Second Part of the Previous part.....
Christ said “Do unto others as you
would like others to do unto you”. Sri Sri Thakur reiterates this message and
adds a small rider by saying:
“Do to others
as you would be done by-
but expect not
in return.”
Emphasizing religious unity and the
universality of the message of past prophets he says:
“God is for all
prophets are for all,
no compartments,-
but they are the fulfillers
of all compartments
in their equity;
to create ‘ism’
is the Satanic dissuasion
of people
from unity-
the God!”
That was
a very brief introduction of Sri Sri Thakur and the Satsang. However, one may
wonder; do we really need another holy man and another satsang? Are there not
enough saints and prophets, some genuine and many fake, in the world and
especially in India?
What is so special or different about Sri Sri Thakur? In fact why bother at all
with any of this because if there is a god then why do our prayers not get
answered and why is there so much suffering in the world anyway?
Let us
start by trying to answer the last question first. The place where we sit and
read this article appears to have a lot of empty space. But is it really empty?
In reality every corner of this place is filled with invisible waves of
different types. There are hundreds of radio and television waves from different
stations around the world, microwaves from mobile phones and an infinite number
of x-rays and gamma rays from every part of the universe. Actually there is
more activity taking place in the realm of the unseen than in the realm of the
seen but I am unable to perceive any of it. However, if I build a radio
receiver set and tune it to a particular frequency I will immediately be able
to manifest the radio waves filling this place and enjoy the music being
transmitted.
The
situation with God’s grace is something similar. His grace is omnipresent,
omnipotent and all pervading but to be able to receive that grace, we have to
tune ourselves in a particular manner. Without that fine tuning, His grace will
be beyond our reach just like the radio waves filling this room. From time to
time in the history of mankind people like Sri Sri Thakur are born who go on to
practically realise the existence of God and the fundamental truths of life and
following an Ideal like Sri Sri Thakur enables one to develop that tuning by
which one’s prayers become effective and one becomes receptive of God’s
infinite grace. Only by following such a realised person, both individually and
collectively, can suffering and want be driven away and God be comprehended and
realised. Sri Sri Thakur says in this regard
“Prophets are the materialised
living embodiments
of the way to heaven
hence man can seldom
approach God
but by them.”
One may
think that this may be true but then there have been so many prophets in the
past, why should one follow Sri Sri Thakur? Would following him mean denying or
degrading other past prophets in any way? Before proceeding further let it
first be absolutely clear that the Satsang is a completely non-communal organization
that respects and reveres all past prophets and believes in the essential unity
and harmony of all religions. Sri Sri Thakur says emphatically
“God is one
Dharma is one
prophets are same, -
servers of the One;
conflict and animosity with any of them
proclaims the presence
of opposite – the Satan.”
He further says
“Any communal hatred
of a community against another
which adores and follows any prophet,
is a sin to the community,
a curse to the followers
and blasphemy to the prophets.”
Someone
asked Sri Sri Thakur once that most Muslims believe that Prophet Muhammed was
the last prophet so how can any prophet be born after him. Sri Sri Thakur
replied that would God be so cruel as to see his people suffering and not send
his prophets ever again to relieve them of their pain. He always said he liked the
term “latest prophet” rather than “last prophet”. The mother of one of his
prominent American devotees, Ray Hauserman, put a direct question to him “Are
you God?” Sri Sri Thakur replied “If people call me God I will not become more
than what I am. If people call me a rascal I will not become less than what I
am. I am what you see I am.” When another Christian devotee asked him whether
Christ was alive today he replied “Maybe he is sitting in a remote corner of
the world with an atom bomb of love in his hand.” When his devotee Hem Kavi
asked him “Have you seen God?” Sri Sri Thakur replied “Yes. As clearly as I see
you.”
However,
Sri Sri Thakur was rarely if ever so direct in his response. Humble in the
extreme, he would always try to conceal his answers that related to his status
or his level of realization. His apparent humility and simplicity could be very
deceptive and misleading and it prompted a Brahmin from Varanasi to once challenge him to prove his
depth of spiritual realisation. Sri Sri Thakur replied in his characteristic
manner and said “Aami Param Pitaar Param
Murkha Santan. Aami Kicchu Jaani Na” which means “I am the foolish son of
the Supreme Father. What do I know?” He then went on to effortlessly enter and
describe the sights, sounds and brilliance of the four planes of spiritual
realisation until he reached the Anami Lok where his voice faded and he could
speak no more. Even though his followers, realizing his true nature, addressed
him as an avatar and other such names, Sri Sri Thakur was never comfortable
with such nomenclature. He used to tell them, “What is the point is calling me
all this unless all of you are able to follow my example and become avatars
yourself.”
