Welcome to the Saraswati Puja edition of e-Sri Sanai for the year 2010

by Sri Sandip Dasgupta

Saraswati Puja is a very very special occasion for all of us – this is the day when our Master, Sri Sri Babathakur came to this earth. Unfortunately He decided to attain Mahasamadhi on November 9, 2009. When I received the sad news, I immediately rushed to Delhi to attend the last rites (video posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxq1bKsLfwU). My immediate reaction was that of shock, but as I got over my emotions, I realized that not much has changed – let me elaborate.

At a gross level, I will not

• be able to meet Him during Guru Poornima and Saraswati Puja
• be able to call Him up on important days like New Year’s, Bijoya etc.
• seek His advice on very important matters in my life

But I will be able to continue to

• listen to His words
• read His works
• reflect on His words
• follow His advice
  

The continuous bhajans that were sung during the week of November 9, 2009 filled my heart with joy – I could feel that He was indeed present amongst all of us, singing the bhajans and listening to those bhajans! This gave me great courage as I went up to the pyre to light the fire. The Master had repeatedly told His disciples “This body is nothing but a bucketful of ashes” As I watched His cremation at Moksha Dham, these words thundered through my ears. I was reminded that He was indeed the embodiment of the “Absolute I-Reality”. That body was turning into ashes, but His words were fully alive and constantly playing in my ears. Ever since that day, His words have been resonating through my ears – day-in and day-out. I feel that I can sense his presence even more, all the time!

In this issue, let me make a humble attempt to share my reflections on some His sayings.

“ALL DIVINE FOR ALL TIME AS IT IS” – Sri Sri Babathakur had emphatically declared that each and every creation and inert object in this planet and beyond is made of the same substratum that he termed “I-Reality”. He explained that by definition, there can only be one ABSOLUTE and this is DIVINE by nature. Time represents change and hence cannot be applicable to the ABSOLUTE. The ABSOLUTE also does not change as you move from one place to another.

Hence He has repeatedly urged us to “ACCEPT ALL, REJECT NONE” – quite simply because everything and everybody is Divine. He asked us to accept all as the ABSOLUTE DIVINE – not look for faults in others, but instead look for our own faults and correct them. Sri Sri Babathakur came to this earth for what He termed a "MISSIONLESS MISSION". According to Him, for one to have a MISSION, one has to be superior to others. So perfect was His understanding, that he repeatedly told us that He was no different than any of us – because we were all DIVINE. He pointed out to us that we had forgotten our true nature and our sole aim in life should be to realize that DIVINE amongst all of us. If we ever made the mistake of asking Him the question “How are you?”, He would spontaneously say “I am as I was, I am and as I will be” – referring to the Absolute nature of the DIVINE which is our true nature.

He used to point to the elements of the earth and remind us:

• What would happen if the Sun forgot its nature and stopped giving us sunlight?
• What would happen if the water changed its nature?
  

Thus He urged us to not forget our true nature. That would bring back joy and happiness to us and to this world.

Sri Sri Babathakur had a very interesting observation that He often shared with us. He used to say that if you keep asking God for this object, that thing etc. then you will remain a beggar. But also remember that anything that you will “obtain”, you will have to lose (similar to ‘What goes up, comes down’) – and when you lose that object, you will be unhappy. On the other hand, the ‘I-Reality’ is always present amongst all of us. If we seek to discover what is already within us, then there is no question of losing it. That is true Knowledge and that is what will give us true, ever-lasting happiness.

Let me restate some of His advice for those of us who live in this objective world.

• Don’t live in Samsara – live in ‘Sama-Sara’, where everybody and everything is the same, was the same and will remain the same.
• Before you sleep every night, reflect on the Lord (Brahman, Atman, I-Reality, as you wish). When resting, rest in His name and idea, not in the Ajnana (the knowledge of worldly things). In the morning when you wake up, start the day by remembering Him and taking His name. Whatever work that you do, do it for Him – that way you should be able to surrender the results to Him.
• Whatever you see with your eyes, think that He is within that. Accept the Divinity within that.
• Whatever you hear, think that it is coming from that same Divinity.
• Whatever you think, is coming from Him.
• Whatever you experience, think that the Divine is within that.
• Those that have realized the ‘I-Reality’ within them have no desire and hence are the really wealthy people. They are the real Kings of this world.

