The truth is that God alone is real and all else unreal. Men, universe, house, and children - all these are like the magic of the magician. The magician strikes his wand and says: 'Come delusion! Come confusion!' Then he says to the audience, 'Open the lid of the pot; see the birds fly into the sky.' But the magician alone is real and his magic unreal. The unreal exists for a second and then vanishes.
Śiva was seated in Kailas. His companion Nandi was near Him. Suddenly a terrific noise arose. 'Revered Sir,' asked Nandi, 'what does that mean?' Śiva said: 'Ravana is born. That is its meaning.' A few moments later another terrific noise was heard. 'Now what is this noise?' Nandi asked. Śiva said with a smile, 'Now Ravana is dead. Birth and death are like magic: you see the magic for a second and then it disappears. God alone is real and all else unreal. Water alone is real; its bubbles appear and disappear. They disappear into the very water from which they rise.
God is like an ocean, and living beings are its bubbles. They are born there and they die there. Children are like the few small bubbles around a big one.
God alone is real. Make an effort to cultivate love for Him and find out the means to realize Him.
- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 787-88 (13 June 1885)
No comments:
Post a Comment