The Gita says
“Dharma sansthapana arthaya
sambhavami yuge-yuge”
I come into being from age to age
to re-establish dharma.
As times change new problems
emerge and the message of earlier prophets tends to get diluted, misinterpreted and misunderstood by their followers. Hence, it
is not surprising that prophets have to come time and again to reiterate and
reinforce universal truths as well as provide specific solutions to issues of
their particular time, place and context. When Budhha came he established
balance in society by emphasising the madhyam marg or middle path, when Christ
came his message of love and forgiveness acted as a soothing balm to the
suffering masses and transformed society into a more tolerant and civilised
entity, when Ramakrishna Paramhansa came he practically demonstrated the
essential unity of all religions through his sadhana and firmly set aside any
doubts anyone may have had in this regard.
As with
others before him, Sri Sri Thakur came to fulfil the past prophets and to
clarify, reinforce and extend their message to humanity. He never had any formal
education in English but like prophet Muhammed would burst into spontaneous
messages in classic English and other languages which have been recorded and
which run into thousands of pages. He had a great reverence and regard for
Swamy Ramkrishna Paramhansa and like him practised and preached the essential
unity of all religions and respect for all past prophets. When a Christian
Missionary came to visit him he remarked that if Christ were alive today he
would be saying and doing exactly the same things as Sri Sri Thakur.
When Sri
Sri Thakur came, the revolution of science had started in a big way. Scientific
understanding had evolved from gross Newtonian physics to the super fine world
of quantum physics. Einstein’s theory of relativity had added a completely new
dimension to our perception of the world around us. Discovery of the DNA
sequence had totally changed our understanding of genetics and heredity. Darwin’s theory of
evolution created an upheaval in many established ideas of creation and evolution.
The computer was created, the power of the atom was harnessed and man reached
the moon. It is no surprise, therefore, that the explanations and approach of
Sri Sri Thakur was highly scientific in nature. Einstein’s statement “Religion
without science is lame and science without religion is blind.”, accurately
reflects Sri Sri Thalur’s approach in this regard.
Krishna
Prasanna Bhattacharya was the first president of the Satsang. He was a
scientist and colleague of Sir C. V. Raman the famous Nobel Prize winning
scientist of India.
Krishna Prasanna Bhattacharya posed many questions about atoms, protons and
quanta to Sri Sri Thakur and found insightful explanations from him. When he asked Sri Sri Thakur how he knew
about all these things Sri Sri Thakur replied that he could actually see the
dance of the atoms and protons since his childhood and he only reported what he
saw. There was another incident in which a devotee asked about the creation of
the universe and Sri Sri Thakur explained to him how matter was created from
quanta. However, the devotee could not understand the difficult concept well.
Sri Sri Thakur sat down with him, drew pictures of atomic structures and
explained the whole thing in great detail and did not rest until it became
absolutely clear to him. Sri Sri Thakur has talked about diverse subjects in
science from eugenics to the structure of the atom, from the definition of
chemistry to the composition of a healthy diet, from the structure of the sun’s
core to the design of motor vehicles. He even established a fully functional
laboratory in Pabna where scientific research could be conducted.
Looking
at Sri Sri Thakur’s life, work and philosophy it is clear that he was not just
another holy man but a Yug Purushottam or prophet of the age in whom all
streams of knowledge, modern and old, science, spirituality and language merged
and found meaningful expression and the lives and teachings of past prophets
were manifested and reinforced in a living, vibrant manner. Sri Sri Thakur says
“All the wisdom of previous prophets
is conscientiously concentrated
in the divine Man
of the present,-
hence He the way to heaven.”
He says again
“All the prophets of the past
converge and awaken
in that of the present.
Love to Him
is love to all-
in the worship of God.”
Today,
even though Sri Sri Thakur may not be alive in his body, he lives on eternally
in the hearts, minds and spirits of his ever growing multitude of followers
worldwide who feel his soothing, loving, fulfilling touch in their lives and
who through their concentric love for Sri Sri Thakur, continue to move towards
eternal being and becoming along with their family, community and environment.
(Written by Shri
Ambupad Thakur, Sydney, Australia)
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