THE GOSPEL OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA

Chapter 5; PART-III: THE MASTER AND KESHAB

BRAHMO DEVOTEE: "Sir, can't we realize God without complete renunciation?"

MASTFR (with a laugh): "Of course you can! Why should you renounce everything? You are all right as you are, following the middle path-like molasses partly solid and partly liquid.  Do you know the game of nax? Having scored the maximum number of points, I am out of the game.  I can't enjoy it.  But you are very clever.  Some of you have scored ten points, some six, and some five.  You have scored just the right number; so you are not out of the game like me.  The game can go on.  Why, that's fine! (All laugh.)

"I tell you the truth: there is nothing wrong in your being in the world.  But you must direct your mind toward God; otherwise you will not succeed. 

 
Do your duty with one hand and with the other hold to God.  After the duty is over, you will hold to God with both hands. 

Bondage and liberation are of the 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. 

"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. 

Redeeming power of faith

"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."

Sri Ramakrishna became intoxicated with divine love and sang:

If only I can pass away repeating Durga's name, 
How canst Thou then, O Blessed One, 
Withhold from me deliverance, 
Wretched though I may be? .  .  .

Master's prayer:

Then he said: "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.'

 (To the Brahmo devotees) "Now listen to a song by Ramprasad:

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 alone Dispassion only, on your way to the Tree,
And ask her son Discrimination about the Truth.

When will you learn to lie, O mind, in the abode of Blessedness, 
With Cleanliness and Defilement on either side of you? 
Only when you have found the way 
To keep these wives contentedly under a single roof, 
Will you behold the matchless form of Mother Syama.

Ego and Ignorance, your parents, instantly banish from your sight; 
And should Delusion seek to drag you to its hole, 
Manfully cling to the pillar of Patience.  
Tie to the post of Unconcern the goats of Vice and Virtue, 
Killing them with the sword of Knowledge if they rebel.  
With the children of Worldliness, your first wife, plead from a goodly distance, 
And, if they will not listen, drown them in Wisdom's sea.  
Says Ramprasad: If you do as I say, 
You can submit a good account, O mind, to the King of Death, 
And I shall be well pleased with you and call you my darling. 

"Why shouldn't one be able to realize God in this world? King Janaka had such realization.  Ramprasad described the world as a mere 'framework of illusion'.  But if one loves God's hallowed feet, then-

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! (All laugh.)

"But one cannot be a King Janaka all of a sudden.  Janaka at first practised much austerity in solitude. 

Solitude for householders:

"Even if one lives in the world, one must go into solitude now and then.  It will be of great help to a man if he goes away from his family, lives alone, and weeps for God even for three days.  Even if he thinks of God for one day in solitude, when he has the leisure, that too will do him good.  People shed a whole jug of tears for wife and children.  But who cries for the Lord? Now and then one must go into solitude and practise spiritual discipline to realize God.  Living in the world and entangled in many of its duties, the aspirant, during the first stage of spiritual life, finds many obstacles in the path of concentration.  While the trees on the foot-path are young, they must he fenced around; otherwise they will be destroyed by cattle.  The fence is necessary when the tree is young, but it can be taken away when the trunk is thick and strong.  Then the tree won't be hurt even if an elephant is tied to it. 

 

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. 

"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.  The gopis of Vrindāvan felt the attraction of Krishna.  Let me sing you a song:

Listen! The flute has sounded in yonder wood.  
There I must fly, for Krishna waits on the path.  
Tell me, friends, will you come along or no? 
To you my Krishna is merely an empty name; 
To me He is the anguish of my heart.  
You hear His flute-notes onlv with your ears, 
But, oh, I hear them in my deepest soul.  
I hear His  flute calling: 'Radha come out! 
Without you the grove is shorn of its loveliness.' "

The Master sang the song with tears in his eyes, and said to Keshab and the other Brahmo devotees: "Whether you accept Radha and Krishna, or not, please do accept their attraction for each other.  Try to create that same yearning in your heart for God.  Yearning is all you need in order to realize Him."

