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Sri Ramakrishna: The Initiator of Integral Yoga Kundan Copyright authors and Journal of Integral Studies. |
Sri
Aurobindo, by virtue of integrating all the past systems of yoga before
him named his Yoga Integral Yoga or Purnayoga. A study of Sri
Ramakrishna suggests that he had initiated this integration, which found
its fruition, culmination and completeness through Sri Aurobindo. The
objective of the author is to demonstrate that Integral Yoga was nurtured
initially in the loving hands of Sri Ramakrishna whereas it blossomed
through the guidance, supervision and the sadhana of Sri Aurobindo.
One finds that some of the ideas of the Integral Yoga were inchoate and
nebulous in the experiences of Sri Ramakrishna before Sri Aurobindo
incarnated and formalized and canonized the entire literature of Integral
Yoga to suit the demands of the present times, and for the times to come.
The author's intention is not to credit Sri Ramakrishna as a propounder of
Integral Yoga but to highlight the fact that in the greater cosmic plan,
one can see the gleaming of a movement towards the emergence of Integral
Yoga in his teachings. Also it is the author's understanding that Sri
Aurobindo went far beyond Sri Ramakrishna as far as the vision of Integral
Truth is concerned, but this should not undermine the greatness of Sri
Ramakrishna in any way. Before
discussing the contribution of Sri Ramakrishna, let us examine the central
tenets of Integral Yoga as enunciated by Sri Aurobindo, which will serve
as a background to advance the above stated contention. The
Central Tenets of Integral Yoga
1.Integral
Yoga is a synthesis of different schools of Vedanta:
Vedanta literally translated means the end of the Vedas and it comprises
Upanishads, Brahmasutras, Bhagavat Gita, Shrutis and Smritis. There are
many types of Vedanta namely Kewaladwaita or Nondualist,
Visishtadwaita or Qualified Nondualist, Dwaitadwaita or
Dual-nondualist and Dwaita or Dualist. Shankaracharya was the
propounder of the Nondualist school and stated that the Brahman is the
Ultimate Reality which in effect is formless, indeterminable and
ineffable. In other words, he emphasized what is called the nirguna
aspect of the Reality. He further maintained that Brahman alone is real
and that the world is unreal or mithya. Shankara's influence has
been so overarching on the Indian system of thought that Vedanta is
normally identified with him only, somewhat to the neglect of the other
vedantic mystic-philosophers. He rejected the notion of Personal God or
Ishvara and totally discounted the existence of the saguna
aspect of Brahman. Ramanuja,
who was the exponent of Visishtadwaita, stressed the
saguna aspect of the Brahman stating that the Ultimate Reality is
an 'all comprehensive spirit which is qualified by inconscient Nature and
finite spirits which are adjectival to the former'(Chaudhuri, 1951, p.
204). He focussed on the world, self and God and they were all real for
him. Ramanuja proposed his theory after four hundred years of Shankara,
which has led to heated debates between the followers of the nirguna
and the saguna facets of Brahman. To make the matters more
complicated, Madhavacharya, while advocating Dwaitavada, put forth
his contention that the all-encompassing Divine and individuals
(jiva) are separate, and the Divine rules over the jiva. One
comes to understand that the Kewaladwaita emphasized the
transcendental aspect of the Divine, Visishtadwaita underlined the
Cosmic aspect of the Divine whereas Dwaita stressed the separate
individuals (jiva) in relation to the Divine. These major schools
of the Vedanta have existed as jarring sects for quite some time in the
history of humanity. Sri
Aurobindo, while endorsing the truth of each of these schools has
reconciled them into a system of Vedanta which he has named
Purnadvaita. The apparent contradiction that seems to exist
between saguna and nirguna is harmonized and given a larger
and more comprehensive picture. According to him, the Brahman is transcendent, ineffable,
indeterminable in Its transcendental spirit; is Ishvara in Its
cosmic existence and manifests Itself as individual entities in
terrestrial existence. Hence, all
that exists is Brahman and nothing else. The all encompassing
Divine is capable of existing as One-in-many and Many-in-one
simultaneously. Kewaladwaita, Visishtadwaita and
Dwaita are all true, but the error occurs when these schools
emphasize their own truth alone to the neglect of the other. It is by the
power of self-determination that the Brahman manifests itself as
Visishtadwaita and Dwaita. Hence the Ultimate Truth as
captured by Adwaita, Visishtadwaita and Dwaita exist
simultaneously. Sri Aurobindo writes: In
a realistic Adwaita there is no need to regard the Saguna as a creation
from the Nirguna or even secondary or subordinate to it: both are equal
aspects of one Reality, its
position of silent status and rest and its position of action and dynamic
force; a silence of eternal rest and peace supports an eternal action and
movement. The one Reality, the Divine Being, is bound by neither, since it
is in no way limited; it posseses both. There is no incompatibility
between the two, as there is none between the many and the one, the
sameness and the difference.
