TWEETS GALORE ... 42

1. What does Swami Ranganathananda have to say about Swami Nirmalananda's direct discipleship of Sri Ramakrishna?

2. The rich can never quite understand the problems of the poor. No wonder Thakur and Ma both embraced poverty to be one with their countless poor children.

3. Do not waste money, do not misspend, do not even hold it. Be the custodian of God's wealth and utilise it to serve the poor, the needy and the dispossessed children of the Lord.

4. Must I be a selfish brute who cares only for his own family to the oblivion of the good of society at large? Is this what Thakur-Ma-Swamiji-Gurudev have taught me?

5. I write and write and write but the response is still so poor. Perhaps, people have better things to do than read my stale write-ups, much less respond to them in any meaningful manner.

6. There is no point in being rich if such wealth is to be held for self-gratification and not for social help for the needy who are the suffering face of God in humanity.

7. Every person you meet is God in human disguise. Therefore, it ought to be your dharma to alleviate his misery, fulfil his basic needs of subsistence, give him food, clothing, education and health care irrespective of what the Government does or does not.

8. If tranquillity is the goal of the meditative life, then here is its personified ideal.
Photo : Swami Brahmananda (Raja Maharaj)

9. Father and son, what a duo ! (Thakur and Raja Maharaj)

10. Where is the scope for luxury of devotees when Thakur-Ma in a million garbs suffer daily lives of death in our country? Whither devotion then? Are we not to sacrifice our all for the sake of service to Thakur-Ma in the miserable masses by the millions?

11. The real liberal person is the most civilised one as well.

12. Absolutist religions will be rejected soon by the emergence of global rationalism. The dictator God will have had His day. Now, God, beware!

13. The great Prabhu Maharaj (Swami Vireshwarananda), disciple of Holy Mother and the second longest serving President of the Ramakrishna Order (1966-1985) after Swami Brahamananda, one who had seen Swami Vivekananda as an infant but had forgotten about it. He used to humorously say, ''I did not see Swamiji but Swamiji had seen me.''

14. Miracle mongers are not spiritual people. They are charlatans.

15. Serve lovingly. This is the gospel for humanity. It applies to all.

16. Hate not when estranged you are. Hold on to the moments of love in harbouring goodwill even in estrangement.

17. Let the mighty current of the Vedas in their pristine inundating flow yet again deluge civilisation and raise it, uplift it unto the divinity shining undimmed within.

18. The direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna were a class apart and Swami Nirmalananda was a classic illustration of it. Another was Swami Abhedananda.

19. Miracle mongers are mercenaries, not messiahs in a modern world that has awakened to reason and light.

20. On this day, 24 Dec, 1886, Swamiji and his Baranagar brethren embraced sannyas at Antpur, Baburam's garden house.

21. The flame lit at Antpur on 24 Dec, 1886 is burning bright at Belur still. Let us add fuel to the fire.

22. Merry Christmas with a difference for it is an Indian Christ, a yogi, an Avatar in keeping with the Krishna Principle that I adore!

23. Man evolves through theism and atheism but evolves nonetheless. Nothing can stop the onward movement nor the eventual inward movement, too.

24. A violent God begets violent followers and this is the problem with the most violent religion of all.

25. Explore deep into man and you will find God. Explore deeper still and you will find the Real Man. And then the trinity will coalesce to become one, the one indivisible being which is beyond description, for who will describe then and to whom?

26. The ways are many, the goal is one, freedom.

27. Down with patriarchy on this day of the Lord. Let equality prevail everywhere, in every sphere of life. Women and the masses were to be the motto of resurgent religion, Swamiji said.

28. Hinduism is now in bad hands for charlatans rule the roost. It is of utmost urgency that the Avatar now descends to resurrect it.

29. There is establishment in the Self and there is establishment in the self. Now choose where you will cast your anchor.

30. Unselfishness is more paying in the long run but the ones that preach it seek the short-term benefits of selfishness.

31. A monk is one who does not consider himself superior to the householder but sees himself as one with all, monastic or laity.

32. Reading 'Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita' / 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna' religiously every day is a very uplifting experience.

