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I felt as if my heart were being
squeezed like a wet towel. I was overpowered with a great restlessness and a
fear that it might not be my lot to realize Her in this life. I could not bear
the separation from Her any longer. Life seemed to be not worth living.
Suddenly my glance fell on the sword that was kept in the Mother's temple. I
determined to put an end to my life. When I jumped up like a madman and seized
it, suddenly the blessed Mother revealed Herself. The buildings with their
different parts, the temple, and everything else vanished from my sight,
leaving no trace whatsoever, and in their stead I saw a limitless, infinite,
effulgent
-
Sri Ramakrishna
describes His first vision of Divine Mother, Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna,
Introduction, P 13
Mother as Everything
Sri Ramakrishna one day fed a cat
with the food that was to be offered to Kāli. This was too much for the manager
of the temple garden, who considered himself responsible for the proper conduct
of the worship. He reported Sri Ramakrishna's insane behaviour to Mathur Bābu.
Sri Ramakrishna has described the
incident: "The Divine Mother revealed to me in the Kāli temple that it was
She who had become everything. She showed me that everything was full of
Consciousness. The image was Consciousness, the altar was Consciousness, the
water-vessels were Consciousness, the door-sill was Consciousness, the marble
floor was Consciousness - all was Consciousness. I found everything inside the
room soaked, as it were, in Bliss - the Bliss of God. I saw a wicked man in
front of the Kāli temple; but in him also I saw the power of the Divine Mother
vibrating. That was why I fed a cat with the food that was to be offered to the
Divine Mother. I clearly perceived that all this was the Divine Mother - even
the cat. The manager of the temple garden wrote to Mathur Bābu saying that I
was feeding the cat with the offering intended for the Divine Mother. But
Mathur Bābu had insight into the state of my mind. He wrote back to the
manager: 'Let him do whatever he likes. You must not say anything to him.'
"
-
Sri Ramakrishna
explaining his experience at
Eight Fetters
Don't you know that when one thinks
of God one should be freed from all ties? From our very birth we have the eight
fetters of hatred, shame, lineage, pride of good conduct, fear, secretiveness,
caste, and grief. The sacred thread reminds me that I am a brahmin and
therefore superior to all. When calling on the Mother one has to set aside all
such ideas.
-
Sri Ramakrishna
to Hriday,
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna,
Introduction, P 13
How to Fix Mind on God
M. (humbly): "Yes, sir. How, sir, may we fix our minds on God?"
MASTER: "Repeat God's name and sing His glories,
and keep holy company; and now and then visit God's devotees and holy men. The
mind cannot dwell on God if it is immersed day and night in worldliness, in
worldly duties and responsibilities; it is most necessary to go into solitude now
and then and think of God. To fix the mind on God is very difficult, in the
beginning, unless one practises meditation in solitude. When a tree is young it
should be fenced all around; otherwise it may be destroyed by cattle.”
"To meditate, you should withdraw within yourself
or retire to a secluded corner or to the forest. And you should always
discriminate between the Real and the unreal.
God alone is real, the Eternal Substance; all else is unreal, that is,
impermanent. By discriminating thus, one
should shake off impermanent objects from the mind."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 81 (February 1882 Sri
Ramakrishna Birthday)
How to Live in World
M. (humbly): "How ought we to
live in the world?"
MASTER: "Do all your duties,
but keep your mind on God. Live with all
- with wife and children, father and mother - and serve them. Treat them as if
they were very dear to you, but know in your heart of hearts that they do not
belong to you.
"A maidservant in the house of
a rich man performs all the household duties, but her thoughts are fixed on her
own home in her native village. She
brings up her Master's children as if they were her own. She even speaks of
them as 'my Rama' or 'my Hari'. But in her own mind she knows very well that
they do not belong to her at all.
"The tortoise
moves about in the water. But can you guess where her thoughts are? There on the
bank, where her eggs are lying. Do all your duties in the world, but keep your
mind on God.”
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 81 (February 1882 Sri
Ramakrishna Birthday)
World and Mind
The world is
water and the mind milk. If you pour milk into water they become one; you
cannot find the pure milk any more. But turn the milk into curd and churn it
into butter. Then, when that butter is
placed in water, it will float. So, practise spiritual discipline in solitude
and obtain the butter of knowledge and love.
Even if you keep that butter in the water of the world the two will not
mix. The butter will float.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 82 (February 1882 Sri
Ramakrishna Birthday)
How See God
M: "Is it possible to see
God?"
MASTER:
"Yes, certainly. Living in solitude now and then, repeating God's name and
singing His glories, and discriminating between the Real and the unreal - these
are the means to employ to see Him."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 83 (February 1882 Sri
Ramakrishna Birthday)
Four Classes of Human Beings
Men may be divided into four classes:
those bound by the fetters of the world, the seekers after liberation, the
liberated, and the ever-free. Among the ever-free we may count sages like
Narada. They live in the world for the good of others, to teach men spiritual
truth. Those in bondage are sunk in worldliness and forgetful of God. Not even
by mistake do they think of God. The seekers after liberation want to free
themselves from attachment to the world. Some of them succeed and others do
not. The liberated souls, such as the sadhus and mahatmas, are
not entangled in the world, in 'woman and gold'. Their minds are free from worldliness.
Besides, they always meditate on the Lotus Feet of God.
Suppose a net
has been cast into a lake to catch fish. Some fish are so clever that they are
never caught in the net. They are like the ever-free. But most of the fish are
entangled in the net. Some of them try to free themselves from it, and they are
like those who seek liberation. But not all the fish that struggle succeed. A
very few do jump out of the net, making a big splash in the water. Then the
fishermen shout, 'Look! There goes a big one!' But most of the fish caught in
the net cannot escape, nor do they make any effort to get out. On the contrary,
they burrow into the mud with the net in their mouths and lie there quietly,
thinking, 'We need not fear any more; we are quite safe here.' But the poor
things do not know that the fishermen will drag them out with the net. These are like the men bound to the world.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 86-87 (February 1882)
Longing for God
M: "Under what conditions does
one see God?"
MASTER: "Cry
to the Lord with an intensely yearning heart and you will certainly see Him.
People shed a whole jug of tears for wife and children. They swim in tears for
money. But who weeps for God? Cry to Him with a real cry." … …
“Longing is
like the rosy dawn. After the dawn out comes the sun. Longing is followed by
the vision of God.”
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 83 (February 1882)
Combined Force of Three Attractions
"God reveals Himself to a
devotee who feels drawn to Him by the combined force of these three
attractions: the attraction of worldly possessions for the worldly man, the
child's attraction for its mother, and the husband's attraction for the chaste
wife. If one feels drawn to Him by the combined force of these three
attractions, then through it one can attain Him.
The point is, to
love God even as the mother loves her child, the chaste wife her husband, and
the worldly man his wealth. Add together these three forces of love, these
three powers of attraction, and give it all to God. Then you will certainly see
Him.”
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 83 (February 1882)
God and His glory & Dangers of
worldly life
MASTER: “God and His glory. This
universe is His glory. People see His glory and forget everything. They do not
seek God, whose glory is this world. All seek to enjoy 'woman and gold'. But
there is too much misery and worry in that. … … Again, the world is like a
thorny bush: you have hardly freed yourself from one set of thorns before you
find yourself entangled in another. Once you enter a labyrinth you find it very
difficult to get out. Living in the world, a man becomes seared, as it
were."
A DEVOTEE: "Then what is the
way, sir?"
MASTER:
"Prayer and the company of holy men. You cannot get rid of an ailment
without the help of a physician. But it is not enough to be in the company of
religious people only for a day. You should constantly seek it, for the disease
has become chronic. Again, you can't
understand the pulse
rightly unless you
live with a
physician. Moving with him constantly, you learn to distinguish between
the pulse of phlegm and the pulse of bile.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 96 (April 9, 1882)
God Alone is
Real
… renounce
everything and call on God. He alone is real; all else is illusory. Without the
realization of God everything is futile. This is the great secret.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 95 (April 2, 1882)
Evil of "I" and
"mine"
'I' and 'mine'
- these constitute ignorance. 'My house', 'my wealth', 'my learning', 'my possessions'
- the attitude that prompts one to say such things comes of ignorance. On the contrary,
the attitude born of Knowledge is: 'O God, Thou art the Master, and all these
things belong to Thee. House, family,
children, attendants, friends, are Thine.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 105 (August 5, 1882)
Good of Holy Company
DEVOTEE: "What is the good of
holy company?"
MASTER: "It
begets yearning for God. It begets love of God. Nothing whatsoever is achieved in spiritual life without yearning. By constant
living in the company of holy men, the soul becomes restless for God. This
yearning is like the state of mind of a man who has someone ill in the family.
His mind is in a state of perpetual restlessness, thinking how the sick person
may be cured. Or again, one should feel a yearning for God like the yearning of
a man who has
lost his job and is wandering from one office to another in search of work. If
he is rejected at a certain place which has no vacancy, he goes there again the
next day and inquires, 'Is there an vacancy today?'”
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 96 (April 9, 1882)
Thou Art Indweller
"What is
knowledge? And what is the nature of this ego? 'God alone is the Doer, and none
else' - that is knowledge. I am not the doer; I am a mere instrument in His
hand. Therefore I say: 'O Mother, Thou art the Operator and I am the machine.
Thou art the Indweller and I am the house. Thou art the Driver and I am the carriage.
I move as Thou movest me. I do as Thou makest me do. I speak as Thou makest me
speak. Not I, not I, but Thou, but Thou.' "
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 98 (April 9, 1882)
Washing away the heart's impurities
with tears
NEIGHTBOUR: "Sir, is it ever
possible to realize God while leading the life of a householder?"
MASTER: "Certainly. But as I
said just now, one must live in holy company and pray unceasingly. One should
weep for God. When the impurities of the mind are thus washed away, one
realizes God. The mind is like a needle covered with mud, and God is like a
magnet. The needle cannot be united with the magnet unless it is free from mud.
Tears wash away the mud, which is nothing but lust, anger, greed, and other
evil tendencies, and the inclination to worldly enjoyments as well. As soon as
the mud is washed away, the magnet attracts the needle, that is to say, man
realizes God. Only the pure in heart see God. A fever patient has an excess of
the watery element in his system. What can quinine do for him unless that is
removed?
"Why
shouldn't one realize God while living in the world? But, as I said, one must
live in holy company, pray to God, weeping for His grace, and now and then go
into solitude. Unless the plants on a foot-path are protected at first by
fences, they are destroyed by cattle."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 98 (April 9, 1882)
Explanation of evil
A NEIGHBOUR: "Why does a man
have sinful tendencies?"
MASTER: "In God's creation
there are all sorts of things. He has created bad men as well as good men. It
is He who gives us good tendencies, and it is He again who gives us evil
tendencies."
NEIGHBOUR: "In that case we
aren't responsible for our sinful actions, are we?"
MASTER:
"Sin begets its own result. This is God's law. Won't you burn our tongue
if you chew a chilli? … …”
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 97 (April 9, 1882)
Does Jnani Speak?
A
DEVOTEE: "Suppose a man has obtained the Knowledge of Brahman in samādhi.
Doesn't he speak any more?"
MASTER: "Sankaracharya retained
the 'ego of Knowledge' in order to teach others. After the vision of Brahman a
man becomes silent. He reasons about It as long as he has not realized It. If you heat butter in a pan on the stove, it
makes a sizzling sound as long as the water it contains has not dried up. But when no trace of water is left the
clarified butter makes no sound. If you
put an uncooked cake of flour in that butter it sizzles again. But after the
cake is cooked all sound stops. Just so, a man established in samādhi comes
down to the relative plane of consciousness in order to teach others, and then
he talks about God.
"The bee buzzes as long as it
is not sitting on a flower. It becomes silent when it begins to sip the
honey. But sometimes, intoxicated with
the honey, it buzzes again.
"An empty
pitcher makes a gurgling sound when it is dipped in water. When it fills up it
becomes silent. (All laugh.) But if the
water is poured from it into another pitcher, then you will hear the sound
again.” (Laughter)
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 103 (August 5, 1882)
Uninspired
scholarship condemned
Mere pundits
are like diseased fruit that becomes hard and will not ripen at all. Such fruit
has neither the freshness of green fruit nor the flavour of ripe. Vultures soar
very high in the sky, but their eyes are fixed on rotten carrion on the ground.
The book-learned are reputed to be wise, but they are attached to 'woman and
gold'. Like the vultures, they are in search of carrion. They are attached to
the world of ignorance. Compassion, love of God, and renunciation are the
glories of true knowledge.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 101 (August 5, 1882)
Rishis of Ancient
The rishis of old attained the
Knowledge of Brahman. One cannot have this so long as there is the slightest
trace of worldliness. How hard the rishis laboured! Early in the morning they
would go away from the hermitage, and would spend the whole day in solitude,
meditating on Brahman. At night they would
return to the hermitage and eat a little fruit or roots. They kept their minds
aloof from the objects of sight, hearing, touch, and other things of a worldly
nature. Only thus did they realize Brahman as their own inner
consciousness.
But in the
Kaliyuga, man, being totally dependent on food for life, cannot altogether
shake off the idea that he is the body. In this state of mind it is not proper
for him to say, 'I am He.' When a man does all sorts of worldly things, he
should not say, 'I am Brahman.' Those who
cannot give up attachment to worldly things, and who find no means to
shake off the feeling of 'I', should rather cherish the idea 'I am God's
servant; I am His devotee.' One can also realize God by following the path of
devotion.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 103 (August 5, 1882)
Parable of Salt Doll
In samādhi one attains the Knowledge
of Brahman - one realizes Brahman. In that state reasoning stops altogether,
and man becomes mute. He has no power to describe the nature of Brahman.
Once a salt
doll went to measure the depth of the ocean. (All laugh.) It wanted to tell
others how deep the water was. But this it could never do, for no sooner did it
get into the water than it melted. Now who was there to report the ocean's
depth?
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 103 (August 5, 1882)
Jnani and Vijnāni
The jnani gives up his
identification with worldly things, discriminating, 'Not this, not this'. Only
then can he realize Brahman. It is like reaching the roof of a house by leaving
the steps behind, one by one. But the vijnāni, who is more intimately
acquainted with Brahman, realizes something more. He realizes that the steps
are made of the same materials as the roof: bricks, lime, and brick-dust. That
which is realized intuitively as Brahman, through the eliminating process of
'Not this, not this', is then found to have become the universe and all its
living beings. The vijnāni sees that the Reality which is nirguna, without
attributes, is also saguna, with attributes.
A man cannot
live on the roof a long time. He comes down again. Those who realize Brahman in
samādhi come down also and find that it is Brahman that has become the universe
and its living beings. In the musical
scale there are the notes sa, re ga, ma, pa, dha, and ni; but one cannot keep
one's voice on 'ni' a long time. The ego does not vanish altogether. The man
coming down from samādhi perceives that it is Brahman that has become the ego,
the universe, and all living beings. This is known as vijnāna.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 103-04 (August 5, 1882)
Significance of
Gita
What is the
significance of the Gita? It is what you find by repeating the word ten times.
It is then reversed into 'tagi', which means a person who has renounced
everything for God. And the lesson of the Gita is: 'O man, renounce everything
and seek God alone.' Whether a man is a monk or a householder, he has to shake
off all attachment from his mind.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 104-05 (August 5, 1882)
Ego causes our sufferings
Even after the
attainment of Knowledge this 'I-consciousness' comes up, nobody knows from here.
You dream of a tiger. Then you awake; but your heart keeps on palpitating! All
our suffering is due to this 'I'. The cow cries, 'Hamba!', which means 'I'. That
is why it suffers so much. It is yoked to the plough and made to work in rain
and sun. Then it may be killed by the butcher. From its hide shoes are made,
and also drums, which are mercilessly, beaten.
(Laughter.) Still it does not escape suffering. At last strings are made
out of its entrails for the bows used in carding cotton. Then it no longer
says, 'Hamba! Hamba!', 'I! I!' but 'Tuhu! Tuhu!', 'Thou! Thou!'. Only then are
its troubles over. O Lord, I am the servant; Thou art the Master. I am the
child; Thou art the Mother.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 105 (August 5, 1882)
Remember Death
One should
constantly remember death. Nothing will survive death. We are born into this
world to perform certain duties, like the people who come from the countryside
to
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 105 (August 5, 1882)
When God Laughs
God laughs on two
occasions. He laughs when the physician says to the patient's mother, 'Don't be
afraid, mother; I shall certainly cure your boy.' God laughs, saying to
Himself, 'I am going to take his life, and this man says he will save it!' The
physician thinks he is the master, forgetting that God is the Master. God
laughs again when two brothers divide their land with a string, saying to each
other, 'This side is mine and that side is your'. He laughs and says to Himself,
'The whole universe belongs to Me, but they say they own this portion or that
portion.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 105-06 (August 5, 1882)
Power of Faith
One must have faith and love. Let me
tell you how powerful faith is. A man was about to cross the sea from
There is a
popular saying that Hanuman jumped over the sea through his faith in Rama's
name, but Rama himself had to build a bridge.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 106-07 (August 5, 1882)
God Does All
Man cannot
really help the world. God alone does that - He who has created the sun and the
moon, who has put love for their children in parents' hearts, endowed noble souls
with compassion, and holy men and devotees with divine love. The man who works
for others, without any selfish motive, really does good to himself.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 108 (August 5, 1882)
Ecstasy, Love and Devotion
The means of realizing God are
ecstasy of love and devotion - that is, one must love God. He who is Brahman is
addressed as the Mother.
He it is, says
Ramprasad, that I approach as Mother;
But must I give away
the secret, here in the market-place?
From the hints I have
given, O mind, guess what that Being is!
Ramprasad asks
the mind only to guess the nature of God. He wishes it to understand that what
is called Brahman in the Vedas is addressed by Him as the Mother. He who is
attributeless also has attributes. He who is Brahman is also Śakti. When
thought of as inactive, He is called Brahman, and when thought of as the Creator,
Preserver, and Destroyer, He is called the Primordial Energy, Kāli.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 107 (August 5, 1882)
What is needed
is absorption in God-loving Him intensely. The '
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 108 (August 5, 1882)
Mother Kali’s Feet
Brahman alone is addressed as the
Mother. This is because a mother is an object of great love. One is able to realize God just through love.
Ecstasy of feeling, devotion, love, and faith - these are the means. Listen to
a song:
As
is a man's meditation, so is his feeling of love;
As is a man's feeling of love, so is his gain;
And faith is the root of all.
If in the Nectar
My mind remains immersed,
Of little use are worship, oblations, or sacrifice.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 108 (August 5, 1882)
Egotism and Vanity
Q: "Sir, what is the way to
realize God?"
MASTER:
"Bhakti is the one essential thing. To be sure, God exists in all beings. Who,
then, is a devotee? He whose mind dwells on God. But this is not possible as
long as one has egotism and vanity. The water of God's grace cannot collect on
the high mound of egotism. It runs down.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 111 (August 13, 1882)
Parable of the wood-cutter
Go forward. A wood-cutter once
entered a forest to gather wood. A brahmachari said to him, 'Go forward.' He obeyed the injunction and
discovered some sandal-wood trees. After a few days he reflected, 'The holy man
asked me to go forward. He didn't tell
me to stop here.' So he went forward and found a silver-mine. After a few days he went still farther and
discovered a gold-mine, and next, mines of diamonds and precious stones. With
these he became immensely rich.
"Through selfless work, love of
God grows in the heart. Then, through
His grace one realizes Him in course of time.
God can be seen. One can talk to him as I am talking to you."
In silent
wonder they all sat listening to the Master's words. It seemed to them that the
Goddess of Wisdom Herself, seated on Sri Ramakrishna's tongue was addressing
these words not merely to Vidyasagar, but to all humanity for its good.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 109 (August 5, 1882)
All religions
are true
All religions
are true. The important thing is to reach the roof. You can reach it by stone stairs or by wooden
stairs or by bamboo steps or by a rope. You can also climb up by a bamboo pole.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 111 (August 13, 1882)
Many Names of One God
You may say
that there are many errors and superstitions in another religion. I should
reply: Suppose there are. Every religion has errors. Everyone thinks that his watch
alone gives the correct time. It is enough to have yearning for God. It is
enough to love Him and feel attracted to Him: Don't you know that God is the
Inner Guide? He sees the longing of our heart and the yearning of our soul. Suppose
a man has several sons. The older boys address him distinctly as 'Baba' or
'Papa', but the babies can at best call him 'Ba' or 'Pa'. Now, will the father
be angry with those who address him in this indistinct way? The father knows
that they too are calling him, only they cannot pronounce his name well. All
children are the same to the father. Likewise, the devotees call on God alone,
though by different names. They call on one Person only. God is one, but His
names are many.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 112 (August 13, 1882)
Bhakti – Essence of Spiritual
Discipline
Bhakti, love of
God, is the essence of all spiritual discipline. Through love one acquires
renunciation and discrimination naturally.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 123 (October 16, 1882)
Spiritual Disciplines
MASTER: "A little spiritual
discipline is necessary in order to know what lies within."
M: "Is it necessary to practise
discipline all through life?"
MASTER:
"No. But one must be up and doing in the beginning. After that one need
not work hard. The helmsman stands up and clutches the rudder firmly as long as
the boat is passing through waves, storms, high wind, or around the curves of a
river; but he relaxes after steering through them. As soon as the boat passes
the curves and the helmsman feels a favourable wind, he sits comfortably and
just touches the rudder. Next he prepares to unfurl the sail and gets ready for
a smoke. Likewise, the aspirant enjoys peace and calm after passing the waves
and storms of 'woman and gold'.”
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 112 (August 24, 1882)
Drawing-room of God
… you should
remember that the heart of the devotee is the abode of God. He dwells, no
doubt, in all beings, but He especially manifests Himself in the heart of the devotee.
A landlord may at one time or another visit all parts of his estate, but people
say he is generally to be found in a particular drawing-room. The heart of the
devotee is the drawing-room of God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 133 (October 27, 1882)
Money and Worldly Duties
M: "Sir, may I make an effort
to earn more money?"
MASTER: "It is permissible to
do so to maintain a religious family. You may try to increase your income, but
in an honest way. The goal of life is not the earning of money, but the service
of God. Money is not harmful if it is devoted to the service of God."
M: "How long should a man feel
obliged to do his duty toward his wife and children?"
MASTER: "As long as they feel
pinched for food and clothing. But one need not take the responsibility of a
son when he is able to support himself. When the young fledgling learns to pick
its own food, its mother pecks it if it comes to her for food."
M: "How long must one do one's
duty?"
MASTER: "The blossom drops off
when the fruit appears. One doesn't have
to do one's duty after the attainment of God, nor does one feel like doing it then.
"If a drunkard takes too much
liquor he cannot retain consciousness. If he takes only two or three glasses,
he can go on with his work. As you advance nearer and nearer to God, He will
reduce your activities little by little.
Have no fear.
"Finish
the few duties you have at hand, and then you will have peace. When the mistress
of the house goes to bathe after finishing her cooking and other household
duties she won't come back, however you may shout after her."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 114 (August 24, 1882)
Seeing God Everywhere
One who thinks of God, day and night,
beholds Him everywhere. It is like a man's seeing flames on all sides after he
has gazed fixedly at one flame for some time.
"But that isn't the real
flame", flashed through M.'s mind.
Sri Ramakrishna,
who could read a man's inmost thought, said: "One doesn't lose consciousness
by thinking of Him who is all Spirit, all Consciousness. Shivanath once
remarked that too much thinking about God confounds the brain. Thereupon I said
to him, 'How can one become unconscious by thinking of Consciousness?'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 115 (August 24, 1882)
God and worldly duties
MASTER: "Perform your duties in
an unselfish spirit. … … Always try to perform your duties without desiring any
result."
M: "Yes, sir. But may I know if one can realize God while
performing one's duties? Can 'Rama' and 'desire' coexist? The other day I read
in a Hindi couplet: 'Where Rama is, there desire cannot be; where desire is,
there Rama cannot be.' "
MASTER:
"All, without exception, perform work. Even to chant the name and glories
of God is work, as is the meditation of the non-dualist on 'I am He'. Breathing
is also an activity. There is no way of renouncing work altogether. So do your work,
but surrender the result to God."
-
Gospel of Sri
Ramakrishna, P 113-14 (August 24, 1882)
One God
I had to
practise each religion for a time - Hinduism, Islam, Christianity. Furthermore,
I followed the paths of the Saktas, Vaishnavas, and Vedantists. I realized that
there is only one God toward whom all are travelling; but the paths are
different.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 129 (October 22, 1882)
Different moods of aspirants
… in order to realize God, one must
assume one of these attitudes: Śānta, Dāsya, sakhya, Vātsalya, or Madhur.
Śānta, the serene attitude. The rishis
of olden times had this attitude toward God. They did not desire any worldly
enjoyment. It is like the single-minded devotion of a wife to her husband. She
knows that her husband is the embodiment of beauty and love, a veritable
Madan.
Dāsya, the attitude of a servant
toward his master. Hanuman had this attitude toward Rama. He felt the strength
of a lion when he worked for Rama. A wife feels this mood also. She serves her
husband with all her heart and soul. A mother also has a little of this
attitude, as Yaśoda had toward
Sakhya, the attitude of friendship. Friends
say to one another, 'Come here and sit near me.' Sridāmā and other friends
sometimes fed
Vātsalya, the attitude of a mother
toward her child. This was Yaśoda's attitude toward
Madhur, the
attitude of a woman toward her paramour. Radha had this attitude toward
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 115 (August 24, 1882)
Disciplines of Tantra
NARENDRA: "Isn't it true that
the Tantra prescribes spiritual discipline in the company of woman?"
MASTER:
"That is not desirable. It is a very difficult path and often causes the
aspirant's downfall. There are three such kinds of discipline. One may regard
woman as one's mistress or look on oneself as her handmaid or as her child. I look
on woman as my mother. To look on oneself as her handmaid is also good; but it
is extremely difficult to practise spiritual discipline looking on woman as
one's mistress. To regard oneself as her child is a very pure attitude."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 123 (October 16, 1882)
Avatar and Individual Soul
The difference between an individual soul and an
avatar is a difference in manifestation of power only. – Sri Ramakrishna (SRK and His
Divine Play, P166)
First Ecstasy
In that part of the country
[Kamarpukur] children are given puffed rice to eat from small baskets. Those
who are poor and have not baskets eat from the corner of their wearing cloth.
Boys go out to play on the roads or in the fields carrying puffed rice either
in a basket or in the corner of their cloth. It was June or July. I was then
six or seven years old. One morning I took some puffed rice in a small basket
and was eating it as I walked along the narrow ridges of the rice fields. In
one part of the sky a beautiful black cloud appeared, heavy with rain. I was
watching it and eating the puffed rice. Very soon the cloud covered almost the
whole sky. Then a flock of cranes came flying, white as milk against the black
cloud. It was so beautiful that I became absorbed in the sight; I lost
consciousness of everything outside of myself. I fell down, and the puffed rice
was scattered over the ground. I cannot say how long I was in that state. Some
people saw this and carried me home. That was the first time I lost external
consciousness due to ecstasy.
- Sri
Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P 167
Attitude of Jnānis and Bhaktās
He who is called Brahman by the
jnanis is known as Ātman by the yogis and as Bhagavan by the bhaktas. The same
brahmin is called priest, when worshipping in the temple, and cook, when
preparing a meal in the kitchen. The jnani sticking to the path of knowledge,
always reasons about the Reality, saying, 'Not this, not this'. Brahman is
neither 'this' nor 'that'; It is neither the universe nor its living beings. Reasoning
in this way, the mind becomes steady.
Then it disappears and the aspirant goes into samādhi. This is the
knowledge of Brahman. It is the
unwavering conviction of the jnani that Brahman alone is real and the world
illusory. All these names and forms are illusory, like a dream. What Brahman is
cannot be described. One cannot even say that Brahman is a Person. This is the
opinion of the jnanis, the followers of Vedanta philosophy.
But the bhaktas
accept all the states of consciousness. They take the waking state to be real
also. They don't think the world to be illusory, like a dream. They say that
the universe is a manifestation of God's power and glory. God has created all
these - sky, stars, moon, sun, mountains, ocean, men, animals. They constitute
His glory. He is within us, in our hearts.
Again, He is outside. The most advanced devotees say that He Himself has
become all this - the twenty-four cosmic principles, the universe,
and all living beings. The devotee of God wants to eat sugar, not to become sugar.
(All laugh.)
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 133 (October 27, 1882)
Brahman Alone
is Real
The jnanis, who
adhere to the non-dualistic philosophy of Vedanta, say that the acts of
creation, preservation, and destruction, the universe itself and all its living
beings, are the manifestations of Śakti, the Divine Power. If you reason it out, you will realize that
all these are as illusory as a dream. Brahman alone is the Reality, and all
else is unreal. Even this very Śakti is
unsubstantial, like a dream.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 134 (October 27, 1882)
Satchidananda is Guru
There is only one Guru, and that is Satchidananda.
He alone is the Teacher. My attitude toward God is that of a child toward its
mother. One can get human gurus by the million. All want to be teachers. But
who cares to be a disciple?
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 141 (October 27, 1882)
All is possible with God
MASTFR: "Nothing
is impossible for God. Nobody can describe His nature in words. Everything is
possible for Him. There lived at a certain place two yogis who were practising
spiritual discipline. The sage Narada was passing that way one day. Realizing
who he was, one of the yogis said: 'You have just come from God Himself. What
is He doing now?' Narada replied, 'Why, I saw Him making camels and elephants
pass and repass through the eye of a needle.' At this the yogi said: 'Is that
anything to wonder at? Everything is possible for God.' But the other yogi
said: 'What? Making elephants pass through the eye of a needle - is that ever
possible? You have never been to the Lord's dwelling-place.' "
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 124 (October 16, 1882)
Identity of Brahman and Śakti
… Brahman and Śakti are identical.
If you accept the one, you must accept the other. It is like fire and its power
to burn. If you see the fire, you must recognize its power to burn also. You
cannot think of fire without its power to burn, nor can you think of the power
to burn without fire. You cannot
conceive of the sun's rays without the sun, nor can you conceive of the sun
without its rays.
What is milk like? Oh, you say, it
is something white. You cannot think of the milk without the whiteness, and
again, you cannot think of the whiteness without the milk.
Thus one cannot
think of Brahman without Śakti, or of Śakti without Brahman. One cannot think
of the Absolute without the Relative, or of the Relative without the Absolute.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 134 (October 27, 1882)
Humans have Inner Differences
All men look alike, to be sure, but
they have different natures. Some have an excess of sattva, others an
excess of rajas, and still others an excess of tamas. You must
have noticed that the cakes known as puli all look alike. But their
contents are very different. Some contain condensed milk, some coconut kernel,
and others mere boiled kalai pulse. (All laugh)
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 141 (October 27, 1882)
Divine Mother's Sport
Then the Master sang the following
song in his melodious voice:
In the world's
busy market-place, O Syama, Thou art flying kites;
High up they
soar on the wind of hope, held fast by maya's string.
Their frames
are human skeletons, their sails of the three gunas made;
But all their
curious workmanship is merely for ornament.
Upon the
kite-strings Thou hast rubbed the manja-paste of worldliness,
So as to make
each straining strand all the more sharp and strong.
Out of a
hundred thousand kites, at best but one or two break free;
And Thou dost
laugh and clap Thy hands, O Mother, watching them!
On favouring
winds, says Ramprasad, the kites set loose will speedily
Be borne away to the Infinite, across the sea of the
world.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 136 (October 27, 1882)
It’s All in
Mind
It is all a
question of the mind. Bondage and liberation are of the mind alone. The mind
will take the colour you dye it with. It is like white clothes just returned
from the laundry. If you dip them in red dye, they will be red. If you dip them
in blue or green, they will be blue or green. They will take only the colour
you dip them in, whatever it may be. Haven't you noticed that, if you read a
little English, you at once begin to utter English words: Foot fut it mit?
Then you put on boots and whistle a tune, and so on. It all goes together. Or,
if a scholar studies Sanskrit, he will at once rattle off Sanskrit verses. If
you are in bad company, then you will talk and think like your companions. On
the other hand, when you are in the company of devotees, you will think and
talk only of God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 138 (October 27, 1882)
Futility of mere lecturing
What can you achieve by mere
lecturing and scholarship without discrimination and dispassion? God alone is
real, and all else is unreal. God alone is substance and all else is nonentity. That is discrimination.
First of all
set up God in the shrine of your heart, and then deliver lectures as much as you
like. How will the mere repetition of 'Brahma' profit you if you are not imbued
with discrimination and dispassion? It is the empty sound of a conch-shell.
- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 125 (October 16, 1882)
Power of Mind
"The mind is everything. A man
has his wife on one side and his daughter on the other. He shows his affection
to them in different ways. But his mind is one and the same.
"Bondage is of the mind, and
freedom is also of the mind. A man is free if he constantly thinks: 'I am a
free soul. How can I be bound, whether I live in the world or in the forest? I
am a child of God, the King of Kings. Who can bind me?' If bitten by a snake, a
man may get rid of its venom by saying emphatically, 'There is no poison in
me.' In the same way, by repeating with grit and determination, 'I am not
bound, I am free', one really becomes so-one really becomes free.
"Once someone gave me a book of
the Christians. I asked him to read it to me. It talked about nothing but sin. (To Keshab) Sin is the
only thing one hears of at your Brahmo Samaj, too. The wretch who constantly says, 'I am bound,
I am bound' only succeeds in being bound. He who says day and night, 'I am a
sinner, I am a sinner' verily becomes a sinner. One should have such burning
faith in God that one can say: 'What? I have repeated the name of God, and can
sin still cling to me? How can I be a sinner any more? How can I be in bondage
any more?'
"If a man
repeats the name of God, his body, mind, and everything become pure. Why should one talk only about sin and hell,
and such things? Say but once, 'O Lord, I have undoubtedly done wicked things,
but I won't repeat them.' And have faith in His name.”
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 138 (October 27, 1882)
All Troubles due to “I”
All trouble and botheration come to
an end when the 'I' dies. You may indulge in thousands of reasoning, but still
the 'I' doesn't disappear. For people like you and me, it is good to have the
feeling, 'I am a lover of God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 149 (October 28, 1882)
Love of God
When one develops love of God, one
completely gets rid of one's attachment to the world and worldly wisdom. - Sri Ramakrishna
Ego after Samadhi
There are some who come down, as it
were, after attaining the Knowledge of Brahman-after samādhi-and retain the
'ego of Knowledge' or the 'ego of Devotion', just as there are people who, of
their own sweet will, stay in the market-place after the market breaks up. This was the case with sages like Narada.
