LITERATURE-LIGHT AND DELIGHT. 44. RELIGIOUS BIOGRAPHIES: SRI RAMAKRISHNA

LITERATURE- LIGHT AND DELIGHT

44. RELIGIOUS BIOGRAPHIES :SRI RAMAKRISHNA

Biographies have been a popular form of literature, though few of them are regarded as truthful. Boswell's  'Life of Johnson' has perhaps been the most popular biography in English. Biographies of leaders or famous people tend to be written either by admirers or critics, and we do not know where the truth lies. Early biographies of modern leaders like John Kennedy look foolish in the light of subsequent revelations thrown up by research. Abraham Lincoln on the other hand seems to grow in stature with the passing years. There is something remarkable about this great man and great President. Plutarch's biography of the  greats of ancient Greece and Rome has been famous and a source of inspiration for many.

We in India are used to biographies of religious figures- called hagiography. Obviously they are written by admirers, and the modern tendency is to look upon them as uncritical and unhistorical, even fanciful. They praise the subjects too much. Periyapuranam in Tamil, Mahabhakta Vijayam in Marathi, and Sankaravijayam in Sanskrit are perhaps the three we in the South are familiar with. Mahabhakta Vijayam in Tamil translations is also popular among Tamil devotees, and whatever the historical veracity, its capacity to inspire and edify is beyond doubt. While the Vedantins go about arguing, the devotees are busy learning about the lives of the Saints. It is any body's guess whether the former get wiser, and the latter, saintly! 

What puts off modern readers is the accounts of miracles these accounts contain. Many of them are quite absurd, and unnecessary. It however does not mean that no miracle has ever taken place, or they have ceased to occur.

We have biographies of three modern Saints and Sages which are entirely credible: Sri Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi and Sri Aurobindo. They lived in modern times, were subjected to critical scrutiny in their own time and subsequently. They have their own detractors but the main events of their lives have been shown to be authentic.

Sri Ramakrishna was born in a Bengal village in 1836, to poor but pious parents. He was intelligent, but was not interested in a 'bread winning education'. He came to Calcutta in 1855 to assist his elder brother who ran a Sanskrit school but soon came to the Kali temple at Dakshineswar newly established there by Rani Rasmani, to be with his brother who became a priest there. Subsequently, he himself became a priest ( though he hated priesthood in a temple). Thus began his life of Sadhana, full of the mystical element. He had little control on himself in religious matters- it was as if he was being carried by a current, and he had no interest in worldly affairs.His life was open, he had no privacy, and he was entirely at the mercy of others. In many respects his behaviour was unconventional , but somehow everyone tolerated him! Some remarkable religious characters of different persuasions came to him to impart their wisdom. In the meantime, people thought he was mad and felt it could be cured if he got married. So, at the age of 23 he was married to a village girl of 6, but came back to Calcutta to continue his Sadhana. His sadhana was over by 1872 but he continued  to live in the temple complex, till September, 1885 when he had to shift to Calcutta for his medical treatment and he passed away on the night of 15 August,1886.

From 1872, news about him had spread by word of mouth and mainly educated people started coming to him , just to listen to him talk about God- the only subject he talked about! By then young educated Bengal was attracted towards the reformist Brahmo Samaj. But once their leader Keshab Chandra Sen came into contact with Sri Ramakrishna and started speaking and writing about him, he became well known in their circles. But his saintly life and wisdom seem to have touched even some Englishmen, and it is from one such that Vivekananda heard about him first in 1881. 

On a Sunday in Feb.1882, a 28-year old school teacher casually strolled into the temple complex and happened to meet Sri Ramakrishna. He was so impressed that he started visiting on subsequent Sundays and holidays. He was in the habit of writing diary from his school days, and so kept notes of his visits- recording who were all there, what happened, what was discussed, etc. He could visit only on Sundays and holidays because of his work but he noted down all that he saw and heard first hand. The notes were meant for his personal use and he consistently refused to share them with others.  He used to read the notes and meditate on the scenes. After the passing of the Master, he happened to read out some of the contents to Vivekananda and Holy Mother, who were simply thrilled. Swami Vivekananda was observing silence on that day but he wrote:

Thanks 100000. Master! You have hit Ramakristo in the right point.

Holy Mother wrote:

...the words of Thakur, which he has instructed you to preserve....you must preserve carefully. 

Whatever you had heard from Him is nothing but the Truth.

