The Entangled Soul

The entangled souls repeat those very actions that make them suffer so much. They are like the camel, which eats thorny bushes till the blood streams from its mouth, but still will not give them up. 

Such a man may have lost his son and be stricken with grief, but still he will have children year after year. He may ruin himself by his daughter's marriage, but still he will go on having daughters every year. And he says: 'What can I do? It's just my luck!' When he goes to a holy place he doesn't have any time to think of God. He almost kills himself carrying bundles for his wife. Entering the temple, he is very eager to give his child the holy water to drink or make him roll on the floor; but he has no time for his own devotions. 

These bound creatures slave for their masters to earn food for themselves and their families; and they earn money by lying, cheating, flattery. They laugh at those who think of God and meditate on Him, and call them lunatics. 

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 631 (19 October 1884)

No Limit

 

Granny’s Will

Haven't you seen the game of hide-and-seek? It is the 'granny's' will that the game should continue. If all touch her and are released, then the playing comes to a stop. Therefore it is not her will that all should touch her. 

You see, in big grain stores the merchants keep rice in great heaps that touch the ceiling. Beside them there are heaps of lentils. To protect the grain from the mice, the merchants leave trays of puffed rice and sweetened rice near it. The mice like the smell and the sweet taste of these and so stay around the trays. They don't find the big heaps of grain. 

Similarly, men are deluded by 'woman and gold'; they do not know where God is. 

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 614 (11 October 1884)

Ādyāśakti

 

Bhakti and Desires

 

Power of Inborn Tendencies

 YOUNG MAN: "If the world is of the nature of illusion-magic-then why doesn't one get rid of it?"

MASTER: "It is due to the samskaras, inborn tendencies. Repeated births in this world of māyā make one believe that māyā is real. 

"Let me tell you how powerful inborn tendencies are. A prince had, in a previous birth, been the son of a washerman. While playing with his chums in his incarnation as the prince, he said to them: 'Stop those games. I will show you a new one. I shall lie on my belly, and you will beat the clothes on my back as the washerman does, making a swishing sound.'"  

                                    - Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 585 (02 October 1884)

 

Knowledge and Ignorance

 

Remember Death

Sri Ramakrishna said to the Brahmo devotees: "The world is impermanent. One should constantly remember death." Then he sang: 

                   Remember this, O mind! Nobody is your own: 

                   Vain is your wandering in this world. 

                    Trapped in the subtle snare of māyā as you are, 

     Do not forget the Mother's name. . . . 

The Master said to the devotees: "Dive deep. What will you gain by merely floating on the surface? Renounce everything for a few days, retire into solitude, and call on God with all your soul"  

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 589 (04 October 1884)

ChitŚakti

 

Preparation for God Vision

One must practise intense spiritual discipline. Can one obtain the vision of God all of a sudden, without any preparation? 

A man asked, 'Why don't I see God?' I said to him, as the idea came to my mind: 'You want to catch a big fish. First make arrangements for it. Throw spiced bait into the water. Get a line and a rod. At the smell of the bait the fish will come from the deep water. By the movement of the water you will know that a big fish has come.' 

You want to eat butter. But what will you achieve by simply repeating that there is butter in milk? You have to work hard for it. Only thus can you separate butter from milk. Can one see God by merely repeating, 'God exists'? One needs sādhanā. 

The Divine Mother Herself practised austere sādhanā to set an example for mankind. Sri Krishna, who is none other than the Ultimate Brahman, also practised sādhanā to set an example to others.  

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 608 (11 October 1884)

Same Destination

 

Liberation

 

Control of Women

A woman is, no doubt, a part of the Divine Mother. But as far as a man is concerned, especially a sannyāsi or a devotee of God, she is to be shunned. …

… 

Woman monopolizes three quarters of the mind, which should be given to God. And then, after the birth of a child, almost the whole mind is frittered away on the family. Then what is left to give to God? … … 

… … 

Once I wanted to go to a certain place. I asked Ramlal's aunt [i.e. Sri Ramakrishna’s wife – Sri Sarada Devi] about it. She forbade me to go; so I could not. A little while later I said to myself: 'I am not a householder. I have renounced "woman and gold". If, in spite of that, this is my plight, one can well imagine how much worldly people are controlled by their wives.’  

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 594 (05 October 1884)

God Alone

 

Brahman alone Real

YOUNG MAN: "Sir, what is Knowledge?" 

MASTER: "It is to know that God is the only Reality and that all else is unreal. That which is the Real is also called Brahman. It has another name: Kala, Time. There is a saying, 'O brother, how many things come into being in Time and disappear in Time!' 

"That which sports with Kala is called Kāli. She is the Primal Energy. Kala and Kāli, Brahman and Śakti, are indivisible. 

"That Brahman, of the nature of Reality, is eternal. It exists in past, present, and future. It is without beginning or end. It cannot be described in words. The utmost that can be said of Brahman is that It is of the very nature of Intelligence and Bliss. 

"The world is illusory; Brahman alone is real. The world is of the nature of magic. The magician is real but his magic is unreal"  

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 585 (02 October 1884)

Thorny Plant

 

Dying in Benares

 

Māyā hides Knowledge

DEVOTEE: "Why don't we feel dispassion toward worldly objects?"  

MASTER: "Because of māyā. Through māyā one feels the Real to be the unreal and the unreal to be the Real. The Real means That which is eternal, the Supreme Brahman; and the unreal means that which is non-eternal, that is to say, the world." 

DEVOTEE: "We read the scriptures. Why is it that we can't assimilate them?" 

MASTER: "What will one accomplish by mere reading? One needs spiritual practice - austerity. Call on God. What is the use of merely repeating the word 'siddhi'? One must eat a little of it.”  

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 583 (02 October 1884)