They kept the 'ego of Devotion' for the purpose of teaching men. Sankaracharya
kept the 'ego of Knowledge' for the same purpose.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 178 (1 January 1883)
One Reality Different Names
The Reality is one and the same; the
difference is in name and form.
It is like
water, called in different languages by different names, such as 'jal', 'pani',
and so forth. There are three or four
ghats on a lake. The Hindus, who drink water at one place, call it 'jal'. The
Mussalmans at another place call it 'pani'. And the English at a third place
call it 'water'. All three denote one and the same thing, the difference being
in the name only. In the same way, some
address the Reality as 'Allah', some as 'God', some as 'Brahman', some as
'Kāli', and others by such names as 'Rama', 'Jesus', 'Durga', 'Hari.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 135 (October 27, 1882)
Creation
She [Divine Mother] brings forth
this phenomenal world and then pervades it. In the Vedas creation is likened to
the spider and its web. The spider brings the web out of itself and then
remains in it. God is the container of the universe and also what is contained
in it.
Is Kāli, my
Divine Mother, of a black complexion? She appears black because She is viewed
from a distance; but when intimately known She is no longer so. The sky appears
blue at a distance; but look at it close by and you will find that it has no
colour. The water of the ocean looks blue at a distance, but when you go near
and take it in your hand, you find that it is colourless.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 135 (October 27, 1882)
Dive Deep
Dive Deep in the sweetness of God’s
bliss. What need have we of His infinite creation and unlimited glory? – Sri
Ramakrishna
Prayer to Divine Mother
To my Divine Mother I prayed only
for pure love. I offered flowers at Her Lotus Feet and prayed to Her:
'Mother, here is Thy virtue, here is
Thy vice. Take them both and grant me only pure love for Thee.
Here is Thy knowledge, here is Thy
ignorance. Take them both and grant me only pure love for Thee.
Here is Thy purity, here is Thy
impurity. Take them both, Mother, and grant me only pure love for Thee.
Here is Thy dharma, here is Thy
adharma. Take them both, Mother, and grant me only pure love for Thee.'
- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 138
(October 27, 1882)
Caste-System
The caste-system can be removed by
one means only, and that is the love of God. Lovers of God do not belong to any
caste. The mind, body, and soul of a man become purified through divine love. Chaitanya
and Nityananda scattered the name of Hari to everyone, including the pariah, and
embraced them all. A brahmin without this love is no longer a brahmin. And a
pariah with the love of God is no longer a pariah. Through bhakti an
untouchable becomes pure and elevated.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 155 (November 15, 1882)
Malady of Worldly People and its
Cure
The disease of
worldliness is like typhoid. And there are a huge jug of water and a jar of
savoury pickles in the typhoid patient's room. If you want to cure him of his
illness, you must remove him from that room. The worldly man is like the
typhoid patient. The various objects of enjoyment are the huge jug of water,
and the craving for their enjoyment is his thirst. The very thought of pickles
makes the mouth water; you don't have to bring them near. And he is surrounded
with them. The companionship of woman is the pickles. Hence treatment in
solitude is necessary.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 140 (October 27, 1882)
Grains Fallen Between Millstones
Man may be likened to grain. He has
fallen between the millstones and is about to be crushed. Only the few grains that stay near the peg escape.
Therefore men should take refuge at the peg, that is to say, in God. Call on Him.
Sing His name. Then you will be free. Otherwise you will be crushed by the King
of Death.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 155 (November 15, 1882)
Turmeric of Discrimination and
Dispassion
One may enter the world after
attaining discrimination and dispassion. In the ocean of the world there are
six alligators: lust, anger, and so forth. But you need not fear the alligators
if you smear your body with turmeric before you go into the water. Discrimination
and dispassion are the turmeric. Discrimination is the knowledge of what is
real and what is unreal. It is the realization that God alone is the real and
eternal Substance and that all else is unreal, transitory, impermanent. And you
must cultivate intense zeal for God. You must feel love for Him and be
attracted to Him.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 140 (October 27, 1882)
The ever-pure Brahman has been
transformed into the
- Sri Ramakrishna, Sri
Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P 193
Parable of the Chameleon
Listen to a story. Once a man
entered a wood and saw a small animal on a tree. He came back and told another
man that he had seen a creature of a beautiful red colour on a certain tree. The
second man replied: 'When I went into the wood, I also saw that animal. But why
do you call it red? It is green.' Another man who was present contradicted them
both and insisted that it was yellow. Presently others arrived and contended
that it was grey, violet, blue, and so forth and so on. At last they started
quarrelling among themselves. To settle the dispute they all went to the tree. They
saw a man sitting under it. On being asked, he replied: 'Yes, I live under this
tree and I know the animal very well. All your descriptions are true. Sometimes
it appears red, sometimes yellow, and at other times blue, violet, grey, and so
forth. It is a chameleon. And sometimes it has no colour at all. Now it has a
colour, and now it has none.'
In like manner, one who constantly
thinks of God can know His real nature; he alone knows that God reveals Himself
to seekers in various forms and aspects. God has attributes; then again He has
none. Only the man who lives under the tree knows that the chameleon can appear
in various colours, and he knows, further, that the animal at times has no
colour at all. It is the others who
suffer from the agony of futile argument.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 149-50 (October 28, 1882)
God Alone Real
God alone is the real Substance; all
else is illusory. Man can realize God if he wants to, but he madly craves the
enjoyment of 'woman and gold'. The snake has a precious stone in its head, but
it is perfectly satisfied to eat a mere frog.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 157 (November 19, 1882)
Intense Longing for God
BRAHMO DEVOTEE: "Sir, is it
possible for one to see God? If so, why can't we see Him?"
MASTER: "Yes, He can surely be
seen. One can see His forms, and His
formless aspect as well. How can I explain that to you?"
BRAHMO DEVOTEE: "What are the
means by which one can see God?"
MASTER: "Can you weep for Him
with intense longing of heart? Men shed a jugful of tears for the sake of their
children, for their wives, or for money. But who weeps for God? So long as the
child remains engrossed with its toys, the mother looks after her cooking and
other household duties. But when the child no longer relishes the toys, it
throws them aside and yells for its mother. Then the mother takes the rice-pot
down from the hearth, runs in haste, and takes the child in her arms."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 149 (October 28, 1882)
Infinite Paths
One should not think, 'My religion
alone is the right path and other religions are false.' God can be realized by
means of all paths. It is enough to have sincere yearning for God. Infinite are
the paths and infinite the opinions.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 158 (November 1882)
Difficulty of Preaching
It is extremely difficult to teach
others. A man can teach only if God reveals Himself to him and gives the command.
Narada, Sukadeva, and sages like them had such a command from God, and Sankara
had it too. Unless you have a command from God, who will listen to your words?
… …
… But it won't do if a man only
imagines that he has God's command.
God does reveal Himself to man and
speak. Only then may one receive His command. How forceful are the words of
such a teacher! They can move mountains. But mere lectures? People will listen
to them for a few days and then forget them. They will never act on mere words.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 141-42 (October 27, 1882)
Badge of Authority
To teach others, one must have a
badge of authority; otherwise teaching becomes a mockery. A man who is himself
ignorant starts out to teach others - like the blind leading the blind! Instead
of doing good, such teaching does harm. After the realization of God one
obtains an inner vision. Only then can
one diagnose a person's spiritual malady and give instruction.
Without the commission from God, a
man becomes vain. He says to himself, 'I am teaching people.' This vanity comes
from ignorance, for only an ignorant person feels that he is the doer. A man
verily becomes liberated in life if he feels: 'God is the Doer. He alone is
doing everything. I am doing nothing.' Man's sufferings and worries spring only
from his persistent thought that he is the doer.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 142 (October 27, 1882)
Purity of Heart
God cannot be realized without
purity of heart. One receives the grace of God by subduing the passions - lust,
anger, and greed. Then one sees God. I tried many things in order to conquer
lust.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 161 (December 1882)
Illusoriness of "I"
Think of Brahman,
Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute, as a shoreless ocean. Through the cooling
influence, as it were, of the bhakta's love, the water has frozen at places
into blocks of ice. In other words, God now and then assumes various forms for
His lovers and reveals Himself to them as a Person. But with the rising of the
sun of Knowledge, the blocks of ice melt. Then one doesn't feel any more that
God is a Person, nor does one see God's forms.
What He is cannot be described. Who will describe Him? He who would do
so disappears. He cannot find his 'I' any more.
If one analyses oneself, one doesn't
find any such thing as 'I'. Take an onion, for instance. First of all you peel off the red outer skin;
then you find thick white skins. Peel these off one after the other, and you
won't find anything inside.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 148 (October 28, 1882)
No Finality about God's nature
A BRAHMO DEVOTEE: "Sir, has God
forms or has He none?"
MASTER: "No one can say with
finality that God is only 'this' and nothing else. He is formless, and again He has forms. For the bhakta He
assumes forms. But He is formless for the jnani, that is, for him who looks on
the world as a mere dream. The bhakta feels that he is one entity and the world
another. Therefore God reveals Himself to him as a Person. But the jnani-the Vedantist, for
instance-always reasons, applying the process of 'Not this, not this'. Through
this discrimination he realizes, by his inner perception, that the ego and the
universe are both illusory, like a dream. Then the jnani realizes Brahman in his
own consciousness. He cannot describe what Brahman is.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 148 (October 28, 1882)
Power of God’s Name
By repeating a hundred times, 'I am
a sinner', one verily becomes a sinner. One should have such faith as to be
able to say, 'What? I have taken the name of God; how can I be a sinner?' God
is our Father and Mother. Tell Him, 'O Lord, I have committed sins, but I won't
repeat them.' Chant His name and purify your body and mind. Purify your tongue
by singing God's holy name.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 159 (November 1882)
Sign of Perfect Knowledge
There is a sign of Perfect Knowledge.
Man becomes silent when It is attained. Then the 'I', which may be likened to
the salt doll, melts in the Ocean of Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute and
becomes one with It. Not the slightest trace of distinction is left.
As long as his self-analysis is not complete,
man argues with much ado. But he becomes silent when he completes it. When the
empty pitcher has been filled with water, when the water inside the pitcher
becomes one with the water of the lake outside, no more sound is heard. Sound comes from the pitcher as long as the
pitcher is not filled with water.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 148 (October 28, 1882)
Necessity of Spiritual Discipline
Sri Ramakrishna went to see ‘Wilson
Circus’ at
After the circus, Sri Ramakrishna
said to M.: “Did you see how that Englishwoman stood on one foot on her horse,
while it ran like lightning? How difficult a feat that must be! She must have
practised a long time. The slightest carelessness and she would break her arms
or legs; she might even be killed. One faces the same difficulty leading the
life of a householder. A few succeed in it through the grace of God and as a
result of their spiritual practice. But most people fail. Entering the world, they
become more and more involved in it; they drown in worldliness and suffer the
agonies of death. A few only, like Janaka, have succeeded, through the power of
their austerity, in leading the spiritual life as householders. Therefore spiritual
practice is extremely necessary; otherwise one cannot rightly live in the world.”
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 154 (November 15, 1882)
Guilelessness
Without giving up worldliness a man
cannot awaken his spiritual consciousness, nor can he realize God. He cannot
but be a hypocrite as long as he has even a trace of worldly desire. God cannot be realized without guilelessness.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 176 (1 January 1883)
Bhakti for Kaliyuga
Yours is the path of bhakti. That is
very good; it is an easy path. Who can fully know the infinite God? And what
need is there of knowing the Infinite? Having attained this rare human birth,
my supreme need is to develop love for the Lotus Feet of God.
If a jug of water is enough to
remove my thirst, why should I measure the quantity of water in a lake? I
become drunk on even half a bottle of wine-what is the use of my calculating
the quantity of liquor in the tavern? What need is there of knowing the
Infinite?
The various states of mind of the
Brahmajnani are described in the Vedas. The path of knowledge is extremely
difficult. One cannot obtain jnāna if one has the least trace of worldliness
and the slightest attachment to 'woman and gold'. This is not the path for the Kaliyuga.
-
Sri Ramakrishna to Brahmo Devotees,
Gospel of Sri
Ramakrishna, P 150 (October 28, 1882)
Past Lives
One must admit the existence of
tendencies inherited from previous births. There is a story about a man who
practised the sava-sadhana. He worshipped the Divine Mother in a deep forest.
First he saw many terrible visions. Finally a tiger attacked and killed him. Another
man, happening to pass and seeing the approach of the tiger, had climbed a tree.
Afterwards he got down and found all the arrangements for worship at hand. He performed
some purifying ceremonies and seated himself on the corpse. No sooner had he
done a little japa than the Divine Mother appeared before him and said: 'My
child, I am very much pleased with you.
Accept a boon from
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 163-64 (14 December 1882)
Suicide
Suicide is a heinous sin,
undoubtedly. A man who kills himself must return again and again to this world
and suffer its agony. – Sri Ramakrishna
All in Proper Time
MASTER (to the Marwari devotees):
"You see, the feeling of 'I' and 'mine' is the result of ignorance. But to
say, 'O God, Thou art the Doer; all these belong to Thee' is the sign of
Knowledge. How can you say such a thing as 'mine'? … …
Anger and lust cannot be destroyed.
Turn them toward God. If you must feel desire and temptation, then desire to
realize God, feel tempted by Him. Discriminate and turn the passions away from
worldly objects. When the elephant is about to devour a plaintain-tree in
someone's garden, the mahut strikes it with his iron-tipped goad.
"You are merchants. You know
how to improve your business gradually. Some of you start with a castor-oil factory.
After making some money at that, you open a cloth shop. In the same way, one
makes progress toward God. It may be that you go into solitude, now and then,
and devote more time to prayer.
"But you must remember that
nothing can be achieved except in its proper time. Some persons must pass
through many experiences and perform many worldly duties before they can turn
their attention to God; so they have to wait a long time. If an abscess is
lanced before it is soft, the result is not good; the surgeon makes the opening
when it is soft and has come to a head. Once a child said to its mother:
'Mother, I am going to sleep now. Please wake me up when I feel the call of nature.'
'My child,' said the mother, 'when it is time for that, you will wake up
yourself. I shan't have to wake you.'
"
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 162 (December 1882)
Entanglement of Householders
Speaking of householders entangled
in worldliness, the Master said: "They are like the silk-worm. They can
come out of the cocoon of their worldly life if they wish. But they can't bear
to; for they themselves have built the cocoon with great love and care. So they
die there. Or they are like the fish in a trap. They can come out of it by the
way they entered, but they sport inside the trap with other fish and hear the
sweet sound of the murmuring water and forget everything else. They don't even
make an effort to free themselves from the trap. The lisping of children is the
murmur of the water; and the other fish are relatives and friends. Only one or
two make good their escape by running away. They are the liberated souls."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 155 (November 15, 1882)
Maya in-between
Rama, who is God Himself, was only
two and a half cubits ahead of Lakshmana. But Lakshmana couldn't see Him because
Sita stood between them. Lakshmana may be compared to the jiva, and Sita to
maya. Man cannot see God on account of the barrier of maya. Just look: I am creating
a barrier in front of my face with this towel. Now you can't see me, even
though I am so near. Likewise, God is the nearest of all, but we cannot see Him
on account of this covering of maya.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 169 (14 December 1882)
Compassion and Attachment
Remember that daya,
compassion, and maya, attachment, are two different things. Attachment
means the feeling of 'my-ness' toward one's relatives. It is the love one feels
for one's parents, one's brother, one's sister, one's wife and children. Compassion
is the love one feels for all beings of the world. It is an attitude of
equality. If you see anywhere an instance of compassion, as in Vidyasagar, know
that it is due to the grace of God. Through compassion one serves all beings. Maya
also comes from God. Through maya God makes one serve one's relatives.
But one thing should be remembered: maya keeps us in ignorance and
entangles us in the world, whereas daya makes our hearts pure and
gradually unties our bonds.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 161 (December 1882)
Worldly-minded Forget their Lessons
The bound creatures, entangled in worldliness,
will not come to their senses at all. They suffer so much misery and agony,
they face so many dangers, and yet they will not wake up.
The camel loves to eat thorny bushes.
The more it eats the thorns, the more the blood gushes from its mouth. Still it
must eat thorny plants and will never give them up. The man of worldly nature
suffers so much sorrow and affliction, but he forgets it all in a few days and
begins his old life over again. Suppose a man has lost his wife or she has turned
unfaithful. Lo! He marries again.
Or take the instance of a mother:
her son dies and she suffers bitter grief; but after a few days she forgets all
about it. The mother, so overwhelmed with sorrow a few days before, now attends
to her toilet and puts on her jewellery. A father becomes bankrupt through the
marriage of his daughters, yet he goes on having children year after year. People
are ruined by litigation, yet they go to court all the same. There are men who
cannot feed the children they have, who cannot clothe them or provide decent
shelter for them; yet they have more children every year.
Again, the worldly man is like a
snake trying to swallow a mole. The snake can neither swallow the mole nor give
it up. The bound soul may have realized that there is no substance to the
world-that the world is like a hog plum, only stone and skin-but still he
cannot give it up and turn his mind to God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 165 (14 December 1882)
Difficulties of Preaching
“… Man is an insignificant creature.
He cannot fulfil the difficult task of a teacher without receiving power direct
from God.”
VIJAY: "Don't the teachings of
the Brahmo Samaj bring men salvation?"
MASTER: "How is it ever
possible for one man to liberate another from the bondage of the world? God
alone, the Creator of this world-bewitching maya, can save men from maya. There is no other refuge but that great
Teacher, Satchidananda. How is it ever possible for men who have not realized
God or received His command, and who are not strengthened with divine strength,
to save others from the prison-house of the world?
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 168 (14 December 1882)
Ego alone the Cause of Bondage
VIJAY: "Sir, why are we bound
like this? Why don't we see God?"
MASTER: "Maya is nothing but
the egotism of the embodied soul. This egotism has covered everything like a
veil. ‘All troubles come to an end when the ego dies.’ If by the grace of God a
man but once realizes that he is not the doer, then he at once becomes a
Jivanmukta. Though living in the body, he is liberated. He has nothing else to
fear.
"This maya, that is to say, the
ego, is like a cloud. The sun cannot be seen on account of a thin patch of
cloud; when that disappears one sees the sun. If by the grace of the guru one's
ego vanishes, then one sees God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 168-69 (14 December 1882)
First Vision of Sita
One day at that time I was seated
under the Panchavati. I was in a state of ordinary consciousness, well aware of
my surroundings. All of a sudden a luminous female figure of exquisite grace
appeared before me. Her radiance lit up everything around her. I could see her,
and at the same time I could see the trees and plants of the Panchavati, the
- Sri Ramakrishna, Sri
Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P 228
Maya Creates Upadhis
"The jiva is nothing but the
embodiment of Satchidananda. But since maya, or ego, has created various
upadhis, he has forgotten his real Self.
"Each upadhi changes man's
nature. If he wears a fine black-bordered cloth, you will at once find him
humming Nidhu Babu's love-songs. Then playing-cards and a walking-stick follow.
If even a sickly man puts on high boots, he begins to whistle and climbs the
stairs like an Englishman, jumping from one step to another. If a man but holds
a pen in his hand, he scribbles on any paper he can get hold of-such is the
power of the pen!
"Money is also a great upadhi. The
possession of money makes such a difference in a man! He is no longer the same
person. A brahmin used to frequent the temple garden. Outwardly he was very
modest. One day I went to Konnagar with Hriday. No sooner did we get off the
boat than we noticed the brahmin seated on the bank of the
"A frog had a rupee, which he
kept in his hole. One day an elephant was going over the hole, and the frog,
coming out in a fit of anger, raised his foot, as if to kick the elephant, and
said, 'How dare you walk over my head?' Such is the pride that money begets!
"One can get rid of the ego after the attainment of Knowledge.
On attaining Knowledge one goes into
samādhi, and the ego disappears. But it is very difficult to obtain such
Knowledge.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 169 (14 December 1882)
The "wicked I"
The 'I' that makes one a worldly
person and attaches one to 'woman and gold' is the 'wicked I'. The intervention
of this ego creates the difference between jiva and Ātman. Water appears to be
divided into two parts if one puts a stick across it. But in reality there is
only one water. It appears as two on account of the stick. This 'I' is the
stick. Remove the stick and there remains only one water as before.
Now, what is this 'wicked I'? It is
the ego that says: 'What? Don't they know me? I have so much money! Who is
wealthier than I?' If a thief robs such a man of only ten rupees, first of all
he wrings the money out of the thief, then he gives him a good beating. But the
matter doesn't end there: the thief is handed over to the police and is
eventually sent to jail. The 'wicked I' says: 'What? Doesn't the rogue know
whom he has robbed? To steal my ten rupees! How dare he?'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 170 (14 December 1882)
Hatha-Yoga not for this Age
Those practices are not meant for
this age. In this Kaliyuga people are short-lived and their existence depends
on food alone. Where is the time now to make the body strong by practicing
hatha-yoga, and then to call on God through raja yoga? If one wants to practice
the techniques of hath-yoga, he should stay constantly with a perfect guru and
follow strict rules regarding food and other activities, according to the
guru’s instructions. Even the slightest deviation from those requirements
causes serious health problems, and sometimes the aspirant can die. So it is
not necessary to practice hatha-yoga. Moreover it is for the sake of
controlling the mind that one controls the breath by practicing pranayama
and kumbhaka. One can have automatic control over the mind and breath
through meditation on God and devotion. In this Kaliyuga human beings are
short-lived and weak, so out of compassion God made their path for
Self-realization easy. A person feels anguish and emptiness at the death of a
spouse or child; if one has that kind of longing for God for twenty-four hours
continuously, God will definitely reveal Himself.
- Sri Ramakrishna, Sri
Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P 229-30
‘I want to Eat Sugar’
'I don't want to become sugar; I
want to eat it.' I never feel like saying, 'I am Brahman.' I say, 'Thou art my
Lord and I am Thy servant.' It is better to make the mind go up and down
between the fifth and sixth planes, like a boat racing between two points. I
don't want to go beyond the sixth plane and keep my mind a long time in the
seventh. My desire is to sing the name and glories of God. It is very good to
look on God as the Master and oneself as His servant. Further, you see, people
speak of the waves as belonging to the Ganges; but no one says that the
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 172 (14 December 1882)
Prema-bhakti
But it isn't any and every kind of
bhakti that enables one to realize God. One cannot realize God without
prema-bhakti. Another name for prema-bhakti is raga-bhakti. God cannot be
realized without love and longing. Unless one has learnt to love God, one
cannot realize Him.
There is another kind of bhakti,
known as vaidhi-bhakti, according to which one must repeat the name of God a
fixed number of times, fast, make pilgrimages, worship God with prescribed offerings, make so many sacrifices,
and so forth and so on. By continuing such practices a long time one gradually
acquires raga-bhakti. God cannot be realized until one has raga-bhakti. One
must love God. In order to realize God one must be completely free from
worldliness and direct all of one's mind to Him.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 172 (14 December 1882)
Ripe Bhakti
VIJAY: "Is bhakti alone
sufficient for the attainment of God, for His vision?"
MASTER: "Yes, one can see God
through bhakti alone. But it must be 'ripe' bhakti, prema-bhakti and
raga-bhakti. When one has that bhakti, one loves God even as the mother loves
the child, the child the mother, or the wife the husband.
"When one has such love and
attachment for God, one doesn't feel the attraction of maya to wife, children,
relatives, and friends. One retains only compassion for them. To such a man the
world appears a strange land, a place where he has merely to perform his
duties.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 173 (14 December 1882)
Purity of Heart
VIJAY: "How can one see
God?"
MASTER: "One cannot see God
without purity of heart. Through attachment to 'woman and gold' the mind has
become stained-covered with dirt, as it were. A magnet cannot attract a needle
if the needle is covered with mud. Wash away the mud and the magnet will draw
it. Likewise, the dirt of the mind can be washed away with the tears of our
eyes. This stain is removed if one sheds tears of repentance and says, 'O God,
I shall never again do such a thing.' Thereupon God, who is like the magnet,
draws to Himself the mind, which is like the needle. Then the devotee goes into
samādhi and obtains the vision of God.
-
Gospel of Sri
Ramakrishna, P 173-74 (14 December 1882)
The "ego of a devotee"
VIJAY (to the Master): "Sir,
you ask us to renounce the 'wicked I'.
Is there any harm in the 'servant I'?"
MASTER: "The 'servant I'-that
is, the feeling, 'I am the servant of God, I am the devotee of God'-does not
injure one. On the contrary, it helps
one to realize God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 171 (14 December 1882)
Bhaktiyoga
Even after attaining samādhi, some
retain the 'servant ego' or the 'devotee ego'. The Bhakta keeps this
'I-consciousness'. He says, 'O God, Thou art the Master and I am Thy servant;
Thou art the Lord and I am Thy devotee.' He feels that way even after the
realization of God. His 'I' is not completely effaced. Again, by constantly practising this kind of
'I-consciousness', one ultimately attains God. This is called bhaktiyoga.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 171 (14 December 1882)
Jnanayoga
"One can attain the Knowledge
of Brahman, too, by following the path of bhakti. God is all-powerful. He may
give His devotee Brahmajnāna also, if He so wills. But the devotee generally doesn't
seek the Knowledge of the Absolute. He would rather have the consciousness that
God is the Master and he the servant, or that God is the Divine Mother and he
the child."
VIJAY: "But those who
discriminate according to the Vedanta philosophy also realize Him in the end,
don't they?"
MASTER: "Yes, one may reach Him
by following the path of discrimination too: that is called Jnanayoga. But it
is an extremely difficult path.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 171 (14 December 1882)
Damp Match-Sticks
One cannot see God if one has even
the slightest trace of worldliness. Match-sticks, if damp, won't strike fire
though you rub a thousand of them against the match-box. You only waste a heap
of sticks. The mind soaked in worldliness is such a damp match-stick.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 173 (14 December 1882)
God's Grace is the Ultimate Help
You may try thousands of times, but
nothing can be achieved without God's grace. One cannot see God without His
grace. Is it an easy thing to receive the grace of God? One must altogether
renounce egotism; one cannot see God as long as one feels, 'I am the doer.'
Suppose, in a family, a man has taken charge of the store-room; then if someone
asks the master, 'Sir, will you yourself kindly give me something from the
store-room?', the master says to him: 'There is already someone in the
store-room. What can I do there?'
God doesn't easily appear in the
heart of a man who feels himself to be his own master. But God can be seen the
moment His grace descends.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 174 (14 December 1882)
Path of Knowledge is Very Difficult
The path of knowledge is very
difficult. One cannot obtain Knowledge unless one gets rid of the feeling that
one is the body. In the Kaliyuga the life of man is centred on food. He cannot
get rid of the feeling that he is the body and the ego. Therefore the path of
devotion is prescribed for this cycle.
This is an easy path. You will
attain God if you sing His name and glories and pray to Him with a longing
heart. There is not the least doubt about it.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 170-71 (14 December 1882)
One Ray of God
He [God] is the Sun of Knowledge. One
single ray of His has illumined the world with the light of knowledge. That is
how we are able to see one another and acquire varied knowledge. One can see
God only if He turns His light toward His own face.
The police sergeant goes his rounds
in the dark of night with a lantern6 in his hand. No one sees his face; but
with the help of that light the sergeant sees everybody's face, and others,
too, can see one another. If you want to see the sergeant, however, you must
pray to him: 'Sir, please turn the light on your own face. Let me see you.' In
the same way one must
pray to God:
'O Lord, be
gracious and turn
the light of
knowledge on Thyself, that I may see
Thy face.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 174 (14 December 1882)
Jnani becomes Silent
Reasoning and discrimination vanish
after the attainment of God and communion with Him in samādhi. How long does a
man reason and discriminate? As long as he is conscious of the manifold, as
long as he is aware of the universe, of embodied beings, of 'I' and 'you'. He
becomes silent when he is truly aware of Unity. This was the case with Trailanga
Swami.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 177 (1 January 1883)
All Exists because of God
The universe and its created beings,
and the twenty-four cosmic principles, all exist because God exists. Nothing
remains if God is eliminated. The number increases if you put many zeros after
the figure one; but the zeros don't have any value if the one is not there.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 178 (1 January 1883)
Two ways of God-realization
A MARWARI DEVOTEE: "Sir, what
is the way?"
MASTER: "There are two ways. One
is the path of discrimination, the other is that of love. Discrimination means
to know the distinction between the Real and the unreal. God alone is the real
and permanent Substance; all else is illusory and impermanent. The magician
alone is real; his magic is illusory. This is discrimination.
"Discrimination and
renunciation. Discrimination means to know the distinction between the Real and
the unreal. Renunciation means to have dispassion for the things of the world. One
cannot acquire them all of a sudden. They must be practised every day. … …
…
MARWARI DEVOTEE:
"Revered sir, you
just mentioned two
paths. What is
the other
path?"
MASTER: "The path of bhakti, or
zealous love of God. Weep for God in solitude, with a restless soul, and ask
Him to reveal Himself to you.
Cry to your
Mother Syama with a real cry, O mind!
And how can She
hold Herself from you? "
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 179-80 (1 January 1883)
Brahmajnāna
Many people talk of Brahmajnāna, but
their minds are always preoccupied with lower things: house, buildings, money,
name, and sense pleasures. As long as you stand at the foot of the Monument
[Ochterloney Monument of Calcutta], so long do you see horses, carriages,
Englishmen, and Englishwomen. But when you climb to its top, you behold the sky
and the ocean stretching to infinity. Then you do not enjoy buildings,
carriages, horses, or men. They look
like ants.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 177 (1 January 1883)
Hathayoga and Rajayoga
(Pointing to the singer) "A
little while ago he sang a song describing the six centres. These are dealt
with in Yoga. There are two kinds of yoga: hathayoga and rajayoga. The hathayogi
practises physical exercises. His goal is to acquire supernatural powers:
longevity and the eight psychic powers. These are his aims. But the aim of
rajayoga is the attainment of devotion, ecstatic love, knowledge, and
renunciation. Of these two, rajayoga is the better.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 244 (10 June 1883)
Peace in the End
All such things as attachment to the
world and enthusiasm for 'woman and gold' disappear after the attainment of the
Knowledge of Brahman. Then comes the cessation of all passions. When the log burns, it makes a crackling
noise and one sees the flame. But when the burning is over and only ash
remains, then no more noise is heard. Thirst disappears with the destruction of
attachment. Finally comes peace.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 177-78 (1 January 1883)
God's Name destroys Sin
NEIGHBOUR: "Sir, we are
sinners. What will happen to us?"
MASTER: "All the sins of the
body flyaway if one chants the name of God and sings His glories. The birds of
sin dwell in the tree of the body. Singing the name of God is like clapping
your hands. As, at a clap of the hands, the birds in the tree flyaway, so do
our sins disappear at the chanting of God's name and glories.
"Again, you find that the water
of a reservoir dug in a meadow is evaporated by the heat of the sun. Likewise,
the water of the reservoir of sin is dried up by the singing of the name and
glories of God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 181-82 (18 February 1883)
Paths of Knowledge and Devotion
A NEIGHBOUR: "Revered sir, what
are the doctrines of Vedanta?"
MASTER: "The Vedantist says, 'I
am He.' Brahman is real and the world illusory. Even the 'I' is illusory. Only
the Supreme Brahman exists.
"But the 'I' cannot be got rid of.
Therefore it is good to have the feeling, 'I am the servant of God, His son,
His devotee.'
"For the Kāli Yuga the path of
bhakti is especially good. One can realize God through bhakti too. As long as
one is conscious of the body, one is also conscious of objects. Form, taste,
smell, sound, and touch-these are the objects. It is extremely difficult to get
rid of the consciousness of objects. And one cannot realize 'I am He' as long
as one is aware of objects.
"The sannyasi is very little
conscious of worldly objects. But the householder is always engrossed in them. Therefore
it is good for him to feel, 'I am the servant of God.'"
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 181 (18 February 1883)
Pure Mind, Buddhi, Atman
God is realized as soon as the mind
becomes free from attachment. Whatever appears in the Pure Mind is the voice of
God. That which is Pure Mind is also Pure Buddhi; that, again, is Pure Ātman,
because there is nothing pure but God. But in order to realize God one must go
beyond dharma and adharma.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 178 (1 January 1883)
Faith
"You were absolutely right when
you said that through faith alone one achieves all."
ISHAN: "But we are
householders."
MASTER: "What if you are?
Through His grace even the impossible becomes possible. Ramprasad sang, 'This
world is a mere framework of illusion.' Another man composed a song by way of
reply:
This very world
is a mansion of mirth;
Here I can eat,
here drink and make merry.
Janaka's might
was unsurpassed;
What did he
lack of the world or the Spirit?
Holding to one
as well as the other,
He drank his
milk from a brimming cup!
"One should first realize God
through spiritual discipline in solitude, and then live in the world. Only then
can one be a King Janaka. What can you achieve otherwise?
"Further, take the case of Śiva.
He has everything - Kartika, Ganesa, Lakshmi, and Sarasvati. Still, sometimes
He dances in a state of divine fervour, chanting the name of Rāma, and
sometimes He is absorbed in samādhi."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 293 (22 September 1883)
Weapons and Nail-knife
What is there in mere scholarship?
God can be attained by crying to Him with a longing heart. There is no need to know many things. He who
is an Āchārya has to know different things.
One needs a sword and shield to kill others; but to kill oneself, a
needle or a nail-knife suffices.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 180 (1 January 1883)
Glories of the Divine Mother
The Master sang:
Out of my deep
affliction rescue me, O Redeemer!
Terrified by
the threats of the King of Death am I!
Left to myself,
I shall perish soon;
Save me, oh,
save me now, I pray!
Mother of all
the worlds! Thou, the Support of mankind!
Thou, the
Bewitcher of all, the Mother of all that has life!
Vrindāvan's
charming Radha art Thou,
Dearest
playmate of Braja's Beloved.
Blissful
comrade of Krishna, well-spring of
Child of
Himālaya, best of the gopis, beloved of Govinda!
Sacred
Śakti! The
universe sings Thy praise.
Thou art the
Spouse of Śiva, the Ever-blessed, the All;
Sometimes Thou
takest form and sometimes art absolute.
