Incomprehensible God

 

Different Paths

Do you know what the truth is? God has made different religions to suit different aspirants, times, and countries. All doctrines are only so many paths; but a path is by no means God Himself. Indeed, one can reach God if one follows any of the paths with whole-hearted devotion. Suppose there are errors in the religion that one has accepted; if one is sincere and earnest, then God Himself will correct those errors. Suppose a man has set out with a sincere desire to visit Jagannath at Puri and by mistake has gone north instead of south; then certainly someone meeting him on the way will tell him: 'My good fellow, don't go that way. Go to the south.' And the man will reach Jagannath sooner or later. 

If there are errors in other religions, that is none of our business. God, to whom the world belongs, takes care of that.  

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 559 (26 September 1884)

As per Digestion

 

Food

 

Asti-Bhati-Priyam

Referring to Existence-Knowledge-Bliss, the Master would explain us: 

“Do you know what this is? It’s the true nature of Brahman. Vedanta explains it this way: whatever truly exists, manifests itself. This manifestation is the nature of knowledge. The thing that we know becomes manifest to us. 

Isn’t this true? 

So Vedanta says that whenever we are conscious of an object’s existence, that object is simultaneously revealed along with our consciousness of it; in other words, we become conscious or its nature as knowledge. And forthwith we feel it as dear; that is, it’s blissful nature rouses a feeling of love within us and causes us to love it. Thus, wherever we are conscious of Existence, we are also conscious of Knowledge and Bliss. Therefore, what is Existence is also Knowledge and Bliss; what is Knowledge is also Existence and Bliss, and what is Bliss is also Existence and Knowledge. 

This world, the objects within it, and all beings, have their source in Brahman, and the true nature of that Brahman is asti-bhati-priyam, or Satchidananda. The Uttara Gita says that after illumination one realises that the Paramatman dwells in the place, person, or thing to which one’s mind is drawn: Yatra yatra mano yati, tatra tatra param padam (3:9). It is also said in the Vedas that because sense objects are permeated by Brahman, the human mind runs after them.”  

- Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P 572

God in All

 

Newspaper

ISHAN (to the doctor [Sarkar]): "Why don't you believe in the Incarnation of God? Just now you said that God has form since He has created all these forms, and that God is formless since He has created the mind, which is without form. A moment ago you said that everything is possible for God." 

MASTER (laughing): "It is not mentioned in his 'science' that God can take human form; so how can he believe it? 

(All laugh.)  

"Listen to a story. A man said to his friend, 'I have just seen a house fall down with a terrific crash.' Now, the friend to whom he told this had received an English education. He said: 'Just a minute. Let me look it up in the newspaper.' He read the paper but could not find the news of a house falling down with a crash. Thereupon he said to his friend: 'Well, I don't believe you. It isn't in the paper; so it is all false.' "(All laugh.) 

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 864 (22 October 1885)

Scriptures and Sadhana

If there is knowledge of one, there is also knowledge of many. What will you achieve by mere study of the scriptures? The scriptures contain a mixture of sand and sugar, as it were. It is extremely difficult to separate the sugar from the sand. Therefore one should learn the essence of the scriptures from the teacher or from a sādhu. Afterwards what does one care for books? 

Gather all the information and then plunge in. Suppose a pot has dropped in a certain part of a lake. Locate the spot and dive there. 

One should learn the essence of the scriptures from the guru and then practise sadhana. If one rightly follows spiritual discipline, then one directly sees God. The discipline is said to be rightly followed only when one plunges in. What will a man gain by merely reasoning about the words of the scriptures? Ah, the fools! They reason themselves to death over information about the path. They never take the plunge. What a pity!  

You may say, even though you dive deep you are still in danger of sharks and crocodiles, of lust and anger. But dive after rubbing your body with turmeric powder; then sharks and crocodiles will not come near you. The turmeric is discrimination and renunciation.  

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 543 (19 September 1884)

Living in the World after Realization of God

 

Different Paths leading to God

You see how many opinions there are about God. Each opinion is a path. There are innumerable opinions and innumerable paths leading to God. 

BHAVANATH: "Then what should we do?" 

MASTER: "You must stick to one path with all your strength. A man can reach the roof of a house by stone stairs or a ladder or a rope-ladder or a rope or even by a bamboo pole. But he cannot reach the roof if he sets foot now on one and now on another. He should firmly follow one path. Likewise, in order to realize God a man must follow one path with all his strength. 

But you must regard other views as so many paths leading to God. You should not feel that your path is the only right path and that other paths are wrong. You mustn't bear malice toward others. 

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 514 (07 September 1884)

Subtle Ways

 

Not without God’s Grace

Brahman weeps when ensnared in the meshes of maya. You may close your eyes and reason, ‘There is no thorn, nothing to prick’; but you cry out in pain as soon as your hand is pricked by a thorn. Similarly, you may reason that there is no such thing as birth or death, virtue or vice, pain or misery, hunger or thirst – that you are the eternal Brahman, the Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. But the moment your body succumbs to illness, or your mind is overcome by temptation, or you commit a transgression distracted by the seemingly sweet enjoyment of lust and gold, you forget your high philosophy and are overwhelmed by delusion and its painful consequences.

Therefore, know for certain that no one can obtain Self-knowledge and become free from misery without God’s grace and the Divine Mother’s unlocking the door. Have you not heard in the Chandi, ‘When the Divine Mother is pleased, She bestows the boon of liberation upon human beings’? 

- Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P 538-39 

Following of Different Paths

 

Name of Hari

 

Prema - Rarest Love of God

It is not given to everybody to feel prema, ecstatic love of God. Chaitanya experienced it. An ordinary man can at the most experience bhava. Only the Isvarakotis, such as Divine Incarnations, experience prema. When prema is awakened the devotee not only feels the world to be unreal, but forgets even the body, which everyone loves so intensely. 

… … 

The mature stage of bhakti is bhava. When one attains it one remains speechless, thinking of Satchidananda. The feeling of an ordinary man can go only that far. When bhava ripens it becomes mahabhava. Prema is the last. You know the difference between a green mango and a ripe one. Unalloyed love of God is the essential thing. All else is unreal. 

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 502-03 (03 August 1884)