Know it for certain that unless those words are brought out, man will not have his consciousness awakened.

One day when you read them out to me, I felt it was He who was speaking.

Thus did Sri Mahendranath Gupta- that was the name of the school teacher- start writing. He simply called himself "M". He first wrote some translations in English in magazines, and then issued some pamphlets in late 1897- 11 years after the demise of Sri Ramakrishna. Once again Swami Vivekananda was ecstatic. He wrote:

C'est bon, mon ami- now you are doing just the thing. Come out man, no sleeping all life; ...Bravo! That is the way.

Many, many thanks for your second leaflet. It is indeed wonderful. The move is quite original, and never was the life of a great teacher  brought before the public untarnished by the writer's mind, as you are doing.

I now understand why none of us attempted his life before. It has been reserved for you, this great work. He is with you evidently.

P.S. The Socratic dialogues are Plato all over; you are entirely hidden.

Some Bengali devotees who had been present at some of these talks felt that it would be better if he wrote in Bengali, capturing the original words of Sri Ramakrishna. So, he contributed portions which appeared in some 18 Bengali periodicals. The final name Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita was chosen in January,1899.

There had been suggestions that instead of leaflets and articles, it should appear in a book form. So, he brought out the first volume of the Kathamrita in Bengali in March, 1902, on the birthday of Sri Ramakrishna, dedicating it to the Holy Mother. The last volume-Vol.5 was published in 1932. In fact, M corrected the proof sheets of the last form of the last volume on the night of June, 3 and passed away thereafter!

Thus, the Kathamrita was not written in a hurry or for any commercial motive or for fame. Sri M- he was called Master Mahashay later- lived with it. He has described how he wrote the Kathamrita from his notes:

....I didn't note them [ the words of Thakur] down at the spot. I wrote everything from memory after I returned home. Sometimes I had to keep awake the whole night. What I have presented here is not collected from others. Only what I have seen of the divine play of Thakur with my own eyes  and heard with my own ears from His holy mouth has been narrated. I have not collected as the antiquarians do. Only what I myself heard from Thakur's holy mouth or saw with my own eyes I recorded.

 I would carry the nectar-like words of Thakur in my memory and would record them briefly in the  diary on reaching home. The book written out from these notes appeared much later. On every scene I had meditated a thousand times.Therefore I could recreate, relive those moments by Thakur's grace.When I did not feel satisfied with my descriptions I would plunge myself into meditation on Thakur. Then the correct image would rise before my mind's eye in a bright, real living form.

The title "Kathamrita " is a very happy choice. It is first used by the greatest of Lord Krishna's devotees, the Gopis of Brindavan, who sing:

Thava kathamritam tapta jeevanam
Kavi bhireeditam kalmashapaham
Sravana mangalam Srimadatatam
Bhuvi grunantite bhurida janaa:

The nectar of your story confers life on people ( freeing them from the three kinds of afflictions: Adyatmikam, Adhibaudhikam, Adidaivikam); it is celebrated by the great Kavis (Jnanis); removes our sins; it is sweet to listen to and confers auspiciousness; it is very soothing too, and widespread. Those who recite this are the fortunate on this earth. ( Or they are the munificent.)

Srimad Bhagavatam. 10-31-14

This shows how deeply immersed M was in our Bhagavata lore.



The non-Bengali world had to wait another 10 years before the first complete English translation appeared in 1942, under the title " The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna". Gospel means 'the good news or word' and in that sense conveys the gist of the Bhagavata sloka. Aldous Huxley in his foreword states:

"M" produced a book unique, so far as my knowledge goes, in the literature of hagiography. No other saint has had so able and indefatigable a Boswell. Never have the small events of a contemplatives daily life been described with such a wealth of intimate detail. Never have the casual and unstudied utterances of a great religious teacher been set down with so minute a fidelity.

In fact, the Gospel takes us to the Gita. There, when Lord Krishna tells Arjuna of the sthitaprajna, Arjuna asks:

Sthitaprajnasya kaa bhaashaa 
Samadistasya Keshava
Sthita dhee: kim prabhashaeta
Kim aaseeta vrajet kim.               2.54

O Keshava, what is the description of the stithaprajna- the man of steady wisdom, merged in Samadhi? How does he speak, how does he sit, how does he walk?

