Swami Turiyananda once told the following story about a strange experience Mathur had while riding in his carriage with Sri Ramakrishna. It shows how even the subtle thoughts of Sri Ramakrishna could produce an effect in the gross plane.
One day Mathur Babu was returning to Janbazar in his deluxe phaeton and was bringing Sri Ramakrishna with him. When the carriage reached Chitpore Road, the Master had a wonderful vision. He felt that he had become Sita and that Ravana was kidnapping him. Seized by this idea, he merged into samadhi. Just then the horses, tearing loose from their reins, stumbled and fell. Mathur Babu could not understand the reason for such a mishap. When Sri Ramakrishna came back to the normal plane of consciousness, Mathur told him about the accident. Sri Ramakrishna then said that while he was in ecstasy he had perceived that Ravana was kidnapping him and that Jatayu [the great bird who had attempted to rescue Sita] was attacking Ravana’s chariot and was trying to destroy it. After hearing this story Mathur Babu said, “Father, how difficult it is even to go with you through the street!” (Source: They Lived with God)
‘When an idea exclusively occupies the mind, it is transformed into an actual physical or mental state.’
—Swami Vivekananda
The Master (Sri Ramakrishna) passed all the tests. What great fortune we had to meet such a wonderful Master! We witnessed in him an unprecedented synthesis of knowledge and devotion, yoga and karma, both ancient and modern, and of all religious beliefs. The sages of the Upanishads say that “a real knower of Brahman becomes omniscient and his thoughts come true.” All beings and objects in the external world implicitly obey that person’s wishes and change according to them. So it is no wonder that the body and mind of an illumined soul act in the same way! It is impossible for an ordinary person to test the validity of that statement in the Upanishads. But we can definitely say that at every available opportunity we tested the Master thoroughly as far as our limited abilities allowed. Each time the Master passed the test effortlessly and then with a smile would tell us playfully: “Still you doubt! Have firm faith and strong conviction. He who in the past was born as Rama and Krishna is now living in this very body (pointing to himself). But this time his advent is very secret, like a king who visits his own kingdom incognito! As soon as people recognize him and whisper, he immediately departs from that place. It is just like that.”
Things the Master saw while in ecstasy corresponded to things in the external world. Many events in the Master’s life reveal the aforesaid Upanishadic truth to us. Generally, whatever ideas arise in an individual’s mind are truly known only to that person; in other words, that person alone knows the exact magnitude and intensity of those ideas. Others can only observe the external effects and make inferences. Therefore, the subjective nature of spiritual ecstasy is evident to all. Everyone knows that spiritual moods, like other thoughts, are mere modifications of the mind or manifestations of mental powers. They appear and disappear in the mind. It is impossible to see the mental picture or a similar image in the external world or to show it. But on the contrary, we find that some of the Master’s thoughts actually did take form in the external world.
Some examples:
When the Master saw that goats and cattle were eating the saplings of the Panchavati that he had planted during his sadhana, he wished to build a fence around it. Shortly the high tide of the Ganges brought near that spot the materials needed for making a fence: some wooden posts, split bamboo, rope, and even a machete. He then built a fence with the help of Bhartabhari, a gardener of the Kali temple.
Once in the course of conversation the Master said to Mathur, a son-in-law of Rani Rasmani: “Anything may happen by the will of God. Even a white flower may bloom in a red hibiscus tree.” Mathur disagreed. The next day the Master saw in the garden two flowers, one white and the other red, on one branch of a red hibiscus tree. He broke off that branch with the flowers and presented it to Mathur.
Whenever the Master wished to practise the sadhanas of Tantra, Vedanta, Vaishnavism, Islam, and so on, teachers who had become perfect in those disciplines arrived at the Dakshineswar Kali temple and initiated him in their respective faiths.
The Master longed to meet his close devotees, whom he had seen only in a vision. When they later came to him, he recognized each one. We could mention many such examples. When we reflect on these events, we can see that many of the Master’s ideas did not remain as mere thoughts like those of ordinary human beings. According to a mysterious law unknown to us, his thoughts produced corresponding changes in the events of the external world. (Source: Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play)
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