Reverence for the guru

A few days later when I visited the Mother, I heard her saying, “ One should tell even the Guru what is right. It is perfectly proper for the disciple to do so. But the disciple must have unwavering devotion to his Guru. The devotion to the Guru, whatever may be his character, enables the disciple to attain to liberation. Look at the devotion of the disciples of Sri Ramakrishna to their Master. This love for their teacher makes them love everyone connected with Sri Ramakrishna’s family. They love even the cat belonging to his village.”

November, 1913

We had plenty of flowers at our Ballygunj home. The Holy Mother was always pleased with flowers.

One day I gathered a large quantity of them and came to see her. I found her just ready for the worship. I arranged the flowers, and she sat on the carpet before the image. I forgot to keep aside some flowers for worshiping the feet of the Holy Mother. So I was sorry to think that it would not be possible for me to worship her that day. But I soon found out that she had anticipated my secret desire. She herself had separated some flowers on the tray. After the worship was over, she said to me, “ Now, my dear child, I have kept those flowers in the tray for you. Bring them here.” Just then a devotee came to see the Mother with a large quantity of fruits. She was very pleased to see him. She put a mark of sandal paste on his forehead and kissed him by touching the chin. I had never seen her express her affection for any man devotee in such a manner. Next she asked me to hand over a few flowers to him. He accepted them. I found his whole body trembling with devotional fervor. With great joy he offered those flowers at her feet and left after accepting the Prasada. She sat on the cot and invited me very tenderly to come to her. I worshiped her feet. With great love, she placed her hand on my head and kissed me. I was deeply touched by her blessings.

After a while I found her on the roof drying her hair. She invited me to come near her and said,“ Take off the cloth from your head and dry your hair, otherwise it may affect your health.” Golap-Ma came to the roof and requested the Mother to make an offering of food in the shrine room. The Mother came down from the roof. I also followed her after a while to the shrine room. Like a bashful young bride, she was saying to Sri Ramakrishna in a soft voice, “Come now; your meal is ready/* Then she came to the image of Gopala and said, O my Gopala, come for your meal.” I was just behind her. Suddenly she looked at me and said with a smile, 1 am inviting them all for their noonday meals.” With these words, the Holy Mother entered the room where the food was offered. Her earnestness and devotion made me feel that the Deities, as it were, listened to her words and followed her to the offering room. I was pinned to the ground with wonder!

After the offering was over, we all sat together for our meal. Then the Mother asked me to rest for a while .A man came with a basket of fruits. The fruits were meant for offering. He asked the monks what he should do with the basket. They told him to throw it out in the lane. The Mother left her bed and went to the porch. She looked at the lane and said to me, Look there. They have asked him to throw away such a nice basket! It does not matter for them in the least. They are all monks and totally unattached. But we cannot allow such waste. We could have utilized the basket at least for keeping the peelings of the vegetables.” She asked someone to fetch the basket and wash it. The basket was kept for some future use. I had my lesson from her words. But we are so slow to learn.