Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

Sayings , Tales and Parables from Sri Ramakrishna

THE INEVITABLES

       

EVFRYONE must reap the result of his past karma. One must admit the influence of tendencies inherited from the past births and the result of the Prarabdha karma. And one must remember that pleasure and pain are the characteristics of the embodied state. In Kavi Kankan’s Chandi it is written that Kaluvir was sent to prison and a heavy stone placed on his chest.  Yet Kalu was born as the result of a boon from the Divine Mother of the Universe. Thus pleasure and pain are inevitable when one accepts a body.

Again, take the case of Srimanta, who was a great devotee. Though his mother, Khullana, was very
much devoted to the Divine Mother, there was no end to his troubles. He was almost beheaded.

There is also the instance of the wood-cutter who was a great lover of the Divine Mother. She
appeared before him and showed him much grace and love; but he had to continue his profession of
wood-culling, and earn his livelihood by that arduous work. Again, while Devaki, Krishna’s
Mother, was in the prison she had a vision of God Himself endowed with four hands, holding mace,
discus, conch-shell and lotus. But with all that she could not get out of the prison.
 

NOTHING IS LOST IN THE ECONOMY OF GOD

       

THERE is a story about a man who practiced Sava-sadhana*.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 by 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 worshipand tried to propitiate You for such a long time, but You did not 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 smile, “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.”

One must admit the existence of tendencies inherited from previous births. 
*A religious practice prescribed by the Tantras, in which the aspirant uses a Sava, or corpse, as his seat for meditation.

      
A HINDU WHO WAS FORCED TO EMBRACE ISLAM

       

Once, there lived a very pious Hindu who always worshiped the Divine Mother and chanted
Her name.

When the Mussalmans conquered the country, they forced him to embrace Islam. They said to him:
“You are now a Mussalmans. Say ‘Allah’. From now on you must repeat only the name of ‘Allah’.” With great difficulty he repeated the word ‘Allah’, but every now and then blurted out ‘Jagadamba’. At that the Mussalmans were about to beat him.  Thereupon he said to them: ‘I beseech you! Please
do not kill me. I have been trying my utmost to repeat the name of Allah, but our Jagadamba has
filled me up to the throat. She pushes out your Allah”.

It is not an easy thing to destroy old tendencies.

      
POWERFUL ARE THE INBORN TENDENCIES       

Let me tell you how powerful inborn tendencies are. A prince had, in a previous birth, been the son
of a washer-man. While playing with his chums in his incarnation as the prince, he said to them:
“Stop those games, I shall show you a new one. I shall lie on my belly, and you will beat the clothes
on my back as the washer-man does, making swishing sound.”

      
HOW VANITY TURNS A PERSON’S HEAD!

       

THOSE who have read a few books cannot get rid of conceit. Once I had a talk with Kalikrishna
Tagore about God. At once he said, “I know all about that.” I said to him: “Does a man who had
visited Delhi brag about that? Does a gentleman go about telling everyone that he is a gentleman?”
Oh, how vanity turns a person’s head! There was a scavenger woman in the temple garden at
Dakshineswar.

And her pride! And all for a few ornaments! One day a few men were passing her on the path and
she shouted to them, “Hey! Get out of the way, you people!” If a scavenger woman could talk that
way, what can one say about the vanity of others?        

WHEN SIVA’S BULL BARED ITS TEETH

       

GOD alone is the Doer, and we are all His instruments. Therefore it is impossible even for a
Jnani to be egotistic. The writer of a hymn to Siva felt proud of his achievement; but his pride was
dashed to pieces when Siva’s bull bared his teeth.  He saw that each tooth was a word of the hymn.
Do you understand the meaning of this? These words had existed from the beginning less past. The
writer had only discovered them.

       
SANKARACHARYA AND HIS FOOLFSH DISCIPLE

       

THE great Sankaracharya had a foolish disciple who used to imitate his Master in all matters.
Sankara uttered ‘Sivoham’ (I am Siva); the disciple also repeated “Sivoham‟. To correct his disciple’s folly, Sankara one day, while passing by a smithy, took a potful of molten iron and swallowed it; and he asked that disciple also to do the same. Of course, the disciple could not imitate this act of his Master, and thence forward he left oil saying “Sivoham‟.

      
EGOTISM IS RUINOUS

       

A disciple, who had firm faith in the infinite power of his Guru, walked over the river by simply
uttering his Guru‟s name. Seeing this, the Guru thought, “Well, is there such a power in my mere
name? Then how great and powerful must I be!”  The next day, the Guru also tried to walk over the
river uttering “I”, “I”, “I”, but no sooner did he step into the water than he sank down and was soon
drowned; for the poor man did not know how to swim even.

Faith can achieve miracles while vanity or egotism brings about the destruction of man.

      
Egoism- Vanity: FROM ‘HAMBA’ TO TUHU’      

‘The cow cries “Hamba‟ which means “I‟. That is why it suffers so much. It is yoked to the plough
and made to work in rain and sun. Then it may be killed by the butcher. From its hide shoes are
made, and also drums, which are mercilessly beaten. Still it does not escape suffering. At last
strings are made out of its entrails for the bows used in carding cotton. Then it no longer says,
‘Hamba! Hamba!’, ‘I! I!’, but ‘Tuhu! Tuhu!’, Thou! Thou!’ Only then are its troubles over.
O Lord, I am the servant; Thou art the Master.  am the child; Thou art the Mother.  Egotism is the cause of all suffering.

       
THOSE FASCINATING OBSTRUCTIONS

       

ADDRESSING a devotee named Mahendra Mukherjee, said Sri Ramakrishna: “You have no
children. You do not serve anybody. And still you have no leisure! Goodness gracious!”
“You have no children to divert your mind. I know a deputy magistrate who draws a salary of eight
hundred rupees a month. He went to Keshab’s house to see a performance. I was there too.
Rakhal* and a few other devotees were with me and sat beside me. After a while Rakhal went out
for a few minutes. The deputy magistrate came over and made his young son take Rakhal’s seat. I
said, ‘He can’t sit there.’ At that time I was in such a slate of mind that I had to do whatever the
person next to me would ask me to do; so I had seated Rakhal beside me. As long as the
performance lasted the deputy did nothing but gibber with his son. The rascal didn’t look at the
performance even once. I heard, too, that he is a slave to his wife; he gets up and sits down as she
tells him to. And he didn’t see the performance for that snub-nosed monkey of a boy.”

HORSES IN COWSHED!
    

THE instruction of a man who has not seen God does not produce the right effect. He may say one
thing rightly, but he becomes confused about the next.   Samadhyayi* delivered a lecture. He said, “God is beyond words and mind; He is dry. Worship Him through the bliss of your love and devotion.” Just see, he thus described God, Whose very nature is Joy and Bliss! What will such a lecture accomplish?

Can it teach people anything? Such a lecturer is like the man who said, “My uncle’s cowshed is full of horses.” Horses in cowshed! From that you understand that there were no horses at all.
(…. Nor cows either!)
* A leader of the Brahmo Samaj

      
WHAT OCCULT POWERS ARE LIKE

       

HRIDAY asked me—I was then under his control to pray to the Divine Mother for (occult) powers. I
went to the temple. In a vision I saw a widow thirty or thirty five years old, covered with filth. It was
revealed to me that occult powers are like that filth.

I became angry with Hriday because he had asked me to pray for powers.

      
WELCOME GOOD, AND EVIL WELCOMES YOU

       

A BRAHMANA was laying out a garden. He looked after it day and night. One day a cow strayed into the garden and browsed on a mango sapling of which the brahmana used to take special care. When he saw the cow destroying his favourite plant, the brahmana became wild with rage, and gave such a severe beating to the animal that it died of the injuries received. The news soon spread like
wild-fire that the brahmana had killed the sacred animal. When any one attributed the sin of that act
to him, the brahmana, who professed himself to be a Vedantin, denied the charge, saying: ‘”No, 1 have not killed the cow; it is my hand that had done it;  and as god Indra is the presiding deity of the hand, it is he who has incurred the sin of killing the cow, not I.” Indra, in his heaven, heard of this.

He assumed the shape of an old brahmana, and coming to the owner of the garden, said, “Sir,
whose garden is this?”

Brahmana: Mine.

Indra: It is a beautiful garden. You have got a skillful gardener; for see how neatly and artistically
he has planted the trees.

Brahmana: Well, sir, this is all my work. The trees were planted under my personal supervision and
direction.

Indra: Very nicely done, indeed! Who has laid out this path? It is very well-planned and neatly
executed.

Brahmana: All that has been done by me.

Then Indra said with folded hands, “When all these things are yours, and when you take credit for all
the work done in this garden, it is not proper that poor Indra should be made responsible for killing
the cow.”

FEIGNING MADNESS TOO IS RISKY!

       

A CERTAIN person, deeply involved in debt, feigned madness to escape the consequences of his
liabilities. Physicians failed to cure his disease, andthe more he was treated for his ailments the greater became his madness. At last a wise physician found out the truth, and, taking the feigning mad man aside, rebuked him saying: “My friend, what are you doing? Beware lest in feigning madness you become really mad. Already you have developed some genuine signs of insanity.” This sensible advice awoke the man from his folly, and he left off acting the part of a mad man.

By constantly acting a thing, one actually becomes that.

      
SHE IS SO WELL OFF!

       

PEOPLE with little occult power gain such things as name and fame. Many of them want to follow
the profession of a guru, gain people’s recognition, and make disciples and devotees. Men say of such
a guru: “Ah, lie is having a wonderful time. How many people visit him! He has many disciples and
followers. His house is overflowing with furniture and other things, People give him presents. He has
such power that he can feed many people if he so desires.”

The profession of a teacher is like that of a prostitute. It is the selling of oneself for the trifle of money, honor, and creature comforts. For such insignificant things it is not good to prostitute
the body, mind and soul, the means by which one can attain God. A man said about a certain woman:

“Ah! She is having a grand time now. She is so well off! She has rented a room and furnished it with a couch, a mat, pillows, and many other things. And how many people she controls! They are always
visiting her.” In other words, the woman has now become a prostitute. Therefore her happiness is
unbounded! Formerly she was a maid-servant in a gentleman’s house; now she is a prostitute. She has
ruined herself for a mere trifle.

      
AS ONE THINKS, SO ONE RECEIVES

       

A MAGICIAN was showing his tricks before a king. Now and then he exclaimed: “Come confusion! Come delusion! O King, give me money! Give me clothes!” Suddenly his tongue turned upward and clove to the roof of his mouth.  He experienced kumbhaka. He could utter neither word nor sound, and became motionless. People thought he was dead. They built a vault of bricks and buried him there in that posture. After a thousand years someone dug into the vault. Inside it people found a man seated in samadhi. They took him for a holy man and worshipped him.  When they shook him his tongue was loosened and regained its normal position. The magician became conscious of the outer world and cried, as he had a thousand years before: “Come confusion! Come delusion! O King, give me money! Give me clothes!”

God is the Kalpataru, the wish-fulfilling tree. You will certainly get whatever you ask of him. But you must pray standing near the Kalpataru. Only then will your prayer be fulfilled. But you must
remember another thing. God knows our inner feeling. A man gets the fulfilment of the desire he
cherishes while practising sadhana. As one thinks, so one receives.

      
FOR MAN PROPOSES AND GOD DISPOSES

       

THE Master (to Pratab Chandra Mazumdar *):

“You are an educated and intelligent man, and you are a deep thinker too. Keshab and yourself
were like the two brothers, Gour and Nitai. You have had enough of this world—enough of
lectures, controversies, schisms, and the rest. Do you still care for them? Now it is high time for you
to collect your scattered mind and turn it towards God. Plunge into the ocean of Divinity.”

Mazumdar: “Yes, revered sir, that 1 ought to do; there is no doubt about it. But all this I do simply
to preserve Keshab’s name and reputation.”

Sri Ramakrishna (smiling): “Let me tell you a story.

A man built a house on a hill. It was only a mud hut, but he had built it with great labour. A few
days after, there came a violent storm and the hut began to rock. The man became very anxious to
save it and prayed to the god of winds:’O god of the winds, please don’t wreck the house!
But the god of the winds paid no heed to his prayers. The house was about to crash. Then he
thought of a trick. He remembered that Hanuman was the son of the god of the winds. At once he
cried out with great earnestness: ‘O revered sir, please don’t pull down the house. It belongs to
Hanuman. I beseech you to protect it.’ But still the house continued to shake violently. Nobody
seemed to listen to his prayer. He repeated many times, ‘Oh, this house belongs to Hanuman!’ But
the fury of the winds did not abate. Then he remembered that Hanuman was the devoted
servant of Rama, whose younger brother was Lakshmana. Desperately the man cried, saying
aloud, ‘Oh, this house belongs to Lakshmana!’ But that also failed to help matters. So the man cried
out as a last resort: ‘This is Rama’s house. Don’t break it down, O god of winds!  I beseech you most humbly.’ But this proved futile, and the house began to crash down. Whereupon the man who had to save his own life, rushed out of it with a curse: ‘Let it go! This is devil’s own house!’”
You may now be anxious to preserve Keshab’s name: but console yourself with the thought, it was
after all owing to God’s Will that the religious movement connected with his name was set on
foot, and that if the movement has had its day, it is also due to that same Divine Will. Therefore dive
deep into the sea of Immortality.”
*
A celebrated Brahmo Samaj leader

      
THE PANDIT WHO COULD NOT SWIM

       

Once, several men were crossing the Ganges in a

boat. One of them, a pandit, was making a great

display of his erudition, saying that he had studied

various books—the Vedas, the Vedanta, and the

six systems of philosophy. He asked a fellow

passenger, “Do you know the Vedanta?” “No,

revered sir.” “The Samkhya and the Patanjala?”

“No, revered sir.” “Have you read no philosophy

whatsoever?” “No, revered sir.” The pandit was

talking in this vain way and the passenger sitting in

silence when a great storm arose and the boat was

about to sink. The passenger said to the pandit,

“Sir, can you swim?” “No”, replied the pandit. The

passenger said, “1 don’t know Samkhya or the

Patanjala, but I can swim.”

What will a man gain by knowing many scriptures?

The one thing needful is to know how to cross the

river of the world. God alone is real, and all else is

illusory.

Once, several men were crossing the Ganges in a boat. One of them, a pandit, was making a great
display of his erudition, saying that he had studied various books—the Vedas, the Vedanta, and the
six systems of philosophy.

He asked a fellow passenger, “Do you know the Vedanta?”

“No, revered sir.”

