by Patricia Gibbons
Editor’s Note: At Pat’s request, this article appeared anonymously written by “A Devotee of Mother” in the Fall 1998 issue of Sri Sarada Society Notes. She left the body on January 20, 2009, at the age of 85. We now acknowledge her authorship in loving remembrance of our friend. A longtime devotee of the universal teachings of Vedanta, Pat was a founding member of Sri Sarada Society. She resided in Schenectady. New York.
Identifying with the world, we try to work upon it. We see our efforts and goals from a social perspective. Sri Sarada Devi acted from her Self-knowledge. Her words and actions were not based on social constructs and limitations. For example, when Mother put on her bracelets after Sri Ramakrishna left the body this was not a change in custom or social practice. Mother knew her husband was not dead! She did not go forth and try to convince other widows to join her. She had no need for external agreement with her action. I can almost hear her answering the inquisitive or doubting mind, “My dear, I do not observe the practices of widowhood becausemy husband is not dead.” As it is said of Jesus, Mother’s words and actions carried authority because they came from Truth.
When she received Sister Nivedita and the other Western disciples, or when she fed Amzad, the Muslim robber, she was not an Orthodox Hindu woman breaking the rules of her caste. Others, looking from the social standpoint, see it thus. Holy Mother is neither oblivious of, nor bound by, her worldly status. She is Mother and all are her children. From this knowledge alone come her actions. And again, being draw\n from the depths of her own experience of universal Motherhood, they speak infinitely more loudly than any social reform effort.
Living Freedom, Mother dwelt quietly and blessedly hidden within the small Nahabat, later to emerge ready to guide a new monastic movement with the vision, power, and ability required to redirect spiritual tradition and history.
During her lifetime the Holy Mother followed the custom of keeping her face covered in the presence of men whenever she was away from her ancestral village of Jayrambati. Few men saw her face while she was alive, even among the direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. Few heard her voice either, for Mother usually spoke in whispers to her attendant, who would repeat her sayings aloud.
Living Truth, the veil did not prevent her from being recognized. Without ever seeing her face, whoever had eyes beheld before them not the Master’s veiled wife, but the Divine Mother of the Universe. To those who never heard her voice, her repeated whispers carried the highest and final authority.
As if she could see into the future and know the expectations and puzzlement of her children yet to come, this unbound Mother would install her own picture with Thakur’s in Koalpara and leave a gallery of photos for future generations to see. Yet, do we see any more clearly by receiving the blessing of beholding Mother’s face, attracted as we are to her veil of maya?
I ponder another aspect of Mother. She who was the soul and heart of purity nonetheless prayed earnestly that her mind be made pure and that she would not see faults in others. What could this mean?
Perhaps this was Mother’s final break from her worldly identification. Complete in her Self, she knew that our tendency to measure what we see and experience by worldly standards is not based on Truth and will prove ultimately disappointing. She would give us a higher role model: a Mother who saw only divinity around her. She tells us, her children, that we will never have peace of mind until we learn to look within ourselves to find the source of our feeling of separateness. In coming to see unity within the world, we can discover our own true identity.
We do not have Mother’s depth of knowledge. We can only try to imitate her. I see her example being first and foremost a call to deepen my spiritual life and seek more of the Truth. I hear her caution me not to let my fears and Self-doubt color my perceptions. I resolve anew to try to follow Mother’s example. And if I fail, I know She is there waiting to hold me on her lap, filling me with her love as I collect the will and fearlessness to try again.
