Happy New Year: The Spiritual Significance of Kalpataru Day

On the night of December 31, at the stroke of midnight, the world will be awake to ring in yet another New Year — 2017 while for the monks and members of the Ramakrishna Mission, January 1 holds a special significance. They celebrate this day as `Kalpataru Day', to commemorate an awe-inspiring moment in the life of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. On this day, in 1886, the Master entered into divine ecstasy and touching several disciples, pronounced the words, `Ye be illumined'! Instantly, those he blessed experienced profound bliss. And one of Master's disciples, Ramachandra Dutta named January 1 as `Kalpataru Day'.

Swami Akhandananda writes, "It is an auspicious day for all of us. Our Master became the Kalpataru to bless his disciples at Cossipore (a Calcutta suburb). Kalpataru is one of the five trees of Heaven or Indra's Paradise that is supposed to fulfil desires. The other four are Mandaram, Santanam, Harichandanam and Parijatam.

It is interesting to note that Ramakrishna Paramahamsa shed his mortal coils in August, 1886, in the same house at Cossipore, where he attained divinity. He suffered his bad health (throat cancer) silently. After his mahasamadhi, his disciples took shelter with his holy `asthi' in a dilapidated house at Baranagar. This is the sacred place where Narendra (Swami Vivekananda) and a few others took up sanyasa and spent more than five years performing unprecedented spiritual austerities.

Later Swami Vivekananda realised that service to humanity was more important than spiritual penance. He advised his followers to spend some time in the morning and evening in japa and dhyana, but to occupy oneself during the rest of the day in spiritual study and to work for the good of the world.

This seed sown by the Swamiji bore fruit in the form of the worldwide organisation, Ramakrishna Mission, which is engaged in service to the poor and the needy. (The Hindu)

Awesome Story: When the Kaaba moved with Guru Nanak

Guru Nanak now set out to Mecca in Arabia. Mecca is the holy place of the Muslims. The Guru travelled to Surat, a small seaport near Bombay. From there, Guru Nanak and Mardana went to Arabia in a ship. After a few weeks they reached Mecca. There is a very big Mosque in Mecca. Guru Nanak and Mardana were very tired after long travels. They went to the mosque and lay down to take rest. Guru Nanak's feet were towards the Kaaba in the mosque. The Kaaba is a room in the middle of the mosque and is called, 'The house of God (Allah).'

A man named Rukandin was the priest of the Kaaba. He came out and saw Guru Nanak's feet towards the Kaba. He was very angry. He at once shouted. "Don't you know this is the house of God, you fool? Why are you lying with your feet towards the Kaaba?"

Guru Nanak woke up. He said, "O sir, I'm sorry I didn't know it. I was tired so I just lay down and fell asleep. Could you turn my legs to the side in which there's no God?"

Rukandin at once caught hold of his legs and dragged them to the other side. He saw that the Kaaba still stood before Guru Nanak's feet. Then he gave another pull but to his great surprise, he saw the Kaaba again towards the Guru's feet. He was so upset that he could not speak.

Guru Nanak said, "Rukandin. God does not live in one place. He lives everywhere." Saying this, Guru Nanak and Mardana started singing hymns. A crowd of people gathered around them. They called Guru Nanak, 'Baba Nanak'. 'Baba' means an old and wise man. 
After a few days they went to Medina and Baghdad. At Baghdad a Muslim saint Behlol met the Guru. They had a long talk and became friends. Behlol asked Baba Nanak, "What is your idea of God?"

Guru Nanak replied, "There is one God. He is True. He makes everything. He is not afraid of anyone. He is not born. He never dies. He is self-made. We need only think of Him and pray to Him."

Behlol liked the Guru's teaching very much. He travelled a lot and told the people about this idea of Guru. After some time Guru Nanak and Mardana came back to the Punjab.
Courtesy: Gurmat(dot)info

Happy Guruparab: Swamiji on Guru Nanak

“Guru Nanak was born in the sacred land of India. He gave a message of love and peace of the whole world and preached the same through his teachings. He was full of affection for everyone and his arms were always outstretched as if to embrace the whole world...” 
- Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda 

Happy Navratri: Sri Ramakrishna on Ma Kali

Sri Ramakrishna used to say, "Jini Brahma tini Shakti, tini i Ma," He who is Brahman is the Shakti, and He himself is the Mother of the Universe.

