How Lord Buddha Suddenly Appeared Before Swami Vivekananda-2 Incident #2 – Vision of Lord Buddha at Bodh-Gaya

How Lord Buddha Suddenly Appeared Before Swami Vivekananda-2

Incident #2 – Vision of Lord Buddha at Bodh-Gaya

A few years after the above incident, just before the passing of Sri Ramakrishna in August of 1886, Swami Vivekananda and 11 other disciples took the monastic vow of Sannyas (renunciation), receiving from Sri Ramakrishna ochre clothes and rosaries of rudraksha beads. (Source: Ramakrishna and His Disciples)

Immediately after being initiated into Sannyas, Sister Nivedita writes, Swami Vivekananda’s first act was to hurry to Bodh-Gaya, the place where his monastic ideal Lord Buddha had attained to enlightenment.

For many thousands of years ago, Lord Buddha too had taken the same monastic vow of Sannyas, renouncing his kingdom and princely wealth and set out to attain Nirvana (enlightenment). Now Swamiji was walking in the holy one’s foot-steps.

While in Bodh-Gaya, Swami Vivekananda paid reverential respects to the Bodhi-tree, an offshoot of the original tree under which Buddha had attained Nirvana, and remained absorbed in meditation before the image of Buddha. (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)

It was while meditating thus that he for the second time, keenly felt the presence of Lord Buddha and saw vividly how the history of India had been changed by his noble teachings. (Source: Vivekananda a Biography)

Upon returning from Bodh-Gaya, Swamiji eagerly described this second vision of Buddha, to his guru Sri Ramakrishna. This conversation has been captured by “M” in his book the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (Chapter 50: The Master and Buddha):

“M” (Mahendranath Gupta): Sri Ramakrishna asked Narendra by sign whether he had seen a tuft of hair on Buddha’s head.

Narendra (Swami Vivekananda): “No, sir. He seems to have a sort of crown; his head seems to be covered by strings of rudraksha beads placed on top of one another.”

Sri Ramakrishna: “And his eyes?”

Narendra (Swami Vivekananda): “They show that he is in samadhi.”

Many years later, upon returning back from his trip West, Swami Vivekananda once more visited the sacred soil of Bodh-Gaya on his 39th birthday. This visit was the last. He gave up his body in Samadhi shortly thereafter.

“When a man merges his Buddhi, his intelligence, in Bodha, Consciousness, then he attains the Knowledge of Brahman (God); he becomes Buddha, enlightened.
Sri Ramakrishna

Om Namah Shivay