“The Samkhya and the Patanjala?”

“No, revered sir.”

“Have you read no philosophy whatsoever?”

“No, revered sir.”

The pandit was talking in this vain way and the passenger sitting in silence when a great storm arose and the boat was about to sink.

The passenger said to the pandit, “Sir, can you swim?”

“No”, replied the pandit.

The passenger said, “1 don’t know Samkhya or the Patanjala, but I can swim.”

What will a man gain by knowing many scriptures? The one thing needful is to know how to cross the river of the world. God alone is real, and all else is illusory.

 

     
Pitfalls: A SIDDHA STOPS THE STORM

       

Once, a great Siddha was sitting on the sea-shore

when there came a great storm. The Siddha, being

greatly distressed by it, exclaimed, “Let the storm

cease!” and his words were fulfilled. Just then a

ship was going at a distance with all sails set, and as

the wind suddenly died away, it capsized, drowning

all who were on board the ship.

Now the sin of causing the death of so many

persons accrued to the Siddha, and for this reason

he lost all his occult powers and had to suffer in

purgatory.

Once, a great Siddha was sitting on the sea-shore when there came a great storm. The Siddha, being
greatly distressed by it, exclaimed, “Let the storm cease!” and his words were fulfilled. Just then a
ship was going at a distance with all sails set, and as the wind suddenly died away, it capsized, drowning all who were on board the ship.

Now the sin of causing the death of so many persons accrued to the Siddha, and for this reason
he lost all his occult powers and had to suffer in purgatory.

IF ALL IS REALLY UNREAL!
    

RAMA and Lakshmana wanted to go to Ceylon.

But the ocean was before them. Lakshmana was

angry. Taking his bow and arrow, he said: “I shall

kill Varuna. This ocean prevents our going to

Ceylon.” Rama explained the matter to him, saying:

“Lakshmana, all that you are seeing is unreal, like a

dream. The ocean is unreal. Your anger is also

unreal. It is equally unreal to think of destroying

one unreal thing by means of another.”

RAMA and Lakshmana wanted to go to Ceylon.  But the ocean was before them. Lakshmana was
angry. Taking his bow and arrow, he said: “I shall kill Varuna. This ocean prevents our going to
Ceylon.”

Rama explained the matter to him, saying: “Lakshmana, all that you are seeing is unreal, like a
dream. The ocean is unreal. Your anger is also unreal. It is equally unreal to think of destroying
one unreal thing by means of another.”

      
“IT’S NOTHING, IT’S NOTHING!”

       

IT is not easy to get rid of illusion. It lingers even

after the attainment of knowledge. A man dreamt

of a tiger. Then he woke up and his dream

vanished. But his heart continued to palpitate.

Some thieves came to a field. A straw figure

resembling a man had been put there to frighten

intruders. The thieves were scared by the figure

and could not persuade themselves to enter the

field. One of them, however, approached and

found that it was only a figure made of straw. He

came back to his companions and said, “There is

nothing to be afraid of.” But still they refused to

go. They said that their hearts were beating fast.

Then the daring thief laid the figure on the ground

and said, “It is nothing, it is nothing.” This is the

process of ‘Neti, neti.’

IT is not easy to get rid of illusion. It lingers even after the attainment of knowledge. A man dreamt
of a tiger. Then he woke up and his dream vanished. But his heart continued to palpitate.

Some thieves came to a field. A straw figure resembling a man had been put there to frighten
intruders. The thieves were scared by the figure and could not persuade themselves to enter the
field. One of them, however, approached and found that it was only a figure made of straw. He
came back to his companions and said, “There is nothing to be afraid of.” But still they refused to
go. They said that their hearts were beating fast. Then the daring thief laid the figure on the ground
and said, “It is nothing, it is nothing.”

This is the process of ‘Neti, neti.’

      
THE PROLONGED DREAM THAT WE CALL LIFE

       

THERE was a farmer who lived in the countryside.

He was a real jnani. He earned his living by

farming, He was married, and after many years a

son was born to him, whom he named Haru. The

parents loved the boy dearly. This was natural,

since he was the one precious gem of the family.

On account of his religious nature the farmer was

loved by the villagers. One day he was working in

the field when a neighbour came and told him that

Haru had an attack of cholera. The farmer at once

returned home and arranged for treatment for the

boy. But Haru died. The other members of the

family were grief-stricken, but the farmer acted as

if nothing had happened. He consoled his family

and told them that grieving was futile. Then he

went back to his field. On returning home he

found his wife weeping even more bitterly. She

said to him: “How heartless you are! You haven’t

shed one tear for the child.” The farmer replied

quietly: “Shall I tell you why I haven’t wept? I had a

very vivid dream last night. I dreamt I had become

a king; I was the father of eight sons and was very

THERE was a farmer who lived in the countryside.  He was a real jnani. He earned his living by
farming, He was married, and after many years a son was born to him, whom he named Haru. The
parents loved the boy dearly. This was natural, since he was the one precious gem of the family.
On account of his religious nature the farmer was loved by the villagers. One day he was working in
the field when a neighbour came and told him that Haru had an attack of cholera. The farmer at once
returned home and arranged for treatment for the boy. But Haru died. The other members of the
family were grief-stricken, but the farmer acted as if nothing had happened. He consoled his family
and told them that grieving was futile. Then he went back to his field. On returning home he
found his wife weeping even more bitterly. She said to him: “How heartless you are! You haven’t
shed one tear for the child.” The farmer replied quietly: “Shall I tell you why I haven’t wept? I had a
very vivid dream last night. I dreamt I had become a king; I was the father of eight sons and was very
happy with them. Then I woke up. Now I am greatly perplexed. Should I weep for those eight
sons or for this one Hani?”

The farmer was a jnani; therefore he realized that the waking state is as unreal as the dream state.
There is only one eternal substance, and that is the Atman.

      
MAYA VANISHES THE MOMENT IT IS KNOWN

       

A PRIEST was once going to the village of a

disciple of his. He had no servant with him. Seeing

a cobbler on the way, he addressed him, saying:

“Hulloa! Good man, will you accompany me as a

servant? You will be fed well and taken good care

of, if you come with me.” The cobbler replied: “Sir,

I am of the lowest caste. How can I come as your

servant?” The priest said, “Never mind. Do not tell

anybody what you are. Do not also speak to

anyone, or make anybody’s acquaintance. The

cobbler agreed. At twilight, while the priest was

sitting at prayers in the house of his disciple,

another brahmana came and said to the priest’s

servant, “Go and bring my shoes from there.” True

to the behest of his master, he made no response.

The brahmana repeated his order a second time,

but even then the servant remained silent. The

brahmana repeated it again and again, but the

cobbler did not move an inch. At last, getting

annoyed, the brahmana angrily said: “Sirrah; how

dare you disobey a bralimana’s command? What is

your name? Are you indeed a cobbler?” The

A PRIEST was once going to the village of a disciple of his. He had no servant with him. Seeing
a cobbler on the way, he addressed him, saying:

“Hulloa! Good man, will you accompany me as a servant? You will be fed well and taken good care
of, if you come with me.”

The cobbler replied: “Sir, I am of the lowest caste. How can I come as your servant?”

The priest said, “Never mind. Do not tell anybody what you are. Do not also speak to anyone, or make anybody’s acquaintance.

The cobbler agreed. At twilight, while the priest was sitting at prayers in the house of his disciple,
another brahmana came and said to the priest’s servant, “Go and bring my shoes from there.”

True to the behest of his master, he made no response.  The brahmana repeated his order a second time, but even then the servant remained silent. The brahmana repeated it again and again, but the
cobbler did not move an inch. At last, getting annoyed, the brahmana angrily said:

“Sirrah; how dare you disobey a brahmana’s command? What is your name? Are you indeed a cobbler?”

The cobbler, hearing this, began to tremble with fear, and looking piteously at the priest, said: “0
venerable sir, I am found out. I dare not stay here any longer. Let me flee.” So saying, he took to his
heels.

Just so, as soon as Maya is recognised, she flies away.

    
HOW IS MAYA

       

A CERTAIN sadhu lived for some time in the

room above the nahavat-khana (concert-room) of

the temple of Dakshineswar. He did not speak with

anybody and spent his whole time in the

meditation of God. One day, all of a sudden, a

cloud darkened the sky and shortly afterwards a

high wind blew away the cloud. The holy man now

came out of his room and began to laugh and

dance in the verandah in front of the concertroom.

Upon this I asked him, “How is it that you,

who spend your days so quietly in your room, are

dancing in joy and feel so jolly today?” The holy

man replied, “Such is Maya that envelops the life!”

At first there is clear sky, all of a sudden a cloud

darkens it and presently everything is as before

once more.

A CERTAIN sadhu lived for some time in the room above the nahavat-khana (concert-room) of
the temple of Dakshineswar. He did not speak with anybody and spent his whole time in the
meditation of God. One day, all of a sudden, a cloud darkened the sky and shortly afterwards a
high wind blew away the cloud. The holy man now came out of his room and began to laugh and
dance in the verandah in front of the concert room.

Upon this I asked him, “How is it that you, who spend your days so quietly in your room, are
dancing in joy and feel so jolly today?” The holy man replied, “Such is Maya that envelops the life!”
At first there is clear sky, all of a sudden a cloud darkens it and presently everything is as before
once more.

     
SUCH INDEED IS MAYA!

       

ONCE Narada besought the Lord of the universe,

“Lord, show me that Maya of Thine which can

make the impossible possible.” The Lord nodded

assent. Subsequently the Lord one day set out on a

travel with Narada. After going some distance, He

felt very thirsty and fatigued. So He sat down and

told Narada, “Narada, I feel much thirsty; please

get me a little water from somewhere.” Narada at

once ran in search of water.

Finding no water nearby, he went far from the

place and saw a river at a great distance. When he

approached the river, he saw a most charming

young lady sitting there, and was at once captivated

by her beauty. As soon as Narada went near her,

she began to address him in sweet words, and ere

long, both fell in love with each other. Narada then

married her, and settled down as a householder. In

course of time he had a number of children by her.

And while he was thus living happily with his wife

and children, there came a pestilence in the

country. Death began to collect its toll from every

place. Then Narada proposed to abandon the place

and go somewhere else. His wife acceded to it, and

ONCE Narada besought the Lord of the universe, “Lord, show me that Maya of Thine which can
make the impossible possible.” The Lord nodded assent. Subsequently the Lord one day set out on a
travel with Narada. After going some distance, He felt very thirsty and fatigued. So He sat down and
told Narada, “Narada, I feel much thirsty; please get me a little water from somewhere.” Narada at
once ran in search of water.  Finding no water nearby, he went far from the place and saw a river at a great distance. When he approached the river, he saw a most charming young lady sitting there, and was at once captivated by her beauty. As soon as Narada went near her, she began to address him in sweet words, and ere long, both fell in love with each other. Narada then married her, and settled down as a householder. In course of time he had a number of children by her. And while he was thus living happily with his wife and children, there came a pestilence in the country. Death began to collect its toll from every place. Then Narada proposed to abandon the place and go somewhere else. His wife acceded to it, and they both came out of their house leading their children by the hand. But no sooner did they come to the bridge to cross the river than there came a terrible flood, and in the rush of water, all their children were swept away one after another, and at last the wife too was drowned. Overwhelmed with grief at his bereavement, Narada sat down on the bank and began to weep piteously. Just then the Lord appeared before him, saying, “O Narada, where is the water? And why are you weeping?”

The sight of the Lord startled the sage, and then he understood everything. He exclaimed, “Lord, my
obeisance to Thee, and my obeisance also to Thy wonderful Maya!”

      
ENMESHED IN MAYA, BRAHMAN WEEPS!

       

VISHNU incarnated Himself as a sow in order to

kill the demon Hiranynksha. After killing the

demon, sow remained quite happy with her young

ones. Forgetting her real nature, she was suckling

them very contentedly. The gods in heaven could

not persuade Vishnu to relinquish His sow’s body

and return to the celestial regions. He was

absorbed in the happiness of His beast form. After

consulting among themselves, the gods sent Siva to

the sow. Siva asked the sow “Why have you

forgotten yourself?” Vishnu replied through the

sow’s body, “Why, I am quite happy here.”

Thereupon with a stroke of his trident Siva

destroyed the sow’s body and Vishnu went back to

heaven.

Everyone is under the authority of the Divine

Mother, Mahamaya, the Primal Energy. Even the

Incarnations of God accept the help of Maya to

fulfil their mission on earth. Therefore they

worship the Primal Energy.

VISHNU incarnated Himself as a sow in order to kill the demon Hiranynksha. After killing the
demon, sow remained quite happy with her young ones. Forgetting her real nature, she was suckling
them very contentedly. The gods in heaven could not persuade Vishnu to relinquish His sow’s body
and return to the celestial regions. He was absorbed in the happiness of His beast form. After
consulting among themselves, the gods sent Siva to the sow. Siva asked the sow “Why have you
forgotten yourself?” Vishnu replied through the sow’s body, “Why, I am quite happy here.”
Thereupon with a stroke of his trident Siva destroyed the sow’s body and Vishnu went back to
heaven.

Everyone is under the authority of the Divine Mother, Mahamaya, the Primal Energy. Even the
Incarnations of God accept the help of Maya to fulfil their mission on earth. Therefore they
worship the Primal Energy.

     
SUCH IS THE PRIDE THAT MONEY BEGETS

       

A FROG had a rupee, which he kept in his hole.

One day an elephant was going over the hole, and

the frog, coming out in a fit of anger, raised his

foot, as if to kick the elephant, and said, “How dare

you walk over my head?”

Such is the pride money begets!

A FROG had a rupee, which he kept in his hole. One day an elephant was going over the hole, and
the frog, coming out in a fit of anger, raised his foot, as if to kick the elephant, and said, “How dare
you walk over my head?” Such is the pride money begets!

      
MONEY IS ALSO A GREAT UPADHI

       

MONEY is also an Upadhi and that too of a very

strong nature. As soon as a man becomes rich he is

thoroughly changed.

A brahmana who was very meek and humble

used to come here12 every now and then. After

sometime he stopped coming and we knew

nothing of what had happened to him. One day,

we went over to Konnagore13 in boat. As we were

getting down from the boat we saw the brahmana

sitting on the bank of the Ganges, where, in the

fashion of big folks, he was enjoying the pure air of

the river. On seeing me he accosted me in a

patronising tone with the words, “Hallo Thakur!

