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Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Swami Vivekananda First Meeting
When Vivekananda came to Ramakrishna his name was still Narendranath --
later on Ramakrishna named him Vivekananda. When he came to Ramakrishna he
was extremely argumentative, an atheist, a rationalist. He wanted proof for
everything. There are some things that have no proof -- it cannot be
helped. There is no proof for godliness: it is, and yet there is no proof.
There is no proof for love. It is, and yet there is no proof. There is no
proof for beauty. It is, and yet there is no proof.
If I say, "Look how beautiful these ironwood trees are," and you say, "I
don't see any beauty -- Trees are just trees. Prove it!," it will be
difficult. How can one prove they are beautiful? To be beautiful you need a
sense of beauty -- there is no other way. You need eyes -- there is no other
way. It is reported that Majnu said, "To know Laila you will need the eyes
of Majnu." It is true; to see Laila there is no other way. The king of
his area called Majnu and said. "You are mad! I know your Laila -- an
ordinary girl, jet black -- nothing special.
I feel sorry for you, so here are twelve girls from my palace -- they are
the most beautiful women of the country. You can chose any one you like.
Seeing you cry, my heart also cries. " Majnu looked at them and said,
"There is no Laila among them. They cannot even be compared to Laila, they
are not even worth the dust of her feet." The king said, "Majnu, you
are mad...!" Majnu said, "That may be so, but I must tell you one
thing: to see Laila you will need the eyes of Majnu." Majnu is right.
To see the beauty of trees you need an eye for art -- there is no other
proof.
If one wants to know love, one will need the heart of a lover -- there is no
other proof. And godliness is the collective name of all the beauty, all the
love and all the truth of this universe. For it an unwavering consciousness
is needed, a witnessing is needed... where no word remains, no thought
remains, no wave arises... where no mental dust remains and the mirror of
consciousness is perfectly pure. What proof? Vivekananda told
Ramakrishna, "I want proof. If God exists then prove it!"
Ramakrishna looked at Vivekananda. This youth had great promise, great
potential; much was ready to happen within him. There was a great treasure
with which Vivekananda was unacquainted. Ramakrishna looked into, peered
into, the past lives of this youth. Vivekananda had come carrying a great
treasure, a great treasure of integrity, but it was suppressed under his
logic. Seeing this, a cry of anguish and compassion must have risen from
Ramakrishna's heart. He said, "Forget all this. We'll talk about proof and
such things later on. I have become a little old, I have difficulty reading;
you are young, you eyes are still strong -- read from the book lying there."
It was the Ashtavakra Gita. "Read a little out loud to me." It is said
that Vivekananda saw nothing wrong in this, this fellow was not requesting
anything special. He read three or four sutras and every cell began
trembling. He started to panic and he said, "I cannot read on."
Ramakrishna insisted, " Go ahead and read. What harm can there be in it? How
can this book hurt you? You are young, your eyes are still fresh, and I am
old, it is hard for me to read. I must hear this book -- read it out to me."
It is said that Vivekananda kept on reading aloud from the book -- and
disappeared in meditation. Ramakrishna had seen great potential in this
youth, a very promising potential, like that of a bodhisattva who one day or
other is destined to become a buddha. Sooner or later, no matter how much he
wanders, he is approaching buddhahood. When Vivekananda came to Ramakrishna
his name was still Narendranath -- later on Ramakrishna named him
Vivekananda. When he came to Ramakrishna he was extremely argumentative, an
atheist, a rationalist.
He wanted proof for everything. There are some things that have no
proof -- it cannot be helped. There is no proof for godliness: it is, and
yet there is no proof. There is no proof for love. It is, and yet there is
no proof. There is no proof for beauty. It is, and yet there is no proof.
If I say, "Look how beautiful these ironwood trees are," and you say, "I
don't see any beauty -- Trees are just trees. Prove it!," it will be
difficult. How can one prove they are beautiful? To be beautiful you need a
sense of beauty -- there is no other way. You need eyes -- there is no other
way.
It is reported that Majnu said, "To know Laila you will need the eyes of
Majnu." It is true; to see Laila there is no other way. The king of
his area called Majnu and said. "You are mad! I know your Laila -- an
ordinary girl, jet black -- nothing special. I feel sorry for you, so here
are twelve girls from my palace -- they are the most beautiful women of the
country. You can chose any one you like. Seeing you cry, my heart also
cries. " Majnu looked at them and said, "There is no Laila among them.
They cannot even be compared to Laila, they are not even worth the dust of
her feet."
The king said, "Majnu, you are mad...!" Majnu said, "That may be so,
but I must tell you one thing: to see Laila you will need the eyes of Majnu."