Teachers' Day: Swamiji's Quote

A child teaches itself. But you can help it to go forward in its own way. What you can do, is not of the positive nature, but of the negative. You can take away the obstacles, but knowledge comes out of its own nature. Loosen the soil a little, so that it may come out easily. Put a hedge round it; see that it is not killed by anything, and there your work stops. You cannot do anything else. The rest is manifestation from within its own nature. - Swami Vivekananda

Happy Janmashtami: Swami Vivekananda on Krishna

"This was the great work of Krishna: to clear our eyes and make us look with broader vision upon humanity in its march upward and onward. His was the first heart that was large enough to see truth in all, his the first lips that uttered beautiful words for each and all"

"In Krishna we find ... two ideas stand supreme in his message: The first is the harmony of different ideas; the second is non-attachment. A man can attain to perfection, the highest goal, sitting on a throne, commanding armies, working out big plans for nations. In fact, Krishna's great sermon was preached on the battlefield."

"Krishna talks of himself as God, as Christ does. He sees the Deity in himself. And he says, "None can go a day out of my path. All have to come to me. Whosoever wants to worship in whatsoever form, I give him faith in that form, and through that I meet him. ..."(Gita, IV. 12.) His heart is all for the masses."

Quotes from 'Krishna' a lecture of Swami Vivekananda recorded by Ida Ansell in shorthand (Delivered in California, on April 1, 1900)

Guru Poornima: Sri Ramakrishna on Guru

Who is the guru? God—Satchidananda—is the guru. Human gurus are the conduits of this supreme Source.” 
- Sri Ramakrishna

Eid Mubarak: Quote by Prophet Mohammed

Even as the fingers of the two hands are equal, so are human beings equal to one another. No one has any right, nor any preference to claim over another. You are brothers.

- Prophet Muhammad

Greetings on Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Birthday and Holi

The full moon festival of Holi, celebrated in Phalgun Poornima, heralds the Vasanta-ritu, the spring season.

In Mathura and Vrindavan areas, the festival is for three days .The image of Lord Krishna is placed on a swing (popularly called as “dola”).  The swing is rocked 21 times at the end of the festival.  Thus the festival derives the name “Dolyatra”. Barsana, the birth place of Radha and Nandgaon, the village home of Sri Krishna are marked with the play of “lathmar” holi.  Women dressed up with colourful costumes and long ‘ghunghats’ or veils carrying well oiled ‘lathis’ or sticks to beat their male counter parts who protect themselves with ‘dhals’ or gears.  The famous Bankey Bihari temple at Vrindavan and Mathura’s Dwarakadhees temple are fully flooded with the devotees during the festival of colours.

The state of Bengal observes Phalgun Poornima as the birthday of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu(1486-1533 A.D).
For the devotees of Bhagawan Sri Ramakrishna, the event of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s birth on this day is the prime reason for its celebration.

Sri Chaitanya’s plain, simple and practical religion offered a key to solve in a practical way some of the complicated social, political and economic problems that confronted the society in those days.

Democracy of spirit based on love for fellow beings improved the conditions of people and conferred on them the joy of living.  The tenets of love, equality and fraternity as taught by Mahaprabhu were found to be the most significant method of integration.

Sri Sri Thakur used to advise his disciples to read the traditional biographies of Mahaprabhu such as “Chaitanya Charitamrita” and “Chaintanya Bhagavata”.  All through his life Sri Ramakrishna showed great respect even to the descendants of the followers of Mahaprabhu.

We find in the Gospel, Sri Sri Thakur often emphasizing the efficacy of Mahaprabhu’s teachings as to chanting of Lord’s name - “….Chaitanya and Nitai, after some deliberation, made an arrangement to attract the worldly.  They would say to such persons, ‘Come, repeat the name of Hari, and you shall have a delicious soup of magur fish and the embrace of a young woman.’  Many people, attracted by the fish and the woman, would chant the name of God. 
After tasting a little of the nectar of God’s hallowed name, they would soon realize that the ‘fish soup’ really meant the tears they shed for love of God, while the ‘young woman’ signified the earth.  The embrace of the woman meant rolling on the ground in the rapture of divine ecstasy.”

Excerpted from an article by Swami Nishthatmananda, Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

© Smiling Buddha, 2016