Gradually the ebb-tide set in.  The steamboat was speeding toward Calcutta.  It passed under the Howrah Bridge and came within sight of the Botanical Garden.  The captain was asked to go a little farther down the river.  The passengers were enchanted with the Master's words, and most of them had no idea of time or of how far they had come. 

Keshab began to serve some puffed rice and grated coconut.  The guests held these in the folds of their wearing-cloths and presently started to eat.  Everyone was joyful.  The Master noticed, however, that Keshab and Vijay rather shrank from each other, and he was anxious to reconcile them. 

Disagreements necessary for enriching life:

MASTEIR (to Keshab): "Look here.  There is Vijay.  Your quarrel seems like the fight between Śiva and Rama.  Śiva was Rama's s guru.  Though they fought with each other, yet they soon came to terms.  But the grimaces of the ghosts, the followers of Śiva, and the gibberish of the monkeys, the followers of Rama, would not come to an end! (Loud laughter.) Such quarrels take place even among one's own kith and kin.  Didn't Rama fight with His own sons, Lava and Kusa? Again, you must have noticed how a mother and daughter, living together and having the same spiritual end in view, observe their religious fast separately on Tuesdays, each on her own account-as if the welfare of the mother were different from the welfare of the daughter.  But what benefits the one benefits the other.  In like manner, you have a religious society, and Vijay thinks he must have one too.  (Laughter.) But I think all these are necessary.  While Sri Krishna, Himself God Incarnate, played  with the gopis at Vrindāvan, trouble-makers like Jatila and Kutila appeared on the scene.  You may ask why.  The answer is that the play does not develop without trouble-makers.  (All laugh.) There is no fun without Jatila and Kutila.  (Loud laughter.)

"Ramanuja upheld the doctrine of Qualified Non-dualism.  But his guru was a pure non-dualist.  They disagreed with each other and refuted each other's arguments.  That always happens.  Still, to the teacher the disciple is his own."

All rejoiced in the Mastcr's company and his words. 

MASTER (to Keshab): "You don't look into people's natures, before you make them  your disciples, and so they break away from you. 

"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)

SOURCE: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

THE GOSPEL OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA

Chapter 5; PART-I

THE MASTER AND KESHAB

October 27, 1882

Master's boat trip with Keshab:

Keshab Chandra Sen

IT WAS FRIDAY, the day of the Lakshmi Puja.  Keshab Chandra Sen had arranged a boat trip on the Ganges for Sri Ramakrishna. 

About four o'clock in the afternoon the steamboat with Keshab and his Brahmo followers cast anchor in the Ganges alongside the Kāli temple at Dakshineswar.  The passengers saw in front of them the bathing-ghat and the chandni.  To their left, in the temple compound, stood six temples of Śiva, and to their right another group of six Śiva temples.  The white steeple of the Kāli temple, the tree-tops of the Panchavati, and the silhouette of pine-trees stood high against the blue autumn sky.  The gardens between the two nahabats were filled with fragrant flowers, and along the bank of the Ganges were rows of flowering plants.  The blue sky was reflected in the brown water of the river, the sacred Ganges, associated with the most ancient traditions of Aryan civilization.  The outer world appeared soft and serene, and the hearts of the Brahmo devotees were filled with peace. 

Master in samādhi

Sri Ramakrishna was in his room talking with Vijay and Haralal.  Some disciples of Keshab entered.  Bowing before the Master, they said to him: "Sir, the steamer has arrived.  Keshab Babu has asked us to take you there." A small boat was to carry the Master to the steamer.  No sooner did he get into the boat than he lost outer consciousness in samādhi.  Vijay was with him. 