Sri Krishna answers him in the next 18 slokas. The question may appear silly to superficial observers, but the men of steady wisdom are at a totally different level of consciousness, and it is a wonder that they are able to manage to live in the world at all. M's Gospel is indeed a detailed commentary on this; we see Sri Ramakrishna in Samadhi, totally unaware of the external world; then we watch him as he regains normal consciousness and starts dealing with his environment. At other times we watch him behaving like a village simpleton,with rustic wisdom but no sophistication.This is something we can believe only when we behold!

No two sages or saints are alike. Even a disciple cannot be like his master. No two disciples of Sri Ramakrishna were alike. But M was unique among them all. I have read over 100 books on the lives of saints of all religions and sects, over the last 40 years, but there is none like The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Going through this is a complete education by itself.We feel are in the presence of Sri Ramakrishna and things are happening in our very presence. Such is the power of the writing. There has been only one Vyasa; there will be only one M. None interested in our religion, culture and philosophy can afford to miss this.


Note:

1.I am talking of just The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna- the book. I am not endorsing the organisations that bear the name of Sri Ramakrishna. These were created after the lifetime of Sri Ramakrishna. I also believe that they are not faithful to his views in all respects. The RK Mission once went to the Supreme Court, declaring that Sri Ramakrishna was NOT a Hindu and that the order should be declared minority institution, as it represented 'Ramakrishnaism'!  ( All because they wanted to run some educational institutions.) Absurdity cannot scale greater heights! Being a follower or devotee of Sri Ramakrishna does not mean we have to follow or support these institutions!

2. Over the years, the RK Math has published many books on our religion-  translations and commentaries on the Upanishads, Gita etc. For many years these were the only decent translations available. There have been great scholars among the early monks, but most of them have their own 'kinks'.

3. The RK order claims to be Advaitins in the Sankara mould, based on the fact that Sri Ramakrishna's guru on Vedanta was Tota Puri, a monk belonging to the 'Puri' order- one of the 'Dasanami' orders founded or regularised by Sankara. But Sri Ramakrishna had other gurus too, in other areas- like Bhairavi Brahmani for Tantra. Ramakrishna was unique- it is impossible to label and confine him. He believed in Vedanta-Advaita, but not necessarily of the Sankara brand. He asked why the world should be considered 'maya'; he believed in both 'nitya' and 'lila'. In bhakti, he was more akin to Chaitanya than Sankara. His general prescription for our age was 'the way of devotion as advocated by Narada'. He held that the path of Karma (Vedic rituals) or of Jnana was not suitable for our age. ( He said that Jnana cannot be followed by people with body consciousness and in this age, this consciousness cannot be given up as the body depends on food.) There are many fine points like this in his life which we can discern from the Gospel. We should read the Gospel ourselves and not go by other's opinion.

4. I do not know about translations of the Gospel into other languages, but I am not happy about the current Tamil translation. It is better for people who come from a general religious or Astika background to read the English  version, which is splendid. ( I have all the Tamil translations that have been available since the mid-50s.)

5. Sri Mahendranath Gupta, the author of the Gospel is a great person, who spent all his time only in living and spreading the teaching of the Gospel. He wanted to take up Sanyas, but Sri Ramakrishna did not permit him. But in austerity, tapas and devotion, he was second to none. The Gospel is the greatest monument to the life and memory of Sri Ramakrishna. This is the greatest benefit M has conferred on the world.

6. Over the years many books have appeared on the life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, but none of them comes any where near the Gospel and all of them have drwan heavily from it. The life of a holy man is not easy to chronicle or interpret. Luckily, Sri Ramakrishna himself revealed many details of his early life in the village, his parents, his life and Sadhana in Dakshineswar, and the personalities who came into contact with him. More than 20 years after the Master's passing, Swami Saradananda, a direct disciple who had spent time with the Master, collected more information and wrote a detailed biography in Bengali in a magazine from 1909, under the title "Sri Ramakrishna Lilaprasanga" but he discontinued it in 1919 for want of inspiration, as he said, without covering the last phase of the Master's life in Calcutta and his demise. This is not a mere biography, but contains the Swami's own interpretations and comments. This was later translated into English but it is dense. Recently (2003) a new translation has been done by Swami Chetanananda, which is delightful to read. Even so, I feel for earnest devotees, The Gospel alone will suffice. The Master himself revealed all that we need to know. Why break our heads with more details? Why be more loyal than the king?

