THE GOSPEL OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA

Chapter 7: THE MASTER AND VIJAY GOSWAMI (PART-II)

Thursday, December 14, 1882

Bondage removed by strong renunciation:

VIJAY: "What must the bound soul's condition of mind be in order to achieve

Vijay Krishna Goswami

liberation?"

MASTER: "He can free himself from attachment to 'woman and gold' if, by the grace of God, he cultivates a spirit of strong renunciation.  What is this strong renunciation? One who has only a mild spirit of renunciation says, 'Well, all will happen in the course of time; let me now simply repeat the name of God.' But a man possessed of a strong spirit of renunciation feels restless for God, as the mother feels for her own child.  A man of strong renunciation seeks nothing but God.  He regards the world as a deep well and feels as if he were going to be drowned in it.  He looks on his relatives as venomous snakes; he wants to fly away from them.  And he does go away.  He never thinks, 'Let me first make some arrangement for my family and then I shall think of God.' He has great inward resolution.

Parable of the two farmers:

"Let me tell you a story about strong renunciation.  At one time there was a drought in a certain part of the country.  The farmers began to cut long channels to bring water to their fields.  One farmer was stubbornly determined.  He took a vow that he would not stop digging until the channel connected his field with the river.  He set to work.  The time came for his bath, and his wife sent their daughter to him with oil.  'Father,' said the girl, 'it is already late.  Rub your body with oil and take your bath.' 'Go away!' thundered the farmer.  'I have too much to do now.' It was past midday, and the farmer was still at work in his field.  He didn't even think of his bath.  Then his wife came and said: 'Why haven't you taken your bath? The food is getting cold.  You overdo everything.  You can finish the rest tomorrow or even today after dinner.' The farmer scolded her furiously and ran at her, spade in hand, crying: 'What? Have you no sense? There's no rain.  The crops are dying.  What will the children eat? You'll all starve to death.  I have taken a vow not to think of bath and food today before I bring water to my field.' The wife saw his state of mind and ran away in fear.  Through a whole day's back-breaking labour the farmer managed by evening to connect his field with the river.  Then he sat down and watched the water flowing into his field with a murmuring sound.  His mind was filled with peace and joy.  He went home, called his wife, and said to her, 'Now give me some oil and prepare me a smoke.' With serene mind he finished his bath and meal, and retired to bed, where he snored to his heart's content.  The determination he showed is an example of strong renunciation.

"Now, there was another farmer who was also digging a channel to bring water to his field.  His wife, too, came to the field and said to him: 'It's very late.  Come home.  It isn't necessary to overdo things.' The farmer didn't protest much, but put aside his spade and said to his wife, 'Well, I'll go home since you ask me to.' (All laugh) That man never succeeded in irrigating his field.  This is a case of mild renunciation.

"As without strong determination the farmer cannot bring water to his field, so also without intense yearning a man cannot realize God.  (To Vijay) Why don't you come here now as frequently as before?"

VIJAY: "Sir, I wish to very much, but I am not free.  I have accepted work in the Brahmo Samaj."

Attachment to "woman" creates bondage:

MASTER: "It is 'woman and gold' that binds man and robs him of his freedom.  It is woman that creates the need for gold.  For woman one man becomes the slave of another, and so loses his freedom.  Then he cannot act as he likes.

Story of Govindaji's priests:

"The priests in the temple of Govindaji at Jaipur were celibates at first, and at that time they had fiery natures.  Once the King of Jaipur sent for them, but they didn't obey him.  They said to the messenger, 'Ask the king to come to see us.' After consultation, the king and his ministers arranged marriages for them.  From then on the king didn't have to send for them.  They would come to him of themselves and say: 'Your Majesty, we have come with our blessings.  Here are the sacred flowers of the temple.  Deign to accept them.' They came to the palace, for now they always wanted money for one thing or another: the building of a house, the rice-taking ceremony of their babies, or the rituals connected with the beginning of their children's education.