M. was among the passengers.  As the boat came alongside the steamer, all rushed to the railing to have a view of Sri Ramakrishna.  Keshab became anxious to get him safely on board.  With great difficulty the Master was brought back to consciousness of the world and taken to a cabin in the steamer.  Still in an abstracted mood, he walked mechanically, leaning on a devotee for support.  Keshab and the others bowed before him, but he was not aware of them.  Inside the cabin there were a few chairs and a table.  He was made to sit on one of the chairs, Keshab and Vijay occupying two others.  Some devotees were also seated, most of them on the floor, while many others had to stand outside.  They peered eagerly through the door and windows.  Sri Ramakrishna again went into deep samādhi and became totally unconscious of the outer world. 

As the air in the room was stuffy because of the crowd of people, Keshab opened the windows.  He was embarrassed to meet Vijay (see picture), since they had differed in certain principles of the Brāhrno Samaj and Vijay had separated himself from Keshab's organization, joining another society. 

The Brahmo devotees looked wistfully at the Master.  Gradually he came back to sense consciousness; but the divine intoxication still lingered.  He said to himself in a whisper: "Mother, why have You brought me here? They are hedged around and not free.  Can I free them?" Did the Master find that the people assembled there were locked within the prison walls of the world? Did their helplessness make the Master address these words to the Divine Mother?

God dwells in devotee's heart:

Sri Ramakrishna was gradually becoming conscious of the outside world.  Nilmadhav of Ghazipur and a Brahmo devotee were talking about Pavhari Baba.  Another Brahmo devotee said to the Master: "Sir, these gentlemen visited Pavhari Baba.  He lives in Ghazipur.  He is a holy man like yourself." The Master could hardly talk; he only smiled.  The devotee continued, "Sir, Pavhari Baba keeps your photograph in his room." Pointing to his body the Master said with a smile, "Just a pillow-case."

The Master continued: "But 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.

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.) 

"Do you know how a lover of God feels? His attitude is: 'O God, Thou are the Master, and I am Thy servant.  Thou art the Mother, and I am Thy child.' Or again: 'Thou art my Father and Mother.  Thou art the Whole, and I am a part.' He doesn't like to say, 'I am Brahman.'

Attitude of yogis:

"The yogi seeks to realize the Paramatman, the Supreme Soul.  His ideal is the union of the embodied soul and the Supreme Soul.  He withdraws his mind from sense-objects and tries to concentrate it on the Paramatman.  Therefore, during the first stage of his spiritual discipline, he retires into solitude and with undivided attention practises meditation in a fixed posture. 

"But the Reality is one and the same.  The difference is only in name.  He who is Brahman is verily Ātman, and again, He is the Bhagavan.  He is Brahman to the followers of the path of knowledge, Paramatman to the yogis, and Bhagavan to the lovers of God."

Distant view of Dakshineswar seen from Belur Math Ganga bank

The steamer had been going toward Calcutta; but the passengers, with their eyes fixed on the Master and their ears given to his nectar-like words, were oblivious of its motion.  Dakshineswar, with its temples and gardens, was left behind.  The paddles of the boat churned the waters of the Ganges with a murmuring sound.  But the devotees were indifferent to all this.  Spellbound, they looked on a great yogi, his face lighted with a divine smile, his countenance radiating love, his eyes sparkling with joy-a man who had renounced all for God and who knew nothing but God.  Unceasing words of wisdom flowed from his lips. 

Reasoning of jnanis:

MASTER: "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.

"But though you reason all your life, unless you are established in samādhi, you cannot go beyond the jurisdiction of Śakti.  Even when you say, 'I am meditating', or 'I am contemplating', still you are moving in the realm of Śakti, within Its power. 

Identity of Brahman and Śakti

"Thus 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. 

