Real Nature of God

 

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)

Way to Brahmajnana

 

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 Krishna. Dhruva disobeyed his mother and went into the forest to practice austerities. But in performing these actions, neither of them incurred any sin.  

- Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P 615

 

Goal of Scriptures

 

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 Great Ocean merge again in the Great Ocean. From the Absolute to the Relative, and from the Relative to the Absolute. Therefore I give the illustration of the gong's sound, 'tom'. 

I have clearly perceived all these things. It has been revealed to me that there exists an Ocean of Consciousness without limit. From It come all things of the relative plane, and in It they merge again. Millions of Brahmandas rise in that Chidakasa and merge in It again. All this has been revealed to me; I don't know, much about what your books say." 

- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 653 (26 October 1884)

Body of Jnani