#079 , Granted that Ramakrishna was a sham
Rakhal (Swami Brahmananda) was a brother disciple of Vivekananda. Both were sitting at the feet of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa wherever he went, though Ramakrishna seemed to have preferred Vivekananda (Narendra) to Rakhal as he believed that Narendra was more learned. He was the first head of the Ramakrishna Math at Belur. His samadhi can also be found in Belur Math. Though Brahmananda revered Ramakrishna very much, he appears to have nursed a few rays of doubts about the Guru Deva. When some people were calling Ramakrishna a sham, he too seemed to have expressed such doubt to Vivekananda in a letter. This can be seen from Vivekananda's reply to Brahmananda. Swami Vivekananda wrote to Swami Brahmananda from England on Oct. 4, 1895. " ... Sir, granted that Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was a sham, granted that it has been a very serious mistake, indeed, to take refuge in him, but what is the way out now? What if one life is spent in vain, but shall a man eat his own words? Can