MESSAGES GALORE ... 14

MESSAGES GALORE ... 14

1. How can we talk of devotion to Thakur-Ma-Swamiji when we are so averse to serving their cause in terms of monetary support afforded by us? Lip-service is easy, easing the purse for the well-being of their human incarnations that much more difficult. Is it not so?

2. Ramakrishna Math, Mekhliganj, Cooch Behar (a branch centre of Belur Math) requires urgent financial support. Devotees and well-wishers, come to its aid. Let not Thakur's work wait.

3. Give up the fear of self-security and self-preservation. Serve Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. Your preservation is assured. Thakur never lets down His devotee.

4. RAMAKRISHNA MATH, MEKHLIGANJ, COOCH BEHAR (A BRANCH CENTRE OF BELUR MATH)

The due details as mentioned below must be sent through whatsapp/email to Maharaj (Swami Omkaratmananda).

Donor's name : 

Address : 

Adhaar Number/PAN : 

Amount in Rupees : 

Fund : General Fund 

Contact mobile, whatsapp number and email id :

5. Cowards preach the Geeta, people who run away from trouble-spots to preserve their bodies and their peace. This dichotomy between word and deed has allowed evil to so rule the roost everywhere. Wise is the one who is valorous as well. But such a combination is rare even among the celebrated ones.

6. আমি আছি অথচ ভগবান নেই, এ কেমন করে সম্ভব? নাস্তিকতা অপরিণত বুদ্ধির পরিচায়ক |

7. Education is for amelioration of human misery, material and spiritual, selfless service being its mode and liberation from universal infatuation its goal.

8. Charity is offering God what is duly His and has never been yours ever. Remembering this be generous. Help Ramakrishna Math, Mekhliganj. This is the easiest way to devotion, to peace, to blessedness.

9. God is lying famished everywhere and we speak words of wisdom oblivious of such suffering. Shame unto such an exposition of the Vedanta!

10. Where, alas, shall another Virajanandaji be?

11. Alas! who cares for the poor? The Ramakrishna Mission does. But some of their branch centres are unable to function properly on account of lack of funds. Ramakrishna Math, Mekhliganj is one such ashram which is in acute financial distress but is gamely battling on. Devotees, come forward, help.

12. Zeal is what is required for the spread of Ramakrishna- Vivekananda Movement. The rapid advance of this spiritual tide alone can stem the material rot of the world and save human civilisation.

13. There is an urgency about the whole situation. The world is burning. We cannot wait for Thakur to grace us before we act. This is no resting time. We must be up and doing. Contribute to Ramakrishna Math, Mekhliganj. Thakur's work must not be made to wait.

14. Who cares if we live or die? Humanity must live. Like wild fire we must spread the Word of Thakur-Ma-Swamiji across the length and breadth of the world. There can be no gradualness in this regard anymore. The world is at its explosive worst. Act now. Help the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission grow rapidly.

15. Those that preach truthfulness must themselves be truthful. Otherwise, it makes a mockery of preaching.

16. The masses have waited long enough for their education, for their enlightenment. They must not be made to wait any longer. Every generation the poorest children are sunk into the abyss of ignorance. We must forthwith stem the tide. Help the Ramakrishna Math, Mekhliganj help our tribal sisters and brothers.

17. It is life that speaks out to life; it is feeling that powers the soul; it is love that binds men in fraternal bond. Live, feel, love and then alone preach. Else, it's hollow talk amounting to nothing.

18. We need to have such men and women who care nothing for themselves and only care for the welfare of the mute millions daily being reduced to dust by the grinding machinery of an unjust society. Where are you all, my friends, who will bear the cross for the salvation of these souls with a smile?

