Ramakrishna Math Spoken English Material

No other saint has had so able and indefatigable a Boswell. Making good use of his natural gifts and of the circumstances in which he found himself, 'M' produced a book unique, so far as my knowledge goes, in the literature of hagiography. To a reverent love for his master, to a deep and experiential knowledge of that master's teaching, he added a prodigious memory for the small happenings of each day and a happy gift for recording them in an interesting and realistic way. 'M', as the author modestly styles himself, was peculiarly qualified for his task. Hence the special interest attaching to this enormously detailed account of the daily life and conversations of Sri Ramakrishna. Moreover, most saints have left neither writings nor self-portraits, and for a knowledge of their lives, their characters and their teachings, we are forced to rely upon the records made by their disciples who, in most cases, have proved themselves singularly incompetent as reporters and biographers.

But all doctrinal writing is in some measure formal and impersonal, while the autobiographer tends to omit what he regards as trifling matters and suffers from the further disadvantage of being unable to say how he strikes other people and in what way he affects their lives. Many, it is true, have recorded their doctrines in writing, and a few, such as St Augustine, Suso and St Teresa, have left us autobiographies of the greatest value. Of the day-to-day life of the great theocentric saints and contemplatives we know, in the great majority of cases, nothing whatever. When we leave the field of art for that of spiritual religion, the scarcity of competent reporters becomes even more strongly marked. The world has had many hundreds of admirable poets and philosophers but of these hundreds only a very few have had the fortune to attract a Boswell or an Eckermann. Rarer still, however, are the competent reporters and recorders of that genius. IN THE HISTORY of the arts genius is a thing of very rare occurrence. Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai

Ramakrishna Math Spoken English Material