QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS



SRI RAMAKRISHNA



SRI RAMAKRISHNA ANSWERS:
[PART-I (Q:1-10)]

Q-1[DEVOTEE]: "How ought we to live in the world?"

SRI RAMAKRISHNA' ANSWER: “Do all your duties, but keep your mind on God.

A maidservant in the house of a rich man performs all the household duties, but her thoughts are fixed on her own home in her native village. She brings up her Master's children as if they were her own. She even speaks of them as 'my Rāma' or 'my Hari'. But in her own mind she knows very well that they do not belong to her at all.

If you enter the world without first cultivating love for God, you will be entangled more and more. You will be overwhelmed with its danger, its grief, its sorrows. And the more you think of worldly things, the more you will be attached to them.

First rub your hands with oil and then break open the jack-fruit; otherwise they will be smeared with its sticky milk. First secure the oil of divine love, and then set your hands to the duties of the world.

But one must go into solitude to attain this divine love.

Further, by meditating on God in solitude the mind acquires knowledge, dispassion, and devotion. But the very same mind goes downward if it dwells in the world.

Together with this, you must practise discrimination: 'Lust and Greed' is impermanent. God is the only Eternal Substance. What does a man get with money? Food, clothes, and a dwelling-place - nothing more. You cannot realize God with its help. Therefore money can never be the goal of life.

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Q-2 [Devotee]: "Is it possible to see God?"

Sri Ramakrishna: "Yes, certainly. (i) Living in solitude now and then, (ii) repeating God's name and singing His glories, and (iii) discriminating between the Real and the unreal - these are the means to employ to see Him."

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Q-3 [Devotee]: Under what conditions does one see God?

Sri Ramakrishna: "Cry to the Lord with an intensely yearning heart and you will certainly see Him. People shed a whole jug of tears for wife and children. They swim in tears for money. But who weeps for God? Cry to Him with a real cry.

Longing is like the rosy dawn. After the dawn out comes the sun. Longing is followed by the vision of God.

God reveals Himself to a devotee who feels drawn to Him by the combined force of these three attractions: (i) the attraction of worldly possessions for the worldly man, (ii) the child's attraction for its mother, and (iii) the husband's attraction for the chaste wife. If one feels drawn to Him by the combined force of these three attractions, then through it one can attain Him.

The point is, to love God even as the mother loves her child, the chaste wife her husband, and the worldly man his wealth. Add together these three forces of love, these three powers of attraction, and give it all to God. Then you will certainly see Him.

It is necessary to pray [To know about PRAYER click] to Him with a longing heart. The kitten knows only how to call its mother, crying, 'Mew, mew!' It remains satisfied wherever its mother puts it. And the mother cat puts the kitten sometimes in the kitchen, sometimes on the floor, and sometimes on the bed. When it suffers it cries only, 'Mew, mew!' That's all it knows. But as soon as the mother hears this cry, wherever she may be; she comes to the kitten.

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Q-4 [DEVOTEE]: If a wicked man is about to do harm, or actually does so, should we keep quiet then?

SRI RAMAKRISHNA: "A man living in society should make a show of tamas to protect himself from evil-minded people. But he should not harm anybody in anticipation of harm likely to be done him.

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Q-5 [DEVOTEE]:”How can we know that all paths are true?"

SRI RAMAKRISHNA: "A man can reach God if he follows one path rightly. Then he can learn about all the other paths. It is like reaching the roof by some means or other. Then one is able to climb down by the wooden or stone stairs, by a bamboo pole, or even by a rope.

"A devotee can know everything when God's grace descends on him. If you but realize Him, you will be able to know all about Him. You should somehow meet the master of a house and become acquainted with him; then he himself will tell you how many houses he owns and all about his gardens and government securities."

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Q-6 [DEVOTEE] : "How does one receive the grace of God?"

SRI RAMAKRISHNA: "Constantly you have to chant the name and glories of God and give up worldly thoughts as much as you can. With the greatest effort you may try to bring water into your field for your crops, but it may all leak out through holes in the ridges. Then all your efforts to bring the water by digging a canal will be futile.

"You will feel restless for God when your heart becomes pure and your mind free from attachment to the things of the world. Then alone will your prayer reach God. A telegraph wire cannot carry messages if it has a break or some other defect.

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Q-7 [DEVOTEE]: "How can one attain yoga?

SRI RAMAKRISHNA: By completely renouncing attachment to worldly things. The mind must be pure and without blemish, like the telegraph wire that has no defect.

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Q-8 [DEVOTEE]: "How can one attain vision of God?

