One incident in particular reveals Latu’s direct and uncompromising approach to spiritual life. He fell sound asleep early one evening at Dakshineswar. Ramakrishna noticed his disciple sleeping and not only woke him, but rebuked him sharply: “If you sleep in the evening, when will you meditate? You should meditate so deeply that the night passes unnoticed. Instead, your eyelids are heavy with sleep at this auspicious time. Did you come here only to sleep?”
That was enough. The Master’s scolding caused a veritable upheaval in Latu’s mind. In his own words: “How can I express the deep sorrow that seized me at the Master’s words! ‘What a wretch I am,’ I said to myself, ‘that having the rare blessing of such holy company, I should be wasting my time.’ I started to whip my mind. Mercilessly, I splashed water on my eyes and began to walk briskly along the bank of the Ganges. When my body became overheated, I returned and sat near him. Again I dozed, and again I went out for a walk. Thus I fought the whole night. The struggle continued the next night also. It was a terrible fight. Sleep would overcome my eyes during the day, but I did not give up. The battle went on day and night. Finally, night sleep came under control, but not day sleep.”
After two years of struggle, Latu conquered sleep and never again slept at night. Swami Saradananda wrote: “Latu was invariably seen praying and meditating the whole night and sleeping during the day. His life was a literal example of the teaching of the Gita: ‘In that which is night to all beings, the man of self-control is awake; and where all beings are awake, there is night for the sage who sees (2.69).’”
Ramdas Kathiababa started serving Gurudev and doing sadhna as per his orders. Gurudev tested him very hard from time to time. Once, while roaming around, Guru and disciple reached Himalayas and there Gurudev started living in a hut and Ramdasji sat in an open place and started doing bhajan-sadhna. It would snow from evening to morning. So, he lit a fire in front of him and did bhajans as per Guru’s orders all night. He was not allowed to get up from his seat at night. One night, he felt a little lazy for a while, the fire got extinguished due to snow fall and Ramdasji started shivering due to cold. He thought that without lighting the fire, he would have to die of cold. His body was gradually getting colder. He was afraid of Guruji and what he would say. At last, he gathered courage and went and stood quietly outside the hut. Gurudev asked from inside- ‘Who is outside?’ The disciple said- ‘Maharaj, servant Ramdas.’ Later, when Guru asked, he told everything. Gurudev threatened him and said, ‘Son! Have you left your home and made your parents cry just to sleep? Take the fire with you today; but be careful, this should never happen again.’ Saying this, Gurudev threw a burning piece of wood outside. Ramdasji brought it back and lit a fire with it and started doing bhajans.
Did We Start This Monastery for Sleeping?
Akhandananda also told another story that illustrates how strict Swamiji was about the monastery routine: “One night there was a discussion on various topics of Vedanta, such as reincarnation and whether a human soul is born in the subhuman plane or not. The brothers took sides in the debate and Swamiji became the umpire. He was smiling and listening, and sometimes he supplied points to the losing side. It continued till 2:00 a.m. Everybody went to sleep. But then at 4:00 a.m., Swamiji asked me to ring the bell so that the monks could go to the shrine for meditation. I said that they had gone to sleep only a couple of hours earlier, and that he should let them sleep a little more. Swamiji then firmly said: ‘What! Because they have gone to sleep at two o’clock should they get up at six o’clock? Give me the bell. I will ring it. Did we start this monastery for sleeping?’ When I rang the bell loudly, all got up yelling at me. But when they saw Swamiji smiling behind me, they silently followed the routine.” (Source: God Lived with Them)
Sometimes he would wake us in the middle of the night and say: “Hello, my dear boys! Have you come here to sleep? If you spend the whole night in sleep, when will you call on God?” As soon as we heard his voice, we would quickly sit up and start to meditate. — Swami Shivananda (Source: God Lived with Them)
After staying one month at Kankhal, Maharaj went to Vrindaban and practised sadhana with Turiyananda. During this time, Brahmananda recalled how a spirit helped his steadfast devotions:
At that time Turiyananda and I were living together and practising japam and meditation punctually. We did not talk to each other unless we needed to. At 8:00 p.m. we would eat some bread that we got from begging, and then go to bed. Just at midnight we would get up, and after washing we would sit for meditation. One night while I was asleep, I was pushed by someone and heard a voice: “It is twelve. Will you not sit for meditation?” I immediately got up and was a little groggy. I thought that Turiyananda had broken my sleep, but he informed me that he had not. Quickly I finished washing and sat for meditation. I saw a Babaji (a Vaishnava saint) repeating his mantram silently in front of me. Seeing him I was a little scared. I was repeating my mantram and from time to time I would look at him. As long as I was seated on my carpet, I saw him standing, repeating his mantram. Later I used to see him daily in the same way repeating his mantram. (Source: God Lived with Them)
Lakshmi Devi recalled: “The Master did not sleep much at night. When it was still dark outside he would move around the temple garden, and while passing near the nahabat he would call: ‘O Lakshmi, O Lakshmi. Get up. Ask your aunt to get up also. How long will you sleep? It is almost dawn. The crows and cuckoos are about to sing. [This is a sign of daybreak in tropical countries.] Chant the name of the Divine Mother.’
“Sometimes in winter, when the Master would call, Mother, while lying under her quilt, would whisper to me: ‘Keep quiet. He has no sleep in his eyes. It is not the right time to get up, and the birds have not yet started singing. Don’t respond.’ But if the Master did not get any response, he would pour water under the doorsill, and since we slept on the floor, we had to get up without delay. Even so, sometimes our beds got wet. (Source: They Lived with God)