Nama Dwaar Nibbles

There are three kinds of ‘diksha’ (initiation). Initiation by touch, initiation by sight and initiation by thought. Ramana Maharishi also speaks of these three ‘dikshas’ in his ‘Aksharamanamalai’.
Initiation by touch:

A hen lays her eggs and sits on it to hatch it. By the touch of the hen the egg is hatched and the chickens come out of the eggs. Likewise, the Guru touches his disciples and this activates the spiritual fervour in them. This is ‘hasta diksha’ (initiation by touch).
Many young boys used to visit Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Suddenly these young boys would stop visiting him. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa would feel disturbed and when the boys visited him after a gap would question them, ‘why have you not come here for a long time?’
The young boys would explain, ‘our elders at home do not like our visiting you. They say that by visiting you our studies would be spoilt. They refuse to permit us to come here.’
Sri Ramakrishna would tell the boys to somehow bring the elders at home - the parents or uncle or whoever it was who tried to stop the young ones from visiting him - to him. When those elders came to him, he would touch them while speaking to them. This touch would change their attitude and they would begin to visit Sri Ramakrishna!

Initiation by sight:
The fish lays its eggs in the water and keeps moving hither and thither in the water. But, the fish keeps looking at the eggs laid. Though the very gaze of the fish the eggs are hatched. This is ‘chakshu diksha’ (initiation by look). The Guru looks at his disciple and this triggers off the spiritual fervour in him.

Paul Brunton came to the presence of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi at the advice of Maha Periyava. He had a number of questions to be placed before Bhagavan. Bhagavan said to him that he would meet him in his room. Bhagavãn went as promised and sat gazing at Paul Bruton. At the end of it, Bhagavan asked him, ‘you wish to place some questions before me. What are those questions?’
Paul Brunton said, “No! The need to question does not arise. All my questions have been answered.”
Such is the gaze of the Guru.

Initiation by thought:

A tortoise lays its eggs on land and moves over to the water. Staying in water, its thoughts rest on the eggs laid on the land. By the constant thought of the eggs by the tortoise the eggs get hatched. Similarly, the Guru thinks of his disciple and this takes the disciple higher in his spiritual path.

Two ‘Kshetras’ (holy places)  in this world (‘Bhoo loka’) are spoken of by the Vedas. One is Seshagiri (the Hill Sesha) with the Srinivasa Perumal in Tirupathi and the other one is Jagannatha Kshetra in Puri.

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to say, “The waters of the Ganga, the dust (‘rajas’) of Vrindavan and the Prasada of Puri - all these three are ‘Brahmaswaroopa’ - verily the Brahman.

What is it that one should never eat and that is to be totally avoided? It is that which a cat leaves after eating a little. The Shastras say that the worst sin is earned by consuming what a cat has left after eating a little.

The same Shastras say that the Puri Prasada can be taken even from the cat’s mouth and eaten! So pure and special is the prasada of Puri Jagannatha kshetra.

Kanchi Mahaswami Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswati Swamiji would never drink even a drop of water before completing Sri Chandramouleeswara Puja. Until then not a drop of water would go into Him. But when someone brought Prasad from Puri Jagannatha Kshetra, Maha Periyava who might not have even brushed His teeth snatched it from his hands and took it! One should take this Prasad in this manner without any second thought.

Such is the greatness of Puri Prasad.

Lakshmi Devi, the niece of Sri Ramakrishna, recounts the following incident.

Once she went with Sri Saradadevi to serve lunch for Sri Ramakrishna. As they entered, they were shocked to see Sri Ramakrishna lying still like a dead body. Having seen Sri Ramakrishna in similar Samadhi states earlier, they knew how to act. Sri Ramakrishna had told them that if anyone touched his feet when he was in Samadhi he would return to normal consciousness.

When they touched him he returned to this worldly plane and said with a smile, “I was in a land where everyone had a fair complexion. Not just their skin but their hearts were white and pure. They were simple and honest. That town was very beautiful. I will go there!”

Those who are born as personification of God (’deivaamsa’ — part incarnation) can marry only another with ‘deivaamsa’. If not, that marriage would be short lived.
When his niece Lakshmi Devi,the daughter of his elder brother Rameswar, was engaged to be married, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa predicted that she would become a widow soon after her marriage. Hriday, a distant nephew of Sri Ramakrishna who was with the Master at that time was shocked to hear these inauspicious words fall from the lips of the Paramahamsa immediately on hearing the happy news of the engagement. He asked angrily, “Is this the way to bless your niece?”
Sri Ramakrishna replied “What can I do? She is born with divinity in her. If she gets married to an  ordinary mortal, how would that marriage last?”
And, Lakshmi Devi was, indeed, widowed soon after her marriage.

Swami Vivekananda has said,
We have not invaded any country not because we lack bravery or valour.  It is because in the heart of hearts, we Indians look for aspects beyond material riches -  religious and spiritual.   We eat and drink in the name of religion, sleep and walk in the name of religion! If someone wishes to cheat Indians, it is easy to do so in the name of religion!

A nice story in this regard is narrated by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.  This was published in Nama Dwaar sometime back.

In the Name of God

While talking about Atma Sakshatkaram or Self-Realisation, Bhagawan Ramana states that to say that you are trying to realize the Self with the help of the mind is like saying that we can see the sun with the help of moonlight. The moon per say, is not luminescent and merely reflects the light from the Sun. Therefore to attempt to see the Sun which is the source through moon-light is impossible. Likewise it is total ignorance to imagine that one can realize the Self with the mind which is merely a reflection of the Chaitanya called the Self or the Atman. This represents the perfect Vedantic standpoint.

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa would say that if a man is holding a torch pointed away from him, others will not be able to see him. Only if he decides to reveal himself by shining the torch on himself, will those in the darkness be able to see him. Likewise only if God decides to reveal himself before you, you will be able to see Him. This is the perfect portrayal of a devotee’s point of view.

Though there is an apparent difference between the two schools of thought, one can easily notice the striking similarity between the two that flows like a strong undercurrent.

–Sri Sri Swamiji