MY MASTER

SWAMIJI'S TIME J K SIVAN

RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHAMSA

MY MASTER

The more such men like my Master are produced in a country, the more that country will be raised; and that country where such men absolutely do not exist is simply doomed,nothing can save it. Therefore, my Master's message to mankind is, " Be spiritual

and realize truth for yourself." He would have you give up for the sake of your fellow beings. He would have you cease talking about love for your brother, and set to work to prove your words. The time has come for renunciation, for realization, and then you will see the harmony in all the religions of the world. You will know that there is no need of any quarrel, and then only will you be ready to help humanity.

To proclaim and make clear the fundamental unity underlying all religions was the mission of my Master. Other teachers have taught special religions which bear their names, but this great Teacher of the nineteenth century made no claim for himself he left every religion undisturbed because he had realized that, in reality, they are all part and parcel of one Eternal Religion.

The following brief account of this extraordinary man is taken from an article written by Protap Chunder Mazoomdar, which appeared in the Theistic Quarterly Review, October, 1879. It serves to show the sentiments he inspired among his contemporaries. Even the celebrated leader of the Brahmo-Somaj, Keshub Chandra Sen, often came to hear Sri Ramakrishna and was influenced by his teachings to a considerable extent. He was born on the 20th of February, 1833. He left this world on the i6th of August, 1886.

‘’My mind is still floating in the luminous atmosphere which that wonderful man diffuses around him whenever and wherever he goes. My mind is not yet disenchanted of the mysterious and indefinable pathos which he pours into it whenever he meets me. What is there in common between him and me? I, a Europeanized, civilized, self-centered, semi-sceptical, so-called educated reasoner, and he a poor, illiterate, unpolished, half-idolatrous, friendless Hindu devotee? Why should I sit long hours to attend to him, I who have listened to Disraeli and Fawcett, Stanley and Max Mueller, and a whole host of European scholars and divines? I who am an ardent disciple and follower of Christ, a friend and admirer of liberal-minded Christian missionaries and preachers, a devoted adherent and worker of the rationalistic Brahmo Somaj—why should I be spellbound to hear him? And it is not I only, but dozens like me who do the same. He has been interviewed and examined by many, crowds pour in to visit and talk with him. Some of our clever intellectual fools have found nothing in him, some of the contemptuous Christian missionaries would call him an impostor,

or a self-deluded enthusiast. I have weighed their objections well, and what I write now I write deliberately.’’ (to continue)