Sri Ramakrishna Math : The Vedanta Kesari, July 2003

Pilgrimage! The Dictionary gives the meaning of the word Pilgrimage as 'travelling to a sacred place as an act of religious devotion'. So when we take a trip to a holy place such as the birthplace of a great saint or a confluence of rivers or a place of worship, we call it a pilgrimage.

There is another kind of pilgrimage and that is when we visit a holy man. Saint Narsi Mehta while describing the characteristics of an illumined soul or lover of God sings, 'Sakala teeratha tena tanama re' i.e., he is the very embodiment of all the holy places.

If we take a look at the opening chapter of the book 'Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna' by Mahendranath Gupta (M), we find M telling us about his very first encounter with the godman of Dakshineswar, Sri Ramakrishna. Accompanied by a friend, M arrives at the temple garden at dusk and goes straight to Sri Ramakrishna's room and finds him talking about God. The room is full of people drinking his words in deep silence. M stands there speechless and looks on and feels, 'It was as if he were standing where all the holy places met.'¹

Why do we call an enlightened being a 'God' man? In appearance he seems to be just like us. Then, what is it that makes the world call him a godman? We call him so because he has found God, the Lord of the universe within the shrine of his own heart. Scriptures tell us that the same God whose presence a godman has felt within himself resides in the heart of each one of us also, making it the holiest of holy places. So would it not be the greatest of all pilgrimages to behold the Beloved enshrined in our own hearts?

But alas, this shrine within us lies buried deep under heaps of dust and dirt of our desires, weaknesses and imperfections, joys and sorrows. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. There is a silver lining to every dark cloud. Vedanta asserts, 'Do not despair; the way is very difficult, like walking on the edge of a razor. Yet despair not, arise, awake and find the ideal, the goal.'

Man clings to his senses very firmly. As he makes his way through the experiences of this finite world, he comes to know that 'The world is like a thorny bush! You have hardly freed yourself from one set of thorns before you find yourself entangled in another.'

There cannot be even an instance of perfect happiness here, let alone constant joy. And his search for the nectar begins. He struggles towards that ambrosial experience which would finally quench his thirst for ever.

Everyone is struggling towards it. Some unknowingly, some others with conscious effort, are following the golden path of pilgrimage. With a firm resolve one takes up this pilgrimage and as he progresses, he finds some resting places on and off to refresh himself--a chance meeting with an illumined soul or an opportunity to be at a place throbbing with spirituality! Sometimes help might come in the form of an enlightening book or some profound event. These are all aids that encourage him to go on and on until the goal is reached. At times a ray of light or inspiration may emerge from the least expected of places and at the most unexpected time.

Hundreds of visitors flock to the famous building housing the headquarters of the United Nations each day and conducted tours are arranged for the tourists to look around the building. The guide showed us many places within the building like the general assembly hall, visitors' gallery etc. Then, there was this generous sprinkling of artefacts from different countries throughout the lobbies and hallways. And suddenly we found ourselves in front of a wall on which hung a huge hand woven Persian carpet of exquisite beauty. Just as we were marvelling at its intricacy and perfection, our guide pointed out an arrow superimposed on the carpet and told us that the arrow had been placed there to indicate a mistake in the design of the carpet. We were also told that defect--almost undetectable to a layman's eye--was made deliberately by the weaver to illustrate the truth that no man can ever be perfect. It is only the Almighty who is perfect.

What a beautiful way of bringing home the truth that at the level of man, there can never be perfection. It is only when man becomes God or as Vedanta would say, rediscovers his seemingly lost Godhood, that there can be perfection.

And this perfection is what each man is striving for. His whole life is a struggle to attain it by rising above his weaknesses. At present he is imprisoned within the walls of three Gunas --Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Therefore the world and its imperfections trouble him. The body and mind cause him pain and sorrow. He grumbles and is restless, he feels like a caged lion and longs to be free. Only by crossing over this adamantine wall of the three gunas can he gain perfect freedom, everlasting joy and supreme peace.

