On another occasion one of the attendants said, “I know.” Immediately the Master raised his head from the pillow and remarked: “What do you say? You know? Never say that. Say, ‘As long as I live so long do I learn.’” Gangadhar (Swami Akhandananda) learned a new lesson.
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Ramakrishna never cared for narrow, bigoted, closed-minded people, and his disciples resembled their Master in this respect. They continually learned wherever they found anything good, beneficial, and uplifting. Miss MacLeod once said to Akhandananda: “People say Swamiji was a great teacher, but I and many others knew him to be a great learner. He learnt from all, so he conquered all. He would always learn something, so he was always fresh, never monotonous — never repeating the same thing.”
Akhandananda also learned continually, and as a result he had encyclopedic knowledge. He encouraged the monks to keep diaries. He said: “If a monk travels in the Himalayas or any holy places, he should write in his diary vivid descriptions of those places, and also record the conversations of holy people. At the end of the year, all monks should deposit those diaries at the monastery, and some important things from their records could be published in the magazines of the Order. It would enhance the knowledge of the monks as well as the public.”
Swami Gnaneswarananda recalled: Because Swami Premananda was so loving to all, he was often referred to as the “Mother of the Math.” He could also be quite stern at times, but it was always for our good. I was once severely reprimanded by him. There had been talk about the Bhagavad Gita, and I had said, “Yes, I have read it.” Immediately Swami Premananda said, “My boy, say I am reading it. Never say I have read the Gita. One can never finish reading the Gita.”