(Sri Aurobindo, 1958, p. 46) 2.
Integral Yoga is an integration of Vedanta and Tantra:
Vedanta, particularly Visishtadwaita and Dwaita speaks about
the lord who is the ruler of the universe. When translated into Sankhya,
this lord as the Master of the universe is the Purusha. But seen from the
perspective of Tantra, it is Prakriti or Nature or Shakti which is the
executive power behind the each and every working of the worlds visible
and cryptic. Vedanta and Tantra observed from these two positions seem to
be irreconciliable but Sri Aurobindo, who formulated his yoga based on his
own experience, says that Vedanta and Tantra have captured partial truths
and the fusion of these two streams of yoga gives the complete picture.
Whereas by following Vedanta the seeker comes to the inactive and the
silent Purusha, by practicing Tantra one realizes the dynamic and the
executive Shakti which is considered to be feminine in nature. Explaining
the intricacies of his realization, he writes: [In]
the integral conception, the Conscious Soul is the Lord, the Nature soul
is his executive energy. Purusha is of the nature of Sat, conscious
self-existence pure and infinite; Shakti or Prakriti is of the nature of
Chit,--it is power of the Purusha's self-conscious existence, pure and
infinite. The relation between the two exists between the poles of rest
and action. When the Energy is absorbed in the bliss of conscious
self-existence, there is rest ; when the Purusha pours itself out in the
action of its Energy, there is action, creation and the enjoyment or
Ananda of becoming.
(Sri Aurobindo, 1955, p. 36) One
might feel that the way Sri Aurobindo harmonizes nirguna and
saguna, he is probably using the same principle to reconcile Tantra
and Vedanta. The author would like to furnish certain clarifications at
this juncture. First, it must be clear by now that saguna and
nirguna respectively denote the personal and the impersonal
aspect of the Divine, and saguna comprises all gods and goddesses active
in the world. In the cosmic
existence as the Puranas suggest, most of these gods have goddesses as
consorts, for example Shiva is the husband of Parvati and Sachi is the
wife of Vishnu. These goddesses who are the different aspects of the
Shakti are overtly active in the world with the gods behind giving support
and ascent to the workings of the Prakriti. So the gods represent the
silent and inactive Brahman whereas the goddesses are the active operators
in the creation. These gods are basically passive in their activity.
Hence, we see that Sri Aurobindo not only reconciles the different threads
of Vedanta but also unifies Vedanta with Tantra. Therefore, 'together, the
Vedantic and the Tantric truth unified, can arrive at the integral
knowledge.'( Sri Aurobindo,
1958, p. 39). 3.Integral
Yoga is the integration of the World with the Beyond: With
the advent of Buddha the world came to be seen as a place of suffering and
as a natural concomitance to his preaching of Nirvana, the spiritual
practice in India began to assume a world-negating character. Shankara
with his Vedantic teaching of Mayavada endorsed the other-worldly
philosophy in India as a consequence of which, the world came to be viewed
as an outcome of Maya or illusion (Jaganmithya). Sri
Aurobindo while affirming his realization of the transcendental Brahman
refutes the idea of the world as an i1lusion and states that a seeker of
Integral Yoga not only strives for a static release in the Brahman but
also aspires for a transformation of life, mind and body, and the
conditions on the earth. An integral yogi manifests the workings of the
Divine Shakti on the earth in order to overrule the workings of lower
Nature, which maintains the rule of darkness, ignorance, suffering,
poverty and pain. A divine life here on earth with full and active
participation with the dynamic Divine or the Supramental
Truth-Consciousness is the goal of Integral yoga and not mere liberation
from the grip of Maya or from the recurring knot of Karma. 4.Integral
Yoga warrants liberation in and of nature rather than from
nature:
With the decline of the Golden age of the Vedas and Upanishads, Yoga under
the proclamation of Buddha and Shankara came to be signified as liberation
from nature rather than of and in nature (Chaudhuri, 1951). Nature and
body were seen as a stumbling block in the process of the self-realization
and were viewed as a ladder to attain the goal only to be discarded when
the objective was attained. What was emphasized by these two schools and
subsequently by other Vedantic schools was transcendental liberation or
mukti. Shakti, which is the executive force behind all the
happenings of the universe, consists of the higher called the para
Prakriti and the lower known as the apara Prakriti. The yoga of
liberation highlights the process of release from the fetters of lower
Prakriti but fails to address the transmutation of the lower nature into
the higher in order to make the life, body and mind an impeccable and
perfect instrument of the working of the para Prakriti. Release
from the clutches of the lower Prakriti is the first step in Integral
Yoga; the next is to bring the glories of the spirit not only into life
and mind but also into the cells of the body in order to immortalize it.
