Shri Ramakrishna was now practically alone with these young men. Having left their homes for the time being at the instance of Naren, they were giving themselves in devoted service to the Master. Naren was a constant source of inspiration to them. During their leisure periods, he would gather them together, and the time would be spent in study, devotional singing, and discussions about the Master and other serious matters. The blazing fire of Naren's personality by its heat welded the heterogeneous elements to be found among the boys into a homogeneous whole of one body and one soul, as it were. They were twelve in number, every one of them a tower of strength in consecration and single minded devotion. Their names were Narendra, Rakhal, Baburam, Niranjan, Yogin, Latu, Tarak, Gopal Senior, Kali, Shashi, Sharat and Gopal Junior. Sarada, owing to the opposition of his father, could come only now and then, and stay for a day or two. Harish stayed for only a few days, after which his brain became deranged and he went home. Hari and Gangadhar practised Tapasya at home and came from time to time.

As the end of the Master approached, Narendranath's hankering after the realization of God intensified. One night, after deciding to go home for a day or two to settle some family affairs, he went to bed, but could not sleep. Calling Sharat, Gopal Junior, and a few others to him, he said, "Come, let us have a walk in the garden." As they walked about Naren said, "The Master's disease is extremely serious. May he not intend to lay down his body! Strive your best for spiritual enlightenment through service to him and prayer and meditation, while there is yet time. After his passing away, there will be no end to your repentance. We are wasting our time in the foolish thought that we shall pray to God after finishing this or that piece of business. That is only fastening more chains of desire on us, and desire means death. We must root that out at once."_x000d_ On that cold starry night they felt a great urge to meditate. A heap of straw and dry twigs was lying near. Naren said, "Set fire to it. It is at this hour that the monks light their Dhuni fires. Let us do the same and burn our desires." The fire was lighted and the boys sat round it, feeling that they were really making a bonfire of their desires and being purged of all impurities.

One day Shri Ramakrishna initiated Naren with the name of Rama, telling him that it was the Mantra which he had received from his own Guru. In consequence of this, Naren's emotions were tremendously stirred. Towards evening he began to circle the house, repeating the name of the Lord, "Rama! Rama!", in a loud and animated voice. Outward consciousness had apparently left him, and he was full of ecstatic fire. When the Master was informed of this, he simply said, "Let him be; he will come round in due course." The emotional storm subsided in a few hours, and Naren became his old self again._x000d_ According to another version, when Shri Ramakrishna came to know of Naren's ecstatic state, he said to someone: "Go and ask Naren to come here." But the messenger could not manage Naren alone, and sought help from others. When they brought Naren, the Master said, "Oh, why are you going on like this? What good will it do?" After a pause he said, "See, I passed twelve long years in the state you are experiencing now. What are you going to attain in a single night?"

The Cossipore garden house became a temple and a university hall in one. At times philosophy held the floor, at others, devotion. Singing and chanting would go on when time could be snatched from nursing. Naren would say to the Master, "Sir, give me a medicine that will cure all the illness of my mind and heart." The Master would respond by sending him and the other disciples to meditate; or he would ask him to sing. While singing, waves of rapturous love for God would sweep over Naren, carrying him to realms of ecstasy.

The move to Cossipore ushered in the last scene of the Master's life. These were days of intense physical suffering for him, yet days of bliss too, for he felt that he had fulfilled his mission on earth and was leaving a number of youthful, all renouncing, determined disciples, who would make his message known. His great hope lay in Narendranath, and even on his deathbed he devoted himself to the task of moulding the lives of Naren and the other youngsters. Of his approaching end he gave ample hints: "I shall make the whole thing public before I go"; "When people in large numbers begin to whisper about the greatness of this body, then the Mother will take it back"; "The devotees will be sifted into inner and outer circles towards the end"; and so on.

Naren grew in spiritual power from day to day, while Shri Ramakrishna grew physically worse, although in his mind and heart the same divine flame burned, all the brighter for his sufferings. The disciples nursed him faithfully, making their service to the Guru an act of worship; but nothing could stay the course of the disease. The Master was again ordered by his physician not to strain his throat by talking; but he did not resist the urge to transmit his knowledge to the many religious seekers who flocked to him at all hours.

Day by day the Master's body grew weaker. The boys, under the direction of Naren, gave all their time to nursing him. This required them to stay day and night at the Cossipore garden. It gave rise to strong opposition from their relatives. Naren was at that time studying for the Law examination, and then also there was the lawsuit with some of his relatives, which, as we have mentioned, had been pending. This latter made it imperative for him to be in Calcutta part of the time; Under but he resolved to do his studying in the time left to him at Cossipore.

There was nothing unnatural in Naren's entreaty for Samadhi. It is the heartfelt desire and ambition of every sincere Sadhaka of all ages and climes to be merged in God through Samadhi. But Naren was born for the fulfillment of a higher and greater purpose. He was to be not only a Siddha purusha-a perfected soul-but a saviour of souls. He was not only to cross the ocean of Maya himself, but to help others do so. In this light, Naren's own liberation was of comparatively minor significance. That Shri Ramakrishna was fully aware of this was shown by his telling Naren that he would enable him to realize a higher and nobler state than Samadhi. He wanted Naren to be a Jnani and a Bhakta in one, to see God in His various forms as well as experience the Absolute.

