Theos-Talk Archives (August 1998 Message tt00247)

       SRI SARADA DEVI,
       THE HOLY MOTHER
       [1853 - 1920]

         "When Holy Mother came to Dakshineswar at the age of sixteen, Sri
         Ramakrishna asked her whether she had come to pull him down to a
         worldly life. Without hesitation she said, "No, I am here to help
         you realize your Chosen Ideal." From then on, Holy Mother lived with
         Sri Ramakrishna as his spiritual companion, devoted wife, disciple,
         and always the nun. She was the embodiment of purity. Her mind was
         never sullied by the faintest breath of worldliness, though she
         lived with Sri Ramakrishna for the greater part of fourteen years.
         She never missed communion with God, whom she described as lying in
         the palm of her hand, though she was engaged day and night in
         various activities.

         "Holy Mother was an unusual awakener of souls. With her disciples
         she served as teacher, dissolving their doubts, as mother, who
         through love and compassion won their hearts, and as the Divinity,
         who assured them of liberation. Herself nearly illiterate, through
         simple words she taught them the most profound truths. Her
         affectionate maternal love tamed their rebellious spirits; but her
         great power lay in her solicitude for all. Often she said, "I am the
         Mother, who will look after them if not I ?" She encouraged them
         when they were depressed because of slow spiritual progress, and she
         took upon herself their sins and iniquities, suffering on that
         account.

         "Holy Mother was conscious of her divine nature, but she rarely
         expressed this awareness. For many years Sri Ramakrishna practiced
         great austerities and formally renounced the world, but Holy Mother
         lived as a simple householder, surrounded by quarrelsome and greedy
         relatives. As a teacher she taught the realization of God alone is
         real, and everything else, impermanent. The human body so treasured
         by most people, survives cremations as only three pounds of ashes.
         Holy Mother -- humility itself -- claimed that she was in no way
         different from other devotees of the Master. Her disciples felt awed
         and uplifted when she blessed them by touching their head with the
         same hand which had touched the feet of God. She was fully aware of
         her disciples' present limitations and their future possibilities.
         No one went away from her with a downcast heart.

         "The outstanding virtues of Indian womanhood are courage, serenity,
         self-control, sweetness, compassion, wisdom, and an intuitive
         relationship with God. Holy Mother possessed all these virtues.
         Since the acquisition of such gifts is the dream of all women, Holy
         Mother may aptly be seen as the symbol of aspiration of women
         everywhere."

         -- Swami Nikhilananda
         "Holy Mother and the Ideal of Indian Womanhood."
         Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Madras, India.
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--
<> Nicholas Weeks <> am455@lafn.org <> Los Angeles
	"Men must learn to love the truth before they thoroughly believe it."
		Blavatsky