Extreme Bhakti – Sri Ramakrishna
Today is the Punyathithi (death anniversary) of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
Bhakti or love for God is the easiest path to God. God is very easy to love. He has given us this life and means for living, this wonderful earth and waters, skies, stars, sun, moon, wind, fire and space. His love for us is visible at all times. Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa saw his Mother Kali in every atom of the Universe. Nothing existed apart from Her. She was All. All was She. Sri Ramakrishna’s bhakti had peaked to great heights and there was a yearning in him to merge with Her. He did not want himself to be apart from Her when he saw Her. He wanted to be one with Her. In other words, he did not want duality but oneness with Divinity. This is his experience of how he overcame duality and merged with Her and became One with Her:
Sri Ramakrishna worshipped Mother Kali all his life. Her smile embraced him wherever he looked. All was Her Form and Her Existence. There was nothing apart from Her. There was a great need in him to experience Oneness with Divinity. He earnestly looked for a teacher who could help him. When the student is ready, the Guru appears! A Paramhamsa named Totapuri appeared in his life. Sri Ramakrishna appealed to him for help.
Totapuri assured him that it was not at all difficult to achieve. Sri Ramakrishna believed that there were two. All he had to do was drop this belief and they would be one. Sri Ramakrishna tried many times but he was not able to merge with Her. When he closed his eyes in meditation, She appeared and then there were the two of them. Totapuri advised him that when he saw the image of Mother Kali in front of him, he should pick up a sword and cut Her into two. The sword would be found in the same source from where the image of Goddess Kali appeared.
Sri Ramakrishna followed his teacher’s instructions and raised his sword. But he was unable to strike his Beloved Mother. He had spent far too many years worshipping and adoring Her. A devotee cannot raise his sword and strike his God. Sri Ramakrishna was unable to gather courage to cleave Her into two. Her entrancing smile made him ecstatic and he would weep tears of joy.
This went on for a few days and Totapuri became impatient. He told his student that it was his last chance and if he did not cut the image into two and achieve the goal, he would go away. Sri Ramakrishna tried again. This time just as he was about to bliss out, Totapuri slashed a long cut on the third eye of Sri Ramakrishna with a piece of glass. When pain hit Sri Ramakrishna and blood gushed out, he was able to hold his focus. He raised his sword and cut Mother Kali into two. When Mother Kali fell apart, he became non dual – the sugar dissolves in the water, the wave dissolves in the sea and the salt doll dissolves in the ocean.
Sri Ramakrishna remained in this state of Oneness for six days in total silence. He was not hungry or thirsty. There was no external awareness of the outside or the world. He sat in the bliss of Oneness with Universe. This was that and that was this. When he opened his eyes after six days, the first thing he said was: the last barrier has fallen.
Bhakti leads to Jnana or wisdom and Jnana leads to Bhakti. Those who do the japa of the SitaRam Mantra, meditation and follow the teachings of the Guru will attain both bhakti and jnana. They will achieve the duality and then leap to Oneness with Divinity.
