by
Swami Muktirupananda
Genesis of the Mission
India, particularly the Hindu society, in the eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries had been passing through a tumultuous period. It was a sad period of
all round ecadence in the spheres of religion,education, culture, economic and
social life. The spread of English education dealt a mortal blow to the orthodox
Hindu society. Educated Hindus, dazzled by the power of the British rulers,secular ideas and the progress of the physical sciences of the West, felt
ashamed of their own culture and lofty spiritual tradition. The nation was
caught in the grip of poverty. The dark clouds of despondency hung over the
destiny of India.
Sri Ramakrishna
A spiritual colossus in the form of Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886) arose in the
midst of chaos and confusion to stem the rot and steer India to a bright and
glorious future. He resuscitated the ancient truths enshrined in the scriptures
through his stupendous spiritual practices. He did not merely preach but
demonstrated to the world by his exemplary life that religion was not talk, or
matter of mere belief but realization of God. Sri Ramakrishna is the
personification of all religions. He said about his spiritual realizations ” I
had to practise the various religions once, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity and
I have walked the paths of the different sects of the Hinduism. I have found
that it is the same God towardswhom all are traveling, only they come through
diverse ways. All religions are true - as many faiths so many paths.”
Sri Ramakrishna’s down-to-earth religion includes both material and spiritual
welfare of humankind. His philosophy embraces the energetic action in the world
and calm meditation. Religion does not mean leading an inactive and socially
unproductive life. That was the orthodox old idea of Indian tradition. Sri
Ramakrishna struck a new note and combined dynamic action and calm withdrawal.
Thus we find the wonderful synthesis of two powers – economic prosperity and
spiritual enlightenment. In a significant statement he said; “Religion cannot be
taught on an empty stomach”. That shows poverty and religion cannot go together.
These truths realized and taught by Sri Ramakrishna are for the well being of
human society. Sri Ramakrishna was pining to bequeath his findings and teachings
– universal in their sweep, to worthy young aspirants who would be able to
follow them in their purest form and communicate to humanity at large. The
historical meeting of Sri Ramakrishna and Vivekananda, his foremost disciple,
ushered in a new era. Vivekananda assimilated both the currents of the Western
dynamism and of Eastern tranquil spirituality. It was the need of the hour.
Later he instilled the virtues of energetic action and the ideal of spirituality
in the Indian minds. He showed to the Indians that material prosperity and
spiritual excellence could go hand in hand. Human excellence requires harnessing
of these two great powers.
Sarada
Devi(1853 to 1920)
Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi was the spiritual consort of Sri Ramakrishna. After
Sri Ramakrishna's demise, Holy Mother carried on his spiritual ministry, guiding
and blessing thousands of devotees. They were attracted by her pure motherly
love. She treated everyone as her real child. One of her sayings was: "I am the
mother of the righteous, I am the mother of the wicked as well. Never fear.
Whenever you are in distress, just say to yourself 'I have a mother." Her last
message was: "My child, if you want peace of mind, then do not look into
anybody's faults, rather see your own faults. No one is a stranger, my child.
Learn to make the whole world your own".
Swami
Vivekananda (1863 to 1902)
After the passing away of Sri Ramakrishna (1886) his young ascetic disciples and
householders, under the leadership of Vivekananda, dedicated themselves to carry
out the mission of their Master. Vivekananda realized that he did not come to
earth for his own salvation but he had a mission to fulfill. Like Sri
Ramakrishna and Buddha, he came for the ‘good of the many, for the happiness’ of
the many. (Bhujan hitaya, bahujan sukhaya)
Some friends of Madras, a few rulers of the states urged and helped him to
represent Hinduism at the Parliament of Religions at Chicago (Sep. 1893). His
speeches at the Parliament are the classic examples of oceanic sympathy, broad
catholicity and total unselfishness. For the next four years, the West, for the
first time heard through the lips of this cyclonic young sage, the immortal
message of the divinity of the soul. He said, “My ideal can be put into a few
words, that is, preach un to mankind their divinity and how to make it manifest
in every movement of life.”