7. Reverential reading of The Gospel is a moving experience, besides being a pleasant spiritual practice. Gurudev Tagore wrote about " Where words come out from the depth of Truth". We can experience this as we read the Gospel. It is said that after Lord Krishna left the earth, Bhagavatam stands as the personification of the Lord. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna does indeed stand for the Master. What the Gopis sang of Lord Krishna is what M has written about Sri Ramakrishna! They are Blessed, and blessed indeed are those who recite or read them!

LITERATURE-LIGHT AND DELIGHT. 25. ESSAYS.

LITERATURE-LIGHT AND DELIGHT

25. ESSAYS

Essay is perhaps the commonest form of literature most of us are familiar with. The editorial page is usually loaded with two or three, daily.Even the editorial can be considered an essay, though brief and pointed. There have been great editorial writers, though most of them  just languish behind the scene. A newspaper is supposed to be edited by someone, but he need not be a writer- this usually happens with families owning the paper. But there have been great  editors in India who are good writers: Pothan Joseph, Frank Moraes, A.S.Raman, Khasa Subba Rao, A.N.Sivaraman, Khushwant Singh, Philip Spratt, K.Santhanam, Kalki, Ki.Va,Jagannathan, and currently CHO readily come to mind, not forgetting Sri Aurobindo!

It  is difficult to define what an essay is. We can only say it is a short piece of writing on any subject. It used to be said that it is "a loose sally of the mind". Aldous Huxley once famously said that it is a literary device to "say almost anything about almost anything". That is about it- except that it be short, there is no restriction on the subject or the method or mode.The subject can be the most frivolous to the most sublime; the treatment can vary from the humorous, ironical, light-hearted, serious, scholarly or just plain silly. We may only say that the essays are either formal or informal. It has been an effective literary tool in the hands of able writers. Almost all great writers have been great essayists too. (Incidentally, the word 'essayist' is supposed to have been first used by Ben Jonson in 1609!)

Though the essence of the essay is brevity, some long treatises have been called essays by some famous authors: eg. Locke's 'Concerning Human Understanding' , Malthus's famous 'Essay on Population'.Though it is a prose form , some verses also have been called essays, as for eg. Pope's 'Essay on Man' and 'Essay on Criticism'. It is the fashion sometimes to call a series of photographs with a small write-up as 'photo essay'.Even motion pictures are called 'social or artistic essays'. Oh, the English language is maddening in its flexibility, richness and variety in usage.!

Like in other literary matters, the West traces the origin of the essay to their illustrious Greek and Roman forefathers. Plutarch, Cicero and Seneca wrote numerous essays. But it was the French writer Montaigne who launched the essay as a formal genre in modern times in the 16th century. He was followed by Francis Bacon in England. As a former British colony, we are only familiar with the English scene. In the 18th century, Addison and Steele launched the 'Tatler and Spectator' as a purely literary magazine, devoted to the essay form.  Subsequently many varieties of magazines came up, all favouring the essay form.As formal literary criticism also developed during the period,the combination of essay and  criticism proved really heady stuff. Dr.Johnson, Carlyle were all great critics and essayists. They were followed by Coleridge, Burke, William Hazlitt,Charles Lamb, R.L.Stevenson, Thomas De Quency etc. G.K Chesterton, A.G.Gardiner, Arthur Quiller-Couch, Robert Lynd,A.P.Herbert, E.V.Lucas, Hilaire Belloc, Virginia Woolf, Max Beerbohm etc have been great essayists.

The essay form caught on in the US too.Benjamin Franklin, Jefferson, Washington Irving, Emerson, Thoreau, J.R.Lowell, and our inimitable Mark Twain have been the historical American greats. But it has many effective practitioners of the formal type , writing on serious matters  of public interest- Noam Chomsky, Paul Krugman etc. Walter Lippmann's political essays were widely read,though later there were accusations that he was a Soviet spy. James Thurber was a humorist.Almost every great American writer has also been a great essayist- Poe, Louisa May Alcott, Hemingway, Faulkner, Scot Fitzgerald. Leading magazines like Time and Newsweek carry essays, though every article there is an essay, like the British "Economist" but they all have their political slants and special agendas.