How are you doing now?” At once 1 noticed a

change in his tone and said to Hriday who was

with me, “I tell you, Hriday, this man must have

come by some riches. Can’t you see what a great

MONEY is also an Upadhi and that too of a very strong nature. As soon as a man becomes rich he is
thoroughly changed.

A brahmana who was very meek and humble used to come here12 every now and then. After
sometime he stopped coming and we knew nothing of what had happened to him. One day,
we went over to Konnagore13 in boat. As we were getting down from the boat we saw the brahmana
sitting on the bank of the Ganges, where, in the fashion of big folks, he was enjoying the pure air of
the river. On seeing me he accosted me in a patronising tone with the words, “Hallo Thakur!
How are you doing now?” At once 1 noticed a change in his tone and said to Hriday who was
with me, “I tell you, Hriday, this man must have come by some riches. Can’t you see what a great
change has come over him?” And Hriday burst into a loud laughter.

The possession of money makes such a difference in a man!

12 Refers to Dakshineswar temple garden, where Sri Ramakrishna used to live.
13 A place not very far from Dakshineswar

   
IF YOU WOULD CONQUER LUST, LOOK ON WOMEN AS MOTHER

       

WHEN asked why he did not lead the life of a

householder with his wife, the Master replied:

‘Kartikeya (Son of Siva) one day happened to

scratch a cat with his nail. On going home, he saw

that there was the mark of a scratch on the cheek

of his Divine Mother, Parvati. Seeing this he asked

her, ‘Mother, low did you get this ugly scratch on

your cheek?’ The mother of the universe replied,

‘This is the work of your own hand; it is the scratch

of your nail.’ Kartikeya asked in wonder: ‘How is it,

Mother? I do not remember to have scratched you

at any time. The Mother replied, ‘Darling, have you

forgotten the fact of your laving scratched a cat

this morning?’ Kartikeya said, Yes, I did scratch a

cat, but how did your cheek get the scar?’ The

Mother replied, ‘Dear child, nothing exists in this

world but Myself. The whole creation is Myself;

whomsoever you may hurt, you only hurt me.’

Kartikeya was greatly surprised to hear this; and

then he determined never to marry. For, whom

could he marry? Every woman was mother to him.

Realizing thus the motherhood of woman, he gave

WHEN asked why he did not lead the life of a householder with his wife, the Master replied:
‘Kartikeya (Son of Siva) one day happened to scratch a cat with his nail. On going home, he saw
that there was the mark of a scratch on the cheek of his Divine Mother, Parvati. Seeing this he asked
her, ‘Mother, low did you get this ugly scratch on your cheek?’ The mother of the universe replied,
‘This is the work of your own hand; it is the scratch of your nail.’ Kartikeya asked in wonder: ‘How is it, Mother? I do not remember to have scratched you at any time. The Mother replied, ‘Darling, have you forgotten the fact of your laving scratched a cat this morning?’ Kartikeya said, Yes, I did scratch a cat, but how did your cheek get the scar?’ The Mother replied, ‘Dear child, nothing exists in this world but Myself. The whole creation is Myself; whomsoever you may hurt, you only hurt me.’
Kartikeya was greatly surprised to hear this; and then he determined never to marry. For, whom
could he marry? Every woman was mother to him. Realizing thus the motherhood of woman, he gave
up marriage. I am like Kartikeya. I consider every woman as my Divine Mother.”

MODERN JANAKAS!
       

A GENTLEMAN of modern education was once

discussing with the Master the nature of householder

uncontaminated by worldliness. To him, the

Master said, “I know of what sort is your

‘uncontaminated family-man’ of the present day! If

a poor brahmana comes to beg of this master of

the house, he (being an uncontaminated familyman

and having no concern with money matters,

for it is his wife who manages all those things!) says

to the begging brahmana, ‘Sir, I never touch

money, why do you waste your time in begging of

me?’ The brahmana, however, proves inexorable.

Fired with his importunate entreaties your

uncontaminated family-man thinks within himself

that he must be paid a rupee, and tells him openly:

‘Well, sir, come tomorrow, I shall see what 1 can

do for you.’ Then going in, this typical householder

tells his wife, ‘Look here, my dear, a poor

brahmana is in great distress; let us give him a

rupee.’ Hearing the word ‘rupee’ his wife gets out

of temper and says tauntingly, ‘Aha, what a

generous fellow you are! Are rupees like leaves and

straws to be thrown away without the least

A GENTLEMAN of modern education was once discussing with the Master the nature of householder uncontaminated by worldliness. To him, the Master said, “I know of what sort is your
‘uncontaminated family-man’ of the present day! If a poor brahmana comes to beg of this master of
the house, he (being an uncontaminated familyman and having no concern with money matters,
for it is his wife who manages all those things!) says to the begging brahmana, ‘Sir, I never touch
money, why do you waste your time in begging of me?’ The brahmana, however, proves inexorable.
Fired with his importunate entreaties your uncontaminated family-man thinks within himself
that he must be paid a rupee, and tells him openly: ‘Well, sir, come tomorrow, I shall see what 1 can
do for you.’ Then going in, this typical householder tells his wife, ‘Look here, my dear, a poor
brahmana is in great distress; let us give him a rupee.’ Hearing the word ‘rupee’ his wife gets out
of temper and says tauntingly, ‘Aha, what a generous fellow you are! Are rupees like leaves and
straws to be thrown away without the least thought?” ‘Well, my dear,’ replies the master in an
apologetic tone, ‘the brahmana is very poor and we should not give him less.’ ‘No’, says his wife, T
cannot spare so much. Here is a two Anna bit; you can give that to him, if you like.’ As the Babu is a
family-man quite uncontaminated by worldliness, he takes, of course, what his wife gives him, and
next day the beggar gets only a two Anna piece.  So you see, your so-called uncontaminated familymen are really not masters of themselves. Because they do not look after their family-affairs, they think that they are good and holy men, while, as a matter of fact, they are hen-pecked husbands
guided entirely by their wives, and so are but very poor specimens even of common humanity.”

      
GREATER EVEN THAN THE GURU!

       

A POOR brahmana had a rich cloth merchant as

his disciple. The merchant was very miserly by

nature. One day the brahmana was in need of a

small piece of cloth for covering his sacred book.

He went to his disciple and asked for the required

piece of cloth; but the merchant replied: “I am very

sorry, sir. Had you told me of this a few hours

earlier, I would have given you the thing wanted.

Unfortunately, now I have no small piece of cloth

which will answer your purpose. However, I shall

remember your requirement, but please remind me

of it now and then.” The brahmana had to go

away disappointed. This conversation between the

guru and his worthy disciple was overheard by the

wife of the latter from behind a screen. She at once

sent a man after the brahmana, and calling him

inside the house, said, “Revered Father, what is it

that you were asking from the master of the

house?” The brahmana related all what had

happened. The wife said: “Please go home sir; you

will get the cloth tomorrow morning.” When that

merchant returned home at night the wife asked

him, “Have you closed your shop?” The merchant

A POOR brahmana had a rich cloth merchant as his disciple. The merchant was very miserly by
nature. One day the brahmana was in need of a small piece of cloth for covering his sacred book.
He went to his disciple and asked for the required piece of cloth; but the merchant replied: “I am very
sorry, sir. Had you told me of this a few hours earlier, I would have given you the thing wanted.
Unfortunately, now I have no small piece of cloth which will answer your purpose. However, I shall
remember your requirement, but please remind me of it now and then.” The brahmana had to go
away disappointed. This conversation between the guru and his worthy disciple was overheard by the
wife of the latter from behind a screen. She at once sent a man after the brahmana, and calling him
inside the house, said, “Revered Father, what is it that you were asking from the master of the
house?” The brahmana related all what had happened. The wife said: “Please go home sir; you
will get the cloth tomorrow morning.” When that merchant returned home at night the wife asked
him, “Have you closed your shop?” The merchant said, “Yes, what is the matter?” She said, “Go at
once and bring two cloths of the best quality in the shop.” He said, “Why this hurry? I shall give you
the best cloth tomorrow morning.” The wife, however, insisted, “No, T must have them just
now or not at all.” What could the poor merchant do? The person whom he had now to deal with
was not the spiritual guru whom he could send away with vague and indefinite promises, but the
‘curtain guru’ whose behests must be instantaneously obeyed, or else there would be no
peace for him at home. At last the merchant, willingly enough, opened the shop, at that late hour
of the night, and brought the cloths for her. Early next morning, the good lady sent the article to the
guru with the message, “If in future you want anything from us, ask me, and you will get it.”

      
BHAGAVATA IN THE EAR, BROTHEL IN THE MIND

       

Once, two friends were going along the street

when they saw some people listening to a reading

of the Bhagavata. “Come, friend,” said the one to

the other, “let us hear the sacred book.” So saying

he went in and sat down. The second man peeped

in and went away. He entered a house of ill fame.

But very soon he felt disgusted with the place.

“Shame on me!” he said to himself. “My friend has

been listening to the sacred word of Hari and see

where I am!” But the friend who had been listening

to the Bhagavata also became disgusted. “What a

fool I am!” he said. “I have been listening to this

fellow’s blah-blah, and my friend is having a grand

time.” In course of time they both died. The

messenger of death came for the soul of one who

had listened to the Bhagavata and dragged it off to

hell. The messenger of God came for the soul of

the one who had been to the house of prostitution

and led it up to heaven.

Verily, the Lord looks into a man’s heart and does

not judge him by what he does or where he lives.

Once, two friends were going along the street when they saw some people listening to a reading
of the Bhagavata. “Come, friend,” said the one to the other, “let us hear the sacred book.” So saying
he went in and sat down. The second man peeped in and went away. He entered a house of ill fame.
But very soon he felt disgusted with the place.  “Shame on me!” he said to himself. “My friend has
been listening to the sacred word of Hari and see where I am!” But the friend who had been listening
to the Bhagavata also became disgusted. “What a fool I am!” he said. “I have been listening to this
fellow’s blah-blah, and my friend is having a grand time.” In course of time they both died. The
messenger of death came for the soul of one who had listened to the Bhagavata and dragged it off to
hell. The messenger of God came for the soul of the one who had been to the house of prostitution
and led it up to heaven. Verily, the Lord looks into a man’s heart and does not judge him by what he does or where he lives.

      
COURT MARRIAGE AND YOU COURT SERVITUDE

       

TT 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 becomes the slave

of another, and so loses his freedom. Then he

cannot act as he likes.

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

‘Kama-Kanchana’
(Lust and Gold)
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 becomes the slave of another, and so loses his freedom. Then he
cannot act as he likes.  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 this 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.

      
THE JAR OF DESIRE CAN NEVER BE FILLED UP

       

A BARBER who was passing under a haunted tree, heard a voice say, “Will you accept seven jars full of gold?” The barber looked around, but could see no one. The offer of seven jars of gold, however, roused his cupidity, and he cried aloud, “Yes, I shall accept the seven jars.” At once came the reply, “Go home, I have carried the jars to your house.” The barber ran home in hot haste to verify the truth of this strange announcement. And when he entered the house, he saw the jars before him.  He opened them and found them all full of gold, except the last one which was only half-full. A
strong desire now arose in the barber’s mind to fill the seventh jar also for without it his happiness
was incomplete. He therefore converted all his ornaments into gold coins and put them into the
jar; but the mysterious vessel was, as before, unfilled. This exasperated the barber. Starving
himself and his family, he saved some amount more and tried to fill the jar; but the jar remained
as before. So one day he humbly requested the king to increase his pay, as his income was not
sufficient to maintain himself. Now the barber was a favourite of the king, and as soon as the request
was made the king doubled his pay. All this pay he saved and put into the jar, but the greedy jar
showed no signs of filling. At last he began to live by begging from door to door, and his professional
income and the income from begging—all went into the insatiable cavity of the mysterious jar.
Months passed, and the condition of the miserable and miserly barber grew worse every day. Seeing
his sad plight the king asked him one day: “Hallo! When your pay was half of what yon now get, you
were happy, cheerful and contented; but with double that pay, I see you morose, care-worn and
dejected. What is the matter with you? Have you got ‘the seven jars’?” The barber was taken aback
by this question and replied, “Your Majesty, who has informed you of this?” The king said: “Don’t
you know that these are the signs of the person to whom the Yaksha consigns the seven jars. He
offered me also the same jars, but I asked him whether this money might be spent or was merely
to be hoarded. No sooner had T asked this question than the Yaksha ran away without any
reply. Don’t you know that no one can spend that money? It only brings with it the desire of
hoarding. Go at once and return the money.” The barber was brought to his senses by this advice,
and he went to the haunted tree and said, “Take back your gold, O Yaksha.” The Yaksha replied,
“All right.” When the barber returned home, he found that the seven jars had vanished as
mysteriously as they were brought in, and with it had vanished, his life-long savings too.
Those who do not understand the difference between what is real expenditure and what is real
income, lose all they have.       

The Bane of Worldliness : THE ROOT OF ALL TROUBLES

       

In a certain place the fishermen were catching fish.  A kite swooped down and snatched a fish. At the
sight of the fish, about a thousand crows chased the kite and made a great noise with their cawing.
Which-ever way the kite flew with the fish, the crows followed it. The kite flew to the south and
the crows followed it there. The kite flew to the north and still the crows followed after it. The kite
went east and west, but with the same result. As the kite began to fly about in confusion, lo, the fish
dropped from its mouth. The crows at once let the kite alone and flew after the fish. Thus relieved of
its worries, the kite sat on the branch of a tree and thought: ‘That wretched fish was at the root of all
my troubles. I have now got rid of it and therefore I am at peace.’

As long as a man has the fish, that is, worldly desires, he must perform actions and consequently
suffer from worry, anxiety, and restlessness. No sooner does he renounce these desires than his
activities fall away and he enjoys peace of soul.

      
MASTER OF EVERYTHING, SLAVE OF SEX!

