Ganga and Waves

 

Nature of Ātman

The Pure Self is unattached. Both vidyā and avidyā are in It, but It is unattached. Sometimes there is a good and sometimes a bad smell in the air, but the air itself is unaffected. 

Once Vyasadeva was about to cross the Jamuna. The gopis also were there. They wanted to go to the other side of the river to sell curd, milk, and cream. But there was no ferry at that time. They were all worried about how to cross the river, when Vyāsa said to them, 'I am very hungry.' The milkmaids fed him with milk and cream. He finished almost all their food. Then Vyāsa said to the river, 'O Jamuna, if I have not eaten anything, then your waters will part and we shall walk through.' It so happened. The river parted and a pathway was formed between the waters. Following that path, the gopis and Vyāsa crossed the river. 

Vyāsa had said, 'If I have not eaten anything'. That means, the real man is Pure Ātman. Ātman is unattached and beyond Prakriti. It has neither hunger nor thirst; It knows neither birth nor death; It does not age, nor does It die. It is immutable as Mount Sumeru. 

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 719 (07 March 1885)

Single-minded Devotion

Alas! I find no customers who want anything better than kalai pulse. No one wants to give up 'woman and gold'. Man, deluded by the beauty of woman and the power of money, forgets God. But to one who has seen the beauty of God, even the position of Brahma, the Creator, seems insignificant.  

A man said to Ravana, 'You have been going to Sita in different disguises; why don't you go to her in the form of Rāma?' 'But', Ravana replied 'when I meditate on Rāma in my heart, the most beautiful women - celestial maidens like Rambha and Tilottama -appear no better than ashes of the funeral pyre. Then even the position of Brahma appears trivial to me, not to speak of the beauty of another man's wife.' 

Alas! I find that all the customers here seek worthless Kalai Pulse. Unless, the soul is pure, it cannot have genuine love of God and single-minded devotion to the ideal. The mind wanders away to various objects. 

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 710 (01 March 1885)

Sadhana Reminiscences

 

Books and God

 

Efficacy of Truthfulness

 

Kāli and Brahman

 

The Path of Bhakti

Since one cannot easily get rid of the ego, a bhakta does not explain away the states of waking, dream, and deep sleep. He accepts all the states. Further, he accepts the three Gunās - sattva, rajas, and tamas. A bhakta sees that God alone has become the twenty-four cosmic principles, the universe, and all living beings. He also sees that God reveals Himself to His devotees in a tangible form, which is the embodiment of Spirit. 

The bhakta takes shelter under Vidyā-māyā. He seeks holy company, goes on pilgrimage, and practises discrimination, devotion, and renunciation. He says that, since a man cannot easily get rid of his ego, he should let the rascal remain as the servant of God, the devotee of God. 

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 700 (25 February 1885)

Free Will

THE YOUNGER NAREN: "Sir, have we any free will?" 

MASTER: "Just try to find out who this 'I' is. While you are searching for 'I', 'He' comes out. 'I am the machine and He is the Operator.' You have heard of a mechanical toy that goes into a store with a letter in its hand. You are like that toy. God alone is the Doer. Do your duties in the world as if you were the doer, but knowing all the time that God alone is the Doer and you are the instrument.  

As long as the Upādhi exists there is ignorance. 'I am a scholar', 'I am a Jnāni', 'I am wealthy', 'I am honourable', 'I am the master, father, and teacher' - all these ideas are begotten of ignorance. 'I am the machine and You are the Operator' - that is Knowledge. In the state of Knowledge all Upādhis are destroyed. When the log is burnt up entirely, there is no more sound; no heat either. Everything cools down. Peace! Peace! Peace!  

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 804 (14 July 1885)

Master's Prayer

The devotees seated in the room looked at Sri Ramakrishna as he began to chant the sweet name of the Divine Mother. After the chanting he began to pray. What was the need of prayer to a soul in constant communion with God? Did he not rather want to teach erring mortals how to pray? Addressing the Divine Mother, he said,

 "O Mother, I throw myself on Thy mercy; I take shelter at Thy Hallowed Feet. I do not want bodily comforts; I do not crave name and fame; I do not seek the eight occult powers. Be gracious and grant that I may have pure love for Thee, a love unsmitten by desire, untainted by any selfish ends - a love craved by the devotee for the sake of love alone. And grant me the favour, O mother, that I may not be deluded by Thy world-bewitching māyā, that I may never be attached to the world, to 'woman and gold', conjured up by Thy inscrutable māyā! O mother, there is no one but thee whom I may call my own. Mother, I do not know how to worship; I am without austerity; I have neither devotion nor knowledge. Be gracious, Mother, and out of Thy infinite mercy grant me love for   Thy Lotus Feet." 

Every word of this prayer, uttered from the depths of his soul, stirred the minds of the devotees. The melody of his voice and the childlike simplicity of his face touched their hearts very deeply. 

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 731 

                          (11 March 1885, Balaram Bose Home)

Knowledge of Brahman

Man experiences three states of consciousness: waking, dream, and deep sleep. Those who follow the path of knowledge explain away the three states. According to them, Brahman is beyond the three states. It is also beyond the gross, the subtle, and the causal bodies, and beyond the three Gunās-sattva, rajas, and tamas. All these are māyā, like a reflection in a mirror. The reflection is by no means the real substance. Brahman alone is the Substance and all else is illusory.  

The knowers of Brahman say, further, that it is the identification of the soul with the body that creates the notion of duality. In that state of identification the reflection appears real. When this identification disappears, a man realizes, 'I am He; I am Brahman.' 

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 699 (25 February 1885)

Beyond Knowledge and Ignorance

 

How to Cultivate Longing for God

 

Ādyāśakti

 

God in Man