Our introduction to the essay in India, like in other areas, has been through our school and college. We of our generation began with the dreaded little red book -Wren and Martin's Grammar and Composition.I had a particularly good teacher in the 6th and 7th standards- Sri Kreeda Rama Raju- who insisted that we learn grammar well as it was the foundation for all language skills in the future. And he used to conduct special classes for grammar every Sunday , in the open courtyard under a Tamarind tree, because school time was not sufficient and the syllabus did not cover grammar adequately! He also taught us the rudiments of composition in Tamil, making us write small pieces on concrete objects like cow, sky, water, and abstract ideas like devotion,etc.It was only later that we learned to write composition in English. Those days we would not mug up and so our answers in English lessons would be in the form of short essays! It had to be grammatically correct. Later, in college, we learned idioms, usage, and other finer aspects. But our main exposure was to anthologies of essays- and they were very fine and later we realised, truly representative! We also had some good compilation by Indian professors like G.K.Chettur, K.P.K.Menon Today, all this is changed and most essays, and poems, selected are by Indian writers who cannot write real English because they cannot think English. They use words as children use coins.

Later, I came to know that in the St.Joseph's College,Trichy, they used to dedicate Thursday afternoons just for composition- making all streams of degree students sit in a huge hall and write composition, attempt translations, etc! And their answer books were religiously evaluated and returned on the next Thursday! This might not have turned every one into a writer, but most of them could at least write correct English. Such things  go to make the reputation for the college. But today, things  are drastically changed.

We have lacked purely literary magazines, promoting essays. In the 60s, we had 'Imprint' which carried stories, poems, serialisation of novels and other good pieces of literature, including serious writing. I remember reading a whole lot of good stuff in it:: Nevil Shute (Trustee From the Tool Room), J.B.Priestley (Saturn Over the Water), Alan Moorehead (The Blue Nile, The White Nile) Freya Stark, Hammond Innes, Helen McInness( Double Image, Decision at Delphi),Alistair MacLean (Ice Station Zebra, Fear is the Key), Harper Lee (To Kill a Mocking Bird) H.V.Hodson (Great Divide), The Peter Principle., Psychic (about Peter Hurkos), Ruth Praver Jhabvala, Aubrey Menen, Nayantara Sehgal, Nissim Ezekiel's poems, Shakespeare' Sonnets,  and numerous other books. But it did not contain essays. For essays we had to look elsewhere.

 Luckily, I chanced upon Swarajya which contained essays by Rajaji, Khasa, and Pothan Joseph, Lobo Prabhu. I learned from those pages about N.Raghunathan and his essays in the old Swatantra magazine (writing under the pseudonym Vigneshwara) I got hold of the copies in book form (3 volumes , named 'Sotto Voce'). They were indeed fabulous- brimming with wit,wisdom, satire and above all, allusions to the Classics. Whether taking Nehru to task for his vague socialistic pattern or crossing swords with Sir C.V.Raman for his remarks on the Indians' fondness for chillies, his mastery over subtle wit, and words has to be read to be believed.After all these years, I have not come across another Indian who could or has written like him. Alas, he languished as an editorial writer in the Hindu, largely unknown to the world. But his translations of Ramayana and Bhagavatam are fabulous literary pieces. His essays are the finest fruit of the confluence of two mighty streams- traditional Indian learning and mastery over Western Classical tradition. That is scholarship at its noblest and best.

Since I was Tamil Nad based then, we had familiarity only with the Hindu, which, as A.S.Raman once remarked, one could read "till the cows came home"! It was noted (then) for its sedate reporting and sober views, usually favouring the establishment. It carried articles on many subjects, mostly serious.Even interesting items would take on the hue of  boring school lesson in its pages! But one piece by R.K.Narayan in 64 or 65 I still remember: we had rice shortage then, and politicians were advising us to change our food habits and take to wheat. But where was good wheat to be found? In ration shops? Where was the fuel (kerosene) for the stove, which was rationed and available mostly in the black ? And who would teach our womenfolk how to make rotis, since they could only make chapatis like "compressed leather"! It was R.K.Narayan at his sparkling best! He was a great essayist, and luckily, his essays are now available in book form. 

Later, he wrote a strong essay containing a scathing attack on those who mauled his novel "The Guide" in the name of producing a motion picture. He literally poured scorn and ridicule on those associated with it,  and especially tore Pearl S.Buck who wrote the screenplay, and Tad Danielewski, the Hollywood director to pieces.. He narrated their foolish attempt to get the endorsement of Queen Elizabeth through Mountbatten for the film! It was a very fine piece of serious writing, making me wonder whether the mild author of Malgudi and English Teacher could be so excited! The article appeared I think in 'Life' magazine and attained international circulation. Not much was heard of the director later.