At this time Naren was practising many austerities and meditating a great deal, spending night after night in the Panchavati before a Dhuni fire. The Master had initiated him into various paths of spiritual discipline, and in carrying out these instructions Naren attained remarkable results.

Shri Ramakrishna was quietly preparing him to be the leader of the group of youngsters who were to consecrate their lives in the near future to the carrying out of his mission. One day the Master expressly commissioned him to look after them, saying, "I leave them in your care. See that they practise spiritual exercises even after my passing away, and that they do not return home."

One day, in preparation for the monastic life, the Master instructed the boys to beg their food from door to door. They immediately complied with enthusiasm; and with the name of the Lord on their lips went forth to beg in the neighbourhood. They had various experiences: some were abused for neglecting their duties in the world; the sight of others caused mothers to shed tears. The food which they collected in this manner was cooked in the garden and offered to the Master, who was over joyed. He took a grain of rice and said, "Well done! This food is very pure." He knew that soon these young boys would put on the ochre cloth of renunciation and go forth empty handed in quest of God, begging from pious householders such food as was necessary.

Naren was looked up to by the other young disciples because of Shri Ramakrishna's estimate of his spiritual worth. Then, too, he was the most intellectual of them all. He combined reason and a wide range of knowledge with a devotional nature; and was, besides, more strongly fortified in his religious convictions. When the Master's teaching and the monastic tendencies of himself and his fellow disciples were challenged his explanations were irresistible. In speaking for himself, he spoke for his fellow disciples. It was he who fired them with enthusiasm by the power of his personality. If any differences or difficulties arose, they would come to him for a solution.

Shri Ramakrishna encouraged this central position of Naren in innumerable ways. He told them that Naren was their leader, and made them feel that the spiritual understanding of his chief disciple should be their guide in days to come. They for the most part understood the Master the better through Naren. He explained that great life to them. His understanding of the Master became their understanding and strength.

One day, about this time, Pandit Shashadhar Tarkachudamani, a great scholar and a devotee of Ramakrishna, came to Cossipore. In the course of conversation the pandit said, "Sir, it is written in the scriptures that perfect souls like you can cure any physical malady by mere wish. If you will concentrate your mind on the affected part, determined that it shall be cured, the cure will take place. Why don't you try it, sir?" Shri Ramakrishna replied without a moment's hesitation, "You are a scholar and yet you make such a senseless proposal! I have given my mind once for all to God. How is it possible for me to take it away and concentrate it upon this cage of rotten flesh and blood?" The pandit was silenced.

After he had left, Naren and a few disciples begged the Master to heal himself saying, "Sir, you must get rid of this disease, at least for our sake."_x000d_ Shri Ramakrishna: "Do you think that I undergo this suffering voluntarily? I should like to see it cured; but it is still there. Everything depends on the sweet will of the Divine Mother."_x000d_ Naren: "Then please ask the Mother to cure you. She cannot but listen to your prayer."_x000d_ Shri Ramakrishna: "It is easy for you to talk like that; but I can never ask for such things."_x000d_ Naren: "That will not do. You must tell the Mother about it at least for our sake."_x000d_ Shri Ramakrishna: "Very well. Let me see what can be done."_x000d_ After a few hours, Naren came back and said, "Did you ask the Mother about it? What was Her reply?" The Master said, "I said to Her, pointing to my throat, `I cannot eat anything on account of sore here. Please see that I am able to eat a little.' The Mother replied, pointing to you all, `Why! Are you not eating through so many mouths?' I was so ashamed that I could not utter another word."

The meditative mood was becoming more and more sponta-neous with Naren, and was manifest in the power to plunge into deep concentration on any subject. Sometimes, following meditation, Naren would see his double. It would appear as someone just like himself, and he would wonder, "Who is this?" It would respond to all his actions like an image reflected in a mirror, and remain with him sometimes for more than an hour. He told Shri Ramakrishna of it, but the Master passed it over lightly, saying, "It is only an incident in the higher stages of meditation."

The few days that were left to Shri Ramakrishna on this mortal plane were memorable ones for the disciples. One day in January 1886, Gopal Senior, one of the disciples, expressed his wish to distribute ochre cloths and Rudraksha beads to sadhus who would be passing through Calcutta to attend the annual festival at Gangasagar, where the Ganga meets the sea. When the Master came to know of it, he said to Gopal, "Here are boys [meaning his young disciples] full of renunciation. It is useless to search for purer souls outside. You will earn merit by distributing the things to these boys." Accordingly Gopal handed over twelve sets of ochre clothing and Rudraksha beads to the Master, who in turn distributed them amongst his eleven monastic disciples-Naren, Rakhal, Baburam, Niranjan, Yogindra, Tarak, Shashi, Sharat, Kali, Latu and Gopal Senior. These were to be the foundation of the Ramakrishna Order. After the ceremony they were permitted to take food from all, irrespective of caste and creed. The remaining set of ochre clothing was given to Girishchandra Ghosh, according to some; while according to others it was given to Gopal Junior. Thus the Master himself initiated these boys into monastic life, fulfilling their heart's desire; and by that act also the seed of the Ramakrishna Order was sown.

