Dr. Date as a spiritual Guide
PROF. R.D. RANADE holds that “intellectual power and absolute clarity of thought seem to be the first criterion of mystical experience”. In Dr. Date we find this intellectual greatness, and if we have to place him in one of the three groups of mystics, namely activists, emotionists and intellectuals, he certainly will have a high place among the intellectuals. In him emotions and actions were controlled and directed by intellect. He helped his students and disciples in several ways but never allowed them to call him their ‘Guru’; he preferred to be called a ‘Guide’ and hence ‘Guide’ is the word we use here for him, though for all purposes he is a spiritual teacher to us all.
Chief Characteristics
A spiritual guide must be one who has himself realised God. He must have patience enough to put up with the short-coming and slow progress of the ‘Sadhaka’, and be willing to carry him though all the difficulties and dangers on the path. Dr. Date was such a guide. Over and above these, his guidance was remarkably unique in several respects, a few of which are given below :
- Success or failure, struggle has its own value and this fact was given due importance by Dr. Date. This is the first important characteristic of his guidance.
- The importance he attached to small acts of everyday life was another chief criterion for judging the worth of a man.
- He never disturbed the beliefs of a person but allowed him time to know for himself that the real faith and beliefs are the result of the experience of God.
- His lectures, books, sermons and discourses had the one aim of removing superstitions and blind credulity so that the real pathway to God could be made clear.
- Whatever he asked others to do was always such as was done by him also. He was in a sense a co-worker with his devotees. He could be seen working with them in his ‘workshop’ as also sitting for meditation with them.
- He always discouraged theoretical questions and insisted on concentrating on the problems arising out of one’s own spiritual endeavour.
- He disapproved neglect of social obligations under the pretext of performing spiritual duties or postponing meditation and ‘Bhajans’ because of busy schedule.
- He insisted that no account regular meditation for a fixed period of time should be given up. If the day kept one busier than usual, nights were long enough.
- Similarly, he always insisted that meditation (Nirguna Bhakti) must be supported by ‘Bhajan’s and reading of spiritual literature (Sanguna Bhakti). The practice of the former is well-nigh impossible without the latter, whereas the latter with without the former is not capable of yielding desired fruits.
Under his careful guidance there came about an all-round development of the personality of the Sadhaka. One became intellectually clear, emotionally stable and volitionally smart and active, but, above all, learnt gradually to surrender his all at the feet of his Guru as to God.
Attracting the Sadhakas
Most of the Sadhakas came under the spell of his personality, his sweet and instructive conversation and the uplifting joy they felt in his presence. Many were attracted by his great learning, thorough grasp of the subject he taught and his lucid and impressive class lectures. Some came to him on knowing about his spiritual greatness while a few had dreams directing them to go to Dr. Date. Whosoever came to him was treated as one sent by God and given all attention.
With his penetrating insight into the character of a man he would evaluate and choose the best among those who came to him. As a result, one who was chosen by him had at least one notable quality—maybe obedience and loyalty, sincerity and service, honesty and integrity or intellectual sharpness and purity of heart.
Pre-requisite
One pre-condition for receiving his guidance was preparedness on the part of the ‘Sadhaka’ to desist from having excessive craving for women and wealth. He allowed for moderate satisfaction of these two through institution of marriage and one’s own earning through hard labour; beyond that any lust for the two was disqualification.
Preparing for initiation
Sunday sittings: To remove misconceptions, bring about clarity of thought and arouse thirst for true knowledge of God in the Sadhakas, he held regular sittings at this residence on Sundays. The atmosphere, though mainly intellectual, was charged with emotional fervour also resulting in a wonderful blending of intellectual and emotional elements. These sittings were always so lively, impressive and instructive that we generally lost count of time. They were brightened by the good-natured humor of Dr. Date. Many of the doubts agitating our minds were automatically resolved and there are not a few who will affirm that their questions were answered and doubts were cleared by merely remaining present in these sittings. Many got spiritual experiences while listening to his sermons or by remaining in close proximity with him.
Workshop
Another useful aid was what he called his ‘workshop’. This workshop was in a way a training school, a device for moral and intellectual development. He would find work for everybody. His aim in running this workshop was two-fold. In the first place he would know how sincere and honest or dutiful and obedient a person was and in the second place, what his hidden abilities and capacities were and how best they could be brought out and placed at the service of God. He always emphasised the need for being dutiful, adding that one who neglected his duties could not hope to be loyal to God. The workshop helped one in achieving clarity of thought, but more important than that was the quality of thoughtfulness one learnt there. The disciple imbibed team spirit, learnt to respect other’s views and appreciate the advantages of corporate life. It was also an occasion for transmission and reception of spiritual energy.
In this way when he found that a person was fit for initiation into spiritual life, he would see that the person sat for meditation regularly for a fixed period of time, which increased with the passage of time; devoted at least some time to the reading and understanding of spiritual literature; kept a strict watch over his conduct; and lastly went to Nimbal, got initiated at the ‘Samadhi’ of Shri Gurudev Ranade and participated in all the spiritual activities of the ‘Ashrama’ for at least a week.
Meditation and Bhajans
Despite his own hours of meditation, he used to meditate with his disciples also for their benefit. His presence made their meditation fruitful. Silent meditation on the name of God as imparted by the ‘guru’ with the help of incoming and outgoing breaths was of highest value to him.
He discouraged discussion on all purely theoretical questions. He would often give mystical interpretation to many theological and philosophical terms.
Initiation at Nimbal
Irrespective of the fact that he insisted on each and everyone’s going to Nimbal, it is significant to note that almost all who were sent to Nimbal had spiritual experience of one or the other kind even before going there. Yet, everybody had to go and there are many cases in which even the railway fare and money to meet other expenses were paid by him. Moreover he took great pains to explain elaborately the route and other details relating to the journey and the stay at Nimbal.
Testing the experiences
He took all precautions to test the genuineness of the spiritual experiences of the ‘Sadhakas’. In order to find out whether the experience was genuine or not he applied several tests:
He would in the first place ask the person to give an accurate description of his experience and if possible draw the figure on a sheet of paper. Then to verify the truth of it he would ask about it again after a lapse of time, and compare the two accounts. If they agreed on all the important details, the experience was no doubt genuine.
As any spiritual growth worth the name must result in a corresponding change in the attitude, interest and the general belove for God and disgust for ungodly things.
Dr. Date was a perfect gentleman in the assembly of men, a highly learned person in the world of scholars, an ideal teacher in the society of teachers and above all a thoughtful, sympathetic and kind guide to the seekers of the knowledge of God. He was an inspired and inspiring teacher in the spiritual field. He used to quote Carlyle and say, that ‘A Hero is a Hero at all points’ and this is absolutely true of him.
Jagannath Vyas