RAMAKRISHNA MATH, MEKHLIGANJ, COOCH BEHAR ... 2
Saturday, 26 March 2022
Friday, 25 March 2022
DOWN MEMORY LANE ... 2
DOWN MEMORY LANE ... 2
SWAMI SATYARUPANANDAJI -- A RELATION LOST AND FOUND
Swami Satyarupanandaji was an illumined soul. He passed away a few days back. I had the good fortune to have had an interaction with him one afternoon in Belur Math as I was exiting it after receiving prasad. It was around 12.30 p.m., I guess. That was many years back, probably sometime in the late nineties of the last century. Even then he was pulsating with spirituality. He was seated in the Belur Math Book Store that faces the Main Temple. The store had shut by then and Maharaj was alone seated there in silent contemplation. I asked him if I could get in and touch his feet. He said that it was improper to touch a sadhu's feet anywhere and everywhere as everything had its proper place and time and that pranam ought to be made with due reverence and mental preparation which could not be possible off-hand all of a sudden. He spoke with authority and, what one may call, firm love like a spiritual father chiding a spiritual child affectionately. I was awestruck by his authoritative presence and manner of address and asked him to bless me as it was if he would not allow me to touch his feet.
Satyarupanandaji was seated by the open window of the Book Store and I was standing outside near it. It was a novel setting with none in the vicinity. The Ramakrishna Temple was shut as Thakur was resting after his midday meal. There was silence all around and peace pervaded the monastery as the monk spoke something next that startled me. The afternoon sun blazed and the monk, possibly in his early sixties, said to me, "What are we monks of the Ramakrishna Order doing here but blessing? Every moment we are sending out currents of benediction for the whole world -- প্রতি নিশ্বাসে আমরা প্রার্থনা করছি, 'সমস্ত জীবের কল্যাণ হোক !' (With every breath we are sending out prayers, 'May all of sentience have well-being!')" He said the words with such fervour that I was transmitted the feeling for a brief few seconds that indeed it was that waves of goodwill were then coursing from the Belur Math Book Store throughout the world. It was a palpable experience and I haven't forgotten it. The words ring in my ears still and the feeling lingers on.
That was the end of my brief but momentous meeting with Maharaj, a soul suffused with love for the whole of humanity, a cosmic being located in a finite form and seated facing the Lord in His earthly habitat, as if in silent, casual communion with Him which had been, as it were, intruded upon by me, the misadventurer. But Maharaj was all grace. I felt a strange all-world presence of this great soul for the one and only time in my life when my soul too had, as if, momentarily broken bounds and extended itself limitlessly to include the entire mass of moving mankind, for I had been sympathetically drawn into his own spiritual ambit and endowed the palpable perception thus.
The day was past and many years, nearly two decades passed before I stumbled upon a YouTube video in which a septuagenarian monk of the Ramakrishna Order thundered words of patriotism in Hindi. I was astounded by the potency of the speech. He was so forthright, so bold in his articulation. He spared none -- the British conspiracy, the Islamic invasions, the politicians of India without exception, he upbraided them all in no uncertain terms even as he spelled out the finest features of the civilisation that is India and the principal traits that ought to characterise the true Indian, devoid of which he would be deemed traitor to the motherland. The youth he was charging up as he had done me decades earlier and it worked even now. The date of the speech was 22 May, 2006 and Maharaj, as I now calculate, was 72 years old. But the fire persisted and he spoke with authority. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B4x1RS-UVsU&feature=share (I saw it in 2013.)
Memory fades over time and I could not connect the links that day. That the two incidents involved the same person did not strike me then and the singular monk had doubled up in my mind as two distinct fiery personalities, both belonging to the Ramakrishna Order. Till death struck the mortal coil of this remarkable monastic two or three weeks ago.
A Facebook post by Swami Nikhileshwaranandaji announced the passing away of one Swami Satyarupanandaji whose name I was not familiar with. But the photograph held my attention. And, lo, the links all fell into place as memories came cascading back to unite disjoint events into a harmonic whole! I knew now. Suddenly Swami Satyarupananda had assumed familiarity from hitherto unknown identity in my mind. I searched YouTube and discovered a plethora of videos which confirmed my suspicions thus. Ever since that day I have been watching the departed soul's speeches and his informal, private interactions with devotees with fervid interest.
Satyarupanandaji lit up my life one fine summer afternoon decades ago in Belur Math. Decades later he has lit up my life again in his passage to Ramakrishna Lok. The links were missing. He has graced me, connected the dots and revealed himself just after hiding himself from my sight forever. I knew him not in life. I know him now in death. No, no, not death. What death can touch the immortal Spirit? Satyarupanandaji stands luminous at long last and forever in shining armour, the splendour that Sri Ramakrishna has graced him with. Hari Om Ramakrishna!
Written by Sugata Bose
Thursday, 24 March 2022
রামকৃষ্ণ মঠ, মেখলীগঞ্জ বিদ্যাপীঠ
রামকৃষ্ণ মঠ, মেখলীগঞ্জ বিদ্যাপীঠ
এই বিদ্যাপীঠের বিরাট ভবিষ্যৎ | এটির ওপর জোর দিতে হবে | এই সব প্রকল্পের সাথে যুক্ত থাকুন | দেশের অশেষ কল্যাণ হবে | বাচ্চাগুলোর ভবিষ্যৎগঠনের দায়িত্ব কাঁধে তুলে নিন | বিদ্যাপীঠ এখন পঞ্চম শ্রেণী পর্যন্ত আছে | প্রতি বছর সর্বোচ্চ শ্রেণীর শিক্ষার্থীদের অগ্রগতির জন্য একটি করে শ্রেণী বাড়ানো হচ্ছে | কয়েক বছরের মধ্যেই এটি একটি পূর্ণাঙ্গ মাধ্যমিক বিদ্যালয়ে রূপান্তরিত হবে | এই প্রকল্প বিপুল অর্থবহুল | আপনারা সকলে এগিয়ে আসুন এই প্রকল্পে অর্থসাহায্য করে একে সাফল্যমণ্ডিত করতে |
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
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BLOSSOMS IN BUD -- RAMAKRISHNA MATH, MEKHLIGANJ, COOCH BEHAR
BLOSSOMS IN BUD -- RAMAKRISHNA MATH, MEKHLIGANJ, COOCH BEHAR
These children hail from the economically backward sections of society and are being brought up by Ramakrishna Math, Mekhliganj, Cooch Behar in their Vidyapeeth to transform the region in future. Swami Omkaratmanandaji (Sushanta Maharaj) is battling hard to keep the as yet unformed aspirations of the children alive. The surrounding region is habitated by poor tribal and Rajvangshi people whose hopes in life are centred on the growth of these buds in prospective bloom. The Vidyapeeth is currently upto Class 5 and every year the promoted children are adding a class to it. In this way in several years' time the school will be, Thakur willing, an affiliated secondary school. For the maintenance and expansion of the school, as of now, no Governmental financial assistance is available. Local help likewise is impossible as wel, for the local people are dreadfully poor. It is, thus, upto large-hearted people to generously contribute to the cause to help build up yet another dream Ramakrishna Mission school like its predecessors in Purulia, Narendrapur, Rahara, Ramharipur, Sharisha, Baranagar, Asansol and the like. Come ye all, devotees of Thakur-Ma-Swamiji, well-wishers of suffering humanity and individuals of charitable intent, and pull in your might to bring this dream project to a mighty fruition.
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 :
For further enquiries you may contact me, Sugata Bose, on Messenger and leave your whatsapp number there for me to contact you in turn.
Written by Sugata Bose
Wednesday, 23 March 2022
FRAGRANT FLOWERS OF MEKHLIGANJ
FRAGRANT FLOWERS OF MEKHLIGANJ
Ramakrishna Math, Mekhliganj, Cooch Behar Vidyapeeth. Little children going to school after a long lay-off due to pandemic restrictions. The kids are delighted to be blessed with just a packet of biscuits. Such is contentment. Such is innocence. This Vidyapeeth that caters to the education of children of the economically backward sections of the surrounding society has, nonetheless, a great future. We must support the development of this school where these underprivileged ones will see the light of day and rightfully come up as enlightened citizens of the future polity. Come, let us join hands in building this academic institution which is right now adding a class each year till it becomes an affiliated secondary school. As of now the school has reached the Class 5 level but is, as mentioned earlier, raising the bar each year with the promoted children. Generously contribute to the cause in whatever small way you can -- this is a humble plea.
