They were all realized souls. And of a very high order. Take Yatiswarananda Ji for example: Once a disciple of his was facing difficulty in meditating. Suddenly Yatiswarananda Ji came and asked him what was the matter. On the disciple's answering, Yatiswarananda just made an upward motion with his hand from a distance and then went away. The result: That disciple who is himself a realized soul today and is a much respected and senior monk holding the position of Assistant Secretary and Trustee of the Ramakrishna Order at Belur Math monastery, informs us that since that day long back in time, he has never had any difficulty meditating; the state of meditation comes to him spontaneously every day and each time he wishes to meditate. Let me tell another incident which I heard from the mouth of Late Revered Gokulananda Ji Maharaj, then the head of the New Delhi centre of the Ramakrishna Mission. We were together travelling by car when Gokulananda Ji started extolling the Guru bhakti of a lady devotee of Shri Ramakrishna who was a disciple of Swami Yatiswarananda Ji, and stayed in the United Kingdom. Later in life, long years after Yatiswarananda Ji had left his body, this lady suffered from a terminal disease (most probably cancer of an advanced stage). She was practically bedridden at the time of the incident I am narrating. One fine day, the members of her household were astounded to see the lady devotee cooking food in the kitchen while singing or humming a song or prayer. They came and expressed their astonishment questioning the feat and telling her that she ought to be in bed. To this the lady replied, "What to do. I was sleeping, when Gurudeva (Swami Yatiswarananda Ji) appeared before me and told me, 'what are you doing. Get up,' and I got a sudden infusion of strength and here I am happily cooking." The lady later passed away peacefully taking Shri Ramakrishna's Name.