Now we come to the greatest moment of Naren's spiritual disciplines and the crest of his spiritual realizations. Ever since the Master had opened the door of the Advaita Vedanta to him, ho had been pining for experience of the Absolute. He prayed to feel Divinity; to have the whole of Nature erased from the tablets of perception. To lose the `I' in True Being, beyond thought such was Naren's prayer to Shri Ramakrishna. Naren wanted to realize the central truth of the Upanishads and to be able to say from his own experience, "Aham Brahmasmi", "I am Brahman".

Naren had pestered the Master for this realization. One evening it came unexpectedly. He was meditating, when suddenly he felt a light at the back of his head, as though a torch light were playing there. It became more and more brilliant, and, larger and larger. Finally it seemed to burst. His mind became merged in it. What transpired then in his consciousness was beyond words, for that Absolute State is beyond description. Some time after this realization he wrote some verses, "The Hymn of Samadhi", which hint at the nature of that exalted state.

All was still and quiet in the room where Naren and Gopal Senior were meditating. Suddenly Gopal heard Naren cry out, "Gopal-da, Gopal-da, where is my body?" In coming down from that state Naren was at first conscious only of his head; his body seemed lost. "Why, Naren, there it is. It is there", answered the startled Gopal as he looked at Naren's rigid body, lying prostrate. He then hastened for help to Shri Ramakrishna, whom he found in a state of intense calm, his countenance deeply serious as though he knew what was happening in the next room. In reply to Gopal's entreaty he said, "Let him stay' in that state for a while. He has teased me long enough for it."

According to another version, it was Niranjan, one of the monastic disciples, who went to the Master on seeing Naren in Samadhi, and said, "Naren is dead. His body is ice-cold." At these words Shri Ramakrishna laughed.

About nine o'clock at night Naren began to show faint signs of returning consciousness. When he regained full consciousness of the physical world he found himself surrounded by his anxious brother-disciples. Memory came back. He felt as though he were bathed in ineffable peace. His heart was full to over flowing with ecstasy. He realized that the Absolute of Vedanta alone could reconcile all philosophies. When he presented himself before the Master, the latter said, looking deep into his eyes, "Now then, the Mother has shown you everything. Just as a treasure is locked up in a box, so will this realization you have just had be locked up and the key shall remain with me. You have work to do. When you have finished my work, the treasure box will be unlocked again; and you will know everything then, as you did just now." He warned him to be careful about his body for some time, and to exercise the utmost discretion in his choice of food and companions, accepting only the purest.

Afterwards Shri Ramakrishna said to the other disciples, "Naren will pass away only of his own will. The moment he realizes who he is, he will refuse to stay a moment longer in the body. The time will come when he will shake the world to its foundations through the strength of his intellectual and spiritual powers. I have prayed that the Divine Mother may keep this realization of the Absolute veiled from Naren. There is much work to be done by him. But this veil is so thin, so very thin that it may give way at any time."

It was Naren's intense desire to realize the absolute Brahman that decided Shri Ramakrishna to give it to him, but the Master had no intention of permitting him to stay there. As Naren's work was to be in the form of compassion and service to humanity, he could not remain in Nirvikalpa Samadhi if he was to do it. It is only a Ramakrishna who is able to merge in and come from the Absolute at will; and even he assured his return to ordinary consciousness by creating some desire of the simplest kind before going into Samadhi and repeating it so that nothing was left to chance. He would say, "I-I-I shall smoke", "I shall have water to drink."

This was not the only occasion on which Narendranath experienced Nirvikalpa Samadhi. At least three other occasions are well known when, as Swami Vivekananda, he experienced it during his first visit to America: at Chicago, on the shore of the Lake Michigan; at Camp 'Percy, in New Hampshire; and at the Thousand Island Park. As we have noted, Shri Ramakrishna had said, "But this veil [covering the realization of the Absolute] is so very thin that it may give way at any time." These are occasions when it is known to have given way. Being an Ishwarakoti, he could return from this state to serve the Divine Mission; or it may be that Shri Ramakrishna himself unlocked the treasure-box occasionally, when Naren's mind simply panted for that experience. Who knows how many more such occasions there may have been!

The days passed in devotion, in service, in sorrow, in ecstasy Naren leading, the others following. Few were the days left before Shri Ramakrishna would pass into Mahasamadhi, when the light of that great life would leave the body. The disciples were untiring in their attention, despite sleepless nights and busy days. What did it matter if their own bodies succumbed in his service? In August of that year, 1886, people came and _x000d_ went by scores; it seemed as if everyone who had ever known the Master felt that the end was drawing near-and of them all, Naren felt this most. His sorrow at the approaching separation was mixed with a spiritual consciousness and sense of power springing from the knowledge that he had been made the particular heir to Shri Ramakrishna's spiritual inheritance.

Naren remembered that the Master had had to wait three or four years before he (Naren) would accept the Mother and could be made over to Her. Only after this could the Master give him (Naren) the whole treasure of his realizations and be free to depart. Naren used to say, later, "From the time that he gave me over to the Mother, he retained his vigour of body only six months. The rest of the time he suffered." Indeed, the power of the Master was being diverted into a new channel into Naren who had been prepared for this by more than four years of spiritual training.

