SWAMI SAMPURNANANDA, A CONVERSATION

Sugata Bose How devotees dupe themselves in self-indulgence imagining that despite indolence they will realise God by the grace of their Guru!

Swami Sampurnananda This self-duping is not confined to devotees alone; it is common among us monks too.

Sugata Bose You are a marvel, Maharaj (Swami Sampurnananda), ever candid and, who knows, may be shocking, too, to many donning the ochre robe, but never failing to hit the nail on the head. Your talents, sometimes I feel, are being underutilised because of your reclusive vocation but, then, such has been the occupation of the best and the greatest of our literary luminaries and cultural greats from time immemorial. Your blog must see the light of day as it will throw a flood of light on the sages and saints of the Ramakrishna Order --- not that they need it --- in so far as public understanding of the history of the movement is concerned. It is a pity that the best interests of an organisation are not always best served because of the very nature of organisation itself and the sooner we as a society learn to nurture individual talent within the framework of the collective life of an order, the better it is for our prospering as a civilisation. Men like you need to be well furnished with copious resource material and opportunity to be able to best utilise their talents for the furtherance of world culture, for the Ramakrishna Order is geared towards nothing short of that sublimely high ideal. May Thakur-Ma provide you with health, happiness and occasion to serve their cause best is my prayer at their lotus feet!Sugata Bose Let us not misinterpret Sri Ramakrishna's words and make it appear as if to mean that God-realisation is that easy.Swapankumar Mukherjee Strongly oppose such misinterpretation.Swami Sampurnananda To walk the path to God Realization is really very easy. One just will have to start speaking the Truth and keep at it all the time for twelve years. After that the Truth will keep you with it. One can begin at any age.Debaprasad Bhattacharya Respected Mj, your prescription seems very easy. But is it really easy to practice, particularly for the householders?Swami Sampurnananda Yes. People have done it in the past and are doing it now too.Sugata Bose Debaprasad Babu, Maharaj's (Swami Sampurnanandaji's) prescription is not quite the only potion Sri Ramakrishna had recommended for God-realisation, remember. Absolute continence for twelve years was his binding condition, too. He had never stopped averring, 'Kamini-kanchan tyag' (renunciation of woman and gold, that is, lust and greed, if I may be given the indulgence to generalise the intent of Thakur's pronouncement).