"The Primordial Power is ever at play.  She is creating, preserving, and destroying in play, as it were.  This Power is called Kāli.  Kāli is verily Brahman, and Brahman is verily Kāli.  It is one and the same Reality.  When we think of  It as inactive, that is to say, not engaged in the acts of creation, preservation, and destruction, then we call It Brahman.  But when It engages in these activities, then we call It Kāli or Śakti.  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.' "

SOURCE: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna; 

THE GOSPEL OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA

CHAPTER-4; PART-VII: ADVICE TO THE HOUSEHOLDERS

Sunday, October 22, 1882

It was the day of Vijaya, the last day of the celebration of the worship of Durga, when the clay image is immersed in the water of a lake or river. 

About nine o'clock  in the morning M. was seated on the floor of the Master's room at Dakshineswar, near Sri Ramakrishna, who was reclining on the small couch.  Rakhal was then living with the Master, and Narendra and Bhavanath visited him frequently.  Baburam had seen him only once or twice. 

MASTER: "Did you have any holiday during the Durga Puja?"

M: "Yes, sir.  I went to Keshab's house every day for the first three days of the worship."

MASTER: "Is that so?"

M: "I heard there a very interesting interpretation of the Durga Puja."

MASTER: "Please tell me all about it."

M: "Keshab Sen held daily morning prayers in his house, lasting till ten or eleven.  During these prayers he gave the inner meaning of the Durga Puja.  He said that if anyone could realize the Divine Mother, that is to say, could install Mother Durga in the shrine of his heart, then Lakshmi, Sarasvati, Kartika, and Ganesa would come there of themselves.  Lakshmi means wealth, Sarasvati knowledge, Kartika strength, and Ganesa success.  By realizing the Divine Mother within one's heart, one gets all these without any effort whatever."

Sri Ramakrishna listened to the description, questioning M. now and then about the prayers conducted by Keshab.  At last he said to M.: "Don't go hither and thither.  Come here alone.  Those who belong to the inner circle of my devotees will come only here.  Boys like Narendra, Bhavanath, and Rakhal are my very intimate disciples.  They are not to be thought lightly of.  Feed13 them one day.  What do you think of Narendra?"

M: "I think very highly of him, sir."

Narendra's many virtues

MASTER: "Haven't you observed his many virtues? He is not only well versed in music, vocal and instrumental, but he is also very learned.  Besides, he has controlled his passions and declares he will lead a celibate life.  He has been devoted to God since his very boyhood. 

MEDITATION ON GOD WITH FORM

MASTER: "How are you getting along with your meditation nowadays? What aspect of God appeals to your mind - with form or without form?"

M: "Sir, now I can't fix my mind on God with form.  On the other hand, I can't concentrate steadily on God without form."

MASTER: "Now you see that the mind cannot be fixed, all of a sudden, on the formless aspect of God.  It is wise to think of God with form during the primary stages."

M: "Do you mean to suggest that one should meditate on clay images?"

MASTER: "Why clay? These images are the embodiments of Consciousness."

M: "Even so, one must think of hands, feet, and the other parts of body.  But again, I realize that the mind cannot be concentrated unless one meditates, in the beginning, on God with form.  You have told me so.  Well, God can easily assume different forms.  May one meditate on the form of one's own mother?"

MASTER: "Yes, the mother should be adored.  She is indeed an embodiment of Brahman."

M. sat in silence.  After a few minutes he asked the Master: "What does one feel while thinking of God without form? Isn't it possible to describe it?" After some reflection, the Master said, "Do you know what it is like?" He remained silent a moment and then said a few words to M. about one's experiences at the time of the vision of God with and without form. 

MASTER: "You see, one must practise spiritual discipline to understand this correctly.  Suppose, there are treasures in a room.  If you want to see them and lay hold of them, you must take the trouble to get the key and unlock the door.  After that you must take the treasures out.  But suppose the room is locked, and standing outside the door you say to yourself: 'Here I have opened the door.  Now I have broken the lock of the chest.  Now I have taken out the treasure.' Such brooding near the door will not enable you to achieve anything.  You must practise discipline. 