19. আজও কুঠিবাড়ী থেকে ঠাকুর ডাকছেন, "ওরে, তোরা কে কোথায় আছিস, আয়, আমি যে আর থাকতে পারছি না |"

আর আজও স্বামীজী বলছেন, "আমি দেখতে চাই তোরা সব খেটে খেটে মরে যাস |"

আর মা কি বলছেন? "বাবা, জগৎকে আপনার করে নাও | কেউ পর নয় বাবা, সব আপন |"

20. To quicken sympathy in devotees for the mighty cause of Thakur-Ma-Swamiji, they will have to be accorded due respect in much the same way as they do so to monks. Reverence must be mutual. Else, it will be a barren field of sterile sympathy both ways. Truth, honesty and genuine reverence ought to mark the robe of both monastic and householder.

21. লেখাপড়া করে PhD করে কি হয় যদি দরিদ্রনারায়ণের প্রতি দরদ না জাগে, যদি তাদের উদ্ধারকল্পে আত্মত্যাগের ইচ্ছা না বলবৎ হয় ? রাশি রাশি বিদ্যা আর রাশি রাশি স্বার্থ | কি হবে ওই ছাইপাঁশে যদি হৃদয় না জাগ্রত হল ? চাই চরিত্র, সত্যানুরাগ, আপসহীনতা ও পরিপ্লাবিত প্রেম ওই নিঃসহায় নরদেবতাদের জন্য |

22. Malnourished the tribal children are of Mekhliganj. Help Ramakrishna Math, Mekhliganj go to the doors of the tribal people and serve them with food, clothes, provisions and light.

23. This world is the great playhouse where we, human dolls, dance to the rhythms of an invisible enchantress before She breaks the spell and absorbs us in Her.

24. Can a nation be built by masses of unsympathetic people with tall talk and little action, hateful hearts and heads full of ignorance masquerading as patriots, pretentious and puerile? Follow Swamiji in letter and spirit if you are a true nationalist. Else, build your character before spreading your 'vanity fair'.

25. Perfection is to be sought in every endeavour of life. If not, the standard of excellence will be lowered with consequent cultural decline.

26. আমরা যেহেতু সকলেই ঠাকুরের এক একটি রূপ, তাঁকে সর্বত্র দর্শন করাটাই স্বাভাবিক -- সাধনসাপেক্ষ কিন্তু কৃপাসংযোগে অন্তে স্বাভাবিক | প্রথমে বিশ্বাস, পরে বোধ -- সহজ, সুন্দর, স্বচ্ছ সুদর্শনযোগ |

27. Circumstance holds the commoner. The men who create history are thrown up by circumstance only to reshape it. These are the epoch-makers. And yet higher are the divine incarnations who enter into terrestrial conditions out of their own volition, being free of historical forces ever. These are the ones that give life and light to civilisation.

28. The spiritualisation of the world means the altering of circumstance. Right now the roguish forces and the elements of infatuation are holding the minds of men en masse. This is being countered by the influx of spirituality from the divine personages of Ramakrishna, Vivekananda and their true followers. It is a time-consuming affair but is inexorably working its way to transforming human society. Jai Ramakrishna!

29. Raise the poor. They are the strength of the nation. This is patriotism. This is practical spirituality.

30. Support the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. Upon its rapid expansion rests the future of India and the world.

31. If you want to build character, follow Vivekananda and none else.

32. আজকাল মানুষ publicly private | সব locked profile |

33. Few listen. Most talk. Communication is generally poor.

34. With masses of 'good' people giving in to pandering to their little selves it is but natural that concentrated evil should dominate society. Let the 'good' people exhibit genuine goodness in terms of affirmative social action executed with cipher self-interest and total commitment to the common weal.

35. My pleasure is at the cost of someone else's pain. The rich man is rich by displacing poverty elsewhere. One man's wealth accounts for the weeping of so many.

36. The life of a monk is like an iceberg, little exposed above the sea, much hidden beneath.

...Pradip Dasgupta (Bachchuda), my late cousin and mentor.

37. Concentration is the key to success, Swamiji says. Let us then concentrate our forces to fast-track the progress of the welfare activities of Ramakrishna Math, Mekhliganj, Cooch Behar which is a branch centre of Belur Math.