Story of twelve hundred nedas:

"There is the story of the twelve hundred nedas and thirteen hundred nedis.  Virabhadra, the son of Nityananda Goswami, had thirteen hundred 'shaven-headed' disciples.  They attained great spiritual powers.  That alarmed their teacher.  'My disciples have acquired great spiritual powers', thought Virabhadra.  'Whatever they say to people will come to pass.  Wherever they go they may create alarming situations; for people offending them unwittingly will come to grief.' Thinking thus, Virabhadra one day called them to him and said, 'See me after performing your daily devotions on the bank of the Ganges.' These disciples had such a high spiritual nature that, while meditating, they would go into samādhi and be unaware of the river water flowing over their heads during the flood-tide.  Then the ebb-tide would come and still they would remain absorbed in meditation.

"Now, one hundred of these disciples had anticipated what their teacher would ask of them.  Lest they should have to disobey his injunctions, they had quickly disappeared from the place before he summoned them.  So they did not go to Virabhadra with the others.  The remaining twelve hundred disciples went to the teacher after finishing their meditation.  Virabhadra said to them: 'These thirteen hundred nuns will serve you.  I ask you to marry them.' 'As you please, revered sir', they said.  'But one hundred of us have gone away.' Thenceforth each of these twelve hundred disciples had a wife.  Consequently they all lost their spiritual power.  Their austerities did not have their original fire.  The company of woman robbed them of their spirituality because it destroyed their freedom.

Degrading effect of serving others:

(To Vijay) "You yourself perceive how far you have gone down by being a servant of others.  Again, one finds that people with many university degrees, scholars with their vast English education, accept service under their English masters and are daily trampled under their boots.  The one cause of all this is woman.  They have married and set up a 'gay fair' with their wives and children.  Now they cannot go back, much as they would like to.  Hence all these insults and humiliations, all this suffering from slavery.

"Once a man realizes God through intense dispassion, he is no longer attached to woman.  Even if he must lead the life of a householder, he is free from fear of and attachment to woman.  Suppose there are two magnets, one big and the other small.  Which one will attract the iron? The big one, of course.  God is the big magnet.  Compared to Him, woman is a small one.  What can 'woman' do?"

Worshipping woman as Divine Mother:

A DEVOTEE: "Sir, shall we hate women then?"

MASTER: "He who has realized God does not look upon a woman with the eye of lust; so he is not afraid of her.  He perceives clearly that women are but so many aspects of the Divine Mother.  He worships them all as the Mother Herself.

(To Vijay) "Come here now and then.  I like to see you very much."

VIJAY: "I have to do my various duties in the Brahmo Samaj; that is why I can't always come here.  But I shall visit you whenever I find it possible."

Difficulties of preaching:

MASTER (to Vijay): "The task of a religious teacher is indeed difficult.  One cannot teach men without a direct command from God.  People won't listen to you if you teach without such authority.  Such teaching has no force behind it.  One must first of all attain God through spiritual discipline or some other means.  Thus armed with authority from God, one can deliver lectures.

"After receiving the command from God, one can be a teacher and give lectures anywhere.  He who receives authority from God also receives power from Him.  Only then can he perform the difficult task of a teacher.

"An insignificant tenant was once engaged in a lawsuit with a big landlord.  People realized that there was a powerful man behind the tenant.  Perhaps another big landlord was directing the case from behind.  Man is an insignificant creature.  He cannot fulfil the difficult task of a teacher without receiving power direct from God."

VIJAY: "Don't the teachings of the Brahmo Samaj bring men salvation?"

MASTER: "How is it ever possible for one man to liberate another from the bondage of the world? God alone, the Creator of this world-bewitching maya, can save men from maya.  There is no other refuge but that great Teacher, Satchidananda.  How is it ever possible for men who have not realized God or received His command, and who are not strengthened with divine strength, to save others from the prison-house of the world?