The objective of Integral Yoga is to divinize the matter too, a theme
which is unique to this system. An integral yogi is not supposed to remain
fixed in the summits of transcendental realization but to pull down the
spiritual force for its fuller manifestation in the world. Ascent and
descent are the two-fold principle of Integral yoga, represented by Sri
Aurobindo's symbol, which consists of two triangles -- one pointed upwards
and the other projecting downwards. A complete transformation of the body,
which he referred to as Supramentalization, is the ultimate aim in the
Integral Yoga. At
the same time, there is a shift too from concentration on individual
realization to collective realization. As opposed to the earlier systems
of yoga, which focus on individual perfection, Sri Aurobindo spells out a
system which concentrates on the perfection of the human race or
collective perfection -- a total and complete manifestation of the
Supramental Truth on the earth and in the body. 5.Integral
Yoga is where East meets West:
Even if we allow the stereotypes to dominate our thinking, it would be
safe to generalize that the West values a culture which places a premium
on individuality and the East supports a culture which fosters
collectivity -- it honored individuality only when self-realization was in
question; otherwise, even in the present times, it simply creates a social
system where an individual has to fuse himself or herself in the sea of
collectivity. From an integral perspective, we are in the process of
evolving a society which respects the individual line of growth and values
co-existence with other members in a spirit of cooperation, harmony and
love in contradistinction to the present state of affairs in the East and
the West where one needs to be sacrificed at the altar of the other. For
the past few centuries, there has been a materialist denial in the West
negating everything spiritual or subtle as hallucination in the name of
science. Things that are visible with the help of corporeal or physical
senses were considered as the valid subject matter of research and
science; others were rejected either as superstition or not worth
consideration. This identification with matter gave the West an
opportunity to construct a grand material civilization probably unheard of
in the past. Reason and intellect were regarded as supreme and a panacea
of all ills. The result of all this was that in the West, there has been a
development of science and political organization at the cost of spiritual
life. In the middle of its affluence, it suffered two world wars which
shook the very foundation of its material living. Despite its wealth it
could not establish a society where people could live happily and
harmoniously. On
the other hand, for the past many centuries in India and in the East,
there has been a denial of matter and life in this world which has led to
the neglect of the activities on the earth. The best minds were engaged in
their self-realization and after having attained that, were involved with
helping others to realize their own achievement. The outcome has been a
continual invasion from barbarians who had scant regard for a society
submerged in religious and spiritual practices. There was a decline in
political and social life, as a consequence of which there has been
widespread illiteracy, disease, exploitation, suffering and poverty. Thus
we see that spirit and matter were considered as diametrically opposite
poles in the East and the West and it was supposed that the two shall
never meet. Sri
Aurobindo came to correct this error. He regards both the materialist
denial and the ascetic refusal as incorrect and states that spirit and
matter are two ends of a spectrum, and thus the two are not mutually
exclusive. For a complete and divine life, he envisions a spiritual life
which honors and incorporates material life. In his larger vision, science
and mysticism are not opposed to each other but are engaged in a
harmonious wedlock. The synthesis of the material development of the West
with the spiritual progress of the East is his clarion call for
mankind. 6.
Integral Yoga is the synthesis of all yogas: The
history of India has been a witness to many forms of yoga since there are
many ways of seeking union with the Divine. Hathayoga uses the body and
Rajayoga focuses on the mental being. Jnanayoga's method is union through
knowledge while Bhaktiyoga
concentrates on devotion and Karmayoga emphasizes liberation through work.
In the past all these systems of yoga, while propounding their own method
underplayed the truths of the other yogas. This may have been done in
accordance with the demand of the times and in conformity with the larger
Divine Will. But for the contemporary age, Sri Aurobindo synthesizes these
different systems of yoga in which the systems contribute and retain their
unique and characteristic features and, yet the synthesis assumes
a separate and distinct identity. Since the nature of the paper does not
permit the author to go into the details, may it suffice to say that Sri
Aurobindo's Integral Yoga synthesizes Hathayoga, Rajayoga, Jnanayoga,
Karmayoga and Bhaktiyoga (see Sri Aurobindo 1940/96 for details).
Through
his integral vision, he brings together the life, mind and body in Yoga.
Most of these earlier yogas regarded the body -- which is a manifestation
of Nature -- to be an obstacle in the realization of the Divine and hence
aimed at its purification in order to attain the Divine, only to be
discarded when the objective was attained. Sri Aurobindo gives a fillip to
this widely accepted practice by pronouncing that, in his scheme of
Integral Yoga, the body is to be perfected in order to make it a flawless
instrument of the Divine. Also in the earlier systems, the nervous and the
vital energies were meant to be rejected and annulled. Recognizing that
they are obstacles on the path, Sri Aurobindo calls for purification and
transformation of these forces. Similarly he prescribed that a seeker
should perfect one's mind before transcending it -- mind is regarded as
another major impediment on the path of Yoga -- so that there is no
distortion when the higher forces begin to use it for a divine purpose.