BRAHMAN AND DIVINE INCARNATIONS

MASTER: "The jnanis think of God without form.  They don't accept the Divine Incarnation.  Praising Sri Krishna, Arjuna said, 'Thou art Brahman Absolute.' Sri Krishna replied, 'Follow Me, and you will know whether or not I am Brahman Absolute.' So saying, Sri Krishna led Arjuna to a certain place and asked him what he saw there.  'I see a huge tree,' said Arjuna, 'and on it I notice fruits hanging like clusters of blackberries.' Then Krishna said to Arjuna, 'Come nearer and you will find that these are not clusters of blackberries, but clusters of innumerable Krishnas like Me, hanging from the tree.' In other words, Divine Incarnations without number appear and disappear on the tree of the Absolute Brahman. 

"Kavirdas was strongly inclined to the formless God.  At the mention of Krishna's name he would say: 'Why should I worship Him? The gopis would clap their hands while He performed a monkey dance.' (With a smile) But I accept God with form when I am in the company of people who believe in that ideal, and I also agree with those who believe in the formless God."

M. (smiling): "You are as infinite as He of whom we have been talking.  Truly, no one can fathom your depth."

MASTER (smiling): "Ah! I see you have found it out.  Let me tell you one thing.  One should follow various paths.  One should practise each creed for a time.  In a game of satrancha a piece can't reach the centre square until it completes the circle; but once in the square it can't be overtaken by any other piece."

M: "That is true, sir."

MASTER: "There are two classes of.  yogis: the bahudakas and the kutichakas.  The bahudakas roam about visiting various holy places and have not yet found peace of mind.  But the kutichakas, having visited all the sacred places, have quieted their minds.  Feeling serene and peaceful, they settle down in one place and no longer move about.  In that one place they are happy; they don't feel the need of going to any sacred place.  If one of them ever visits a place of pilgrimage, it is only for the purpose of new inspiration. 

"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. 

"While visiting the holy places, I would sometimes suffer great agony.  Once I went with Mathur to Raja Babu's drawing-room in Benares.  I found that they talked there only of worldly matters - money, real estate, and the like.  At this I burst into tears.  I said to the Divine Mother, weeping: 'Mother! Where hast Thou brought me? I was much better off at Dakshineswar.' In Allahabad I noticed the same things that I saw elsewhere - the same ponds, the same grass, the same trees, the same tamarind-leaves. 

MASTER'S ECSTASY AT VRINDĀVAN

MASTER: "But one undoubtedly finds inspiration in a holy place.  I accompanied Mathur Babu to Vrindāvan.  Hriday and the ladies of Mathur's family were in our party.  No sooner did I see the Kaliyadaman Ghat than a divine emotion surged up within me.  I was completely overwhelmed.  Hriday used to bathe me there as if I were a small child. 

"In the dusk I would walk on the bank of the Jamuna when the cattle returned along the sandy banks from their pastures.  At the very sight of those cows the thought of Krishna would flash in my mind.  I would run along like a madman, crying: 'Oh, where is Krishna? Where is my Krishna?'

"I went to Syamakunda and Radhakunda in a palanquin and got out to visit the holy Mount Govardhan.  At the very sight of the mount I was overpowered with divine emotion and ran to the top.  I lost all consciousness of the world around me.  The residents of the place helped me to come down.  On my way to the sacred pools of Syamakunda and Radhakunda, when I saw the meadows, the trees, the shrubs, the birds, and the deer, I was overcome with ecstasy.  My clothes became wet with tears.  I said: 'O Krishna! Everything here is as it was in the olden days.  You alone are absent.' Seated inside the palanquin I lost all power of speech.  Hriday followed the palanquin.  He had warned the bearers to be careful about me. 

"Gangamayi became very fond of me in Vrindāvan.  She was an old woman who lived all alone in a hut near the Nidhuvan.  Referring to my spiritual condition and ecstasy, she said, 'He is the very embodiment of Radha.' She addressed me as 'Dulali'.  When with her, I used to forget my food and drink, my bath, and all thought of going home.  On some days Hriday used to bring food from home and feed me.  Gangamayi also would serve me with food prepared by her own hands. 