"One day as I was passing the Panchavati on my way to the pine-grove, I heard a bullfrog croaking.  I thought it must have been seized by a snake.  After some time, as I was coming back, I could still hear its terrified croaking.  I looked to see what was the matter, and found that a water-snake had seized it.  The snake could neither swallow it nor give it up.  So there was no end to the frog's suffering.  I thought that had it been seized by a cobra it would have been silenced after three croaks at the most.  As it was only a water-snake, both of them had to go through this agony.  A man's ego is destroyed after three croaks, as it were, if he gets into the clutches of a real teacher.  But if the teacher is an 'unripe' one, then both the teacher and the disciple undergo endless suffering.  The disciple cannot get rid either of his ego or of the shackles of the world.  If a disciple falls into the clutches of an incompetent teacher, he doesn't attain liberation."

SOURCE: The  gospel of Sri Ramakrishna 

THE GOSPEL OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA:THE MASTER AND VIJAY GOSWAMI

Chapter 7: PART-I

Thursday, December 14, 1882

IT WAS AFTERNOON.  Sri Ramakrishna was sitting on his bed after a short

Sri Ramakrishna's Bed 

noonday rest.  Vijay, Balaram, M., and a few other devotees were sitting on the floor with their faces toward the Master.  They could see the sacred river Ganges through the door.  Since it was winter all were wrapped up in warm clothes.  Vijay had been suffering from colic and had brought some medicine with him.

Vijay, the Brahmo preacher

Vijay was a paid preacher in the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, but there were many things about which he could not agree with the Samaj authorities.  He came from a very noble family of Bengal noted

Vijay Krishna Goswami

for its piety and other spiritual qualities.  Advaita Goswami, one of his remote ancestors, had been an intimate companion of Sri Chaitanya.  Thus the blood of a great lover of God flowed in Vijay's veins.  As an adherent of the Brahmo Samaj, Vijay no doubt meditated on the formless Brahman; but his innate love of God, inherited from his distinguished ancestors, had merely been waiting for the proper time to manifest itself in all its sweetness.  Thus Vijay was irresistibly attracted by the God-intoxicated state of Sri Ramakrishna and often sought his company.  He would listen to the Master's words with great respect, and they would dance together in an ecstasy of divine love.

It was a week-day.  Generally devotees came to the Master in large numbers on Sundays; hence those who wanted to have intimate talks with him visited him on week-days.

Tendencies from previous births

A boy named Vishnu, living in Ariadaha, had recently committed suicide by cutting his throat with a razor.  The talk turned to him.

MASTER: "I felt very badly when I heard of the boy's passing away.  He was a pupil in a school and he used to come here.  He would often say to me that he couldn't enjoy worldly life.  He had lived with some relatives in the western provinces and at that time used to meditate in solitude, in the meadows, hills, and forests.  He told me he had visions of many divine forms.

"Perhaps this was his last birth.  He must have finished most of his duties in his previous birth.  The little that had been left undone was perhaps finished in this one.

"One must admit the existence of tendencies inherited from previous births.  There is a story about a man who practised the sava-sadhana.l He worshipped the Divine Mother in a deep forest.  First he saw many terrible visions.  Finally a tiger attacked and killed him.  Another man, happening to pass and seeing the approach of the tiger, had climbed a tree.  Afterwards he got down and found all the arrangements for worship at hand.  He performed some purifying ceremonies and seated himself on the corpse.  No sooner had he done a little japa than the Divine Mother appeared before him and said: 'My child, I am very much pleased with you.  Accept a boon from Me.' He bowed low at the Lotus Feet of the Goddess and said: 'May I ask You one question, Mother? I am speechless with amazement at Your action.  The other man worked so hard to get the ingredients for Your worship and tried to propitiate You for such a long time, but You didn't condescend to show him Your favour.  And I, who don't know anything of worship, who have done nothing, who have neither devotion nor knowledge nor love, and who haven't practised any austerities, am receiving so much of Your grace.' The Divine Mother said with a laugh: 'My child, you don't remember your previous births.  For many births you tried to propitiate Me through austerities.  As a result of those austerities all these things have come to hand, and you have been blessed with My Vision.  Now ask Me your boon.' "

Suicide after the vision of God:

A DEVOTEE: "I am frightened to hear of the suicide."