In the past year, we have formed two chapters of Saccidananda Society in North America – one each in USA and Canada. Both are awaiting approval from the relevant federal bodies. Sri Partha Guha and I have been asked to preserve a container of His ashes for the respective chapters of the Saccidananda Society in North America. As per His wishes, we are still trying to proceed with the Bhajan program(s) in North America in Jun 2010. We have begun the distribution of His works in North America amongst the bhaktas. We are also trying to donate some of His works to important University libraries in North America. We also hope to be able to distribute the 2010 version of the calendar being produced by Saccidananda Society, Kolkata.

So, as e-Sri Sanai begins its second year of existence – I would urge all of you to reflect on His words and contributing articles more actively to this publication. Let’s get an online discussion group going. He has given us much knowledge and light. It is now upto us to recollect His words, reflect on those them and remove the clouds of ignorance so as to be able to take baby steps towards the ultimate goal of our lives.

Let me conclude by attempting to translate (with significant assistance from Ms. Swapna Banerjee), one His revealed bhajans:

Guru, I offer my humble prayers at Thy feet

Please let my mind and bio-energy (prana) be at Thy service

Please let me be worthy of receiving Thy kindness, worthy of beholding Thy vision

Please let me be with Thee uninterruptedly day and night

Thou Divine, be there with me all the time!

Please be with me when I recall and think about Thee

Please be with me in my meditation and knowing.

Please be with me in my state of sleeping

Please be with me in my state of dreaming

Please be with me in my state of awakening.

Let me be worthy of Thou compassion and blessing

Let all my actions be Thy worshipping

Let my life be the medium of Thy Divine Sport

Make me Thy exclusive instrument, your Action’s Abode.

Oh Guru my Life! I surrender myself to Thee

Please accept me O Guru! Please accept me!

Please bestow the strength of mind, bestow the might of vital force (prana)

Please bestow the faith in my heart, bestow devotion and reverence

Please awaken in my heart dispassion and sacrifice

Please awaken in me the Eternal Knowledge of Self Infinite

Please open the flood-gate of Consciousness, open the “Divine Eyes”

Please allow me to play in Thy Existence, Consciousness, and Bliss!

Joy Guru, Joy Guru, Joy Guru.

How our Master came to be known as Sri Sri Babathakur

From the pages of SmritiGatha (translated by Smt. Swapna Banerjee)

Sri Sri Babathakur started his early career as a teacher in an eminent school in South Kolkata, India. During those days He was addressed and referred to as “Mastermashai,” a formal address for a teacher in Bengali. In the late 1960s He lived in Kankulia, a neighborhood in the Ballygunje area of South Kolkata. His spiritual aura was already drawing seekers, aspirants, devotees, and other curious people around Him.

On February 12th, 1967 late Srimati Bani Chakraborty (wife of Late N. C. Chakraborty, Senior Advocate of Kolkata High Court), a highly qualified and devoted soul, accompanied by her equally dedicated cousin Late Srimati Uma Raychaudhuri, paid a visit to Him at His residence in Kankulia to satisfy their spiritual quests. The first encounter with the Divine Personality of MasterMashai unleashed profound changes in their lives turning them into the most ardent devotees of Sri Sri Babathakur. Sri Sri Babathakur moved into Srimati Chakraborty’s residence on Fern Road in early 1968 and stayed there until 1996. Srimati Bani Chakraborty, with the full support and encouragement of her husband who revered Sri Sri BabaThakur as his Supreme Guru, dedicated her life at the service of Sri Sri Babathakur, taking care of Him as Iswar Atma Brahma Guru, but with the utmost love, affection, care and dedication of the most protective mother.

It may be worth mentioning here that Srimati Chakraborty was already spiritually initiated by Srimad Hansha Baba Abhadut when she met Sri Sri Babathakur. While single-handedly fulfilling the responsibility of His bodily care, Srimati Chakraborty’s greatest legacy is the chronicling of Sri Sri Babathakur’s daily activities, lectures, revealed songs (bhajans), Divine ecstasies, and numerous spiritual experiences for a period of almost three decades in her journals. Her diary narrating the life of Sri Sri Babathakur first came out as a series in the spiritual quarterly, Sri Sanai, from 1982 onwards and were subsequently published in two volumes, SmritiGantha Volumes I (2003) and II (2009). The account narrated below is from the pages of SmritiGantha (Garland of Memories), the memoirs of Srimati Bani Chakraborty. The translation has tried to remain close to the original so as to retain Srimati Chakraborty’s voice.

