Our Loving Sri Sri Ma
by Subhash C. Basu & Rajit Basu

If we put a piece of molded soft clay in the high heat of a fire it may bake and become a hard brick, but a wooden piece of art would turn into ashes under the same condition. The spiritual touch of Thakur Sri Ramakrishna, turned quite a few soft teenage-minds into mature, unbreakable bricks of great magnitude, leaving the foundation for what we are blessed with today: the world-wide social work of the Ramakrishna Mission. A simple woman from Jayrambati - a village in the Bankura district, about sixty-five miles northwest of Calcutta - whom we know as Holy Mother, wife of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sri Sarada Devi, provided the cement of trust and love which inspired those young minds in the early stages of the Ramakrishna Mission.

At one time Thakur Sri Ramakrishna worshipped Sri Sri Ma as the Mother. More than a century later, even from the written historical records of this remarkable event, we may still not comprehend the exact meaning of his action. However, our soul-searching may lead us down a path to pick a few beautiful wild flowers of love, faith and devotion for a garland with which we decorate Sri Sri Ma today.

Throughout the history of India, Mother cults have developed and blended into the ethical and metaphysical parts of our Hindu religion. With the rise of Advaita Vedanta, almost 1200 years ago, the "Sakta Religion" spread all over India. The concept of a "Mother-pulse"- the unified concept of love, energy and compassion - has often been idealized in the term "Mother," not

only in the Hindu religion, but in all religions. For Sakti puja (worship for spiritual energy), the Hindus conceived Durga and Kaliji and for the propagation of love, they put Radha next to Sri Krishna. Sri Sarada Devi and Sri Ramakrishna are not yet part of Hindu mythology as their history is only 100 years old. Whereas Sri Krishna and Sri Radha existed in the distant pages of Indian history and are part of our pictorial imagination, we may perhaps see as their reincarnation the image of Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Sri Ma captured by modern technology in a photograph.

Sri Ma's love was not just limited to one Krishna - her husband, Sri Ramakrishna. Her love flowed through the hearts of Thakur Sri Ramakrishna's disciples, several of whom were orphaned. And we see the evidence of her love still flowing, far away from India in a distant land, near the banks of Lake Michigan. A river, as drawn on a geographical map, meets an ocean and loses its identity; but Sri Sri Ma's river of love crosses the oceans and flows unbounded, infinitely.
Our Sri Ma was an ocean of love. She lived a life full of love and continues to shower her love upon us. We, who are going to celebrate the inaugural event of Sri Sri Sarada Mata Ashram, are islands on the ocean of her love. Each island has something different to offer: some islands have sweet water to offer, and some have sweet fruits. In establishing this Ashram we have given ourselves a chance to live her legacy, to live in peace and harmony as a community.

It would be quite appropriate to conclude, on this occasion, by remembering a conversation between Sri Sri Ma and Swami Vivekananda:

Swamiji: "My aim is to preach the message of the Master, and nothing else. And for that purpose I want to start a permanent organization. I feel frustrated because I cannot form it as quickly as I wish."
Holy Mother: "Do not worry. What you are doing now and what you will do in the future will be permanent. You are born just to accomplish this work. Thousands of people will hail you as a world teacher, a bestower of divine knowledge. I can assure you that the Master will fulfill your desire in a short time. You soon will see that the work you want to undertake will be accomplished "

This conversation took place almost a century ago at Belur Math near Calcutta. Now, if we think about the foundation and development of the Ramakrishna Mission, we can understand how true these words have become. Hopefully, every time we go to the Sri Sri Sarada Mata Ashram in Ganges town and kneel down in front of her image, that which dawns on the screen of our minds will be an inspirational and comforting presence that guides us down our individual paths.