Embodiments of peace are the great Saints, who are intent on the welfare of the world. Having attained liberation by crossing this dreadful ocean of Samsara, they redeem mankind without any personal motive. This is the testimony borne by the renowned World-Teacher, Shri. Shankaracharya.
Even today such liberated Sages abide, not only in forest retreats but even amidst the multitudes. They are engaged in the effectuation of divine dispensations. The very presence of such God-realized souls in our midst is an unfailing guarantee that we too can achieve what they have achieved. They are the hope of humanity. They are the Saviours of the world. Their very life is a benediction on all around.
One such great world teacher is Divine Mother Sree Rama Devi. She is the same shakthi that was understood, contemplated upon and realized by Great souls. To realize Mother truly, She has to be understood, seen and followed. It is not easy for ordinary intelligence to comprehend what Mother is in reality. At the very first sight of Her one becomes animated with a religious fervour. She is generator of unlimited spiritual power, a treasure house of the highest wisdom, and an ocean of boundless love. Fully manifested in her are Power, Wisdom and Love, being the expressions of the three aspects of the Supreme – Sat, Chit and Ananda.
Self-Realization, the highest Monistic experience was hers when she was still in her twenties. Having realized her oneness with the Supreme, Sree Rama Devi has yet remained a great devotee, demonstrating to the world the supremacy of the path of enlightened devotion, and inspiring men to reach the goal of life by that path.
Though Mother Rama Devi has not had much of a worldly education or scriptural learning, the highest wisdom clothed in the simplest words keeps on emanating from her. Of what use is worldly or scriptural knowledge to one who is a living spring of Eternal Wisdom? As Lord Krishna says: All the Vedas are as useful to an enlightened knower of Brahman as is a tank in a place covered all over with water? One has just to be in her sannidhyam, and he is sure to be saturated with wisdom and bliss.
Self-Realization is the supreme goal of life, declares Mother Rama Devi. Self-Realization means the direct mystic experience of the Ultimate Reality, which is immutable and incorrupt, which is without form or attributes, which is unperceivable by the senses, the mind or the intellect, and which transcends all sheaths of consciousness and the triad of Knowledge, knower and the known. To know the Self is to be the Self. To realize the Self is to transcend the limitations of the Not-Self, to awaken to the dawn of perfect liberation and bliss.
And what is devotion? According to the Holy Mother, the constant quest of the Self – Atmanusandhana – alone is devotion. Such an enlightened devotion leads one to union with the Supreme.
Liberation must be here and now, emphasizes Holy Mother. And she assures us that by following the system of spiritual discipline enjoined by her, we can achieve liberation while yet remaining in the physical body, that is jeevanmukthi.
Simple are the spiritual practices advocated by the Preceptor-Mother. The first step is a constant remembrance of God by repetition of the Divine Name with full awareness of its significance. This practice itself, she assures us, is capable of leading one to the consummation of spirituality, namely complete union with the Divine. The second and perhaps the most important internal spiritual discipline enjoined by her is regular, systematic meditation, which in due time takes the aspirant to a supra-mental state of consciousness. Participation in the chorus of devotional songs is an essential external discipline. It provides company of fellow aspirants, promotes a feeling of mental exaltation, and exhilarates strenuous spiritual discipline. Strict adherence to the ideal of righteousness and the principles of ethics enunciated by Mother is of course taken for granted and is obvious. For, the life which does not reflect the ideal is only a sham.
Mother Rama Devi emphasizes that the practical and material cannot be divorced from the ideal and spiritual. Your life is an integrated whole, says She, and it cannot be compartmentalized into material and spiritual spheres of activities. You are the Self, and your whole life should have a bearing on this awareness. The valiant Mother does not want us to escape from life or to run away to a forest retreat. In fact, She insists on the hole-hearted performance of all the duties that may come to one’s lot in life. The highest of realizations, She maintains, is verily possible…in domestic life itself. And so gloriously does She exemplify all her precepts!
Liberation, no doubt is the goal to lean men to which the altruistic teachings of the Preceptor-Mother are directed. But they are also calculated to strip the aspirant, in the meanwhile, of all egoistic longings, including the very desire for personal salvation. Mother Rama Devi dreams of the emergence of a valiant generation of people who have their primary motive in the selfless service of humanity. They are expected to be prepared to sacrifice everything, including the hopes and prospects of their own liberation, for the betterment of the human race and the regeneration of the world. Impelled by the Soul-force which is awakened by spiritual discipline, they are exhorted to go forward and undertake the service of humanity.
Thus, the path indicated by the Preceptor-Mother is also unique, in as much as it incorporates the essential features of the Jnana, bhakthi, and Karma with special emphasis on devotion. She meaningfully calls it Raja-Rajeshwari Yoga. It is the right royal road, and by easy steps it takes the aspirant to the supreme goal.
This valiant Preceptor-Mother, however, does not countenance litharge, irregularity or half-heartedness in sadhana. The aspirant is exhorted to carry on his spiritual practices with earnestness and unwavering determination, not minding whether the body remains or falls. Sadhana is unyielding struggle, uncompromising war until the goal is reached, says Mother Rama Devi.
But are you among those who think that all this discipline is a bit too exacting? Then for you the merciful Mother offers one alternative – so straight, so simple, so splendid! Unreserved surrender of oneself to the spiritual Preceptor: complete sacrifice of one’s own little ego: absolute breaking away from the tyranny of separateness: – this is that alternative. Only when this is accomplished can one realize the full significance of Her teachings. Lord Christ’s immortal words: Whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For such an one will have found life eternal, to lead men to which exalted state has Shri Rama Devi incarnated.
Ah! Hearken! The clarion call of Christ Jesus echoes and re-echoes through these two millenniums: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light. That call has blended with the resonant voice of this modern Saviour, Sadguru Sree Rama Devi.
Ah! This is the call of the compassionate Mother. Hearken! Slumber not, a Children of Immortality! Take upon yourself the sweet yoke and march forward: Yield not to impotency! Tarry not, nor look behind, lest the time of endeavour should pass by, and the golden opportunity slip away. Make haste! And you shall truly find rest and bliss in Life Eternal.
Peace be to all beings!
– N.S. Karanth, Dharwar.