MASTER: "Suicide is a heinous sin, undoubtedly.  A man who kills himself must return again and again to this world and suffer its agony.

"But I don't call it suicide if a person leaves his body after having the vision of God.  There is no harm in giving up one's body that way.  After attaining Knowledge some people give up their bodies.  After the gold image has been cast in the clay mould, you may either preserve the mould or break it.

"Many years ago a young man of about twenty used to come to the temple garden from Baranagore; his name was Gopal Sen.  In my presence he used to experience such intense ecstasy that Hriday had to support him for fear he might fall to the ground and break his limbs.  That young man touched my feet one day and said: 'Sir, I shall not be able to see you any more.  Let me bid you good-bye.' A few days later I learnt that he had given up his body.

Four classes of men:

"It is said that there are four classes of human beings: the bound, those aspiring after liberation, the liberated, and the ever-perfect.

Parable of the fish and the net:

"This world is like a fishing-net.  Men are the fish, and God, whose maya has created this world, is the fisherman.  When the fish are entangled in the net, some of them try to tear through its meshes in order to get their liberation.  They are like the men striving after liberation.  But by no means all of them escape.  Only a few jump out of the net with a loud splash, and then people say, 'Ah! There goes a big one!' In like manner, three or four men attain liberation.  Again, some fish are so careful by nature that they are never caught in the net; some beings of the ever-perfect class, like Narada, are never entangled in the meshes of worldliness.  Most of the fish are trapped; but they are not conscious of the net and of their imminent death.  No sooner are they entangled than they run headlong, net and all, trying to hide themselves in the mud.  They don't make the least effort to get free.  On the contrary, they go deeper and deeper into the mud.  These fish are like the bound men.  They are still inside the net, but they think they are quite safe there.  A bound creature is immersed in worldliness, in 'woman and gold', having gone deep into the mire of degradation.  But still he believes he is quite happy and secure.  The liberated, and the seekers after liberation, look on the world as a deep well.  They do not enjoy it.  Therefore, after the attainment of Knowledge, the realization of God, some give up their bodies.  But such a thing is rare indeed.

Worldly-minded forget their lessons:

"The bound creatures, entangled in worldliness, will not come to their senses at all.  They suffer so much misery and agony, they face so many dangers, and yet they will not wake up.

"The camel loves to eat thorny bushes.  The more it eats the thorns, the more the blood gushes from its mouth.  Still it must eat thorny plants and will never give them up.  The man of worldly nature suffers so much sorrow and affliction, but he forgets it all in a few days and begins his old life over again.  Suppose a man has lost his wife or she has turned unfaithful.  Lo! He marries again.

"Or take the instance of a mother: her son dies and she suffers bitter grief; but after a few days she forgets all about it.  The mother, so overwhelmed with sorrow a few days before, now attends to her toilet and puts on her jewelry.  A father becomes bankrupt through the marriage of his daughters, yet he goes on having children year after year.  People are ruined by litigation, yet they go to court all the same.  There are men who cannot feed the children they have, who cannot clothe them or provide decent shelter for them; yet they have more children every year.

"Again, the worldly man is like a snake trying to swallow a mole.  The snake can neither swallow the mole nor give it up.  The bound soul may have realized that there is no substance to the world-that the world is like a hog plum, only stone and skin-but still he cannot give it up and turn his mind to God.

"I once met a relative of Keshab Sen, fifty years old.  He was playing cards.  As if the time had not yet come for him to think of God!

"There is another characteristic of the bound soul.  If you remove him from his worldly surroundings to a spiritual environment, he will pine away.  The worm that grows in filth feels very happy there.  It thrives in filth.  It will die if you put it in a pot of rice."

All remained silent.

SOURCE: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

GURU PURNIMA:2013

Hinduism gives paramount importance to spiritual gurus. Guru is equated with God and always regarded as a link between the aspirant and the Almighty.