Eternal Beloved
of Mahādeva,
Who can fathom
Thine infinite glories?
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 301 (10 October 1883)
Constant practice urged
Through the discipline of constant
practice one is able to give up attachment to 'woman and gold'. That is what
the Gita says. By practice one acquires uncommon power of mind. Then one
doesn't find it difficult to subdue the sense-organs and to bring anger, lust,
and the like under control. Such a man behaves like a tortoise, which, once it
has tucked in its limbs, never puts them out.
You cannot make the tortoise put its limbs out again, though you chop it
to pieces with an axe.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 179 (1 January 1883)
Awake Mother
Sri Ramakrishna began his midday
meal with the devotees. It was about one o'clock. A devotee sang in the
courtyard below:
Awake, Mother!
Awake! How long Thou hast been asleep
In the lotus of
the Muladhara!
Fulfil Thy
secret function, Mother:
Rise to the
thousand-petalled lotus within the head,
Where mighty
Śiva has His dwelling;
Swiftly pierce
the six lotuses
And take away
my grief, O Essence of Consciousness!
Hearing the song, Sri Ramakrishna
went into samādhi; his whole body became still, and his hand remained touching
the plate of food. He could eat no more. After a long time his mind came down
partially to the plane of the sense world, and he said, "I want to go
downstairs." A devotee led him down very carefully. Still in an abstracted
mood, he sat near the singer. The song had ended. The Master said to him very
humbly, "Sir, I want to hear the chanting of the Mother's name
again."
The musician sang:
Awake, Mother!
Awake! How long Thou hast been asleep
In the lotus of
the Muladhara! . . .
The Master again went into ecstasy.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 182 (18 February 1883, At
a Devotee’s house)
Neti, Neti
One ultimately discovers God by trying
to know who this 'I' is. Is this 'I' the flesh, the bones, the blood, or the marrow?
Is it the mind or the buddhi? Analysing thus, you realize at last that you are
none of these. This is called the process of 'Neti, neti', 'Not this, not
this'. One can neither comprehend nor touch the Ātman. It is without qualities
or attributes.
But, according to the path of devotion,
God has attributes. To a devotee
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 180 (1 January 1883)
Performance of Duty
DEVOTEE: "Sir, why has God put
us in the world?"
MASTER: "The world is the field
of action. Through action one acquires knowledge. The guru instructs the
disciple to perform certain works and refrain from others. Again, he advises
the pupil to perform action without desiring the result. The impurity of the
mind is destroyed through the performance of duty. It is like getting rid of a
disease by means of medicine, under the instruction of a competent physician.
Why doesn't God free us from the
world? Ah, He will free us when the disease is cured. He will liberate us from
the world when we are through with the enjoyment of 'woman and gold'. Once
a man registers
his name in
the hospital, he
cannot run away. The doctor will not let him go away
unless his illness is completely cured.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 185 (9 March 1883)
Personal God and Incarnation
MARWARI DEVOTEE: "Sir, what is
the meaning of the worship of the Personal God? And what is the meaning of God
without form or attribute?"
MASTER: "As you recall your
father by his photograph, so likewise the worship of the image reveals in a
flash the nature of Reality.
"Do you know what God with form
is like? Like bubbles rising on an expanse of water, various divine forms are
seen to rise out of the Great Ākāśa of Consciousness. The Incarnation of God is
one of these forms. The Primal Energy sports, as it were, through the
activities of a Divine Incarnation.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 180 (1 January 1883)
Parable of the Tigress
Some think: 'Oh, I am a bound soul. I
shall never acquire knowledge and devotion.' But if one receives the guru's grace,
one has nothing to fear. Once a tigress attacked a flock of goats. As she
sprang on her prey, she gave birth to a cub and died. The cub grew up in the
company of the goats. The goats ate grass and the cub followed their example. They
bleated; the cub bleated too. Gradually it grew to be a big tiger. One day
another tiger attacked the same flock.
It was amazed to see the grass-eating tiger. Running after it, the wild
tiger at last seized it, whereupon the grass-eating tiger began to bleat. The
wild tiger dragged it to the water and said: 'Look at your face in the water. It
is just like mine. Here is a little meat. Eat it.' Saying this, it thrust some
meat into its mouth. But the
grass-eating tiger would not swallow it and began to bleat again. Gradually,
however, it got the taste for blood and came to relish the meat. Then the wild
tiger said: 'Now you see there is no difference between you and me. Come along
and follow me into the forest.'
So there can be no fear if the
guru's grace descends on one. He will let you know who you are and what your
real nature is.
If the devotee practises spiritual
discipline a little, the guru explains everything to him. Then the disciple
understands for himself what is real and what is unreal. God alone is real, and
the world is illusory.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 232-33 (4 June 1883)
Incarnation of God
DEVOTEE: "Can one see
God?"
MASTER: "Yes, surely. One can
see both aspects of God - God with form and without form. One can see God with
form, the Embodiment of Spirit. Again, God can be directly perceived in a man
with a tangible form. Seeing an Incarnation of God is the same as seeing God
Himself. God is born on earth as man in
every age."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 186 (9 March 1883)
Life of Worldliness
God alone exists, and all else is
unreal. The Divine Mother has kept all deluded by Her maya. Look at men. Most
of them are entangled in worldliness. They suffer so much, but still they have
the same attachment to 'woman and gold'. The camel eats thorny shrubs, and
blood gushes from its mouth; still it will eat thorns. While suffering pain at
the time of delivery, a woman says, 'Ah! I shall never go to my husband again.'
But afterwards she forgets.
The truth is that no one seeks
God. There are people who eat the
prickly leaves of the pineapple and not the fruit.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 184-85 (9 March 1883)
Parable of the Elephant and the
Blind Men
One can rightly speak of God only
after one has seen Him. He who has seen God knows really and truly that God has
form and that He is formless as well. He has many other aspects that cannot be
described.
Once some blind men chanced to come
near an animal that someone told them was an elephant. They were asked what the
elephant was like. The blind men began to feel its body. One of them said the
elephant was like a pillar; he had touched only its leg. Another said it was
like a winnowing-fan; he had touched only its ear. In this way the others,
having touched its tail or belly, gave their different versions of the elephant.
Just so, a man who has seen only one aspect of God limits God to that alone. It
is his conviction that God cannot be anything else.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 191 (11 March 1883)
Dogmatism Condemned
With sincerity and earnestness one
can realize God through all religions. The Vaishnavas will realize God, and so
will the Saktas, the Vedantists, and the Brahmos. The Mussalmans and Christians
will realize Him too. All will certainly realize God if they are earnest and
sincere.
Some people indulge in quarrels, saying,
'One cannot attain anything unless one worships our
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 191 (11 March 1883)
Jivatma and Paramatma
Everyone can attain Knowledge. There
are two entities: Jivatma, the individual soul, and Paramatma, the Supreme Soul.
Through prayer all individual souls can be united to the Supreme Soul. Every
house has a connection for gas, and gas can be obtained from the main
storage-tank of the Gas Company. Apply to the Company, and it will arrange for
your supply of gas. Then your house will be lighted.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 205 (8 April 1883)
Parable of Homa Bird
There is the parable of the Homa
bird in the Vedas. The bird lives high up in the sky and never descends to
earth. It lays its egg in the sky, and the egg begins to fall. But the bird
lives in such a high region that the egg hatches while falling. The fledgling
comes out and continues to fall. But it
is still so high that while falling it grows wings and its eyes open. Then the
young bird perceives that it is dashing down toward the earth and will be
instantly killed. The moment it sees the ground, it turns and shoots up toward
its mother in the sky. Then its one goal
is to reach its mother.
Youngsters like Rakhal are like that
bird. From their very childhood they are afraid of the world, and their one
thought is how to reach the Mother, how to realize God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 192 (11 March 1883)
Mother’s Machine
The kirtan went on:
O Mother, what
a machine [the human body] is this that
Thou hast made!
What pranks
Thou playest with this toy
Three and a
half cubits high!
Hiding Thyself
within, Thou holdest the guiding string;
But the
machine, not knowing it,
Still believes
it moves by itself.
Whoever finds
the Mother remains a machine no more;
Yet some
machines have even bound
The Mother Herself with the string of Love.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 193 (11 March 1883)
Remembering God
A holy man who has renounced the
world will of course chant the name of God. That is only natural. He has no
other duties to perform. If he meditates on God it shouldn't surprise anybody. On
the other hand, if he fails to think of God or chant His holy name, then people
will think ill of him.
But it is a great deal to his credit
if a householder utters the name of the Lord. Think of King Janaka. What courage he had, indeed! He
fenced with two swords, the one of Knowledge and the other of work. He
possessed the perfect Knowledge of Brahman and also was devoted to the duties
of the world. An unchaste woman attends to the minutest duties of the world,
but her mind always dwells on her paramour.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 193 (11 March 1883)
Renunciation, False and True
There are three or four varieties of
renunciation. Afflicted with miseries at home, one may put on the ochre cloth
of a monk; but that renunciation doesn't last long. Again, a man out of work
puts on an ochre wearing-cloth and goes off to
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 195 (29 March 1883)
Scriptures
One should hear the scriptures
during the early stages of spiritual discipline. After attaining God there is
no lack of knowledge. Then the Divine Mother supplies it without fail.
A child spells out every word as he
writes, but later on he writes fluently.
The goldsmith is up and doing while
melting gold. As long as the gold hasn't
melted, he works the bellows with one hand, moves the fan with the other, and
blows through a pipe with his mouth. But
the moment the gold melts and is poured into the mould, he is relieved of all
anxiety.
Mere reading of the scriptures is
not enough. A person cannot understand the true significance of the scriptures
if he is attached to the world.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 200 (7 April 1883)
Indications of God-Realization
There are certain signs of
God-realization. The man in whom longing for God manifests its glories is not
far from attaining Him. What are the glories of that longing? They are
discrimination, dispassion, compassion for living beings, serving holy men, loving
their company, chanting the name and glories of God, telling the truth, and the
like. When you see those signs of longing in an aspirant, you can rightly say
that for him the vision of God is not far to seek.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 203 (8 April 1883)
Efficacy of Japa and Prayer
A DEVOTEE: "Sir, should one
first practise discrimination to attain self-control?"
MASTER: "That is also a path. It
is called the path of vichara, reasoning. But the inner organs [mind,
intellect, chitta, ego] are brought under control naturally through the
path of devotion as well. It is rather easily accomplished that way. Sense
pleasures appear more and more tasteless as love for God grows. Can carnal
pleasure attract a grief-stricken man and woman the day their child has
died?"
DEVOTEE: "How can I develop
love for God?"
MASTER: "Repeat His name, and
sins will disappear. Thus you will destroy lust, anger, the desire for creature
comforts, and so on."
DEVOTEE: "How can I take
delight in God's name?"
MASTER: "Pray to God with a
yearning heart that you may take delight in His name. He will certainly fulfil
your heart's desire."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 203 (8 April 1883)
Parable of the Two Friends
'As is a man's feeling of love, so
is his gain.' Once two friends were going along the street, when they saw some
people listening to a reading of the Bhagavata. 'Come, friend', said the one to
the other. 'Let us hear the sacred book.' So saying he went in and sat
down. The second man peeped in and went
away. He entered a house of ill fame. But very soon he felt disgusted with the place.
'Shame on me!' he said to himself. 'My friend has been listening to the sacred
word of Hari; and see where I am!' But the friend who had been listening to the
Bhagavata also became disgusted. 'What a fool I am!' he said. 'I have been
listening to this fellow's blah-blah, and my friend is having a grand time.' In
course of time they both died. The messenger of Death came for the soul of the
one who had listened to the Bhagavata and dragged it off to hell. The messenger of
God came for
the soul of
the one who
had been to
the house of
prostitution and led it up to
heaven.
Verily, the Lord looks into a man's
heart and does not judge him by what he does or where he lives. '
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 204 (8 April 1883)
'I' and 'mine'
'I' and 'mine'-that is ignorance. By
discriminating you will realize that what you call 'I' is really nothing but
Ātman. Reason it out. Are you the body or the flesh or something else? At the
end you will know that you are none of these. You are free from attributes. Then
you will realize that you have never been the doer of any action, that you have
been free from virtue and faults alike, that you are beyond righteousness and
unrighteousness.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 208 (8 April 1883)
Zeal for the Lord destroys Sin
As the tiger devours other animals,
so does the 'tiger of zeal for the Lord'
eat up lust,
anger, and the other passions. Once this zeal grows in the heart, lust
and the other passions disappear. The gopis of Vrindāvan had that state of mind
because of their zeal for
Again, this zeal for God is compared
to collyrium. Radha said to her friends, 'I see
They say that when your eyes are
painted with collyrium made from the ashes of a frog's head you see snakes
everywhere.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 206 (8 April 1883)
Mahamaya of God
This universe is created the
Mahamaya of God. Mahamaya contains both Vidyā-māyā, the illusion of knowledge,
and Avidyā-māyā, the illusion of ignorance. Through the help of Vidyā-māyā one
cultivates such virtues as the taste for holy company, knowledge, devotion,
love, and renunciation. Avidyā-māyā consists of the five elements and the
objects of the five senses- form, flavour, smell, touch, and sound. These make
one forget God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 216 (22 April 1883)
Traits of Bound Souls
They are indeed bound souls who
constantly dwell with 'woman and gold' and do not think of God even for a
moment. How can you expect noble deeds of them? They are like mangoes pecked by
a crow, which may not be offered to the Deity in the temple, and which even men
hesitate to eat.
Bound souls, worldly people, are
like silk-worms. The worms can cut through their cocoons if they want, but
having woven the cocoons themselves, they are too much attached to them to
leave them. And so they die there.
Free souls are not under the control
of 'woman and gold'. There are some silk-worms that cut through the cocoon they
have made with such great care. But they are few and far between.
It is maya that deludes. Only a few
become spiritually awakened and are not deluded by the spell of maya. They do
not come under the control of 'woman and gold'.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 206 (8 April 1883)
Parable of the Three Robbers
Under the spell of God's maya man
forgets his true nature. He forgets that he is heir to the infinite glories of
his Father. This divine maya is made up of three gunas. And all three are
robbers; for they rob man of all his treasures and make him forget his true
nature. The three gunas are sattva, rajas, and tamas. Of these, sattva alone points the way to God.
But even sattva cannot take a man to God.
Let me tell you a story. Once a rich
man was passing through a forest, when three robbers surrounded him and robbed
him of all his wealth. After snatching all his possessions from him, one of the
robbers said: 'What's the good of keeping the man alive? Kill him.' Saying
this, he was about to strike their victim with his sword, when the second
robber interrupted and said: 'There's no use in killing him. Let us bind him
fast and leave him here. Then he won't be able to tell the police.' Accordingly
the robbers tied him with a rope, left him, and went away.
After a while the third robber
returned to the rich man and said: 'Ah! You're badly hurt, aren't you? Come,
I'm going to release you.' The third robber set the man free and led him out of
the forest. When .they came near the
highway, the robber said, 'Follow this road and you will reach home easily.'
'But you must come with me too', said the man. 'You have done so much for me. We
shall all be happy to see you at our home.' 'No,' said the robber, 'it is not
possible for me to go there. The police will arrest me.' So saying, he left the
rich man after pointing out his way.
Now, the first robber, who said:
'What's the good of keeping the man alive? Kill him', is tamas. It destroys. The
second robber is rajas, which binds a man to the world and entangles him in a
variety of activities. Rajas makes him forget God. Sattva alone shows the way
to God. It produces virtues like compassion, righteousness, and devotion. Again,
sattva is like the last step of the stairs. Next to it is the roof. The Supreme
Brahman is man's own abode. One cannot attain the Knowledge of Brahman unless
one transcends the three gunas.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 218-19 (22 April 1883)
Natural Tendency of Sri
Ramakrishna’s Mind
The Master told us repeatedly: “I
force myself to hold on to one or two trivial desires in order to keep my mind
in this world for your sake. Otherwise, it’s natural tendency is to remain
united to and identified with the indivisible One.”
- Sri Ramakrishna, Sri
Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P 282
How to Spiritualize the Passions
BRAHMO: "We have passions like
anger and lust. What shall we do with these?"
MASTER: "Direct the six
passions to God. The impulse of lust should be turned into the desire to have
intercourse with Ātman. Feel angry at those who stand in your way to God. Feel greedy
for Him. If you must have the feeling of I and Mine, then associate it with God.
Say, for instance, 'My Rama, my
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 220 (2 May 1883)
Why there is Evil in the World
BRAHMO: "If the power of avidyā
is the cause of ignorance, then why has God created it?"
MASTER: "That is His play. The
glory of light cannot be appreciated without darkness. Happiness cannot be
understood without misery. Knowledge of good is possible because of knowledge
of evil.
Further, the mango grows and ripens
on account of the covering skin. You throwaway the skin when the mango is fully
ripe and ready to be eaten. It is possible for a man to attain gradually to the
Knowledge of Brahman because of the covering skin of maya. Maya in its aspects
of vidyā and avidyā may be likened to the skin of the mango. Both are
necessary."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 216 (22 April 1883)
Responsibility for Sins
BRAHMO: "If it is God that
makes me do everything, then I am not responsible for my sins."
MASTER (with a smile): "Yes,
Duryodhana also said that. 'O Krishna, I do what Thou, seated in my heart,
makest me do.' If a man has the firm conviction that God alone is the Doer and
he is His instrument, then he cannot do anything sinful. He who has learnt to
dance correctly never makes a false step. One cannot even believe in the
existence of God until one's heart becomes pure."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 220 (2 May 1883)
Blissful Kali
… overpowered with divine ecstasy,
the Master sang:
O Kāli, my
Mother full of Bliss! Enchantress of the almighty Śiva!
In Thy
delirious joy Thou dancest, clapping Thy hands together!
Eternal One!
Thou great First Cause, clothed in the form of the Void
Thou wearest
the moon upon Thy brow,
Where didst
Thou find Thy garland of heads before the universe was made?
Thou art the
Mover of all that move, and we are but Thy helpless toys;
We move alone
as Thou movest us and speak as through us Thou speakest.
But worthless
Kamalakanta says, fondly berating Thee:
Confoundress!
With Thy flashing sword
Thoughtlessly
Thou hast put to death my virtue and my sin alike!
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 223 (27 May 1883)
Love of God
You see, sin flies away when love of
God grows in a man's heart, even as the water of the reservoir dug in a meadow
dries up under the heat of the sun. But one cannot love God if one feels
attracted to worldly things, to 'woman and gold'. Merely taking the vow of monastic life will
not help a man if he is attached to the world.
It is like swallowing your own spittle after spitting it out on the
ground.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 224 (2 June 1883)
Spiritual Inspiration comes from God
Both worldliness and liberation
depend on God's will. It is God alone who has kept man in the world in a state
of ignorance; and man will be free when God, of His own sweet will, calls him
to Himself. It is like the mother calling the child at meal-time, when he is
out playing. When the time comes for setting a man free, God makes him seek the
company of holy men. Further, it is God
who makes him restless for spiritual life.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 225 (2 June 1883)
Parable of the False Ascetic
One night a fisherman went into a
garden and cast his net into the lake in order to steal some fish. The owner
heard him and surrounded him with his servants. They brought lighted torches
and began to search for him. In the mean time the fisherman smeared his body
with ashes and sat under a tree, pretending to be a holy man. The owner and his
men searched a great deal but could not find the thief. All they saw was a holy
man covered with ashes, meditating under a tree. The next day the news spread
in the neighbourhood that a great sage was staying in the garden. People
gathered there and saluted him with offerings of fruit, flowers, and sweets.
Many also offered silver and copper coins. 'How strange!' thought the fisherman.
'I am not a genuine holy man, and still people show such devotion to me. I
shall certainly realize God if I become a true sadhu. There is no doubt about
it.'
If a mere pretence of religious life
can bring such spiritual awakening, you can imagine the effect of real sadhana.
In that state you will surely realize what is real and what is unreal. God
alone is real, and the world is illusory.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 233 (4 June 1883)
Heart
MANILAL: "Sir, where shall I
meditate on God when I perform my daily worship?"
MASTER: "Why, the heart is a
splendid place. Meditate on God there."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 233 (4 June 1883)
‘Condensed Milk'
The fact is, all men may look alike
from the outside, but some of them have fillings of 'condensed milk'. Cakes may
have fillings of condensed milk or powdered black grams, but they all look
alike from the outside. The desire to know God, ecstatic love of Him, and such
other spiritual qualities are the 'condensed milk'.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 232 (4 June 1883)
Parable of the Farmer
It was about five o'clock in the
afternoon. Sri Ramakrishna was sitting on the steps of his verandah. Hazra, Rākhāl,
and M. were near him. Hazra had the attitude of a Vedantist: "I am
He."
MASTER (to Hazra): "Yes, all
one's confusion comes to an end if one only realizes that it is God who
manifests Himself as the atheist and the believer, the good and the bad, the
real and the unreal; that it is He who is present in waking and in sleep; and
that He is beyond all these.
"There was a farmer to whom an
only son was born when he was rather advanced in age. As the child grew up, his
parents became very fond of him. One day the farmer was out working in the
fields, when a neighbour told him that his son was dangerously ill-indeed, at
the point of death. Returning home he found the boy dead. His wife wept
bitterly, but his own eyes remained dry. Sadly the wife said to her ncighbours,
'Such a son has passed
away, and he
hasn't even one
tear to shed!' After a long while the farmer said to
his wife: 'Do you know why I am not crying? Last night I dreamt I had become a
king, and the father of seven princes.
These princes were beautiful as well as virtuous. They grew in stature
and acquired wisdom and knowledge in the various arts. Suddenly I woke up. Now
I have been wondering whether I should weep for those seven children or this
one boy.' To the jnanis the waking state is no more real than the dream state.
"God alone is the Doer. Everything happens by His will."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 236 (5 June 1883)
Radha’s Mahabhava
Master also said: ‘Unless one is
free of lust, one cannot understand Radha, the embodiment of Mahabhava. When
the gopis saw Satchidananda Krishna, they would loose body-consciousness as
they experienced bliss a million times more intense than sexual union. Could
the thought of trivial sensual pleasure arise then in their minds? The divine
lustre of
- Sri Ramakrishna, Sri
Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P 289
'Framework of Illusion'
There are two schools of thought:
the Vedānta and the Purana. According to the Vedānta this world is a 'framework
of illusion', that is to say, it is all illusory, like a dream. But according
to the Purana, the books of devotion, God Himself has become the twenty-four
cosmic principles. Worship God both within and without.
As long as God keeps the awareness
of 'I' in us, so long do sense-objects exist; and we cannot very well speak of
the world as a dream. There is fire in the hearth; therefore the rice and pulse
and potatoes and the other vegetables jump about in the pot. They jump about as
if to say: 'We are here! We are jumping!' This body is the pot. The mind and
intelligence are the water. The objects of the senses are the rice, potatoes, and
other vegetables. The 'I-consciousness' identified with the senses says, 'I am
jumping about.' And Satchidananda is the fire.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 243 (10 June 1883)
Chaitanya’s States
Sri Ramakrishna said: ‘As the
elephant’s external teeth [tusk] are for attacking enemies and it’s internal
ones are for chewing food to get physical nourishment, so Chaitanya had two
kinds of moods: one external and the other internal. Externally, he did good
for human beings with the help of madhura bhava; and internally he had reached
the culmination of his love for God and was established in nondual Brahman,
enjoying infinite bliss.’
- Sri Ramakrishna, Sri
Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P 290
Faith
The devotees from Manirampur asked
the Master how to realize God.
MASTER: "You must practise spiritual
discipline a little. It will not do simply to say that milk contains butter. You
must let the milk set into curd and then churn it. Only then can you get butter
from it. Spiritual aspirants must go into solitude now and then. After
acquiring love of God in solitude, they may live in the world. If one is
wearing a pair of shoes, one can easily walk over thorns.
The most important thing is faith.
As is a man's meditation, so is his feeling of love;
As is a man's feeling of love, so is his gain;
And
faith is the root of all.
If one has faith one has nothing to
fear."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 241 (10 June 1883)
'
… the Bhakti scriptures describe
this very world as a 'mansion of mirth'. Ramprasad sang in one of his songs, 'This
world is a framework of illusion.' Another devotee gave the reply, 'This very
world is a mansion of mirth.' As the saying goes, 'The devotee of Kali, free
while living, is full of Eternal Bliss.' The bhakta sees that He who is God has
also become maya. Again, He Himself has become the universe and all its living
beings. The bhakta sees God, maya, the universe, and the living beings as one. Some
devotees see everything as Rāma: it is Rāma alone who has become everything. Some
see everything as Radha and
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 243 (10 June 1883)
Seven Planes of the Vedas
There is much similarity between the
seven 'planes' described in the Vedānta and the six 'centres' of Yoga. The
first three planes of the Vedas may be compared to the first three Yogic
centres, namely, Muladhara, Svadhisthana, and Manipura. With ordinary people the
mind dwells in these three planes, at the organs of evacuation and generation
and at the navel. When the mind ascends
to the fourth plane, the centre designated in Yoga as Anahata, it sees the
individual soul as a flame. Besides, it sees light. At this the aspirant cries:
'Ah! What is this? Ah! What is this?'
When the mind rises to the fifth
plane, the aspirant wants to hear only about God. This is the Visuddha centre
of Yoga. The sixth plane and the centre known by the yogi as Ajna are one and
the same. When the mind rises there, the aspirant sees God. But still there is
a barrier between God and the devotee. It is like the barrier of glass in a
lantern, which keeps one from touching the light. King Janaka used to give
instruction about Brahmajnana from the fifth plane. Sometimes he dwelt on the
fifth plane, and sometimes on the sixth.
After passing the six centres the
aspirant arrives at the seventh plane. Reaching it, the mind merges in Brahman.
The individual soul and the Supreme Soul become one. The aspirant goes into
samadhi. His consciousness of the body disappears. He loses the knowledge of
the outer world. He does not see the manifold any more. His reasoning comes to
a stop.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 245 (10 June 1883)
Awakening of the Kundalini
Trailanga Swami once said that
because a man reasons he is conscious of multiplicity, of variety. Attaining samadhi,
one gives up the body in twenty-one days. Spiritual consciousness is not
possible without the awakening of the Kundalini.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 245 (10 June 1883)
Traits of a True Devotee
There are certain signs by which you
can know a true devotee of God. His mind becomes quiet as he listens to his
teacher's instruction, just as the poisonous snake is quieted by the music of
the charmer. I don't mean the cobra. There is another sign. A real devotee
develops the power of assimilating instruction. An image cannot be impressed on
bare glass, but only on glass stained with a black solution, as in photography.
The black solution is devotion to God. There is a third sign of a true devotee.
The true devotee has controlled his senses. He has subdued his lust. The gopis
were free from lust.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 244 (10 June 1883)
Mahabhava
The Master told us many times: ‘The
devotional scriptures say that when nineteen kinds of bhava [emotion or mood]
for God manifest together in one person, it is called mahabhava. An ordinary
man takes a whole lifetime to practise one bhava before he achieves perfection
in it. All nineteen spiritual emotions are fully manifested here (pointing
to his own body).’
- Sri Ramakrishna, Sri
Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P 301
As Many Faiths, So Many Paths
Established in the non-dual state,
the Master experienced another truth also. He discovered that the ultimate goal
of all spiritual disciplines is to become firmly established in non-duality.
After performing sadhana according to the main religious denominations
prevalent in
- Sri Ramakrishna, Sri
Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P 318
Water and Waves
'I am He', 'I am the Pure Self' - that
is the conclusion of the jnanis. But the bhaktas say, 'The whole universe is
the glory of God.' Who would recognize a wealthy man without his power and
riches? But it is quite different when God Himself, gratified by the aspirant's
devotion, says to him, 'You are the same as Myself.' Suppose a king is seated
in his court, and his cook enters the hall, sits on the throne, and says, 'O
King, you and I are the same!' People will certainly call him a madman. But suppose one day the king, pleased with
the cook's service, says to him: 'Come, sit beside me. There is nothing wrong
in that. There is no difference between you and me.' Then, if the cook sits on
the throne with the king, there is no harm in it. It is not good for ordinary people to say, 'I
am He'. The waves belong to the water. Does the water belong to the waves?
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 248 (15 June 1883)
Mudfish
Q: "Sir, can one realize God
while leading the life of a householder?"
MASTER (with a smile): "Why
not? Live in the world like a mudfish. The mudfish lives in the mud but itself
remains unstained. Or live in the world like a loose woman. She attends to her
household duties, but her mind is always on her sweetheart. Do your duties in
the world, fixing your mind on God. But this is extremely difficult.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 246 (15 June 1883)
Hindus and Muslims
This [i.e. Sri Ramakrishna’s Islam
sadhana and realization] indicates that only through the Vedantic knowledge of
oneness can the Hindus and Muslims of India become sympathetic towards one
another and feel as though they are one family. As the Master used to say:
‘There exists, as it were, a mountain of a barrier between Hindus and Muslims.
Their modes of thinking, religious faith, actions, and behaviour have remained
incomprehensible to each other despite their living together for such a long
period.’ Does the Master’s Islamic sadhana indicate that one day that
mountain-high barrier will disappear and Hindus and Muslims will embrace each
other in love?
- Sri Ramakrishna, Sri
Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P 320
Name of God
Anyone who dies in
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 251 (17 June 1883)
Love of God
Love of God is the one essential
thing. A true lover of God has nothing to fear, nothing to worry about. He is
aware that the Divine Mother knows everything. The cat handles the mouse one way,
but its own kitten a very different way.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 252 (17 June 1883)
Result of Yoga through Bhakti
The upshot of the whole thing is that,
no matter what path you follow, yoga is impossible unless the mind becomes
quiet. The mind of a yogi is under his control; he is not under the control of
his mind. When the mind is quiet the prana stops functioning. Then one gets
kumbhaka. One may have the same kumbhaka through bhaktiyoga as well; the prana
stops functioning through love of God too. In the kirtan the musician sings,
'Nitai amar mata hati!' Repeating this, he goes into a spiritual mood and
cannot sing the whole sentence. He simply sings, 'Hati! Hati' When the mood
deepens he sings only, 'Ha! Ha!' Thus his prana stops through ecstasy, and
kumbhaka follows.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 248 (15 June 1883)
Essence of the Scriptures
Too much study of the scriptures
does more harm than good. The important thing is to know the essence of the
scriptures. After that, what is the need of books? One should learn the essence
and then dive deep in order to realize God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 255 (18 June 1883)
Everything is Possible for God
M: "I haven't much faith in
rebirth and inherited tendencies. Will that in any way injure my devotion to
God?"
MASTER: "It is enough to
believe that all is possible in God's creation. Never allow the thought to cross
your mind that your ideas are
the only true
ones, and that those
of others are false. Then God will explain everything.
"What can a man understand of God's
activities? The facets of God's creation are infinite. I do not try to
understand God's actions at all. I have heard that everything is possible in
God's creation, and I always bear that in mind. Therefore I do not give a
thought to the world, but meditate on God alone. Once Hanuman was asked, 'What
day of the lunar month is it?' Hanuman said: 'I don't know anything about the
day of the month, the position of the moon and stars, or any such things. I
think of Rāma alone.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 260 (21 July 1883)
Who is a Devotee?
God dwells in all beings, undoubtedly.
That being the case, who may be called His devotee? He who dwells in God, he
who has merged his mind and life and innermost soul in God. – Sri Ramakrishna
Bitterly Contested Suit
He [Sri Ramakrishna] sang:
Mother,
am I Thine eight-months child? Thy red eyes
cannot frighten me!
My
riches are Thy Lotus Feet, which Śiva
holds
upon His breast;
Yet,
when I seek my heritage, I meet with
excuses
and delays.
A
deed of gift I hold in my heart, attested
by
Thy Husband Śiva;
I
shall sue Thee, if I must, and with
a
single point shall win.
If
Thou dost oppose me, Thou wilt learn what
sort
of mother's son I am.
This
bitterly contested suit between
the
Mother and Her son-
What
sport it is! says Ramprasad. I shall not
cease
tormenting Thee
Till
Thou Thyself, shalt yield the fight and
take
me in Thine arms at last.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 263 (21 July 1883)
Ideal of the Gitā
The Divine Mother has revealed to me
the essence of the Vedānta. It is that Brahman alone is real and the world
illusory. The essence of the Gitā is what you get by repeating the word ten times.
The word becomes reversed. It is then 'tagi', which refers to renunciation. The
essence of the Gitā is: 'O man, renounce everything and practise spiritual
discipline for the realization of God.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 255 (18 June 1883)
Black complexion of the Divine
Mother
GOVINDA: "Revered sir, why does
the Divine Mother have a black complexion?"
MASTER: "You see Her as black
because you are far away from Her. Go near and you will find Her devoid of all
colour. The water of a lake appears black from a distance. Go near and take the
water in your hand, and you will see that it has no colour at all. Similarly,
the sky looks blue from a distance. But look at the atmosphere near you; it has
no colour. The nearer you come to God, the more you will realize that He has neither
name nor form.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 271 (22 July 1883)
Nitya and Lila
A man should reach the Nitya, the
Absolute, by following the trail of the Lila, the Relative. It is like reaching
the roof by the stairs. After realizing the Absolute, he should climb down to
the Relative and live on that plane in the company of devotees, charging his
mind with the love of God. This is my final and most mature opinion.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 257 (25 June 1883)
Different States of Bhakti
Bhakti matured becomes bhava. Next
is mahabhava, then prema, and last of all is the attainment of God. Gaurānga
experienced the states of mahabhava and prema. When prema is awakened, a
devotee completely forgets the world; he also forgets his body, which is so
dear to a man. Gaurānga experienced prema. He jumped into the ocean, thinking
it to be the Jamuna. The ordinary jiva does not experience mahabhava or prema.
He goes only as far as bhava. But Gaurānga experienced all three states.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 255 (18 June 1883)
Realization Possible for All
MASTER: “Let me assure you that a
man can realize his Inner Self through sincere prayer. But to the extent that he has the desire to
enjoy worldly objects, his vision of the Self becomes obstructed."
M: "Yes, sir. You always ask us to plunge into God."
MASTER (joyously): "Yes! That's
it. Let me tell you that the realization of Self is possible for all, without
any exception.”
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 256 (25 June 1883)
Yogamaya
GOVINDA: "What is the meaning
of 'yogamaya'?"
