Forgiveness

DOCTOR: "I have heard the story that you were once lying on the ground unconscious in samādhi when a wicked man kicked you with his boots" 

MASTER: "You must have heard it from M. The man was Chandra Haldar, a priest of the Kāli temple at KaliGhat; he often came to Mathur Babu's house. One day I was lying on the ground in an ecstatic mood. The room was dark. Chandra Haldar thought I was feigning that state in order to win Mathur's favour. He entered the room and kicked me several times with his boots. It left black marks on my body. Everybody wanted to tell Mathur Babu about it, but I forbade them." 

DOCTOR: "This is also due to the will of God. Thus you have taught people how to control anger and practise forgiveness." 

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 885 (25 October 1885)

Players and Onlookers

 

Body

 

Pure Sattva

When a man develops pure sattva, he thinks only of God. He does not enjoy anything else. Some are born with pure sattva as a result of their Prārabdha karma. Through unselfish action one finally acquires pure sattva. 

Sattva mixed with rajas diverts the mind to various objects. From it springs the conceit of doing good to the world. To do good to the world is extremely difficult for such an insignificant creature as man. But there is no harm in doing good to others in an unselfish spirit. This is called unselfish action. It is highly beneficial for a person to try to perform such action. But by no means all succeed, for it is very difficult. 

Everyone must work. Only one or two can renounce action. Rarely do you find a man who has developed pure sattva. Through disinterested action sattva mixed with rajas gradually turns into pure sattva. 

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 895 (26 October 1885)

Necessity of Solitude

Divine Knowledge is Inexhaustible

Yes, how true it is! How can a man who has the grace of God lack knowledge? Look at me. I am a fool. I do not know anything. Then who is it that utters these words? The reservoir of  the Knowledge of God is inexhaustible. 

There are grain-dealers at Kamarpukur. When selling paddy, one man weighs the grain on the scales and another man pushes it to him from a heap. It is the duty of the second man to keep a constant supply of grain on the scales by pushing it from the big heap. It is the same with my words. No sooner are they about to run short than the Divine Mother sends a new supply from Her Inexhaustible storehouse of Knowledge. 

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 890 (26 October 1885)

God’s Power

 

Faith and Self-surrender

One realizes God even if one believes Him to be formless. One also realizes God if one believes that God has form. 

Two things are necessary for the realization of God; faith and self-surrender. Man is ignorant by nature. Errors are natural to him. Can a one-seer pot hold four seers of milk? Whatever path you may follow, you must pray to God with a restless heart. He is the Ruler of the soul within. He will surely listen to your prayer if it is sincere. Whether you follow the ideal of the Personal God or that of the Impersonal Truth, you will realize God alone, provided you are restless for Him. A cake with icing tastes sweet whether you eat it straight or sidewise. 

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 867 (22 October 1885)

Dignity and Alertness

 

Mother of All Things

O Mother, Saviour of the helpless, Thou the Slayer of sin! 

In Thee do the three Gunās dwell-sattva, rajas, and tamas. 

Thou dost create the world: Thou dost sustain it and destroy it; 

Binding Thyself with attributes, Thou yet transcendest them; 

             For Thou, O Mother, art the All. 

Kāli Thou art, and Tara, and Thou the Ultimate Prakriti; 

Thou art the Fish, the Turtle, the Boar, and all other Avatars 

Earth, water, air, and fire art Thou, and Thou the sky, 

             O Mother of the Absolute! 

The Samkhya, Patanjala, Mimamsaka, and Nyaya 

For ever seek to fathom Thee and know Thine inmost nature; 

Vedānta and Vaiseshika are searching after Thee; 

            But none of them has found Thee out. 

Though free of limitations, beginningless and without end, 

Yet for Thy loving bhaktas' sake Thou wearest varying forms. 

The terrors of this world Thou dost remove, and Thou dost dwell 

              Alike in present, past, and future. 

Thou dost appear with form, to him who loves Thee as a Person; 

Thou art the Absolute, to him who worships formless Truth. 

Some there are who speak alone of the resplendent Brahman; 

Even this, O Blissful Mother, is nothing else but Thee! 

Each man, according to his measure, makes his image of the Truth,  

            Calling it the Highest Brahman. 

Beyond this does Turiya shine, the Indescribable: 

O Mother of all things, who dost pervade the universe, 

          Everyone of these art Thou! 