Thus we see that the purification or shuddhi of life, mind and body
was the concern of Sri Aurobindo but at the same time there was no recoil
from the power or siddhi that may come to the seeker unlike many
systems where siddhi was seen as a major threat to the yogic life.
Also a major focus of the previous yogas was a separation of Purusha from
Prakriti so that the seeker could be established in the blissful state of
Kaivalya or Nirvana or
transcendental self-realization. But the objective in Integral Yoga is not
self-realization or mukti alone but bhukti as well which
means a freer participation with the Divine Will here on the earth. Sri
Aurobindo, together with synthesizing different schools of yoga, also reconciles and unifies
shuddhi and siddhi, and mukti and bhukti. 7.
Integral Yoga considers all religions to be the manifestation of one
Integral Truth: Sri
Aurobindo states that between the ordinary human mind and the highest
Supermind, there are many planes of existence; for example the Intuitive
mind, the Illumined mind, the Higher mind and the Overmind. These levels
correspond to different planes of spiritual truths and every religion has
been propounded from a particular plane of existence and hence all are
true. It is at the level of the Overmind that the separation of one single
Truth -- which is united in the Supermind -- into many truths begins to
take place, the vision of which in exclusion to the others gives birth to
conflicting religions. But all these conflicting ideas and philosophies
find their reconciliation at the level of the Supermind. In other words,
in the all-encompassing vision of Sri Aurobindo, all religions emanate
from one single source and all are different facets of one Integral
Truth. Having
briefly outlined the central ideas of Integral Yoga let us examine the
teachings and realizations of Sri Ramakrishna in order to see how he laid
the foundation of Integral Yoga. The next sections will include references
to both Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda, known as Narendranath Dutta
before he became a monk. The reason for this is, because in the
understanding of the author, Vivekananda does not differ from his master
at all. There are two reasons for saying this; first, the great saint
passed all his powers to Vivekananda before leaving his body. While
writing the biography of Swami Vivekananda, his disciples (1979)
commented: It
was only three or four days before the Master's Mahasamadhi. Shri
Ramakrishna called Naren to him. Looking steadfastly at him he entered
into deep meditation. Naren felt as though a subtle force, resembling an
electric shock, were entering his body. He lost outer consciousness. When
he came to, he found the Master weeping. Wondering, Naren asked him why he
wept, he was told, "O Naren, today I have given you my all and become a
Fakir, a penniless beggar. By the force of the power transmitted by me,
great things will be done by you; only after that you will go where you
came from." (p.
182). Secondly,
the Holy mother -- the wife of Sri Ramakrishna -- after his passing away
saw his subtle body enter Swami Vivekananda. Regarding this vision, the
disciples of Vivekananda (1979) wrote: ....she had a vision regarding him
after the passing away of the Master, in which she saw the form of Shri
Ramakrishna entering into the body of Narendra, signifying that the Master
would thenceforth work in and through his chief disciple
(p. 383). The Realizations and Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna 1.Unity
of all religions and sects:
The first stepping stone of Sri Ramakrishna’s realizations was the vision
of the Mother-goddess Kali, whom he evoked as her devotee at a temple in
Dakshineshwara, a place five miles north of Kolkata. As a result of her
long history of spiritual and religious practices, India has numerous
sects within the larger framework of Hinduism, for example Shaivas or the
worshippers of Shiva, Vaishnavas or the worshippers of Vishnu, Shaktas or
the worshippers of the Mother etc., etc. Sri Ramakrishna, after having had
the realization of the Divine Mother, began experimenting with the other
sects and religions in order to see where their practices led. The details
of his spiritual realizations have been documented by one of his disciples
Mahendranath Gupta, which were based on the conversations that he had with
the people who came to visit him. He
first worshipped Lord Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu, as the monkey god
Hanuman, who is considered to be the epitome in devotion in Indian
mythology. He received the blessings of Sita, the divine consort of Rama
who appeared to him in vision and disappeared into his body. Shortly
afterwards, he was visited by a Brahmin woman named Brahmani, who was well
versed with the Vaishnava and the Tantrik modes of worship. Within three
days, he realized the essence of the teachings of Tantra -- received
vision of the divine Maya by virtue of which the world comes into play and
by which mankind is deluded into thinking that it is separate from God;
acquired the eight supernatural powers called the siddhis; and
experienced and literally saw the awakening and rising of the Kundalini
Shakti (for details see M., 1942). The
next experiment was with the disciplines of Vaishnavism. The Vaishnavas
follow the Bhaktiyoga or the path of union with the Divine through love
and devotion. He was visited by a wandering ascetic whose deity was a
metal image of Rama as a child, whom he affectionately called as
Ramlala. By worshiping Ramlala, Sri Ramkrishna had the