       

A JOB-SEEKER got tired of visiting the manager

in an office. He couldn’t get the job. The manager

said to him, “There is no vacancy now; but come

and f see me now and then.” This went on for a

long time, and the candidate lost all hope. One day

he told his tale of woe to a friend. The friend said:

“How stupid you are! Why are you wearing away

the soles of your feet going to that fellow? You had

better go to Golap. You will get the job

tomorrow.” “Is that so?” said the candidate. “I

am going right away.” Golap was the manager’s

mistress. The candidate called on her and said:

“‘Mother, I am in great distress. You must help me

out of it. 1 am the son of a poor brahmana

A JOB-SEEKER got tired of visiting the manager in an office. He couldn’t get the job. The manager
said to him, “There is no vacancy now; but come and  see me now and then.” This went on for a
long time, and the candidate lost all hope. One day he told his tale of woe to a friend. The friend said:
“How stupid you are! Why are you wearing away the soles of your feet going to that fellow? You had
better go to Golap. You will get the job tomorrow.” “Is that so?” said the candidate. “I am going right away.” Golap was the manager’s mistress. The candidate called on her and said: “‘Mother, I am in great distress. You must help me out of it. I am the son of a poor brahmana Where else shall I go for help? Mother I have been out of work many days. My children are about to starve to death. I can get a job if you but say a word.” Golap said to him, “Child, whom should I speak to?” She said to herself: “Ah, the poor brahmana! He has been suffering too much.” The candidate said to her, “I am sure to get the job if you just put in a word about it to the manager.” Golap said, “I shall speak to him today and settle the matter.” The very next morning a man called on the candidate and said, “You are to work in the manager’s office, from today.” The manager said to his English boss: “This man is very competent. I have appointed him. He will do credit to the firm.”

      
THE FALL OF THE TWELVE HUNDRED

       

THERE is the story of 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 banks of the Ganges.” These disciples had such high spiritual nature that, while meditating,
they would go into Samadhi 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 others. The remaining twelve
hundred disciples went to the teacher after finishing their morning meditations. 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 women robbed them of their spirituality because it destroyed their freedom.
*Literally “Shaven headed”, indicative of absolute renunciation of ‘lust
and gold’
# Vaishnava nuns
      
‘Kama-Kanchana’- (Lust and Gold) – COURT MARRIAGE AND YOU

       

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 becomes the slave of another, and so loses his freedom. Then he
cannot act as he likes.

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 this 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.

      
WHY YOGI SLIPS DOWN FROM HIS YOGA

       

AT Kamarpukur I have seen the mongoose living in its hole up in the wall. It feels snug there.
Sometimes people tie a brick to its tail; then the pull of the brick makes it come out of its hole.
Every time the mongoose tries to be comfortable inside the hole, it has to come out because of the
pull of the brick.

Such is the effect of brooding on worldly objects that it makes the yogi stray from the path of yoga.

 THOSE WORTHLESS THINGS!

       

BODY and wealth are impermanent. Why go to take so much trouble for their sake? Just think of
the plight of the Hatha yogis. Their attention is fixed on one ideal only—longevity. They do not
aim at the realization of God at all. They practice such exercises as washing out the intestines,
drinking milk through a tube, and the like, with that one aim in view.

There was once a goldsmith whose tongue suddenly turned up and stuck to his palate. He looked like a man in Samadhi. He became completely inert and remained so a long time.  People came to worship him. After several years, his tongue suddenly returned to its natural position, and he became conscious of things as before. So he went back to his work as before.  These are physical things and have nothing to do with God. There was a man who knew eighty two postures and talked big about yoga-samadhi. But inwardly he was drawn to ‘woman and gold’. Once he found a bank-note worth several thousand rupees.

He could not resist the temptation, and swallowed it, thinking he would get it out somehow later on.
The note was got out of him alright, but he was sent to jail for three years.

      
WORLDLY GOODS ARE NOT THINE FOR EVER

       

THE steward of a certain rich man was left in charge of his master’s property. When asked by
someone as to whose property it was, he used to say: “Sir, this is all my property; these houses and
these gardens are all mine.” He would speak in this strain and go about with an air of vanity. One day
he happened to catch fish in a pond of his master’s garden-house in contravention of his strict
prohibition. As ill-luck would have it, the master came upon the scene just then, and saw what his
dishonest steward was doing. Finding out the faithlessness of his servant, the master at once
drove him away from his estate, disgraced and dishonoured, and confiscated all his past earnings.
The poor fellow could not take with him even his rickety box of utensils which was his sole private
property.

Such is the punishment that overtakes false pride.

      
THAT OPPRESSING STENCH OF WORLDLINESS

       

Once, a fishwife was a guest in the house of a gardener who raised flowers. She came there with
her empty basket, after selling fish in the market, and was asked to sleep in a room where flowers
were kept. But, because of the fragrance of the flowers, she couldn’t get to sleep for a long time!
She was restless and began to fidget about. Her hostess saw her condition and said, “Hello! Why
are you tossing from side to side so restlessly?” The fishwife said: “I don’t know, friend. Perhaps
the smell of the flowers has been disturbing my sleep. Can you give me my fish-basket? Perhaps
that will put me to sleep.” The basket was brought to her. She sprinkled water on it and set it near her
nose. Then she fell sound asleep and snored all
night.

      
THE TIGER THAT LURKS BEHIND WORLDLY JOYS       

GOD is like the wish-yielding tree of the celestial world (Kalpataru), which gives whatever one asks
of it. So, one should be careful to give up all worldly desires when one’s mind has been purified
by religious exercises.

Just listen to a story: A certain traveller came to a large plain in the course of his travels. As he had
been walking in the sun for many hours, he was thoroughly exhausted and heavily perspiring; so he
sat down in the shade of a tree to rest a little.  Presently he began to think what a comfort it
would be if he could but get a soft bed there to sleep on. He was not aware that he was sitting
under the celestial tree. As soon as the above thought rose in his mind, he found a nice bed by
his side. He felt much astonished, but all the same stretched himself on it. Now he thought to himself,
how pleasant it would be, were a young damsel to come there and gently stroke his legs. No sooner
did the thought arise in his mind than he found a young damsel sitting at his feet and stroking his
legs. The traveller felt supremely happy. Presently he felt hungry and thought: “I have got whatever 1
have wished for; could I not then get some food?”
 
Instantly he found various kinds of delicious food spread before him. He at once fell to eating, and
having helped himself to his heart’s content,  stretched himself again on his bed. He now began
to revolve in his mind the events of the day. While thus occupied, he thought: “If a tiger should attack
me all of a sudden!” In an instant a large tiger jumped on him and broke his neck and began to
drink his blood. In this way the traveller lost his life.

Such is the fate of men in general. If during your meditation you pray for men or money or worldly
honours, your desires will no doubt be satisfied to some extent; but, mind you, there is the dread of
the tiger behind the gifts you get. Those tigers—disease, bereavements, loss of honour and wealth
etc.,—are a thousand times more terrible than the live tiger.

      
ALL FOR A SINGLE PIECE OF LOIN-CLOTH

       

A SADHU under the instruction of his Guru built for himself a small shed, thatched with leaves at a
distance from the haunts of men. He began his devotional exercises in this hut. Now, every
morning after ablution he would hang his wet cloth and the kaupina (loin-cloth) on a tree close to the
hut, to dry them. One day on his return from the neighbouring village, which he would visit to beg
for his daily food, he found that the rats had cut holes in his kaupina. So the next day he was
obliged to go to the village for a fresh one. A few days later, the sadhu spread his loin-cloth on the
roof of his hut to dry it and then went to the village to beg as usual. On his return he found that
the rats had torn it into shreds. He felt much annoyed and thought within himself “Where shall I
go again to beg for a rag? Whom shall I ask for one?” All the same he saw the villagers the next
day and re-presented to them the mischief done by the rats. Having heard all he had to say, the
villagers said, “Who will keep you supplied with cloth every day? Just do one thing—keep a cat; it
will keep away the rats.” The sadhu forthwith secured a kitten in the village and carried it to his
hut. From that day the rats ceased to trouble him and there was no end to his joy. The sadhu now
began to tend the useful little creature with great care and feed it on the milk begged from the
village. After some days, a villager said to him:

“Sadhuji, you require milk every day; you can supply your want for a few days at most by
begging; who will supply you with milk all the year round? Just do one thing—keep a cow. You can
satisfy your own creature comforts by drinking its milk and you can also give some to your cat.” In a
few days the sadhu procured a milch cow and had no occasion to beg for milk any more. By and by,
the sadhu found it necessary to beg for straw for his cow. He had to visit the neighbouring villages
for the purpose, but the villagers said, “There are lots of uncultivated lands close to your hut; just
cultivate the land and you shall not have to beg for straw for your cow.” Guided by their advice, the
sadhu took to tilling the land. Gradually he had to engage some labourers and later on found it
necessary to build barns to store the crop in. Thus he became, in course of time, a sort of landlord.
And, at last he had to take a wife to look after his big household. He now passed his days just like a
busy householder.

After some time, his Guru came to see him.  Finding himself surrounded by goods and chattles,
the Guru felt puzzled and enquired of a servant, “An ascetic used to live here in a hut; can you tell
me where he has removed himself?” The servant did not know what to say in reply. So the Guru
ventured to enter into the house, where he met his disciple. The Guru said to him, “My son, what is all this?” The disciple, in great shame fell at the feet of his Guru and said, “My Lord, all for a single piece of loin-cloth!”

      
THERE ARE MEN AND MEN

       

MEN may be divided into four classes: those bound by the fetters of the world, the seekers after
liberation, the liberated and the ever-free.  Among the ever-free we may count sages like
Narada. They live in the world for the good of others, to teach men spiritual truths.
Those in bondage are sunk in worldliness and are forgetful of God. Not even by mistake do they
think of God.

The seekers after liberation want to free themselves from attachment to the world. Some of them
succeed and others do not.  The liberated souls, such as the Sadhus and Mahatmas, are not entangled in the world, in ‘woman and gold.’ Their minds are free from worldliness. Besides they always meditate on the Lotus Feet of God.  Suppose a net has been cast into a lake to catch fish. Some fish are so clever that they are never caught in the net. They are like the ever-free. But most of the fish are entangled in the net. Some of them try to free themselves from it, and they are like those who seek liberation. But not all the fish that straggle succeed.  A very few do jump out of the net, making a big
splash in the water. Then the fishermen shout, ‘Look! There goes a big one!’ But most of the fish
caught in the net cannot escape, nor do they make any effort to get out.  On the contrary, they burrow into the mud with the net in their mouths and lie there quietly, thinking, ‘We need not fear any more; we are quite safe here.’ But the poor things do not know that the fishermen will drag them out with the net. 

These are like the men bound to the world.

      
THERE IS NEED FOR EVERYTHING

       

Wicked People are needed too.
At one time the tenants of an estate became unruly.  The landlord had to send Golak Choudhury, who
was a ruffian. He was such a hard administrator that the tenants trembled at the very mention of
the name. 

There is need for everything. Once Sita said to her husband: “Rama, it would be grand if every house
in Ayodhya were a mansion! I find many houses are old and dilapidated.” “But, my dear,” said
Rama, “If all the houses were beautiful ones, what would the masons do?” God has created all kinds
of things. He has created good trees and poisonous plants and weeds as well. Among the animals there are good, bad, and all kinds of creatures – tigers, lions, snakes, and so on.

      
ELDER, THE PUMPKIN CUTTER

       

You must have seen the sort of elderly man who lives in a family and is always ready, day and night,
to entertain the children. He sits in the parlour and smokes the hubble-bubble. With nothing in
particular to do, he leads a lazy life. Now and again he goes to the inner court and cuts a pumpkin; for
since women do not cut pumpkins, they send the children to ask him to come and do it. This is the
extent of his usefulness – hence his nickname, ‘Elder, the pumpkin cutter.’ He is neither a man of the world nor a devotee of God. That is not good.
      
A WORLDLING IS A POOR EXPONENT OF THE SASTRAS

       

A MAN wanted to engage a Bhagavata pandit who could explain the Bhagavata to him. His friend
said: “I know of an excellent pandit. But there is one difficulty; he does a great deal of farming. He
has four ploughs and eight bullocks and is always busy with them; he has no leisure.” Thereupon
the man said: “I don’t care for a pandit who has no leisure.  I am not looking for a Bhagavata scholar burdened with ploughs and bullocks. I want a pandit who can really expound the sacred book to me.”

      
Men of the World : HOW THEY QUARREL!

       

IT is not good to say that what we ourselves think of God is the only truth and what others think is
false; that because we think of God as formless,  therefore He is formless and cannot have any
form; that because we think of God as having form, therefore He has form and cannot be
formless. Can a man really fathom God’s nature? This kind of friction exists between the Vaishnavas
and the Saktas. The Vaishnava says, ‘My Kesava is the only Saviour’, whereas the Sakta insists, ‘My
Bhagavati is the only Saviour.’  Once I took Vaishnavacharan* to Mathur Babu#.  Mathur welcomed him with great courtesy and fed him from silver plates. Now, Vaishnavacharan was a very learned Vaishnava and an orthodox devotee of his sect.  Mathur, on the other hand, was a devotee of the
Divine Mother. They were engaged in a friendly discussion when suddenly Vaishnavacharan said,
“Kesava is the only Saviour.” No sooner did Mathur hear this than his face became red with
anger and he blurted out, “You rascal!” He was a Sakta. Wasn’t it natural for him to say like that? I
gave Vaishnavacharan a nudge! 
* A contemporary of Sri Ramakrishna
# The son-in-law of Rani Rasmani, the foundress of the Kali Temple at Dakshineswar, where Sri Ramakrishna lived and did his Sadhana

THE PLUNDERERS WHO GO ABOUT AS RELIGIOUS

       

THERE was a goldsmith who kept a jewellery shop. He looked like a great devotee, a true
Vaishnava, with beads round his neck, rosary in his hand, and the holy marks on his forehead.
Naturally people trusted him and came to his shop on business. They thought that, being such a pious
man, he would never cheat them. Whenever a party of customers entered the shop, they would
hear one of his craftsmen say, ‘Kesava! Kesava!’ Another would say after a while, ‘Gopal! Gopal!’
Then a third would mutter, ‘Hari! Hari!’ Finally someone would say, ‘Hara! Hara!’ Now these are,
as you know, different names of God. Hearing so much chanting of God’s names the customers
naturally thought thai this goldsmith must be a very superior person. But can you guess the
goldsmith’s true intention? The man who said ‘Kesava! Kesava!’ meant to ask, ‘Who are these?
Who are these customers?’ The man who said ‘Gopal! Gopal!’ conveyed the idea that the
customers were merely a herd of cows. That was the estimate he formed of them after the exchange
of a few words. The man who said ‘Hari! Hail!’ asked, ‘Since they are no better than a herd of
cows, then may we rob them?” He who said ‘Hara!  Hara!’ gave his assent, meaning by these words,
‘Do rob by all means, since they are mere cows!’ 
       
