Ramakrishna - Vivekananda Show the way
To deliver us from this state, Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna has brought a good news for all. His
message is not only for India, it is for the whole world. We shouldn't forget that for age after age,
the chief foundation of India's cultural life has been religion. Often it is heard that religion
is responsible for our present degradation. But Swami Vivekananda has pointed out just the opposite.
He said that our present bad condition is due to not practising religion properly. Religion is
not the observance of a few superstitions and local customs. According to Sri Ramakrishna, religion
is Realization - a direct experience of the highest Truth. Before a society plagued by doubts under
the influence of modern science he has made the spirited declaration : "God exists, and all religious
faiths take one along the path of actual experience and lead to God-realization." Looking upon mud
and gold as same, he has shown to the predominantly selfish world how paltry, vain and meaningless
it is to grab all the wealth and take possession of other men's land. He revealed that irrespective
of caste, religion and social status, the same Atman is present in everyone - in the rich and the
poor, in the learned and the ignoramus, in the high and the low. That is why the distinctions between
men are imaginary, they are man-made. so the prevailing fight all over the world, between castes,
between societies and between different social groups, is detestable. As a part of this teaching,
Sri Ramakrishna declared : "Serve man as a veritable manifestation of God." If man is served looking
upon him as God, one can thereby attain God-realization. In this way, Sri Ramakrishna established
harmony in the conflict between work and worship, which had been prevalent since many centuries. He
showed that the work which is done inspired by a true ideal is transformed into worship. The message
of Sri Ramakrishna was spread broadcast al over the world by Swami Vivekananda. Incomparable
is this message. By its influence, the establishment of a new social order all the world over
is inevitable.
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