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When you transcend the three gunas—the elements such as earth, air, water, etc.—they will serve you. Heat and cold, hunger and thirst will obey you. Now you are their slave, but at that stage they will be under your control. What will then be the state of your mind? You will remain indifferent to praise and blame, good and evil, and all the opposites of life.

Swami Brahmananda was one of Sri Ramakrishna's foremost disciples who occupied a place among them second only to Swami Vivekananda. The latter was a man of immense energy and dynamism, the former was very nearly his opposite—quiet, indrawn, and contemplative.

Once Swami Shivananda was asked whether he had read an article concerning Sri Ramakrishna by Romain Rolland, the famous French author. “I have not read the whole of it,” he replied, “but his presentation seems to be excellent—though from the human aspect rather than that of an incarnation. Perhaps he was under the opinion that to think of Ramakrishna as a divine being introduced an idea of superhuman power, which would create a feeling of distance. But why should this happen? All powers and glories are harmonized in him. Is one afraid of one’s father, even if he is a millionaire?”

Swami Vivekananda would perhaps object to the title of this article, for to him no person was ordinary. Each was a unique manifestation of God, and each was perfect in his or her own expression of divinity. Indeed, in his eyes nothing in this universe, living or nonliving, was ordinary; so let me quickly define what I mean by this term in the present context.

During these turbulent times, we need assurance, support, and security. Above all we want peace—peace in our personal lives and peace with our fellow beings. Holy Mother, being none other than Sri Jagaddhatri, the support and nurse of the universe, has given us a potent prescription for finding peace: "I tell you one thing, if you want peace, do not find fault with others. Rather learn to see your own faults.

Holy Mother gives to the spiritual seeker two vitally important gifts for success in life. These two gifts are hope and love.

"Telo-bhelo." Many devotees of Holy Mother Sarada Devi know what that name stands for. The very mention of "Telo-bhelo" brings before their mind's eye a long and lonesome stretch of land on the way from Jayrambati to Dakshineswar. A meadow that was at one time infested with armed thieves known in India as dacoits. No one dared in those days to cross that place at night or alone.

This month our reading will include two short reminiscences of Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother.

From my childhood I have been interested in fruit and flower gardens. I had planted some jasmine, beli (bel), lotus-oleander, marigold and other flowers in the courtyard in front of the Holy Mother's house and also along the edges of the "Punyapukur" pond next to the house. Mother used to feel delighted to see these flowers. One day I saw Mother after her noonday rest digging at the roots of the jasmine plant. When I took the spud away from her hand saying, "I shall do that, you do not have to do it," she said, "It is you who do everything. You see, I love jasmine flowers and so, seeing that it is nearly time for them to bloom, I am only making the ground ready for watering the plants."

The Holy Mother’s native village, Jayrambati, is about twenty miles from the place where I was born. In order to go from Calcutta to her village, she had to pass through our little town. One afternoon, two of us boys, about 14 and 15 years old, went for a walk. Near an inn we saw a monk in orange robes, with a number of women standing around him. We began to criticize the monk to ourselves for being surrounded by so many women, and walked on.