33. THE DUAL READ

Reading 'Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita' / 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna' religiously every day is a very uplifting experience. Add to it 'Sri Sri Ramakrishna Leeprasanga' / 'Sri Ramakrishna the Great Master' and you have the whole package for blissful reading.

Written by Sugata Bose

34. Save babies from body mutilation, save their brains from indoctrination.

35. Clean the air, let us breathe. Plant trees, save the environment.

36. Rationalising religious slavery in the domain of civic behaviour and cultural practice is degeneracy of the conservative mind.

37. Women should not mistreat men nor men mistreat women. Civility demands that they respect each other and are human.

38. This world is barbaric and the tribal culture continues to this day. In every other house this barbarism reigns and the result is global chaos. May Mother's grace be on all so that people learn fundamental decencies that are the prerequisites for civilised living !

39. O ladies and gentlemen, forget not your culture, sink not into domestic barbarism. Your divinity demands better, your divinity deserves better.

40. Thakur, you are the Master of every devotee's house and the devotee your servant. Let this be my attitude, my Master.

41. In this hour of grief, O great soul, O sufferer of supreme torment, O light of my heart and soul, Tulsi Maharaj, I offer you my love.

42. I am now resigned unto the Lord. He shall be my guide even as I keep guiding others who seek my counsel.

43. Name and fame like perishable dreams die. Deeds outlive the doer but they die, too. Thou alone, O Lord, outlive all and forever abide as my friend perennial.

44. Let Thy will be done.

45. One must not associate with wicked people for the impressions they cast on one's mind are pernicious, ones that cause great harm. Evil company is to be shunned.

46. Ultimately, the calmer the man, the more patient the man, the more selfless work he accomplishes. So, let these be our forte.

47. Religion is a cultural imposition on surface man but spirituality is an essential feature of his deeper being, nay, it is the very essence of his being.

48. The more the indifference shown to our efforts at propagation of the cause of Thakur-Ma-Swamiji, the stronger becomes our resolve to do so. And we shall do it and succeed. No force on earth can stop us from achieving our cherished end for it is fraught with pure love for the Holy Trinity without a tinge of selfishness attached to it. Jai Ramakrishna !

49. Let us not celebrate billionaires for their ill-begotten wealth while we in the same breath celebrate Ramakrishna who renounced money. Let there be some sanity in the whole discussion. Forget not that the Master had famously said, ''When a man becomes moneyed, he no longer remains a man. He retains the form of a man but his nature resembles that of an animal.'' Let us now analyse where our billionaires, who steal the limelight these days after stealing the resources that belong to the common man and reducing him to penury, stand in the light of this utterance of the divine incarnation of the age.

50. DR. ACHUTAN OR THULASITHEERTHAN

The nonagenarian disciple of Tulsi Maharaj, an erudite scholar, a professor of English and a devotee of Thakur nonpareil who yet exerts himself for hours on end to attend his Gurudev's birth celebration function, risking his vitality and health. His biography of Swami Nirmalananda under the pseudonym Thulasitheerthan is a classic study on his Guru.

Jai Ramakrishna ! Jai Tulsi Maharaj !

Written by Sugata Bose

51. These living free souls have reached the shore of the ocean of Maya and then again descended into the deep to rescue others drowning in its current. Such is their supernal love for brother man.

52. Each person is valuable to me irrespective of his attainments.

53. I am an individual who belongs to no institution, organisation, enterprise, party, anything of that kind. I am the friend of all.

54. If you cause suffering to others, suffer shall you in turn. This is the inviolable law of karma.

55. ''As a handsome boy with active habits and winsome ways, he became the pet also of the families in the neighbourhood.'' ... Dr. Achutan's description of Tulsi Maharaj when the latter was a lad. How rhythmically and beautifully depicted !

56. Our progress as a nation depends much on our sense of time. Since we are a spiritual people, we ought to in fact go ahead of time.

57. It requires a big heart to admire and appreciate other people's talents. Fault finders can scarce do it. Simple people appreciate.

58. There is endless human suffering and so little human sympathy.

59. ডাক্তার হবি, ডাকাত হবি না |
      Be a doctor, do not be a dacoit.

60. Why has Pakistan unlawfully occupied a part of Kashmir that legitimately belongs to India? Is it because Pakistan itself is India?