"Gangamayi used to experience trances.  At such times a great crowd would come to see her.  One day, in a state of ecstasy, she climbed on Hriday's shoulders. 

"I didn't want to leave her and return to Calcutta.  Everything was arranged for me to stay with her.  I was to eat double-boiled rice, and we were to have our beds on either side of the cottage.  All the arrangements had been made, when Hriday said: 'You have such a weak stomach.  Who will look after you?' 'Why,' said Gangamayi, 'I shall look after him.  I'll nurse him.' As Hriday dragged me by one hand and she by the other, I remembered my mother, who was then living alone here in the nahabat of temple garden.  I found it impossible to stay away from her, and said to Gangamayi, 'No, I must go.' I loved the atmosphere of Vrindāvan."

About eleven o'clock the Master took his meal, the offerings from temple of Kāli.  After taking his noonday rest he resumed his conversation with the devotees.  Every now and then he uttered the holy word "Om" or repeated the sacred names of the deities. 

After sunset the evening worship was performed in the temples.  Since it was the day of Vijaya, the devotees first saluted the Divine Mother and then took the dust of the Master's feet. 

SOURCE: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

THE GOSPEL OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA

CHAPTER-4: ADVICE TO HOUSEHOLDERS; PART-VI

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."

The sannyasis belonging to the sect of Nanak entered the room and greeted the Master, saying, "Namo Narayanaya." Sri Ramakrishna asked them to sit down.

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.' "

At nine o'clock in the morning, while the Master was still sitting in his room, Manomohan arrived from Konnagar with some members of his family.  In answer to Sri Ramakrishna's kind inquiries, Manomohan explained that he was taking them to Calcutta.  The Master said: "Today is the first day of the Bengali month, an inauspicious day for undertaking a journey.  I hope everything will be well with you." With a smile he began to talk of other matters.

Present Panchavati

When Narendra and his friends had finished bathing in the Ganges, the Master said to them earnestly: "Go to the Panchavati (see Picture) and meditate there under the banyan-tree.  Shall I give you something to sit on?"

Discrimination and dispassion:

About half past ten Narendra and his Brahmo friends were meditating in the Panchavati.  After a while Sri Ramakrishna came to them.  M., too, was present.

The Master said to the Brahmo devotees: "In meditation one must be absorbed in God.  By merely floating on the surface of the water, can you reach the gems lying at the bottom of the sea?"

Then he sang:

Taking the name of Kāli, dive deep down,

O mind, Into the heart's fathomless depths,

Where many a precious gem lies hid.  

But never believe the bed of the ocean bare of gems

If in the first few dives you fail;

With firm resolve and self-control

Dive deep and make your way to Mother Kāli's realm.

Down in the ocean depths of heavenly Wisdom lie

The wondrous pearls of Peace, O mind;

And you yourself can gather them,

If you but have pure love and follow the scriptures' rule.  

Within those ocean depths, as well,

Six alligators, lurk - lust, anger, and the rest -

Swimming about in search of prey.  

Smear yourself with the turmeric of discrimination;

The very smell of it will shield you from their jaws.

Upon the ocean bed lie strewn

Unnumbered pearls and precious gems;

Plunge in, says Ramprasad, and gather up handfuls there!

Narendra and his friends came down from their seats on the raised platform of the Panchavati and stood near the Master.  He returned to his room with them.  The Master continued: "When you plunge in the water of the ocean, you may be attacked by alligators.  But they won't touch you if your body is smeared with turmeric.  There are no doubt six alligators - lust, anger, avarice, and so on - within you, in the 'heart's fathomless depths'.  But protect yourself with the turmeric of discrimination and renunciation, and they won't touch you.

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.