An unpleasant, but significant incident occurred at Cossipore which shows how much the Master loved and trusted Narendranath. Ramchandra Datta, Kalipada Ghosh, and Surendranath Mitra, householder disciples of the Master, were the chief contributors towards the expenses at Cossipore during the Master's illness; and the young boys used to spend the amount according to need. Gopal Junior was asked to keep the accounts, which Rambabu used to check from time to time. Once these householder devotees scolded the boys for extravagance. The situation took such a serious turn that Naren. had to approach Shri Ramakrishna and report everything to him. The Master said to Naren: "Wherever you take me on your shoulders, there I shall stay." The conversation has been well depicted in the well known Bengali poetical work, Sri Sri Ramakrishna Punthi:_x000d_ Seeing Naren thus worried, the Master said: _x000d_ "Come, I shall go wherever you take me._x000d_ In whatever condition you keep me, in that I shalt live." _x000d_ "On my shoulders I shall take you," said Naren, _x000d_ "And begging from door to door I shall feed you."_x000d_ Again and again the Master then said,_x000d_ "No more from these devotees shall I take any money."_x000d_ Hearing this resolve of the Master, the boys became worried. How were they to meet the expenses? Lakshminarayan Marwari, a rich businessman of Calcutta, came to know of this, and offered money; but the Master did not accept it. He called Girishchandra Ghosh and asked him to bear all the expenses alone. Directed thus, Girish was overwhelmed with emotion and said, "I shall sell, if necessary, my house and land to meet the expenses." After this the young disciples did not allow those three householder devotees to meet the Master; but later on the Master pacified them and the two parties were reconciled with one another.

On January 1, 1886, something remarkable happened. Dr. Rajendralal Datta, a well known homoeopath of Calcutta, examined the Master carefully and administered Lycopodium 200. The medicine alleviated the symptoms to some extent. Feeling better, Shri Ramakrishna expressed the desire to have a stroll in the compound. This was in the afternoon about 3 o'clock. Most of the young disciples who served him, and who used to practise meditation at night, were resting in the hall on the ground floor. It being New Year's Day, there was a holiday, and many householder devotees had come to the Cossipore garden to see the Master. Girishchandra Ghosh, who had also come, was conversing with Ramachandra Datta and a few others under a mango tree. Accompanied by some devotees the Master slowly approached Girish and said, "Girish, what have you seen in me as a result of which you say publicly so many things [that I am an Incarnation, and so on] to one and all?"

Girish, who had wonderful faith in the Master's divinity, said to him with folded hands in a choking voice, "What can I say of Him, a fraction of whose glory even Vyasa and Valmiki failed miserably to express [in their epics]?" At Girish's words the Master's mind ascended to a high plane and he went into Samadhi. Girish cried out with joy, "Glory to Ramakrishna, glory to Ramakrishna!" and took the dust of the Master's feet again and again.

Meanwhile the Master came down to a semi conscious state and said, smiling: "What more shall I say to you? May you all be spiritually awakened!" When the devotees heard these words of blessing, they cried out, "Glory to Ramakrishna!" Some of them saluted the Master, some offered him flowers, while others took the dust of his feet, one by one. The Master in turn touched the chest of each devotee who approached him, and said, "Be spiritually awakened!" That day, most of the householder devotees of the Master had spiritual experiences of some sort or other. The Master became, as it were, the fabled Wish fulfilling Tree (Kalpataru) on this day, and granted them spiritual realizations according to their path and capacity. In memory of this incident, Kalpataru day is celebrated every year on January 1 at the Cossipore garden and elsewhere.

Naren's frame of mind at this time is also seen from the record of a conversation he had with Mahendranath Gupta in the evening of that day.

Narendra: "I was meditating here last Saturday [January 2, 1886], when suddenly I felt a peculiar sensation in my chest." _x000d_ Mahendra: "It was the awakening of the Kundalini." _x000d_ Narendra: "Probably it was. I clearly perceived the Ida and Pingala nerves. I asked Hazra to feel my chest. Yesterday I saw him [meaning the Master] upstairs and told him about it. I said to him: `All the others had their realization [on the Kalpataru day]; please give me something. All have succeeded; shall I alone remain unsatisfied?' He said, `Why don't you settle your family affairs and then come to me? You will get everything. What do you want?' I replied, `It is my desire to remain absorbed in Samadhi continually for three or four days, only once in a while coming down to the sense plane to eat a little food.' Thereupon he said, `You are a small-minded person. There is a state higher even than that. "All that exists art Thou"; it is you who sing that song. Settle your family affairs and then come to me. You will attain a state higher than Samadhi.'

"I went home this morning. My people scolded me, saying: `Why do you wander about like a vagabond? Your Law exa-mination is near at hand and you are not paying any attention to your studies. You wander about aimlessly.' I went to my study at my grandmother's. As I tried to read I was seized with a great fear, as if studying were a terrible thing. My heart struggled within me. I burst into tears: I never wept so bitterly in my life. I left my books and ran away. I ran past a haystack and got hay all over me. I kept on running along the road here [Cossipore].”

