Knowledge of Brahman

 

Water and Ice

 

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."   

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

Newspaper Knowledge

A DEVOTEE: "Bankim has written a life of Krishna." 

MASTER: "He accepts Krishna but not Radhika." 

CAPTAIN: "I see he doesn't accept Krishna's lila with the gopis."  

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)

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)

Futility of Mere Scholarship

 

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)