MASTER: "It signifies the yoga,
or union, of Purusha and Prakriti. Whatever you perceive in the universe is the
outcome of this union. Take the image of Śiva and Kāli. Kāli stands on the
bosom of Śiva; Śiva lies under Her feet like a corpse; Kāli looks at Śiva. All
this denotes the union of Purusha and Prakriti. Purusha is inactive; therefore
Śiva lies on the ground like a corpse. Prakriti performs all Her activities in
conjunction with Purusha. Thus She creates, preserves, and destroys. That is
also the meaning of the conjoined images of Radha and
To denote this union, Sri Krishna
wears a pearl in His nose, Radha a blue stone in hers. Radha has a fair
complexion, bright as the pearl. Sri
Krishna's is blue. For this reason Radha wears the blue stone. Further,
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 271 (22 July 1883)
Saturated with God
Sometimes I find that the universe
is saturated with the Consciousness of God, as the earth is soaked with water
in the rainy season. – Sri Ramakrishna
Householders and Non-dualism
Self-Knowledge is discussed in the
Ashtāvakra Samhitā. The non-dualists say, 'Soham', that is, 'I am the Supreme
Self.' This is the view of the sannyasis of the Vedantic school. But this is
not the right attitude for householders, who are conscious of doing everything
themselves. That being so, how can they declare, 'I am That, the actionless
Supreme Self'? According to the non-dualists the Self is unattached. Good and
bad, virtue and vice, and the other pairs of opposites, cannot in any way
injure the Self, though they undoubtedly afflict those who have identified
themselves with their bodies. Smoke soils the wall, certainly, but it cannot in
any way affect Ākāśa, space. … …
But to feel that one is a free soul
is very good. By constantly repeating, 'I am free, I am free', a man verily
becomes free. On the other hand, by constantly repeating, 'I am bound, I am
bound', he certainly becomes bound to worldliness. The fool who says only, 'I
am a sinner, I am a sinner', verily drowns himself in worldliness. One should
rather say: I have chanted the name of God. How can I be a sinner? How can I be
bound?'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 274 (19 August 1883)
Nature of Brahman
Like the Ākāśa, Brahman is without
any modification. It has become manifold because of Śakti. Again, Brahman is
like fire, which itself has no colour. The fire appears white if you throw a
white substance into it, red if you throw a red, black if you throw a black.
The three gunas-sattva, rajas, and tamas - belong to Śakti alone. Brahman Itself
is beyond the three gunas. What Brahman is cannot be described. It is beyond words.
That which remains after everything is eliminated by the Vedantic process of
'Not this, not this', and which is of the nature of Bliss, is Brahman.
Suppose the husband of a young girl
has come to his father-in-law's house and is seated in the drawing-room with
other young men of his age. The girl and her friends are looking at them through
the window. Her friends do not know her husband and ask her, pointing to one
young man, 'Is that your husband?' 'No', she answers, smiling. They point to
another young man and ask if he is her husband. Again she answers no. They
repeat the question, referring to a third, and she gives the same answer. At
last they point to her husband and ask, 'Is he the one?' She says neither yes
nor no, but only smiles and keeps quiet. Her friends realize that he is her
husband.
One becomes silent on realizing the true
nature of Brahman.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 280 (20 August 1883)
Incarnation of God
God has different forms, and He
sports in different ways. He sports as Isvara, deva, man, and the universe. In
every age He descends to earth in human form, as an Incarnation, to teach
people love and devotion. There is the instance of Chaitanya. One can taste
devotion and love of God only through His Incarnations. Infinite are the ways of
God's play, but what I need is love and devotion. I want only the milk. The milk
comes through the udder of the cow. The Incarnation is the udder.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 257 (25 June 1883)
With Form and Formless
That which is Syama is also Brahman.
That which has form, again, is without form. That which has attributes, again, has no attributes.
Brahman is Śakti; Śakti is Brahman. They are not two. These are only two
aspects, male and female, of the same Reality, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss
Absolute.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 271 (22 July 1883)
Master Extols Narendra
Narendra, Bhavanath, Rākhāl, and
devotees like them belong to the group of the nityasiddhas; they are eternally
free. Religious practice on their part is superfluous. Look at Narendra. He
doesn't care about anyone. One day he was going with me in Captain's carriage. Captain
wanted him to take a good seat, but Narendra didn't even look at him. He is
independent even of me. He doesn't tell me all he knows, lest I should praise
his scholarship before others. He is free from ignorance and delusion. He has
no bonds. He is a great soul. He has many good qualities. He is expert in music,
both as a singer and player, and is also a versatile scholar. Again, he keeps
his passions under control and says that he will never marry.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 279 (19 August 1883)
Restlessness for God
The soul becomes restless for God
when one is through with the enjoyment of worldly things. Then a person has only one thought - how to
realize God. He listens to whatever anyone says to him about God. – Sri Ramakrishna
Mystery of Divine Incarnation
In order to bring people spiritual
knowledge, an Incarnation of God lives in the world in the company of devotees,
cherishing an attitude of love for God. It is like going up and coming down the
stairs after having once reached the roof. In order to reach the roof, other
people should follow the path of devotion, as long as they have not attained
Knowledge and become free of desire. The roof can be reached only when all
desires are done away with. The shopkeeper does not go to bed before finishing
his accounts. He goes to sleep only when his accounts are finished.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 272 (18 August 1883)
Virtue and Vice
NEIGHBOUR: "Then is there no
virtue and no sin?"
MASTER: "They both exist and do
not exist. If God keeps the ego in a man, then He keeps in him the sense of
differentiation and also the sense of virtue and sin. But in a rare few He
completely effaces the ego and these go beyond virtue and sin, good and bad. As
long as a man has not realized God, he retains the sense of differentiation and
the knowledge of good and bad. You may say: 'Virtue and sin are the same to me.
I am doing only as God bids me.' But you know in your heart of hearts that
those are mere words. No sooner do you commit an evil deed than you feel a
palpitation in your heart. Even after God has been realized, He keeps in the
mind of the devotee, if He so desires, the feeling of the 'servant ego'. In
that state the devotee says, 'O God, Thou art the Master and I am Thy servant.'
Such a devotee enjoys only spiritual talk and spiritual deeds. He does not
enjoy the company of ungodly people. He
does not care for any work that is not of a holy nature. So you see that God keeps the sense of
differentiation even in such a devotee."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 328 (28 November 1883)
Law of Karma
The truth is that one must reap the
result of the prarabdha karma. The body remains as long as the results of past
actions do not completely wear away. Once a blind man bathed in the
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 276 (19 August 1883)
Good Use of Money
Spiritual practice with a view to winning a lawsuit and earning money,
or to helping others win in court and acquire property, shows a very mean
understanding.
Money enables a man to get food and drink, build a house, worship the
Deity, serve devotees and holy men, and help the poor when he happens to meet
them. These are the good uses of money. Money is not meant for luxuries or
creature comforts or for buying a position in society.
People practise various Tantrik disciplines to acquire supernatural
powers. How mean such people are! Krishna said to Arjuna, 'Friend, by acquiring
one of the eight siddhis you may add a little to your power, but you will not
be able to realize
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 285 (7 September 1883)
Joy of God-Consciousness
(To Captain and the other devotees) Attribute to yourselves the bliss of God-Consciousness;
then you too will experience ineffable joy. The bliss of God-Consciousness
always exists in you. It is only hidden by the veiling and projecting power of
maya. The less you are attached to the world, the more you love God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 277 (19 August 1883)
Jnāni
The Jnāni experiences
God-Consciousness within himself; it is like the upper
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 277 (19 August 1883)
Best Devotee
Who is the best devotee of God? It
is he who sees, after the realization of Brahman, that God alone has become all
living beings, the universe, and the twenty-four cosmic principles. One must
discriminate at first, saying 'Not this, not this', and reach the roof. After
that one realizes that the steps are made of the same materials as the roof, namely,
brick, lime, and brick-dust. The devotee
realizes that it is Brahman alone that has become all these-the living beings,
the universe, and so on.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 271 (22 July 1883)
Vijnāna or Transcendental Knowledge
“… If a thorn has entered your foot,
get another thorn and with its help take out the first; then throw away the
second also.”
M: "Should one throwaway both
knowledge and ignorance?"
MASTER: "Yes. That is why one
should acquire vijnāna. You see, he who is aware of light is also aware of
darkness. He who is aware of happiness is also aware of suffering. He who is
aware of virtue is also aware of vice. He who is aware of good is also aware of
evil. He who is aware of holiness is
also aware of unholiness. He who is aware of 'I' is also aware of 'you'.
"What is vijnāna? It is knowing God in a special way. The awareness and
conviction that fire exists in wood is jnāna, knowledge. But to cook rice on
that fire, eat the rice, and get nourishment from it is vijnāna. To know by
one's inner experience that God exists is jnāna. But to talk to Him, to enjoy Him as Child, as
Friend, as Master, as Beloved, is vijnāna. The realization that God alone has
become the universe and all living beings is vijnāna.”
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 288 (7 September 1883)
Nature of the Divine Incarnation
The Incarnation of God is a part of the lila of Śakti. The purpose of
the Divine Incarnation is to teach man ecstatic love for God. The Incarnation
is like the udder of the cow, the only place milk is to be got. God incarnates
Himself as man. There is a great accumulation of divinity in an Incarnation,
like the accumulation of fish in a deep hollow in a lake.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 283 (7 September 1883)
Body Worship
Body and wealth are impermanent. Why go to so much trouble for their
sakes? Just think of the plight of the hathayogis. Their attention is fixed on
one ideal only - longevity. They do not aim at the realization of God at all. They
practise such exercises as washing out the intestines, drinking milk through a
tube, and the like, with that one aim in view.
There was once a goldsmith whose tongue suddenly turned up and stuck to
his palate. He looked like a man in samādhi. He became completely inert and
remained so a long time. People came to
worship him. After several years, his tongue suddenly returned to its natural
position, and he became conscious of things as before. So he went back to his
work as a goldsmith. (All laugh.)
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 285 (7 September 1883)
Uncle Moon
As Uncle Moon is the dear uncle of
all children, so God is dear to all beings. Everyone has a right to call on
God. Out of grace He reveals Himself to all who call upon Him. You, too, will
see Him if you but call upon Him.
-
Sri Ramakrishna to Sri Sarada Devi, Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P348
Form and Formless God
MASTER (to M.): "You have
accepted an ideal, that of God without form-isn't that so?"
M: "Yes, sir. But I also
believe what you say-that all is possible with God. It is quite possible for God to have forms.
MASTER: "Good. Remember further
that, as Consciousness, He pervades the entire universe of the living and
non-living."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 300 (26 September 1883)
Lover of God
The Jnāni seeks to realize Brahman. But
the ideal of the bhakta is the Personal God – a God endowed with omnipotence
and with the six treasures. Yet Brahman and Śakti are, in fact, not different. That
which is the Blissful Mother is, again, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss
Absolute. They are like the gem and its
lustre. When one speaks of the lustre of the gem, one thinks of the gem; and
again, when one speaks of the gem, one refers to its lustre. One cannot
conceive of the lustre of the gem without thinking of the gem, and one cannot
conceive of the gem without thinking of its lustre.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 277 (19 August 1883)
Covering of Maya
MASTER: "Yes, there is only One
without a second. The Vedas speak of It as 'Om Satchidananda Brahma', the Puranas
as 'Om Satchidananda Krishna,' and the Tantra as '
"The ChitŚakti, as Mahamaya,
has deluded all with ignorance. It is said in the Adhyātma Rāmāyana that when
the rishis saw Rāma, they prayed to Him in these words only: 'O Rāma, please do
not delude us with Your world-bewitching maya.' "
ISHAN: "What is this
maya?"
MASTER: "Whatever you see,
think, or hear is maya. In a word,
'woman and gold' is the covering of maya.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 290 (22 September 1883)
Avatara’s Grace
By the grace of the Avataras, a
person finishes the sufferings of ten lives in one. – Sri Ramakrishna, Sri
Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P392
Surrender to the Divine Mother
Who can ever know God? I don't even
try. I only call on Him as Mother. Let Mother do whatever She likes. I shall
know Her if it is Her will; but I shall be happy to remain ignorant if She
wills otherwise.
My nature is that of a kitten. It
only cries, 'Mew, mew!' The rest it leaves to its mother. The mother cat puts
the kitten sometimes in the kitchen and sometimes on the master's bed. The
young child wants only his mother. He doesn't know how wealthy his mother is,
and he doesn't even want to know. He knows only, 'I have a mother; why should I
worry?' Even the child of the maidservant knows that he has a mother. If he
quarrels with the son of the master, he says: 'I shall tell my mother. I have a
mother.' My attitude, too, is that of a child.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 299, (26 September 1883)
Victory to Durga
The Master sang:
I have
surrendered my soul at the fearless feet of the Mother;
Am I afraid of
Death any more?
Unto the tuft
of hair on my head
Is tied the
almighty mantra, Mother Kāli's name.
My body I have
sold in the market-place of the world
And with it
have bought Sri Durga's name.
Deep within my
heart I have planted the name of Kāli,
The
Wish-fulfilling Tree of heaven;
When Yama, King
of Death, appears,
To him I shall
open my heart and show it growing there.
I have cast out
from me my six unflagging foes [six passions];
Ready am I to
sail life's sea,
Crying,
"To Durga, victory!"
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 302 (10 October 1883)
Spiritual Pandits Opinions
During three important periods of
Master’s sadhana, three eminent spiritual pandits who were well versed in
scriptures came to him, observed his spiritual condition, and had the
opportunity to discuss their impressions. Pandit Padmalochan met the Master
when he had become perfected in the Tantra sadhana; Pandit Vaishnavacharan met
him when he had attained success in the Vaishnava Tantra; and Pandit Gauri was
blessed to see the Master endowed with divine splendour at the completion of
all his sadhanas. When Padmalochan saw the Master, he said, “I see God’s
presence and divine power in you.” Vaishnavacharan, in ecstasy, composed a hymn
to the Master in Sanskrit and sang it to him, declaring him to be an avatar.
When Gauri met the Master, he concluded: “I see that everything that I have
read in the scriptures concerning high spiritual states is manifest in you. In
addition, I see other exalted states that are not recorded in the scriptures.
You have reached a spiritual plane that surpasses anything described in the
Vedas, Vedanta, or other scriptures. You are not human. Ishwara, the source of
all avatars, dwells in you.” When we study the Master’s unique life and his
wonderful spiritual experiences, we clearly understand that these
spiritual pandits did not make their
remarks out of mere flattery.
- Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine
Play, P362
Milk and Water
The mind is like milk. If you keep
the mind in the world, which is like water, then the milk and water will get
mixed. That is why people keep milk in a quiet place and let it set into curd,
and then churn butter from it. Likewise, through spiritual discipline practised
in solitude, churn the butter of knowledge and devotion from the milk of the mind.
Then that butter can easily be kept in the water of the world. It will not get
mixed with the world. The mind will float detached on the water of the world.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 313 (26 November 1883)
Real and Supreme Renunciation
There is no harm in chewing
betel-leaf, eating fish, smoking, or rubbing the body with oil. What will one
achieve by renouncing only these things? The one thing needful is the
renunciation of 'woman and gold'. That renunciation is the real and supreme
renunciation. Householders should go
into solitude now and then, to practise spiritual discipline in order to
cultivate devotion to God; they should renounce mentally. But the sannyasi
should renounce both mentally and physically.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 291 (22 September 1883)
Karma-Yoga
The action of a sattvic person drops
off automatically. He can not work even if he tries to; the Lord does not allow
him to work. It is just as when a young wife advances in pregnancy. She is
given less and less work to do; and when the child is born, she gives up
household work altogether and is busied exclusively with the infant. But an
ordinary person must try to do his duties with detachment, depending on the
Lord, like the maidservant who does everything for her master, knowing in her
heart that her home is elsewhere. This is known as karma-yoga. As far as
possible one should take the name of the Lord and meditate on Him while
discharging one’s everyday duties in an unattached way.
- Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna
and His Divine Play, P362
God and the World
As long as one has not realized God,
one should renounce the world, following the process of 'Neti, neti.' But he
who has attained God knows that it is God who has become all this. Then he sees
that God, maya, living beings, and the universe form one whole. God includes
the universe and its living beings.
Suppose you have separated the shell, flesh, and seeds of a bel-fruit
and someone asks you the weight of the fruit. Will you leave aside the shell
and the seeds, and weigh only the flesh? Not at all. To know the real weight of
the fruit, you must weigh the whole of it-the shell, the flesh, and the seeds. Only
then can you tell its real weight. The
shell may be likened to the universe, and the seeds to living beings. While one
is engaged in discrimination one says to oneself that the universe and the
living beings are non-Self and unsubstantial. At that time one thinks of the flesh alone
as the substance,
and the shell
and seeds as unsubstantial. But after discrimination is
over, one feels that all three parts of the fruit together form a unity. Then
one further realizes that the stuff that has produced the flesh of the fruit
has also produced the shell and seeds.
To know the real nature of the bel-fruit one must know all three.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 327-28 (28 November 1883)
Dive Deep
Dive deep; one does not get the
precious gems by merely floating on the surface. God is without form, no doubt;
but He also has form. By meditating on God with form one speedily acquires
devotion; then one can meditate on the formless God. It is like throwing a
letter away, after learning its contents, and then setting out to follow its
instructions.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 353 (21 December 1883)
One and Same God
All religions and all paths call
upon their followers to pray to one and the same God. Therefore one should not
show disrespect to any religion or religious opinion. It is God alone who is
called Satchidananda Brahman in the Vedas, Satchidananda Krishna in the
Puranas, and Satchidananda Śiva in the Tantras.
It is one and the same Satchidananda.
There are different sects of
Vaishnavas. That which is called Brahman in the Vedas is called Ālekh-Niranjan by one Vaishnava sect. 'Ālekh'
means That which cannot be pointed out or perceived by the sense-organs. According
to this sect, Radha and
According to the Vedānta, there is
no Incarnation of God. The Vedantists say that Rāmā and Krishna are but two
waves in the
In reality there are not two. There
is only One. A man may call on God by any name; if he is sincere in his prayer
he will certainly reach Him. He will succeed if he has longing.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 306 (10 October 1883)
Selfish Prayer
One must pray to God without any
selfish desire. But selfish worship, if practised with perseverance, is
gradually turned into selfless worship. Dhruva practised tapasya to obtain his
kingdom, but at last he realized God. He said, 'Why should a man give up gold
if he gets it while searching for glass beads?'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 379 (5 January 1884)
Devotee Attitude
A devotee of God accepts everything.
He accepts the universe and its created beings as well as the indivisible
Satchidananda.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 395 (2 March 1884)
Chaitanya Nityananda
As long as you do not feel that God
is the Master, you must come back to the world, you must be born again and
again. There will be no rebirth when you can truly say, 'O God, Thou art the
Master.' As long as you cannot say, 'O Lord, Thou alone art real', you will not
be released from the life of the world. This going and coming, this rebirth, is
inevitable. There will be no liberation. Further, what can you achieve by
saying, 'It is mine'? The manager of an estate may say, 'This is our garden;
these are our couches and furniture.' But when he is dismissed by the master,
he hasn't the right to take away even a chest of worthless mango-wood given to
him for his use. The feeling of 'I and mine' has covered the Reality. Because
of this we do not see Truth.
Attainment of Chaitanya, Divine
Consciousness, is not possible without the knowledge of Advaita, Non-duality.
After realizing Chaitanya one enjoys Nityananda, Eternal Bliss. One enjoys this
Bliss after attaining the state of a paramahamsa.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 307 (16 October 1883)
Kite and Fish
It is narrated in the Bhagavata that
the Avadhuta had twenty-four gurus, one of whom was a kite. In a certain place the fishermen were
catching fish. A kite swooped down and snatched a fish. At the sight of the
fish, about a thousand crows chased the kite and made a great noise with their
cawing. Whichever way the kite flew with the fish, the crows followed it. The
kite flew to the south and the crows followed it there. The kite flew to the
north and still the crows followed after it. The kite went east and west, but
with the same result. As the kite began to fly about in confusion, lo, the fish
dropped from its mouth. The crows at once let the kite alone and flew after the
fish. Thus relieved of its worries, the kite sat on the branch of a tree and
thought: 'That wretched fish was at the root of all my troubles. I have now got
rid of it and therefore I am at peace.'
The Avadhuta learnt this lesson from
the kite, that as long as a man has the fish, that is, worldly desires, he must
perform actions and consequently suffer from worry, anxiety, and restlessness. No
sooner does he renounce these desires than his activities fall away and he
enjoys peace of soul.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 314 (26 November 1883)
Yearning for God
One must be restless for God. If a
son clamours persistently for his share of the property, his parents consult
with each other and give it to him even though he is a minor. God will
certainly listen to your prayers if you feel restless for Him. Since He has
begotten us, surely we can claim our inheritance from Him. He is our own
Father, our own Mother. We can force our demand on Him.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 384 (2 February 1884)
Incarnation for Bhaktas
Vedānta does not recognize the
Incarnation of God. According to it, Chaitanyadeva is only a bubble of the
non-dual Brahman.
Do you know what the vision of
Divine Consciousness is like? It is like the sudden illumination of a dark room
when a match is struck.
The Incarnation of God is accepted
by those who follow the path of bhakti. A woman belonging to the Kartabhaja
sect observed my condition, and remarked: 'You have inner realization. Don't
dance and sing too much. Ripe grapes must be preserved carefully in cotton. The
mother-in-law lessens her daughter-in-law's activities when the daughter-in-law
is with child. One characteristic of
God-realization is that the activities of a man with such realization gradually
drop away. Inside this man [meaning Sri
Ramakrishna] is the real Jewel.'
Watching me
eat, she remarked,
'Sir, are you
yourself eating, or
are you feeding someone else?'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 307 (16 October 1883)
Advice to Householders
MASTER: "It is difficult to
lead the life of a householder in a spirit of detachment. Once Pratap said to me:
'Sir, we follow the example of King Janaka. He led the life of a householder in
a detached spirit. We shall follow him.' I said to him: 'Can one be like King Janaka
by merely wishing it? How many austerities he practised in order to acquire
divine knowledge! He practised the most intense form of asceticism for many
years and only then returned to the life of the world.'
"Is there, then, no hope for householders?
Certainly there is. They must practise spiritual discipline in solitude for
some days. Thus they will acquire knowledge and devotion. Then it will not hurt
them to lead the life of the world. But when you practise discipline in
solitude, keep yourself entirely away from your family. You must not allow your
wife, son, daughter, mother, father, sister, brother, friends, or relatives
near you. While thus practising discipline in solitude, you should think: 'I
have no one else in the world. God is my all.' You must also pray to Him, with
tears in your eyes, for knowledge and devotion.
"If you ask me how long you
should live in solitude away from your family, I should say that it would be
good for you if you could spend even one day in such a manner. Three days at a
time are still better. One may live in
solitude for twelve days, a month, three months, or a year, according to one's
convenience and ability. One hasn't much to fear if one leads the life of a
householder after attaining knowledge and devotion.
"If you break a jack-fruit
after rubbing your hands with oil, then its sticky milk will not smear your
hands. While playing the game of hide-and-seek, you are safe if you but once
touch the 'granny'. Be turned into gold by touching the philosopher's stone. After
that you may remain buried underground a thousand years; when you are taken out
you will still be gold.”
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 313 (26 November 1883)
Wealth and God
Shall I tell you the truth? Man
loves his own riches, and so he thinks that God loves His, too. He thinks that God will be pleased if we
glorify His riches. Once Sambhu said to me, 'Please bless me, that I may die
leaving my riches at the Lotus Feet of God.' I answered: 'These are riches only
to you. What riches can you offer God? To Him these are mere dust and straw.'
Once a thief broke into the
Can one ever bring God under control
through wealth? He can be tamed only through love. What does He want? Certainly not wealth! He
wants from His devotees love, devotion, feeling, discrimination, and
renunciation.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 321-22 (28 November 1883)
Mother Knows Everything
My Mother! Who is my Mother? Ah, She
is the Mother of the Universe. It is She who creates and preserves the world,
who always protects Her children, and who grants whatever they desire: dharma, artha,
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 321 (28 November 1883)
Purusha and Prakriti
"He who is Brahman is the Ādyāśakti,
the Primal Energy. When inactive He is called Brahman, the Purusha; He is
called Śakti, or Prakriti, when engaged in creation, preservation, and destruction.
These are the two aspects of Reality: Purusha and Prakriti. He who is the
Purusha is also Prakriti. Both are the embodiment of Bliss.
"If you are aware of the Male
Principle, you cannot ignore the Female Principle: He who is aware of the
father must also think of the mother. (Keshab laughs ) He who knows darkness
also knows light. He who knows night also knows day. He who knows happiness
also knows misery. You understand this, don't you?"
KESHAB: "Yes, sir. I do."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 321 (28 November 1883)
Outer Show of Spirituality
At the beginning of spiritual life
the devotee should observe such rites as pilgrimage, putting a
string of beads
around his neck,
and so forth. But outward ceremonies gradually drop
off as he attains the goal, the vision of God. Then his only activity is the
repetition of God's name, and contemplation and meditation on Him.
The pennies equivalent to sixteen
rupees make a great heap. But sixteen silver coins do not look like such a big
amount. Again, the quantity becomes much smaller when you change the sixteen
rupees into one gold mohur. And if you change the gold into a tiny piece of
diamond, people hardly notice it.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 305 (10 October 1883)
No Hoarding
The Avadhuta accepted a bee as
another teacher. Bees accumulate their honey by days of hard labour. But they
cannot enjoy their honey, for a man soon breaks the comb and takes it away. The
Avadhuta learnt this lesson from the bees, that one should not lay things up. Sādhus
should depend one hundred per cent on God. They must not gather for the morrow.
But this does not apply to the householder. He must bring up his family;
therefore it is necessary for him to provide.
Birds and monks do not hoard. Yet birds also hoard after their chicks
are hatched: they collect food in their beaks for their young ones.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 314 (26 November 1883)
Advice to the Worldly-minded
Jaygopal's brother, said to the
Master: "Sir, we are worldly people. Please give us some advice."
MASTER: "Do your duty to the
world after knowing God. With one hand hold to the Lotus Feet of the Lord and
with the other do your work."
VAIKUNTHA: "Is the world
unreal?"
MASTER: "Yes, it is unreal as
long as one has not realized God. Through ignorance man forgets God and speaks
always of 'I' and 'mine'. He sinks down and down, entangled in maya, deluded by
'woman and gold'. Maya robs him of his knowledge to such an extent that he
cannot find the way of escape, though such a way exists.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 325 (28 November 1883)
Illusory and Impermanent World
You all know from your experience
how impermanent the world is. Look at it this way. How many people have come
into the world and again passed away! People are born and they die. This moment the world is and the next it is
not. It is impermanent. Those you think to be your very own will not exist for
you when you close your eyes in death. Again, you see people who have no
immediate relatives, and yet for the sake of a grandson they will not go to
This kind of world is illusory and
impermanent.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 325 (28 November 1883)
Necessity of Spiritual Discipline
You may learn a great deal from
books; but it is all futile if you have no love for God and no desire to
realize Him. A mere pundit, without discrimination and renunciation, has his
attention fixed on 'woman and gold'. The vulture soars very high but its eyes are
fixed on the charnel-pit.
That alone is knowledge through
which one is able to know God. All else is futile.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 368 (27 December 1883)
Ideal Householder's Life
"… If you but, realize God, you
won't see the world as unsubstantial. He who has realized God knows that God
Himself has become the world and all living beings. When you feed your child,
you should feel that you are feeding God. You should look on your father and
mother as veritable manifestations of God and the Divine Mother, and serve them
as such. If a man enters the world after
realizing God, he does not generally keep up physical relations with his wife. Both
of them are devotees; they love to talk only of God and pass their time in
spiritual conversation. They serve other devotees of God, for they know that
God alone has become all living beings; and, knowing this, they devote their
lives to the service of others."
NEIGHBOUR: "But, sir, such a
husband and wife are not to be found anywhere."
MASTER: "Yes, they can be
found, though they may be very rare. Worldly people cannot recognize them. In
order to lead such a life both husband and wife must be spiritual. It is
possible to lead such a life if both of them have tasted the Bliss of God. God's
special grace is necessary to create such a couple; otherwise there will always
be misunderstanding between them. In that case the one has to leave the other. Life
becomes very miserable if husband and wife do not agree. …
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 326 (28 November 1883)
Image Worship
What is wrong with image worship?
The Vedānta says that Brahman manifests Itself where there is 'Existence,
Light, and Love'. Therefore nothing exists but Brahman.
How long do small girls play with
their dolls? As long as they are not married and do not live with their
husbands. After marriage they put the
dolls away in a box. What further need is there of worshipping the image after
the vision of God?
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 337 (14 December 1883)
Holy Man
NEIGHBOUR: "How can one
recognize a holy man?"
MASTER: "He who has surrendered
his body, mind, and innermost self to God is surely a holy man. He who has
renounced 'woman and gold' is surely a holy man. He is a holy man who does not
regard woman with the eyes of a worldly person. He never forgets to look upon a
woman as his mother, and to offer her his worship if he happens to be near her.
The holy man constantly thinks of God and does not indulge in any talk except about
spiritual things. Furthermore, he serves
all beings, knowing that God resides in everybody's heart. These, in general, are the signs of a holy
man."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 327 (28 November 1883)
Women as embodiments of the Divine
Mother
All women are the embodiments of Śakti.
It is the Primal Power that has become women and appears to us in the form of
women. It is said in the Adhyātma Rāmāyana that Nārada and others praised Rāma,
saying: 'O Rāma, Thou alone art all that we see as male, and Sita, all that we
see as female. Thou art Indra, and Sita is Indrani; Thou art Śiva and Sita is
Sivani; Thou art man, and Sita is woman. What more need I say? Thou alone dost
exist wherever there is a male, and Sita wherever there is a female.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 336 (14 December 1883)
Fence for Young Plant
NEIGHBOUR: "Must one always
live in solitude?"
MASTER: "Haven't you seen the
trees on the foot-path along a street? They are fenced around as long as they
are very young; otherwise cattle destroy them. But there is no longer any
need of fences
when their trunks
grow thick and
strong. Then they won't break even if an elephant is tied to them. Just
so, there will be no need for you to worry and fear if you make your mind as
strong as a thick tree-trunk. First of all try to acquire discrimination. Break
the jack-fruit open only after you have rubbed your hands with oil; then its
sticky milk won't smear them."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 327 (28 November 1883)
Servant-Master Attitude
For the householder it is very good
to look on God as the Master. The householder is conscious of doing the duties
of life himself. Under such conditions how can he say, 'I am He'? To him who
says, 'I am He' the world appears to be a dream. His mind, his body, even his
ego, are dreams to him. Therefore he cannot perform worldly duties. So it is
very good for the householder to look on himself as the servant and on God as
the Master.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 369-70 (27 December 1883)
Discrimination
NEIGHBOUR: "What is
discrimination?"
MASTER: "Discrimination is the
reasoning by which one knows that God alone is real and all else is unreal.
Real means eternal, and unreal means impermanent. He who has acquired
discrimination knows that God is the only Substance and all else is non-existent.
With the awakening of this spirit of discrimination a man wants to know
God.
On the contrary, if a man loves the unreal-such
things as creature comforts, name, fame, and wealth, then he doesn't want to
know God, who is of the very nature of Reality. Through discrimination between
the Real and the unreal one seeks to know God.
"Listen to a song:
Come, let us go
for a walk, O mind, to Kāli, the Wish-fulfilling Tree,
And there
beneath It gather the four fruits of life.
Of your two
wives, Dispassion and Worldliness,
Bring along
Dispassion only, on your way to the Tree,
And ask her son
Discrimination about the Truth. …
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 327 (28 November 1883)
Knowing God
NEIGHBOUR: "You ask us, sir, to
live in the world after knowing God. Can God really be known?"
MASTER: "God cannot be known by
the sense-organs or by this mind; but He can be known by the pure mind, the
mind that is free from worldiy desires."
NEIGHBOUR: "Who can know
God?"
MASTER: "Right. Who can really
know Him? But as for us, it is enough to know as much of Him as we need. What
need have I of a whole well of water? One jar is more than enough for me. An
ant went to a sugar hill. Did it need the entire hill? A grain or two of sugar
was more than enough."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 328-29 (28 November 1883)
Necessity of Perseverance
Serve and worship God, surrender and
be humble to Him. Only when you practice these disciplines with faith and
perseverance will you succeed. You will definitely have His vision. If you
discontinue your sadhana, your progress will stop. A man used to work hard and
save money little by little. Once he counted his money and found that he had
one thousand rupees. Overwhelmed with joy, he thought: ‘Why should I work
anymore? I have one thousand rupees. That is enough.’ So he gave up his job.
This insignificant man had very little ambition. He became puffed up because of
that small amount of money and cared for no one. But how long does it take to
spend one thousand rupees? The entire amount was gone within a few days.
Afflicted, he began to search desperately for another job, going from office to
office. A person who behaves like this will never succeed in spiritual life.
One must wait patiently at the door of God, then only will one see Him.
-
Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna
and His Divine Play, P 397
Different stages of Spiritual
Progress
The first stage is that of the
beginner. He studies and hears. Second is the stage of the struggling aspirant.
He prays to God, meditates on Him, and sings His name and glories. The third
stage is that of the perfect soul. He has seen God, realized Him directly and
immediately in his inner Consciousness. Last is the stage of the supremely
perfect, like Chaitanya. Such a devotee establishes a definite relationship
with God, looking on Him as his Son or Beloved.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 344 (16 December 1883)
God Vision through Yearning
One must have childlike faith and
the intense yearning that a child feels to see its mother. That yearning is like the red sky in the east
at dawn. After such a sky the sun must rise.
Immediately after that yearning one sees God.
Let me tell you the story of a boy
named Jatila. He used to walk to school through the woods, and the journey
frightened him; One day he told his mother of his fear. She replied: 'Why
should you be afraid? Call Madhusudana.' 'Mother,' asked the boy, 'who is
Madhusudana?' The mother said, 'He is your Elder Brother.' One day after this,
when the boy again felt afraid in the woods, he cried out, 'O Brother
Madhusudana!' But there was no response.
He began to weep aloud: 'Where are You, Brother Madhusudana? Come to me.
I am afraid.' Then God could no longer stay away. He appeared before the boy and said: 'Here I
am. Why are you frightened?' And so,
saying He took the boy out of the woods and showed him the way to school. When He took leave of the boy, God said: 'I
will come whenever you call Me. Do not
be afraid.' One must have this faith of a child, this yearning.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 338 (14 December 1883)
Parable of the Grass-eating Tiger
... Once a tigress attacked a herd of goats. A
hunter saw her from a distance and killed her.