'Once a rich man was passing through a forest when three robbers surrounded him and robbed him of all his wealth. After snatching all his possessions from him, one of the robbers said, "What's the good of keeping the man alive? Kill him". Saying this, he was about to strike their victim with his sword, when the second robber interrupted and said, "There is no use in killing him. Let us bind him fast and leave him here. Then he won't be able to tell the police." Accordingly the robbers tied him with a rope, left him and went away.

'After a while the third robber returned to the rich man and said. "Ah! You are badly hurt, aren't you? Come, I am going to release you." The third robber set the man free and led him out of the forest. When they came near the highway, the robber said, "Follow this road and you will reach home easily." "But you must come with me too," said the man. "You have done so much for me, we shall be happy to see you at our home." "No;" said the robber, "It is not possible for me to go there, the police will arrest me." So saying he left the rich man after pointing out his way.

'Now the first robber, who said, "What's the good of keeping the man alive? Kill him," is tamas. It destroys. The second robber is rajas, which binds a man to the world and entangles him in a variety of activities. Rajas makes him forget God.

'Sattva alone shows the way to God. It produces virtues like compassion, righteousness, and devotion. Again sattva is like the last step of the stairs. Next to it is the roof. The Supreme Brahman is man's own abode. One cannot attain the knowledge of Brahman unless one transcends the three gunas.'²

Thus man can grow out of his present imperfections only by breaking the shackles of the three gunas and inquiring into the beyond. Another parable illustrates this.

'A wood cutter once entered a forest to gather wood. A brahmachari said to him, "Go forward." He obeyed the injunction and discovered some sandalwood trees. After a few days he reflected, "The holy man asked me to go forward. He did not tell me to stop here." So he went forward and found a silver mine. After a few days he went still farther and discovered a gold mine and next, mines of diamonds and precious stones.'³

The truth is that man cannot be content with the things of the present. There is this constant urge in him to seek something higher and higher and to go further and further until he has attained the highest. Perfection is his true nature and he is bound to struggle for it. And Perfection is always Infinite; so this finite world cannot enchant him for long. His very nature would push him towards the realm of spirit. The process of tranformation--of turning a Valya into Valmiki or prince Siddhartha into the Buddha, the enlightened one--is bound to get triggered some day, sometime.

Each soul feels this urge sooner or later. It is said of Napoleon, the great warrior, that in his last sad days, in a contemplative mood he did ponder over the evanescence of matter and the permanence of spirit and realised how futile it was to found an empire by using crude force. For, however great an empire might be, it is sure to crumble into dust someday. Only the kingdom of heaven lasts for ever and '"The kingdom of heaven is within you," says Jesus; so says the Vedanta, and every great teacher.'⁴

As the pilgrim progresses in his search for this kingdom of heaven within, he marches ahead leaving behind the world of imperfections. 'The God of heaven becomes the God in nature, and the God in nature becomes the God who is nature and the God within this templeofthebody?'⁵

And this God is the goal of our great pilgrimage, the grandest and the most glorious. And we can find Him by renouncing our little self with its vain desires of living and enjoying. 'Not I, but Thou' should be our watchword. Only then can there be perfection. All the great teachers assure us that we will all come to it someday.

Swamiji says, 'I always cling to the ideal set forth with one voice by Christ, Buddha, and the Vedanta, that we must all come to perfection in time, but only by giving up this imperfection. This world is nothing. It is at best only a hideous caricature, a shadow of the Reality. We must go to the Reality. Renunciation will take us to it. Renunciation is the very basis of our true life, every moment of goodness and real life that we enjoy is when we do not think of ourselves. This little separate self must die. Then we shall find that we are in the real, and that Reality is God, and He is our own true nature, and He is always in us and with us. Let us live in Him and stand in Him. It is the only joyful state of existence. Life on the plane of the spirit is the only life, and let us all try to attain to this Realization.'⁶

1. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna by Mahendranath Gupta (M) Tr. Swami Nikhilananda, vol. 1, p.77 Sri Rama-krishna Math, Mylapore, Madras.
2. Ibid, p. 218 _ 219
3. Ibid, p. 109
4. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, vol. II p. 148, Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata.
5. Ibid, p. 128
6. Ibid, p. 174 Articles