About nine o'clock on the same evening Niranjan and Shashi were sitting near the Master. Every now and then he talked of Narendra: "How wonderful Narendra's state of mind is! You see, this very Narendra did not believe in the forms of God; and now you see how his soul is panting For God! You know that story of the man who asked his teacher how God could be realized. The teacher said to the disciple: `Come with me. I shall show you how one can realize God.' Saying this he took the disciple to a lake and held his head under the water. After a short time the teacher released him and asked, `How did you feel?' `I was dying for a breath of air', said the disciple. When your soul longs and yearns for God like that, then you will know that you do not have to wait long for His vision. The rosy colour on the horizon shows that the sun will soon rise."_x000d_ In this way Shri Ramakrishna gave a hint that Naren was soon to reach the goal.

On one occasion he displayed it: It was on Shivaratri (the Night of Shiva) in March 1886. Naren was seated with three or four brother disciples in a room in the compound of the Cossipore garden house. They had fasted the whole day and intended to spend the night in meditation, worship and prayer. A mild shower of rain fell in the evening and the starlit sky was in parts fleeced with clouds. After finishing the worship, Japa and meditation proper to the first quarter of the night, Naren was resting and conversing with others, sitting on the worshipper's seat. One of the brother disciples went out to prepare a smoke for him and another went to the main residence on a piece of work. Just then a feeling of divine power came to Naren. He wanted to test it out that night, and said to Kali (later Swami Abhedananda) who was sitting close to him, "Just touch me after a while." When the brother disciple who had gone to prepare tobacco entered the room, he saw Naren sitting motionless in meditation and Kali, with his eyes shut, touching Naren's right knee with his right hand. He noticed that Kali's hand was trembling. After a minute or two Naren opened his eyes and said, "That is enough. How did you feel?" Kali answered, "I felt a shock as though from an electric battery. My hand was shaking all the while." The brother disciple asked Kali, "Was your hand trembling because you were touching Naren?" Kali answered, "Yes, I could not keep it steady, though I tried."

A little later the young men applied themselves to the worship and meditation proper to the second quarter of the night. Kali entered into deep meditation at that time. He was never seen to enter into such deep meditation before. His whole body be-came stiff, with his neck and head inclined slightly forward. Consciousness of the outer world seemed to have completely left him for some time. Everyone present thought that he was having such meditation as a result of having touched Naren a little while previously. Naren also noticed that state and indi-cated it to a companion by a sign.

After the last quarter's worship was over at four in the morning, Shashi came to the worship-room and said to Naren, "The Master wants you." Naren went upstairs with Shashi to the Master. No sooner had the Master seen Naren than he said, "What is this? Spending with hardly anything accumulated! Allow it first to accumulate sufficiently in yourself; then you will know where and how to spend it. Mother Herself will teach you. Don't you see what harm you have done to him by injecting your attitude of mind into him? He has been progressing till now with a particular mental attitude, the whole of which has now been destroyed, like a miscarriage during the sixth month of pregnancy. What's done is done. Don't act so thoughtlessly from now on. The boy, however, is lucky that greater harm has not befallen him." Naren said afterwards, "I was completely flabbergasted. The Master was able to know whatever we did at the time of worship. What else could I do but keep silent when he scolded me like that!"1

1 Swami Abhedananda (Kali) narrates this same incident in his autobiography. The gist of his account is as follows: On the Shivaratri night, when Naren and I were meditating, Naren's body suddenly began to shake. He asked me to put my hand on his thigh and see if I felt anything. When I put my hand there, I felt as though I had touched an electric battery, and as though a magnetic current were causing a violent tremor in his body. Gradually this current became so strong that my hand too began to shake. Naren did not infuse any power into me on this occasion; he only thought that he could do so. In order to disabuse Narendra of this illusion the Master said to him later, "This is the time to gain power, not to spend it"

Shri Ramakrishna Was sinking daily. The anxiety and grief of the devotees knew no bounds. They redoubled their efforts to serve him. The young men made the cossipore garden-house their home, much to the chagrin of their relatives. The house holder disciples defrayed all expenses ungrudgingly. All felt that the chief support of their life was going to be taken away. The sight of the haemorrhage would send a thrill of horror through their hearts. But the Master, in the midst of the suffering, looked as cheerful as ever, for he recognized the benign hand of the Divine Mother in it all. When the pain became unbearable, he would whisper with a smile, "Let the body and the pain take care of each other: you, O mind, be always in bliss!" One night he whispered to Mahendra, "I am bearing all this because otherwise you would be weeping. If you all say that it is better that the body should go rather than suffer so, let it go." To other devotees he said, "The disease is naturally of the body. I see many forms of God, and this too [his own form] is one of them."

On March 15, 1886, about seven o'clock in the morning, Shri Ramakrishna felt a little better. He talked to the devotees, sometimes in a whisper, sometimes by signs. Narendra, Rakhal, Latu, Mahendra, Gopal Senior, and others were in the room. They sat speechless and looked grave, thinking of the Master's suffering of the previous night.

Shri Ramakrishna: "Do you know what I see right now? I see that it is God Himself who has become all this. It seems to me that men and other living beings are made of leather, and that it is God Himself who, dwelling inside these leather cases, moves the hands, the feet, the heads. I had a similar vision once before, when I saw houses, gardens, roads, men, cattle all made of one Substance; it was as if they were all made of wax.