vision of Lord Rama pervading the universe as Spirit and Consciousness; as
the Creator, Sustainer and the Destroyer of the universe as well as the
transcendental Brahman without form, attribute and name. The next to be
realized was Sri Krishna, who is another incarnation of Vishnu. But in
order to realize Sri Krishna, the propitiation of Radha - his consort -
was imperative according to the Vaishnavas. Very soon he was blessed with
a vision of Radha, who disappeared into his body. Shortly afterwards he
realized Krishna and became one with him. He
further wanted to ascertain the truth of Vedanta -- the non-dualist
philosophy which describes Ultimate reality as Brahman also referred to as
Satchidananda, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. With the assistance of
a Vedantic teacher by the name of Totapuri, Sri Ramakrishna transcended
all dualities and relativities of the world in order to experience the
truths of Vedanta. Having
realized the unity of all sects within Hinduism, Ramakrishna turned his
attention towards other dominant religions of the world namely, Islam and
Christianity. He took the initiation from a Muslim guru and began to live
like a devout Muslim. He gave up all Hindu gods and goddesses and went to
live outside the temple campus. He had the vision of Mohammed, the Prophet
who disappeared into him. Immediately after, he had the experience of the
Ineffable and featureless Brahman. Similarly, on becoming interested in
Christianity, he had the vision of Christ, who merged into him while a
divine voice rang out saying that Jesus was a divine incarnation who
suffered for the love of mankind; and is in eternal union with God. He
summed up his realizations as follows: I
have practiced all religions-Hinduism, Islam, Christianity-and I have also
followed the paths of different Hindu sects. I have found that it is the
same God toward whom all are directing their steps, though along different
paths....Wherever I look, I see men quarreling in the name of
religion--Hindus, Mohammedans, Brahmos, Vaishnavas, and the rest. But they
never reflect that He who is called Krishna is also called Siva, and bears
the name of the Primal energy, Jesus, and Allah as well--the same Rama
with a thousand names. A lake has several ghats (banks). At one the
Hindus take water in pitchers and call it 'jal'; at another the Mussalmans
take water in leather bags and call it 'pani'. At a third the Christians
call it 'water'. Can we imagine that it is not 'jal' but only 'pani' or
'water'? How ridiculous! The substance is One under different names, and
everyone is seeking the same substance; only climate, temperament, and
name create differences.[Cited
in M., 1942, p. 35, italics mine] Describing
the multifacetedness of God, Ramakrishna states: Once
some blind men chanced to come near an animal that someone told them was
an elephant. They were asked what the elephant was like. The blind men
began to feel its body. One of them said that the elephant was like a
pillar; he had touched only its leg. Another said that it was like a
winnowing-fan; he had touched only its ear. In this way the others, having
touched its tail or belly, gave different versions of the elephant. Just
so, a man who has seen only one aspect of God limits God to that alone. It
is his conviction that God cannot be anything else.[Cited
in M.,1942, p. 191] Emphasizing
the unity of all religions, he further alludes: Each
religion is only a path leading to God, as rivers come from different
directions and ultimately become one in the one ocean. The Truth
established in the Vedas, the Puranas, and the Tantra is but one
Satchidananda. In the Vedas It is called Brahman, in the Puranas It is
called Krishna, Rama and so on, and in the Tantras It is called Shiva. The
one Satchidananda is called Brahman, Krishna, and Siva.
[Cited in M.,1942, p. 265] 2.
Synthesis of Vedanta and Tantra:
As previously noted, one of the definitions of Integral Yoga is the union
of Vedanta and Tantra. Sri Ramakrishna experientially realized their
unity. By virtue of Brahmani's instructions, he realized the truths of
Tantra and with the aid of Totapuri, he attained the Vedantic truths.
Moreover, after his Vedantic realization he fluctuated between the vision
of the Divine Mother and Brahman. Like Sri Aurobindo, he considered both
Shakti and Brahman to be identical. He explains: The
Brahman and Shakti are identical. If you accept the one, you must accept
the other. It is like fire and its power to burn. If you see the fire, you
must recognize its power to burn also. You cannot think of fire without
its power to burn, nor can you think of the power to burn without fire.
You cannot conceive of the sun's rays without the sun, nor can you
conceive of the sun without its rays. What is milk like? Oh, you say, it
is something white. You cannot think of the milk without the whiteness,
and again, you cannot think of whiteness without the milk. Thus one cannot
think of Brahman without Shakti, or of Shakti without Brahman. One cannot
think of the Absolute without the Relative, or of the Relative without the
Absolute. The Primordial Power is ever at play. She is creating,
preserving and destroying in the play, as it were. This power is called
Kali. Kali is verily Brahman, and Brahman is verily Kali. It is one and
the same Reality. When we think of It as inactive, that is to say, not
engaged in the acts of creation, preservation, and destruction, then we
call It Brahman. But when It engages in these activities, then we call It
Kali or Shakti. The Reality is one and the same; the difference is in name
and form.