The tigress was pregnant and gave birth to a cub as she expired. The cub
began to grow in the company of the goats. At first it was nursed by the
she-goats, and later on, as it grew bigger, it began to eat grass and bleat
like the goats.
Gradually the cub became a big
tiger; but still it ate grass and bleated. When atached by other animals, it
would run away, like the goats. One day a fierce-looking tiger attacked the
herd. It was amazed to see a tiger in the herd eating grass and running away
with the goats at its approach. It left the goats and caught hold of the
grass-eating tiger, which began to bleat and tried to run away.
But the fierce tiger dragged it to
the water and said: 'Now look at your face in the water. You see, you have the
pot-face of a tiger; it is exactly like mine.' Next it pressed a piece of meat
into its mouth. At first the grass-eating tiger refused to eat the meat. Then
it got the taste of the meat and relished it. At last the fierce tiger said to
the grass-eater: 'What a disgrace! You lived with goats and ate grass like
them!' And the other was really ashamed of itself.
Eating grass is like enjoying 'woman
and gold'. To bleat and run away like a goat is to behave like an ordinary man.
Going away with the new tiger is like taking shelter with the guru, who awakens
one's spiritual consciousness, and recognizing him alone as one's relative. To
see one's face rightly is to know one's real Self.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna,
P 359-60 (24 December 1883)
Divine Mother is the Universal
Consciousness
The Divine Mother revealed to me in
the Kāli temple that it was She who had become everything. She showed me that
everything was full of Consciousness. The Image was Consciousness, the altar
was Consciousness, the water-vessels were Consciousness, the door-sill was
Consciousness, the marble floor was Consciousness-all was Consciousness.
I found everything inside the room soaked,
as it were, in Bliss - the Bliss of Satchidananda. I saw a wicked man in front
of the Kāli temple; but in him also I saw the Power of the Divine Mother
vibrating.
That was why I fed a cat with the
food that was to be offered to the Divine Mother. I clearly perceived that the
Divine Mother Herself had become everything-even the cat. The manager of the
temple garden.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 346 (16 December 1883)
Mad for God
MASTER: "The whole thing, in a
nutshell is that one must develop ecstatic love for Satchidananda. What kind of
love? How should one love God? Gauri used to say that one must become like Sita
to understand Rāma; like Bhagavati, the Divine Mother, to understand Bhagavan,
Śiva. One must practise austerity, as Bhagavati did, in order to attain Śiva. One
must cultivate the attitude of Prakriti in order to realize Purusha – the attitude
of a friend, a handmaid, or a mother.
"I saw Sita in a vision. I
found that her entire mind was concentrated on Rāma. She was totally
indifferent to everything - her hands, her feet, her clothes, her jewels. It
seemed that Rāma had filled every bit of her life and she could not remain
alive without Rāma."
M: "Yes, sir. She was mad with
love for Rāma."
MASTER: "Mad! That's the word. One
must become mad with love in order to realize God. But that love is not
possible if the mind dwells on 'woman and gold'. Sex-life with a woman! What
happiness is there in that? The realization of God gives ten million times more
happiness. Gauri used to say that when a man attains ecstatic love of God all
the pores of the skin, even the roots of the hair, become like so many sexual
organs, and in every pore the aspirant enjoys the happiness of communion with
the Ātman.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 346 (17 December 1883)
Brahmajnana
A brahmachari once said to me, 'One
who goes beyond Kedār cannot keep his body alive.' Likewise, a man cannot preserve his body
after attaining Brahmajnana. The body drops off in twenty-one days.
There was an infinite field beyond a
high wall. Four friends tried to find out what was beyond the wall. Three of
them, one after the other, climbed the wall, saw the field, burst into loud
laughter, and dropped to the other side. These three could not give any
information about the field. Only the fourth man came back and told people
about it. He is like those who retain
their bodies, even after attaining Brahmajnana, in order to teach others. Divine
Incarnations belong to this class.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 354 (22 December 1883)
Incarnations for Bhaktas
Brahman alone is real and the world
illusory-that is reasoning. And everything but Brahman is like a dream. But
this is an extremely difficult path. To one who follows it even the divine play
in the world becomes like a dream and appears unreal; his 'I' also vanishes. The
followers of this path do not accept the Divine Incarnation. It is a very
difficult path. The lovers of God should not hear much of such reasoning.
That is why God incarnates Himself
as man and teaches people the path of devotion. He exhorts people to cultivate
self-surrender to God. Following the path of devotion, one realizes everything
through His grace both Knowledge and Supreme Wisdom.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 355 (22 December 1883)
Nature of Brahman
What Brahman is cannot be described
in words. Everything has been polluted, like food that has touched the tongue -
that is, everything has been described in words. But no one has been able to
describe Brahman. It is therefore unpolluted. I said this to Vidyasagar and he
was delighted.
But the Knowledge of Brahman cannot
be realized if the aspirant is worldly-minded even in the slightest degree. He
succeeds in acquiring this Knowledge only when his mind is totally free from
'woman and gold'. Parvati once said to Her father, 'Father, seek the company of
holy men if you want the Knowledge of Brahman.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 343 (16 December 1883)
Kundalini
Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna are the
three principal nerves. All the lotuses are located in the Sushumna. They are
formed of Consciousness, like a tree made of wax-the branches, twigs, fruits,
and so forth all of wax. The Kundalini lies in the lotus of the Muladhara. That
lotus has four petals. The Primordial Energy resides in all bodies as the
Kundalini. She is like a sleeping snake coiled up-' of the form of a sleeping
snake, having the Muladhara for Her abode'.
(To M.) The Kundalini is speedily
awakened if one follows the path of bhakti. God cannot be seen unless She is awakened.
Sing earnestly and secretly in solitude:
Waken, O Mother! O Kundalini, whose nature is Bliss
Eternal!
Thou art the serpent coiled in sleep, in the lotus of
the Muladhara.
Ramprasad achieved perfection
through singing. One obtains the vision of God if one sings with yearning heart.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 362-63 (24 December 1883)
Renunciation of Worldly Attachment
How can one attain yoga? By
completely renouncing attachment to worldly things. The mind must be pure and
without blemish, like the telegraph wire that has no defect.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 375 (2 January 1884)
Spiritual Discipline
A man is able to see God as soon as
he gets rid of ego and other limitations. He sees God as soon as he is free
from such feelings as 'I am a scholar', 'I am the son of such and such a
person', 'I am wealthy', 'I am honourable', and so forth.
'God alone is real and all else
unreal; the world is illusory' - that is discrimination. One cannot assimilate
spiritual instruction without discrimination.
Through the practice of spiritual
discipline one attains perfection, by the grace of God. But one must also
labour a little. Then one sees God and enjoys bliss. If a man hears that a jar
filled with gold is buried at a certain place, he rushes there and begins to
dig. He sweats as he goes on digging. After much digging he feels the spade strike
something. Then he throws away the spade and looks for the jar. At the sight of
the jar he dances for joy. Then he takes up the jar and pours out the gold coins.
He takes them into his hand, counts them, and feels the ecstasy of joy. Vision-touch-enjoyment.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 363 (24 December 1883)
Talking to God
That God exists may be known by
looking at the universe. But it is one thing to hear of God, another thing to
see God, and still another thing to talk to God. Some have heard of milk, some
have seen it, and some, again, have tasted it. You feel happy when you see
milk; you are nourished and strengthened when you drink it. You will get peace
of mind only when you have seen God. You
will enjoy bliss and gain strength only when you have talked to Him.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 368 (27 December 1883)
Practice of God-communion
SHRISH: "It is extremely
difficult to proceed toward God while leading the life of a householder."
MASTER: "Why so? What about the
yoga of practice? At Kamarpukur I have seen the women of the carpenter families
selling flattened rice. Let me tell you how alert they are while doing their
business. The pestle of the husking-machine that flattens the paddy constantly
falls into the hole of the mortar. The woman turns the paddy in the hole with
one hand and with the other holds her baby on her lap as she nurses it. In the
mean time customers arrive. The machine
goes on pounding the paddy, and she carries on her bargains with the customers'. She says to them, 'Pay the few pennies you
owe me before you take anything more.' You see, she has all these things to do
at the same time-nurse the baby, turn the paddy as the pestle pounds it, take
the flattened rice out of the hole, and talk to the buyers. This is called the
yoga of practice. Fifteen parts of her mind out of sixteen are fixed on the
pestle of the husking-machine, lest it should pound her hand. With only one
part of her mind she nurses the baby and talks to the buyers. Likewise, he who
leads the life of a householder should devote fifteen parts of his mind to God;
otherwise he will face ruin and fall into the clutches of Death. He should
perform the duties of the world with only one part of his mind."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 367 (27 December 1883)
Microcosm
Whatever is in the microcosm is also
in the macrocosm. – Sri Ramakrishna
All go Towards God
MASTER (to Jaygopal): "One
should not harbour malice toward any person or any opinion. The believers in
the formless God and the worshippers of God with form are all, without
exception, going toward God alone. The Jnāni, the yogi, the Bhakta - all,
without exception, are seeking Him alone. The follower of the path of knowledge
calls Him 'Brahman'. The yogi calls Him 'Ātman' or 'Paramatman'. The bhakta
calls Him 'Bhagavan'. Further, it is said that there is the Eternal Lord and
His Eternal Servant."
JAYGOPAL: "How can we know that
all paths are true?"
MASTER: "A man can reach God if
he follows one path rjghtly. Then he can learn about all the other paths. It is like reaching the roof by some means or
other. Then one is able to climb down by the wooden or stone stairs, by a
bamboo pole, or even by a rope.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 374 (2 January 1884)
Seeing and Talking to God
Truly one can see God. As we are
sitting here together and talking, so one can see God and talk to Him. I am
speaking the truth – I swear to you.
-
Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P439
Vedanta
Hearing, reflecting, and meditating
are the three main disciplines of Vedanta. At first you hear that Brahman alone
is real and the world unreal. Then you reflect upon this idea and become
convinced of it through reasoning and discrimination. And finally you meditate
on Brahman, the Absolute Reality, relinquishing the unreal world. That is all.
Otherwise what does it avail if you hear and understand the teachings of
Vedanta but do not try to renounce what is unreal? That is like the knowledge
of worldly people. This kind of knowledge can not help you attain Reality. You
need conviction and renunciation – only then can you succeed. Otherwise you are
saying, ‘There is no thorn, no pricking’; but the moment you touch a thorny
plant, those thorns get into your hands, and you cry out with pain. You are
saying: ‘This world does not exist. It is unreal. Brahman alone exists,’ and so
on, but the moment you come in touch with the sense objects of the world, you
immediately consider them real and get attached to them. Once a monk came to
live in the Panchavati of Dakshineshwar. He would talk about Vedanta
extensively with people. Then one day I heard that he was having an illicit
love affair with a woman. I went in that direction to answer the call of nature
and found him seated in the Panchavati. I said to him, ‘You talk so much about
Vedanta – now, what is this?’ He replied: ‘What does it matter? Let me explain
to you that I have done nothing wrong. When everything in this world is unreal
in the past, present, and future, how can my slips of character be real? They
are also unreal.’ Disgusted, I said to him, ‘I spit upon such Vedantic
knowledge of yours!’ Worldly people have that kind of knowledge about Vedanta.
This knowledge is no knowledge at all.
-
Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P428
Prayer and Discrimination
A DEVOTEE: "Sir, what is the
way?"
MASTER: "Discrimination between
the Real and the unreal. One should always discriminate to the effect that God
alone is real and the world unreal. And one should pray with sincere
longing."
DEVOTEE: "But, sir, where is
our leisure for these things?"
MASTER: "Those who have the
time must meditate and worship. But those who cannot possibly do so must bow
down whole-heartedly to God twice a day. He abides in the hearts of all; He
knows that worldly people have many things to do. What else is possible for them?
You don't have time to pray to God; therefore give Him the power of attorney.
But all is in vain unless you attain God and see Him."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 385 (2 February 1884)
Three Classes of Devotees
There are three classes of devotees.
The lowest one says, 'God is up there.' That is, he points to heaven. The
mediocre devotee says that God dwells in the heart as the 'Inner Controller'. But
the highest devotee says: 'God alone has become everything. All that we
perceive is so many forms of God.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 396 (2 March 1884)
Unselfish Love of God
One must not cherish any desire
whatever. The devotion of a man who has any desire is selfish. But desireless
devotion is love for its own sake. You may love me or not, but I love you: this
is love for its own sake.
The thing is that one must love God.
Through intense love one attains the vision of Him. The attraction of the
husband for the chaste wife, the attraction of the child for its mother, the
attraction of worldly possessions for the worldly man-when a man can blend
these three into one, and direct it all to God, then he gets the vision of God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 375 (2 January 1884)
Master's prayer to the Divine Mother
Sri Ramakrishna taught the devotees
how to call on the Divine Mother.
MASTER: "I used to pray to Her
in this way: 'O Mother! O Blissful One! Reveal Thyself to me. Thou must!'
Again, I would say to Her: 'O Lord of the lowly! O Lord of the universe! Surely
I am not outside Thy universe. I am bereft of knowledge. I am without
discipline. I have no devotion. I know nothing. Thou must be gracious and reveal
Thyself to me.' "
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 384 (2 February 1884)
How to Receive God's Grace
JAYGOPAL: "How does one receive
the grace of God?"
MASTER: "Constantly you have to
chant the name and glories of God and give up worldly thoughts as much as you
can. With the greatest effort you may
try to bring water into your field for your crops, but it may all leak out
through holes in the ridges. Then all your efforts to bring the water by
digging a canal will be futile.
"You will feel restless for God
when your heart becomes pure and your mind free from attachment to the things
of the world. Then alone will your prayer reach God. A telegraph wire cannot
carry messages if it has a break or some other defect.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 375 (2 January 1884)
Rice Bags and Puffed Rice
DEVOTEE: "Why has God put us in
the world?"
MASTER: "To perpetuate His
creation. It is His will, His maya. He has deluded man with 'woman and
gold'."
DEVOTEE: "Why has He deluded
us? Why has He so willed?"
MASTER: "If but once He should
give man a taste of divine joy, then man would not care
to lead a worldly life. The creation
would come to an end.
"The grain-dealer stores rice
in huge bags in his warehouse. Near them he puts some puffed rice in a tray. This
is to keep the rats away. The puffed rice tastes sweet to the rats and they
nibble at it all night; they do not seek the rice itself. But just think! One
seer of rice yields fourteen seers of puffed rice. How infinitely superior is
the joy of God to the pleasure of 'woman and gold'! To one who thinks of the
beauty of God, the beauty of even Rambha and Tilottama appears as but the ashes
of a funeral pyre."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 385 (2 February 1884)
Force Demand on God
Take for example an adulterous
woman. When she first begins to love her paramour, there is so much secrecy,
fear, and bashfulness! Then as intimacy deepens, all emotional barriers
disappear. She leaves her family and appears in front of everyone holding her
lover’s hand. If at that time the man does not take care of her or wants to
leave her, she throws a cloth around his neck and pulls him, saying: ‘You wretch,
I have left everything and everybody for you, and now you want to drop me on
the street! Tell me – will you maintain me or not?’ Likewise, a man who has
renounced everything for God and made Him his very own force his demands on Him
and says: ‘I have renounced everything for You. Now tell me – will You reveal
Yourself to me or not?’
-
Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P438
Four Stages of Life
There are four stages of life:
brahmacharya, garhasthya, Vanaprastha, and sannyas. During the first three
stages a man has to perform his worldly duties. The sannyasi carries only his staff,
water-pot, and begging-bowl. He too may perform certain nityakarma, but his
mind is not attached to it; he is not conscious of doing such work. Some sannyasis
perform nityakarma to set an example to the world. If a householder or a man
belonging to the other stages of life performs action without attachment, then
he is united with God through such action.
In the case of a paramahamsa, like Sukadeva,
all karmas - all puja, japa, tarpan, sandhya, and so forth-drop away. In this
state a man communes with God through the mind alone. Sometimes he may be pleased to perform
outward activities for the welfare of mankind. But his recollection and
contemplation of God remain uninterrupted.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 388 (2 February 1884)
For Thy Sake
Seeking a
shelter at Thy feet,
I have forever
set aside
My pride of
caste and race, O Lord,
And turned my
back on fear and shame.
A lonely pilgrim on life's way,
Where shall I
go for succour now?
For Thy sake,
Lord, I bear men's blame;
They rail at me
with bitter words
And hate me for
my love of Thee.
Both friends
and strangers use me ill.
Thou art the
Guardian of my name;
Thou
mayest save or slay me, Lord!
Upon the honour
of Thy servant
Rests, O Lord,
Thy name as well;
Thou art the
Ruler of my soul,
The glow of
love within my heart;
Do with me as it pleases Thee!
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 394 (2 March 1884)
The World not Apart from God
It may be asked, 'How has Satchidananda
become so hard?' This earth does indeed feel very hard to the touch. The answer
is that blood and semen are thin liquids, and yet out of them comes such a big
creature as man. Everything is possible for God. First of all reach the
indivisible Satchidananda, and then, coming down, look at the universe. You
will then find that everything is Its manifestation. It is God alone who has become
everything. The world by no means exists apart from Him.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 395 (2 March 1884)
Vision of God Destroys Doubts
All doubts disappear when one sees
God. It is one thing to hear of God, but quite a different thing to see Him. A
man cannot have one hundred per cent conviction through mere hearing. But if he beholds God face to face, then he
is wholly convinced.
Formal worship drops away after the
vision of God. It was thus that my worship in the temple came to an end. I used
to worship the Deity in the Kāli temple. It was suddenly revealed to me that
everything is Pure Spirit. The utensils of worship, the altar, the door-frame -
all Pure Spirit. Men, animals, and other living beings - all Pure Spirit. Then
like a madman I began to shower flowers in all directions. Whatever I saw I
worshipped.
One day, while worshipping Śiva, I
was about to offer a bel-leaf on the head of the image, when it was revealed to
me that this Virat, this Universe, itself is Śiva. After that my worship of
Śiva through the image came to an end. Another day I had been plucking flowers,
when it was revealed to me that the flowering plants were so many bouquets.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 396 (2 March 1884)
Mind Matters
A man may live in a mountain cave,
smear his body with ashes, observe fasts; and practise austere discipline; but
if his mind dwells on worldly objects, on 'woman and gold', I say, 'Shame on
him!' But I say that a man is blessed indeed who eats, drinks, and roams about,
but who keeps his mind free from 'woman and gold'.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 402 (9 March 1884)
To Cross the
What will a man gain by knowing many
scriptures? The one thing needful is to know how to cross the river of the
world. God alone is real, and all else illusory.
While Arjuna was aiming his arrow at
the eye of the bird, Drona asked him: 'What do you see? Do you see these
kings?' 'No, sir', replied Arjuna. 'Do you 'See me'?' 'No.' 'The tree?' 'No.'
'The bird on
the tree?' 'No.' 'What do you see
then?' 'Only the eye of the bird.'
He who sees only the eye of the bird
can hit the mark. He alone is clever who
sees that God is real and all else is illusory. What need have I of other
information? Hanuman once remarked: 'I don't know anything about the phase of
the moon or the position of the stars. I only contemplate Rāma.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 392 (24 February 1884)
All Filled with God
MANILAL (to the Master): "Well,
what is the rule for concentration? Where should one concentrate?"
MASTER: "The heart is a
splendid place. One can meditate there or in the Sahasrara. These are rules for
meditation given in the scriptures. But you may meditate wherever you like. Every
place is filled with Brahman-Consciousness.
Is there any place where It does not exist? Narayana, in Vali's
presence, covered with two steps the heavens, the earth, and the interspaces. Is
there then any place left uncovered by God? A dirty place is as holy as the
bank of the
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 403 (9 March 1884)
Meditation on Incarnation
God is born as man for the purpose
of sporting as man. Rāma,
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 405 (9 March 1884)
Two Forms of Meditation
There are two kinds of meditation,
one on the formless God and the other on God with form. But meditation on the formless God is
extremely difficult. In that meditation you must wipe out all that you see or
hear. You contemplate only the nature of your Inner Self. Meditating on His
Inner Self, Shiva dances about. He exclaims, 'What am I! What am I!' This is
called the Shiva yoga'. While practising this form of meditation, one directs one's
look to the forehead. It is meditation
on the nature of one's Inner Self after negating the world, following the
Vedantic method of 'Neti, neti'.
There is another form of meditation,
known as the 'Vishnu yoga', The eyes are fixed on the tip of the nose. Half the
look is directed inward and the other half outward. This is how one meditates
on God with form. Sometimes Shiva meditates on God with form, and dances. At
that time he exclaims, 'Rāma! Rāma!' and dances about.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 403-04 (9 March 1884)
Meaning of
The sound
'What will you gain', some sages
ask, 'by merely hearing this sound?' You hear the roar of the ocean from a
distance. By following the roar you can
reach the ocean. As long as there is the roar, there must also be the ocean. By
following the trail of Om you attain Brahman, of which the Word is the symbol. That
Brahman has been described by the Vedas as the ultimate goal. But such vision is not possible as long as
you are conscious of your ego. A man
realizes Brahman only when he feels neither 'I' nor 'you', neither 'one' nor
'many'.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 404 (9 March 1884)
Ignorance, Knowledge, and Supreme
Wisdom
The jiva at first remains in a state
of ignorance. He is not conscious of God, but of the multiplicity. He sees many
things around him. On attaining Knowledge he becomes conscious that God dwells
in all beings. Suppose a man has a thorn in the sole of his foot. He gets
another thorn and takes out the first one. In other words, he removes the thorn
of ajnāna, ignorance, by means of the thorn of jnāna, knowledge. But on
attaining vijnāna, he discards both thorns, knowledge and ignorance. Then he
talks intimately with God day and night. It is no mere vision of God.
He who has merely heard of milk is
'ignorant'. He who has seen milk has
'knowledge'. But he who has drunk milk and been strengthened by it has attained
vijnāna.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 404 (9 March 1884)
Grace of God on All
The grace of God falls alike on all
His children, learned and illiterate―whoever longs for Him. The father has the same love for all his children.
Suppose a father has five children. One calls him 'Baba', some 'Ba', and some
'Pa'. These last cannot pronounce the whole word. Does the father love those
who address him as 'Baba' more than those who call him 'Pa'? The father knows
that these last are simply too young to say 'Baba' correctly.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 407 (23 March 1884)
How the Lord Himself is deluded by
His own Māyā
You may ask, 'How is it possible for
God to be incarnated as a man who suffers from hunger, thirst, and the other
traits of an embodied being, and perhaps also from disease and grief?' The
reply is, 'Even Brahman weeps, entrapped in the snare of the five
elements.'
Don't you know how Rāma had to weep,
stricken with grief for Sita? Further, it is said that the Lord incarnated Himself as a sow in order
to kill the demon Hiranyaksha. Hiranyaksha was eventually killed, but God would
not go back to His abode in heaven. He enjoyed His sow's life. He had given
birth to several young ones and was rather happy with them. The gods said among
themselves: 'What does this mean? The Lord doesn't care to return to heaven!'
They all went to Shiva and laid the matter before him. Shiva came down and
urged the Lord to leave the sow body and return to heaven. But the sow only
suckled her young ones. (Laughter.) Then
Shiva destroyed the sow body with his trident, and the Lord came out laughing
aloud and went back to His own abode.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 415-16 (5 April 1884)
The Anāhata Sound
PRANKRISHNA (to the Master):
"Sir, what is the Anāhata sound?"
MASTER: "It is a spontaneous
sound constantly going on by itself. It is the sound of the Pranava,
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 416 (5 April 1884)
* According to Hindu mythology, after the dissolution of
the universe and before the next creation, the Supreme Lord rests on the Ocean
of the Great Cause, also called the “
The "ego of Devotion"
According to the Puranas, the bhakta
and the Bhagavan are two separate entities. 'I' am one and 'You' are another. The
body is a plate, as it were, containing the water of mind, intelligence, and ego.
Brahman is like the sun. It is reflected in the water. Therefore the devotee
sees the divine form.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 416 (5 April 1884)
The "ego of Knowledge"
According to the Vedānta, Brahman
alone is real and all else is māyā, dreamlike and unsubstantial. The ego, like
a stick, lies across the
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 416 (5 April 1884)
Jnāni looks on the world as illusory
According to Vedānta the waking state,
too, is unreal. Once a wood-cutter lay dreaming, when someone woke him up.
Greatly annoyed, he said: 'Why have you disturbed my sleep? I was dreaming that
I was a king and the father of seven children. The princes were becoming well versed
in letters and military arts. I was secure on my throne and ruled over my
subjects. Why have you demolished my
world of joy?' 'But that was a mere dream', said the other man. 'Why should that bother you?' 'Fool!' said
the wood-cutter. 'You don't understand. My becoming a king in the dream was
just as real as is my being a wood-cutter. If being a wood-cutter is real, then
being a king in a dream is real also.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 417 (5 April 1884)
Guru
The guru is like a female companion
to Radha. As there is not end to her love-errands until her friend Radha is
united with
-
Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P457-58
Harmony of Religions
I see people who talk about religion
constantly quarrelling with one another. Hindus, Mussalmans, Brahmos, Shaktas,
Vaishnavas, Saivas, all quarrel with one another. They haven't the intelligence
to understand that He who is called
Truth is one; only It is called by
different names. All people are seeking the same Truth; the variance is due to
climate, temperament, and name. A lake has many ghats. From one Ghat the Hindus
take water in jars and call it 'jal'. From another Ghat the Mussalmans take
water in leather bags and call it 'pani'. From a third the Christians take the
same thing and call it 'water'. (All laugh.) Suppose someone says that the
thing is not 'jal' but 'pani', or that it is not 'pani' but 'water', or that it
is not 'water' but 'jal'. It would indeed be ridiculous. But this very thing is
at the root of the friction among sects, their misunderstandings and quarrels.
This is why people injure and kill one another, and shed blood, in the name of
religion. But this is not good. Everyone is going toward God. They will all
realize Him if they have sincerity and longing of heart.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 423 (5 April 1884)
‘Fish’ of Enjoyment
As long as there is bhoga, there
will be less of yoga. Furthermore, bhoga begets suffering. It is said in the
Bhagavata that the Avadhuta chose a kite as one of his twenty-four gurus. The
kite had a fish in its beak; so it was surrounded by a thousand crows.
Whichever way it flew with the fish, the crows pursued it crying, 'Caw! Caw!'
When all of a sudden the fish dropped from its beak, the crows flew after the fish,
leaving the kite alone.
The 'fish' is the object of
enjoyment. The 'crows' are worries and anxiety. Worries and anxiety are
inevitable with enjoyment. No sooner does one give up enjoyment than one finds
peace.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 428 (24 May 1884)
God-Vision
A DEVOTEE: "What is the vision
of God like?"
MASTER: "Haven't you seen a
theatrical performance? The people are engaged in conversation, when suddenly
the curtain goes up. Then the entire mind of the audience is directed to the
play. The people don't look at other things any longer. Samādhi is to go within
oneself like that. When the curtain is rung down, people look around again. Just so, when the, curtain of māyā falls, the
mind becomes externalized.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 430 (24 May 1884)
God in Human Forms
God no doubt dwells in all, but He
manifests Himself more through man than through other beings. Is man an insignificant
thing? He can think of God, he can think of the Infinite, while other living
beings cannot. God exists in other living beings - animals, plants, nay, in all
beings -, but He manifests Himself more through man than through these others.
Fire exists in all beings, in all things; but its presence is felt more in
wood. Rāma said to Lakshmana: 'Look at the elephant, brother. He is such a big
animal, but he cannot think of God.'
But in the Incarnation there is a
greater manifestation of God than in other men. Rāma said to
Lakshmana, 'Brother, if
you see in
a man ecstatic
love of God,
if he laughs, weeps, and dances in divine ecstasy,
then know for certain that I dwell in him.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 432-33 (24 May 1884)
Parable of the Calf
The misfortune that befalls a man on
account of his egotism can be realized if you only think of the condition of
the calf. The calf says, 'Hamma! Hamma!' that is, 'I! I!' And just look at its
misfortune! At times it is yoked to the plough and made to work in the field
from sunup to sundown, rain or shine. Again, it may be slaughtered by the
butcher. In that case the
flesh is eaten
and the skin
tanned into hide. From
the hide shoes
are made. People put on these shoes and walk on the rough ground. Still
that is not the end of its misfortunes. Drums are made from its skin and
mercilessly beaten with sticks. At last its entrails are made into strings for
the bow used in carding cotton. When used by the carder the string gives the
sound 'Tuhu! Tuhu!','Thou! Thou!'-that is, 'It is Thou, O Lord! It is Thou!' It
no longer says, 'Hamma! Hamma!', 'I! I!' Only then does the calf's trouble come
to an end, and it is liberated. It doesn't return to the world of action.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 451 (15 June 1884)
Signs of God-vision
A DEVOTEE: "How can a man get
rid of his ego?"
MASTER: "You cannot get rid of
it until you have realized God. If you find a person free from ego, then know
for certain that he has seen God."
DEVOTEE: "What, sir, are the
signs of God-vision?"
MASTER: "Yes, there are such
signs. It is said in the Bhagavata that a man who has seen God behaves
sometimes like a child, sometimes like a ghoul, sometimes like an inert thing,
and sometimes like a madman.
The man who has seen God becomes
like a child. He is beyond the three gunas; he is unattached to any of them. He
behaves like a ghoul, for he maintains the same attitude toward things holy and
unholy. Again, like a madman, he sometimes laughs and sometimes weeps. Now he
dresses himself like a dandy and the next moment he goes entirely naked and
roams about with his cloth under his arm. Therefore he seems to be a lunatic.
Again, at times he sits motionless like an inert thing."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 451-52 (15 June 1884)
Harmless ego
DEVOTEE: "Does the ego
disappear altogether after the realization of God?"
MASTER: "Yes, sometimes God
totally effaces the ego of His devotee, as in the state of samādhi. But in many
cases He keeps a trace of ego. But that doesn't injure anybody. It is like the ego
of a child. A five-year-old child no doubt says 'I', but that ego doesn't harm
anybody. At the touch of the philosopher's stone, steel is turned into gold;
the steel sword becomes a sword of gold. The gold sword has the form of a
sword, no doubt, but it cannot injure anybody. One cannot cut anything with a
gold sword.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 452 (15 June 1884)
Karma-Yoga
To work in such a spirit of detachment
is known as karmayoga. But it is very difficult. We are living in the Kaliyuga,
when one easily becomes attached to one's actions. You may think you are
working in a detached spirit, but attachment creeps into the mind from nobody
knows where. You may worship in the temple or arrange a grand religious
festival or feed many poor and starving people. You may think you have done all
this without hankering after the results. But unknown to yourself the desire
for name and fame has somehow crept into your mind. Complete detachment from
the results of action is possible only for one who has seen God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 452 (15 June 1884)
Everything is God’s
I tell people that there is nothing
wrong in the life of the world. But they must live in the world as a
maidservant lives in her master's house.' Referring to her master's house, she says,
'That is our house.' But her real home is perhaps in a far-away village. Pointing
out her master's house to others, she says, no doubt, 'This is our house', but
in her heart she knows very well that it doesn't belong to her and that her own
house is in a faraway village. She brings up her master's son and says, 'My
Hari has grown very naughty', or 'My Hari doesn't like sweets.' Though she
repeats, 'My Hari' with her lips, yet she knows in her heart that Hari doesn't
belong to her, that he is her master's son.
Thus I say to those who visit me:
'Why don't you live in the world? There is no harm in that. But always keep
your mind, on God. Know for certain that house, family and property are not
yours. They are God's. Your real home is in God.' Also I ask them to pray
always with a longing heart for love of God's Lotus Feet.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 456-57 (15 June 1884)
Different Names of Reality
All
scriptures-the Vedas, the
Puranas, the Tantras-seek
Him alone and no one else, only that one Satchidananda. That which is called Satchidananda Brahman in
the Vedas is called Satchidananda Shiva in the Tantra. Again it is He alone who is called
Satchidananda Krishna in the Puranas.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 423 (5 April 1884)
Ego and Knowledge of Brahman
The aspirant does not attain the
Knowledge of Brahman as long as he is conscious of his ego. The ego comes under
one's control after one has obtained the Knowledge of Brahman and seen God.
Otherwise the ego cannot be controlled. It is difficult to catch one's own
shadow. But when the sun is overhead, the shadow is within a few inches of the
body.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 430 (24 May 1884)
Always Remember God
The thing is somehow to unite the
mind with God. You must not forget Him, not even once. Your thought of Him
should be like the flow of oil, without any interruption. If you worship with
love even a brick or stone as God, then through His grace you can see Him.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 432 (24 May 1884)
The Bondage of "woman and
gold"
'Woman and gold' is the cause of bondage.
'Woman and gold' alone constitutes samsara, the world. It is 'woman and gold' that
keeps one from seeing God. (Holding the towel in front of his face) Do you see
my face any more? Of course not. The towel hides it. No sooner is the covering
of 'woman and gold' removed than one attains Chidananda, Consciousness and
Bliss.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 438 (25 May 1884)
Woman
I see that all are under the control
of woman. One day I went to Captain's house. From there I was to go to Ram's
house. So I said to Captain, 'Please give me my carriage hire.' He asked his
wife about it. She too held back and said: 'What's the matter? What's the
matter?' At last Captain said, 'Ram will take care of it.' You see, the Gitā,
the Bhagavata, and the Vedānta all bow before a woman! (All laugh.)
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 439 (25 May 1884)
Sadhu’s Life
Do your worldly duties with a part
of your mind and direct most of it to God. A sādhu should think of God with
three quarters of his mind and with one quarter should do his other duties. He
should be very alert about spiritual things. The snake is very sensitive in its
tail. Its whole body reacts when it is hurt there. Similarly, the whole life of
a sādhu is affected when his spirituality is touched.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 440 (25 May 1884)
Goal of Life
Therefore I say again that work is
only the first step. It can never be the goal of life. Devote yourself to
spiritual practice and go forward. Through practice you will advance more and
more in the path of God. At last you will come to know that God alone is real
and all else is illusory, and that the goal of life is the attainment of God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 453 (15 June 1884)
… Master began to sing in an ecstasy
of love for God:
Dive deep, O mind, dive deep in the
If you descend to the uttermost depths,
There you will find the gem of Love. . . .