"There lived in a village a young man named Padmalochan.  People used to call him 'Podo', for short.  In this village there was a temple in a very dilapidated condition.  It contained no image of God.  Aśwattha and other plants sprang up on the ruins of its walls.  Bats lived inside, and the floor was covered with dust and the droppings of the bats.  The people of the village had stopped visiting the temple.  One day after dusk the villagers heard the sound of a conch-shell from the direction of the temple.  They thought perhaps someone had installed an image in the shrine and was performing the evening worship.  One of them softly opened the door and saw Padmalochan standing in a corner, blowing the conch.  No image had been set up.  The temple hadn't been swept or washed.  And filth and dirt lay everywhere.  Then he shouted to Podo:

You have set up no image here,

Within the shrine, O fool!

Blowing the conch, you simply make

Confusion worse confounded.  

Day and night eleven bats

Scream there incessantly.

Purification of mind

"There is no use in merely making a noise if you want to establish the Deity in the shrine of your heart, if you want to realize God.  First of all purify the mind.  In the pure heart God takes His seat.  One cannot bring the holy image into the temple if the droppings of bats are all around.  The eleven bats are our eleven organs: five of action, five of perception, and the mind.

"First of all invoke the Deity, and then give lectures to your heart's content.  First of all dive deep.  Plunge to the bottom and gather up the gems.  Then you may do other things.  But nobody wants to plunge.  People are without spiritual discipline and prayer, without renunciation and dispassion.  They learn a few words and immediately start to deliver lectures.  It is difficult to teach others.  Only if a man gets a command from God, after realizing Him, is he entitled to teach."

Thus conversing, the Master came to the west end of the verandah.  M stood by his side.  Sri Ramakrishna had repeated again and again that God cannot be realized without discrimination and renunciation.  This made M. extremely worried.  He had married and was then a young man of twenty-eight, educated in college in the Western way.  Having a sense of duty, he asked himself, "Do discrimination and dispassion mean giving up 'woman and gold'?" He was really at a loss to know what to do.

Mahendranath Gupta ('M')

M. (to the Master): "What should one do if one's wife says: 'You are neglecting me.  I shall commit suicide?' "

MASTER (in a serious tone): "Give up such a wife if she proves an obstacle in the way of spiritual life.  Let her commit suicide or anything else she likes.  The wife that hampers her husband's spiritual life is an ungodly wife."

Immersed in deep thought, M. stood leaning against the wall.  Narendra and the other devotees remained silent a few minutes.  The Master exchanged several words with them; then, suddenly going to M., he whispered in his ear: "But if a man has sincere love for God, then all come under his control - the king, wicked persons, and his wife.  Sincere love of God on the husband's part may eventually help the wife to lead a spiritual life.  If the husband is good, then through the grace of God the wife may also follow his example."

This had a most soothing effect on M.'s worried mind.  All the while he had been thinking: "Let her commit suicide.  What can I do?"

M. (to the Master): "This world is a terrible place indeed."

MASTER (to the devotees): "That is the reason Chaitanya said to his companion Nityananda, 'Listen, brother, there is no hope of salvation for the worldly-minded.' "

On another occasion the Master had said to M. privately: "Yes, there is no hope for a worldly man if he is not sincerely devoted to God.  But he has nothing to fear if he remains in the world after realizing God.  Nor need a man have any fear whatever of the world if he attains sincere devotion by practising spiritual discipline now and then in solitude.  Chaitanya had several householders among his devotees, but they were householders in name only, for they lived unattached to the world."

It was noon.  The worship was over, and food offerings had been made in the temple.  The doors of the temple were shut.  Sri Ramakrishna sat down for his meal, and Narendra and the other devotees partook of the food offerings from the temple.

SOURCE: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

THE GOSPEL OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA

CHAPTER-4; PART-III

Seeing God everywhere:

Sri Ramakrishana

MASTER: "But this is not possible without intense love of God.  One sees nothing but God everywhere when one loves Him with great intensity.  It is like a person with jaundice, who sees everything yellow.   Then one feels, 'I am verily He'. 