SRI RAMAKRISHNA: "The thing is that one must love God. Through intense love one attains the vision of Him. The attraction of the husband for the chaste wife, the attraction of the child for its mother, the attraction of worldly possessions for the worldly man-when a man can blend these three into one, and direct it all to God, then he gets the vision of God."

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Q-9: [A devotee]: "How may we fix our minds on God?"

SRI RAMAKRISHNA: "Repeat God's name and sing His glories, and keep holy company. Now and then visit God's devotees and holy men. It is most necessary to go into solitude now and then and think of God. To fix the mind on God is very difficult in the beginning, unless one practises meditation in solitude. To meditate, you should withdraw within yourself or retire to a secluded corner or to the forest.

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Q-10 [A DEVOTEE]: “what is the way out of this world?"



SRI RAMAKRISHNA: "Prayer and the company of holy men. You cannot get rid of an ailment without the help of a physician. But it is not enough to be in the company of religious people only for a day. You should constantly seek it, for the disease has become chronic. Again, you can't understand the pulse rightly unless you live with a physician. Moving with him constantly, you learn to distinguish between the pulse of phlegm and the pulse of bile."

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SPIRITUAL VISIONS



SRI RAMAKRISHNA IN TRANCE

 SRI RAMAKRISHNA’S FIRST VISION OF GOD:

When Sri Ramakrishna was first appointed priest of Kali temple his whole current of his mind began to flow towards Divine Mother. In the agony of his restlessness for the vision of God he vowed to the Divine Mother that he would kill himself if he did not see God.

He expressed later about what happened at the peak of his longing for the vision of God. He said, ‘as if some one had hold of my heart and mind, and was wringing them like a wet towel. Afflicted with the thought that I might never have Mother’s vision, I thought there was, then, no use in living this life.

My eyes fell on the sword on the wall of the Mother’s temple. I made up my mind to end my life that very moment. Like one ran and caught hold of it, when suddenly I had the wonderful vision of the Mother and fell down unconscious. I did not know what happened then in the external world – how that day and the next slipped away. But in my heart of hearts there was flowing a current of intense bliss, never experienced before, and I had the immediate knowledge of the light that was Mother.’

VISIONS

Having faith in God is very vital factor in one’s spiritual life. Our faith in God will increase manifold when we come across spiritual Visions and Experiences of enlightened persons and incarnations. Sri Ramakrishna who is regarded and worshiped worldwide as God-incarnate had innumerable spiritual experiences daily. They are great inspiration for all spiritual aspirants. 

SRI RAMAKRISHNA’S FIRST VISION OF GOD:

SRI RAMAKRISHNA IN ECSTASY

MOTHER KALI

When Sri Ramakrishna was first appointed priest of Kali temple his whole current of his mind began to flow towards Divine Mother. In the agony of his restlessness for the vision of God he vowed to the Divine Mother Kali that he would kill himself if he did not see God.

He expressed later about what happened at the peak of his longing for the vision of God. He said, ‘as if some one had hold of my heart and mind, and was wringing them like a wet towel. Afflicted with the thought that I might never have Mother’s vision, I thought there was, then, no use in living this life.

My eyes fell on the sword on the wall of the Mother’s temple. I made up my mind to end my life that very moment. Like one ran and caught hold of it, when suddenly I had the wonderful vision of the Mother and fell down unconscious. I did not know what happened then in the external world – how that day and the next slipped away. But in my heart of hearts there was flowing a current of intense bliss, never experienced before, and I had the immediate knowledge of the light that was Mother.’

 INTIMATE TALK WITH GOD:

"God talked to me. It was not merely His vision. Yes, He talked to me. Under the banyan-tree I saw Him coming from the Ganges. Then we laughed so much! By way of playing with me He cracked my fingers. Then He talked. Yes, He talked to me.”

"I have had many amazing visions. I had a vision of the Indivisible Satchidananda."

VISION OF MAYA:

"One day He showed me the māyā of Mahamaya. A small light inside a room began to grow, and at last it enveloped the whole universe."

A SECRET EXPERIENCE OF KUNDALINI:
“Just before my attaining this state of mind, it had been revealed to me how the Kundalini is aroused, how the lotuses of the different centres blossom forth, and how all this culminates in samādhi. This is a very secret experience. I saw a boy twenty-two or twenty-three years old, exactly resembling me, enter the Sushmana nerve and commune with the lotuses touching them with his tongue. He began with the centre at the anus and passed through the centres at the sexual organ, naval, and so on. The different lotuses of those centres-four-petalled, six-petalled, ten-petalled, and so forth-had been drooping at his touch they stood erect.

