How come thousands of schools and colleges function in the name Sri Ramakrishna when he himself did not attend any school? Why did He not go to school? - Smt. Bharati, California, USA.
Answer: According to Sri Ramakrishna, "Godless life is an oilless lamp". Every human should spend his or her life thinking about God and craving for His Grace wherever they are and whatever they do in their lives.
Sri Ramakrishna's teaching isthat if we keep God as our focal point and lead our lives devotedly, it will lead to our spiritual growth and all our tasks will be accomplished effortlessly.
Are we living in Kali Yuga now? No. We claim and brag to live in the Yuga of modern Education. Academic Education may have done lot of good to us, but has it been able to show us the divine path?
The answer is a big NO.
People are made to believe that an academic degree can help them earn more money and prestige. But they generally become selfish when they pursue only academics. Isn't it true that breadwinning education also causes people to ignore their social responsibilities and respect towards other beings?
The materialistic education hardly helps us ponder about that supreme source of power. One can add a string of degrees after one's name but it is of no avail if one has not earned the goodwill and trust of fellow beings.
One should earn the name that -One is noble and service minded. What precedes one’s name is the reputation acquired through one’s virtue and good qualities and what follows one’s name are the degrees to earn a livelihood.
We should always earn punya by doing good karmas. If you perform good deeds diligently, then all the necessary help naturally comes to you, including a decent money. But one who is addicted to making money cannot even sleep peacefully without a pill.
Sri Ramakrishna was not against book learning. But he was against a learning that brushes aside God and Values of life or a learning that turns one against God and Dharma.
'As long as I live, so long do I learn' is the fundamental principle of Sri Ramakrishna's life. In modern times though we get plenty of instruction and information in school, we rarely internalize them.
Will academic degrees satisfy a person who internalises whatever he learns? Sri Ramakrishna was not satisfied with collecting information, but his focus was always on somehow connecting himself with God, the source of all knowledge.
Sri Ramakrishna surpassed the school education, hence schooling was not needed for him. He showed even in these days that one could lead a glorious life without acquiring any degree when people convinced that everything had been achieved if one acquired degrees.
Today, Sri Ramakrishna the God-realized soul, shows that in His sacred name millions of people can get education. The reason why many schools are being run in His name is to show that, a bread-winning education can easily be provided in the name of one, a repository higher divine knowledge.
Is it any wonder if the earth and all beings come to life when the sun rises?
Swami Vimurtananda
15 February, 2021
Ramakrishna Math, Thanjavur