38. When Ramakrishna starves all around, is it right for devotees to feast? Fight malnourishment in the Mekhliganj tribal children, both in body and in mind. Help the Ramakrishna Math, Mekhliganj, Cooch Behar, a branch centre of Belur Math. The monks are ready but resources are not. Assist. Give your mite. Show your living concern for the living Thakur in these emaciated bodies, in these impoverished minds, in these suffering souls that mutely march on like shadows through the valley of death.

39. Childhood indoctrination is hard to get past even in adulthood. Thus, fanaticism persists in exclusive monotheistic religions and despite a liberal education in academic institutions, this homespun scriptural web that binds a baby in prospective bloom ever retards his humanistic growth despite the tallest of pretensions to the contrary. Free children from irrational, antihuman indoctrination if you wish to build a harmonious future world order.

40. 

তাঁর বাড়ী, তাঁর ঘর, তাঁর সম্পত্তি, সবই তাঁর | আমি নিজেও নিজের নই, নিজেও তাঁর | অছিমাত্র আমি ? এও অজ্ঞানপ্রসূত অহঙ্কার | এইমাত্র বলা চলে, দাসোহম | সেবার সুযোগ আছে, অধিকার নয় | কর্মের সুযোগ আছে, অধিকার নয় | ফলে অধিকার কেনন করে থাকবে যদি কর্মেই অধিকার না থাকে ? তিনি নিজেই নিজেকে ফল দান করেন | তাই, ফলদাতা তিনি, ফলভোক্তাও তিনি | মাঝখানে এই 'আমি'টা এসে গিয়ে পাকিয়েছে গণ্ডগোল | ওই 'আমি'টা সরানোই সাধনা, ওই 'আমি'টা সরানোই হৃদয়বত্তা |

রচয়িতা : সুগত বসু (Sugata Bose)

আলোকচিত্র : আদিবাসীদের মাঝে সেবারত স্বামী ওঁকারাত্মানন্দ (সুধাংশু মহারাজ), অধ্যক্ষ, রামকৃষ্ণ মঠ, মেখলীগঞ্জ, কোচবিহার -- বেলুড় মঠের অন্যতম শাখাকেন্দ্র |

41. The rich man craving for more is a bigger beggar than the poor beggar begging for bare subsistence.

42. ডাবের মধ্য হতে অমৃতক্ষরণ হচ্ছে |

43. কি বলছে সেটা বড়, কে বলছে সেটা বড় নয় | কিন্তু কার্যতঃ উল্টোটাই ঘটতে দেখলাম সারা জীবন |

44.

পিশাচের বেশে,

কুকুরের বেশে

আসেন ঈশ্বর

-- কালভৈরব !

কেবা চায় তাঁকে?

বাহ্যরূপ ভেদি,

মোহমায়া ছেদি

কেবা দেখে বস্তুসার,

কে তাঁহারে ডাকে?

কেবা চায় তাঁকে?

45. Language deflects from the Truth. Beware of the word! Be aware of the Word! Go beyond words. Go beyond the Word.

46. Great men seldom live to see the fruition of their works. It is only after they are dead and gone that the work starts to bear its mighty fruit.

47.Only in nirvikalpa samadhi One is. Elsewhere, one seems to be. Post-samadhi one knows that the One and the Many are the two faces of the same coin, the Real and the Reflection.

48. The substance is the same, the form differs.

49. Is there a religion that can hold the heart of man? Yes, it is the religion of love.

50. Donations will flow if work is done to uplift the tribals.

51. The lotion of love will heal the wounds of war.

52. This substance and that Substance are the same. There is but one living reality, undivided, whole.

53. বৈরাগ্য যখন তীব্র হয় তখন কি আর লীলায়িত সাহিত্য ভাল লাগে যার আধা বিদ্যাশ্রিত, আধা অবিদ্যাশ্রিত ?

54. Every moment is a life ended, every moment is a life begun. Lingering life goes on, stringing the pearl moment.

55. I am not one body but am the extended self of all. Thus, selfishness leads to misery while service to others leads to well-being. I am after all the Self in all.