Men of the World : THE JACKAL THAT WON’T LEAVE THE COMPANY OF A BULLOCK

       

ONCE a jackal saw a bullock and would not give up his company. The bullock roamed about and
the jackal followed him. The jackal thought: “There hang the bullock’s testicles. Sometime or other they will drop to the ground and I shall eat them.” When the bullock slept on the ground, the jackal
lay down too, and when the bullock moved about, the jackal followed him. Many days passed in this
way, but the bullock’s testicles still clung to his body. The jackal went away disappointed.
That also happens to flatterers. They think that the rich man will loosen his purse strings for them. But it is very difficult to get anything from him. 
      
THERE ARE SUCH MEN INDEED!

       

IT is not mentioned in their ‘Science’ that God can take human form; so how can they believe it?
There are such men indeed!   Listen to a story. A man said to his friend, “I have just seen a house fall down with a terrific crash.”  Now, the friend to whom he told this had received  an English education. He said: “Just a minute. Let me look it up in the newspaper.” He read the paper but could not find the news of a house falling down with a crash. Thereupon he said to his friend: “Well, I don’t believe you. It isn’t in the paper; so it is all false.” 
      
Men of the World : WHEN ALL TEETH FELL

       

LET me tell you a story. A man used to celebrate the Durga Puja at his house with great pomp.
Goats were sacrificed from sunrise to sunset. But after a few years the sacrifice was not so imposing.
Then someone said to him, “How is it, sir, that the sacrifice at your place has become such a tame
affair?” “Don’t you see?” he said, “My teeth are gone now.”

      
Men of the World : WHEN THEY ARE ANNOYED       

You see, we don’t take any collection during the performance at our place. Jadu’s* mother says to
me, “Other sadhus always ask for money, but you do not.” Worldly people feel annoyed if they have
to spend money.  A theatrical performance was being given at a certain place. A man felt a great desire to take a seat and see it. He peeped in and saw that a collection was being taken from the audience.  Quietly he slipped away. Another performance was being given at some other place. He went there and, inquiring, found that no collection would be taken. There was a great rush of people. He elbowed his way through the crowd and reached the centre of the hall. There he picked out a nice
seat for himself, twirled his moustaches, and sat through the performance. 
*A devotee of Sri Ramakrishna

     
WHAT THE WORLD MAKES OF MEN

       

As a boy, at Kamarpukur, I loved Ram Mallick dearly. But afterwards, when he came here, I
couldn’t touch him. Ram Mallick and I were great friends during our boyhood. We were together day
and night; we slept together. At that time I was sixteen or seventeen years old. People used to say,
“If one of them were a woman they would marry each other.” Both of us used to play at his house I
remember those days very well. His relatives used to come riding in palanquins. Now he has a shop at Chanak. I sent for him many a time; he came here the other day and spent two days. Ram said he had no children; he brought up his nephew, but the boy died. He told me this with a sigh; his eyes were rilled with tears; he was grief stricken for his nephew. He said further that since they had no
children of their own, all his wife’s affection had been turned to the nephew. She was completely
overwhelmed with grief. Ram said to her: “You are crazy. What will you gain by grieving?
Do you want to go to Benares?” You see, he called his wife crazy. Grief for the boy totally ‘diluted’
him. I found he had no stuff within him. I couldn’t touch him. (3)

       
IN THE FOREST OF THE WORLD

       

Once, a man was going through a forest, when three robbers fell upon him and robbed him of all
his possessions. One of the robbers said, “What’s the use of keeping this man alive?” So saying, he
was about to kill him with his sword, when the second robber interrupted him, saying: ‘Oh, no!
What is the use of killing him? Tie his hand and foot and leave him here.” The robbers bound his
hands and feet and went away. After a while the third robber returned and said to the man: “Ah, I
am sorry. Are you hurt? I will release you from your bonds.” After setting the man free, the thief
said: “Come with me. I will take you to the public high way.” After a long time they reached the
road. At this the man said: “Sir, you have been very good to me. Come with me to my house.” “Oh,
no!” the robber replied. “I can’t go there. The police will know it.”  This world itself is the forest. The three robbers prowling here are Satva, rajas, and lamas. It is they that rob a man of the Knowledge of Truth. Tamas wants to destroy him. „Rajas‟ binds him to the world.  But Satva rescues him from the clutches of rajas and tamas. Under the protection of Satva, man is rescued from anger, passion and other evil effects of tamas.  Further, Satva loosens the bonds of the world. But Satva also is a robber. It cannot give man the ultimate Knowledge of Truth, though it shows him the road leading to the Supreme Abode of God.

Setting him on the path, Satva tells him: “Look yonder. There is your home.” Even Satva is far
away from the knowledge of Brahman.   

THIS IS INDEED THE WORLD!

       

Once, Hriday brought a bull-calf here. I saw, one day, that he had tied it with a rope in the garden,
so that it might graze there. I asked him, “Hriday, why do you tic the calf there every day?” “Uncle”
he said, “I am going to send the calf to our village.  When it grows strong I shall yoke it to the plough.”

As soon as I heard these words I was stunned to think: “How inscrutable is the play of the Divine
Maya! Kamarpukur and Sihore are so far away from Calcutta! This poor calf must go all that way.
Then it will grow, and at length it will be yoked to the plough. This is indeed the world! This is indeed Maya!” I fell unconscious. Only after a long time did I regain consciousness.     

God’s mysterious ways – III

       

There are some temples where God is worshipped as Mother. In one of these, in the state of Bengal, She is represented by a large stone image. The sculptor has carved in stone his idea of the Mother of the Universe, and many pious people, finding it attractive and inspiring, go there to pay their respects or make offerings.
One day an old monk who used a cane came into the temple. Approaching the altar he said, speaking aloud to God, “Mother, you are said to be God; tell me the truth: are you solid like stone — this image? Or are you formless, indescribable and impossible to touch?”
“Take your cane,” the monk heard a soft voice saying, “and strike my body on the left side.” He did, and the cane hit the stone with a clack. “Now strike me from the other side,” She said. When the cane reached the sculpture it passed right through it as if it were air. Then the monk understood that God can be both — tangible and intangible — at the same time.
———————————-
In village India laundry is often done by the side of the river. People pay washermen to take the sheets and clothes down to the river bank, to a shallow place where they can wade — and wash. The clothes are soused and whacked against big flat stones, then spread out on the grass to dry. One day a holy man, a lover of God, coming that way was praying hard and walking with his eyes almost closed. Accidentally he stepped on some of the clean laundry spread there, and the washermen saw it. Angry, they came to give him a beating.
Now this holy man became very frightened. He earnestly and loudly called on God to come to his aid and save him from the washermen’s anger. God, who was sitting in conference up in his heaven, heard the saint’s cries and went to intervene. But just then the man himself picked up some bricks to throw at his tormentors; so the Lord singly returned to his heavenly seat. God helps those who do not help themselves!  

WHY YOGI SLIPS DOWN FROM HIS YOGA

       

AT Kamarpukur I have seen the mongoose living in its hole up in the wall. It feels snug there.
Sometimes people tie a brick to its tail; then the pull of the brick makes it come out of its hole.
Every time the mongoose tries to be comfortable inside the hole, it has to come out because of the
pull of the brick.

Such is the effect of brooding on worldly objects that it makes the yogi stray from the path of yoga.

 

God’s mysterious ways – II
       

1. One of the common trades in village India is dyeing. You buy your white cloth an then take it to this person who has many vats of dye, each a different color. Do you want your cloth yellow? He soaks it in the vat of yellow dye; purple, in the purple dye, etc. One day there came to a village a traveling dyer, who had only one vat! (How could he make a living?) But you see, it was a magic tub: whatever color you asked for, that was the color the cloth came out. People marveled to see such a thing. The same vat gave blue, red, etc. A clever villager was watching all this at a little distance. Finally he brought his cloth to the dyer and said, “Please make my cloth the color of the dye in your tub.” Why is God like the magic dye? Because, though he is One, he gives everyone different things, according to their preference; if you want to know what he is in himself, be like the clever villager.

2. In a certain village of India there was a little park where people came to sit and chat. The path to it lay alongside the forest. On the edge of the path there was a large, well-known tree. One day a city-dweller came to the village, passed the tree, and saw a peculiar lizard climbing on the trunk. When he reached the park he told the others sitting there, “I just saw a cream-colored lizard on that old tree!”
“Oh,” said one man, “I know that lizard. I’ve seen it there several times — but it’s not cream-colored, it’s green.”
“No, no, not green,” said another, “it is yellow.” Then others chimed in: “We have seen it — it is lavender (gray, etc.). Everyone had a different picture of the lizard.
They decided to go to the tree to find the animal and settle the argument. What they found was a hermit from the forest, sitting in meditation under the tree. The people questioned him. “I know all about that creature, who lives on this tree,” he answered. (Have you guessed it? Yes. It was a chameleon.) “It is sometimes lavender, sometimes gray, sometimes green, yellow, cream, and sometimes it has really no color at all.”
God, said Sri Ramakrishna, is like that chameleon, taking on different qualities and appearances, and then again He has none.      

God’s mysterious ways – I

       

The baby in the family is learning to talk. Mother tries to teach him or her to call father “Papa” or “Daddy”. But baby is only a year old and says only “Pa” or “Da” every time! Now does this make the father angry, that his little one cannot yet perfectly pronounce the name? Likewise, God understands our mistakes where he is concerned. And he patiently waits for the unfolding of our understanding.

You’ve all played hide and seek; are there children anywhere that haven’t? In some countries the one who hides is called “Granny”. This person blindfolds the eyes of the others and then hides. The players are to find her, one by one. Whoever can find and touch “Granny” has the blindfold removed and is “free”. So it is with the Divine Mother! She has covered our eyes with ignorance and hidden herself here. Find her, touch her, and you are freed.

There are said to be 500,000 villages in India. In olden days, the Indian village hired a night-watchman to keep down crime and accidents. He would go around the streets and lanes with a square metal lantern, open only at the front. The watchman could see, wherever the lantern cast its light. No rays of light fell on him, who carried the lantern. If you wanted to see who the watchman was, you had to ask him to turn the lamp back on his own face. We are like that! Our eyes (ears, tongue, etc.) are all facing outward, looking at and feeling the things of the world. God says, “if you want to see me, turn the lamp around; look within and find the Source of all the light.”

And here is some simple arithmetic that all of us will know. If I have “one,” and go on adding zeros in front of it, like this: 0 + 0 + 0 + 001, does it become more than one? It does not. But if I put the “one” first and the zeros after it: 1 + 0 + 0 + 0, the number goes on expanding to infinity. In the same way, the universe is like the first “1″; there is something there, and you keep adding “things”, but you don’t get much; while God is like the second “1″: put him first and only then will all the rest have value.     

OCCULT POWERS ARE MORE A HINDRANCE THAN A HELP TO GOD-VISION

       

ONCE upon a time a sadhu acquired great occult

powers. He was vain about them. But he was a

good man and had some austerities to his credit.

One day the Lord, disguised as a holy man, came

to him and said, “Revered sir, I have heard that you

have great occult powers.” The sadhu received the

Lord cordially and offered him a seat. Just then an

elephant passed by. The Lord, in the disguise of

the holy man, said to the sadhu, “Revered sir, can

you kill this elephant if you like?” The sadhu said,

“Yes, it is possible.” So saying he took a pinch of

dust, muttered some mantras over it, and threw it

at the elephant. The beast struggled a while in pain

and then dropped dead. The Lord said: “What

power you have! You have killed the elephant!”

The sadhu laughed. Again the Lord spoke: “Now,

can you revive the elephant?” “That too is

possible,” replied the sadhu. He threw another

pinch of charmed dust at the beast. The elephant

writhed about a little and came back to life. Then

the Lord said: “Wonderful is your power. But may

ONCE upon a time a sadhu acquired great occult powers. He was vain about them. But he was a
good man and had some austerities to his credit.  One day the Lord, disguised as a holy man, came
to him and said, “Revered sir, I have heard that you have great occult powers.” The sadhu received the Lord cordially and offered him a seat. Just then an elephant passed by. The Lord, in the disguise of the holy man, said to the sadhu, “Revered sir, can you kill this elephant if you like?” The sadhu said, “Yes, it is possible.” So saying he took a pinch of dust, muttered some mantras over it, and threw it at the elephant. The beast struggled a while in pain and then dropped dead. The Lord said: “What power you have! You have killed the elephant!”

The sadhu laughed. Again the Lord spoke: “Now, can you revive the elephant?” “That too is
possible,” replied the sadhu. He threw another pinch of charmed dust at the beast. The elephant
writhed about a little and came back to life. Then the Lord said: “Wonderful is your power. But may
I ask you one thing? You have killed the elephant and you have revived it. But what has that done for
you? Do you feel uplifted by it? Has it enabled you to realize God?” Saying this, the Lord vanished.
Subtle are the ways of Dharma. One cannot realize God. if one has even the least trace of desire. A
thread cannot pass through the eye of a needle if it has the smallest fibre sticking out.      

The Impermanent

       

From Chapter 5
“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 Vrindavan felt the attraction of Krishna.
From Chapter 13
“Money enables a man to get food and drink, build a house, worship the Deity, serve devotees and holy men, and help the poor when he happens to meet them. These are the good uses of money. Money is not meant for luxuries or creature comforts or for buying a position in society.
“People practise various Tantrik disciplines to acquire supernatural powers. How mean such people are! Krishna said to Arjuna, ‘Friend, by acquiring one of the eight siddhis you may add a little to your power, but you will not be able to realize Me.’ One cannot get rid of maya as long as one exercises supernatural powers. And maya begets egotism.
“Body and wealth are impermanent. Why go to so much trouble for their sakes? Just think of the plight of the hathayogis. Their attention is fixed on one ideal only-longevity. They do not aim at the realization of God at all. They practise such exercises as washing out the intestines, drinking milk through a tube, and the like, with that one aim in view.
From Chapter 15
“You all know from your experience how impermanent the world is. Look at it this way. How many people have come into the world and again passed away! People are born and they die. This moment the world is and the next it is not. It is impermanent. Those you think to be your very own will not exist for you when you close your eyes in death. Again, you see people who have no immediate relatives, and yet for the sake of a grandson they will not go to Benares to lead a holy life. ‘Oh, what will become of my Haru then?’ they argue.:
The narrow channel first is made, and there the trap is set;
But open though the passage lies,
The fish, once safely through the gate,
Do not come out again.