The Master continued: "One does
not die if one sinks in this Ocean. This is the
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 467 (25 June 1884)
Daya and Maya
To love these objects, regarding
them as one's own, is māyā. But to love all things is daya, compassion. To love
only the members of the Brahmo Samaj or of one's own family is māyā; to love one's
own countrymen is māyā. But to love the people of all countries, to love the
members of all religions, is daya. Such love comes from love of God, from daya.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 456 (15 June 1884)
Aim of Life
The aim of human birth is to love
God. Realize that love and be at peace. – Sri Ramakrishna
Three Yogas Explained
Innumerable are the ways that lead
to God. There are the paths of jnāna, of karma, and of bhakti. If you are sincere,
you will attain God in the end, whichever path you follow. Roughly speaking,
there are three kinds of yoga: jnanayoga, karma yoga, and bhaktiyoga.
What is jnanayoga? The Jnāni seeks
to realize Brahman. He discriminates, saying, 'Not this, not this'. He
discriminates, saying, 'Brahman is real and the universe illusory.' He
discriminates between the Real and the unreal. As he comes to the end of
discrimination, he goes into samādhi and attains the Knowledge of Brahman.
What is karmayoga? Its aim is to fix
one's mind on God by means of work. … It consists of breath-control, concentration,
meditation, and so on, done in a spirit of detachment. If a householder
performs his duties in the world in a spirit
of detachment, surrendering
the results to
God and with
devotion to God
in his heart, he too may be said
to practise karmayoga. Further, if a person performs worship, japa, and other
forms of devotion, surrendering the results to God, he may be said to practise
karmayoga. Attainment of God alone is the aim of karmayoga.
What is bhaktiyoga? It is to keep
the mind on God by chanting His name and glories. For the Kaliyuga the path of devotion
is easiest. This is indeed the path for this age.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 467-68 (25 June 1884)
How a Jnāni looks on the Illusory
World
A Jnāni sees everything at once-God,
māyā, the universe, and living beings. He sees that Vidyā-māyā, Avidyā-māyā,
the universe, and all living beings exist and at the same time do not exist. As
long as he is conscious of 'I', he is conscious of 'others' too. Nothing
whatsoever exists after he cuts through the whole thing with the sword of
jnāna. Then even his 'I' becomes as unreal as the magic of the magician.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 460 (20 June 1884)
Many paths to realize God
There are innumerable pathways
leading to the
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 467 (25 June 1884)
Difficulties of the Paths of Jnāna and
Karma
The path of karma is very difficult.
First of all, as I have just said, where will one find the time for it
nowadays? Where is the time for a man to perform his duties as enjoined in the scriptures?
Man's life is short in this age. Further, it is extremely difficult to perform
one's duties in a spirit of detachment, without craving the result. One cannot
work in such a spirit without first having realized God. Attachment to the
result somehow enters the mind, though you may not be aware of it.
To follow jnanayoga in this age is
also very difficult. First, a man's life depends entirely on food. Second, he
has a short span of life. Third, he can by no means get rid of
body-consciousness; and the Knowledge of Brahman is impossible without the destruction
of body-consciousness. The Jnāni says: 'I am Brahman; I am not the body. I am
beyond hunger and thirst, disease and grief, birth and death, pleasure and
pain.' How can you be a Jnāni if you are conscious of disease, grief, pain,
pleasure, and the like? A thorn enters your flesh, blood flow from the wound,
and you suffer very badly from the pain; but nevertheless, if you are a Jnāni
you must be able to say: 'Why, there is no thorn in my flesh at all. Nothing is
the matter with me'
Therefore bhaktiyoga is prescribed
for this age. By following this path one comes to God more easily than by
following the others. One can undoubtedly, reach God by following the paths of
jnāna and karma, but they are very difficult paths.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 468 (25 June 1884)
God fulfils all Desires of His
Devotees
Bhaktiyoga is the religion for this
age. But that does not mean that the lover of God will reach one goal and the
philosopher and worker another. It means that if a person seeks the Knowledge
of Brahman he can attain It by following the path of bhakti, too. God, who
loves His devotee, can give him the Knowledge of Brahman if He so desires.
But the bhakta wants to realize the
Personal God endowed with form and talk to Him. He seldom seeks the Knowledge
of Brahman. But God, who does everything at His pleasure, can make His devotee
the heir to His infinite glories if it pleases Him. He gives His devotee both
the Love of God and the Knowledge of Brahman. If one is able somehow to reach
By realizing the Divine Mother of
the Universe, you will get Knowledge as well as Devotion. You will get both. In
bhava samādhi you will see the form of God, and in nirvikalpa samādhi you will
realize Brahman, the Absolute Existence-Knowledge-Bliss. In nirvikalpa samādhi
ego, name, and form do not exist.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 468 (25 June 1884)
Think of God Constantly
The worldly minded practise
devotions, japa, and austerity only by fits and starts. But those who know
nothing else but God repeat His name with every breath. Some always repeat
mentally, 'Om Rāma'. Even the followers of the path of knowledge repeat,
'Soham', 'I am He'. There are others whose tongues are always moving, repeating
the name of God. One should remember and think of God constantly.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 493 (03 July 1884)
Three kinds of Teachers
There are three classes of physicians.
The physicians of one class feel the patient's pulse and go away, merely
prescribing medicine. As they leave the room they simply ask the patient to
take the medicine. They are the poorest class of physicians. Likewise, there
are teachers who only give instruction, but do not stop to see whether their
teachings have produced a good or bad effect. They do not think at all about
the disciple.
There are physicians of another
class, who prescribe medicine and ask the patient to take it. If the patient is
unwilling to follow their directions, they reason with him. They are the
mediocre physicians. Likewise, there are mediocre teachers. They give
instruction to the student and, further, try to persuade him in various ways to
follow the instruction.
Lastly, there are the physicians of
the highest class. If the patient does not respond to their gentle persuasion,
they even exert force upon him. If necessary, they press their knees on the
patient's chest and force the medicine down his throat. Likewise, there are
teachers of the highest class, who even exert force to direct the mind of the
pupil toward God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 469-70 (25 June 1884)
Ego causing Separation
The worldly man's ego, the 'ignorant
ego', the 'unripe ego', is like a thick stick. It divides, as it were, the
water of the
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 480 (30 June 1884)
Real Hero
A devotee who can call on God while
living a householder's life is a hero indeed. God thinks: 'He who has renounced
the world for My sake will surely pray to Me. He must serve Me. Is there
anything very remarkable about it? People will cry shame on him if he fails to
do so. But he is blessed indeed who prays to Me in the midst of his worldly
duties. He is trying to find Me, overcoming a great obstacle - pushing away, as
it were, a huge block of stone weighing a ton. Such a man is a real hero.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 471 (25 June 1884)
Parable of the Weaver Woman
It is a joy to merge the mind in the
Indivisible Brahman through contemplation. And it is also a joy to keep the
mind on the Lila, the Relative, without dissolving it in the Absolute.
A mere Jnāni is a monotonous person.
He always analyses, saying: 'It is not this, not this. The world is like a
dream.' But I have 'raised both my hands'. Therefore I accept everything.
Listen to a story. Once a woman went
to see her weaver friend. The weaver, who had been spinning different kinds of
silk thread, was very happy to see her friend and said to her: 'Friend, I can't tell you how happy I am to
see you. Let me get you some refreshments.' She left the room. The woman looked
at the threads of different colours and was tempted. She hid a bundle of thread
under one arm. The weaver returned presently with the refreshments and began to
feed her guest with great enthusiasm. But, looking at the thread, she realized
that her friend had taken a bundle. Hitting upon a plan to get it back, she
said: 'Friend, it is so long since I have seen you. This is a day of great joy
for me. I feel very much like asking you to dance with me.' The friend said,
'Sister, I am feeling very happy too.' So the two friends began to dance
together. When the weaver saw that her friend danced without raising her hands,
she said: 'Friend, let us dance with both hands raised. This is a day of great
joy.' But the guest pressed one arm to her side and danced raising only the
other. The weaver said: 'How is this, friend? Why should you dance with only
one hand raised? Dance with me raising both hands.
Look at me. See how I dance with
both hands raised.' But the guest still pressed one arm to her side. She danced
with the other hand raised and said with a smile, 'This is all I know of
dancing.'
The Master continued: "I don't
press my arm to my side. Both my hands are free. I am not afraid of anything. I
accept both the Nitya and the Lila, both the Absolute and the Relative.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 479-80 (30 June 1884)
Devotee's prayer to God
A lover of God prays to the Divine
Mother: 'O Mother, I am very much afraid of selfish actions. Such actions have
desires behind them, and if I perform them I shall have to reap their fruit.
But it is very difficult to work in a detached spirit. I shall certainly forget
Thee, O Mother, if I involve myself in selfish actions. Therefore I have no use
for them. May my actions, O Divine Mother, be fewer every day till I attain
Thee. May I perform, without attachment to the results, only what action is absolutely
necessary for me. May I have great love for Thee as I go on with my few duties.
May I not entangle myself in new work so long as I do not realize Thee. But I shall perform it if I receive Thy
command. Otherwise not.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 469 (25 June 1884)
God Listens to Our Prayer
PUNDIT: "Does God listen to our
prayers?"
MASTER: "God is the Kalpataru,
the Wish-fulfilling Tree. You will certainly get whatever you ask of Him. But
you must pray standing near the Kalpataru. Only then will your prayer be
fulfilled. But you must remember another thing. God knows our inner feeling. A
man gets the fulfillment of the desire he cherishes while practising sadhana.
As one thinks, so one receives.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 481 (30 June 1884)
Talking after Knowledge
How long should one reason about the
texts of the scriptures? So long as one does not have direct realization of
God. How long does the bee buzz about? As long as it is not sitting on a
flower. No sooner does it light on a flower and begin to sip honey than it
keeps quiet.
But you must remember another thing.
One may talk even after the realization of God. But then one talks only of God
and of Divine Bliss. It is like a drunkard's crying, 'Victory to the Divine
Mother!' He can hardly say anything else on account of his drunkenness. You can
notice, too, that a bee makes an indistinct humming sound after having sipped
the honey from a flower.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 476 (30 June 1884)
Brahmajnana
Why shouldn't a man be able to
realize the formless Brahman? But it is extremely difficult. He cannot if he
has even the slightest trace of worldliness. He can be directly aware of
Brahman in his inmost consciousness only when he renounces all sense-objects ― form,
taste, smell, touch, and sound and only when his mind completely stops
functioning. And then too, he knows only this much of Brahman ― that It exists.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 482 (30 June 1884)
Faith in God's Name
A man should have such fiery faith
as to be able to say, 'I have uttered the name of God; how can I be a sinner?'
Imagine a man repeating the name of Hari day and night and at the same time
saying that he is a sinner!
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 494 (03 July 1884)
Different Classes of Perfect Souls
Some souls realize God without
practising any spiritual discipline. They are called nityasiddha, eternally
perfect. Those who have realized God through austerity, japa, and the like, are
called sadhanasiddha, perfect through spiritual discipline. Again, there are
those called kripasiddha, perfect through divine grace. These last may be
compared to a room kept dark a thousand years, which becomes light the moment a
lamp is brought in.
There is also a class of devotees,
the hathatsiddha, that is to say, those who have suddenly attained God-vision.
Their case is like that of a poor boy who has suddenly found favour with a rich
man. The rich man marries his daughter to the boy and along with her gives him
land, house, carriage, servants, and so forth.
There is still another class of
devotees, the svapnasiddha, who have had the vision of God in a dream.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 483 (30 June 1884)
Clay Mould
HAZRA: "The devotee really
prays to his own Self."
MASTER: "What you say is a very
lofty thought. The aim of spiritual discipline, of chanting God's name and
glories, is to realize just that. A man attains everything when he discovers
his true Self in himself. The object of sādhanā is to realize that. That also
is the purpose of assuming a human body. One needs the clay mould as long as
the gold image has not been cast; but when the image is made, the mould is
thrown away. The body may be given up after the realization of God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 521 (07 September 1884)
Infinite Creation
How many things God has created!
Infinite is His universe. But what need have I to know about His infinite
splendours? If I must know these, let me first realize Him. Then God Himself
will tell me all about them. What need have I to know how many houses and how
many government securities Jadu Mallick possesses? All that I need is somehow
to converse with Jadu Mallick. I may succeed in seeing him by jumping over a
ditch or through a petition or after being pushed about by his gate-keeper.
Once I get a chance to talk to him, then he himself will tell me all about his
possessions if I ask him. If one becomes
acquainted with the
master, then one
is respected by
his officers too.
(All laugh.)
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 482 (30 June 1884)
Qualified Non-Dualism
MASTER: "Again, I cannot utter
a word unless I come down at least two steps from the plane of samādhi.
Sankara's Non-dualistic explanation of Vedānta is true, and so is the Qualified
Non-dualistic interpretation of Ramanuja."
NARENDRA: "What is Qualified
Non-dualism?"
MASTER: "It is the theory of Ramanuja.
According to this theory, Brahman, or the Absolute, is qualified
by the universe
and its living
beings: These three-Brahman, the world, and living
beings-together constitute One. Take the instance of a bel-fruit. A man wanted
to know the weight of the fruit. He separated the shell, the flesh, and the
seeds. But can a man get the weight by weighing only the flesh? He must weigh
flesh, shell, and seeds together. At first it appears that the real thing in the
fruit is the flesh, and not its seeds or shell. Then by reasoning you find that
the shell, seeds, and flesh all belong to
the fruit; the
shell and seeds
belong to the
same thing that
the flesh belongs
to. Likewise, in spiritual discrimination one must first reason,
following the method of 'Not this, not this': God is not the universe; God is
not the living beings; Brahman alone is real, and all else is unreal. Then one
realizes, as with the bel-fruit, that the Reality from which we derive the
notion of Brahman is the very Reality that evolves the idea of living beings
and the universe. The Nitya and the Lila are the two aspects of one and the
same Reality; therefore, according to Ramanuja, Brahman is qualified by the
universe and the living beings. This is the theory of Qualified Non-dualism.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 733-34 (11 March 1885)
Affirmation and Negation
One can attain spiritual
consciousness through both affirmation and negation. There is the positive path
of love and devotion, and there is the negative path of knowledge and discrimination.
You are preaching the path of knowledge. But that creates a very difficult situation:
there the guru and the disciple do not see each other. Sukadeva went to Janaka
for instruction about the Knowledge of Brahman. Janaka said to him: 'You must
pay me the guru's fee beforehand. When you attain the knowledge of Brahman you
won't pay me the fee, because the knower of Brahman sees no difference between
the guru and the disciple.'
Both negation and affirmation are
ways to realize one and the same goal. Infinite are the opinions and infinite
are the ways. But you must remember one thing. The injunction is that the path
of devotion described by Nārada is best suited to the Kaliyuga. According to
this path, first comes bhakti; then bhava, when bhakti is mature. Higher than
bhava are mahabhava and prema. An ordinary mortal does not attain mahabhava and
prema. He who has achieved these has realized the goal, that is to say, has
attained God.
-
Sri Ramakrishna to Pandit Shashadhar, Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna,
P 485 (30 June 1884)
Seeing God
SADHAKA: "Is it possible to see
God?"
MASTER: "He is unknowable by
the mind engrossed in worldliness. One cannot attain God if one has even a
trace of attachment to 'woman and gold'. But He is knowable by the pure mind
and the pure intelligence ― the mind and intelligence that have not the slightest
trace of attachment. Pure Mind, Pure Intelligence, Pure Ātman are one and the
same thing.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 524 (14 September 1884)
Old Tendencies
Is it an easy thing to destroy old
tendencies? Once there lived a very pious Hindu who always worshipped the
Divine Mother and chanted Her name. When the Mussalmans conquered the country,
they forced him embrace Islam. They said to him: 'You are now a Mussalman. Say "Allah".
From now on you must repeat only the name of Allah.' With great difficulty he
repeated the word 'Allah', but every now and then blurted out 'Jagadamba'. At
that the Mussalmans were about to beat him. Thereupon he said to them: 'I
beseech you! Please do not kill me. I have been trying my utmost to repeat the
name of Allah, but our Jagadamba has filled me up to the throat. She pushes out
your Allah.' (All laugh.)
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 485 (30 June 1884)
Three kinds of Bhakti
PUNDIT: "By what kind of bhakti
does one realize God?"
MASTER: "Three kinds of bhakti
are found, according to the nature of the man: sattvic
bhakti, rajasic bhakti, and tamasic
bhakti.
Sattvic bhakti is known to God
alone. It makes no outward display. A man with such devotion
loves privacy. Perhaps he meditates
inside the mosquito net, where nobody sees him. When this kind of devotion is
awakened, one hasn't long to wait for the vision of God. The appearance of the
dawn in the east shows that the sun will rise before long.
A man with rajasic bhakti feels like
making a display of his devotion before others. He worships the Deity with
'sixteen ingredients', enters the temple wearing a silk cloth, and puts around
his neck a string of rudrāksha beads interspersed here and there with beads of
gold and ruby.
A man with tamasic bhakti shows the
courage and boisterousness of a highway robber. A highway robber goes on his
expedition openly, shouting, 'Kill! Plunder!' He isn't afraid even of
eight police inspectors.
The devotee with
tamasic bhakti also
shouts like a madman:'Hara! Hara! Vyom! Vyom! Victory to
Kāli!' He has great strength of mind and burning faith.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 494 (03 July 1884)
God Inside and Outside
God is not only inside us; He is
both inside and outside. The Divine Mother showed me in the Kāli temple that
everything is Chinmaya, the Embodiment of Spirit; that it is She who has become
all this―the image, myself, the utensils of worship, the door-sill, the marble
floor. Everything is indeed Chinmaya.
The aim of prayer, of spiritual
discipline, of chanting the name and glories of God, is to realize just that.
For that alone a devotee loves God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 521 (07 September 1884)
Religious Garb
… one must show respect to the
religious garb. Even the mere garb recalls to mind the real object. Chaitanya
once dressed an ass in a religious garb and then prostrated himself before it.
– Sri Ramakrishna
Harmony of Sects
He is indeed a real man who has
harmonized everything. Most people are one-sided. But I find that all opinions
point to the One. All views - the Sakta, the Vaishnava, the Vedānta - have that
One for their centre. He who is formless is, again, endowed with form. It is He
who appears in different forms: The attributeless Brahman is my Father. God
with attributes is my Mother. Whom shall I blame? Whom shall I praise? The two
pans of the scales are equally heavy.'
He who is described in the Vedas is
also described in the Tantras and the Puranas. All of them speak about the one
Satchidananda. The Nitya and the Lila are the two aspects of the one Reality.
It is described in the Vedas as 'Om Satchidananda Brahman', in the Tantras as
'Om Satchidananda Śiva', the ever-pure Śiva, and in the Puranas as 'Om Satchidananda
Krishna'. All the scriptures, the Vedas, the Puranas, and the Tantras, speak
only of one Satchidananda.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 490 (03 July 1884)
Renunciation
It is not possible to acquire
renunciation all at once. The time factor must be taken into account. But it is
also true that a man should hear about it. When the right time comes, he will
say to himself, 'Oh yes, I heard about this.'
You must also remember another thing.
By constantly hearing about renunciation one's desire for worldly objects
gradually wears away. One should take rice-water in small doses to get rid of
the intoxication of liquor. Then one gradually becomes normal.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 502 (03 August 1884)
Occult Powers
What is there in occult powers? When
one’s mind is entangled with them, one moves away from Satchidananda. Listen to
this story. A man had two sons. The elder left home while he was still young
and became a monk. Meanwhile, the younger one got his education and became
learned and virtuous. He married and settled down to fulfil his duties as a
householder.
According to tradition, after twelve
years a monk may visit his birthplace if he wishes. So this monk went to visit
his birthplace after being gone for twelve years. He saw his younger brother’s
farm, his crops, and his wealth. When he reached the door, he called out his
brother’s name. Hearing his name, the younger brother came out to greet his elder
brother. He was overwhelmed with happiness at seeing him after such a long
time. He bowed to him, brought him inside the house, and began to serve him.
After sharing a meal, they began to talk about various things. The younger
brother asked the elder: ‘Brother, you have given up worldly pleasures and
wandered as a monk for many years. Please tell me what you have gained by
this.’ The elder brother said: ‘You want to see what I have achieved? Come with
me.’ So he took his brother to the bank of a nearby river and said, ‘Watch!’ He
then crossed the river, walking on the water. Reaching the other bank, he
called back, ‘Did you see that?’ The younger brother paid half a penny to the
ferryman, crossed the river by boat, went up to his brother and said, ‘What have
I seen?’ The elder brother said, ‘Did you not see me cross the river on foot?’
Smiling, the younger brother replied: ‘Didn’t you see me pay half a penny to
cross that river? Is that all you gained by performing austerities for twelve
years? Your power is worth only half a penny.’ As the monk listened to his
brother’s words, he was awakened and focussed his mind on God-realization.
-
Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P 526
Egotism
As the ego grows, so does sin; when
the ego shrinks, one attains virtue. The increase of egotism destroys
spirituality, but by annihilating the ego one becomes spiritual. Selfishness is
sin; selflessness is virtue. All troubles cease when the ‘I’ dies. … … Look,
the scriptures describe the ego as chit-jada-granthi [a knot of
consciousness and unconsciousness]. Chit means Atman, which is
consciousness itself; jada means matter, such as the body, the senses,
and so on. Tying these two together, this ego has created firm delusion in the
human mind: ‘I am a jiva endowed with a body, senses, an intellect and
so on.’ One cannot make any progress without cutting this terrible knot. One
must give up the ego. …
-
Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P 524
Devotion to God
The important thing is somehow to
cultivate devotion to God and love for Him. What is the use of knowing many
things? It is enough to cultivate love of God by following any of the paths.
When you have this love, you are sure to attain God. Afterwards, if it is
necessary, God will explain everything to you and tell you about the other
paths as well. It is enough for you to develop love of God. You have no need of
many opinions and discussions. You have
come to the orchard to eat mangoes. Enjoy them to your heart's content. You don't
need to count the branches and leaves on the trees.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 506 (03 August 1884)
The state of Samādhi
When the Kundalini rises to the
Sahasrara and the mind goes into samādhi, the aspirant loses all consciousness
of the outer world. He can no longer retain his physical body. If milk is
poured into his mouth, it runs out again. In that state the life-breath lingers
for twenty-one days and then passes out. Entering the 'black waters' of the
ocean, the ship never comes back. But
the Isvarakotis, such as the Incarnations of God, can come down from this state
of samādhi. They can descend from this exalted state because they like to live
in the company of devotees and enjoy the love of God. God retains in them the
'ego of Knowledge' or the 'ego of Devotion' so that they may teach men. Their
minds move between the sixth and the seventh planes. They run a boat-race back and forth, as it
were, between these two planes.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 500 (03 August 1884)
Two classes of Paramahamsas
There are two classes of paramahamsas,
one affirming the formless Reality and the other affirming God with form.
Trailanga Swami believed in the formless Reality. Paramahamsas like him care for
their own good alone; they feel satisfied if they themselves attain the goal.
But those paramahamsas who believe
in God with form keep the love of God even after attaining the Knowledge of
Brahman, so that they may teach spiritual truth to others. They are like a
pitcher brimful of water. Part of the water may be poured into another pitcher.
These perfected souls describe to others the various spiritual disciplines by which
they have realized God. They do this
only to teach others and to help them in spiritual life. With great effort men
dig a well for drinking water, using spades and baskets for the purpose. After
the digging is over, some throw the spades and other implements into the well,
not needing them any more. But some put
them away near the well, so that others may use them.
Some eat mangoes secretly and remove
all trace of them by wiping their mouths with a towel. But some share the fruit with others. There
are sages who, even after attaining Knowledge, work to help others and also to
enjoy the Bliss of God in the company of devotees. 'I want to eat sugar. I don't want to be sugar.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 500 (03 August 1884)
Abhyasayoga
PRIYA: "But the mind is not
under my control."
MASTER: "How is that? There is
such a thing as abhyasayoga, yoga through practice. Keep up the practice and
you will find that your mind will follow in whatever direction you lead it. The
mind is like a white cloth just returned from the laundry. It will be red if
you dip it in red dye and blue if you dip it in blue. It will have whatever
colour you dip it in.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 539 (19 September 1884)
Prema, the 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)
Name of Hari
BHAVANATH: "I feel such relief
while chanting the name of Hari."
MASTER: "He who relieves us of
sin is Hari. He relieves us of our three afflictions in the world. Chaitanya
preached the glory of Hari's name; so it must be good. You see, he was such a
great scholar, and an Incarnation too. Since he preached that name, it must be
good. (Smiling) Once some peasants were invited to a feast. They were asked if they
eat a preparation of hog plum. They answered: 'You may give it to us if the gentlemen
have eaten it. If they enjoyed it, then it must be good.' (All laugh.)
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 528 (14 September 1884)
Following of Different Paths
I have practised the disciplines of
all the paths, each for a few days. Otherwise I should have found no peace of
mind. (Smiling) I have practised all the disciplines; I accept all paths. I
respect the Saktas, the Vaishnavas, and also the Vedantists. Therefore people
of all sects come here. And everyone of them thinks that I belong to his
school. I also respect the modern Brahmajnanis [Brahmo-Samaj members].
A man had a tub of dye. Such was its
wonderful property that people could dye their clothes any colour they wanted
by merely dipping them in it. A clever man said to the owner of the tub, 'Dye
my cloth the colour of your dye-stuff.' (All laugh.)
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 538 (19 September 1884)
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
Subtle Ways
Subtle are the ways of dharma. One
cannot realize God if one has even the least trace of desire. A thread cannot
pass through the eye of a needle if it has the smallest fibre sticking out.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 547 (21 September 1884)
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)
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)
Living in the World after
Realization of God
A man can live in the world after
attaining God. Then he can lead the life of detachment. In the country I have
seen the women of the carpenter families making flattened rice with a husking-machine.
With one hand one of them turns the paddy in the hole and with the other she
holds a nursing child. At the same time she talks with the buyer. She says to
him: 'You owe me two ānnās. Pay it before you go.' But seventy-five per cent of
the woman's mind is on her hand lest it should be crushed by the pestle of the
husking machine.
A man should do his worldly duties
with only twenty-five percent of his mind, devoting the rest to God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 523 (14 September 1884)
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)
God in All
There was a time when I too would
meditate on God with my eyes closed. Then I said to myself: 'Does God exist
only when I think of Him with my eyes closed? Doesn't He exist when I look
around with my eyes open?' Now, when I look around with my eyes open, I see
that God dwells in all beings. He is the Indwelling Spirit of all-men, animals
and other living beings, trees and plants, sun and moon, land and water.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 561 (26 September 1884)
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
Food
Blessed is he who feels longing for
God, though he eats pork. But shame on him whose mind dwells on 'woman and
gold', though he eats the purest food-boiled vegetables, rice, and ghee.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 564 (28 September 1884)
As per Digestion
MASTER (to Goswami): "I have
sung these songs to suit your Vaishnava temperament. But I must sing differently
when the Saktas or others come. Here [referring to Himself] people of all sects
come -Vaishnavas, Saktas, Kartabhajas, Vedantists, and also members of the
modern Brahmo Samaj. Therefore one finds
here all ideals and attitudes. It is by the will of God that different
religions and opinions have come into existence. God gives to different people
what they can digest. The mother does not give fish pilau to all her children.
All cannot digest it; so she prepares simple fish soup for some. Everyone cherishes
his own special ideal and follows his own nature.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 540 (19 September 1884)
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)
Incomprehensible God
God has form; again, He is formless.
How many aspects He has! We cannot comprehend Him. Why should we say that God
is formless only? – Sri Ramakrishna
Inscrutability of God's ways
Triumph or defeat is in the hands of
God. We cannot understand His ways. You must have noticed that the green
coconut remains high in the tree and is exposed to the sun, but still its milk
is cool. On the other hand the paniphal remains in the water, but when eaten it
heats the body.
Look at the body of man. The head is
the root, and it is at the top.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 578 (02 October 1884)
Duty toward mother
Is a mother to be trifled with?
Before becoming a sannyasi Chaitanyadeva worked hard to persuade his
mother to let him renounce home. Mother Sachi said that she would kill Keshab
Bharati [Chaitanya’s monastic guru]. Chaitanyadeva did his utmost to persuade
her. He said: 'Mother, I shall not renounce home if you won't let me. But if
you compel me to lead a householder's life, I shall die. And, mother, even if I
go away as a sannyasi, you will be able to see me whenever you desire. I shall
stay near you. I shall see you every now and then.' Only when Chaitanya
explained it to her thus did she give her permission. Nārada could not go to
the forest to practise austerity as long as his mother was alive. He had to
take care of her. After her death he went away to realize God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 573 (29 September 1884)
O Mother
The devotees begin to sing hymns,
one of them leading and the rest following in chorus.
Girish sings:
Who is this
Woman with the thick black hair,
Shining amidst
the assembly of the gods?
Who is She,
whose feet are like crimson lotuses
Planted on
Śiva's chest?
Who is She,
whose toe-nails shine like the full moon,
Whose legs burn
with the brightness of the sun?
Who is She, who
now speaks soft and smiles on us,
And now fills
all the quarters of the sky
With shouts of
terrible laughter?
Again:
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. . . .
Behari sings:
O Syama, Thou
who dost sit upon a corpse!
I beg Thee,
hear my heart's most fervent prayer:
As my last
breath forsakes this mortal flesh,
Reveal Thyself
within my heart!
Then, in my
mind, from forest and from grove
I shall gather
Thee red hibiscus flowers,
And, scenting
them with the sandal-paste of Love,
Shall lay them
at Thy Lotus Feet.
M. sings with the other devotees:
O Mother, all
is done after Thine own sweet will;
Thou art in
truth self-willed, Redeemer of mankind!
Thou workest
Thine own work; men only call it theirs. . .
They sing again:
All things are
possible, O Mother, through Thy grace;
Obstacles
mountain high Thou makest to melt away.
Thou Home of
Bliss! To all Thou givest peace and joy;
Why then should
I be made to suffer fruitlessly,
Brooding on the
success or failure of my deeds?
And again:
O Mother, ever
blissful as Thou art,
Do not deprive
Thy worthless child of bliss!
My mind knows
nothing but Thy Lotus Feet.
The King of
Death scowls at me terribly;
Tell me,
Mother, what shall I say to him? . . .
They conclude:
In dense
darkness, O Mother, Thy formless beauty sparkles;
Therefore the
yogis meditate in a dark mountain cave. .
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 928-29 (31 October 1885)
United with God
It doesn't matter what kind of
action you are engaged in. You can be united with God through any action
provided that, performing it, you give up all desire for its result.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 579 (02 October 1884)
Chaitanya's Exalted State
Chaitanya experienced three states
of mind. First, the conscious state, when his mind dwelt on the gross and the
subtle. Second, the semi-conscious state, when his mind entered the causal body
and was absorbed in the bliss of divine intoxication. Third, the inmost state,
when his mind was merged in the Great Cause.
This agrees very well with the five
koshas, or 'sheaths', described in the Vedānta. The gross body corresponds to
the annamayakosha and the pranamayakosha, the subtle body to the manomayakosha
and the vijnanamayakosha, and the causal body to the Ānandamayakosha. The Mahakarana, the Great Cause, is beyond
the five sheaths. When Chaitanya's mind merged in That, he would go into
samādhi. This is called the nirvikalpa or jada samādhi.
While conscious of the outer world,
Chaitanya sang the name of God; while in the state of partial consciousness, he
danced with the devotees; and while in the inmost state of consciousness, he
remained absorbed in samādhi.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 330 (9 December 1883)
Catholicity
Some say that God is formless,and
some that God has form. I say, let one man meditate on God with form if he
believes in form, and let another meditate on the formless Deity if he does not
believe in form. What I mean is that dogmatism is not good. It is not good to
feel that my religion alone is true and other religions are false. The correct
attitude is this: My religion is right, but I do not know whether other
religions are right or wrong, true or false. I say this because one cannot know
the true nature of God unless one realizes Him. Kabir used to say: 'God with
form is my Mother, the Formless is my Father. Which shall I blame? Which shall
I praise? The two pans of the scales are equally heavy.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 558 (26 September 1884)
Chaitanya - Love incarnate
Chaitanya was Divine Love
incarnate. He came down to earth to
teach people how to love God. One
achieves everything when one loves God. – Sri Ramakrishna
Pure Heart
You cannot make a pot without first
carefully preparing the clay. The pot will crack if the clay contains particles
of sand or stone. That is why the potter first prepares the clay by removing
the sand and stones.
If a mirror is covered with dirt, it
won't reflect one's face. A man cannot realize his true Self unless his heart
is pure.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 581 (02 October 1884)
Planes of Mind
Man, looking outward, sees the gross;
at that time his mind dwells in the annamayakosha, the gross body. Next is the
subtle body. Functioning through the subtle body, the mind dwells in the
manomayakosha and the vijnanamayakosha. Next is the causal body. Functioning
through the causal body the mind enjoys bliss; it dwells in the Ānandamaykosha.
This corresponds to the semi-conscious state experienced by Chaitanya. Last of
all, the mind loses itself in the Great Cause. It disappears. It merges in the
Great Cause. What one experiences after that cannot be described in words. In
his inmost state of consciousness, Chaitanya enjoyed this experience. Do you
know what this state is like? Dayananda described it by saying, 'Come into the
inner apartments and shut the door. Anyone and everyone cannot enter that part
of the house.
I used to meditate on the flame of a
light. I thought of the red part as gross, the white part inside the red as
subtle, and the stick-like black part, which is the innermost of all, as the
causal.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 604 (11 October 1884)
Pure Mind
The Vedānta says that a man does not
even desire to know God unless he has a pure mind. One cannot be guileless and
liberal-minded without much tapasya or unless it is one's last birth.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 581 (02 October 1884)
Ajnana
How long should a man perform his
duties? As long as he identifies himself with the body, in other words, as long
as he thinks he is the body. That is what the Gitā says. To think of the body
as the Ātman is ajnāna, ignorance.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 582 (02 October 1884)
Lingasharira
The
Mārwāri devotees from
Burrabazar entered the
room and saluted
the Master. He
began to praise them.
MASTER (to the devotees):"Ah!
They are real devotees of God. They visit temples, sing hymns to God, and eat
prasad. And the gentleman whom they have made their priest this year is learned
in the Bhagavata."