Smt. Swapna Banerjee
_______________________________________________________________________________

From the pages of SmritiGatha: Memoirs of Late Srimati Bani Chakrabarty, Calcutta: Saccidananda Society, Manashi Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-81-86571-30-9; pp. 24-25

April 13th, 1970: I was preparing MasterMashai’s bed after he had finished his dinner. In the midst of various conversation, MasterMashai kept saying — “All Divine Mother (Chaitanyamoyee Ma) says so many inchoate things (Abol Tabol) [incoherent and nonsensical talks] . Wouldn’t she say abol tabol? Ma speaks in terms of A-bol (My/I- language) and Ta-bol (Your language). ”A-bol” means the language of Ananda (Bliss), “tomar bol” means the language of Tattva (Absolute Reality). In the course of the conversation He again said — “Any sadhana (discipline/practice) with ahamkar (ego) is the sadhana of jnana (knowledge) – it is devoid of rasas, the joy and bliss derived from Savikalpa Samadhi. The sadhana of bhakti (devotion) is full of Joy or Bliss.“

It was the middle of April. After MasterMashai had his lunch and I mine, I sought His permission to visit my friend and Guru-bhagni (co-disciple) Manju-di. I went to learn a special recipe from her. I talked a lot about MasterMashai with Manju-di. As we spoke Manju-di told me, “Why would you call Him who you respect so much and hold in such high regard,as “MasterMashai”? “MasterMashai” is a highly respectable address but in the spiritual field you do not use this address for someone who you regard so highly in your heart. We spoke about MasterMashai for an hour-hour and a half and I came back home.

Right after I came back MasterMashai’s asked: “So Ma! You met your friend after such a long time. What did she say?”

I told him why I went to see Manju-di and also shared the rest of the conversation I had with her. I told Him straight -- “Manju-di does not like we addressing You as “Master Mashai”. She said although “MasterMashai is a highly respectable term, it is not an appropriate address for someone you consider your Guru (spiritual mentor).” MasterMashai quietly listened to what I said and after a brief silence said – “She was indeed right.”

I asked — “So what should we call you? “ MasterMashai said -- “ Ma, I really don’t know all that. Call me whatever you like.” There was no further conversation on this matter that day.

That evening when Dwijeshda, Uma, and Binay came, I told them right away what Manju-di had suggested. I said, “ There’s no reason why we should continue to call Him MasterMashai because that’s what we have been calling him for ages.? We ought to change the address.” Dwijesh-da said, “MasterMashai is such a beautiful address! Master means Ma + Star, i.e. Ma Tara (literally, star in Bengali). We laughed at Dwijesh-da’s humor, but Uma and I continued to ponder over what Manju-di suggested. The next day when Harisadhan-da came, I related to him the whole incident. I gave him the responsibility of choosing a name at his earliest. He said, “All right, I will think it through tonight.” The next day Harisadhan-da came back with ten to twelve names. Of those, I only remember three —Thakur, Babathakur, and Thakurbaba. Uma send those names to Bombay-r Ma. We have to select the name from this list. We sought Ma’s opinion. Ma said nothing about which name is better or how we should address Him. She responded to Uma saying that Sri Sri Sarada Ma (the Holy Mother and the consort of Sri RamaKrishna ParamaHansa) used to address Sri Sri Ramakrishna as BabaThakur. But not everybody knows about it.

After we received this letter from Bombay, we decided that we should start calling MasterMashai, “BabaThakur”. We let MasterMashai know that we had come to this decision based on the letter from Ma. He did not raise any objection to what we said but smiled softly.

From that very day we started to practice calling Him “BabaThakur” and instructed everybody to do the same. Old habits die hard. “MasterMashai” came to our lips very easily; we acquired the habit of calling Him BabaThakur much later. Although we cannot recall the exact date, we do remember that we started calling Him “BabaThakur” from the month of May. We spent all April thinking about the address and exchanging letters. Let me state here that from May 1970 onwards, I will refer to Him as BabaThakur in my journal entries in SmritiGatha.

