A LETTER TO AN ELDERLY VENERABLE ONE
Dear Debaprasad Bhattacharya Mahashay,
You did not get my point quite. Who is preventing the celebration of the birth-tithis? Let public celebration of these seminal spiritual personages also be for the wider diffusion of their message across the globe, for the better preparedness for the celebration of the day in advance, for the greater awareness about these beings and the days of mass observance in their memory. This is absolutely vital for the propagation of the dharma in an age when communication is the key and Christians with their fixed day of mass celebration are scoring a free hit over others to their advantage.
In 1985 GOI declared Swamiji's birthday on the 12th January as the National Youth Day and it has ever since worked wonders in upholding his person in mass memory. So must we fix the original birthdays of Sri Ramakrishna and the like for public celebration even as we then follow them up with our ritual observance of their birth-tithis as per prescriptions of the almanac. Where lies the conflict or the contradiction in this timely adjustment for the propagation of the dharma?
Thanking you and hoping to have clarified my point,
Yours faithfully,
Sugata Bose
P.S. @ Debaprasad Bhattacharya : RKM has already been celebrating Swamiji's birthday on 12 Jan following the declaration of it by GOI as the National Youth Day. Hence, I do not see how or why they cannot fix a public celebration day for each of the personalities of the Holy Trinity in addition to the observance of their ritual birth-tithis. At any rate, by public celebration is not being meant celebration by the public but rather celebration for the public.
Dear Debaprasad Bhattacharya Mahashay,
You did not get my point quite. Who is preventing the celebration of the birth-tithis? Let public celebration of these seminal spiritual personages also be for the wider diffusion of their message across the globe, for the better preparedness for the celebration of the day in advance, for the greater awareness about these beings and the days of mass observance in their memory. This is absolutely vital for the propagation of the dharma in an age when communication is the key and Christians with their fixed day of mass celebration are scoring a free hit over others to their advantage.
In 1985 GOI declared Swamiji's birthday on the 12th January as the National Youth Day and it has ever since worked wonders in upholding his person in mass memory. So must we fix the original birthdays of Sri Ramakrishna and the like for public celebration even as we then follow them up with our ritual observance of their birth-tithis as per prescriptions of the almanac. Where lies the conflict or the contradiction in this timely adjustment for the propagation of the dharma?
Thanking you and hoping to have clarified my point,
Yours faithfully,
Sugata Bose
P.S. @ Debaprasad Bhattacharya : RKM has already been celebrating Swamiji's birthday on 12 Jan following the declaration of it by GOI as the National Youth Day. Hence, I do not see how or why they cannot fix a public celebration day for each of the personalities of the Holy Trinity in addition to the observance of their ritual birth-tithis. At any rate, by public celebration is not being meant celebration by the public but rather celebration for the public.
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