Picture: Swami Ramdas; a perfect flower of full God-realization
On a Wednesday night of March, 1974, I met Mother Hamilton. In addition to the tremendous talk she gave that evening she also led us in chanting Ram Nam. I found Mother’s tune haunting but unforgettable and found myself singing it after meeting her. When I chanted Om Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram (Victory to God), it started a vibrational feeling, something powerful and uplifting that soon gave me peace and bliss.
It took some time before I came to know details of Swami Ramdas; first from Mother’s talks describing her time with him, her reading from the Vision Magazine most every talk, then finally when I read his books. In 1979 Mother announced the new publication of the Gospel of Swami Ramdas which included generous excerpts of Mother’s and Papa’s (Swami Ramdas) talks from 1957. It was obvious what a powerhouse of God Papa was; he started Mother into the Mystical Crucifixion, it was he and Master who spiritually protected her all the way to her full God-realization.
I found every written word from Papa was saturated with truth and wisdom and lifted me closer to the goal. The Ram Nam chant continued in me down through the years as an essential part of my spiritual practice. I did not have a voice that could sing for very long, so after a few repetitions verbally I switched to mental chanting; it was not till later that I read that Papa recommended mental chanting, saying it was more powerful. Papa grew into an absolute fixture in my life. His Ram Nam chant, his perfectly expressed wisdom, humor, openness, love of God and God in humanity were, and are, inspiring beyond mere words. How blessed I am to have him in my life.
December 27, we celebrate Papa’s Sannyas Day–the day he put on the orange swami clothes (as Ram willed him to do), and committed himself to the life of a wandering sadhu with the new name of Swami Ramdas–meaning servant of God. With that inauguration came a great movement of love of God and perfect surrender to Him into the world. Papa very rarely recommended the sannyas life to others; what he wants for all aspirants is perfect surrender and non-attachment to things of the world. As Papa said, “sannyas is principally a state of internal detachment to the objects of the senses. The external garb is only a symbol of inner transformation.”
The simplest means to have non-attachment is to have a total focus on, and surrender to, God—by making Him first in your heart, mind and soul. Be a faithful lover of God, chant His name all the hours of the day, feel His bliss surging throughout your entire being, and you will be His, and He will be yours. Non-attachment to this world and perfect comprehension of the universal vision of God makes for pure happiness no matter your situation. Whatever color clothes you wear, you will then have the orange flame of renunciation burning brightly within you; you will be purified, so that within and without there is nothing but Ram. By striving for and attaining this exalted state, you perfectly honor Papa’s Sannyas Day.
“Mere external renunciation is of no avail… To assume Sannyas in the hope that by taking merely that step you would realise God, is perfectly wrong…… Sannyas is not a thing to be received from, or given to, anybody. It is a dedication of our entire being to the Lord and His service. It is a spontaneous wave of aspiration rising from within our own heart.”
Swami Ramdas