[Cited in M.,1942, pp. 134-35] The
Primordial Power and the Supreme Brahman are identical. You can never
think of the one without the other. They are like the gem and its
brilliance. One cannot think of the brilliance without the gem, or of the
gem without its brilliance. Again, it is like snake and its wriggling
motion. One cannot think of the wriggling motion without the snake, or of
the snake without its wriggling motion....These are two aspects of
Reality: Purusha and Prakriti. He who is the Purusha is also Prakriti.
Both are the embodiment of Bliss.[Cited
in M.,1942, pp. 320-21] 3.
Synthesis of impersonal and personal or nirguna and
saguna:
As noted previously, there were a lot of misgivings between followers of
the saguna and nirguna aspects of Reality and it has also
been noted how Sri Aurobindo reconciled the two. Sri Ramakrishna also had
effected the synthesis. He regarded form and formless as manifestations of
the same Reality and held that one gets the vision of the transcendental
Brahman in nirvikalpa samadhi and the vision of Brahman with form as gods and goddesses in
savikalpa samadhi or bhava samadhi. At the same time, he
also maintained that the Brahman is beyond form and formlessness and
cannot be limited. As a matter of fact, he prescribed meditation on God
with form to the followers of formless God. To a monk of the Nanak sect,
which believes in the existence of the formless God, he said: Dive
deep; one does not get the precious gems by merely floating on the
surface. God is without form, no doubt; but He also has form. By
meditating on God with form one speedily acquires devotion; then one can
meditate on the formless God. It is like throwing a letter away,
after learning its contents,
and then setting out to follow its instructions.[Cited
in M.,1942, p. 353] Again while solving this mystery of
God with form and formless God, he declared No
one can say with finality that God is only 'this' and nothing else. He is
formless, and again He has forms. For the bhakta He assumes forms. But He
is formless for the jnani, that is, for him who looks on the world as a
mere dream. The bhakta feels that he is one entity and the world another.
Therefore God reveals Himself to him as a Person. But the jnani--the
Vedantist, for instance--always reasons, applying the process of 'Not
this, not this'. Through this discrimination he realizes, by his inner
perception, that the ego and the universe are both illusory, like a dream.
Then the jnani realizes Brahman in his own consciousness. He cannot
describe what Brahman is.....Think of Brahman, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss
Absolute, as a shoreless ocean. Through the cooling influence, as it were,
of the bhakta's love, the water has frozen at places into blocks of ice.
In other words, God now and then assumes various forms for His lovers and
reveals Himself to them as a Person. But with the rising of the sun of
knowledge, the blocks of ice melt. Then one doesn't feel any more that God
is a Person, nor does one see God's forms.[Cited
in M.,1942, p. 148] It
was his view that just as water in lake or ocean appears blue but becomes
colorless when one approaches it and takes the water in the palm, from
afar the Divine has a form but when one establishes a close communion with
It, the form disappears. Just as fire has no shape, its flames give it a
form; similarly the formless God assumes different forms. He
too reconciled Adwaitavada, Visishtadwaitavada and
Dwaitavada stating that the truths captured by these systems are
different stages in the seeker's gradual self-realization and spiritual
unfoldment. One sees a kind of similarity here with Sri Aurobindo's
exposition regarding the existence of different levels of spiritual truths
between the ordinary human mind and the Supermind. 4.
All systems of Yoga lead to the same realization:
Though Sri Ramakrishna did not synthesize the different strains of yoga by
taking the essential components of all the different yogas and knitting
them into a whole which could be more than the sum of its parts in the way
Sri Aurobindo did, he nevertheless made an essential contribution by
stating that there is no incompatibility between the different systems of
yoga as far as the ultimate result of spiritual realization is concerned.