"I see that it is God Himself who has become the block, the executioner, and the victim for the sacrifice."_x000d_ As he described this experience, in which he realized in full the identity of all in the One Being, he was overwhelmed with emotion and exclaimed "Ah! what a vision!"

Immediately Shri Ramakrishna went into Samadhi. He completely forgot his body and the outer world. The devotees were bewildered. Not knowing what to do, they sat still. Presently he regained partial consciousness of the world and said:_x000d_ "Now I have no pain at all. I am my old self again." He cast his glance on Latu and said: "There is Leto. He bends down his head, resting it on the palm of his hand. I see that it is God Himself who rests His head on His hand."_x000d_ The Master looked at the devotees and his love for them welled up in a thousand streams. Like a mother showing tenderness to her children he touched the faces and chins of Rakhal and Narendra. A few minutes later, he said to Mahendra, "If the body were to be preserved a few days more, many people would have their spirituality awakened."_x000d_ After a pause: "But this is not to be. This time the body will not be preserved." The devotees eagerly awaited the Master's next words:_x000d_ "Such is not the will of God. This time the body will not be preserved lest, finding me guileless and foolish, people should take advantage of me, and lest I, guileless and foolish as I am, should give away everything to everybody. In this Kali Yuga, you see, people are averse to meditation and Japa."

Rakhal: "Please speak to God that he may preserve your body some time more."_x000d_ Shri Ramakrishna: "That depends upon God's will." Narendra: "Your will and God's will have become one." Shri Ramakrishna remained silent, evidently thinking about something. Then he said: "And nothing will happen if I do speak to God. Now I see that I and the Mother have become one. . . ."_x000d_ He paused. The devotees looked at him eagerly to hear what he would say next._x000d_ Shri Ramakrishna: "There are two persons in this. One, the Divine Mother. (Pause) Yes, one is She. And the other is Her devotee. It is the devotee who broke his arm, and it is the devotee who is now ill. Do you understand?"_x000d_ The devotees sat without uttering a word._x000d_ Shri Ramakrishna: "Alas! to whom shall I say all this? Who will understand me? (Pausing a few moments) God becomes man, an Incarnation, and comes to earth with His devotees. And the devotees leave the world with Him."_x000d_ Rakhal: "Therefore we pray that you may not go away and leave us behind."_x000d_ Shri Ramakrishna smiled and said: "A band of minstrels suddenly appears, dances, and sings; and it departs in the same sudden manner. They come and they return, but none recognizes them."

The Master and the devotees smiled. After a few minutes he said: "Suffering is inevitable when one assumes a human body. Every now and then I say to myself, `May I not have to come back to earth again !' But there is something else. After enjoying sumptuous feasts outside, one does not relish ordinary home cooking. Besides, this assuming of a human body is for the sake of the devotees."_x000d_ Shri Ramakrishna looked at Naren very tenderly and said to him : "An outcast was carrying a load of meat. Shankaracharya, after bathing in the Ganga, was passing by. Suddenly the out¬cast touched him. Shankara said sharply: `What! you touched me!' `Revered sir,' replied the outcast, `I have not touched you nor have you touched me. Reason with me: Are you the body, the mind, or the Buddhi? Analyse what you are. You are pure Atman, unattached, and free, unaffected by the three Gunas --Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas.'_x000d_ "Do you know what Brahman is like? It is like air. Good and bad smells are carried by the air, but the air is unaffected." Narendra: "Yes sir." ._x000d_ Shri Ramakrishna: "He is beyond the Gunas and Maya -beyond both the `Maya of knowledge' and the `Maya of ignor-ance'. Lust and lucre are the `Maya of ignorance'. Knowledge, renunciation, devotion, and other spiritual qualities are the splendours of the `Maya of knowledge'. Shankaracharya kept this `Maya of knowledge'; and that you and these others feel concerned about me is also due to this `Maya of knowledge'._x000d_ "Following the "Maya of knowledge' step by step, one attains the Knowledge of Brahman. This `Maya of knowledge' may be likened to the last few steps of the stairs. Next is the roof. Some, even after reaching the roof, go up and down the stairs; that is to say, some, even after realizing God, retain the `ego of knowledge'. They retain this in order to teach others, to taste divine bliss, and to sport with the devotees of God."

Narendra: "Some people get angry with me when I speak of renunciation."_x000d_ Shri Ramakrishna: "Renunciation is necessary. (Pointing to his limbs) If one thing is placed upon another, you must remove the one to get the other. Can you get the second thing without removing the first?"_x000d_ Narendra: "True sir."_x000d_ Shri Ramakrishna: "Didn't I say just now: `When one sees everything filled with God alone, does one see anything else'? Does one then see any such thing as the world? . . ."_x000d_ The Master looked tenderly at Narendra and became filled with love. Looking at the devotees, he said, "Grand!" With a smile Narendra asked: "What is grand?"_x000d_ Shri Ramakrishna: "I see that preparations are going on for a grand renunciation."_x000d_ Narendra and the devotees looked silently at the Master. Rakhal said: "Narendra is now beginning to understand you rather well."_x000d_ Shri Ramakrishna laughed and said: "Yes, that is so. I see that many others, too, are beginning to understand. . . . '_x000d_ A few moments later the Master said: "I see that all things--everything that exists-have come from this."_x000d_ He asked Narendra by a sign, "What did you understand?" Narendra: "All created objects have come from you."_x000d_ The Master's face beamed with joy. He said to Rakhal, "Did you hear what he said?"_x000d_ This remarkable conversation was illuminating to Naren in a number of ways. He had come to the Master with many doubts, regarding the very existence of God, the nature of God, and the Incarnations of God. The Master at first tried to convince Naren through intellect. Therefore, he expounded to him the Advaita Vedanta, which makes an irresistible appeal to reason. Naren assimilated this teaching quickly; but he longed the direct experience of Brahman, beyond name and form and all relativity. He wanted to realize the Self in Samadhi.