61. Your single-minded devotion to the cause moves me to pen this feeble line in admiration of your labour of love, Juthika Sarkar.

62. One must find one's feet beyond the precincts of organised church. Else, one may never hope to achieve the independence of being so very essential for eventual liberation from the shackles of Maya.

63. Soft speaking is a sign of good culture.

64. Human love proves eventually false for it is body-bound and shallow. Only divine love pouring from within lasts forever.

65. Allegiance to authority is one but slavish cringing quite another. Freedom of the soul calls for shaking off all such servility.

66. No scripture is greater than the glory that I am. I am the essence of all the scriptures. Myself there is none to compare.

67. The discovery of the Self (Atman) has been the greatest discovery in human history.

68. The one Atman resides in all or, rather, all seem to reside in the one Atman. In essence there is but the Atman, none else.

69. Other than the Sanatan Dharma no other religion speaks of the Atman that is devoid of name and form, attributes and aspects.

70. Gratitude is often the key to success.

71. Crass club culture has already begun on New Year's Eve with heavy beating of drums and loud music. Informed Lal Bazar to stop it.

72. We are on the eve of Kalpataru Divas. Get ready for the grand occasion.

73. Can anyone say why there is such a huge queue to see Thakur at the Kashipur Garden House on 1 Jan. every year? It is phenomenal.

74. There is a continuum in Nature, a seamless transition from moment to moment. Yet, men make much of agreed upon change of the year.

75. When you feel a spontaneous sense of oneness with all, at that moment you are spiritual. The task is to perpetuate that sense of oneness.

76. Today is the wish-fulfilling Kalapataru Day. Ask Sri Ramakrishna to grant you whatever you wish. But wish you must. That is the way.

77. The Master is today in his munificent mood. Seek of him whatever you wish, and, if you are sincere, who knows, it may be granted.

78. The less I ask for, the more I get.

79.  The day is done, the prayers have been sent. Now the processing is on and the resolution shall be. Let us see who gets what.

80. A sceptic is often the most progressive being. Swamiji in his youth was one such, forget not, before Thakur resolved his doubts for good.

81. Is it ethically wrong to be rich when so many suffer in consequence of the resulting exploitation that necessarily reduces billions to abject poverty?

82. What is Ramakrishna Lok and where is it?

83. There is none that truly follows the precepts of the Guru for all are preoccupied with the fulfilment of life's desires.

84. Worldly people make a sham of religion for their pursuit of desires drives their spiritual dreams to the grave.

85. The average person is so spoilt and self-willed that in disobedience of the Guru he brings spiritual ruin upon himself.

86. Spirituality is to be gained by disciplined daily practice of the exercises prescribed by the Guru and not by idle imaginings.

87. The idle man gains nothing in life, neither earthly achievement nor spiritual attainment.

88. The young are hopeful, the aged are sceptical and the wise are well secured in freedom that neither hopes nor despairs.

89. Glorification in lineage is good, glorification in achievement better but glorification in the Self the best.

90. The path of truth is the way of God and the destination is Truth itself.

91. Gujarat calls for 'Jai Hind' to be the assembly chant for students, UP backs it. Opposition rants against such 'patriotism'. You?

92. It is sympathy, love, understanding that constitute humanity. Wisdom follows in its wake and then comes enlightenment.

93. Demand nothing from life. The moment you do, you get trapped in its meshes. Be the witness and stand clear of the panoramic spectacle.

94. The mind lifted from the lower three centres of physical consciousness expands into ethereal love and light in the fourth.

95. The fifth plane is of constant oration on the divine delight, the sixth that of perception of the personified ideal with attributes and the seventh of immediate Self-awareness.

96. Tulsi Maharaj was called Nirmalananda by Swami Vivekananda because of his 'nirmal' nature (pure character). He lived up to the name given with uncompromising zeal.

97. Self-conscious non-reaction is the highest state of being. It is also the greatest station for the manifestation of power.

98. Work not out of a sense of duty but out of boundless love, and this is Karma Yoga.

99. Merry is the mind that attaches to none but unites in love with all.

100. Be like Swapan Kumar Ghosh, ever supportive, ever compliant, ever active in the propagation of a good cause, and what a pen !