Realization
Apart from work at the Indian Railways, Bhagavan invested all his remaining time and energy in the contemplation of his guru's letters. Such was his thirst for the subject. Bhagavan visited the local post office at least daily to inquire if any new letter had arrived from his guru; this more often than not irritated the postmaster who couldn’t understand why someone would come all the way to the post office when all letters were duly delivered to their respective addresses! Bhagavan was so serious about the subject of Vedanta and the goal of enlightenment that he gave up his entire theater profession (which at that point was drawing crowds in the thousands) just from an indirect hint by his guru that 'name and fame' were obstacles to attaining the Truth.
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| Bhagavan visiting the railway quarter, where he practiced spirituality before and attained Self-realization |
Bhagavan would wake up at 2am every night to meditate. His process of meditation was that of nipping his thoughts at the very source of their formation with the help of a second thought. This process, which came naturally to him, is deemed fit only for highly advanced practitioners of meditation. Finally, Bhagavan decided to take a seven-day leave of absence from his office to fully concentrate on his practice. Such was the strength of his will, that these seven days were all he was going to allow himself to discover the ultimate Truth of existence! And by virtue of his pure intellect and intense love for his guru, Bhagavan attained that highest state of consciousness – The Nirvikalpa Samadhi, on the very third day of that time off, becoming a Brahma-vijnani. It was the 15th of December, 1984, which also happened to be the birth anniversary of Holy Mother Sarada, that year.
Of His experience Bhagavan wrote in His diary as follows, “As I was gazing at the mind, suddenly both my mind and body vanished. What remained was pure realization - the witness, Consciousness. There was a feeling of pure Bliss. After a while, coming back to my earthly plane, I realized the significance of Sri Thakur’s [Ramakrishna] words- Once a tadpole sheds its tail and becomes a frog it can live either on land or in water.” Swami Pavitranandajis eyes were filled with tears on coming to know his beloved disciples' feat. Bhagavan became dearer to Swamiji than his own life.
Further Enlightenment
Bhagavan realized the Supreme Truth in that Nirvikalpa Samadhi, of Brahma-vijnana. And afterwards, he remained in the non-dual plane for almost two years. He had no account of this period. It was a missing link in His life. There was no existence of this universe to Him. Then a tremendous experience of mahabahava (the descendence of mahashakti) in the year 1987 brought Bhagavan back to this phenomenal world. This transformed Bhagavan into a very powerful guru with an ability to liberate anyone by a mere wish or touch! Bhagavan's aim became to infuse spirituality, the supreme Truth and Divine Love, into mankind.
In the decades that followed, Bhagavan experienced ever-deeper enlightening realizations, which are described in the published biography "The Living God", 2010. More recently, a more detailed biography has been published on Bhagavan's life, titled "The Greatest". This book is currently being translated into English from Bengali, and is expected to be available in 2019. The serious aspirant is directed towards these for more information.
Formation of International Vedanta Society
Bhagavan's guru Swami Pavitranandaji indicated that Bhagavan would have a role to play for the well-being of humanity. In his 1985 letter to Bhagavan, Swamiji wrote: "...The householder devotee of the Sri Ramakrishna Ma Sarada Vivekananda order has a specific role to play in this world. Their work is not just to make sannyasins [monks] or sannyasinis [nuns] but they would definitely make man....Then (after self-realization) the body, mind, citta [subconsciousness] and all else are engaged in the welfare of others."
Now Bhagavan was to pay the most real and profound homage yet at the feet of His guru. Bhagavan declared the formation of the International Vedanta Society (IVS) on the 19th of November, 1989 on the occasion of the auspicious 70th anniversary of Swami Pavitrananda-ji's birth.
Since then the number of devotees who have realized the Truth and those seeking for it has been steadily growing. Today, IVS has established centers and devotees across the globe. This USA website being one of them.
Continue To: His Teachings
Also see:
Biography of Maharajji (Swami Keshavananda)
Biography of Swami Probuddhananda
Biography of Swami Sankarananda
Biography of Swami Nirgunananda
Biography of Swami Prahladananda
Biography of Tejomoyee Ma
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