However, the Master promised to take him to a higher plane than that: to the realization that Brahman not only transcends the universe, but is also immanent in it; that all that exists is Brahman. The universe is then seen as the manifestation of truth, the relative as a phase of the Absolute. The man of highest realization passes easily from the plane of the relative to that of the Absolute, and back to the relative. Naren had now come to see that it is possible for the transcendental Truth to embody Itself in a human form; that to embrace the universe after transcending it is the ultimate goal. Naren had thus come to see Shri Ramakrishna in a new light; and further, that the paths of Devotion and Knowledge lead to the same goal, that Love is the consummation of Realization.

At one time (April 1885) the chief topic of discussion and meditation among the disciples had been the life and gospel of the Buddha, the Enlightened One. The main speaker and the inspirer had of course been Naren. He had saturated himself with Buddhist lore. For the time being he was a Buddhist in spirit. The towering intellect of the Enlightened One, the eminent sanity of his views, his uncompromising demand for Truth, his burning renunciation, his compassionate heart, his sweet, deep and luminous personality, his sublime morality, and the manner in which he struck the balance between meta-physics and human character-all these had aroused tremen-dous enthusiasm in Naren, and this had spread to the other disciples. They were all determined, like Buddha, to realize Truth even at the sacrifice of life itself. They inscribed in bold characters upon the wall of the meditation room, "Let this body dry up on its seat; let its flesh and bones dissolve: without attaining the Enlightenment which is difficult to achieve even in aeons, this body shall not rise from its seat." Not surprisingly Naren's mind had turned to Buddha Gaya, the place of the Tathagata's Illumination, where these words were uttered: he determined to go there and meditate under the sacred Bo-tree. Only to Tarak and Kali did he confide this._x000d_ It was about the beginning of April 1886 that Naren, with Tarak and Kali, crossed the Ganga for the railway station at Bally. Tarak had arranged for their railway fare. Since they left no information about their destination, their friends became very anxious, thinking that they might have renounced the world to take up the life of the wandering monk and that they might never return. Subsequently it was learned that they had gone to Buddha Gaya, dressed in ochre ' cloth, to practise austerities.

The three friends alighted at Gaya and walked the seven miles to the place of the Buddha's Illumination. The solitude of the place and its wonderful associations gladdened their hearts beyond expectation. One evening when all was silent and hushed, they repaired to the stone seat under the sacred Bodhi Tree and sat in meditation. The serenity of the evening hour and the solemnity of his thought stirred Naren's nature to its depths. Suddenly he burst into tears and putting his arm about Tarak seated next to him, he embraced him with great tenderness. Startled, Tarak asked him the reason. Naren said that as he meditated, the sublime character of the Buddha, his wonderful compassion, his humane teachings, and the subsequent history of India transformed by the magic wand of Buddhism -all these presented themselves before his vision in such glowing colours that he could not control his feelings.

The other young disciples at Cossipore were so attracted to Naren that it was painful for them to be without him. When they heard that he had gone to Buddha Gaya, some of them even thought of following him there. When news of all this reached the Master, he said to them: "Why are you anxious? Where can he go? How long can he be away? You will see that he will come back very soon." Afterwards he said, "Though you may journey to the four corners of the world, you will find nothing anywhere. Whatever is there is also `here' (showing his body)." The word "here", it seems, was used by the Master in two senses: Firstly, that spirituality was not at that time manifest anywhere else in the degree that it was in himself; and secondly, that God existed within everyone, and that if devotion to Him had not been awakened within, there was no benefit in seeking Him outside by travelling to various places. The disciples to whom the Master spoke these words took them in the first sense, and were firmly convinced that spirituality was nowhere manifest in the same degree as it was in the Master._x000d_ Shri Ramakrishna knew that Naren had perceived some-thing in him (the Master) which he would not find elsewhere and that that would suffice to ensure his speedy return. Indeed, this escapade rejoiced the Master, for he knew that Naren would appreciate him and his worth all the better for this experience.