Yet even though a way leads forth,
Encased within its own cocoon,
The worm remains to die.
This kind of world is illusory and impermanent.”
From Chapter 19
“The body is really impermanent. When my arm was broken I said to the Mother, ‘Mother, it hurts me very much.’ At once She revealed to me a carriage and its driver. Here and there a few screws were loose. The carriage moved as the driver directed it. It had no power of its own.
From Chapter 41
Only by renunciation is ignorance destroyed. The sun’s rays, falling on a lens, burn many objects. But if a room is dark inside, you cannot get that result: ‘you must come out of the room to use the lens.
“But some people live in the world even after attaining jnana. They see both what is inside and what is outside the room. The light of God illumines the world. Therefore with that light they can discriminate between good and bad, permanent and impermanent. The ignorant, who lead a worldly life without knowing God, are like people living in a house with mud walls.
With the help of a dim light they can see the inside of the house but nothing more. But those who live in the world after having attained Knowledge and realized God, are like people living in a glass house. They see the inside of the room and also all that is outside. The light from the sun of Knowledge enters strongly into the room. They perceive everything inside the room very clearly. They know what is good and what is bad, what is permanent and what is impermanent.    

Satchidananda – III

    

From Chapter 20
MANI MALLICK (to the Master): “What a big electric light they have at the exhibition! It makes us think how great He must be who has made such an electric light.”

MASTER. (to Mani): “But according to one view it is He Himself who has become everything. Even those who say that are He. It is Satchidananda Itself that has become all-the Creator, maya, the universe, and living beings.”…
The Master rested awhile. A devotee sat on the end of the small couch and gently stroked his feet. The Master said to him softly: “That which is formless again has form. One should believe in the forms of God also. By meditating on Kali the aspirant realizes God as Kali. Next he finds that the form merges in the Indivisible Absolute. That which is the Indivisible Satchidananda is verily Kali.”
From Chapter 32
“Three words-’master’, ‘teacher’, and ‘father’-prick me like thorns. I am the son of God, His eternal child. How can I be a ‘father’? God alone is the Master and I am His instrument. He is the Operator and I am the machine.  “If somebody addresses me as guru, I say to him: ‘Go away, you fool! How can I be a teacher?’ There is no teacher except Satchidananda. There is no refuge except Him. He alone is the Ferryman to take one across the ocean of the world….
From Chapter 39
Sri Ramakrishna became silent. Resuming his reminiscences, he said:  “How many other visions I saw! But I am not permitted to tell them. Someone is shutting my mouth, as it were. I used to find no distinction between the sacred tulsi and the insignificant sajina leaf. The feeling of distinction was entirely destroyed. Once I was meditating under the banyan when I was shown a Musslman with a long beard. He came to me with rice in an earthen plate. He fed some other Musslmans with the rice and also gave me a few grains to eat. The Mother showed me that there exists only One, and not two. It is Satchidananda alone that has taken all these various forms; He alone has become the world and its living beings. Again, it is He who has become food.
From Chapter 44
MASTER (to M.): “Every now and then I think that the body is a mere pillow-case. The only real substance is the Indivisible Satchidananda.
From Chapter 47
“What Brahman is cannot be described in words. Somebody once said that everything in the world has been made impure, like food that has touched the tongue, and that Brahman alone remains undefiled. The meaning is this: All scriptures and holy books-the Vedas, the Puranas, the Tantras, and so forth-may be said to have been defiled because their contents have been uttered by the tongues of men; but what Brahman is no tongue has yet been able to describe. Therefore Brahman is still undefiled. One cannot describe in words the joy of play and communion with Satchidananda. He alone knows, who has realized it.”
From Chapter 51
Do you know what I see now? I see my body as a frame made of bamboo strips and covered with a cloth. The frame moves. And it moves because someone dwells inside it.
“Again, I see the body to be like a pumpkin with the seeds scooped out. Inside this body there is no trace of passion or worldly attachment. It is all very clean inside, and- ”
It became very painful for Sri Ramakrishna to talk further. He felt very weak. M. quickly guessed what the Master wanted to tell the devotees, and said, “And you are seeing God inside yourself.”
MASTER: “Both inside and outside. The Indivisible Satchidananda-I see It both inside and outside. It has merely assumed this sheath [meaning his body] for a support and exists both inside and outside. I clearly perceive this.”     

Laying Things Up

       

From Chapter 6

Mr. Viswas had been sitting in the room a long time; he now left. He had once been wealthy but had squandered everything in an immoral life. Finally he had become indifferent to his wife and children. Referring to Mr. Viswas, the Master said: “He is an unfortunate wretch. A householder has his duties to discharge, his debts to pay: his debt to the gods, his debt to his ancestors, his debt to the rishis, and his debt to wife and children. If a wife is chaste, then her husband should support her; he should also bring up their children until they are of age. Only a monk must not save; the bird and the monk do not provide for the morrow. But even a bird provides when it has young. It brings food in its bill for its chicks.”

From Chapter 14

The Avadhuta accepted a bee as another teacher. Bees accumulate their honey by days of hard labour. But they cannot enjoy their honey, for a man soon breaks the comb and takes it away. The Avadhuta learnt this lesson from the bees, that one should not lay things up. Sadhus should depend one hundred per cent on God. They must not gather for the morrow. But this does not apply to the householder. He must bring up his family; therefore it is necessary for him to provide. Birds and monks do not hoard. Yet birds also hoard after their chicks are hatched: they collect food in their beaks for their young ones.

From Chapter 18

“But no spiritual progress is possible without the renunciation of ‘woman and gold’. I renounced these three: land, wife, and wealth. Once I went to the Registry Office to register some land, the title of which was in the name of Raghuvir. The officer asked me to sign my name; but I didn’t do it, because I couldn’t feel that it was ‘my’ land. I was shown much respect as the guru of Keshab Sen. They presented me with mangoes, but I couldn’t carry them home. A sannyasi cannot lay things up.

“How can one expect to attain God without renunciation? Suppose one thing is placed upon another; how can you get the second without removing the first?

From Chapter 32

SUB-JUDGE: “Sir, we are householders. How long should we perform our worldly duties?”
MASTER: “Surely you have duties to perform. You must bring up your children, support your wife, and provide for her in case of your death. If you don’t, then I shall call you unkind. Sages like Sukadeva had compassion. He who has no compassion is no man.”

SUB-JUDGE: “How long should one support one’s children?”
MASTER: “As long as they have not reached their majority. When the chick becomes a full-grown bird and can look after itself, then the mother bird pecks it and doesn’t allow it to come near her.” (All laugh.)
SUB-JUDGE: “What is a householder’s duty to his wife?”
MASTER: “You should give her spiritual advice and support her during your lifetime and provide for her livelihood after your death, if she is a chaste wife.
“But if you are intoxicated with the Knowledge of God, then you have no more duties to perform. Then God Himself will think about your morrow if you yourself cannot do so. God Himself will think about your family if you are intoxicated with Him. If a landlord dies leaving behind a minor son, then a guardian appointed by the court takes charge of the son. These are all points of law; you know them.”
…The Master noticed that M. had brought some cloths for him. M. had with him two pieces of unbleached and two pieces of washed cloth. But the Master had asked him only for the unbleached ones. He said to M.: “Give me the unbleached ones. You may keep the others. All right. You may give me one of them.”
M: “Then shall I take back one piece?”
MASTER: “Then take both.”
M: “As you please, sir.”
MASTER: “You can give me those when I need them. You see, yesterday Beni Pal wanted me to carry away some food for Ramlal. I told him I couldn’t. It is impossible for me to lay up for the future.  

On Sin – II

       

From Chapter 10

Sri Ramakrishna had been invited to visit the homes of his devotees Balaram, Adhar, and Ram in Calcutta. Devotional music had been arranged by Adhar and Ram. The Master was accompanied in the carriage by Rakhal, M., and others.

As they drove along, Sri Ramakrishna said to the devotees: “You see, sin flies away when love of God grows in a man’s heart, even as the water of the reservoir dug in a meadow dries up under the heat of the sun. But one cannot love God if one feels attracted to worldly things, to ‘woman and gold’. Merely taking the vow of monastic life will not help a man if he is attached to the world. It is like swallowing your own spittle after spitting it out on the ground.”

From Chapter 11

“One should constantly repeat the name of God. The name of God is highly effective in the Kaliyuga. The practice of yoga is not possible in this age, for the life of a man depends on food. Clap your hands while repeating God’s name, and the birds of your sin will fly away.

“One should always seek the company of holy men. The nearer you approach the Ganges, the cooler the breeze will feel. Again, the nearer you go to a fire, the hotter the air will feel.

“But one cannot achieve anything through laziness and procrastination. People who desire worldly enjoyment say about spiritual progress: ‘Well, it will all happen in time. We shall realize God some time or other.’

From Chapter 13

M: “You once said that one who constantly talks of his sin really becomes a sinner; he cannot extricate himself from sin. But if a man has firm faith that he is the son of God, then he makes rapid strides in spiritual life.”

MASTER: “Yes, faith. What tremendous faith Krishnakishore had! He used to say: ‘I have spoken the name of God once. That is enough. How can I remain a sinner? I have become pure and stainless.’

From Chapter 18

“It is God alone who has planted in man’s mind what the ‘Englishman’ calls free will. People who have not realized God would become engaged in more and more sinful actions if God had not planted in them the notion of free will. Sin would have increased if God had not made the sinner feel that he alone was responsible for his sin.

“Those who have realized God are aware that free will is a mere appearance. In reality man is the machine and God its Operator, man is the carriage and God its Driver.”

From Chapter 32

SUB-JUDGE: “Sir, I am a sinner. How can I say that God dwells in me?”    
MASTER: “That’s the one trouble with you Brahmos. With you it is always sin and sin! That’s the Christian view, isn’t it? Once a man gave me a Bible.A part of it was read to me, and it was full of that one thing-sin and sin! One must have such faith that one can say: ‘I have uttered the name of God; I have repeated the name of Rama or Hari. How can I be a sinner?’ One must have faith in the glory of God’s  name.”
SUB-JUDGE: “Sir, how can one have such faith?”
MASTER: “Have passionate love for God. One of your Brahmo songs says:
O Lord, is it ever possible to know Thee without love,
However much one may perform worship and sacrifice?
Pray to God in secret and with yearning, that you may have that passionate attachment and devotion to Him. Shed tears for Him. A man sheds a jugful of tears because his wife is sick or because he is losing money or because he is worrying about getting a job. But tell me, who ever weeps for God?’  

On Sin – I

    

From Chapter 3 MASTER: “Brahman is beyond vidya and avidya, knowledge and ignorance. It is beyond maya, the illusion of duality. “The world consists of the illusory duality of knowledge and ignorance. It contains knowledge and devotion, and also attachment to ‘Woman and gold’; righteousness and unrighteousness; good and evil. But Brahman is unattached to these. Good and evil apply to the jiva, the individual soul, as do righteousness and unrighteousness; but Brahman is not at all affected by them. “One man may read the Bhagavata by the light of a lamp, and another may commit a forgery by that very light; but the lamp is unaffected. The sun sheds its light on the wicked as well as on the virtuous. “You may ask, ‘How, then, can one explain misery and sin and unhappiness?’ The answer is that these apply only to the jiva. Brahman is unaffected by them. There is poison in a snake; but though others may die if bitten by it, the snake itself is not affected by the poison. From Chapter 5 “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 he 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. “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.” From Chapter 8 NEIGHBOUR: “Sir, we are sinners. What will happen to us?” MASTER: “All the sins of the body flyaway if one chants the name of God and sings His glories. The birds of sin dwell in the tree of the body. Singing the name of God is like clapping your hands. As, at a clap of the hands, the birds in the tree flyaway, so do our sins disappear at the chanting of God’s name and glories. “Again, you find that the water of a reservoir dug in a meadow is evaporated by the heat of the sun. Likewise, the water of the reservoir of sin is dried up by the singing of the name and glories of God. From Chapter 9 MASTER: “Everything depends on the will of God. The world is His play. He has created all these different things-great and small, strong and weak, good and bad, virtuous and vicious. This is all His maya, His sport. You must have observed that all the trees in a garden are not of the same kind. “As long as a man has not realized God, he thinks he is free. It is God Himself who keeps this error in man. Otherwise sin would have multiplied. Man would not have been afraid of sin, and there would have been no punishment for it. “But do you know the attitude of one who has realized God? He feels: ‘I am the machine, and Thou, O Lord, art the Operator. I am the house and Thou art the Indweller. I am the chariot and Thou art the Driver. I move as Thou movest me; I speak as Thou makest me speak.’     

Satchidananda – III

    

From Chapter 20

MANI MALLICK (to the Master): “What a big electric light they have at the exhibition! It makes us think how great He must be who has made such an electric light.”
 
MASTER. (to Mani): “But according to one view it is He Himself who has become everything. Even those who say that are He. It is Satchidananda Itself that has become all-the Creator, maya, the universe, and living beings.”…

The Master rested awhile. A devotee sat on the end of the small couch and gently stroked his feet. The Master said to him softly: “That which is formless again has form. One should believe in the forms of God also. By meditating on Kali the aspirant realizes God as Kali. Next he finds that the form merges in the Indivisible Absolute. That which is the Indivisible Satchidananda is verily Kali.”

From Chapter 32

“Three words-’master’, ‘teacher’, and ‘father’-prick me like thorns. I am the son of God, His eternal child. How can I be a ‘father’? God alone is the Master and I am His instrument. He is the Operator and I am the machine.  “If somebody addresses me as guru, I say to him: ‘Go away, you fool! How can I be a teacher?’ There is no teacher except Satchidananda. There is no refuge except Him. He alone is the Ferryman to take one across the ocean of the world….

From Chapter 39

Sri Ramakrishna became silent. Resuming his reminiscences, he said:  “How many other visions I saw! But I am not permitted to tell them. Someone is shutting my mouth, as it were. I used to find no distinction between the sacred tulsi and the insignificant sajina leaf. The feeling of distinction was entirely destroyed. Once I was meditating under the banyan when I was shown a Musslman with a long beard. He came to me with rice in an earthen plate. He fed some other Musslmans with the rice and also gave me a few grains to eat. The Mother showed me that there exists only One, and not two. It is Satchidananda alone that has taken all these various forms; He alone has become the world and its living beings. Again, it is He who has become food.

From Chapter 44

MASTER (to M.): “Every now and then I think that the body is a mere pillow-case. The only real substance is the Indivisible Satchidananda.

From Chapter 47

“What Brahman is cannot be described in words. Somebody once said that everything in the world has been made impure, like food that has touched the tongue, and that Brahman alone remains undefiled. The meaning is this: All scriptures and holy books-the Vedas, the Puranas, the Tantras, and so forth-may be said to have been defiled because their contents have been uttered by the tongues of men; but what Brahman is no tongue has yet been able to describe. Therefore Brahman is still undefiled. One cannot describe in words the joy of play and communion with Satchidananda. He alone knows, who has realized it.”