Majnu is right. To see the beauty of trees you need an eye for art -- there
is no other proof. If one wants to know love, one will need the heart of a
lover -- there is no other proof. And godliness is the collective name of
all the beauty, all the love and all the truth of this universe. For it an
unwavering consciousness is needed, a witnessing is needed... where no word
remains, no thought remains, no wave arises... where no mental dust remains
and the mirror of consciousness is perfectly pure. What proof?
Vivekananda told Ramakrishna, "I want proof. If God exists then prove it!"
Ramakrishna looked at Vivekananda. This youth had great promise, great
potential; much was ready to happen within him. There was a great treasure
with which Vivekananda was unacquainted. Ramakrishna looked into, peered
into, the past lives of this youth. Vivekananda had come carrying a great
treasure, a great treasure of integrity, but it was suppressed under his
logic. Seeing this, a cry of anguish and compassion must have risen from
Ramakrishna's heart.
He said, "Forget all this. We'll talk about proof and such things later on.
I have become a little old, I have difficulty reading; you are young, you
eyes are still strong -- read from the book lying there." It was the
Ashtavakra Gita. "Read a little out loud to me." It is said that
Vivekananda saw nothing wrong in this, this fellow was not requesting
anything special. He read three or four sutras and every cell began
trembling. He started to panic and he said, "I cannot read on."
Ramakrishna insisted, " Go ahead and read.
What harm can there be in it? How can this book hurt you? You are young,
your eyes are still fresh, and I am old, it is hard for me to read. I must
hear this book -- read it out to me." It is said that Vivekananda kept
on reading aloud from the book -- and disappeared in meditation. Ramakrishna
had seen great potential in this youth, a very promising potential, like
that of a bodhisattva who one day or other is destined to become a buddha.
Sooner or later, no matter how much he wanders, he is approaching buddhahood.
Swami
Vivekananda Searching Job
There is a small memoir in the life of Vivekananda. When Vivekananda’s
father died, there was
so much poverty in his home that often there was not enough food for both
mother and son. So,
Vivekananda would tell his mother, ”Today I am invited to a friend’s house,
I will go there.” In fact
there was no invitation, no nothing, he would just roam around on the roads
and later return home.
Otherwise the food was so little that his mother would feed him and would
remain hungry herself.
So, he would return home with an empty stomach but happy and laughing saying
loudly, ”It was
a wonderful meal! Such delicious food dishes were cooked!” He would enter
the house talking of
those food stuffs that were nowhere cooked for him, that he had not eaten
anywhere.
When Ramakrishna came to know of this, he said, ”How mad you are! Why don’t
you ask God and
all will be taken care of.” Vivekananda said that it will be too ordinary a
thing to talk about eating and
drinking with God. Still Ramakrishna asked him to ask at least once and see.
He sent Vivekananda
inside the temple. One hour passed, one and a half hours passed, Vivekananda
came out from the
temple and was very blissful and estatic. He came out dancing. Ramakrishna
asked, ”Did you get it?
Did you ask for it?” Vivekananda said, ”Get what?” Ramakrishna said, ”I had
told you to put forward
your demand. What makes you return so blissful?”
Vivekananda said, ”I forgot
that completely ”
This happened several times. Ramakrishna would send him in and when
Vivekananda came out of
the temple, he would inquire about it. Then Vivekananda would remember what
he had been sent
in for. Ramakrishna said, ”Are you mad or something? Because while going
inside, you promised
me that you will ask.” Vivekananda would say, ”When I go in, there remains
not even a faint memory
that I have to ask God for something. On the contrary, a feeling of giving
arises in me, that I should
give myself to Him. And when I give myself, there is such bliss, so much of
it that there is neither
hunger, nor thirst, nor the need to ask”
Vivekananda could not ask. It was not possible for him.
Until now no truly religious person has asked for anything from God. And
those who have asked, it
ought to be understood well that they have nothing to do with religion. The
religious man has only
given.
Source:
"Ramakrishna Paramhansa & Swami Vivekananda
First Meeting"
from book "the mahageeta vol1" By Osho
Related
Links:
Osho - Sri Ramakrishna Enlightenment
Osho on Ramakrishna
Paramhansa Parables
Osho on Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa Sadhanas
Osho on Ramakrishna
Paramhansa Interest in food
Osho on Sri
Ramakrishna Bhakti yoga and Path of Devotion
Osho on Ramakrishna Paramhansa
and Keshav Chandra Sen
Osho on Ramakrishna Paramhansa Marriage and worship of Ma
Osho on Sri Ramakrishna
Paramhansa Dying(leaving Body) from Cancer
Osho on
Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Swami Vivekananda First Meeting
Sri Ramakrishna on Occult Powers
Sri Ramakrishna on Need of Guru and Faith in Guru
Sri Ramakrishna on Vedantic Non-dualism, What happens after Samadhi
Sri
Ramakrishna Teachings Blog
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