Bhakti and Desires

 

Power of Inborn Tendencies

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

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

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

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

 

Knowledge and Ignorance

 

Remember Death

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

                   Remember this, O mind! Nobody is your own: 

                   Vain is your wandering in this world. 

                    Trapped in the subtle snare of māyā as you are, 

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

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

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

ChitŚakti

 

Preparation for God Vision

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

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

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

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

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

Same Destination