56. Spirituality may be practised in all stations of life. But that does not mean it can be gained by pandering to the senses in the guise of practising it. The senses must be subdued through absolute purity. Preachers must not attempt to make the Vedanta enticing and workable through compromise with worldliness which in effect will prove counterproductive and an abysmal failure. There is no royal road to enlightenment. The price must be paid. Purity is the price. Abstinence is the only aspiration that must don the devotee. Om!

57. Too much of theory, too little practice. Too many words, too few deeds. Too much of show, too little substance.

58. The rising cost of living, the scant salary of the common man, the massive unemployment in the wake of exploding population, the rampant corruption and the ruthless exploitation of the people by greedy capitalists have reduced the average humanity in India to increasing impoverishment. Profit for the pleasure of the privileged is the price the people pay to prove that they are the slaves of the modern-day monarchs, the industrialists who rule this new kingdom called democratic India.

59. Devotion must be dynamic in deed. Then it is devotion indeed.

60. চারিদিকে দুঃখদৈন্য এত যে সুখী জীবন যাপনের আর সময় নেই | এখন শুধু অমৃতহস্তে দুঃখলাঘব, এইমাত্র কর্তব্য |

61. অহং তো আবরণ | ও যত যায় তত ভাল | পড়ে থাকবে সত্যবস্তু -- শাশ্বত, সনাতন |

62. ঠাকুরের ভাব যত ছড়ায়, তত ভাল | কিন্তু ভাবের মানটি রাখা চাই | যেন মানুষকে সাহস যোগানোর জন্য সত্যকে খাটো করে দেখানো না হয় | যেন জাগতিকতার সাথে কোনমতে আপস না করা হয় | যেন সত্যলাভ অতি সহজসাধ্য করে দেখানোর প্রয়াসে সত্যের অপলাপ না করা হয় |

63. ত্যাগ, অর্থাৎ, উপাধিশূণ্যতা, আসক্তিবর্জন, অমরত্বের পূর্বসূরী |

64. We often say when exhorted to do a thing and when unsure of whether we can comply or not, "I shall try." This way, if we fail to deliver, we believe we will be absolved of possible untruthfulness. But we must actually try to fulfil the request  made of us and not simply use the words, "I shall try", as a ruse to escape supposed untruthfulness. If we do not sincerely try, we will have nonetheless lied.

65. We cannot be satisfied with little gains when the 'world is burning with misery' as per Swami Vivekananda and as per our experience. Our service must be transformational, comprehensive, total and that, too, with rapid execution and effect. That is Practical Vedanta.

66. Devotees of Thakur-Ma-Swamiji, be dynamic. Actively support the welfare activities of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. Due to shortage of funds the work is being impeded, the growth of the movement getting slowed down.

67. The goodness of the 'pranam' is in the brightness of the soul and the alignment of the will, the willingness to obey and respond to the higher call.

68. The 'spiritual' industry has become the biggest duping ground for the masses as commerce corrupts its course. There is no downturn in this industry ever as willing fools abound always. On a lighter note:

Happy April Fools' Day!

69. Prosper and serve or serve and prosper.

70. Body is not all that counts. We are more than that. It is my body and not the body's me or that the body is me. This distinction will help avert overmuch of attachment and attention to this perishable entity of flesh and form.

71. The apathy of us for each other is detrimental to the development of the nation. Selfishness rooted out is the foundation of patriotism and consequent national well-being.

72. Commercialisation of culture is corroding character. This is the vicious, exploitative third epoch in human evolution, the epoch of capitalism.

73. Too many words, too few deeds. Gap between word and deed is huge. The man of character bridges this gap and aligns deed with word and word with thought.

74. Swamiji's words are simple but deep. Their implications are huge and need concentrated contemplation before they reveal their essential spirit. Casual browsing through his words will lead to flawed understanding. The kernel will be missed and surfing on the frothy billows will hide the inner intent.

75. How madly people cling to their insecure security in personal wealth! Drinking the poison potion of pleasure they come to pain and yet they persist in the pursuance of ephemeral dreams till death siezes them. Strange infatuation! Strange life! Strange deadly, daily death! And, yet, freedom at the very end when the dream is smashed to smithereens.

