Dakshineswar. Though I
wanted to sleep on a separate bed, she would never listen to it. She would drag
me to her side. One night somebody was playing the flute outside. That brought
on her a high spiritual mood. She was laughing at intervals. With great
hesitation I sat in one corner of the bed. I thought that, being a worldly
person, I should not touch her at that time. After a long while her mind came
to the ordinary state.'
In later days, after the passing away of the
Master, she had more frequent experiences of this exalted state. This will be
dealt with in detail in the proper place ( See chaps. 9
and 11). Suffice it to say here that soon after her contact with the
Master, her mind, pure and disciplined as it was, attained to great heights of
concentration and illumination. Ecstasies and visions are only the by-products
of spiritual realization. They may or may not appear according to temperament.
The essence of realization, however, consists in a transformation of the inner
life, and not in any external manifestation. The Holy Mother was speaking from
experience when she put this idea so beautifully in the following words: 'What else does one obtain by the realization of God? Does
one grow a pair of horns? No, our mind becomes pure, and through that pure mind
comes enlightenment.'
In conclusion it may be stated here that the
training that the Master imparted to her did not exclude secular matters,
especially the way of conducting oneself in everyday life. He instructed her
that in arranging articles of domestic use, one must think out beforehand where
particular things were to be kept. Those that were frequently required must be
kept near at hand and the others at a distance. When a thing was temporarily
removed from a place, particular care should be taken to see that it was put
back exactly in the same place, so that one might not fail to locate it even in
darkness. He taught her also the way of rolling wicks, dressing vegetables,
making betel rolls, cooking, and doing other items of domestic work. He taught
her that while travelling in a boat or carriage, she should always be the first
to get in and the last to get out; for then only one could properly check
whether all the luggage had been taken in and taken out. The secret of one's
success in social relationships, he told her, depended entirely on one's
capacity to adjust one's conduct according to time, place, circumstances, and
the nature of people one had to deal with and their behaviour. Physically
everyone was made of flesh and bones, but the mind within was constituted in
entirely different ways. So one should be very careful
in selecting one's friends and associates.
With some, one might mix freely, with others
only a nodding acquaintance was advisable, and with still others it is better
not to talk at all. Thus
the Master took pains to make the Holy Mother efficient in both spiritual and
secular matters and prepared her for the great mission that he was to entrust
to her at the close of his life.
SOURCE:http://saradadevi.info/SHM_book
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