Ramakrishna
Movement
After delivering his message in thundering words to the West, this messenger of
energetic action returned to India in February, 1897. He felt a need for an
organization where the monks and the householders work together to remove the
sufferings of the people. On the first of May, 1897, Vivekananda established the
Ramakrishna Mission with twin ideals as its motto: “ Liberation of the Self and
welfare of the world.”
All the service activities of the Ramakrishna Mission have one central truth
behind them: Worship of the Divine in living beings. Work done in any other
spirit fortifies selfishness and egotism of man. Vivekananda preached Vedanta,
neo-Vedanta. What are the highlights of this neo-Vedanta? The old philosophy
said, “The world is an illusion, samsara (worldly life) is terrible and every
thing is Maya.” Such life-negating attitude made people impervious to the
miseries, poverty and sufferings of other fellow beings. Vivekananda said, “ God
has become this world and all beings. See Him in everything and everyone. If you
can find God in images why not in human beings. So worship God hidden in all
beings. This is the easy way to reach God. Be good and do good, it is the whole
of religion” Vivekananda gave a new positive, constructive turn to Vedanta and
made it down-to-earth religion.
A hundred years ago the Ramakrishna Mission was established to translate into
action the teachings of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda. In this short period in
history, the Ramakrishna Movement has become worldwide phenomenon. Its centers
are spread not only in India but in many countries of the world. All centres try
to mitigate the sufferings of the needy and helpless and at the same time awaken
people to their innate divinity. The centres of the Ramakrishna Mission are in
France, Russia, America, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Switzerland,
Japan, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Fiji, Singapore and also in some other
countries. The Mission embraces in its comprehensive sweep the following
activities: Spread of man-making and character-building education, rural
reconstruction, work among the tribal and backward people, economic and social
uplift of the masses, education of women, relief work in times of natural
calamities, healthcare through hospitals. Along with these works go the
publication of spiritual books and preaching.
Swami Vivekananda on his way to America to attend the Parliament of Religions visited Singapore on 12th June 1893. During his short stay he went to see the Botanical Gardens and the Museum. After his brief halt many monks of the Ramakrishna Order paid their visits to Singapore and created interest in people. In a way they laid the foundation for a center to begin its welfare works here. The devotees and admires of Singapore requested the authorities of the Ramakrishna Mission in India to start a branch center here. In response to their earnest appeal Swami Adyananda was sent in May 1928. The Swami with the help of devotees and well-wishers on the 7th August 1928 started a branch center of the Mission. The Mission set before itself some general guidelines to direct its activities:
1. Educational work – starting a day school for children and night school for adults.
2. Charitable works for all people.
3. Dissemination of spiritual ideas
To facilitate the increasing activities of the Mission a spacious building was built at Norris Road in 1932. In the same year the center started the Vivekananda School with thirty-two students. Both English and Tamil were taught in this school. The Mission realized education for the adults would be the best way to remove the problems of alcoholism and unhealthy living habits and conditions among the poor sections of the community. The Mission started a night school for these people. A separate school for girls – ‘Sardamani girls’ School’ was opened in 1937. As soon it was opened it was filled to capacity and the school had to turn away many. The high academic standards maintained by these schools were praised by the Education Department. Much later, these schools because of declining number of students were discontinued.
The Boys’ Home which has been rendering commendable service for the last sixty years began its work in 1940, as five destitute students came under its care and protection. A spacious land was purchase at Bartley Road in 1941 to provide shelter to increasing number of poor and orphan boys. These boys lived in temporary dormitories. The orphan girls were provided accommodation at Norris Road. The Boys’ Home permanent building was built only in 1950.
During the Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945, the Mission sheltered hundreds of homeless people. The Mission did commendable work during the war by providing food and medicine to the victims of the war. It started a temporary hospital with eighty beds and dispensaries to help the sick and wounded.
