When Vivekananda Asked “Can You Prove There is God?”

Sadhguru: So, Vivekananda, he went to Ramakrishna and asked, “Can you prove there is God?” Ramakrishna asked, “Do you have the courage?” He hesitated for a moment, and he said, “Yes, I want to see.” And when he came out, all his questions had completely evaporated. You’ve heard of Swami Vivekananda. For those of you who do not know, Vivekananda was the first yogi who came to United States of America in 1893, Chicago, and his guru was Ramakrishna. So, Vivekananda was just eighteen years of age, and he was a fiery youth. One day somebody told him, "There is this mystic, Ramakrishna. You must see him. He has all the answers. You have so many questions. That’s where you should go." So he went. He is full all fired up, full of intellect, and full of argument about everything. He is an activist; he is not a spiritual seeker as such. He has no such intentions. Only thing is he has questions; he is not a conscious seeker yet. He is more like an activist. He is going every place to demolish all the mumbo-jumbo that’s going on around him. So he went to Ramakrishna and asked, “What is this all the time you are talking God, God? Can you prove there is God?” Ramakrishna said, “Well, I'm the proof.” (Laughter) So, it just deflated him completely. He was expecting all those head-spinning arguments. Ramakrishna said, “Well, I'm the proof. I'm here. This is the proof.” Then he made the mistake of asking, “Can you make me experience whatever it is?” Ramakrishna asked, “Do you have the courage?” Vivekananda was known to be a very brave man. He hesitated for a moment, and he said, “Yes, I want to see.” Ramakrishna just took his foot and put it on his chest and Vivekananda did not get up from a samadhi state for hours, and when he came out, all his questions had completely evaporated. After that he didn't ask a single question. He saw something that he had never imagined in his life, and then he got… the madness caught him. Ramakrishna himself, if he was left to himself, nobody in the world would have ever heard about him because he had no means to communicate with the rest of the world. He had no way of reaching out to people. He was… he was incredible, but not cunning enough to operate with the world, (Laughs) does not have the necessary guile to do anything with the world. So he chose Vivekananda as his vehicle. He took Ramakrishna all over the world. There have been hundreds of Ramakrishnas, but you heard only of one Ramakrishna because of somebody like Vivekananda. In almost every Indian home generally this picture is there, “Hindu monk” picture, because everybody thinks Vivekananda is the inspiration. He inspired a whole generation of people. He continues to inspire millions of people even today because he was such a fiery human being. Whatever he spoke and whatever he did in a short span of his life, he died very young at the age of thirty-two, but in that short span he set fire to lot of people and created a major institution which is worldwide even today. Ramakrishna Mission is almost everywhere in the world. When I went to Dakshineshwara in Calcutta, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, his immediate disciples, after he passed away, when they formed this Ramakrishna Mission, a new order – Ramakrishna never gave them initiation into monkhood or anything. After he passed away, these people decided that they will dedicate their lives to spreading his message. They came together and they became monks by themselves. They decided their lives must be dedicated to making this message happen. And when they came together and formed a little ashram on the banks of Hooghly in Calcutta, there’s a picture of them. They are standing like this (Gestures) next to the river and there’s a photograph – somebody took a photograph of them. You must see these men. These are men, okay. They are like fire! So they took it upon themselves, these eight people, and Ramakrishna Mission went across the world and spread the message. Even today it's one of the most productive spiritual groups. You know, they're still quietly doing their work in their own way.