R.K.Laxman is famous as a cartoonist; perhaps, not many people know that he is a delightful writer too! Each of his cartoons is equal to three essays, but his essays are also entertaining! They too are available in book form.

The Indian Express was not much of a newspaper then, but it used to carry very good articles. One was a series by Frank Wright with the title "Unfit to Command". It dealt with leaders who were sick and unable to do justice to their task, and messed up things. It was shocking to find Franklin Roosevelt among them! It seems he was paralysed and not in full command or even awareness of his faculties, when the peace treaty was concluded at the end of the War. It was much later we came to know that it was true.However, easily the best writing  there was by Frank Moraes himself. His Sunday column on 'Men, Matters, Memories' in the name of Ariel was wide ranging. Few Indians could write with such felicity. But his best was the special column he wrote on Mondays, especially on the art of writing- as guidance to youngsters! This was great service indeed. He was an Oxonian, and he could write! For a long time, I had those articles with me.

The Illustrated Weekly was an institution by itself.(though a poor copy of American Life magazine.) There was a charm about it, with those nice,large photos. It carried very good essays (called articles). I used to read avidly the column "Chiaroscuro" by A.S.Raman. The essays by R.G.K. were learned and almost like essays in a college anthology. There were occasional photo-essays by other famous writers like M.Krishnan , and Nirad Chaudhury. I gave up reading the magazine after Khushwant Singh took over as I did not like his approach.

In the mid-60s, The Hindustan Times group in Delhi started a weekly magazine called 'Weekend Review', with Prem Shankar Jha as editor. It was patterned after the American 'Time' and 'Newsweek'. There was always an  article or two worth reading. It was the time of drought, and the first issue carried a picture of the parched earth on its front cover. The lead article was titled "Time Running Out" by P.S.Jha. It really highlighted the gravity of the situation. I think the magazine did not long survive. Today, we have any number of such magazines, but none having any literary value, and none worth reading.

In the Tamil world, we had some good essayists, but only  a very few. Kalki was good either on social issues or on art, like music review. We had Ka.Sri.Sri and Nadodi writing humorous essays. Bakyam Ramaswamy wrote humorous pieces but they were really in the form of short story, rather than essay. Though many articles appeared on many subjects, these were not essays as such. We had Ki.V.Ja, Justice Maharajan, Somu, P.Sri. writing essays on serious literary or religious themes.I think the Tamil audience could not take more. The problem is like this: Writing in Tamil reduces the work to a rather elementary level. The non-initiated would find even this tough, while the educated would prefer to go to the English source. A.N.Sivaraman, as editor of the Tamil Daily 'Dinamani' used to write articles on economic matters in Tamil. Frankly, for a student of economics, this was too elementary, while for the common man, it would go above his head! In the circumstances, essay has not developed as a valuable literary form in Tamil. But in its day, magazines like Manjari and Kalaimagal did carry learned articles by great writers like Dr.U.Ve.Swaminatha Iyer, Namakkal Ramalingam Pillai. The Deepavali special numbers of the great old Tamil magazines were real treats, containing good articles/essays. It would be a treasure if such articles are collected in book form. Some collections of Dr.Iyer's essays were indeed published long ago. Today, it is only CHO's 'Tughlaq' which can make  any literary or even artistic claim. 

On the whole then, the essay has not evolved as a great literary form in India. There are no purely literary magazines. But there have been and are individual essayists, and the newspapers do carry their essays. 

Note:

The essay can be highly entertaining and  very informative. The selections made in the olden days for college courses were quite elementary. Nowadays, beautiful anthologies are available. I have found that the anthologies  followed in literature courses in American Universities offer the the best material- huge selections with stunning variety and range. The books are bulky and costly but they are well annotated with lot of supplementary material. A book like the Norton or Borzoi edition is truly monumental, and if there is no external pressure, it will take months for us to complete reading them- for most of them are serious in style and subject and would make us pause and think frequently. It is a very stimulating and demanding intellectual activity, not the leisure reading on a week end. They are certainly not light, but we really learn quite a lot about many things-science, arts, literature, history-in fact a bit of everything, though at random.They contain the best introduction to some modern subjects and trends.We can get used copies in fairly good condition at a low price.The British anthologies are more conservative, and the older essays are for leisurely reading.