Seattle

AFTER fulfilling our programme in St. Paul we left for Seattle in Washington State by plane. At the Seattle airport Mr. and Mrs. Groeger with two other friends were awaiting us. The flight over the snow-clad mountains across the vast expanse of the United States took more than seven hours. Our plane was late by two hours in reaching Seattle. This unexpected delay made our hosts Mr. and Mrs. Groeger somewhat restless. When Mrs. Groeger saw Ramdas coming down from the plane, her joy knew no bounds and she simply ran towards him shouting “Papa! Papa!” like a child greeting its father. She then introduced her husband and friends to Ramdas. We were accorded a very warm and loving welcome by them. We were taken to a hotel where we were comfortably lodged in one of the rooms in the eighth storey.

The programme for Ramdas in Seattle was drawn up by Mrs. Groeger. She had paid a visit to our Ashram some years ago. At her request Ramdas had given her the name SARADA. So in her intimate circles she is known as Sarada. Ramdas used to have correspondence with her after she left India and all her letters uniformly showed that she was full of devotion for God. Our going to Seattle was an event of unsurpassing joy and exultation to Sarada. She took it as a great privilege to present Ramdas to the people of Seattle and make them acquainted with him.

She arranged for several meetings—one in Eagelson Hall, two at the Chapel of the Church of the People and one in the University Unitarian Church. In all the meetings which Ramdas addressed questions were also put to him on spiritual subjects. The introduction was done in most of the places by Sarada herself. As in other places, a select congregation was present at the meetings, the members of which evinced deep interest in spiritual development and attainment. In his speech at the Chapel of the Church of the People, Ramdas exhorted the gathering saying:

Human and Divine Love

Let us play the game of life in a straightforward and honest way. Let us do all things in a state of surrender to Him and give our life in complete dedication to Him, and be helpful to our fellow-beings. Service of humanity is service of God.

Outwardly we might say we love another. But physical love is no good. It is a source of misery, both to the lover and the beloved. But spiritual love based upon the feeling of oneness is sublime. It is a source of unalloyed bliss. You love another not because the other is a relation of yours, but because you and he are one in Spirit.

Speaking of the glory of spiritual love Ramdas struck a personal note and said:

Friends ask us how we felt in our journey, because we have come here after visiting quite a number of countries in Europe and America. We have received everywhere great love. There is no reason at all for us to grumble. In all places friends have been very kind to us. If we have love in our hearts we get love in return, because God is everywhere and He is love. If a man sees God within himself, he sees God everywhere. If anyone says that he is God and not others, he has not known God at all, because that is not the right experience. If he has seen God within him, he must see everybody as the embodiment of God. His vision is so pure and glorious.

The Future of Mankind

At the end of the speech members of the audience asked Ramdas some questions of which one related to the future of mankind. In reply Ramdas gave expression to his deep faith as an optimist who always saw good ahead of him in everything. While many viewed the future with grave misgivings, Ramdas said that he was inspired by the sublime vision of a world wherein all people loved one another, lived in perfect harmony and made a veritable heaven of this earth. So Ramdas impressed on the audience that humanity is marching to its glorious destiny by which all human beings will be spiritually illumined souls. This faith was grounded on the truth that the world was controlled by God who was so good and merciful that He will bring about this most desirable consummation.

In the Hindu terminology there is a word “Jijnasu” which means “He who desires to know about the Truth.” The questioners Ramdas met in Europe and America were of this type. They were genuine seekers of Truth who were eager to know the ways and means of achieving It. Some of those who attended the discourses used to meet him at the hotel to better understand certain points on which Ramdas spoke at the meetings.

Transmission of Spiritual Power

Among the visitors we had in Seattle Ramdas may make particular mention of two, Yogacharya Mildred Hamilton and Mr. Robert Carr. Reverend Ralph B. Hamilton and his wife Yogacharya Mildred Hamilton are ardent disciples of Swami Yogananda. Mildred Hamilton would be in a state of divine inebriation when the thought of God came into her mind. She is also a great lover of saints. She came one early morning before any other friends arrived to meet Ramdas. She said that in Ramdas’ presence she felt elevated into the divine consciousness. She squatted on the carpet and with eyes closed remained for about ten minutes absolutely still, her face lit up with a spiritual glow.