76. What you give, give wholeheartedly without seeking anything in return. The return will come forsooth in redoubled terms, but, to quote Swamiji, "The attention must not be on that."

77. What you give, give wholeheartedly without seeking anything in return. The return will come forsooth in redoubled terms, but, to quote Swamiji, "The attention must not be on that."

78. The rich man's luxury is the poor man's pain.

79. ঠাকুর-স্বামীজীর ভাব তো নিতেই হবে, নইলে তো মানুষ হওয়া যাবে না |

80. Oh modern-day monarch, your empire you build on the bones of the billions you destroy with one fell stroke of your greed! Spare a thought. Would you be able to bear such plight yourself were the scales to reverse balance?

81. I exhort the youth to take to the study of Vivekananda month after month, year after year, decade after decade to transform themselves and be a blessing unto humanity.

82. সর্বত্র ভগবান |

83. Hinduism will conquer the world, not merely the detached territories of Pakistan and Bangladesh. The whole world will be deluged by a flood of spirituality. But first Hindus themselves must become proper Hindus. This titular status and raucous crying will not do. Sympathy for the poor, an intense sense of charity and absence of greed must possess the land before things come to pass. Till then rabblerousing may seem religion but in one's heart of hearts one knows the distinction between truth and falsity. 🕉 

84. The spirit of charity has to be revived among our citizenry. Concern for the poor and the dispossessed must be made uppermost in the person who vouches spirituality.

85. Devotees of Thakur-Ma-Swamiji must be far more active in support of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. In their relative passivity they are rusting the welfare potential of the monastics of the Order. Come, support the Master's divine cause with vigour and enterprise, with zeal and energy.

86. ভুলিও না দুঃখী দরিদ্রনারায়ণেরে, হে মহাপ্রাণ, জাগ্রত হও !

87. Forget not the suffering Daridranarayan, O great soul, awake!

88. When you forget yourself, the Self is awakened. Give up the least vestige of self-concern, of self-interest, selfishness and look around to serve the living God in the dying man, destitute and despairing, helpless, hopeless beyond bounds, struggling to stay alive in a world of crushing coarseness. Come to his relief, my friend. Spread love around in sweet words, in dynamic deeds and in burning sympathy that kindles a like fire in the hearts of others.

89. Swamiji starves and they offer him prostrations. Swamiji dies and they write his obituary. Swamiji lives on and they multiply their verbal adulation. My countrymen, when will you offer his living forms succour, solace, sympathy in glowing deeds?

90. From below guna, through guna to beyond guna - thus is the evolution of life.

91. Ego, that blind leader of men!

92. Alas! Who cares for the poor?

93. You are right. It is a sin to spend overmuch on oneself. It is a privilege to serve others instead who are the Greater Me.

94. যেখানে ভাব, সেখানে সংঘ কই ? যেখানে সংঘ, সেখানে ভাব কই ? ভাবকে কেন্দ্র করে সংঘ, সংঘকে কেন্দ্র করে ভাব নয় |

95. Swamiji lives and dies in a billion bodies even today. Let us come forward and worship this moving mass of humanity who are 'the salt of the earth'. If we succeed in bringing succour to them, glory unto the Lord! If we fail in doing so despite our earnest efforts, glory unto the Lord! Let us serve. Let us sacrifice. Let us die that others may live. Jai Swamiji!

96. ভাল লোকেরা যদি এতই ভাল হত তাহলে মন্দ লোক এত মন্দ হতে পারত না |

97. We are closeted in the womb of the Mother.

98. In a world of vanishing dreams what is the use of sinking roots in shifting sand dunes to establish identity?

99. The beggar-status among the aspirational and the rich is on the rise as consumerism induces increased greed in people. With it comes effeminacy and a weakening paralysing culture that injects daily doses of debility into the lifeblood of the masses. We must resist this commercial corrosion of national character.

100. How I wish the youth took more to Swamiji! It would literally transform the face of India.