Once, in the middle of the night, Ramdas Kathiya Baba asked a particular disciple of his to bring him a glass of water. Then he said to him, “Now you go back to sleep. I am going Home.” The disciple could not understand what the Master meant, but since it was late in the night and he was feeling drowsy, he went back to sleep.

The following morning the disciple heard the Master’s cows lowing and he went into the Master’s room. The Master’s room was flooded with light. The disciple could easily see that the Master had left the body, and he began shouting and crying.

When the rest of the disciples came into the Master’s room, they also saw that the Master had left the body. On the one hand the Master was often so hard with the disciples; on the other hand he had a very soft heart for animals. He was extremely fond of his dear cows. The cows felt that the Master had left the body, so they were lowing, they were shedding tears.

Commentary:

When a spiritual Master leaves the body, his dear ones suffer terribly. This suffering is an experience not only of the human world, but also of the animal world. As a matter of fact, this is an experience of God’s entire universe. All the worlds in God’s universe are intertwined. When one becomes a spiritual Master, his oneness-heart with God’s Heart permeates all the worlds exactly the way his Beloved Supreme has permeated this reality-existence right from the dawn of His creation.

The disciples of Ramdas cried; the cows cried; humanity as such cried, for they all thought that it was a terrible loss. But divinity knows that there is no such thing as loss. It is only a transformation of the visible into the invisible, which will open up a new chapter in God’s ever-illumining and ever-fulfilling cosmic Game.

Sri Chinmoy