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)

No Limit

 

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 stay around 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)

Ādyāśakti

 

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