Next evening Ramdas was taken to their house to meet their friends—devotees of Swami Yogananda. The meeting lasted for an hour. Here Ramdas was asked to speak a few words to the friends. Ramdas addressed the gathering on the greatness of saints and the ways in which they influence spiritual aspirants who seek their help. In the course of his speech Ramdas said:

How an aspirant is transformed

It is said that saints transmit their powers in three ways—by thought, sight and touch. When a saint thinks of a person, even though he is far away, that person is illumined. A saint looks at a person and he feels by the saint’s grace that his entire being is shaken to its very foundation and he finds himself transformed from that moment. A new consciousness dawns in him by the saint’s very look. If a saint places his hand on the head of an aspirant, that instant the aspirant will feel tremendous change taking place in him.

Hearing these words Mildred Hamilton requested Ramdas, after he closed the speech, to touch the head of everyone present there and transmit his grace to them in that way. Ramdas agreed to do so saying, “Yes, Ramdas has committed himself!” The devotees present then bowed before Ramdas one by one and he placed his hand on their heads.

After this was done, Ramdas told Mildred Hamilton, “You have got here all your fragrant flowers together. Are you all happy now? You must, of course, feel happy.” With her characteristic humility she replied, “When God Himself has come to us, why should we not feel happy?” At this Ramdas remarked, “God has come to see God.” It was indeed a very blissful gathering.

“Don’t Loiter on Lower Planes”

The other visitor Ramdas referred to, Mr. Robert Carr, is the founder of the Truth Research Institution in Portland. He heard about Ramdas’ arrival in Seattle and came all the way from there to see him. He was deeply impressed by Ramdas at his very first meeting. Thereafter he used to come often to the hotel to see Ramdas. From his conversation Ramdas made out that he was something like a medium through whom departed holy spirits were speaking. He used to get also supernatural visions. He was in his own way guiding others to obtain such visions and experiences. He was running his institution regularly for carrying on this kind of work.

In the course of his talks Ramdas definitely discouraged him from having recourse to these visions of spirits and seances which belonged only to the mental plane and the world of phenomena. Ramdas also advised him that he should strive to go beyond these planes into that super-consciousness in which he could feel one with the Divine, and realise God’s omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience. To loiter on the lower planes making much of that and seek to guide others was, Ramdas pointed out, a mistake. Ramdas also gave him, at his request, the Ram Mantra. Later, Ramdas came to know from him that he had changed his aim and that of the institution from one of acquiring mere knowledge of psychic phenomena to an aspiration for the attainment and realisation of the supreme goal of life—God.

Talk with Indian Students

In response to the invitation from the Indian students in Seattle we went to the University to see them. They formed a small gathering in a room where Ramdas gave them a brief discourse. In the course of the talks that followed some of the students put Ramdas the following questions:

If everyone follows you?

Q: Do you think Americans are less happy because they lack spiritual advancement?

Ramdas: Those who are thinking of God alone are always happy. In that sense Americans are less happy. Even in India those who do not think of God are not happy, even though they may be very rich and prosperous.

Q: If everybody follows your teaching, everybody will have to be wandering like you. Is it not?

Ramdas: Not necessarily. Ramdas is wandering round the world only to tell you all about the secret of eternal happiness and bliss. You can lead the real life and be happy wherever you are and in whatever profession you may be engaged.

Q: What will be the world like when everybody is happy?

Ramdas: Like the kingdom of God. That is what we really want. There will then be nothing but happiness everywhere. Everybody will have shed his selfishness and will work for the good of others, contributing what he has for the welfare of all, instead of each one working and toiling for his own sake.