Sage Veda Vyasa

What is Guru Purnima?

The full moon day in the Hindu month of Ashad (July-August) is observed as the auspicious day of Guru Purnima, a day sacred to the memory of the great sage Vyasa. All Hindus are indebted to this ancient saint who classified the four Vedas, wrote the 18 Puranas, the Mahabharata, the Srimad Bhagavata and Brahma Sutras.

On this day, all spiritual aspirants and devotees worship Vyasa in honor of his divine personage and all disciples perform a 'puja' of their respective spiritual preceptor or 'Gurudevs'.

Significance of Guru Purnima:

This day is of deep significance to the farmers, for it heralds the setting in of the much-needed rains, as the advent of cool showers usher in fresh life in the fields. It is a good time to begin your spiritual lessons. Traditionally, spiritual seekers commence to intensify their spiritual 'sadhana' from this day.

The period 'Chaturmas' ("four months") begins from this day. In the past, wandering spiritual masters and their disciples used to settle down at a place to study and discourse on the Brahma Sutras composed by Vyasa, and engage themselves in Vedantic discussions.

Adi Shankara, Sri Ramanuja Acharya and Sri Madhvacharya are some of the noteworthy Gurus in Hinduism.

At present time Sri Ramakrishna, who is known as Guru Maharaj among his devotees and followers, is worshiped as Universal Guru all over the world. Guru Purnima is celebrated in Ramakrishna order centres in all over the world.

Below are some of the scenes seen today at Belur Math .

Sangha Guru Srimat Swami Atmasthanandaji Maharaj giving darshan to devotees

Devotees waiting for Guru Pranam

Male Devotees waiting for Guru Pranam

Devotees standing in long queue for Guru Darshan

Devotees waiting for offering pranam to Guru

Guru Purnima is also celebrated by Buddhists in the honor of Gautama Buddha to commemorate the day when Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India.

COURTESY: hinduism.about.com, drikpanchang.com

Read more 

Related Websites: 
1.http://www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org/articles/id/spiritualresearch/spiritualscience/guru

2.http://www.festivalsofindia.in/gurupurnima/

3.http://www.speakingtree.in/spiritual-blogs/seekers/faith-and-rituals/gurupurnima-the-festival-of-expressing-gratitude

4.http://www.drikpanchang.com/festivals/guru-purnima/guru-purnima-date-time.html

5.http://hinduism.about.com/od/festivalsholidays/a/gurupurnima.htm

RATH YATRA-2013

MAY LORD JAGANNATH BLESS YOU ALL.

To day is Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra or car festival. It is one of the largest religious ceremonies of India. Puri Rath yatra commemorates the journey of Lord Krishna from Gokul to Mathura. This annual festival is celebrated on Ashad Shukla Dwitiya (second day in bright fortnight of Ashad month).

As part of Rath Yatra, the idols of Lord Puri Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra

and Subhadra are taken out in a procession to Gundicha Temple and remain there for nine days. Then the idols or Rath Yatra returns to Puri Jagannath temple. The return journey of Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra is known as Bahuda Yatra.

Read more.....

Below are the links for live Telecasts from Puri:

Link 1.Click here          Link 2. click here

GOSPEL OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA

CHAPTER-6: THE MASTER WITH THE BRAHMO DEVOTEES (I;

PART-IV

December 1882

Sri Ramakrishna

In the afternoon Sri Ramakrishna was seated on the west porch of his room in the temple garden at Dakshineswar.  Among others, Baburam, Ramdayal, and M. were present.  These three were going to spend the night with the Master.  M. intended to stay the following day also, for he was having his Christmas holidays.  Baburam had only recently begun to visit the Master.

