Sri Ramakrishna

[Iron_Man]

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was a Hindu religious teacher and an influential figure in the Bengal Renaissance of the 19th Century. He was considered an accomplished master in the practice of Vaishnava and Shakti bhakti, Vedanta, Tantra, and other spiritual disciplines. He was considered an avatar or incarnation of God by many of his disciples, and is considered as such by many of his devotees today.

From an early age Ramakrishna was deeply devoted to the divine mother Kali. With growing impatience he sought her presence but grew more and more saddened that she would not reveal herself to him. Then one day, he began to pray to Kali: "Mother, you've been gracious to many devotees in the past and have revealed yourself to them. Why would you not reveal yourself to me, also? Am I not also your son?"

He is known to have wept bitterly and sometimes even cry out loudly while worshiping. At night, he would go into a nearby jungle and spend the whole night praying. One day, the famous account goes, he was so impatient to see Mother Kali that he decided to end his life. He seized a sword hanging on the wall and was about to strike himself with it, when he is reported to have seen light issuing from the deity in waves. He is said to have been soon overwhelmed by the waves and fell unconscious on the floor.

From here on his life changed and he was forever in a state of ecstasy. Tears would fall from his eyes day and night and he would often fall into a state of bliss which would last for many days. Reports state that his eyes would roll back and he would tremble in ecstasy crying out; "oh mother why are you so good to me that you should bless me like this?"

One day, a photographer arrived to take his picture. Ramakrishna was trembling with ecstasy and asked the photographer to be patient with him while he attempted to regain some composure for his photo to be taken. He prayed to the Divine Mother to ease his ecstasy for a just moment so that the photo could be taken. His prayer was answered and he became composed only for a moment. The photographer however took too long to take the photograph and by the time it was taken Ramakrishna was already flowing back into ecstasy. This remains a classic photograph. I had this photo blown up to huge size and I have spent considerable time staring at his eyes; very, very trippy is all I'll say. Have a close look, take your time, stare at his face for a while:

Rumors spread that Ramakrishna had gone mad as a result of his over-taxing spiritual exercises. Alarmed, neighbors advised Ramakrishna’s mother that he be persuaded to marry, so that he might be more conscious of his responsibilities to the family. A five-year-old bride, Sarada, was found and the marriage was duly solemnized in 1859. Ramakrishna was 23 at this point, but the age difference was typical for 19th century rural Bengal.

Parents and neighbors would visit the couples home hoping to find a normal marriage but it far from the case. Ramakrishna worshiped his wife Sarada as if she were the Divine Mother, he set up a shrine for her and would never allow himself to touch her. At first neighbors merely laughed at the strangeness of this divine man but then they started to notice that whenever they went near Sarada they would start to tremble with ecstasy. Word began to spread that she was materializing the Divine Mother and visitors from far and wide began visiting.

One notable visitor was Lex Hixon, a British visitor who was skeptical of the stories he had heard concerning Ramakrishna and his wife Sarada. He visited the couples home and reports that within 10 minutes of arrival and being in the presence of Sarada he had fallen into a state of blissful ecstasy. He wrote an account of his encounter in a book titled 'Great Swan, meetings with Ramakrishna.'

After Ramakrishna's death, Sarada herself would dictate her life story and within those pages she revealed that her husband Ramakrishna was the most gentle and pure man living, that he was a divine incarnation. She recounted how when she was five years old and was first married to him, she was terrified of him thinking that he would abuse her (a practice unfortunately all too common at the time with marriages of such vast age differences). Instead they spent the first week of their marriage playing and from then on she compared him to 'a gentle swan'. She reveals that one thing she did hold against him however was that he had never touched her as a husband and that she would die a virgin lol.

A study of Ramakrishna and his life will reward you greatly. I cannot encourage it enough.

[The Overfiend]

Interesting read, cheers. I like posts with pictures. The god Kali looks nuts!