Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna
Swami Saradananda
One day Sri Ramakrishna was seated in his room at Dakshineswar, surrounded by a group of devotees. Ganesha, the Hindu divinity of success, was the topic of conversation. The Master praised highly the integrity of character of Sri Ganesha, His utter absence of passion and single-minded devotion to his mother, goddess Durga. Young Sharat [who became Swami Saradananda] was present. Suddenly he said: “Well, sir, I like the character of Ganesha very much. He is my ideal.” Sri Ramakrishna corrected him saying, “No, Ganesha is not your ideal. Your ideal is Shiva. You possess Shiva attributes.”
On another occasion Sri Ramakrishna asked Sharat: “How do you like to realize God? What divine visions do you prefer to see in meditation?” Sharat replied: “ I do not want to see any particular form of God in meditation. I want to see Him as manifested in all creatures of the world. I do not like visions.” Sri Ramakrishna said with a smile: “That is the last word in spiritual attainment. You cannot have it all at once.” Sharat responded: “But I won’t be satisfied with anything short of that. I shall go on in the path of sadhana till that blessed state arrives.”