God lived with them

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Swami Adbhutananda

It is difficult to understand the moods of an illumined soul. Although his behaviour may sometimes seem strange to others, there is likely to be a deeper meaning behind what he does. Latu Maharaj would sometimes appear whimsical- his moods would change without warning. One day he got the idea of brass-plating Sri Ramakrishna's wooden cot, which was still in his room at Dakshineswar. He told a devotee about the idea, and the devotee agreed to finance the project. A few days later the devotee came to confirm the plans, but Latu Maharaj had changed his mind. He said: " Our Master could not touch metal. To brass-plate the cot wouldn't be right, so let us drop the matter."

One of the qualities of a highly-evolved soul is simplicity; and simplicity is one of the most difficult qualities to imitate, for it is spontaneous. With Latu Maharaj, as with other holy men, one never knew what response he might make or what he might say, but it would always be straight to the point. Once a devotee came to visit Latu Maharaj in Calcutta after having attended the birth anniversary festival of Sri Ramakrishna at the Belur Monastery. He came with several friends. Latu Maharaj asked him, " How much did you give as an offering to the Lord in the shrine?" The devotee told him what he had given. Then Latu Maharaj asked about his friends. When he heard that they had not offered anything, he smiled," Your friends want religion by ' bearing post." The devotee did not understand .Latu Maharaj explained that they want their letters to reach their destination without putting any stamps on them; thus the recipient must pay the postage. The devotee remarked," Maharaj, you have coined a wonderful phrase."

Latu Maharaj continued : " So many people ( five thousand, as reported by the devotee ) took prasad at Belur Math and most of them did not donate anything. Is it good to take prasad without having offered something to the Lord? The monks do not have any money. Whatever devotees offer to the Lord is again spent for the devotees. How much of it is used to feed a few monks? The Master used to say that one should make an offering when one visits a holy place."

[Sucheta Ghosh]

>> ... " Our Master could not touch metal. To brass-plate the cot wouldn't be right, so let us drop the matter."...

Just reminded a story that Swami Atmasthanandaji Mj. used to tell about Sw. Abhedanandaji Mj. Once Abhedanandaji Mj thought to prepare a golden throne for the idol of Thakur (most probably for the Vedanta Math at Raja Rajakrishna St. near Hedua Calcutta). Oneday while he finalised everything towards that and going somewhere, he heard the voice of Thakur from back "hey, what are you doing? Don't you know that I cannot stand the touch of any metal?"Instantly Abhedanandaji Mj dropped the idea of golden throne. It means that an idol is not only a statue of stone and one can still hear Him (Thakur) or Her (Ma) in case we are quite near to Them. Very interestingly, we always forget small details when it comes to the practicality. How could Maharaja Ranjit Singh donate the Koh-i-noor (anciently called as Samantyak Mani) to Lord Jagannatha, while Lord Krishna already rejected that once before, saying that He cannot wear that? We should not forget that Ranjit Singh was a great devotee, who made many important addition and donations to many temples of India.

Jai Ma

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