Click it and Unblock the Notifications
Latest Updates
-
A Hotel on Wheels: Bihar Rolls Out Its First Luxury Caravan Buses -
Bharti Singh-Haarsh Limbachiyaa Welcome Second Child, Gender: Couple Welcome Their Second Baby, Duo Overjoyed - Report | Bharti Singh Gives Birth To Second Baby Boy | Gender Of Bharti Singh Haarsh Limbachiyaa Second Baby -
Bharti Singh Welcomes Second Son: Joyous News for the Comedian and Her Family -
Gold & Silver Rates Today in India: 22K, 24K, 18K & MCX Prices Fall After Continuous Rally; Check Latest Gold Rates in Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad & Other Cities on 19 December -
Nick Jonas Dancing to Dhurandhar’s “Shararat” Song Goes Viral -
From Consciousness To Cosmos: Understanding Reality Through The Vedic Lens -
The Sunscreen Confusion: Expert Explains How to Choose What Actually Works in Indian Weather -
On Goa Liberation Day 2025, A Look At How Freedom Shaped Goa Into A Celebrity-Favourite Retreat -
Daily Horoscope, Dec 19, 2025: Libra to Pisces; Astrological Prediction for all Zodiac Signs -
Paush Amavasya 2025: Do These Most Powerful Rituals For Closure On The Final Amavasya Of The Year
Sri Ramakrishna's Smile
AMONG the several gifts Sri Ramakrishna gave to the world are three of his divine visions, preserved in the form of photographs. His physical appearance may continue to distance itself from us in space and time, but these three divine visions will always keep Sri Ramakrishna in the eternal NOW, ever close to us, in the eternal HERE. Each of these three visions is a revelation in itself. Each is dynamic and each speaks.
Taken together, we see several common features in them. One of these features is Sri Ramakrishna's smile. There is something special about it. Rather, one should say that there is hardly anything commonplace about it. Ordinary smiles we see plenty around us. Any smile is a spontaneous expression of joy. The smiles we are accustomed to result from the joy that seems to come from our environment, from the people and things around. But when we remember that Sri Ramakrishna was in a deep spiritual ecstasy (samadhi) when every one of the three photos was taken, we know that he was then in direct communion with the Source of all joys, and his smile therefore is not only different but also divine. This divine smile, playing on the lips of Sri Ramakrishna, speaks to the soul that is willing to hear. It has a message to deliver, and we can receive it if we are awake and vigilant.
Real joy comes from God — and from Him alone
The first thing that Sri Ramakrishna's smile (in Ramakrishna's photos) tells us is that real joy is to be found in God alone. All the so-called joys of the world are really just sorrow in a different form; they are impermanent' and give no lasting fulfilment. Worse still, every ounce of joy extracts a heavy price in the form of tonnes of suffering. This suffering may not necessarily come through poverty or hunger, but it certainly comes in the form of disease, old age and death. None is exempt from these existential forms of suffering. And the only way to overcome this suffering is to realize God or, in Vedantic language, to realize one's own real nature. The Upanisad declares, 'The knower of the Self transcends all sufferings.'
About the author
This article is written by Swami Tyagananda of the Ramakrishna order, published in the Vedanta Kesary.
Continue with Google