"A drunkard, deeply intoxicated, says, 'Verily I am Kāli!' The gopis, intoxicated with love, exclaimed, 'Verily I am Krishna!'

"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?' "

M: "Yes, sir, I realize that.  It isn't like thinking of an unreal object.  How can a man lose his intelligence if he always fixes his mind on Him whose very nature is eternal Intelligence?"

MASTER (with pleasure): "It is through God's grace that you understand that.  The doubts of the mind will not disappear without His grace.  Doubts do not disappear without Self-realization. 

"But one need not fear anything if one has received the grace of God.  It is rather easy for a child to stumble if he holds his father's hand; but there can be no such fear if the father holds the child's hand.  A man does not have to suffer any more if God, in His grace, removes his doubts and reveals Himself to him.  But this grace descends upon him only after he has prayed to God with intense yearning of heart and practised spiritual discipline.  The mother feels compassion for her child when she sees him running about breathlessly.  She has been hiding herself; now she appears before the child."

"But why should God make us run about?" thought M

Immediately Sri Ramakrishna said: "It is His will that we should run about a little.  Then it is great fun.  God has created the world in play, as it were.  This is called Mahamaya, the Great Illusion.  Therefore one must take refuge in the Divine Mother, the Cosmic Power Itself.  It is She who has bound us with the shackles of illusion.  The realization of God is possible only when those shackles are severed."

Worship of the Divine Mother:

The Master continued: "One must propitiate the Divine Mother, the Primal Energy, in order to obtain God's grace.  God Himself is Mahamaya, who deludes the world with Her illusion and conjures up the magic of creation, preservation, and destruction.  She has spread this veil of ignorance before our eyes.  We can go into the inner chamber only when She lets us pass through the door.  Living outside, we see only outer objects, but not that Eternal Being, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute.  Therefore it is stated in the purna that deities like Brahma praised Mahamaya for the destruction of the demons Madhu and Kaitabha. 

"Śakti alone is the root of the universe.  That Primal Energy has two aspects: vidyā and avidyā.  Avidyā deludes.  Avidyā conjures up 'woman and gold', which casts the spell.  Vidyā begets devotion, kindness, wisdom, and love, which lead one to God.  This avidyā must be propitiated, and that is the purpose of the rites of Śakti worship. 

"The devotee assumes various attitudes toward Śakti in order to propitiate Her: the attitude of a handmaid, a 'hero', or a child.  A hero's attitude is to please Her even as a man pleases a woman through intercourse. 

"The worship of Śakti is extremely difficult.  It is no joke.  I passed two years as the handmaid and companion of the Divine Mother.  But my natural attitude has always been that of a child toward its mother.  I regard the breasts of any woman as those of my own mother. 

Master's attitude toward women:

"Women are, all of them, the veritable images of Śakti.  In northwest India the bride holds a knife in her hand at the time of marriage; in Bengal, a nut-cutter.  The meaning is that the bridegroom, with the help of the bride, who is the embodiment of the Divine Power, will sever the bondage of illusion.  This is the 'heroic' attitude.  I never worshipped the Divine Mother that way.  My attitude toward Her is that of a child toward its mother. 

"The bride is the very embodiment of Śakti.  Haven't you noticed, at the marriage ceremony, how the groom sits behind like an idiot? But the bride - she is so bold!

His love for Narendra:

Narendra (Vivekananda)

"After attaining God one forgets His external splendour; the glories of His creation.  One doesn't think of God's glories after one has seen Him.  The devotee, once immersed in God's Bliss, doesn't calculate any more about outer things.  When I see Narendra (Swami Vivekananda), I don't need to ask him: 'What's your name? Where do you live?' Where is the time for such questions? Once a man asked Hanuman which day of the fortnight it was.  'Brother,' said Hanuman, 'I don't know anything of the day of the week, or the fortnight, or the position of the stars.  I think of Rama alone.' "

SOURCE: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishana