Selections from the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna: Annotated & Explained (SkyLight Illuminations) [Paperback]

Following her publication of the Skylight Paths edition of the Bhagavad Gita, I was most eager to read her next work, which is the one reviewed here.

Besides Burroughs'own brilliant annotations, Skylight has done an innovative and equally brilliant job of format, where the annotations are on one page, and the reference text on the facing page, so that the reader has the annotations right at hand, and does not have to thumb through to the back of the book or chapter to look them up. The only problem that I encountered with this was my own idiosyncratic one of whether to read the text page through and then turn to the annotations alongside it, or read each annotation as it is referred to in the text. I never completely settled this for myself. Other readers may want to read the annotation page first, and then read the facing page of the text on Ramakrishna next.

Sri Ramakrishna was the Indian spiritual master (1836-1886) whom many take to be a Sadguru, a perfect Master, or completely enlightened human being. He was the teacher and inspirer of Swami Vivekananda who, after Ramakrishna's death, came to the U.S. and caused a great stir at the famous Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893. _The Gospel of Shri Ramakrishna_ was the on the scene recorded notes and observations of another disciple of the master, referred to simply as "M," or Mahendranath Gupta. Although not well know at all, this original text is, as Burroughs correctly notes, one of the spiritual classics of the twentieth century (it was first published in English in 1942). In an age of extreme skepticism and rampant materialism, both philosophical and cultural, to have a book like this, which is a modern record of spiritual enlightenment, is of inestimable value.

As Burroughs' annotations and explanations note, at the beginning of Ramakrishna's visions and experiences, there was the opinion that he may have been just a madman. Several scholars and experts were brought in to examine and evaluate him, and they pronounced him to be genuine. One of them said, as Burroughs quotes, "I am fully convinced that you are that Mine of spiritual power, only a small fraction of which descends on earth, from time to time, in the form of an incarnation. ... I feel it in my heart and have the Scriptures on my side. I am ready to prove it to any one who challenges me." Burroughs continues, "Ramakrishna greeted the pronouncement with childlike indifference, saying, 'Well, I am glad to learn that after all it is not a disease.'"

Throughout the text, Ramakrishna says that spiritual aspirants and seekers have to be wary of "women and gold." This looks both sexist and rigid. Burroughs' annotation illuminates the significant and real meaning, which is neither. The English "women and gold" is actually a translation of Ramakrishna's Bengali expression, "kamini-kanchan." Kamini implies a seductress, which does not in general mean women. When Ramakrishna addressed his female devotees, of which there were many, he used the phrase, "man and gold." Kamini-kanchan was his shorthand way of referring to the entire conventional world, and its misguiding allurements. As Burroughs explains, "he actually revered women as sacred representatives of the Goddess and taught that a man should treat every woman with the same reverence with which Hindus traditionally regard their own mothers."

Another of my favorite annotations, which, besides the clarification of meaning, demonstrates the subtle light touch with which Burroughs approaches her annotative work, is the following. In the text, Ramakrishna refers to devotees meditating on "the lotus feet of God," a classic Indian expression. Burroughs explains, "The lotus symbolizes purity and detachment, for the plant has its roots in the mud, while its floating blossoms and leaves remain untouched by water or earth." Then she goes on to say, "Modern science confirms the purity of the lotus leaf, which has a 'self-cleaning' microstructure observed in the 1970s by Botanist Wilhelm Barthlott at the University of Bonn."

Other annotations are not about specifically spiritual terms, but rather explain mundane cultural references or objects, without which we might not clearly understand what Ramakrishna is saying. So, he gives this image, "One can see God only if He turns His light toward His own face. The police sergeant goes his rounds in the dark of night with a lantern in his hand. No one sees his face, but with the help of that light the sergeant sees everybody's face, and others, too, can see one another. If you want to see the sergeant, however, you must pray to him: Sir, please turn the light on your own face. Let me see you." Burroughs provides this annotation for the word "lantern" in Ramakrishna's metaphor: "This type of lantern had dark glass on three sides." Ah, now I see. Thank you Kendra for shedding light on the light.

One of the most important meanings conveyed to me in the text, along with the annotations, relates to a problem that has occupied me of how the "infinite within" can be reached and attained despite the fact that the individual consciousness is so finite. Ramakrishna gives several helpful images. In one of them a person goes to the Ganges river and touches its water. Ramakrishna: "He will then say, 'Yes, I have seen and touched the Ganges. To say this it is not necessary for him to touch the whole length of the river from Hardwar to Gangasagar (laughter)." So, by touching just a drop of the water of infinity, one has it all. I also like M's touch of noting the laughter, which calls our attention to the humor implied in Ramakrishna's explanation, which we might not readily appreciate in the bare translation of his words.

This is an immensely valuable book for the spiritual seeker, of whatever path or persuasion. It brings to the English speaking reader unparalleled access to one of the great living spiritual resources of modern times, and opens up for us the rest of the literature available on this human wonder.

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