"When he reached the heart-I distinctly remember it-and communed with the lotuses there, touching it with his tongue, the twelve-petalled lotus, which was hanging head down, stood erect and open its petals. Then he came to the sixteen-petalled lotus in the throat and two petalled lotus in the forehead. And last of all, the thousand-petalled lotus in the head blossomed. Since then I have been in this state."

REVEALATION OF ESSENCE OF SCRIPTUERS:
"For three days I wept continuously. And He revealed to me what is in the Vedas, the Puranas, the Tantras, and the other scriptures.”

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SIKH PRAYERS:

PRAYER OF GURU NANAK:   

             

O You eternal, the formless one!

I beseech You, O true Guru, the true Being, God’s own,

GURU NANAK

We, the humble and the lowly, have sought Your refuge,

Take pity and awaken the name in us,

Neither chastity nor truth nor wisdom

Do I, ignorant wretch, have in life, O Lord!

Nanak, therefore, seeks humbly the refuge of those who forget You not.

Says Nanak: Impurities attach to my name.

But I surrender to You, O Lord,

We, the meek and lowly belong to You, O Lord,

Save us, O save us, You the Highest of High.

Your name is Nanak’s only mainstay and in Your name lies his peace.

O Nanak, may we rise up on the current of the Holy Name – to your presence;

And wish peace unto all the world, by Your will!

Dress polluted pleases not my Love,

To His pure bed how can I move?

O true Lord of Benignity!

Let me an utter sacrifice be To You and remembering You,

O Love, to You let me sacrificed eternally.

COURTESY: punjabijanta.com

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PRAYERS:

Prayer is an essential and integral part of our life. We find prayers in all Religions viz. Christianity, Islam, Sikhism etc. It may be for worldly gain or spiritual progress and attainment. Spiritual prayers are more rewarding than worldly prayers. By means of spiritual prayer one goes nearer to God.

Does God listen to our prayers?

Yes. He listens to our prayers if they are sincere. In prayer the mind and heart must be united. He responds to our prayer in a way which is for our own good. Moreover, faith and self-surrender are essential in our prayers. It is not strange that even an agnostic has a prayer:  ‘O God, If there is God save my soul, if I have a soul.’

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HINDU PRAYERS:
GAYATRI:

Gayatri, the ancient prayer is the most sublime  and repeated

even now by thousands and thousands of pious devotees.                                               

 GAYATRI MANTRA: [CLICK BELOW VIDEO TO LISTEN]

Om Bhoor Bhuwah Swaha,               

Tat Savitur Varenyam                         
Bhargo Deasya Dheemahi
Dhiyo Yonaha Prachodayat.


MEANING:
‘Let us meditate on the Supreme glory of the divine Being who illumines the three  worlds. May He enlighten our minds.’

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2. ANOTHER FAMOUS PRAYER:

Asatoma sat gamaya,

Tamasoma Jyotir gamaya,

Mirtiyorma amirtam gamaya.

MEANING:

“Lead me from unreal to Real,

Lead me from darkness to Light,

Lead me from death to Immortality”
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3. UPANIZAD PRAYER FOR PURITY:
‘Whatever sins have been committed by me, by thought, word and deed, may the supreme Lord forgive me, cleanse me of them all.’

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4. PRAYER FOR SELF-SURRENDER:

‘Thou art our Mother,

      ,,                Father,

      ,,                Friend,

      ,,               Companion,

      ,,               Knowledge,

      ,,               Wealth,

                       all in all.’

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5. PRAYERS OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA:

 

a. Prayer to the Divine Mother for the Welfare of the Devotees:

The Master was weeping and praying to the Mother in a voice choked with emotion.  He prayed to Her with tearful eyes for the welfare of the devotees: "Mother, may those who come to You have all their desires fulfilled! But please don't make them give up everything at once, Mother.  Well, You may do whatever You like in the end.  If You keep them in the world, Mother, then please reveal Yourself to them now and then.  Otherwise, how will they live? How will they be encouraged if they don't see You once in a while? But You may do whatever You like in the end."

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b.Prayer for Pure Love:

 

"I prayed to the Divine Mother for pure love.  I said to Her: 'Here is Thy righteousness, here is Thy unrighteousness.  Take them both and give me pure love for Thee.  Here is Thy purity, here is Thy impurity.  Take them both and give me pure love for Thee.  O Mother, here is Thy virtue, here is Thy vice.  Take them both and give me pure love for Thee.' "