Poem

Our Time with Sri Sri Babathakur

by Sri Dipak & Smt. Monjusree Chowdhury

Before we say anything about our experiences with Sri Sri Babathakur, we bow to Him with our deepest reverence and love.

We truly feel very blessed that during our lifetime, we not only had darshan of such an enlightened Master, but were given many opportunities to sit close to Him, listen to His teachings directly, and be blessed by Him. Our first meeting with Him was many years ago in our mashi’s (Smt. Bani Chakravarty) house. At that early age, we weren’t interested in anything spiritual and so we didn’t really take any notice of who Sri Sri Babathakur was. To us, it was only a matter of doing pranam and leaving his room, until many years later.

I (Dipak) was visiting Sri Sri Babathakur and he asked me to come back and see him the next morning, after taking my bath. Little did I know that this would be the beginning of my spiritual journey. That next morning, when I visited Him, Sri Sri Babathakur gave me my mantra—which I’ve chanted every single day since then, according to his instructions. After that, whenever we’d go to India, we’d always visit Him to pay our respects.

Today, both of us spend an important part of our lives doing our mantra, Japa, practicing meditation and studying spiritual teachings, including Sri Sri Babathakur’s. Our memories of His presence and teachings will always be treasured until our last days.

Truly, Sri Sri Babathakur was beyond words. To us, He was a compassionate and loving teacher who exuded Divinity at all times. May we all be blessed by Sri Sri Babathakur. May we always have the wisdom to remind ourselves constantly about who we truly are—Suddha, Mukta, Buddha, Atma—as Sri Sri Babathakur always reminded us.

Life’s teachings from a true REALISER

by Sri Partha Guha


“I am the centre and cause of all actions and activities around me”. Science of Oneness.

Ever since I began communicating with Sri Sri Babathakur (hereafter referred to as “The Master”), my only question to Him had been – “How can I attain the path of Peace?” Totally exhausted sometimes from trying to overcome the obstacles of life and then applying my judgment and failing further, I was keen to end this mundane life cycle and look for something different and better.

Every time I would approach Him with a problem, He would give me a suggestion or two to help me get over my immediate obstacle. This though would be followed by an immediately reminder that, “This is not a permanent solution, the real solution lies within yourself”. I of course would carefully listen to Him with little or no understanding, and return home content with the notion of at least having received some solution to my immediate challenge. I however did not realize that these problems would manifest themselves again soon in my life as the “I”. What I was preoccupied with was the Kacha Aami (i.e. the “temporary I”), whereas The Master was referring to the Paka Aami (i.e. the “permanent I”). Gradually I began understanding what The Master was trying to teach me. The “temporary I” or the Kacha Aami is all concerning the material world and our ego, whereas the “permanent I” or the Paka Aami is our clear consciousness. The background stays eternally present and we experience all this through our indriyo (senses).

Then another day The Master explained how in our awakened life or behavioral life we use deha (body), indriyo (senses), pran (life), mann (mind), and buddhi (intellect). It works like brain--> mind-->senses. In the visible world, our inner nature works both ways governed by the mind inside to the outside, and reverse. Consciousness is the abiding reality of gross, subtle, subtler manifestations - all this is chaitanya. He then said that consciousness is something we will need at all times. This chaitanya (or consciousness) could either be positive or negative.

I then asked Him a question - “How does the same consciousness appear to be so diversified?” He replied, “The awareness of this is done by the mind, which is the inner sense. Inner sense is divided into four parts – (i) Intellect (buddhi) &(ii) Mind (mann) are at one level, (iii) Ego(ahankar) is on another level and (iv) Citta (mind stuff) which consciousness with objective attitude.”

At that point I asked Him once again how I could attain the Path of Peace and mentioned that I was going away to the mountains to do penance. He said,” Going to the mountains in search of peace is a temporary fix, but if one follows certain rules, one can attain permanent peace.” He continued, “When something starts and ends in Oneness, that is the Path of Peace.”

My learning from all this has forced me to change the way I look at my own life and self. As stated above, I have started training myself to believe that – I am the centre and cause of all actions I take and the activities around me. I have no reason to praise or blame anyone for either my successes or my failures.

The Master, Sri Sri Babathakur attained MahaSamadhi on 9th Nov’09 at his place of abode in New Delhi, India.

( … to be continued)