MASTER (to the devotees): "A man becomes liberated even in this life when he knows that God is the Doer of all things.  Once Keshab came here with Sambhu Mallick.  I said to him, 'Not even a leaf moves except by the will of God.' Where is man's free will? All are under the will of God.  Nangta was a man of great knowledge, yet even he was about to drown himself in the Ganges.  He stayed here eleven months.  At one time he suffered from stomach trouble.  The excruciating pain made him lose control over himself, and he wanted to drown himself in the river.  There was a long shoal near the bathing-ghat.  However far he went into the river, he couldn't find water above his knees.  Then he understood everything and came back.  At one time I was very ill and was about to cut my throat with a knife.  Therefore I say: 'O Mother, I am the machine and Thou art the Operator; I am the chariot and Thou art the Driver.  I move as Thou movest me; I do as Thou makest me do.' "

The devotees sing kirtan in the Master's room:

Dwell, O Lord, O Lover of bhakti,
In the Vrindāvan of my heart,
And my devotion unto Thee
Will be Thy Radha, dearly loved;
My body will be Nanda's home,
My tenderness will be Yaśoda,
My longing for deliverance
Will be Thy gentle gopi maids.
Lift the Govardhan of my sin
And slay my six unyielding passions,
Fierce as the demons sent by Kamsa!
Sweetly play the flute of Thy grace,
Charming the milch cow of my mind;
Abide in the pasture of my soul.
Dwell by the Jamuna of my yearning,
Under the banyan of my hope,
For ever gracious to Thy servant;
And, if naught but the cowherds' love
Can hold Thee in Vrindāvan's vale,
Then, Lord, let Dasarathi, too,
Become Thy cowherd and Thy slave.

Again they sang:

Sing, O bird that nestles deep within my heart!
Sing, O bird that sits on the Kalpa-Tree of Brahman!
Sing God's everlasting praise.
Taste, O bird, of the four fruits of the Kalpa-Tree,
Dharma, artha, kama, moksha.
Sing, O bird, "He alone is the Comfort of my soul!"
Sing, O bird, "He alone is my life's enduring Joy!"
O thou wondrous bird of my life,
Sing aloud in my heart! Unceasingly sing, O bird!
Sing for evermore, even as the thirsty chatak
Sings for the raindrop from the cloud.

A devotee from Nandanbagan entered the room with his friends.  The Master looked at him and said, "Everything inside him can be seen through his eyes, as one sees the objects in a room through a glass door." This devotee and his brothers always celebrated the anniversary of the Brahmo Samaj at their house in Nandanbagan.  Sri Ramakrishna had taken part in these festivals.

The evening worship began in the temples.  The Master was seated on the small couch in his room, absorbed in meditation.  He went into an ecstatic mood and said a little later: "Mother, please draw him to Thee.  He is so modest and humble! He has been visiting Thee." Was the Master referring to Baburam, who later became one of his foremost disciples?

Why so much suffering in God's creation?

The Master explained the different kinds of samādhi to the devotees.  The conversation then turned to the joy and suffering of life.  Why did God create so much suffering?

M: "Once Vidyasagar said in a mood of pique: 'What is the use of calling on God? Just think of this incident: At one time Chenghiz Khan plundered a

Vidyasagar

country and imprisoned many people.  The number of prisoners rose to about a hundred thousand.  The commander of his army said to him: "Your Majesty, who will feed them? It is risky to keep them with us.  It will be equally dangerous to release them.  What shall I do?" Chenghiz Khan said: "That's true.  What can be done? Well, have them killed." The order was accordingly given to cut them to pieces.  Now, God saw this slaughter, didn't He? But He didn't stop it in any way.  Therefore I don't need God, whether He exists or not.  I don't derive any good from Him.'"

MASTER: "Is it possible to understand God's action and His motive? He creates, He preserves, and He destroys.  Can we ever understand why He destroys? I say to the Divine Mother: 'O Mother, I do not need to understand.  Please give me love for Thy Lotus Feet.' The aim of human life is to attain bhakti.  As for other things, the Mother knows best.  I have come to the garden to eat mangoes.  What is the use of my calculating the number of trees, branches, and leaves? I only eat the mangoes; I don't need to know the number of trees and leaves."

Baburam, M., and Ramdayal slept that night on the floor of the Master's room.