Written by Sugata Bose
Tuesday, 22 March 2022
ঠাকুর-স্বামীজীর ঐশসংকল্পের রূপকার
ঠাকুর-স্বামীজীর ঐশসংকল্পের রূপকার
নিজেকে ধ্বংস না করতে পারলে জগৎ জাগবে না | এ আত্মহনন নয়, আত্মাহূতি | এই যজ্ঞপাবক হতেই উদ্ভূত হবে ভাবী ভারতবর্ষ | সমস্ত অহং, অজ্ঞান বিলুপ্ত হলে একটি মানুষ তৈরি হবে | সহস্র আত্মজন তার অনুগামী হবে | নবভারত নির্মাণের কর্ম সূচিত হবে | সেই উদ্দেশ্যেই জাতির সমস্ত সন্তানকে সুৃশিক্ষিত করা চাই | 'বীর্যবান, বলবান, মেধাবান, আত্মবীৎ' হবে তারা ঠিক যেমনটি স্বামীজী চেয়েছিলেন | এরাই হবে নবপ্রজন্ম যারা মাতৃভূমির সংস্কারসাধন করে তাঁকে বিশ্বসভায় জগদ্গুরুরূপে প্রতিষ্ঠা করবে | এরাই ভারতমাতার অগণিত দরিদ্রজনের দুর্দশামোচনে কৃতসংকল্প হবে | এরাই বিরাট সমাজকে নিজসত্তাজ্ঞানে উন্নত করবে | ঠাকুর-স্বামীজীর এরাই হবে ভাবী বার্তাবহ, তাঁদের ঐশসংকল্পের রূপকার |
রচয়িতা : সুগত বসু (Sugata Bose)
Saturday, 19 March 2022
COMMENTS GALORE ... 7
COMMENTS GALORE ... 7
Sugata Bose @Deepanjan Mitra: Here you witness the origins of the movement as enshrined in the memory and life of one who had seen Thakur first-hand. It is so far removed from secondary commentary of individuals who base their assertions on information gleaned from books. Here is information gathered from a secondary source in Prasanta Kumar Ray of a primary source that Mohendranath Datta was. Hence it captures the spirit so well. This is truth in more approximate terms and is, thus, sattvik as opposed to rajasik as in the case of monks of this generation who are in the tertiary phase of communication to us about Thakur.
Here's a point that needs to be noted. There are two derivatives of the original impulse as of now, one that is dead and gone, the first derivative which Mohendranath Datta represented and the second which Swami Chetanananda and the like represent. A third derivative is now coming into vogue with the younger Swamis of the order like Stavapriyananda and the like which is making a mockery of what the movement originally was.
Sugata Bose @Deepanjan Mitra : Sleep has left me tonight. Tried but the bird of the night did not rest in its nest. It flew away to distant depths.
Sugata Bose @Sita Babu : Neither life nor death must we seek to comprehend in our bid to comprehend the Reality. We must transcend both and let the universe drop, with us falling with it as well. Then the ever-revealed Self stands luminous as the singular Reality, existence and consciousness absolute. Life and death both relate to the body and the mind and are in consequence phenomenal events, the undulated twin phases of Maya. The thirst for life gone, death ceases to be and the Self reveals in its solitary, singular majesty.
Sugata Bose @Sita Babu : Young man sitting while old women and men keep standing, a standing testament to the feudal mentality of the average Indian, monastic or the laity.
Sugata Bose @Dr. Suranjana Sarkar : Exceedingly bright babies. A shining future awaits them. Give them Swami Vivekananda's Works early on and nurture their innate talents to mature fruition.
Sugata Bose @Sharmistha Chatterjee : Do not intellectualise everything, simplify living. Academic attainments are the biggest bar to spiritual perception. This is why Thakur rejected it this time in an age of superficial study, short attention-span, limited concentration and limitless distraction. Feeling is to be nurtured, love, not sentimentality that caters to selfish interest while camouflaging intent. It is feeling that is the propelling power of spiritual life, love for the less fortunate ones the sublime austerity of the age. Hence, 'Shivjnaney jeevseva', the fertile formulation of the Lord which in its mature fruition will transform the world. Love of God must translate into loving service of His manifold form in the moving mass of humanity. Spirituality is the witnessing of the Self within and without. This Self in finest projection is God, in grosser manifestation man and the lower species and in the grossest as inanimate natural matter and energy. This Self is to be seen. That is the goal.
Sugata Bose @Alok Sarkar : আপনার মন্তব্য সঠিক | আগামী দুই প্রজন্মে আমূল পরিবর্তন আসবে | ব্রহ্মসিংহ আজও বিদ্যমান |
Sugata Bose @Abhimanyu Saha : This is Sugata Bose here. Our gratitude for your kind donation, truly a reverent act of service to Thakur. Please continue to serve the great cause and help spread the word among like-minded associates and acquaintances. May Thakur bless you and yours ever and ever!
Sugata Bose @Deepanjan Mitra: Thakur leads ever. We are inconsequential instruments in the hands of the One who is the sole executor of cosmic evolution. He transcends phenomena, is immanent in it and sways His Lordship over all, Himself being the manifold manifestation in human and other forms. His work He does. Ours is just a privilege in delusion to think we are the doers till Self-realisation obliterates the unreal ego and reveals all as emanation of the Lord Himself.