MĀRWĀRI DEVOTEE: "Who is this
'I' that says, 'O Lord, I am Thy servant?' "
MASTER: "This is the
lingasarira, or embodied soul. It consists of manas, buddhi, chitta, and
Ahamkāra."
DEVOTEE: "Who is the embodied
soul?"
MASTER: "It is the Ātman bound
by the eight fetters. And what is the chitta? It is the 'I-consciousness' that
says, 'Aha!'"
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 583 (02 October 1884)
Efficacy of Bhakti-yoga
One can attain everything through
bhakti yoga. I wept before the Mother and prayed, 'O Mother, please tell me,
please reveal to me, what the yogis have realized through yoga and the jnanis
through discrimination.' And the Mother has revealed everything to me. She
reveals everything if the devotee cries to Her with a yearning heart. She has
shown me everything that is in the Vedas, the Vedānta, the Puranas, and the
Tantra.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 579 (02 October 1884)
What happens After Death
DEVOTEE: "Revered sir, what
happens after death?"
MASTER: "According to the Gitā,
one becomes afterwards what one thinks of at the time of death. King Bharata
thought of his deer and became a deer in his next life. Therefore one must
practise sādhanā in order to realize God. If a man thinks of God day and night,
he will have the same thought in the hour of death."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 583 (02 October 1884)
Signs of God-vision
TRAILOKYA: What are the signs of a
householder having attained Knowledge?"
MASTER: "His tears will flow,
and the hair on his body will stand on end. No sooner does he hear the sweet
name of God than the hair on his body stands on end from sheer delight, and
tears roll down his cheeks. "A man cannot get rid of body-consciousness as
long as he is attached to worldly things and loves 'woman and gold'. As he
becomes less and less attached to worldly things, he approaches nearer and
nearer to the Knowledge of Self. He also becomes less and less conscious of his
body. He attains Self-Knowledge when his worldly attachment totally disappears.
Then he realizes that body and soul are two separate things. It is very
difficult to separate with a knife the kernel of a coconut from the shell
before the milk inside has dried up. When the milk dries up, the kernel rattles
inside the shell. At that time it loosens itself from the shell. Then the fruit
is called a dry coconut.
The sign of a man's having realized
God is that he has become like a dry coconut. He has become utterly free from
the consciousness that he is the body. He does not feel happy or unhappy with
the happiness or unhappiness of the body. He does not seek the comforts of the
body. He roams about in the world as a jivanmukta, one liberated in life.”
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 629 (19 October 1884)
Great Cause
That which is the Pure Ātman is the
Great Cause, the Cause of the cause. The gross, the subtle, the causal, and the
Great Cause. The five elements are gross. Mind, buddhi, and ego are subtle.
Prakriti, the Primal Energy, is the cause of all these. Brahman, Pure Ātman, is
the Cause of the cause.
This Pure Ātman alone is our real
nature. What is jnāna? It is to know one's own Self and keep the mind in It. It
is to know the Pure Ātman.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 582 (02 October 1884)
Darkness of Mind
The
darkness of the
mind is destroyed
only when a
man stands little
apart from. 'woman and
gold' and, thus
standing apart, practises
a little austerity
and spiritual discipline. Then
only does the cloud of his ego and ignorance vanish. Then only does he attain
the Knowledge of God. This 'woman and gold' is the only cloud that hides the
Sun of Knowledge.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 583-84 (02 October 1884)
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)
Dying in
DEVOTEE: "Revered sir, why does
a man dying in
MASTER: "A person dying in
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 584 (02 October 1884)
Thorny Plant
The hand bleeds when it touches a
thorny plant. Suppose you bring such a plant and repeat, sitting near it:
'There! The plant is burning.' Will that burn the plant? This world is like the
thorny plant. Light the fire of Knowledge and with it set the plant ablaze.
Only then will it be burnt up.
One must labour a little while at
the stage of sādhanā. Then the path becomes easy. Steer the boat around the
curves of the river and then let it go with the favourable wind.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 583 (02 October 1884)
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)
God Alone
God is both inside and outside. It
is He who dwells inside us. Therefore the Vedas say, 'Tattvamasi - That
thou art.' God is also outside us. He appears manifold through māyā; but in
reality He alone exists. Therefore before describing the various names and
forms of God, one should say, 'Om Tat Sat.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 587 (02 October 1884)
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)
Liberation
DEVOTEE: "Revered sir,
is a man
liberated only when
he dies on
the bank of the
Ganges?"
MASTER: "It is the Knowledge of
God alone that gives liberation. The Jnāni will certainly attain liberation
wherever he may die, whether in the charnel-pit or on the bank of the
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 584 (02 October 1884)
Same Destination
I keep men's own ideals intact. I
ask a Vaishnava to hold to his Vaishnava attitude and a Sakta to his. But this
also I say to them 'Never feel that your path alone is right and that the paths
of others a wrong and full of errors. Hindus, Mussalmans, and Christians are
going to the same destination by different paths. A man can realize God by
following his own path if his prayer is sincere.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 596 (05 October 1884)
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)
ChitŚakti
Whatever names and forms you see are
nothing but the manifestations of the power of ChitŚakti. Everything is the
power of ChitŚakti-even meditation and he who meditates. As long as I feel that
I am meditating, I am within the jurisdiction of Prakriti.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 609 (11 October 1884)
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)
Knowledge and Ignorance
'I' and 'mine' - that is ignorance.
True knowledge makes one feel: 'O God, You alone do everything. You alone are
my own. And to You alone belong houses, buildings, family, relatives, friends,
the whole world.
All is Yours.'
But ignorance makes
one feel: 'I am
doing everything. I am the doer. House, buildings, family, children, friends,
and property are all mine.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 609 (11 October 1884)
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)
Bhakti and Desires
You are no doubt in the world. What
if you are? You must surrender the fruit of your action to God. You must not
seek any result for yourself. But mark one thing. The desire for bhakti cannot
be called a desire. You may desire bhakti and pray for it. Practise the tamas
of bhakti and force your demand upon the Divine Mother.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 612 (11 October 1884)
Ādyāśakti
Brahman is actionless. When It is
engaged in creation, preservation, and dissolution, It is called the Primal
Power, Ādyāśakti. This Power must be propitiated. Don't you know that it is so
written in the Chandi? The gods first sang a hymn to the Ādyāśakti in order to
propitiate Her. Only then did Hari wake up from His yoga sleep.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 616 (11 October 1884)
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 stayaround 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)
Intellectual Understanding and
Actual Vision
It is one thing to believe beyond a
doubt that fire exists in wood, but it is quite another to get the fire from
the wood, cook rice with its help, appease one's hunger, and so be satisfied.
These are two entirely different things.
No one can put a limit to spiritual
experience. If you refer to one experience, there is another beyond that, and
still another, and so on.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 624 (19 October 1884)
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)
In Heart
SUB-JUDGE: "How can we know
that we have Knowledge?"
MASTER: "When one has Knowledge
one does not see God any more at a distance. One does not think of Him any more
as 'He'. He becomes 'This'. Then He is seen in one's own heart. God dwells in
every man. He who seeks God realizes Him."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 627 (19 October 1884)
Mother through All
I see all things – trees, plants,
people, cows, grass, water – as if they are covered with different sheaths,
like pillow cases. Haven’t you seen them? Some are made of coarse cloth dyed
red, some of finely patterned cloth, and others of different kinds of cloth;
some are quadrangles and some are round. Everything in the universe is just
like that. Just as there is only one substance – cotton – stuffed into all
those pillow cases, so the same indivisible Satchidananda exists within the
sheaths of people, cows, grass, water, mountains, and everything else. Look, I
see clearly that the Divine Mother has covered Herself with different wrappers
– She has assumed various forms and is peeping through them. Without understanding
my condition, people tried to correct and pacify me. …
-
Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P 632
God and Maya
Someone once raised a question:
“Maya is God’s power and dwells in God. Is God then bound by maya as we are?”
The Master replied, “No, not at all. Although maya belongs to God and dwells
always with God, He is never bound by maya. Look, whoever is bitten by a snake
dies. But there is always poison in the fangs of the snake, and the snake eats
and gulps saliva through its mouth, but the snake does not die. It is just like
that.”
-
Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P 634
Inner Controller
God is our Inner Controller. Pray to
Him with a pure and guileless heart. He will explain everything to you. Give up
egotism and take refuge in Him. You will realize everything. – Sri Ramakrishna
Hindu Religion
The Hindu religion alone is the
Sanatana Dharma. The various creeds you hear of nowadays have come into
existence through the will of God and will disappear again through His will.
They will not last forever. Therefore I say, 'I bow down at the feet of even
the modern devotees.' The Hindu religion has always existed and will always
exist.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 642 (20 October 1884)
Futility of Mere Study
Can one find God in the sacred
books? By reading the scriptures one may feel at the most that God exists. But
God does not reveal Himself to a man unless he himself dives deep. Only after such a plunge, after the revelation
of God through His grace, is one's doubt destroyed. You may read scriptures by
the thousands and recite thousands of texts; but unless you plunge into God
with yearning of heart, you will not comprehend Him. By mere scholarship you
may fool man, but not God.
Scriptures and books-what can one
achieve with these alone? Nothing can be realized without His grace. Strive
with a longing heart for His grace. Through His grace you will see Him and He
will talk to you.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 625 (19 October 1884)
Duty Towards Wife
SUB-JUDGE: "What is a
householder's duty to his wife?"
MASTER: "You should give her
spiritual advice and support her during your lifetime and provide for her
livelihood after your death, if she is a chaste wife.
"But if you are intoxicated
with the Knowledge of God, then you have no more duties to perform. Then God
Himself will think about your morrow if you yourself cannot do so. God Himself
will think about your family if you are intoxicated with Him. If a landlord
dies leaving behind a minor son, then a guardian appointed by the court takes
charge of the son. These are all points of law; you know them."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 628 (19 October 1884)
Milk and Butter
A man sets milk in a quiet place to
curdle, and then he extracts butter from the curd. After once extracting the
butter of Devotion and Knowledge from the milk of the mind, if you keep
that transformed mind
in the water
of the world,
it will float
in the world unattached. But if the mind in its
'unripe' state-that is to say, when it is just like liquid milk-is kept in the
water of the world, then the milk and water will get mixed. In that case it
will be impossible for the mind to float unattached in the world.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 626-27 (19 October 1884)
Story of "the will of
Rāma"
A DEVOTEE: "What is that story
about 'the will of Rāma'?"
MASTER: "In a certain village
there lived a weaver. He was a very pious soul. Everyone trusted him and loved him.
He used to sell his goods in the market-place. When a customer asked him the
price of a piece of cloth, the weaver would say: 'By the will of Rāma the price
of the yarn is one rupee and the labour four ānnās; by the will of Rāma the
profit is two ānnās. The price of the cloth, by the will of Rāma, is one rupee
and six ānnās.' Such was the people's faith in the weaver that the customer
would at once pay the price and take the cloth. The weaver was a real devotee
of God. After finishing his supper in the evening, he would spend long hours'
in the worship hall meditating on God and chanting His name and glories. Now,
late one night the weaver couldn't get to sleep. He was sitting in the worship hall,
smoking now and then, when a band of robbers happened to pass that way. They
wanted a man to carry their goods and said to the weaver, 'Come with us.' So saying,
they led him off by the hand. After committing a robbery in a house, they put a
load of things on the weaver's head, commanding him to carry them. Suddenly the
police arrived and the robbers ran away. But the weaver, with his load, was arrested.
He was kept in the lock-up for the night. Next day he was brought before the
magistrate for trial. The villagers learnt what had happened and came to court.
They said to the magistrate, 'Your Honour, this man could never commit a
robbery.' Thereupon the magistrate asked the weaver to make his statement.
The weaver said: 'Your Honour, by
the will of Rāma I finished my meal at night. Then by the will of Rāma I was
sitting in the worship hall. It was quite late at night by the will of Rāma. By
the will of Rāma I had been thinking of God and chanting His name and glories,
when by the will of Rāma a band of robbers passed that way. By the will of Rāma
they dragged me with them; by the will of Rāma they committed a robbery in a
house; and by the will of Rāma they put a load on my head. Just then, by the
will of Rāma the police arrived, and by the will of Rāma I was arrested. Then
by the will of Rāma the police kept me in the lock-up for the night, and this
morning by the will of Rāma I have been brought before Your Honour.' The
magistrate realized that the weaver was a pious man and ordered his release. On
his way home the weaver said to his friends, 'By the will of Rāma I have been
released.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 648-49 (26 October 1884)
Pure Ātman
The Pure Ātman is inactive and is
the Witness of the three states. When I think of the acts of creation,
preservation, and destruction, then I call the Pure Ātman 'Isvara'. What is the
Pure Ātman like? It is like a magnet lying at a great distance from a needle.
The needle moves, but the magnet lies motionless, inactive.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 655 (26 October 1884)
Body of Jnani
Even after attaining Knowledge, the
Jnāni keeps his body as before. But the fire of Knowledge burns away his lust
and other passions. Many days ago, during an electric storm, a thunderbolt
struck the Kāli temple. We saw that no injury had been done to the doors; only the
points of the screws were broken. The doors are the body, and the passions-lust
and so forth-are the screws.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 659 (9 November 1884)
Explanation of "Aum"
MASTER (To Mahima) "You explain
'Aum' with reference to 'a', 'u', and 'm' only."
MAHIMA: "'A', 'u', and 'm' mean
creation, preservation, and destruction."
MASTER: "But I give the
illustration of the sound of a gong: 'tom', t— o -- m. It is the merging of the
Lila in the Nitya: the gross, the subtle, and the causal merge in the Great
Cause; waking, dream, and deep sleep merge in Turiya. The striking of the gong
is like the falling of a heavy weight into a big ocean. Waves begin to rise:
the Relative rises from the Absolute; the causal, subtle, and gross bodies
appear out of the Great Cause; from Turiya emerge the states of deep sleep,
dream, and waking. These waves arising from the
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 653 (26 October 1884)
Goal of Scriptures
If you meditate on an ideal you will
acquire its nature. If you think of God day and night, you will acquire the
nature of God. A salt doll went into the ocean to measure its depth. It became
one with the ocean. What is the goal of books or scriptures? The attainment of
God. A man opened a book belonging to a sādhu. He saw the word 'Rāma' written
on every page. There was nothing else.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 657 (9 November 1884)
Parents
Look, my children, parents are the
greatest gurus in this world. As long as they are alive, one should serve them
to one’s utmost ability; when they die, one should perform the shraddha
ceremony as far as one is able. One who is poor and has no means to perform the
shraddha ceremony for parents should go to the forest and weep for their
memory, thus repaying the debt to them. One may disobey one’s parents without
incurring any sin only for the sake of God. Although his father forbade it,
Prahlada did not stop repeating the name of
-
Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P 615
Way to Brahmajnana
VIJAY: "How, sir, can one have
the vision of the Primal Energy and attain Brahmajnana, the Knowledge of the
attributeless Brahman?"
MASTER: "Pray to Him with a
yearning heart, and weep. That will purify your heart. You see the reflection of
the sun in clear water. In the mirror of his 'I-consciousness' the devotee sees
the form of the Primal Energy, Brahman with attributes. But the mirror must be
wiped clean. One does not see the right reflection if there is any dirt on the
mirror.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 636 (19 October 1884)
God as Person
As long as a man is conscious of 'I'
and 'you', and as long as he feels that it is he who prays or meditates, so
long will he feel that God is listening to his prayer and that God is a Person.
Then he must say: 'O God, Thou art the Master and I am Thy servant. Thou art
the whole and I am a part of Thee. Thou art the Mother and I am Thy child.' At
that time there exists a feeling of difference: 'I am one and Thou art another.'
It is God Himself who makes us feel this difference; and on account of this
difference one sees man and woman, light and darkness, and so on. As long as
one is aware of this difference, one must accept Śakti, the Personal God. It is
God who has put 'I-consciousness' in us. You may reason a thousand times; still
this 'I' does not disappear. As long as 'I-consciousness' exists, God reveals
Himself to us as a Person.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 635 (19 October 1884)
Real Nature of God
If you believe that God is formless,
then stick to that belief with firm conviction. But don’t be dogmatic: never
say emphatically about God that He can be only this and not that. You may say:
‘I believe that God is formless. But He can be many things more. He alone knows
what else He can be. I do not know; I do not understand.’ How can man with his
one ounce of intelligence know the real nature of God? Can you put four seers
of milk in a one-seer jar? If God, through His grace, ever reveals Himself to
His devotee and makes him understand, then he will know; but not otherwise.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 635 (19 October 1884)
Superior Devotee
He who has seen God finds that God
alone has become the world and all its living beings; it is He who has become
all. Such a person is called a superior devotee. – Sri Ramakrishna
See God in the World
MAHIMA: "Can a man live in the
world if his mind is once directed to God?"
MASTER: "Why not? Where will he
go away from the world? I realize that wherever I live I am always in the
Ayodhya of Rāma. This whole world is Rāma's Ayodhya. After receiving
instruction from His teacher, Rāma said that He would renounce the world. Daśaratha
sent the sage Vasishtha to Rāma to dissuade Him. Vasishtha found Him filled
with intense renunciation. He said to Rāma: 'First of all, reason with me,
Rāma; then You may leave the world. May I ask You if this world is outside,
God? If that is so, then You may give it up.' Rāma found that it is God alone
who has become the universe and all its living beings. Everything in the world
appears real on account of God's reality behind it. Thereupon Rāma became
silent.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 648 (26 October 1884)
A sannyāsi keeps his body in order
to teach mankind. – Sri Ramakrishna
Meaning of Radha and
ADHAR (introducing Bankim [Chandra
Chatterji]): "Sir, he is a great scholar and has written many books. He
has come here to see you. His name is Bankim Babu."
MASTER (smiling): "Bankim! Well,
what has made you bent?"
BANKIM (smiling): "Why, sir,
boots are responsible for it. The kicks of our white masters have bent my
body."
MASTER: "No, my dear sir! Sri
Krishna was bent on account of His ecstatic love. His body was bent in three
places owing to His love for Radha. That is how some people explain Sri
Krishna's form. Do you know why He has a deep-blue complexion? And why He is of
such small stature-only three and a half cubits measured by His own hand? God
looks so as long as He is seen from a distance. So the water of the ocean looks
blue from afar. But if you go near the ocean and take the water in your hand,
you will no longer find it blue; it will be very clear, transparent. So the sun
appears small because it is very far away; if you go near it, you will no
longer find it small. When one knows the true nature of God, He appears neither
blue nor small. But that is a far-off vision;one does not see it except in samādhi.
As long as 'I' and 'you' exist, name and form will also exist. Everything is
God's lila. His sportive pleasure. As long as a man is conscious of 'I' and
'you', he will experience the manifestations of God through diverse forms.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 666-67 (6 December 1884)
First God
First realize God, then think of the
creation and other things. Valmiki was given the name of Rāma to repeat as his
mantra, but was told at first to repeat 'mara'. 'Ma' means God and 'ra' the
world. First God and then the world. If you know one you know all. If you put
fifty zeros after a one, you have a large sum; but erase the one and nothing
remains. It is the one that makes the many. First one, then many. First God,
then His creatures and the world.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 672 (6 December 1884)
Charity – Rama’s Will
MASTER: “… Sitting on the bank of
the Ganges below the Panchavati, I used to say, 'Rupee is clay and clay is
rupee;' Then I threw both into the
BANKIM: "Indeed! Money is clay!
Sir, if you have a few pennies you can help the poor. If money is clay, then a
man cannot give in charity or do good to others."
MASTER (to Bankim): "Charity!
Doing good! How dare you say you can do good to others? Man struts about so
much; but if one pours foul water into his mouth when he is asleep, he doesn't
even know it; his mouth overflows with it. Where are his boasting, his vanity,
his pride, then?
"A sannyāsi must give up 'woman
and gold'; he cannot accept it any more. One must not swallow one's own
spittle. When a sannyāsi gives something to another, he knows that it is not
himself who gives. Kindness belongs to God alone. How can a man lay claim to
it? Charity depends on the will of Rāma. A true sannyāsi renounces 'woman and
gold' both mentally and outwardly.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 670 (6 December 1884)
Pure Love
VIJAY: "What remains if one
renounces both dharma and dharma?"
MASTER: "Pure love of God. I
prayed to the Divine Mother: 'O Mother; here, take Thy dharma; here,
take Thy adharma;
and give me
pure love for
Thee. Here, take
Thy virtue; here, take Thy vice; and give me pure love for Thee. Here,
take Thy knowledge; here, take Thy ignorance; and give me pure love for Thee.'
You see, I didn't ask even for knowledge or public recognition. When one
renounces both dharma and adharma, there remains only pure love of God-love
that is stainless, motiveless, and that one feels only for the sake of
love."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 635 (19 October 1884)
Giving up Animal Feeling
'Woman and gold' alone is the world;
that alone is māyā. Because of it you cannot see or think of God. After the
birth of one or two children, husband and wife should live as brother and
sister and talk only of God. Then both their minds will be drawn to God, and
the wife will be a help to the husband on the path of spirituality. None can
taste divine bliss without giving up his animal feeling. A devotee should pray
to God to help him get rid of this feeling. It must be a sincere prayer. God is
our Inner Controller; He will certainly listen to our prayer if it is sincere.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 670 (6 December 1884)
Yearning for God-Vision
One must have for God the yearning
of a child. The child sees nothing but confusion when his mother is away. You
may try to cajole him by putting a sweetmeat in his hand; but he will not be
fooled. He only says, 'No, I want to go to my mother.' One must feel such
yearning for God. Ah, what yearning! How restless a child feels for his mother!
Nothing can make him forget his mother. He to whom the enjoyment of worldly
happiness appears tasteless, he who takes no delight in anything of the world -
money, name, creature comforts, sense pleasure - becomes sincerely
grief-stricken for the vision of the Mother. And to him alone the Mother comes
running, leaving all Her other duties.
Ah, that restlessness is the whole
thing. Whatever path you follow-whether you are a Hindu, a Mussalman, a
Christian, a Sakta, a Vaishnava, or a Brahmo-the vital point is restlessness.
God is our Inner Guide. It doesn't matter if you take a wrong path - only you must
be restless for Him. He Himself will put you on the right path.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 673 (6 December 1884)
'O God, Thou art my Mother and I am
Thy child' - this is the last word in spirituality. – Sri Ramakrishna
Divine Incarnation and the Ordinary
Man
MASTER: “You partake of the nature
of him on whom you meditate. By worshipping Śiva you acquire the nature of
Śiva. A devotee of Rāma meditated on Hanuman day and night. He used to think he
had become Hanuman. In the end he was firmly convinced that he had even grown a
little tail. Jnāna is the characteristic of Śiva, and bhakti of Vishnu. One who
partakes of Śiva's nature becomes a Jnāni, and one who partakes of Vishnu's nature
becomes a bhakta."
M: "But what about
Chaitanyadeva? You said he had both knowledge and devotion."
MASTER (sharply): "His case was
different. He was an Incarnation of God. There is a great difference between
him and an ordinary man. The fire of Chaitanya's renunciation was so great that
when Sarvabhauma poured sugar on his tongue, instead of melting, it evaporated
into air. He was always absorbed in samādhi. How great was his conquest of
lust! To compare him with a man! A lion eats meat and yet it mates only once in
twelve years; but a sparrow eats grain and it indulges in sex-life day and
night. Such is the difference between a Divine Incarnation and an ordinary
human being. An ordinary man renounces lust; but once in a while he forgets his
vow. He cannot control himself.”
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 688 (27 December 1884)
Faith in Guru
One must have faith in the guru's
words. The guru is none other than Satchidananda. God Himself is the Guru. If
you only believe his words like a child, you will realize God. What faith a
child has! When a child's mother says to him about a certain man, 'He is your
brother', the child believes he really is his brother. The child believes it
one hundred and twenty-five percent, though he may be the son of a brahmin, and
the man the son of a blacksmith. The mother says to the child, 'There is a
bugaboo in that room', and the child really believes there is a bugaboo in the
room. Such is the faith of a child! One must have this childlike faith in the
guru's words. God cannot be realized by a mind that is hypocritical, calculating,
or argumentative. One must have faith and sincerity. Hypocrisy will not do. To the
sincere, God is very near; but He is far, far away from the hypocrite.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 673 (6 December 1884)
God Alone Real
Those who build hospitals and
dispensaries, and get pleasure from that, are no doubt good people; but they are
of a different type. He who is a real devotee of God seeks nothing but God. If
he finds himself entangled in too much work, he earnestly prays, 'Lord, be
gracious and reduce my work; my mind, which should think of Thee day and night,
has been wasting its power; it thinks of worldly things alone.' Pure-souled devotees
are in a class by themselves. You cannot have real love of God unless you know
that God alone is real and all else illusory. You cannot have real love of God
unless you know that the world is impermanent, only of two days' existence,
while its Creator alone is real and eternal.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 671 (6 December 1884)
A Paramahamsa is always conscious
that God alone is real and all else illusory. Only the swan has the power to
separate milk from a mixture of milk and water. The swan's tongue secretes an
acid that separates the milk from the mixture. The paramahamsa also possesses
such a juice; it is his ecstatic love for God. That separates the Real from the
mixture of the Real and the unreal. Through it one becomes aware of God and
sees Him.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 699 (22 February 1885)
Duties of Householders
MASTER: "For you, as Chaitanya said,
the disciplines to be practised are kindness to living beings, service to the
devotees, and chanting the name of God.
(To Surendra) "Why do I say all
this to you? You work in a merchant's office. I say this to you because you
have many duties to perform there.
"You tell lies at the office.
Then why do I eat the food you offer me? Because you give your money in
charity; you give away more than you earn. 'The seed of the melon is bigger
than the fruit', as the saying goes.
"I cannot eat anything offered
by miserly people. Their wealth is squandered in these ways: first, litigation;
second, thieves and robbers; third, physicians; fourth, their wicked children's
extravagance. It is like that.
Your giving money away in charity is
very good. Those who have money should give in charity. The miser's wealth is
spirited away, but the money of the charitable person is saved. He spends it
for a righteous purpose.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 696 (22 February 1885)
Signs of God-vision & Different
moods of Liberated Souls
There are signs by which you can know
whether a man has truly seen God. One of these is joy; there is no hesitancy in
him. He is like the ocean: the waves and sounds are on the surface; below are
profound depths. The man who has seen God behaves sometimes like a madman;
sometimes like a ghoul, without any feeling of purity or impurity; sometimes
like an inert thing, remaining speechless because he sees God within and without;
sometimes like a child, without any attachment, wandering about unconcernedly
with his cloth under his arm. Again, in the mood of a child, he acts in
different ways: sometimes like a boy, indulging in frivolity; sometimes like a
young man, working and teaching with the strength of a lion.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 678 (14 December 1884)
God in Man
God sports through man as well. I
see man as the embodiment of Narayana. As fire is kindled when you rub two
pieces of wood together, so God can be seen in man if you have intense
devotion. If there is suitable bait, big fish like carp gulp it down at once.
When one is intoxicated with prema, one sees God in all beings. The gopis saw
Krishna in everything; to them the whole world was filled with
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 688 (27 December 1884)
Ādyāśakti
One must worship the Ādyāśakti. She
must be propitiated. She alone has assumed all female forms. Therefore I look
on all women as mother. The attitude of looking on woman as mother is very
pure. The Tantra mentions the Vamachara method also. But that is not a
good method; it causes the aspirant's downfall. A devotee keeping an object of
enjoyment near him has reason to be afraid.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 701 (25 February 1885)
How to Cultivate Longing for God
ATUL: "How can we keep our
minds on God?"
MASTER: "Abhyāsa Yoga,
the yoga of practice. You should practise calling on God every day. It is not
possible to succeed in one day; through daily prayer you will come to long for
God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 703 (25 February 1885)
Beyond Knowledge and Ignorance
Vasishthadeva, great sage that he
was, was overcome at the death of his sons. That amazed Lakshmana and he asked
Rāma the reason. Rāma said: 'Brother, what is there to wonder at? He who has
knowledge has ignorance also. Brother, go beyond both knowledge and ignorance.'
If a thorn enters the sole of your foot, you get another thorn to take out the
first one. Afterwards you throw both away. Likewise, one procures the thorn of
knowledge to remove the thorn of ignorance; then one goes beyond both knowledge
and ignorance.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 716 (07 March 1885)
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)
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)
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)
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)
Kāli and Brahman
Brahman and Kāli are not different.
They are like fire and its power to burn: if one thinks of fire one must think
of its power to burn. If one recognizes Kāli one must also recognize Brahman;
again, if one recognizes Brahman one must recognize Kāli. Brahman and Its Power
are identical. It is Brahman whom I address as Śakti or Kāli.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 734 (11 March 1885)
Efficacy of Truthfulness
Truthfulness in speech is the
tapasya of the Kaliyuga. It is difficult to practise other austerities in this cycle.
By adhering to truth one attains God. Tulsidas said: 'Truthfulness, obedience
to God, and the regarding of others' wives as one's mother, are the greatest
virtues. If one does not realize God by practising them, then Tulsi is a liar.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 749 (12 April 1885)
Books and God
God cannot be realized through
scholarship. He is beyond the scriptures - the Vedas, Puranas, and Tantras. If
I see a man with even one book in his hand, I call him a rajarshi though he is
a Jnāni. But the brahmarshi has no outer sign whatsoever.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 882 (25 October 1885)
Sadhana Reminiscences
During my sādhanā period I had all
kinds of amazing visions. I distinctly perceived the communion of Ātman. A
person exactly resembling me entered my body and began to commune with each one
of the six lotuses. The petals of these lotuses had been closed; but as each of
them experienced the communion, the drooping flower bloomed andturned itself upward.
Thus blossomed forth the lotuses at the centres of Muladhara, Svadhisthana, Anāhata, Visuddha, Ājnā, and Sahasrara. The
drooping flowers turned upward. I perceived all these things directly.
When I meditated during my sādhanā,
I used to think of the unflickering flame of a lamp set in a windless place.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 744 (12 April 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)
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
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 719 (07 March 1885)
As
long as 'I-consciousness' exists,
one should have
the attitude of
a bhakta; one should not say, 'I am God.' A man aware
of his body should feel that he is not Krishna Himself, but His devotee. But if
God draws the devotee to Himself, then it is different. It is like the master
saying to his beloved servant: 'Come, take your seat near me. You are the same
as I.'
The waves are part of the Ganges,
but the
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 812 (15 July 1885)
Jeevanmukta & Separation of Body
and Soul
He who has attained this Knowledge
of Brahman is a jivanmukta, liberated while living in the body. He rightly understand
that the Ātman and the body are two separate things. After realizing God one
does not identify the Ātman with the body. These two are separate, like the
kernel and the shell of the coconut when its milk dries up. The Ātman moves, as
it were, within the body. When the 'milk' of worldly-mindedness has dried up,
one gets Self-knowledge. Then one feels that Ātman and body are two separate
things. The kernel of a green almond or betel-nut cannot be separated from the
shell; but when they are ripe the juice
dries up and
the kernel separates
from the shell.
After the attainment of the Knowledge of Brahman, the 'milk' of
worldly-mindedness dries up.
But it is extremely difficult to
attain the Knowledge of Brahman. One doesn't get it by merely talking about it.
Some people feign it. (Smiling) There was a man who was a great liar; but, on
the other hand, he used to say he had the Knowledge of Brahman. When someone
took him to task for telling lies, he said: 'Why, this world is truly like a
dream. If everything is unreal, then can truth itself be real? Truth is as
unreal as falsehood.'" (All laugh.)
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 719 (07 March 1885)
Disobeying Elders
A DEVOTEE: "Suppose someone's
mother says to him, 'Don't go to Dakshineswar.' Suppose she curses him, saying,
'If you go there you will be drinking my blood!'"
MASTER: "A mother who says that
is no mother; she is the embodiment of avidyā. There is no sin in disobeying
such a mother. She obstructs her son's path to God. There is no harm in
disobeying your elders for the sake of God. For Rāma's sake Bharat did not obey
his mother Kaikeyi. The gopis did not obey their husbands when they were
forbidden to visit
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 722-23 (07 March 1885)
Nothing but God
MASTER (in the ecstatic mood):
"There is no one else here; so I am telling you this. He who from the
depth of his soul seeks to know God will certainly realize Him. He must. He
alone who is restless for God and seeks nothing but Him will certainly realize
Him.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 777 (09 May 1885)
Golap and the Job-seeker
Just see the bewitching power of
women! I mean the women who are the
embodiment of avidyā, the power of delusion. … …
If a woman says to her husband, 'Go
there', he at once stands up, ready to go. If she says, 'Sit down here',
immediately he sits down.
A job-seeker got tired of visiting
the manager in an office. He couldn't get the job. The manager said to him,
'There is no vacancy now; but come and see me now and then.' This went on for a
long time, and the candidate lost all hope. One day he told his tale of woe to
a friend. The friend said: 'How stupid you are! Why are you wearing away the
soles of your feet going to that fellow? You had better go to Golap. You will
get the job tomorrow.' 'Is that so?' said the candidate. 'I am going right away.'
Golap was the manager's mistress. The candidate called on her and said: 'Mother,
I am in great distress. You must help me out of it. I am the son of a poor
brahmin. Where else shall I go for help? Mother, I have been out of work many
days. My children are about to starve to
death. I can get a job if you but say the word.' Golap said to him, 'Child, whom
should I speak to?' She said to herself: 'Ah, the poor brahmin! He has been
suffering too much.' The candidate said to her, 'I am sure to get the job if
you just put in a word about it to the manager.' Golap said, 'I shall speak to
him today and settle the matter.' The very next morning a man called on the
candidate and said, 'You are to work in the manager's office, beginning today.'
The manager said to his English boss: 'This man is very competent. I have appointed him. He will do credit to
the firm.'
