Spiritual Incubator
God descends as a human being without behavioral patterns inherited from previous lifetimes. The physical and emotional body of the avatar is simply a transparent covering -- a glass lantern within which light is permanently blazing or a glass case in a museum where you can witness various ancient treasures right before your eyes.
--Paramahamsa Ramakrishna
According to sacred texts from India, a saint, a divine being or a quasi-divine being can father children on Earth in five ways: by thought, word, sight, touch or by congress.
This section highlights miraculous conceptions documented in the scriptures and biographies of India.
Sarada Devi [1853 - 1920]
Shyama Sundari Devi (mother of Sarada Devi):
Life in our little village of Jayrambati is quiet and peaceful. The days pass joyously; farmers and boys work and whistle in the fields; birds of various kinds fly in and fly out with each season.
Once my husband Ramachandra Mukhopadhyaya travelled to visit Calcutta, the big city seventy miles away. There he had a dream: a radiant little girl of golden complexion appeared to him and clasped his neck. "Who are you?\u2019" he asked. She replied: "Well, you will see, I have come into your family." My husband returned home wondering what his dream meant.
On his return he told me about his vision. I was surprised, for I too had had a vision. I described it thus: "One day, as I was on the way home from a spiritual pilgrimage to Sihore, I stopped to rest and sat down under a big shade tree. Suddenly a gentle gust of air entered my body and my abdomen felt heavy. A beautiful five-year-old girl adorned in a bright red sari came down from the tree. I was frightened at first, but she was full of angelic beauty and clasped my neck from behind, saying, "I am coming into your family, mother."
I felt that she entered my body. I slipped into a state of ecstasy and people had to carry me home. We awaited the child's arrival with reverence. Nine months later, a daughter was born.
Sarada Devi became the wife of Paramahamsa Ramakrishna. She intimately shared his spiritual practices and experiences. Her selfless life and gentleness of spirit gave her the title of Holy Mother by many who came to know her. She exhorted us to make the world our own without seeing the faults of others. A lesson she lived louder than she spoke. The Holy Mother's charitable hospital in Calcutta, had one counter where medicines were given freely to the poor; another counter served people who could afford to pay for their medicines.
One day a staff member of the hospital complained to Sarada Devi, "Rich people are standing in line with the poor people and taking advantage of the free medicines. How can we stop this?"
Sarada Devi explained, "Don't be concerned about that. When a rich man stands in the line with the poor, be assured that he is also poor and give him medicines. Even though he has money, he is a poor man. He comes here as a beggar."
The Holy Mother further added: "If you live with trust, even if you are exploited, even if you lose your outer world comforts, you will live like a God on Earth. You will float, never walk. You will realize your divinity."
Paramahamsa Ramakrishna (1836-1886)
Chandra Devi (mother of Ramakrishna):
My husband Khudiram Bhattacharya was an upright man who walked one hundred miles to Gaya, a sacred site. Months later, he returned from his journey. I explained the miracle that had happened in his absence: My friend Dhani and I had been conversing outside the small domed shrine when the Shiva image quickened to life before my eyes. All of a sudden, the holy image of Lord Shiva inside the shrine was alive! It began to send forth waves of the most beautiful light until the inside of the temple was illuminated. Slowly at first, then the blazing light poured out faster and faster like one of those huge flood-waves in the river -- right towards me!
Before I had a chance to mention it to Dhani, a sudden flash of unbearable light entered me, flowed over me, overwhelmed me and pervaded me. I felt that marvelous flash of unbearable light enter my body. The powerful light swallowed me up and entered my body. I fainted and fell down on the ground. When I came to myself, I told Dhani what had happened. She didn't believe me; she said I had an epileptic fit.
That can't be so, because, since then I have been transfigured. I am full of joy and my health is better than ever. Only--I feel that light is still inside me. It has reduced itself to a charming flame that stays installed within me now. I am aware of its soft, sublime illumination. I believe that I'm with child. My husband was delighted to hear of my experience. Then he told me what had happened at Gaya. He had received a visitation from the Gods. Lord Rama appeared in a dream and told him, "I shall be reborn as your son for the salvation of the world."
Thus my husband assured me:
"God has decided to toddle over this dusty floor, to suffer our oddities and crudities, and like Krishna, he is sure to grow beyond his pranks and draw the world to his presence with either flute or whip!"
I quickly began to show signs of pregnancy and became remarkably beautiful. I witnessed celestial visions of gods and goddesses almost daily, heard their voices, and the tinkle of their anklets, or smelled their subtle perfumes. One day, for example, I told my husband:
"Today I saw a god riding on the back of a swan. I was startled, at first; then I felt sorry for him because his face was red from sunburn. I called to him and said: "Dear little god, riding on your swan, your face looks burned by the sun. There's some cool rice in the house. I cooked it yesterday. Come and eat a little. Refresh yourself before you go on." He heard me and smiled. But then he faded away and I didn't see him any more."
My friend Dhani assisted at delivery. Dhani barely had time to help me reach the shed before the baby popped out. While Dhani attended to my needs, the newborn somehow rolled across the floor. He was lying among the ashes of the fireplace, still bloody and unwashed, without uttering a sound. Dhani picked him up and washed him. She marvelled at his beauty and size. He already looked like a six-month-old child.