Sugata Bose @Swar Nava : Yes, life-building, nation-buidling action is necessary -- systematic, combined, coordinated, constructive work carried to completion.
Sugata Bose @Sharmistha Chatterjee : Possibly the best lecture I have ever heard. It seemed he was a man possessed with the spirit of the Rishis, a young sage of ancient lore, 'kashchit dheera'. He is fast becoming the rightful representative of Vivekananda in the Vedantic mode. One only wishes he will not be carried away by flimsy Anericanisation of things as is often his wont in the West. Sarvapriyananda seems to be well on the way to becoming the second greatest exponent of the Vedanta after Vivekananda. Who knows, perhaps, he is on the way to becoming world-famous, only the second monk of the Ramakrishna Order ever after Swamiji, in the truest sense of the term. He might even end up with a Nobel Peace Prize in the distant future if Thakur so wills it. We are witnessing the rise of a phenomenon, one who could even don the robe of the President of the Order one day. Is this the beginning of the new wave of regeneration of the Sanatan Dharma then as prophesied by Swamiji, a fresh upsurge of the ancient wisdom?
Sugata Bose @Sugata Bose : Preaching the Vedanta is no ordinary task but far greater is beholding suffering humanity as divinities which is the essence of the Vedanta in real life terms. Here it must be seen what big talkers can do. Hindus are a degenerate lot today revelling only in idle scriptural dispositions while their brethren die of want everywhere. The loftier the scripture, the lowlier the practitioners. Beware of such folly and its terrible consequence in karmic terms! The heart is missing among devotees and the head is engineering self-seeking. Such callousness towards human misery, however grandly philosophised, cannot be the prelude to God-realisation. It is the heart that attracts the Lord to the shrine of the devotee's devotion.
Sugata Bose @YouTube : Swami Sarvapriyananda, listen to how Asheshanandaji is censuring America. Dare you address Americans in a like manner, leave aside the blasting Vivekananda gave deluded Americans of his age. Dare you? Then alone will you be deemed a true Vedantist for Vedanta does not pander to human vanity, much less American arrogance and its dollar imperialism.
Sugata Bose @Riya Bhattacharya : American war policy has since then changed. She has inflicted untold misery on nations in the last eight decades.
Sugata Bose @YouTube : He (Swami Sarvapriyananda) suffers too much from levity, quite unbecoming for a speaker of such a serious subject as the Vedanta. Greater manhood is necessary in his delivery. Towards his twilight years Swami Vivekananda had said that manhood was his gospel in final summation to humanity. This must never be forgotten. Effeminacy of all sorts must, thus, be strictly avoided for it induces infatuation and is not at all productive of the strength needed to combat and overcome Maya. Mother Herself is almighty. How can Her monastic preachers be so patently weak with such verbal effeminacy?
Sugata Bose @Sharmistha Chatterjee : You are free. Assert your freedom. Give up over-identification with the body and see the world in a spiritual light.
Sugata Bose @YouTube Swami Suvirananda : It seems Swami Suvirananda is reading his speech from a text held in front of him outside of the vision cone of the camera. This is highly unwarranted. He should have read it from paper held on his table within the vision cone of the camera. That would have been more honest as here many would be deluded by his inordinate poetic diction which they would mistake it to be his spontaneous brilliant oration which it really wasn't.
Sugata Bose @Rohini Jalan : Save for Ramakrishna Math, Mekhliganj. It is acutely short on funds and needs urgent assistance for both subsistence and expansion.
Sugata Bose @Surya Sarathi Roy : Bangladeshi version of democracy, civil rights et al. Sibling will follow suit and that, too, soon. The production sector is very active.
Bengalees are a strange race, a curious hybrid of the daring and the dastardly. Two-thirds of them (West and East taken into unitary reckoning) are already Muslims and the rest are resting on either eager expectation of an impossible alliance with the corrosive convert or an ostrich attitude to their own impending fate.
Hindus must practise spirituality, help each other and, above all, develop character to be able to avoid an otherwise inevitable catastrophe. Philanthropy, social help, scriptural study and indigenous cultural awareness are on the decline among us and the trend must be reversed. Swami Vivekananda must be extensively studied and character formed. With scores of shining characters to follow, the masses will be led to their own good. Islamic and Christian proselytising must be resisted at all costs and Hindu samaj made an integrated whole on the basis of the Vedanta, not merely in theory but in practice. What is necessary are a few flaming souls with volcanic power and heroic heart. Feeling for the poor and the suffering, the destitute and the dying must be cultivated and all attempts made towards alleviating misery through combined, collective, organized effort.
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