From Chapter 51

Do you know what I see now? I see my body as a frame made of bamboo strips and covered with a cloth. The frame moves. And it moves because someone dwells inside it.

“Again, I see the body to be like a pumpkin with the seeds scooped out. Inside this body there is no trace of passion or worldly attachment. It is all very clean inside, and- ”

It became very painful for Sri Ramakrishna to talk further. He felt very weak. M. quickly guessed what the Master wanted to tell the devotees, and said, “And you are seeing God inside yourself.”

MASTER: “Both inside and outside. The Indivisible Satchidananda-I see It both inside and outside. It has merely assumed this sheath [meaning his body] for a support and exists both inside and outside. I clearly perceive this.”      

Satchidananda – II       

From Chapter 12

MASTER: “God has covered all with His maya. He doesn’t let us know anything. Maya is ‘woman and gold’. He who puts maya aside to see God, can see Him. Once, when I was explaining God’s actions to someone, God suddenly showed me the lake at Kamarpukur. I saw a man removing the green scum and drinking the water. The water was clear as crystal. God revealed to me that Satchidananda is covered by the scum of maya. He who puts the green scum aside can drink the water.

From Chapter 13

“God’s play on earth as an Incarnation is the manifestation of the glory of the Chitsakti, the Divine Power. That which is Brahman is also Rama, Krishna, and Siva.”

ISHAN: “Yes, sir. Both Hari and Hara are derived from the same root. The difference lies only in the pratyaya.”

MASTER: “Yes, there is only One without a second. The Vedas speak of It as ‘Om Satchidananda Brahma’, the Puranas as ‘Om Satchidananda Krishna,’ and the Tantra as ‘Om Satchidananda Siva’.

From Chapter 14

“All religions and all paths call upon their followers to pray to one and the same God. Therefore one should not show disrespect to any religion or religious opinion. It is God alone who is called Satchidananda Brahman in the Vedas, Satchidananda Krishna in the Puranas, and Satchidananda Siva in the Tantras. It is one and the same Satchidananda.

From Chapter 16

MASTER: “If a man is able to weep for God, he will see Him. He will go into samadhi. Perfection in yoga is samadhi. A man achieves kumbhaka without any yogic exercise if he but weeps for God. The next stage is samadhi.

“There is another method -that of meditation. In the Sahasrara, Siva manifests Himself in a special manner. The aspirant should meditate on Him. The body is like a tray; the mind and buddhi are like water. The Sun of Satchidananda is reflected in this water. Meditating on the reflected sun, one sees the Real Sun through the grace of God.

From Chapter 17

    MASTER: “The formless God is real, and equally real is God with form. Nangta used to instruct me about the nature of Satchidananda Brahman. He would say that it is like an infinite ocean-water everywhere, to the right, left, above, and below. Water enveloped in water. It is the Water of the Great Cause, motionless. Waves spring up when it becomes active. Its activities are creation, preservation, and destruction.
    “Again, he used to say that Brahman is where reason comes to a stop. There is the instance of camphor. Nothing remains after it is burnt-not even a trace of ash.
    “Brahman is beyond mind and speech. A salt doll entered the ocean to measure its depth; but it did not return to tell others how deep the ocean was. It melted in the ocean itself.
    “The rishis once said to Rama: ‘O Rama sages like Bharadvaja may very well call you an Incarnation of God, but we cannot do that. We adore the Word-Brahman. We do not want the human form of God.’ Rama smiled and went away, pleased with their adoration.
    “But the Nitya and the Lila are the two aspects of the same Reality. As I have said before, it is like the roof and the steps leading to it. The Absolute plays in many ways: as Isvara, as the gods, as man, and as the universe. The Incarnation is the play of the Absolute as man. Do you know how the Absolute plays as man? It is like the rushing down of water from a big roof through a pipe; the power of Satchidananda-nay, Satchidananda Itself-descends through the conduit of a human form as water descends through the pipe. Only twelve sages, Bharadvaja and the others, recognized Rama as an Incarnation of God. Not everyone can recognize an Incarnation.

From Chapter 19

MASTER (to the devotees): “It will avail you nothing unless you realize Satchidananda. There is nothing like discrimination and renunciation. The worldly man’s devotion to God is momentary―like a drop of water on a redhot frying-pan. Perchance he looks at a flower and exclaims, ‘Ah, what a wonderful creation of God!’

Satchidananda -I       

From Chapter 2

NEIGHBOUR: “You just referred to the instructions of the guru. How shall we find him?”

MASTER: “Anyone and everyone cannot be a guru. A huge timber floats on the water and can carry animals as well. But a piece of worthless wood sinks, if a man sits on it, and drowns him. Therefore in every age God incarnates Himself as the guru, to teach humanity. Satchidananda alone is the guru.

From Chapter 3

“As for what has been said in the Vedas and the Puranas, do you know what it is like? Suppose a man has seen the ocean, and somebody asks him, ‘Well, what is the ocean like?’ The first man opens his mouth as wide as he can and says: ‘What a sight! What tremendous waves and sounds!’ The description of Brahman in the sacred books is like that. It is said in the Vedas that Brahman is of the nature of Bliss – It is Satchidananda.

From Chapter 4

The Master explained to the devotees the secret of communion with God.

MASTER: “With the realization of Satchidananda one goes into samadhi. Then duties drop away. Suppose I have been talking about the ostad and he arrives. What need is there of talking about him then? How long does the bee buzz around? So long as it isn’t sitting on a flower. But it will not do for the sadhaka to renounce duties. He should perform his duties, such as worship, japa, meditation, prayer, and pilgrimage.

From Chapter 7

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?

From Chapter 8

MR. CHOUDHURY: “Sir, is it not possible to have the vision of God without the help of a guru?”

MASTER: “Satchidananda Himself is the Guru. At the end of the savasadhana, just when the vision of the Ishta is about to take place, the guru appears before the aspirant and says to him, ‘Behold! There is your Ishta.’ Saying this, the guru merges in the Ishta. He who is the guru is also the Ishta. The guru is the thread that leads to God. Women perform a ritualistic worship known as the ‘Ananta-vrata’, the object of worship being the Infinite. But actually the Deity worshipped is Vishnu. In Him are the ‘infinite’ forms of God.
From Chapter 10

BRAHMO: “Is spiritual knowledge impossible without a guru?”

MASTER: “Satchidananda alone is the Guru. If a man in the form of a guru awakens spiritual consciousness in you, then know for certain that it is God the Absolute who has assumed that human form for your sake. The guru is like a companion who leads you by the hand. After the realization of God, one loses the distinction between the guru and the disciple. ‘That creates a very difficult situation; there the guru and the disciple do not see each other.’ It was for this reason that Janaka said to Sukadeva, ‘Give me first my teacher’s fee if you want me to initiate you into the Knowledge of Brahman.’ For the distinction between the teacher and the disciple ceases to exist after the disciple attains to Brahman. The relationship between them remains as long as the disciple does not see God.”

From Chapter 11

“There are two schools of thought: the Vedanta and the Purana. According to the Vedanta this world is a ‘framework of illusion’, that is to say, it is all illusory, like a dream. But according to the Purana, the books of devotion, God Himself has become the twenty-four cosmic principles. Worship God both within and without.

“As long as God keeps the awareness of ‘I’ in us, so long do sense-objects exist; and we cannot very well speak of the world as a dream. There is fire in the hearth; therefore the rice and pulse and potatoes and the other vegetables jump about in the pot. They jump about as if to say: ‘We are here! We are jumping!’ This body is the pot. The mind and intelligence are the water. The objects of the senses are the rice, potatoes, and other vegetables. The ‘I-consciousness’ identified with the senses says, ‘I am jumping about.’ And Satchidananda is the fire.    

On Meditation – 2        

From Chapter 32

A BRAMO DEVOTEE: “Sir, suppose a man has thought of God at other times during his life, but at the time of his death forgets Him. Would he, on that account, come back to this world of sorrow and suffering? Why should it be so? He certainly thought of God some time during his life.”

MASTER: “A man thinks of God, no doubt, but he has no faith in Him. Again and again he forgets God and becomes attached to the world. It is like giving the elephant a bath; afterwards he covers his body with mud and dirt again. ‘The mind is a mad elephant.’ But if you can make the elephant go into the stable immediately after bathing him, then he stays clean. Just so, if a man thinks of God in the hour of death, then his mind becomes pure and it gets no more opportunity to become attached to ‘woman and gold’.
“Man has no faith in God. That is the reason he suffers so much. They say that when you plunge into the holy waters of the Ganges your sins perch on a tree on the bank. No sooner do you come out of the water after the bath than the sins jump back on your shoulders. (All laugh.) A man must prepare the way beforehand, so that he may think of God in the hour of death. The way lies through constant practice. If a man practises meditation on God, he will remember God even on the last day of his life.”

From Chapter 36

SURENDRA: “I cannot meditate well. I repeat the Divine Mother’s name now and then. Lying in bed, I repeat Her name and fall asleep.”
MASTER: “That is enough. You remember Her, don’t you?
“There are two kinds of yoga: manoyega and- karmayoga. To perform, following the guru’s instructions, such pious acts as worship, pilgrimage, and service to living beings is called karmayoga. The duties that Janaka performed are also called karmayoga. The meditation and contemplation of the yogis is called manoyoga.  .

From Chapter 39

MASTER: “During my sadhana, when I meditated, I would actually see a person sitting neat me with a trident in his hand. He would threaten to strike me with the weapon unless I fixed my mind on the Lotus Feet of God, warning me that it would pierce my breast if my mind strayed from God.
“The Divine Mother would put me in such a state that sometimes my mind would come down from the Nitya to the Lila, and sometimes go up from the Lila to the Nitya.
“Sometimes, when the mind descended to the Lila, I would meditate day and night on Sita and Rama. At those times I would constantly behold the forms of Sita and Rama. Ramlala was my constant companion. Sometimes I would bathe Him and sometimes feed Him.
“Again, I used to be absorbed in the ideal of Radha and Krishna and would constantly see their forms. Or again, I would be absorbed in Gauranga. He is the harmonization of two ideals: the Purusha and the Prakriti. At such times I would always see the form of Gauranga.
 
“Then a change came over me. The mind left the plane of the Lila and ascended to the Nitya. I found no distinction between the sacred tulsi and the ordinary sajina plant. I no longer enjoyed seeing the forms of God; I said to myself, ‘They come and go.’ I lifted my mind above them. I removed all the pictures of gods and goddesses from my room and began to meditate on the Primal Purusha, the Indivisible Satchidananda, regarding myself as His handmaid.

From Chapter 43

“You ask about the after-life. According to the Gita you will become in the next life what you think of in the hour of death. King Bharata was very much grieved over his pet deer; he died repeating the word ‘deer’; therefore he was reborn as a deer. That is why day and night a man should practise worship, japa, meditation, and other spiritual exercises. Only then, by virtue of practice, will he be able to think of God in the hour of death. If one dies thus, thinking of God, one will acquire God’s nature.

From Chapter 45

Sri Ramakrishna was talking aside to Amrita. He asked him, “Do you meditate?” He further said to him: “Do you know!” what one feels in meditation? The mind becomes like a continuous flow of oil-it thinks of one object only, and that is God. It does not think of anything else.”    

On Meditation – I      

From Chapter 1
 
M. (humbly): “Yes, sir. How, sir, may we fix our minds on God?”

MASTER: “Repeat God’s name and sing His glories, and keep holy company; and now and then visit God’s devotees and holy men. The mind cannot dwell on God if it is immersed day and night in worldliness, in worldly duties and responsibilities; 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. When a tree is young it should be fenced all around; otherwise it may be destroyed by cattle.

“To meditate, you should withdraw within yourself or retire to a secluded corner or to the forest. And you should always discriminate between the Real and the unreal. God alone is real, the Eternal Substance; all else is unreal, that is, impermanent. By discriminating thus, one should shake off impermanent objects from the mind.”
 
From Chapter 11
 
“The jnanis follow the path of discrimination. Sometimes it happens that, discriminating between the Real and the unreal, a man loses his faith in the existence of God. But a devotee who sincerely yearns for God does not give up his meditation even though he is invaded by atheistic ideas. A man whose father and. grandfather have been farmers continues his farming even though he doesn’t get any crop in a year of drought.”
 
From Chapter 14
 
“At the beginning of spiritual life the devotee should observe such rites as pilgrimage, putting a string of beads around his neck, and so forth. But outward ceremonies gradually drop off as he attains the goal, the vision of God.  Then his only activity is the repetition of God’s name, and contemplation and meditation on Him.
 
From Chapter 16
 
MASTER: “If a man is able to weep for God, he will see Him. He will go into samadhi. Perfection in yoga is samadhi. A man achieves kumbhaka without any yogic exercise if he but weeps for God. The next stage is samadhi.

“There is another method -that of meditation. In the Sahasrara, Siva manifests Himself in a special manner. The aspirant should meditate on Him. The body is like a tray; the mind and buddhi are like water. The Sun of Satchidananda is reflected in this water. Meditating on the reflected sun, one sees the Real Sun through the grace of God.
 
From Chapter 20
 
MANILAL (to the Master): “Well, what is the rule for concentration? Where should one concentrate?”

MASTER: “The heart is a splendid place. One can meditate there or in the Sahasrara. These are rules for meditation given in the scriptures. But you may meditate wherever you like. Every place is filled with Brahman-Consciousness. Is there any place where  It does not exist? Narayana, in Vali’s presence, covered with two steps the heavens, the earth, and the interspaces. Is there then any place left uncovered by God? A dirty place is as holy as the bank of the Ganges. It is said that the whole creation is the Virat, the Universal Form of God.

“There are two kinds of meditation, one on the formless God and the other on God with form. But meditation on the formless God is extremely difficult. In that meditation you must wipe out all that you see or hear. You contemplate only the nature of your Inner Self. Meditating on His Inner Self, Siva dances about. He exclaims, ‘What am I! What am I!’ This is called the Siva yoga’. While practising this form of meditation, one directs one’s look to the forehead. It is meditation on the nature of one’s Inner Self after negating the world, following the Vedantic method of ‘Neti, neti’.

“There is another form of meditation, known as the ‘Vishnu yoga’, The eyes are fixed on the tip of the nose. Half the look is directed inward and the other half outward. This is how one meditates on God with form. Sometimes Siva meditates on God with form, and dances. At that time he exclaims, ‘Rama! Rama!’ and dances about.”    