Meanwhile, the uneasiness of Naren's brother-disciples at Cossipore had reached such a pitch that they went to the Master, praying that Naren might return. Drawing a circle on the floor he said, "Farther than this Naren shall not go." The disciples took this to mean that the Master's will would influence events and the thoughts in Naren's mind. And it so happened that Naren and his companions did return shortly afterwards._x000d_ For three or four days they stayed at Buddha Gaya as guests of the Mahant (Abbot) of the temple. At the end of that time they had a desire to see the Master again. Part of the return fare was obtained from the Mahant. On reaching Gaya town; Naren met an old acquaintance of his father, a practising lawyer there, who invited the three young monks to a soiree at his home. 'The invitation was accepted; and Naren added to the enjoyment of the evening by singing a number of songs. The remainder of their return fare was contributed by the kindly host, and soon they were back at the Cossipore garden. The Master was overjoyed to see his beloved Naren and made him tell all that he had seen, heard, felt and thought at Buddha Gaya. Naren was indelibly impressed with what he had seen and realized there, and for some days could talk of nothing else.

On April 9, 1886, while Shri Ramakrishna was sitting on his bed in the big hall upstairs with Mahendra and Latu, Narendra entered and took his seat. Shashi, Rakhal, and some others also came in. The Master asked Naren to stroke his feet._x000d_ Master (smiling to Mahendra): "He [Naren] went there [to Buddha Gaya]."_x000d_ Mahendra (to Naren): "What are the doctrines of the Buddha?"_x000d_ Narendra: "He could not express in words what he had realized by his spiritual practices; so people say he was an atheist."_x000d_ Master: "Why atheist? He was not an atheist. He simply could not express his inner experiences in words. Do you know what `Buddha' means? It is to become one with Bodha, Pure Consciousness. It is to become Pure Consciousness Itself."_x000d_ Narendra: "Yes sir.. There are three classes of Buddhas: Buddha, Arhat, and Bodhisattva."_x000d_ Master: "This too is a sport of God Himself, a new Lila [sport] of God. Why should the Buddha be called an atheist? When one realizes one's own Real Nature, one attains a state that is something between existence and non-existence."_x000d_ Narendra (to Mahendra): "It is a state in which contradictions meet. A combination of hydrogen and oxygen produces cool water; and the same hydrogen and oxygen are used in the oxyhydrogen blowpipe. In that state both activity and non-¬activity are possible; that is to say, one then performs unselfish action. Worldly people, who are engrossed in sense-objects, say that everything exists. But the Mayavadis [those who hold to the doctrine of Maya] say that nothing exists. The experience of a Buddha is beyond both `existence' and `non-existence'."_x000d_ Master: "This `existence' and `non-existence' are attributes of Prakriti. The Reality is beyond both."_x000d_ The devotees remained silent a few minutes._x000d_ Master (to Naren) : "What did the Buddha preach?" Narendra: "He did not discuss the existence or non-existence of God. But he showed compassion for others all his life. A hawk pounced upon a bird and was about to devour it. In order to save the bird, the Buddha gave the hawk his own flesh. How great his renunciation was! Born a prince, he renounced everything! If a man has nothing, no wealth at all, what does his renunciation amount to?_x000d_ "After attaining Buddha hood and experiencing Nirvana, the Buddha once visited his home and exhorted his wife, his son, and many others of the royal household to embrace the life of renunciation. How intense his renunciation was! But look at Vyasa's conduct. He forbade his son Shukadeva to give up the world, saying, `My son, practise religion as a householder.'_x000d_ "The Buddha did not care for Shakti [God as Power] or any such thing. He sought only Nirvana. Ah, how intense his dis-passion was! When he sat down under the Bodhi-tree to meditate, he took this vow: `Let my body wither away here if I do not attain Nirvana.' Such a firm resolve! This body, indeed, is a great enemy. Can anything be achieved without chastening it?"_x000d_ Shashi: "But it is you who say that one develops Sattva [purity] by eating meat. You insist that one should eat meat."_x000d_ Naren: "I eat meat, no doubt, but I can also live on rice, mere rice, even without salt."_x000d_ A little afterwards the Master said to Naren: "Well, here you find everything-even ordinary red lentils and tamarind. Isn't that so?"_x000d_ Naren: "After experiencing all those states, you are now dwelling on a lower plane."_x000d_ Master: "Yes, someone seems to be holding me to a lower plane."_x000d_ Saying this, Shri Ramakrishna took the fan from Mahendra's hand and said, "As I see this fan directly before me, in exactly the same manner I have seen God. And I have seen . . . That He and the one who dwells in my heart are one and the same Person."_x000d_ Narendra: "Yes, yes, Soham-I am He."_x000d_ Master: "But only a line divides the two-that I may enjoy divine bliss."_x000d_ Narendra (to Mahendra): "Perfected souls, even after their own liberation, retain the ego and experience the pleasure and pain of the body that they may help others to attain liberation. It is like coolie work. We do coolie work under compulsion, but great souls do so of their own sweet pleasure."

Towards the end of July, the condition of the Master's throat had become so bad that he could speak only in a whisper, or else had to communicate by signs. The disciples were grief stricken that he, their father, their guide, he who loved them all as a mother loves her children, who had borne patiently with them, was sinking daily. They loved every shade of his personality. Naren, speaking in later life of him, said frequently: "Why speak of refinement! I have not yet found anyone more refined than my Master. His manner of walking, talking, rest¬ing, sitting, seeing to the arrangement of things in his room, his practical common sense-all were beautiful and perfect." The young men had really made him their own; and the Master had made them his own. Often he would call them to his side, would caress them lovingly, and by means of signs indicate the love he bore them. His constant thought was, "What will become of them without me?" But there was Naren!