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 872 (23 October 1885)

Futility of Argument

 

All Sadhanas

 

Master saw Devotees before their Arrival

God reveals the nature of the devotees to me before they arrive. I saw Chaitanya's party singing and dancing near the Panchavati, between the banyan-tree and the bakul-tree. I noticed Balarām there. If it weren't for him, who would there be to supply me with sugar candy and such things? (Pointing to M.) And I saw him too. 

I had seen Keshab before I actually met him - I had seen him and his party in my samādhi. In front of me sat a roomful of men. Keshab looked like a peacock sitting with its tail spread out. The tail meant his followers. I saw a red gem on Keshab's head. That indicated his rajas. He said to his disciples, 'Please listen to what he [meaning the Master] is saying.' I said to the Divine Mother: 'Mother, these people hold the views of "Englishmen". Why should I talk to  them?' Then the Mother explained to  me that it would be like this in the Kaliyuga.  

Keshab and his followers got from here [meaning himself] the names of Hari and the Divine Mother …   

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 831 (9 August 1885)

Master's Intimate Vision of God

 

Experience of Kundalini

… Just before my attaining this state of mind, it had been revealed to me how the kundalini is aroused, how the lotuses of the different centres blossom forth, and how all this culminates in samādhi. This is a very secret experience. I saw a boy twenty-two or twenty-three years old, exactly resembling me, enter the Sushumna nerve and commune with the lotuses touching them with his tongue. He began with the centre at the anus and passed through the centres at the sexual organ, naval, and so on. The different lotuses of those centres-four-petalled, six-petalled, ten-petalled, and so forth-had been drooping at his touch they stood erect. 

When he reached the heart - I distinctly remember it - and communed with the lotuses there, touching it with his tongue, the twelve-petalled lotus, which was hanging head down, stood erect and open its petals. Then he came to the sixteen-petalled lotus in the throat and two petalled lotus in the forehead. And last of all, the thousand-petalled lotus in the head blossomed. Since then I have been in this state.   

- Sri Ramakrishna, Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 830 (9 August 1885)

Ideal of Modern Times

 

After-Life

 

Awakening of Kundalini

A man's spiritual consciousness is not awakened unless his kundalini is aroused. The kundalini dwells in the Muladhara. When it is aroused, it passes along the Sushumna nerve, goes through the centres of Svadhisthana, Manipura, and so on, and at last reaches the head. This is called the movement of Mahāvāyu, the Spiritual Current. It culminates in samādhi. 

One's spiritual consciousness is not awakened by the mere reading of books. One should also pray to God. The kundalini is aroused if the aspirant feels restless for God. To talk of knowledge from mere study and heresay! What will that accomplish?

Just before my attaining this state of mind, it had been revealed to me how the kundalini is aroused, how the lotuses of the different centres blossom forth, and how all this culminates in samādhi. This is a very secret experience. …   

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 830 (9 August 1885)

Brahman and Śakti

It is He alone who has become the universe, living beings, and the twenty-four cosmic principles. When He is action less, I call Him Brahman; when He creates, preserves, and destroys, I call Him Śakti. Brahman and Śakti are not different from each other. Water is water, whether it is still or moving. 

It is not possible to rid oneself of 'I-consciousness' and as long as one is aware of this 'I-consciousness', one cannot speak of the universe and its living beings as unreal. You cannot get the correct weight of the bel-fruit if you leave out its shell and pits. 

The brick, lime, and brick-dust of which the stairs are made are the same brick, lime, and brick-dust of which the roof is made. The universe and its living beings exist on account of the Reality of Him who is known as Brahman. 

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 802 (14 July 1885)

Respect for One's Own Mother

 … one should look after one's mother as long as she is alive. I used to worship my mother with flowers and sandal-paste. It is the Mother of the Universe who is embodied as our earthly mother. 

As long as you look after your own body, you must look after your mother too. Therefore I said to Hazra: 'when you have a cold, you procure black pepper, sugar candy, and salt. As long as you feel you must look after your body, you must look after your mother too.' 

But it is quite different when you completely forget your body. Then God Himself assumes your responsibilities. A minor cannot look after himself; therefore a guardian is appointed for him. Chaitanyadeva, like a minor, could not look after himself.  

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 813 (15 July 1885)