Yearning for God

“God cannot be seen without yearning of heart, and this yearning is impossible unless one has finished with the experiences of life. Those who live surrounded by ‘woman and gold’, and have not yet come to the end of their experiences, do not yearn for God.

“When I lived at Kamarpukur, Hriday’s son, a child four or five years old, used to spend the whole day with me. He played with his toys and almost forgot everything else. But no sooner did evening come than he would say, ‘I want to go to my mother.’ I would try to cajole him in various ways and would say, ‘Here, I’ll give you a pigeon.’ But he wouldn’t be consoled with such things; he would weep and cry, ‘I want to go to my mother.’ He didn’t enjoy playing any more. I myself wept to see his state.

“One should cry for God that way, like a child. That is what it means to be restless for God. One doesn’t enjoy play or food any longer. After one’s experiences of the world are over, one feels this restlessness and weeps for God.” The devotees sat in silence, listening to the Master’s words. When evening came, a lamp was lighted in the room. Preparations were being made for feeding Keshab and the devotees.

KESHAB (with a smile): “What? Puffed rice again today?”

MASTER (smiling): “Hriday knows.”

The devotees were served first with puffed rice, and then with luchi and curries on leaf-plates. All enjoyed the meal very much. It was about ten o’clock when supper was over.

The Master went to the Panchavati with Keshab and the devotees.

Master(to Keshab and the others):“One can very well live in the world after realizing God. Why don’t you first touch the ‘granny’ and then play hide-and-seek? “After attaining God, a devotee becomes unattached to the world. He lives like a mudfish. The mudfish keeps its body unstained though it lives in mud.“About eleven o’clock the Brahmos became eager to go home. Pratap said, “It would be nice if we could spend the night here.”

MASTER (to Keshab): “Why not stay here tonight?”

KESHAB (smiling): “No, I have business to attend to. I must go.”

Story of the fishwife and her basket

MASTER: “Why must you, my dear sir? Can’t you sleep without your fish-basket? Once a fishwife was a guest in a gardener’s house. She was asked to sleep in a room full of flowers. But she couldn’t get any sleep there. (All laugh.) She was restless and began to fidget about.

The gardener called to her: ‘Hello there! Why aren’t you asleep?’ ‘Oh, I don’t know’, said the fishwife. ‘There are flowers here. The smell keeps me awake. Can’t you bring me my fish-basket?’ She sprinkled a little water in the basket, and when she smelled the fish she fell fast asleep.” (All laugh heartily.) Keshab took a few of the flowers that he had offered at Sri Ramakrishna’s feet on his arrival. He and his Brahmo devotees cried out as the Master, “Hail, Navavidhan!” Thus they bade him adieu.

One day during the rainy season of 1881 Sri Ramakrishna and a number of devotees visited Surendra’s house. It was about dusk. The Master entered the drawing-room on the second floor, where several of Surendra’s neighbours had already gathered. Kashab had also been invited but could not come. Trailokya and a few Brahmo devotees were present. A mat covered with a white sheet was spread on the floor, and on it had been placed a beautiful carpet with a cushion. Surendra requested the Master to sit on the carpet; but Sri Ramakrishna would not listen to him and sat on the mat next to Mahendra Goswami, one of Surendra’s neighbours. MAHENDRA (to the devotees): “For several months I spent most of my time with him [meaning Sri Ramakrishna]. I have never before seen such a great man. His spiritual moods are not of the ordinary kind.”

MASTER (to Mahendra): “How dare you say that? I am the most insignificant of the insignificant, the lowliest of the lowly. I am the servant of the servants of God. Krishna alone is great.

Personal God and Impersonal Reality

“Krishna is none other than Satchidananda, the Indivisible Brahman. The water of the ocean looks blue from a distance. Go near it and you will find it colourless. He who is endowed with attributes is also without attributes. The Absolute and the Relative belong to the same Reality.

“Why is Krishna tribhanga, bent in three places? Because of His love for Radha.“That which is Brahman is also Kali, the Adyasakti, who creates, preserves, and destroys the universe. He who is Krishna is the same as Kali. The root is one-all these are His sport and play.

The pure mind sees God

“God can be seen. He can be seen through the pure mind and the pure intelligence. Through attachment to ‘woman and gold’ the mind becomes impure. “The mind is everything. It is like a white cloth just returned from the laundry. It will take any colour you dye it with. Knowledge is of the mind, and ignorance is also of the mind. When you say that a certain person has become impure, you mean that impurity has coloured his mind.”

Surendra’s vanity curbed

Surendra approached the Master with a garland and wanted to put it around his neck. But the Master took it in his hand and threw it aside. Surendra’s pride was wounded and his eyes filled with tears. He went to the west porch and sat with Ram, Manomohan, and the others. In a voice choked with sadness he said: “I am really angry. How can a poor brahmin know the value of a thing like that? I spent a lot of money for that garland, and he refused to accept it. I was unable to control my anger and said that the other garlands were to be given away to the devotees. Now I realize it was all my fault. God cannot be bought with money; He cannot be possessed by a vain person. I have really been vain. Why should he accept my worship? I don’t feel like living any more,” Tears streamed down his cheeks and over his chest. In the mean time Trailokya was singing inside the room. The Master began to dance in an ecstasy of joy. He put around his neck the garland that he had thrown aside; holding it with one hand, he swung it with the other as he danced and sang. Now Surendra’s joy was unbounded. The Master had accepted his offering. Surendra said to himself, “God crushes one’s pride, no doubt, but He is also the cherished treasure of the humble and lowly.”

The Master now sang: Behold, the two brothers have come, who weep while chanting Hari’s name, The brothers who, in return for blows, offer to sinners Hari’s love! Behold them, drunk with Hari’s love, who make the world drunk as well, Embracing everyone as brother, even the outcaste shunned by men. Behold, the two brothers have come, who once were Kanai and Balai of Braja.. . . Many of the devotees danced while Sri Ramakrishna sang this song.When the kirtan was over, everyone sat around the Master and became engaged in pleasant conversation. Sri Ramakrishna said to Surendra, “Won’t you give me something to eat?” Then he went into the inner apartments, where the ladies saluted him. After the meal Sri Ramakrishna left for Dakshineswar. Saturday, December 3, 1881 In the afternoon Sri Ramakrishna paid a visit to his householder disciple Manomohan, at 23 Simla Street, Calcutta. It was a small two-storey house with a courtyard. The Master was seated in the drawing-room on the first floor. Ishan of Bhawanipur asked him: “Sir, why have you renounced the world? The scriptures extol the householder’s life as the best.”

MASTER: “I don’t know much about what is good and what is bad. I do what God makes me do and speak what He makes me speak.” ISHAN: “If everybody renounced the world, they would be acting against God’s will” MASTER: “Why should everybody renounce? On the other hand, can it be the will of God that all should revel in ‘woman and gold’ like dogs and jackals? Has He no other wish? Do you know what accords with His will and what is against it? “You say that God wants everybody to lead a worldly life. But why don’t you see it as God’s will when your wife and children die? Why don’t you see His will in poverty, when you haven’t a morsel to eat?