Vedanta Centre

Another visit we paid in Seattle was to the Vedanta Centre belonging to the Ramakrishna Mission, where we had the Darshan of Swami Vividishananda who has been working here for over thirty years. The Swamiji was very kind to us and took us round to the shrine room and other parts of the Centre. He was also good enough to give Ramdas the benefit of his darshan again the same evening at the meeting in the Chapel of the Church of the People.

Science and Spiritual Values

Another day we were taken on a visit to the Heisdorf & Nelson Farm and the Carnation Farm where we saw the remarkable achievements of science in raising the finest breeds of chickens and cows. America is indeed far in advance of other countries in its work of producing the finest animals and other fauna which contribute towards the economic uplift of the country. In America science has done wonders. All the forces of nature have been harnessed there for the material prosperity of the people. But, after all, material prosperity is not the whole thing. We should have, no doubt, plenty of things for our creature comforts and necessities, but the things of the Spirit are of greater value and so should not be ignored.

On our arrival in Seattle, when we were driving from the airport towards the hotel, where we were to stay, we had to pass by a series of long buildings in which, we were told, jet planes, mainly bombers, were manufactured on a rapid and extensive scale. Man is busy constructing new contrivances for his enjoyment and conveniences on one side, and, on the other, equally busy in using his intellectual powers for inventing horrible machines for the wholesale destruction of cities and human lives in millions. We are here reminded of the three functions of God—the creative, protective and destructive. Verily, it is His one power that controls all the activities of the world. God’s play is really wonderful. We can but simply witness it and unquestioningly submit to His will.

America is trying to combine material achievement with spiritual evolution. It will indeed be a great day when America, nay the whole world, is spiritualised in its outlook so that people can live together as brothers and sisters, having enough to eat and clothe, suitable houses to live in and plenty of work to do. Such a heaven on earth can become possible only when the Universal Spirit that resides in the hearts of us all becomes our sole inspirer and guide.

There are some pleasant items to be mentioned here before Ramdas closes the account of our stay in Seattle. We were invited for lunch one day by Mr. Groeger at his neat, bright and well-ordered wooden house. The cooking was done by Mrs. Groeger and Rani Lalita Devi. We formed a small party at lunch. We had a delightful time. We were overwhelmed by the great love which Mr. and Mrs. Groeger poured on us. This speaks much for the hospitable nature of the Americans. When we meet together with pure love in our hearts, we transcend all physical limitations, and merge our souls in the universal Consciousness. Even when two realise their oneness in Spirit, the vibrations caused thereby will set up a wave of peace and goodwill in the cosmic life.

As Ramdas has already mentioned, we were staying on the eighth storey of the hotel in Seattle. In the nights when we looked out of the windows, we were presented with a sight which was most bewitching. We could behold the extensive city of Seattle illumined with thousands of coloured lights. The scene was highly picturesque. Here was seen the handiwork of man whose genius for creating marvellous things is equal to that of the Creator, for the matter of that, Creator Himself is the prime force that makes the intellect and hands of man think and act. Seattle is not a city of high buildings. Most of the houses were single tenements with roofs almost uniform in shape and style.

Love Melts the Pragmatic Man

When the time for our departure from Seattle came we were taken by Mr. Groeger in his car to the airport. As Ramdas got into the car and sat beside Mr. Groeger, with a flushed face and husky voice he told Ramdas, “It is said that it is perfectly foolish and silly for a man to cry on any occasion. I too firmly hold on to this view, but strangely, when I am about to be separated from you, the very thought agitates me and I cannot help the tears in my eyes.” As he said this, two large pearly drops fluttered in his eyes. The next moment he rubbed them off and drove the car in silence.

Mr. Groeger is an intensely practical man whom no one will take to be emotional in his temperament. He believes in hard work. Such a man was moved to tears when we were parting from him leaving Seattle. It shows how when love, the sweetest of emotions, enters the heart, the soul melts and even the most pragmatic man is at once transformed into a tender and ardent votary of Love.

Mildred Hamilton who has a heart filled with divine light, which is reflected on her face, was also present at the airport to see us off. Mrs. Groeger had gone in advance by car to San Francisco, our next destination, for meeting us there.