This is how the great Bengali saint and illumined teacher Ramakrishna entered the world. His mother's conception experience was a well-known event witnessed in her small Bengali village of Kamarpukur.
Ramakrishna's illumined consciousness is evidenced by one of many experiences:
"I began to perceive God in all beings. Formal worship dropped away. You see that bel tree. I used to go there to pluck its leaves. One day, as I plucked a leaf, a bit of the bark came off. I found the tree full of consciousness. I felt grieved because I had hurt the tree. One day I tried to pluck some darva grass, but I found I couldn't do it very well. One day I was about to gather some flowers. They were everywhere on the trees. At once I had a vision of [God]; it appeared that His worship was just over. The flowers looked like a bouquet placed on the head of the deity. I could not pluck them."
Sathya Sai Baba (1929 - )
Easwaramma (mother of Sathya Sai Baba):
My mother-in-law cautioned me one day, "Sathyanarayana Deva came to me in a dream with a message for you: 'Do not be frightened if something unusual happens to you through the will of God.'"
That morning as I drew water at the well, a large ball of blue light came rolling towards me and I fainted and fell. I felt, it glided into me.
As my pregnancy advanced, my father-in-law witnessed celestial dreams in which the divine being Venka Avadhootha instructed him saying, Be prepared. For what he was not told.
Meanwhile other mysterious intimations announced the birth of my son. Sweet music from the stringed tambura twanging melodiously and rhythmically and the gentle beating of the maddala (drum) awakened our household at midnight or early in the morning. We wondered, "Whose expert hands are playing the family\u2019 musical instruments?"
One Sastri, an authority on signs of nature, asked my husband, "Is the music sweet and soothing?" He replied, "The notes and beats are thrilling."
The Sastri inquired, "Is there a pregnant woman in the home?" "Yes, my wife Easwaramma," answered my husband.
The Sastri explained: "The music signifies the presence of a beneficent power, conferring harmony, melody, order, symmetry, spiritual elevation and joy. The gods are playing music to charm the baby in the womb."
I birthed a baby boy with two physiological birthmarks to prove his divinity: the soles of his feet bear a circular mark, the Samku Chakram, and his chest bears a birthmark shaped like a garuda bird. My son, Sathya Sai Baba, later affirmed: "I was not begotten. It was Pravesa [an Entrance], not Prasava [Encience]." Thus a divine incarnation takes place by a process of impregnation which occurs by the Divine Will itself. My son declared: "I resolved on my birth. I chose the mother who was to experience my closeness during gestation. The Avatar alone has this freedom of choice. In other cases karma determines the time and space, the group and the grade."
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1485-1533)
Shachi Devi (mother of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu):
My husband Jagannatha Misra and I are a Brahmin couple living in Bengal. Thirteen months before our tenth child's birth, my husband felt a divine light enter his heart.
It was so surcharged with divine splendor that it illumined the quarters like the dazzling sun. Worldly-minded people were afraid to approach him.
Later on, I observed an effulgent, dazzling molten golden Divinity coming from my husband's heart and it entered my bosom. I began to shine with divine charm and beauty.
During my pregnancy, I witnessed celestials beings in the sky singing hymns to the child in my womb. It was like a preceptor which initiates a disciple with mystic Divine Mantra thereby God shines forth in the transparent heart of the aspirant.
A Vedic horoscope indicated that our child would be an intellectual genius, world savior and spiritual preacher. In addition, the astrologer recognized signs of a great personality from auspicious marks on his feet -- flag, thunderbolt, conch, and a fish.
Chaitanya possessed the thirty-two marks of divinity incarnate:
These marks are: the nose, arms, chin, eyes, and knees are large; the skin, fingertips, teeth and the hairs of the body and head are fine; the corners of the eyes, the soles, palms, palate, lips and nails are of crimson complexion; the chest, shoulders, nails, nose, waist and mouth are raised; the neck, thighs, and organ of generation are short; the waist is thin and yet broad, as is the forehead and chest; and the navel, voice, and the mind are deep.
We set gold, silver, food, and religious books before our infant to test our newborn's inclinations. He stretched out his arms and embraced the scripture, Shrimad Bhagavatam, indicating his mission.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu grew up possessing a precocity of intellect and achieved a reputation as a theological and Sanskrit scholar. His intellectual pride turned to religious ecstasy at age twenty-four. Chaitanya began to preach a gospel of love founded on mystic union with God. It was open to people of all religions and castes. Muslims, Hindus, beggars, pariahs, thieves, prostitutes, listened to his burning message and went away purified and strengthened.
Chaitanya's disciples travelled from village to village, singing and dancing to a new form of music called Kirtana, the wandering Bride, the Human Soul, seeking Divine Love. He spiritually transformed India. Chaitanya was also politically active and organized a civil disobedience movement in Bengal.
<< previous topic | introduction | next topic >>
When asked whether the idea of immaculate conception was opposed to the laws of nature, Swami Vivekananda replied, "What is nature to the Lord? It is all His play."
design by earther designs