Whether it is Jnanayoga or Bhaktiyoga or Karmayoga, the seeker knows the
same truth. While prescribing Bhaktiyoga as the ideal yoga for his times,
he states: Bhaktiyoga
is the religion for this age. But that does not mean that the lover of God
will reach one goal and the philosopher and worker another. It means that
if a person seeks the the Knowledge of Brahman he can attain It by
following the path of bhakti, too. God, who loves His devotee, can give
him the Knowledge of Brahman if He so desires.[Cited
in M.,1942, p. 468] Integral
Yoga is a synthesis or reconciliation of yogas. Choudhuri (1951), however
feels that the word reconciliation may mean either a demonstration of the
identity of the goals of different yogas or it may mean creating a new
system of yoga which is richer and different and yet inclusive of all the
other systems. Sri Aurobindo devised a new system while Sri Ramakrishna
showed that all yogas may result in the realization of the same goal, thus
making his own contribution towards the evolution of Integral Yoga. This
was a very significant development in the sense that Shankara, while
placing a special emphasis on the way of knowledge had denounced the path
of works in order to discredit the Mimansa school -- one of the six major
schools in Indian Philosophy -- and the exposition of Ramanuja, which
extolled the virtues of the path of love, had put the path of bhakti at
loggerheads with the path of jnana. 5.World
is an integral aspect of God and not removed from God: We
have already seen how Shankar's and Buddha's philosophy dichotomized
spiritual life and worldly life. Shankara had said that this world is an
illusion and an error. Though the full correction of this error was done
by Sri Aurobindo when he stated that the objective of Integral Yoga was to
fulfill a divine life on earth, it is seen that Sri Ramakrishna had begun
making the rectification of the mistake stemming out of the philosophy of
Shankara and Buddha despite the fact that he still valued outer
renunciation in contradistinction to Sri Aurobindo, who emphasized inner
renunciation. Says he, As
long as one has not realized God, one should renounce the world, following
the process of 'Neti, neti'. But he who has attained God knows that it is
God who has become all this. Then he sees that God, maya, living beings
and the universe form one whole. God includes the universe and its living
beings....It is the process of evolution and involution. The world, after
its dissolution, remains involved in God; and God, at the time of
creation, evolves as the world. Butter goes with the buttermilk, and
buttermilk goes with butter.[Cited
in M.,1942, pp. 327-28] The
issue of serving the humanity in order to see it happy was very close to
Swami Vivekananda's heart. In fact, the motto of the Ramkrishna Mission is
Atmano Mokshartham jagaddhitaya ca (while striving for one's own
liberation, the seeker should work for the good of the world). Again, we
see that Swami Vivekananda spoke about one's own salvation while serving
the world -- and hence makes a beginning of Integral Yoga -- unlike Sri
Aurobindo whose concern is the transformation of terrestrial life in an
effort of progression towards the Divine and in whose view liberation or
mukti is only the first step. 6.The
meeting of East and West:
Sri Ramakrishna did not speak anything as such about bringing the East and
the West closer, but Swami Vivekananda, who was educated with a western
background, could identify the scientific, technological and political
developments of the West. Since he also had the knowledge of the spiritual
treasures of India acquired under the guidance of his master Sri
Ramakrishna, he could foresee that the marriage of the East and the West
would be immensely beneficial to mankind and was hence quite particular
about bringing them together. He came to America and toured Europe to
spread the message of Vedanta so that the West, in turn could provide
India the necessary and sufficient technology for the development of its
material conditions. According to him, the West needed India's spiritual
wisdom whereas India needed its technological expertise. One world and one
humanity which honored plurality was his message. Sri
Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda passed away in 1886 and 1902
respectively but they had already exerted a strong influence on the life
of Sri Aurobindo, who was to become the greatest mystic-philosopher-seer
of the present times. He was inspired by them in their subtle bodies as
well.
Influence of Sri Ramakrishna and Vivekananda on Sri Aurobindo Sri
Aurobindo was very much influenced by the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and
Swami Vivekananda. Talking about their influence on him during his earlier
years, he writes: The
other strong intellectual influence that came in India in early life were
the sayings of Ramakrishna and the writings and speeches of Vivekananda,
but this was a first introduction to Indian spiritual experience and not
as philosophy. They did not, however, carry me to the practice of Yoga:
their influence was purely mental.(Sri
Aurobindo, 1983, p.164) However,
after Sri Aurobindo had the vision of all pervading Sri Krishna when he
was in jail undergoing the trial of sedition against the British, Swami
Vivekananda came to him in a subtle body -- Swami Vivekananda had already
passed away by then -- and gave him some important spiritual instructions.
In his own words, It
is a fact that I was hearing constantly the voice of Vivekananda speaking
to me for a fortnight in the jail in my solitary meditation and felt his
presence...The voice spoke on a special and limited but very important
field of spiritual experience and it ceased as soon as it had finished
saying all that it had to say on that subject. (Sri
Aurobindo, 1972, p.68) During the early stages of his
sadhana at Pondicherry, there was a picture of Sri Ramakrishna
which decorated the room of Sri Aurobindo suggesting the effect that he
must have exerted on him. In fact, Sri Aurobindo had also received
messages from Sri Ramakrishna, as his diary entry shows, which indicates
that had received some guidance from him after beginning his Yoga. Making
references to the three messages that Sri Aurobindo had received from him,
he writes ....the
third and last message from Ramakrishna was received. The first message
was in Baroda, the "Aurobindo, mandir karo, mandir karo", & the
parable of the snake pravritti devouring herself. The second was given in
Shankar Chetti's house soon after the arrival in Pondicherry, & the
words are lost, but it was a direction to form the higher being in the
lower self coupled with a promise to speak once more when the sadhana was
nearing its close. This is the third message (18 Oct 1912) "Make
complete sannyasa of Karma. Make
complete sannyasa of thought. Make
complete sannyasa of feeling. This
is my last utterence." (Sri
Aurobindo, 1987, pp. 11-12) Sri Aurobindo has spoken very highly
of Sri Ramakrishna making numerous references to him as Bhagwan. Regarding
Ramakrishna as one of the seers of Integral Truth and his synthesis of all
sects and religion, he writes: .....in
the life of Ramakrishna Paramhans, we see a colossal spiritual capacity,
first diving straight to the divine realization, taking, as it were, the
kingdom of heaven by violence, and then seizing upon one Yogic method
after another and extracting the substance out of it with an incredible
rapidity always to return to the heart of the whole matter, the
realization and possession of God by the power of love, by the extension
of inborn spirituality into various experience and by the spontaneous play
of an intuitive knowledge...Its object was .....to exemplify in the great
and decisive experience of a master-soul the truth, now most necessary to
humanity, towards which a world long divided into jarring sects and
schools is with difficulty labouring, that all sects are forms and
fragments of a single integral truth and all disciplines labour in their
different ways towards one supreme experience. (Sri Aurobindo, 1955, p.