All are deluded by 'woman and
gold'. But I do not care for it at
all. And I swear to you that I do not
know anything but God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 748 (12 April 1885)
Divine Incarnations
The Incarnations of God belong to
the class of the Isvarakotis. They roam about in the open spaces. They are
never imprisoned in the world, never entangled by it. Their ego is not the
'thick ego' of worldly people. The ego, the 'I-consciousness', of worldly
people is like four walls and a roof: the man inside them cannot see anything
outside. The ego of the Incarnations and other Isvarakotis is a 'thin ego':
through it they have an uninterrupted vision of God. Take the case of a man who
stands by a wall on both sides of which there are meadows stretching to
infinity. If there is a hole in the wall, through it he can see everything on
the other side. If the hole is a big one, he can even pass through it. The ego
of the Incarnations and other Isvarakotis is like the wall with a hole. Though
they remain on this side of the wall, still they can see the endless meadow on
the other side. That is to say, though they have a human body, they are always
united with God. Again, if they will, they can pass through the big hole to the
other side and remain in samādhi. And if the hole is big enough, they can go
through it and come back again. That is to say, though established in samādhi,
they can again descend to the
worldly plane.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 760 (12 April 1885)
Futility of Mere Reasoning
I do see God directly. What shall I
reason about? I clearly see that He Himself has become everything; that He
Himself has become the universe and all living beings.
But without awakening one's own
inner consciousness one cannot realize the All-pervading Consciousness. How
long does a man reason? So long as he has not realized God. But mere words will
not do. As for myself, I clearly see that He Himself has become everything. The
inner consciousness must be awakened through the grace of God.
Through this awakening a man goes
into samādhi. He often forgets that he has a body. He gets rid of his
attachment to 'woman and gold' and does not enjoy any talk unless it is about God.
Worldly talk gives him pain. Through the awakening of the inner consciousness one
realizes the All-pervading Consciousness.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 734 (11 March 1885)
Killer and Killed are One
MASTER: “Years ago I used to be
amazed to see people keeping kai fish alive in a pot of water. I would
say: 'How cruel these people are! They will finally kill the fish.' But later,
as changes came over my mind, I realized that bodies are like pillow-cases. It
doesn't matter whether they remain or drop off."
BHAVANĀTH: "Then may one injure
a man without incurring sin? Kill him?"
MASTER: "Yes, it is permissible
if one has achieved that state of mind. But not everyone
has it. It is the state of
Brahmajnana.”
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 775-76 (09 May 1885)
Revelation about Himself
MASTER (to M.): "There is no
outsider here. The other day, when Harish was with me, I saw Satchidananda come
out of this sheath, It said, 'I incarnate Myself in every age.' I thought that
I myself was saying these words out of mere fancy. I kept quiet and watched. Again
Satchidananda Itself spoke, saying, 'Chaitanya, too, worshipped Śakti.'"
The devotees listened to these words
in amazement. Some wondered whether God Himself was seated before them in the
form of Sri Ramakrishna. The Master paused a moment. Then he said, addressing M.,
"I saw that it is the fullest manifestation of Satchidananda; but this
time the Divine Power is manifested through the glory of sattva."
The devotees sat spellbound.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 720 (07 March 1885)
Unreality of all Worldly
Relationships
A guru said to his disciple: 'The
world is illusory. Come away with me.' 'But, revered sir,' said the disciple,
'my people at home-my father, my mother, my wife-love me so much. How can I
give them up?' The guru said: No doubt you now have this feeling of "I"
and "mine" and say that they love you; but this is all an illusion of
your mind. I shall teach you a trick, and you will know whether they love you
truly or not.' Saying this, the teacher gave the disciple a pill and said to
him: 'Swallow this at home. You will appear to be a corpse, but you will not
lose consciousness. You will see everything and hear everything. Then I shall
come to your house and gradually you will regain your normal state.'
The disciple followed the teacher's
instructions and lay on his bed like a dead person: The house was filled with
loud wailing. His mother, his wife, and the others lay on the ground weeping
bitterly. Just then a brahmin entered the house and said to them, 'What is the
matter with you?' 'This boy is dead', they replied. The brahmin felt his pulse
and said: 'How is that? No, he is not dead. I have a medicine for him that will
cure him completely.' The joy of the relatives was unbounded; it seemed to them
that heaven itself had come down into their house. 'But', said the brahmin, 'I
must tell you something else. Another person must take some of this medicine
first and then the boy must swallow the rest. But the other person will die. I
see he has so many dear relatives here; one of them will certainly agree to
take the medicine. I see his wife and mother crying bitterly. Surely they will
not hesitate to take it.'
At once the weeping stopped and all
sat quiet. The mother said: 'Well, this is a big family. Suppose I die; then
who will look after the family?' She fell into a reflective mood. The wife, who
had been crying a minute before and bemoaning her ill luck, said: 'Well, he has
gone the way of mortals. I have these two or three young children. Who will
look after them if I die?'
The disciple saw everything and
heard everything. He stood up at once and said to the teacher: 'Let us go,
revered sir. I will follow you.' (All laugh.)
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 770-71 (09 May 1885)
Reality includes both Absolute and
Universe
… do you know my attitude? I accept
both, the Nitya and the Lila. Doesn't God exist if one looks around with eyes
open? After realizing Him, one knows that He is both the Absolute and the
universe. It is He who is the Indivisible Satchidananda. Again, it is He who
has become the universe and its living beings.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 779 (23 May 1885)
Watch a sadhu by day and by night,
and then put your faith in him – Sri Ramakrishna
Three kinds of Sādhanā
I practised all sorts of sādhanā.
There are three classes of sādhanā: sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic. In the
sattvic sādhanā the devotee calls on the Lord with great longing or simply
repeats His name; he doesn't seek any result in return. The rajasic sādhanā prescribes
many rituals: purascharana, pilgrimage, panchatapa, worship with sixteen
articles, and so forth. The tamasic sādhanā is a worship of God with the help
of tamas. The attitude of a tamasic devotee is this: 'Hail, Kāli! What? Wilt
Thou not reveal Thyself to me? If not, I will cut my throat with a knife!' In
this discipline one does not observe conventional purity; it is like some of
the disciplines prescribed by the Tantra.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 744 (12 April 1885)
Power of "Woman and Gold"
'Woman and gold' alone is the world.
It makes one forget God.
GIRISH: "But how can we get rid
of 'woman and gold'?"
MASTER: "Pray to God with a
yearning heart. Pray to Him for discrimination. 'God alone is real and all else
illusory' - this is discrimination. One strains water through a fine sieve in
order to separate the dirt from it. The clear water goes through the sieve
leaving the dirt behind. Apply the sieve
of discrimination to the world. Live in
the world after knowing God. Then it
will be the world of vidyā.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 748 (12 April 1885)
Difference between a Jiva and an
Incarnation
MAHIMACHARAN (to the Master):
"Sir, can a man return from the plane of samādhi to the plane of the ordinary
world?"
MASTER (in a low voice, to Mahima):
"I shall tell you privately. You are the only one fit to hear it.
"Koar Singh also asked me that
question. You see, there is a vast difference between the jiva and Isvara.
Through worship and austerity, a jiva can at the utmost attain samādhi; but he
cannot come down from that state. On the other hand, an Incarnation of God can
come down from samādhi. A jiva is like an officer of the king; he can go as far
as the outer court of the seven-storey palace. But the king's son has access to
all the seven floors; he can also go outside. Everybody says that no one can
return from the plane of samādhi. In that case, how do you account for sages
like Sankara and Ramanuja? They retained the 'ego of Knowledge'."
MAHIMA: "That is true, indeed.
Otherwise, how could they write books?"
MASTER: "Again, there are the
instances of sages like Prahlada, Nārada, and Hanuman.
They too retained bhakti after
attaining samādhi."
MAHIMA: "That is true,
sir."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 767 (24 April 1885)
Futility of Mere Scholarship
One needs sādhanā. Mere study of the
scriptures will not do. I noticed that though Vidyāsāgar had no doubt read a
great deal, he had not realized what was inside him; he was satisfied with helping
boys get their education, but had not tasted the Bliss of God. What will mere
study accomplish? How little one assimilates! The almanac may forecast twenty
measures of rain; but you don't get a drop by squeezing its pages.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 779 (23 May 1885)
Original and Reflection
MASTER: "A man attains
Brahmajnana as soon as his mind is annihilated. With the annihilation of the
mind dies the ego, which says 'I', 'I'. One also attains the knowledge of
Brahman by following the path of devotion. One also attains it by following the
path of knowledge, that is
to say, discrimination. The
jnanis discriminate, saying,
'Neti, neti', that is, 'All this
is illusory, like a dream.' They analyse the world through the process of 'Not this,
not this'; it is māyā. When the world vanishes, only the jivas, that is to say,
so many egos, remain.
Each ego may be likened to a pot.
Suppose there are ten pots filled with water, and the sun is reflected in them.
How many suns do you see?"
A DEVOTEE: "Ten reflections.
Besides, there certainly exists the real Sun."
MASTER: "Suppose you break one
pot. How many suns do you see now?"
DEVOTEE: "Nine reflected suns.
But there certainly exists the real sun."
MASTER: "All right. Suppose you
break nine pots. How many suns do you see now?"
DEVOTEE: "One reflected sun.
But there certainly exists the real sun."
MASTER (to Girish): "What
remains when the last pot is broken?"
GIRISH: "That real sun,
sir."
MASTER: "No. What remains
cannot be described. What is remains. How will you know there is a real sun
unless there is a reflected sun? 'I-consciousness' is destroyed in samādhi. A
man climbing down from samādhi to the lower plane cannot describe what he has
seen there."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 776-77 (09 May 1885)
Newspaper Knowledge
A DEVOTEE: "Bankim has written
a life of
MASTER: "He accepts
CAPTAIN: "I see he doesn't
accept
MASTER: "I also hear that
Bankim says that one needs passions such as lust."
A
DEVOTEE: "He has
written in his
magazine that the
purpose of religion
is to give
expression to our various faculties:
physical, mental, and spiritual."
CAPTAIN: "I see. He believes
that lust and so forth are necessary. But he doesn't believe that Sri Krishna
could enjoy His sportive pleasure in the world, that God could incarnate
Himself in a human form and sport in Vrindāvan with Radha and the
gopis."
MASTER (smiling): "But these
things are, not written in the newspaper. How could he believe them?
"A man said to his friend,
'Yesterday, as I was passing through a certain part of the city, I saw a house
fall with a crash.' 'Wait', said the friend. 'Let me look it up in the
newspaper.' But this incident wasn't mentioned in the paper. Thereupon the man
said, 'But the paper doesn't mention it.' His friend replied, 'I saw it with my
own eyes.' 'Be that as it may, said the man, 'I can't believe it as long as it
isn't in the paper.'
"How can Bankim believe that
God sports about as a man? He doesn't get it from his English education. … … ”
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 789 (13 June 1885)
Master's Vision of Māyā
One day He [God] showed me the māyā
of Mahamaya. A small light inside a room began to grow, and at last it
enveloped the whole universe.'
Further, He revealed to me a huge
reservoir of water covered with green scum. The wind moved a little of the scum
and immediately the water became visible; but in the twinkling of an eye, scum
from all sides came dancing in and again covered the water. He revealed to me
that the water was like Satchidananda, and the scum like māyā. On account of māyā,
Satchidananda is not seen. Though now and then one may get a glimpse of It,
again māyā covers It.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 831 (9 August 1885)
Water and Ice
Jnāna and bhakti are one and the
same thing. The difference is like this: one man says 'water', and another, 'a
block of ice'. – Sri Ramakrishna
Knowledge of Brahman
MASTER (to M. and the others): "Is
it an easy thing to obtain the Knowledge of Brahman? It is not possible unless
the mind is annihilated. The guru said to the disciple, 'Give me your mind and
I shall give you Knowledge.' In this state one enjoys only spiritual talk and
the company of devotees.
(To Ram) "You are a physician.
You know that medicine works only when it mixes with the patient's blood and
becomes one with it. Likewise, in the state of Brahmajnana one sees God both
within and without. One sees that it is God Himself who has become the body,
mind, life, and soul."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 776 (09 May 1885)
Advice to the Worldly
A DEVOTEE: "Sir, what is the
way for worldly people?"
MASTER: "The Company of holy
men. Worldly people should listen to spiritual talk. They are in a state of madness,
intoxicated with 'woman and gold'. A drunkard should be given rice-water as an antidote.
Drinking it slowly, he gradually recovers his normal consciousness.
A worldly person should also receive
instructions from a sadguru, a real teacher. Such a teacher has certain signs.
You should hear about Banāras only from a man who has been to
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 780 (23 May 1885)
Magician and His Magic
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
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)
Sincere Yearning enables one to
Realize God
The world is like an overcast sky
that steadily pours down rain: the face of the sun is seldom seen. There is
mostly suffering in the world. On account of the cloud of 'woman and gold' one
cannot see the sun. Some people ask me: 'Sir, why has God created such a world?
Is there no way out for us?' I say to them: 'why shouldn't there be a way out?
Take shelter with God and pray to Him with a yearning heart for a favourable
wind, that you may have things in your favour. If you call on Him with yearning,
He will surely listen to you.'
A man had a son who was on the point
of death. In frenzy he asked remedies of different people. One of them said:'
'Here is a remedy: First it must rain when the star Svati is in the ascendant;
then some of the rain must fall into a skull; then a frog must come there to
drink the water, and a snake must chase it; and when the snake is about to bite
the frog, the frog must hop away and the poison must fall into the skull. You
should give the patient a little of the poison and rain-water from the skull.'
The father set out eagerly to find the medicine when the star Svati was in the
sky. It started raining. Fervently he said to God, 'O Lord, please get a skull
for me.' Searching here and there, he at last found a skull with rain-water in
it. Again he prayed to God, saying, 'O Lord, I beseech Thee, please help me
find the frog and the snake.' Since he had great longing, he got the frog and
the snake also. In the twinkling of an eye he saw a snake chasing a frog, and
as it was about to bite the frog, its poison fell into the skull.
If one takes shelter with God and prays
to Him with great longing, God will surely listen; He will certainly make
everything favourable.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 793 (13 June 1885)
Nature of ‘I’
Try to find out what this 'I' is. Is
this 'I' the bones or flesh or blood or intestines? Seeking the 'I', you
discover 'Thou'. In other words, nothing exists inside you but the power of
God. There is no 'I', but only 'He'.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 819 (28 July 1885)
Story of Ranjit Raya
By dint of austerity, a man, may
obtain God as his son. By the roadside on the way to Kamarpukur is Ranjit Raya's
lake. Bhagavati, the Divine Mother, was born as his daughter. Even now people hold an annual festival there
in the month of Chaitra, in honour of this divine daughter. I feel very much
like going there.
Ranjit Raya was the landlord of that
part of the country. Through the power of his tapasya he obtained the Divine
Mother as his daughter. He was very fond of her, and she too was much attached
to him; she hardly left his presence. One day Ranjit Raya was engaged in the
duties of his estate. He was very busy. The girl, with her childlike nature,
was constantly interrupting him, saying: 'Father, what is this? What is that?'
Ranjit Raya tried, with sweet words, to persuade her not to disturb him, and
said: 'my child, please leave me alone. I have much work to do.' But the girl
would not go away. At last, absent-mindedly, the father said, 'Get out of here!'
On this pretext she left home. A pedlar of conch-shell articles was going along
the road. From him she took a pair of bracelets for her wrists. When he asked
for the price, she said that he could get the money from a certain box in her
home. Then she disappeared. Nobody saw her again. In the mean time the pedlar
came to the house and asked for the price of his bracelets. When she was not to
be found at home, her relatives began to run about looking for her. Ranjit Raya
sent people in all directions to search for her. The money owed to the pedlar
was found in the box, as she had indicated. Ranjit Raya was weeping bitterly,
when people came running to him and said that they had noticed something in the
lake. They all ran there and saw an arm, with conch-shell bracelets on the
wrist, being waved above the water. A moment afterwards it disappeared. Even
now people worship her as the Divine Mother at the time of the annual festival.
(To M.) All this is true.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 797 (13 July 1885)
Past Lives Sadhana
BALARĀM: "Sir, how was it
possible for Purna [a young boy who was devotee of Sri Ramakrishna] to know all
of a sudden that the world is illusory?"
MASTER: "He has inherited that
knowledge from his previous births. In his past lives he practised many disciplines.
It is the body alone that is small or grows big, and not the Ātman.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 812-813 (15 July 1885)
Nature of the Worldly
Worldly people are in a state of
chronic intoxication-mad with 'woman and gold'; they are insensible to
spiritual ideas. That is why I love the youngsters not yet stained by 'woman
and gold'. They are 'good receptacles' and may become useful in God's work. But
as for worldly people, you lose almost everything while trying to eliminate the
worthless stuff in them. They are like bony fish-almost all bones and very
little meat.
Worldly people are like mangoes
struck by hail. If you want to offer them to God, you have to purify them by
sprinkling them with
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 781 (23 May 1885)
Guardian for Minor
A guardian is appointed only for a minor.
A boy cannot safeguard his property; therefore the king assumes responsibility
for him. God does not take over our responsibilities unless we renounce our
ego.
Once Lakshmi and Narayana were
seated in Vaikuntha, when Narayana suddenly stood up. Lakshmi had been stroking
His feet. She said, 'Lord, where are You going?' Narayana answered: 'One of My
devotees is in great danger. I must save him.' With these words He went out.
But He came back immediately. Lakshmi said, 'Lord, why have You returned so
soon?' Narayana smiled and said: The
devotee was going along the road overwhelmed with love for Me. Some washermen
were drying clothes on the grass, and the devotee walked over the clothes. At
this the washermen chased him and were going to beat him with their sticks. So
I ran out to protect him.' 'But why have You come back?' asked Lakshmi.
Narayana laughed and said: 'I saw the devotee himself picking up a brick to
throw at them. (All laugh.) So I came back.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 790 (13 June 1885)
Guru – God’s Command
God alone is the Doer, and we are
all His instruments. Therefore it is impossible even for a Jnāni to be
egotistic. The writer of a hymn to Śiva felt proud of his achievement; but his
pride was dashed to pieces when Śiva's bull bared his teeth. He saw that each
tooth was a word of the hymn. Do you understand the meaning of this? These words
had existed from the beginning less past. The writer had only discovered them.
It is not good to be a guru by
profession. One cannot be a teacher without a command from God. He who says he
is a guru is a man of mean intelligence. Haven't you seen a balance? The
lighter side goes higher. He who is spiritually higher than others does not
consider himself a guru. Everyone wants to be a teacher, but a disciple is hard
to find.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 794 (13 June 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)
Brahman and Sakti
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)
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)
After-Life
… According to the Gitā you will
become in the next life what you think of in the hour of death. King Bharata
was very much grieved over his pet deer; he died repeating the word 'deer';
therefore he was reborn as a deer. That is why day and night a man should
practise worship, japa, meditation, and other spiritual exercises. Only then,
by virtue of practice, will he be able to think of God in the hour of death. If
one dies thus, thinking of God, one will acquire God's nature.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 820 (28 July 1885)
Ideal of Modern Times
A picture of Kasha's Nava-Vishnu
hung on the wall. Suresh Mitra, a beloved householder disciple of the Master,
had had it painted. In this picture Sri Ramakrishna was pointing out to Keshab
that people of different religions proceed to the same goal by different paths.
MASTER: "That was painted for
Surendra."
PRASANNA'S FATHER (smiling):
"You too are in that picture."
MASTER (smiling): "Yes, it
contains everything. This is the ideal of modern times."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 817 (28 July 1885)
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.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 830 (9 August 1885)
Master's Intimate Vision of God
MASTER [to Mahima]: “You say that by
mere sādhanā one can attain a state of mind like mine. But it is not so. There
is something special here [referring to himself].”
Rākhāl, M., and the others became
eager to hear what the Master was going to say.
MASTER: "God talked to me. It
was not merely His vision. Yes, He talked to me. Under the banyan-tree I saw
Him coming from the ganges. Then we laughed so much! By way of playing with me
He cracked my fingers. Then He talked. Yes, He talked to me. "For three
days I wept continuously. And He revealed to me what is in the Vedas, the
Puranas, the Tantras, and the other scriptures.”
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 830 (9 August 1885)
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)
All Sadhanas
I have practised all kinds of
sādhanā: Jnāna yoga, karma yoga, and bhakti yoga. I have even gone through the
exercises of hathayoga to increase longevity. There is another Person dwelling
in this body. Otherwise, after attaining samādhi, how could I live with the
devotees and enjoy the love of God? Koar Singh used to say to me: 'I have never
before seen a person who has returned from the plane of samādhi. You are none
other than Nanak.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 832-33 (9 August 1885)
Futility of Argument
If a man but once tastes the joy of God,
his desire to argue takes wing. The bee, realizing the joy of sipping honey,
doesn't buzz about any more. What will you achieve by quoting from books? The
pundits recite verses and do nothing else.
What will you gain by merely repeating
'siddhi'? You will not be intoxicated even by gargling with a solution of
siddhi. It must go into your stomach; not until then will you be intoxicated.
One cannot comprehend what I am saying unless one prays to God in solitude, all
by oneself, with a longing heart.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 844 (1 September 1885)
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)
Spiritual Consciousness
Man should possess dignity and alertness.
Only he whose spiritual consciousness is awakened possesses this dignity and
alertness and can be called a man. Futile is the human birth without the
awakening of spiritual consciousness.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 844 (1 September 1885)
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)
God’s Power
If you see anywhere a special
manifestation of God's Power, you may know that God has incarnated Himself
there. That is my opinion. – Sri Ramakrishna
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)
Necessity of Solitude
… a man must practise some spiritual
discipline in order to be able to lead a detached life in the world. It is
necessary for him to spend some time in solitude-be it a year, six months,
three months, or even one month. In that solitude he should fix his mind on God
and pray with a longing heart for love of God. He should also say to himself:
'There is nobody in this world who is my own. Those whom I call my own are here
only for two days. God alone is my own. He alone is my all in all. Alas, how
shall I realize Him?'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 856 (22 October 1885)
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)
Body
The body consisting of the five
gross elements is called the gross body. The subtle body is made up of the
mind, the ego, the discriminating faculty, and the mind-stuff. There is also a
causal body, by means of which one enjoys the Bliss of God and holds communion
with Him. The Tantra calls it the Bhagavati Tanu, the Divine Body. Beyond
all these is the Maha-karana, the Great Cause. That cannot be expressed by words.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 902 (27 October 1885)
Players and Onlookers
Those actually engaged in a game of
chess do not always judge the moves on the board correctly. The onlookers often
judge the moves better than the players. Worldly people often think themselves
very intelligent, but they are attached to the things of the world. They are
the actual players and cannot understand their own moves correctly. But holy
men, who have renounced everything, are unattached to the world; they are
really more intelligent than worldly people. Since they do not take any part in
worldly life, their position is that of onlookers, and so they see things more
clearly.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 863 (22 October 1885)
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)
Uselessness of Mere Scholarship
What will you gain by mere
scholarship? The pundits hear many things and know many things - the Vedas, the
Puranas, the Tantras. But of what avail is mere scholarship? Discrimination and
renunciation are necessary. If a man has discrimination and renunciation, then
one can listen to him. But of what use are the words of a man who looks on the
world as the essential thing?
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 917 (30 October 1885)
Japa
Japa means silently repeating God's
name in solitude. When you chant His name with single-minded devotion you can
see God's form and realize Him. Suppose there is a piece of timber sunk in the
water of the
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 878-79 (23 October 1885)
God's
Incarnation as Man
God incarnates Himself on earth in a
human body. He is, no doubt, present everywhere and in all beings, but man's
longing is not satisfied unless he sees God in a human form. Man's need is not
satisfied without the Divine Incarnation. Do you know what it is like? By
touching any part of a cow you undoubtedly touch the cow herself. Even by
touching her horns you touch the cow. But the milk comes through the cow's
udder.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 883 (25 October 1885)
Indescribable Brahman
What Brahman is cannot be described
in words. Somebody once said that everything in the world has been made impure,
like food that has touched the tongue, and that Brahman alone remains
undefiled. The meaning is this: All scriptures and holy books-the Vedas, the
Puranas, the Tantras, and so forth-may be said to have been defiled because
their contents have been uttered by the tongues of men; but what Brahman is no
tongue has yet been able to describe. Therefore Brahman is still undefiled. One
cannot describe in words the joy of play and communion with Satchidananda. He alone
knows, who has realized it.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 900 (27 October 1885)
Is the World a Delusion?
DR. SARKAR: "Is everything delusion?
Then whose is this delusion? And why this delusion? If all know it to be
delusion, then why do they talk? I cannot believe that God is real and His
creation unreal"
MASTER: "That is a good
attitude. It is good to look on God as the Master and oneself as His servant.
As long as a man feels the body to be real, as long as he is conscious of 'I'
and 'you', it is good to keep the relationship of master and servant; it is not
good to cherish the idea of 'I am He'.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 908 (29 October 1885)
Different kinds of Samādhi
Once a sādhu from Hrishikesh came to
Dakshineswar. He said to me: 'How amazing! I find five kinds of samādhi
manifested in you.'
Just as a monkey climbs a tree,
jumping from one branch to another, so also does the Mahāvāyu, the Great
Energy, rise in the body, jumping from one centre to another, and one goes into
samādhi. One feels the rising of the Great Energy, as though it were the
movement of a monkey.
Just as a fish darts about in the
water and roams in great happiness, so also does the Mahāvāyu move upward in
the body, and one goes into samādhi. One feels the rising of the Great Energy,
as though it were the movement of a fish.
Like a bird hopping from one branch
to another, the Mahāvāyu goes up in the tree of the body, now to this branch
and now to that. One feels the rising of the Great Energy, as though it were
the movement of a bird.
Like the slow creeping of an ant,
the Mahāvāyu rises from centre to centre. When it reaches the Sahasrara one
goes into samādhi. One feels the rising of the Great Energy, as though it were
the movement of an ant.
Like the wriggling of a snake, the
Mahāvāyu rises in a zigzag way along the spinal column till it reaches the
Sahasrara, and one goes into samādhi. One feels. the rising of the Great
Energy, as though it were the movement of a snake."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 949-50 (09 April 1886 at
Three Classes of Devotees
There are three kinds of devotees:
superior, mediocre, and inferior. The inferior devotee says, 'God is out there.'
According to him God is different from His creation. The mediocre devotee says:
'God is the Antaryami, the Inner Guide. God dwells in everyone's heart. The
mediocre devotee sees God in the heart. But the superior devotee sees that God
alone has become everything; He alone has become the twenty-four cosmic
principles. He finds that everything, above and below, is filled with God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 909-10 (29 October 1885)
Jnāna, Ajnāna, and Vijnāna
SHYAM: "What remains with a man
when he goes beyond jnāna and ajnāna, knowledge and ignorance."
MASTER (smiling): "It is vijnāna,
special Knowledge of God. To know many things is ignorance. To know that God
dwells in all beings is knowledge. And what is vijnāna? It is to know God in a
special manner, to converse with Him and feel Him to be one's own relative.
"To know that there is fire in
wood is knowledge. But to make a fire with that wood, cook food with that fire,
and become healthy and strong from that food is vijnāna."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 911 (29 October 1885)
Master’s Vision of Unity
MASTER (to the devotees): "Do
you know what I see right now? I see that it is God Himself who has become all
this. It seems to me that men and other living beings are made of leather, and
that it is God Himself who, dwelling inside these leather cases, moves the
hands, the feet, the heads. I had a similar vision once before, when I saw
houses, gardens, roads, men, cattle-all made of One Substance; it was as if
they were all made of wax.
"I see that it is God Himself
who has become the block, the executioner, and the victim for the
sacrifice."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 941-42 (15 March 1886 at
Nature of Consciousness
MASTER (to Dr. Sarkar): "You
said a very fine thing. No one else has said before that samādhi is the result
of the union of the mind with God. You alone have said that.
"Shivanath said that one lost
one's head by too much thinking of God. In other words, one becomes unconscious
by meditating on the Universal Consciousness. Think of it! Becoming unconscious
by contemplating Him who is of the very nature of Consciousness, and whose
Consciousness endows the world with consciousness!
"And what does your 'science' say?
This combined with this produces that; that combined with that produces this.
One is more likely to lose consciousness by contemplating those things-by
handling material things too much."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 915-16 (30 October 1885)
Praising the Gitā
MASTER: “… It is best to take only
sattvic food. Haven't you read about it in the Gitā? Don't you read the
Gitā?"
M: "Yes, sir. The Gitā speak of
temperance in eating Sattvic food, rajasic food, tamasic food; sattvic
kindness, sattvic ego, and so on-all these are described in the
Gitā."
MASTER: "Have you a copy of the
book?"
M: "Yes, sir."
MASTER: "It contains the
essence of all the scriptures."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 849 (18 October 1885)
Wicked Ego and Spiritualised Ego
Even after attaining Jnāna, the
Jnāni can live in the world, retaining Vidyā-māyā, that is to say, bhakti, compassion,
renunciation, and such virtues. This serves him, two purposes: first, the teaching
of men, and second, the enjoyment of divine bliss. If a Jnāni remains silent,
merged in samādhi, then men's hearts will not be illumined. Therefore Sankaracharya
kept the 'ego of Knowledge'. And further, a Jnāni lives as a devotee, in the
company of bhaktas, in order to enjoy and drink deep of the Bliss of God.
The 'ego of Knowledge' and the 'ego
of Devotion' can do no harm; it is the 'wicked I' that is harmful. After
realizing God a man becomes like a child. There is no harm in the 'ego of a
child'. It is like the reflection of a face in a mirror: the reflection cannot
call names. Or it
is like a
burnt rope, which
appears to be
a rope but disappears
at the slightest puff.
The ego that
has been burnt
in the fire
of Knowledge cannot
injure anybody. It is an ego only in name.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 940 (11 March 1886)
God Alone is
the agent of actions
A man will cherish the illusion that
he is the doer as long as he has not seen God, as long as he has not touched
the Philosopher's Stone. So long will he know the distinction between his good
and bad actions. This awareness of distinction is due to God's māyā; and it is
necessary for the purpose of running His illusory world. But a man can realize
God if he takes shelter under His Vidyā-māyā and follows the path of
righteousness. He who knows God and realizes Him is able to go beyond māyā. He
who firmly believes that God alone is the Doer and he himself a mere instrument
is a jivanmukta, a free soul though living in a body.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 893 (26 October 1885)
Story of the Bhagavata Scholar
Listen to a story. There was a king
who used daily to hear the Bhagavata recited by a pundit. Every day, after
explaining the sacred book, the pundit would say to the king, 'O King, have you
understood what I have said?' And every day the king would reply, 'You had
better understand it first yourself.' The pundit would return home and think:
'Why does the king talk to me that way day after day? I explain the texts to
him so clearly, and he says to me, "You had better understand it first
yourself." What does he mean?' The pundit used to practise spiritual
discipline. A few days later he came to realize that God alone is real and
everything else-house, family, wealth, friends, name, and fame-illusory.
Convinced of the unreality of the world, he renounced it. As he left home he
asked a man to take this message to the king: 'O King, I now understand.'
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 917 (30 October 1885)
Essence of Gita
What is the lesson of the Gitā? It
is what you get by repeating the word ten times. As you repeat 'Gitā', 'Gitā',
the word becomes reversed into 'tagi', 'tagi' - which implies renunciation. He
alone has understood the secret of the Gitā who has renounced his attachment to
'woman and gold' and has directed his entire love to God. It isn't necessary to
read the whole of the Gitā. The purpose of reading the book is served if one
practises renunciation.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 917 (30 October 1885)
Brahman is Indescribable
If you ask me what Brahman is like,
all I can say is that It cannot be described in words. Even when one has
realized Brahman, one cannot describe It. If someone asks you what ghee is
like, your answer will be, 'Ghee is like ghee.' The only analogy for Brahman is
Brahman. Nothing exists besides It.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 920 (30 October 1885)
Intense Renunciation
MASTER: “… … When a man is seized
with the spirit of intense renunciation, he regards the world as a deep well
and his relatives as venomous cobras."
M: "Yes, sir. Life in the world
is full of suffering."
MASTER: "Yes, it is the
suffering of hell-and that from the very moment of birth! Don't you see what a
trouble one's wife and children are?"
… …
"'Woman and gold' alone is the
world. Don't you see that if you have money you want to
lay it by?"
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 937 (05 January 1886)
Buddha's Doctrines
M. (to Narendra): "What are the
doctrines of Buddha?"
NARENDRA: "He could not express
in words what he had realized by his tapasya. So people say he was an
atheist."
MASTER (by signs): "Why
atheist? He was not an atheist. He simply could not express his inner
experiences in words.
Do you know what 'Buddha' means? It
is to become one with Bodha, Pure Intelligence, by meditating on That which is
of the nature of Pure Intelligence; it is to become Pure Intelligence
Itself."
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 947 (09 April 1886 at
Upadhis and Vanity
The more you rid yourself of
upadhis, the nearer you will feel the presence of God. Rain-water never
collects on a high mound; it collects only in low land. Similarly, the water of
God's grace cannot remain on the high mound of egotism. Before God one should
feel lowly and poor.
One should be extremely watchful.
Even clothes create vanity. I notice that even a man suffering from an enlarged
spleen sings Nidhu-Babu's light songs when he is dressed up in a black-bordered
cloth. There are men who spout English whenever they put on high boots. And
when an unfit person puts on an ochre cloth he becomes vain; the slightest sign
of indifference to him arouses his anger and pique.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 1010-1011
Story of the Fishwife and her Basket
About eleven o'clock the Brahmos
became eager to go home. Pratap said, "It would be nice if we could spend
the night here."
MASTER (to Keshab): "Why not
stay here tonight?"
KESHAB (smiling): "No, I have
business to attend to. I must go."
MASTER: "Why must you, my dear
sir? Can't you sleep without your fish-basket? Once a fishwife was a guest in a
gardener's house. She was asked to sleep in a room full of flowers. But she
couldn't get any sleep there. (All laugh.) She was restless and began to fidget
about. The gardener called to her: 'Hello there! Why aren't you asleep?' 'Oh, I
don't know', said the fishwife. 'There are flowers here. The smell keeps me
awake. Can't you bring me my fish-basket?' She sprinkled a little water in the
basket, and when she smelled the fish she fell fast asleep." (All laugh
heartily.)
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 1011
Maya Obstructs Vision of God
Maya won't allow us to know the will
of God. On account of God's maya the unreal appears as real, and the real as
unreal. The world is unreal. This moment it exists and the next it disappears.
But on account of His maya it seems to be real. It is only through His maya
that the ego seems to be the doer. Furthermore, on account of this maya a
man regards his
wife and children,
his brother and
sister, his father
and mother, his house and property, as his very own.
There are two aspects of maya: vidya
and avidya. Avidya deludes one with worldliness, and vidya-wisdom, devotion,
and the company of holy men-leads one to God.
-
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 1013-14
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