Ramakrishna Mission

I have acquired my first study participant! My first interview is tomorrow morning.

I spent a good portion of the day at the Ramakrishna Mission which is a 5 minute walk away. When I first arrived the gates were closed and some kids were playing a version of dodge-ball with a small ball in front, and they wanted to chat (as soon as I said a few words in Hindi they started rattling off and soon realized I couldn’t follow much) and shake hands and then threw the ball at me and I made a hacky-sack kick to lob it back to them. We were all smiles. I went over to the Metro station steps away to look at the station map to find out how to get to the station nearest to the Jain lectures on Sunday. It’s not that far away. I was reminded of the hilarious list of fines for misconduct on the train, with fighting bringing a fine of rs 200 whereas for riding on the roof one is only fined rs 50!

The gates soon opened to a beautifully impeccable courtyard...

                                   

...with a sign with the mission statements on the left as one enters, also a bookstore on the left, the office, an auditorium (which is a library with gender-segregated areas, and was full of people reading), and in front of a long hedge the focal-point: the main temple. I went inside the shrine first which featured garlanded pictures of the lineage gurus on either wall, two large burgundy carpets with an aisle in-between, two metal vases in each front corner with blessed water, and a gated-shrine with a marble statue of Sri Ramakrishna on a lotus-throne in the centre, on his left the Holy Mother Sarada Devi (Ramakrishna’s wife/consort), and on his right Swami Vivekananda. One fellow was seated on the right carpet so I sat on the left carpet, and within moments he came over to me to tell me that that was the ladies’ side and I should sit on the gents’ side. Gender-segregation plays out even when nobody is in the room. I have made this faux-pas before, sitting with the ladies at a Jain puja until I was told to go to the other side of room. It got quite busy with men and women coming in, paying homage at the shrine and then sitting for a while. I was struck that most everyone did full prostrations, as we do in Buddhism. A few groups of kids came running in, straight to the shrine, with even the 3-4 year-olds doing full prostrations and offering the blessed water to each other (to ingest and then wipe on the crown of one’s head). A few times some people told gents to sit on their own side, and one fellow even told a non-Indian guy to be quiet as he was chanting audibly. I said some prayers and meditated for a while, enjoying the space. A swami entered and I had the thought that I could try and interview members of the order there…it wasn’t specifically on my mind for this visit, but I had intended on attending temples to find study participants.         

Next I went to the library which had English and Hindi books not just about their gurus but about all religions. This is one of the mission’s mandates, harmony of all religions. Also, social-service is a key theme and what is said to be the differentiating factor of their monastic order. On-site there is a free homeopathy dispensary. I bought the religious biographies of Ramakrishna and Saradadevi, and a booklet on their monastic order. Before I left Toronto I went to a Tibetan restaurant with a friend (Shangri-la) and noticed they had a plastic block with a 3D image of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Here in the bookstore, they had such blocks with their various key personages. Next, I gathered the courage to wait by the office to talk to someone about interviewing members of their community. A novice swami slowly walked by with a young boy, laughing and shoving playfully. Having a friendly demeanor, as he approached I asked him if I could talk with someone and he asked me to wait for the swami at the desk. I took this pic of the main temple while waiting:

When I was brought inside, the novice asked me to tell the swami what I wanted and the novice translated, and after said that I should talk to the secretary, referring to him as Maharaj. He led me upstairs, told me his name was Ishvar (which means G-d) and had me sit in the upper office which was a bustle of activity…bookkeeping, phones ringing, a meeting in the next room with periodic bursts of clapping. After a while Ishvar took me back to the bookstore to show me some books about the order, and we returned upstairs. He checked again and now 5pm told me that the secretary, who is a swami, was in a meeting and to come back at 5:30pm. I walked back to the hotel wondering if they might be thinking I am seeking to interview the secretary (which was not the case) and made sure that in addition to my project info/consent sheets I had my questionnaire and interview questions and returned on time.                       

The novice Ishvar brought me into the secretary’s office with another fellow, which seemed strange to me as I didn’t want to overhear another person’s meeting. What followed was a half-hour of observing the secretary, his office and his activities. The abbot wore a thin, orange toque, and the orange robes of a swami. The office was immaculate. He had a large desk with well-organized paper-piles and books, telephones, computers, what looked like natural remedies, bookshelves with books, Saints, Buddhas, and several Ganesha images. On the wall was a picture of Saradadevi, and a calendar from the Delhi Metro showing a fellow in a wheelchair being pushed out the door of a train. I took the organization of the room as a sign of his trained mind. During the meeting with the other fellow (which was about holding computer classes at the mission) a parade of devotees kept coming in to prostrate, ask advice and the abbot would then give them some blessed treats (prashad). He took his time to connect with each of them. Several people, including a banker, came in to get his signature for various things. Whenever he would break from the main meeting, Ishvar and the other guy would keep chatting about the details of the issue at hand. Ishvar leaned over to me to tell me that if he hadn’t brought me in with the other guy someone else would jump in before me! During a lull I asked him how long the process of becoming a swami was, and he said 3 years of probation until taking celibacy vows (brahmacarya), 9 years total preparation until being able to take full vows. He’ll take diksha (initiation/ordination) in 2016. The abbot didn’t even make eye-contact with me until, at one point, he took out a letter-opener to open another box of treats, grabbed one, looked at me and said “sugar-free!” with a beaming smile as he handed it to me. It was delicious. He popped a few in his mouth as well, and now and then would give me a warm look. Later he said, “do you like sugar-free?” and I said it was delicious but refused when offered another. On one hand, I couldn’t believe I was sitting there watching all of this, almost invisible except for getting treats. On the other hand, it was simply fascinating…and I was quite taken with the abbot’s warmth, concentration and the seemingly endless barrage of requests he endures without any disturbance. A virtuous multi-tasker well-deserving, it seems, of his position and the respect of he community.  

When my turn came, after some courtesies I said I was sorry to disturb him and wouldn’t take much of his time as he is obviously very busy. I gave him my shtick in 20 seconds, and he whipped out his phone to make a call as he said “I know who you should talk to…they love this stuff and can talk forever.” In the meantime, as the abbot told someone on the phone that a foreign researcher needed a LONG interview, Ishvar said that it would be impossible to interview the abbot for an hour, but maybe 15 minutes. I said, “that’s alright…we’ll find the right person!” Within a minute an interview with someone was arranged and I thanked them both and left. I laughed to myself at the successful result, and that I waited for hours to make something happen that only required 2 minutes of discussion. The abbot really impressed me, and in addition to being full of energy, patience, and warmth, he was also very funny indeed. 

I then attended the evening aarti puja, which was delightful. About 30 people were in attendance in the shrine room, and at the front a pujari (ritualist) novice made offerings as a group of swamis and novices on the floor in front of the now open shrine chanted with a harmonium, drum, gong and bells (with amplification for vocals and drums). The pujari waved various flames, then a conch with nectar that was poured out occasionally, a flower, a piece of cloth, then a whisk…with each offering his hand went up, wiggled down and around slowly and up again, resembling some of the moves in traditional Indian dance.

Simply a wonderful place. If you are interested in this particular religious movement, go here: http://belurmath.org

Steps away, a Siva puja was taking place, with a Pujari ringing bells...

                                   

...and some cute cows in the market...

                       

...and a beautiful moon over Delhi (from the Anoop rooftop patio).