34) Sri Aurobindo is the seer and
exponent of the Integral Truth or Eternal Religion called the Sanatan
Dharma of the Upanishads and the Vedas. Apart from bringing the
Supramental down to the earth in order to facilitate the plan of kingdom
of heaven on earth, he also came to restate and reiterate the truths of
Upanishads and Vedas. He came to restore the pride of a wounded
civilization which had taken itself to great heights in the past, and also
to harmonize all religion, philosophy and science under the overarching
cover of Integral Yoga and Integral Vedanta or Purnadwaita. He came
to put the seal of spirituality onto the over-emphasized material
obsession of mankind. He completed what Sri Ramakrishna had begun. If the
reader thinks that the author is reading too much into the connection
between Sri Aurobindo and Sri Ramakrishna, the author would like to draw
attention to what Sri Aurobindo has to say in this matter. In his own
words It
is she (India) who must send forth from herself, the future
religion of the entire world, the Eternal religion which is to harmonize
all religion, science and philosophies and make mankind one soul.....It
was to initiate this great work, the greatest and most wonderful work ever
given to a race, that Bhagwan Ramakrishna came and Vivekananda preached.
(Sri
Aurobindo, 1972, p. 66, italics mine) When
scepticism had reached its height, the time had come for spirituality to
assert itself and establish the reality of the world as the manifestation
of the spirit, the secret of the confusion created by the senses, the
magnificent possibilities of man and the ineffable beatitude of God. This
is the work Sri Ramakrishna came to begin and all the development of the
previous two thousand years and more since Buddha appeared, has been a
preparation for the harmonisation of spiritual teaching and experience by
the Avatar of Dakshineshwar.
The
long ages of discipline which India underwent are now drawing to an end. A
great light is dawning in the East, a light whose heralding glimpses are
already seen on the horizon; a new day is about to break, so glorious that
even the last of the avatars cannot be sufficient to explain it, although
without him it would not have come...A new era dates from his birth, an
era in which people will be lifted for a while into communion with God and
spirituality become the dominant note of human life. (Sri
Aurobindo, 1972, pp. 799-800) As
it has been noted before that Sri Aurobindo restored the teachings of
Vedas and Upanishads to their pristine purity. In this process, he was
quite critical of Shankara's philosophy of mayavada. His vision and
philosophy incorporates the earthly life into the spiritual life.
Qualifying his Adwaita as a more perfect synthesis than Shankara,
as well stating that its preparation was done by Ramakrishna, he
writes: The
word Vedanta is usually
identified with strict Monoism and the peculiar theory of maya established
by the lofty and ascetic intellect of Shankara. But it is the Upanishads
themselves and not Shankara's writings, the text and not the commentary,
that are the authoritative Scripture of the Vedantin. Shankar's, great and
temporarily satisfying as it was, is only one synthesis and interpretation
of the Upanishads. There have been others in the past and which have
powerfully influenced the national mind and there is no reason why there
should not be a yet more perfect synthesis in the future. It is such a
synthesis that embracing all life and action in its scope that the
teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and Vivekananda have been preparing.
(Sri
Aurobindo, 1972, p. 344) References: Chaudhuri,
H. (1951). The Prophet of Life Divine. Calcutta: Sri Aurobindo
Pathamandir. Eastern
and Western Disciples. (1979). The life of Swami Vivekananda.
Delhi: Advaita Ashram. M.,
(1942). [The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna] (Swami Nikhilananda,
trans.). New York: Ramakrishna - Vivekananda Centre. Sri
Aurobindo. (1955). On Yoga 1 - The Synthesis of Yoga. Pondicherry:
Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Sri
Aurobindo. (1958). On Yoga II - Tome One. Pondicherry: Sri
Aurobindo Ashram. Sri
Aurobindo. (1972). Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library Volume 1.
Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Sri
Aurobindo. (1972). Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library Volume 3.
Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Sri
Aurobindo. (1972). Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library Volume 26.
Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Sri
Aurobindo. (1983). Sri Aurobindo: Archives and Research, December.
Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Sri
Aurobindo. (1987). Sri Aurobindo: Archives and Research, April.
Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Sri
Aurobindo. (1996). The Life Divine (5th ed.).
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