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| Sri Ramkrishna Paramahamsa & UG |
In those days, Mahesh Bhatt was doing regular columns in a tabloid,
the Mumbai Mirror. They were well written and carried a unique fragrance. Rich
with personal insights, the columns provided a pleasant reading experience.
On this particular visit, 1999, UG was holed up in Mukesh Bhatt's
flat in Bandra.
That lazy morning saw a few regulars hanging out with UG.
Mahesh was there too, propped up against a bean bag. He was
completely immersed in a book. It was about the great sage from Dakshineshwar,
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. He was
scribbling notes in preparation for his weekly column.
Mahesh says that the fiery saint, Swami Vivekananda, the
world-renowned disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa has had a great impact
on him, " Vivek' has always had a special place in my heart!"
In the main hall where we all sat, UG kept everyone engaged with his
fascinating discussion on varied topics. Every now and then he would steal a
glance at Mahesh who appeared oblivious to everything around him, lost in his
own world.
At some point, finally UG decided to interrupt Mahesh, "Hey mister! What's it that you
are reading?"
Mahesh, "Sir! Going through a book on Ramakrishna
Paramahans".
UG, seizing the opportunity and turning on 'heat' in full blast
launched a sudden tirade against the great sage. He went hammer and tongs, spewing out venom.
His words sometimes bordered on the slanderous and stung like a whip!
UG, "Oh, you
are reading about that guy! Oh Boy! Have you read his gospel? You see, he
always surrounded himself with young and handsome boys! That chappie made the
boys even give up their families sir!"
UG's innuendos sounded outrageous and UG's bashing continued
unabated, nothing could stop him, "He roped in so many young boys! He spared no one including
Vivekananda and all those chaps!"
The vitriol made Mahesh wince and shift in his seat!
Visibly shaken and breathing fire, Mahesh suddenly leapt out towards
UG's chair. And rocking the chair with both hands, violently from side to side,
belligerently hollered,
"Hey! How can you say such things about Ramakrishna? How do you
know these things are true? Were you there at the time? "
UG, in a split second, collected himself and poking his finger right
into Mahesh's face shot him down,
"Hey, were you
there at the time? How do you know it is
not true? "
Mahesh was shattered! Rattled and clueless, he slumped back into his
bean bag!
****
The truth is UG held Sri Ramakrishna in highest esteem referring to
him as a Real McCoy! “The
world has seen only a handful of sages, you can count them on your fingers”,
UG would say and include the sage's name without fail along with Sri Ramana
Maharshi et al. His reverence for the sage was absolute!
His long-time associate Major Dakshinamurti observes, " UG
always referred to him as SRI Ramakrishna with emphasis on SRI, a rare honour
coming from UG" .
UG always acknowledged Sri Ramakrishna's guidance in his own life.
It was Sri Ramakrishna Mutt in London that sheltered him during the difficult
days when UG roamed the streets of London like a destitute. An inner voice
guided him to the Mutt. He even had an intense spiritual experience right there
in the London Ramakrishna Mutt.
Here is how UG described his experience:
“'I was sitting there and in my mind there was nothing—there was only blankness—when I felt something very strange: there
was some kind of movement inside of my body. Some energy was coming up from the
penis and out through the head, as if there was a hole. It was moving in
circles in a clockwise direction and then in a counterclockwise
direction. ”
****
Like his famous tirades against (our blind, unquestioned faith or
belief in) Jesus, Buddha and the lot, UG’s attack on Sri Ramakrishna was aimed
more at dismantling and decimating our ‘myth making machinery’, a deeply
entrenched habit in human psyche!
Unquestioning reverence only serves to discredit the inquiring
spirit, smothering free expression and dampening the zest for life.
Unconditional and blind reverence in any realm of life promotes
perverted ideologies. Ideologies divide people, division harbours hatred,
factions and wars follow!
Taoism cautions that the wisdom of the sage could turn into 'dead
ashes' when put into a book, in lifeless words!
" Books cannot
really help you or anyone ! If they really could, then we should ideally have
heaven on earth, given all those wonderful books in all those libraries, all
over the world!", UG explained.
No biography could
ever convey the real wisdom of a sage!
Is there any wisdom in studying the wisdom of the sages
then?
UG resonated with the great Taoist sages who said, “Catch the fish and throw away the
net!”
Wisdom lies in catching the essence and discarding the
word. Word is mere husk, the verbal shell that has no real consequence
whatsoever.
Sagely utterances or words are just pointers to truth.
It is fallacious to think that the words are the truth!
Again Taoism comes to the rescue, " Holding on to wisdom is
sheer foolishness."
UG asserted, “Life
(or Truth) is not something that can be captured, contained,
or given expression to!”
In a sagely instruction, the words form part of a
‘live transmission’ and carry a ‘life force’ (प्राण शक्ति) that is infused into
the words. This does the real trick ! This ‘life force’ cannot be captured,
contained or given expression to through any medium!
The recorded words of a great master (biography), uttered in the
distant past, in some unknown context, in response to an unknown question lacks
the fragrance, intensity of the original fiery utterances.
When UG was handed a
copy of his early book of recorded conversations, Mystique of Enlightenment, he
seems to have sighed and said, "Alas,
here comes the Mistake of Enlightenment"
He struggled very
hard to discount his own verbal utterances, aware of the dangers of verbiage
and its serious distortions, "
My second statement negates my first statement, my third statement negates my
second statement and my fourth statement negates the third as well as the
fifth... even before it is made!"
The following
parable from the brilliant Chuang Tzu makes this point abundantly clear!
Duke Hwan seated above in his hall, was
(once) reading a book, and the wheelwright Phien was making
a wheel below it.
Laying aside
his hammer and chisel, Phien went
up the steps, and said, 'I venture to ask your Grace what
words you are reading?'
The duke said, 'The words
of the sages.'
'Are those sages alive?' Phien continued.
'They are dead,' was the reply.
'Then,'
said the other, 'what you, my Ruler, are reading are
only the dregs and sediments of those old men.'
The duke said, 'How should you,
a wheelwright, have anything to say about the book which I am
reading? If you can explain yourself, very well; if you cannot, you shall
die!'
The wheelwright said, 'Your servant will
look at the thing from the point of view of his own art. In
making a wheel, if I proceed gently, that is pleasant enough,
but the workmanship is not strong; if I proceed violently, that is
toilsome and the joinings do not fit. If the movements
of my hand are neither (too) gentle nor (too) violent, the idea
in my mind is realised.
But I cannot tell (how to do this) by word of
mouth; there is a knack in it. I cannot teach the knack to my
son, nor can my son learn it from me. Thus it is that I am in my seventieth
year, and am (still) making wheels in my old age.
But these ancients, and what it was
not possible for them to convey, are
dead and gone:--so then what you, my Ruler, are reading is
but their dregs and sediments!'
UG's
smart quip says it all: "
Biographies are lies and autobiographies are double lies !"