The Governor of Singapore sir Franklin Gimson, while inaugurating the workshop for the boys at Bartley Road in April 1948 said:” The Ramakrishna Mission has always enjoyed a good reputation for charitable work and the Government is pleased to assist anybody of this nature which has interested itself in the care and upbringing of the young.”
1) Boys’ Home:
The Boys’ Home began its work in 1940 with five destitute boys at Norris Road. To accommodate increasing number of poor and orphan boys it was shifted in 1942 to the newly acquired spacious land at 179 Bartley Road. The boys attended the schools at Norris Road from this place. In addition to their academic studies they were given vocational training in carpentry, machine repair, tailoring, basket weaving and toy-making.
The Boys from temporary dormitories at last were shifted to the present permanent building in 1950. It was opened by Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India. A second storey was added in1959. The boys’ Home activities are partly supported by the Ministry of Community Development and sports. Since its inception thousands of boys have gone out of the Home.
The former boys, now well-established, have formed an association – Ramakrishna Old Boys’ Association. This Association organized cultural and sports events to raise money for the Boys’ Home. They are doing laudable service.
2) Kindergarten:
To impart character-building education and to impart moral values in young children at tender age, the Mission started a Kindergarten in 1992 with 126 children with an initial grant from SINDA. The Kindergarten is registered with the Ministry of Education and is open to all. Because of growing demand for admission, the Mission constructed a purpose-built building to provide accommodation to 400 children. In addition to the curriculum approved by MOE, the children are taught music and movement, English and Tamil speech and drama training. The children are exposed to computer-based learning through its multi-media computer center. Tamil, Hindi & Mandarin are taught as second languages. With its extensive green grounds, the children have the additional facility for loving and enjoying the natural and sylvan surroundings.
The Mission has constructed a new building and extended the facilities by adding additional classrooms, a new Computer Room, and a gymnasium among others. The enrolment of children is now more than 500.
3) Counselling Centre:
Realizing the growing need for counseling services the Mission started a counseling service center in 1995. During this short period the Centre not only widened the area of its services but also gained rich experience and insights. In the beginning the center focused its attention on the school students and their problems. The professional counselors visited the schools in the neighborhood and offered the valuable services. From this beginning it has expanded its horizon to include talks, workshops, family therapy, home visits, guidance to parents and teachers, psychiatric service, Rainbow and language enrichment programmes and many other result-oriented services. With the expansion of the services the center is focused on providing a more holistic approach to meet the needs of children and adolescents. Service packages targeted at: Students, Teachers, Parents and family of the Students.
Helping those who are in need is a wonderful service, which brings joy and a sense of fulfillment. To be happy is to see the happiness of others.
The generous financial support of the National Council of Social Service has enabled the counseling center to render its services to the children and adolescents of Singapore.
The new building for the center makes available space and facilities for expansion of services and center-based counseling.
4) Spiritual and Cultural Activities
The Mission has a beautiful temple dedicated to Sri Ramakrishna. People without any distinction of race, religion or creed are allowed to make use of the peaceful and spiritually vibrant atmosphere for prayer and meditation. The birthdays of great saints and prophets are celebrated with worship, prayers and discourses. Occasionally seminars and inter-religious dialogues are held to enhance inter-religious understanding to promote Religious Harmony. Saturdays and Sundays weekly scriptural classes are held.
5) Yoga Class:
Training in Yoga is given to a large number of adults on all Sunday mornings. This Yoga course is free and open to all. It has become very popular.
6) Homoeopathy Centre:
This Centre has been operating very successfully since 1993. Consultation and medicine are free. More and more people are showing interest in Homoeopathic treatment.
7) Classes for children:
On Saturdays and Sundays children between the ages of four and twelve are taught music, bhajans and moral values.
8) Quarterly Publication:
The Mission publishes a quarterly journal, ‘Nirvana’ to promote racial and religious harmony.
Above noted are some of the main activities of the Ramakrishna Mission Centre in Singapore.