Swami Akhandananda’s Birthday
Akhandananda gave a talk on 7 April during the final session of the convention:
The convention closes its sessions today. This is therefore the last occasion to speak to you in assembly. The wonderful life of the god-man Sri Ramakrishna, the magnetic spell of whose hallowed name and teachings has drawn you all together here, the undying stories of this unique manifestation, his unprecedented renunciation, his unfathomed love, sympathy and toleration, and above all his infinite moods of spirituality- these and such other aspects of the Master’s life have been dwelt upon and interpreted by so many speakers in so many ways and will continue to be so done for how long who can say! But in thinking of him the idea that comes uppermost in my mind today is that the moment one saw him, one became transported to a spiritual elevation before which all distinctions and differences vanished; and even now if one could sincerely meditate upon the life or seriously think over and understand the true spirit of his harmony and toleration, one could no longer afford to cherish any bigoted or controversial ideas.
Sri Ramakrishna was never for a moment heard to denounce anyone because of his religious belief or profession if only he were sincere. He took man at his best and always gave him a lift from the plane where he stood…. If there was anything which he was never tired of denouncing most emphatically, it was hypocrisy. I remember one day a man denied the idea of the existence of God before him. And mark you what the Master, who was ever so deeply absorbed in ecstatic communion with the Divine Mother, said to him in reply: “Well, who told you that there is God? I would not ask you to believe in any such idea. But then, you cannot with reason deny that there is a Power working behind the universe. One may attribute any name to it, but it remains there all the same. Why not take it in that spirit and try to know more intimately what you believe in. Know this and be happy. To be sure, mere belief cannot give rest to your inner cravings. Knowledge – true knowledge of the mysteries of this phenomenal existence-alone can do that.”
The same attitude of universal tolerance and sympathy for all irrespective of their religious beliefs and social or spiritual standing, we find manifested in Swami Vivekananda. And upon us also, the humble disciples of the Master, the full implications of this idea began gradually to dawn. The Master and Swamiji are really one; the one spirit as it were, manifested in twin personalities. What we find in the Master in the form of a seed, becomes fully developed in Swamiji. Swamiji is to Sri Ramakrishna what the commentary is to the Vedanta Sutras. The one is complementary to the other. They are in fact inseparable – the obverse and reverse of the same coin….
Sri Ramakrishna one day cried aloud from the housetop for those young spiritual seekers who were to come to him l and pour forth their lives’ offerings on the altar of his service, and they came. But that has not ended there; it is still ringing through the air and shall continue for aeons. Many have come after that, many are still coming, and many more will come in the future.
–God Lived with Them, Swami Chetanananda