It was an early hour of the morning, about two or three o'clock.  The room was dark.  Sri Ramakrishna was seated on his bed and now and then conversed with the devotees.

Compassion and attachment:

MASTER: "Remember that daya, compassion, and maya, attachment, are two different things.  Attachment means the feeling of 'my-ness' toward one's relatives.  It is the love one feels for one's parents, one's brother, one's sister, one's wife and children.  Compassion is the love one feels for all beings of the world.  It is an attitude of equality.  If you see anywhere an instance of compassion, as in Vidyasagar, know that it is due to the grace of God.  Through compassion one serves all beings.  Maya also comes from God.  Through maya God makes one serve one's relatives.  But one thing should be remembered: maya keeps us in ignorance and entangles us in the world, whereas daya makes our hearts pure and gradually unties our bonds.

"God cannot be realized without purity of heart.  One receives the grace of God by subduing the passions-lust, anger, and greed.  Then one sees God.  I tried many things in order to conquer lust.

"When I was ten or eleven years old and lived at Kamarpukur, I first experienced samādhi.  As I was passing through a paddy-field, I saw something and was overwhelmed.  There are certain characteristics of God-vision.  One sees light, feels joy, and experiences the upsurge of a great current in one's chest, like the bursting of a rocket."

The next day Baburam and Ramdayal returned to Calcutta.  M. spent the day and the night with the Master.

December 1882

It was afternoon.  The Master was sitting in his room at Dakshineswar with M. and one or two other devotees.  Several Marwari devotees arrived and saluted the Master.  They requested Sri Ramakrishna to give them spiritual instruction.  He smiled.

MASTER (to the Marwari devotees): "You see, the feeling of 'I' and 'mine' is the result of ignorance.  But to say, 'O God, Thou art the Doer; all these belong to Thee' is the sign of Knowledge.  How can you say such a thing as 'mine'? The superintendent of the garden says, 'This is my garden.' But if he is dismissed because of some misconduct, then he does not have the courage to take away even such a worthless thing as his mango-wood box.  Anger and lust cannot be destroyed.  Turn them toward God.  If you must feel desire and temptation, then desire to realize God, feel tempted by Him.  Discriminate and turn the passions away from worldly objects.  When the elephant is about to devour a plaintain-tree in someone's garden, the mahut strikes it with his iron-tipped goad.

"You are merchants.  You know how to improve your business gradually.  Some of you start with a castor-oil factory.  After making some money at that, you open a cloth shop.  In the same way, one makes progress toward God.  It may be that you go into solitude, now and then, and devote more time to prayer.

"But you must remember that nothing can be achieved except in its proper time.  Some persons must pass through many experiences and perform many worldly duties before they can turn their attention to God; so they have to wait a long time.  If an abscess is lanced before it is soft, the result is not good; the surgeon makes the opening when it is soft and has come to a head.  Once a child said to its mother: 'Mother, I am going to sleep now.  Please wake me up when I feel the call of nature.' 'My child,' said the mother, 'when it is time for that, you will wake up yourself.  I shan't have to wake you.' "

The Marwari devotees generally brought offerings of fruit, candy, and other sweets for the Master.  But Sri Ramakrishna could hardly eat them.  He would say: "They earn their money by falsehood.  I can't eat their offerings." He said to the Marwaris: "You see, one can't strictly adhere to truth in business.  There are ups and downs in business.  Nanak once said, 'I was about to eat the food of unholy people, when I found it stained with blood.' A man should offer only pure things to holy men.  He shouldn't give them food earned by dishonest means.  God is realized by following the path of truth.  One should always chant His name.  Even while one is performing one's duties, the mind should be left with God.  Suppose I have a carbuncle on my back.  I perform my duties, but the mind is drawn to the carbuncle.  It is good to repeat the name of Rama.  'The same Rama who was the son of King Dasaratha has created this world.  Again, as Spirit, He pervades all beings.  He is very near us; He is both within and without.' "

SOURCE: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.