Self Knowledge       

From Chapter 11 “Sankaracharya was a Brahmajnani, to be sure. But at the beginning he too had the feeling of differentiation. He didn’t have absolute faith that everything in the world is Brahman. One day as he was coming out of the Ganges after his bath, he saw an untouchable, a butcher, carrying a load of meat. Inadvertently the butcher touched his body. Sankara shouted angrily, ‘Hey there! How dare you touch me?’ ‘Revered sir,’ said the butcher, ‘I have not touched you, nor have you touched me. The Pure Self cannot be the body nor the five elements nor the twenty-four cosmic principles.’ Then Sankara came to his senses. Once Jadabharata was carrying King Rahugana’s palanquin and at the same time giving a discourse on Self-Knowledge. The king got down from the palanquin and said to Jadabharata, ‘Who are you, pray?’ The latter answered, ‘I am Not this, not this-I am the Pure Self.’ He had perfect faith that he was the Pure Self. From Chapter 12 “One is aware of pleasure and pain, birth and death, disease and grief, as long as one is identified with the body. All these belong to the body alone, and not to the Soul. After the death of the body, perhaps God carries one to a better place. It is like the birth of the child after the pain of delivery. Attaining Self-Knowledge, one looks on pleasure and pain, birth and death, as a dream. From Chapter 13 MASTER (to M.): “Self-Knowledge is discussed in the Ashtavakra Samhita. The non-dualists say, ‘Soham’, that is, ‘I am the Supreme Self.’ This is the view of the sannyasis of the Vedantic school. But this is not the right attitude for householders, who are conscious of doing everything themselves. That being so, how can they declare, ‘I am That, the actionless Supreme Self’? According to the non-dualists the Self is unattached. Good and bad, virtue and vice, and the other pairs of opposites, cannot in any way injure the Self, though they undoubtedly afflict those who have identified themselves with their bodies. Smoke soils the wall, certainly, but it cannot in any way affect akasa, space. Following the Vedantists of this class, Krishnakishore used to say, ‘I am Kha’, meaning akasa. Being a great devotee, he could say that with some justification; but it is not becoming for others to do so. From Chapter 32 TRAILOKYA: What are the signs of a householder having attained Knowledge?” MASTER: “His tears will flow, and the hair on his body will stand on end. No sooner does he hear the sweet name of God than the hair on his body stands on end from sheer delight, and tears roll down his cheeks. “A man cannot get rid of body-consciousness as long as he is attached to worldly things and loves ‘woman and gold’. As he becomes less and less attached to worldly things, he approaches nearer and nearer to the Knowledge of Self. He also becomes less and less conscious of his body. He attains Self-Knowledge when his worldly attachment totally disappears. Then he realizes that body and soul are two separate things. It is very difficult to separate with a knife the kernel of a coconut from the shell before the milk inside has dried up. When the milk dries up, the kernel rattles inside the shell. At that time it loosens itself from the shell. Then the fruit is called a dry coconut. From Chapter 37 “Once Vyasadeva was about to cross the Jamuna. The gopis also were there. They wanted to go to the other side of the river to sell curd, milk, and cream. But there was no ferry at that time. They were all worried about how to cross the river, when Vyasa said to them, ‘I am very hungry.’ The milkmaids fed him with milk and cream. He finished almost all their food. Then Vyasa said to the river, ‘O Jamuna, if I have not eaten anything, then your waters will part and we shall walk through.’ It so happened. The river parted and a pathway was formed between the waters. Following that path, the gopis and Vyasa crossed the river. Vyasa had said, ‘If I have not eaten anything’. That means, the real man is Pure Atman. Atman is unattached and beyond Prakriti. It has neither hunger nor thirst; It knows neither birth nor death; It does not age, nor does It die. It is immutable as Mount Sumeru. From Chapter 45 MASTER: “A man need not fear anything if but once he receives the grace of God, if but once he obtains the vision of God, if but once he attains Self-Knowledge. Then the six passions cannot do him any harm.     

Sattva, Rajas and Tamas       

From Chapter 3
MASTER: “Ah! Today, at last, I have come to the ocean. Up till now I have seen only canals, marshes, or a river at the most. But today I am face to face with the sagar, the ocean.”(All laugh.)
VIDYASAGAR (smiling): “Then please take home some salt water.” (Laughter.)
MASTER: “Oh, no! Why salt water? You aren’t the ocean of ignorance. You are the ocean of vidya, knowledge. You are the ocean of condensed milk.”(All laugh.)
VIDYASAGAR: “Well, you may put it that way.”
The pundit became silent. Sri Ramakrishna said: “Your activities are inspired by sattva. Though they are rajasic, they are influenced by sattva. Compassion springs from sattva. Though work for the good of others belongs to rajas, yet this rajas has sattva for its basis, and is not harmful. Suka and other sages cherished compassion in their minds to give people religious instruction, to teach them about God. You are distributing food and learning. That is good too. If these activities are done in a selfless spirit they lead to God. But most people work for fame or to acquire merit. Their activities are not selfless. Besides, you are already a siddha.”
From Chapter 12
M: “Is daya also a bondage?”

MASTER: “Yes, it is. But that concept is something far beyond the ordinary man. Daya springs from sattva. Sattva preserves, rajas creates, and tamas destroys. But Brahman is beyond the three gunas. It is beyond Prakriti.
“None of the three gunas can reach Truth; they are like robbers, who cannot come to a public place for fear of being arrested. Sattva, rajas, and tamas are like so many robbers.
“Listen to a story. Once a man was going through a forest, when three robbers fell upon him and robbed him of all his possessions. One of the robbers said, ‘What’s the use of keeping this man alive?’ So saying, he was about to kill him with his sword,  when the second robber interrupted him, saying: ‘Oh, no! What is the use of killing him? Tie him hand and foot and leave him here.’ The robbers bound his hands and feet and went away.
After a while the third robber returned and said to the man: ‘Ah, I am sorry. Are you hurt? I will release you from your bonds.’ After setting the man free, the thief said: ‘Come with me. I will take you to the public highway.’ After a long time they reached the road. Then the robber said: ‘Follow this road. Over there is your house.’ At this the man said: ‘Sir, you have been very good to me. Come with me to my house ‘ ‘Oh, no!’ the robber replied. ‘I can’t go there. The police will know it.’
“This world itself is the forest. The three robbers prowling here are sattva, rajas, and tamas. It is they that rob a man of the Knowledge of Truth. Tamas wants to destroy him. Rajas binds him to the world. But sattva rescues him from the clutches of rajas and tamas. Under the protection of sattva, man is rescued from anger, passion, and the other evil effects of tamas. Further, sattva loosens the bonds of the world. But sattva also is a robber. It cannot give him the ultimate Knowledge of Truth, though it shows him the road leading to the Supreme Abode of God. Setting him on the path, sattva tells him: ‘Look yonder. There is your home.’ Even sattva is far away from the Knowledge of Brahman.
From Chapter 20
It was not yet dusk. The Master, seated on the couch, was talking to M. Mahimacharan was on the semicircular porch engaged in a loud discussion of the scriptures with the physician friend of Mani Sen. Sri Ramakrishna heard it and with a smile said to M.: “There! He is delivering himself. That is the characteristic of rajas. It stimulates the desire to ‘lecture’ and to show off one’s scholarship. But sattva makes one introspective. It makes one hide one’s virtues. But I must say that Mahima is a grand person. He takes such delight in spiritual talk.”      

Why Wickedness       

From Chapter 2
NEIGHBOUR: “Why has God created wicked people?”
MASTER: “That is His will, His play. In His maya there exists avidya as well as vidya. Darkness is needed too. It reveals all the more the glory of light. There is no doubt that anger, lust, and greed are evils. Why, then, has God created them? In order to create saints. A man becomes a saint by conquering the senses. Is there anything impossible for a man who has subdued his passions? He can even realize God, through His grace. Again, see how His whole play of creation is perpetuated through lust.
“Wicked people are needed too. At one time the tenants of an estate became unruly. The landlord had to send Golak Choudhury, who was a ruffian. He was such a harsh administrator that the tenants trembled at the very mention of his name.
“There is need of everything. Once Sita said to her Husband: ‘Rama, it would be grand if every house in Ayhodhya were a mansion! I find many houses old and dilapidated.’ ‘But, my dear,’ said Rama, ‘if all the houses were beautiful ones, what would the masons do?’ (Laughter.) God has created all kinds of things. He has created good trees, and poisonous plants and weeds as well. Among the animals there are good, bad, and all kinds of creatures – tigers, lions, snakes, and so on.”

From Chapter 10
BRAHMO: “If the power of avidya is the cause of ignorance, then why has God created it?”
MASTER: “That is His play. The glory of light cannot be appreciated without darkness. Happiness cannot be understood without misery. Knowledge of good is possible because of knowledge of evil.
“Further, the mango grows and ripens on account of the covering skin. You throw away the skin when the mango is fully ripe and ready to be eaten. It is possible for a man to attain gradually to the Knowledge of Brahman because of the covering skin of maya. Maya in its aspects of vidya and avidya may be likened to the skin of the mango. Both are necessary.”
From Chapter 11
DEVOTEE: “If God is responsible for everything, then why should people speak of good and evil, virtue and vice? One commits sin also by the will of God, isn’t that so?”
ANOTHER DEVOTEE: “How can we understand the will of God?”
MASTER: “There is no doubt that virtue and vice exist in the world; but
God Himself is unattached to them. There may be good and bad smells in the air, but the air is not attached to them. The very nature of God’s creation is that good and evil, righteousness and unrighteousness, will always exist in the world. Among the trees in the garden one finds mango and jack-fruit, and hog plum too. Haven’t you noticed that even wicked men are needed? Suppose there are rough tenants on an estate; then the landlord must send a ruffian to control them.”
From Chapter 19
“The Mother has kept me in the state of a bhakta, a vijnani. That is why I joke with Rakhal and the others. Had I been in the condition of a jnani I couldn’t do that.
“In this state I realize that it is the Mother alone who has become everything. I see Her everywhere. In the Kali temple I found that the Mother Herself had become everything-even the wicked, even the brother of Bhagavat Pundit.
“Once I was about to scold Ramlal’s mother, but I had to restrain myself. I saw her to be a form of the Divine Mother. I worship virgins because I see in them the Divine Mother. My wife strokes my feet, but I salute her afterwards.
“You salute me by touching my feet. But had Hriday been here, who would have dared to touch them? He wouldn’t have allowed anyone to do it. I have to return your salutes because the Mother has placed me in a state in which I see God in everything.
“You see, one cannot exclude even a wicked person. A tulsi-leaf, however dry or small, can be used for worship in the temple.” 

Eight Fetters 
  

From Chapter 1
“Men may be divided into four classes: those bound by the fetters of the world, the seekers after liberation, the liberated, and the ever-free.
“Among the ever-free we may count sages like Narada. They live in the world for the good of others, to teach men spiritual truth.
“Those in bondage are sunk in worldliness and forgetful of God. Not even by mistake do they think of God.
…..
“The bound souls are tied to the world by the fetters of ‘woman and gold’. They are bound hand and foot. Thinking that ‘woman and gold’ will make them happy and give them security, they do not realize that it will lead them to annihilation. When a man thus bound to the world is about to die, his wife asks, ‘You are about to go; but what have you done for me?’ Again, such is his attachment to the things of the world that, when he sees the lamp burning brightly, he says: ‘Dim the light. Too much oil is being used.’ And he is on his death-bed!
“The bound souls never think of God. If they get any leisure they indulge in idle gossip and foolish talk, or they engage in fruitless work. If you ask one of them the reason, he answers, ‘Oh, I cannot keep still; so I am making a hedge.’ When time hangs heavy on their hands they perhaps start playing cards.”
There was deep silence in the room.
A DEVOTEE: “Sir, is there no help, then, for such a worldly person?”
MASTER: “Certainly there is. From time to time he should live in the company of holy men, and from time to time go into solitude to meditate on God. Furthermore, he should practise discrimination and pray to God, ‘Give me faith and devotion.’ Once a person has faith he has achieved everything. There is nothing greater than faith.
From Chapter 11
There are eight fetters. Shame, hatred, fear, caste, lineage, good conduct, grief, and secretiveness-these are the eight fetters. And they cannot be unfastened without the help of a guru.
From Chapter 14
Sri Ramakrishna stood in front of the shrine of Kali and prostrated himself  before the Divine Mother. M. followed him. Then the Master sat on the lower floor in front of the shrine room, facing the blissful image, and leaned against a pillar of the natmandir. He wore a red-bordered cloth, part of which was on his shoulder and back. M. sat by his side.
M: “Since there is no unbroken happiness in the world, why should one assume a body at all? I know that the body is meant only to reap the results of past action. But who knows what sort of action it is performing now? The unfortunate part is that we are being crushed.”
MASTER: “If a pea falls into filth, it grows into a pea-plant none the less.”
M: “But still there are the eight bonds.”
MASTER: “They are not eight bonds, but eight fetters. But what if they are? These fetters fall off in a moment, by the grace of God. Do you know what it is like? Suppose a room has been kept dark a thousand years. The moment a man brings a light into it, the darkness vanishes. Not little by little. Haven’t you seen the magician’s feat? He takes string with many knots, and ties one end to something, keeping the other in his hand. Then he shakes the string once or twice, and immediately all the knots come undone. But another man cannot untie the knots however he may try. All the knots of ignorance come undone in the twinkling of an eye, through the guru’s grace.

WHAT THE WORLD MAKES OF MEN    

As a boy, at Kamarpukur, I loved Ram Mallick dearly. But afterwards, when he came here, I
couldn’t touch him. Ram Mallick and I were great friends during our boyhood. We were together day
and night; we slept together. At that time I was sixteen or seventeen years old. People used to say,
“If one of them were a woman they would marry each other.” Both of us used to play at his house I
remember those days very well. His relatives used to come riding in palanquins. Now he has a shop at Chanak. I sent for him many a time; he came here the other day and spent two days. Ram said he had no children; he brought up his nephew, but the boy died. He told me this with a sigh; his eyes were rilled with tears; he was grief stricken for his nephew. He said further that since they had no
children of their own, all his wife’s affection had been turned to the nephew. She was completely
overwhelmed with grief. Ram said to her: “You are crazy. What will you gain by grieving?
Do you want to go to Benares?” You see, he called his wife crazy. Grief for the boy totally ‘diluted’
him.I found he had no stuff within him. I couldn’t touch him.