Superphysics
The Master With The Brahmo Devotees (ii)
4 minutes • 825 words
Table of contents
April 22, 1883
Master’s visit to Brahmo festival
SRI RAMAKRISHNA paid a visit to Benimadhav Pal’s garden house at Sinthi, near Calcutta, on the occasion of the semi-annual festival of the Brahmo Samaj. Many devotees of the Samaj were present and sat around the Master.
Now and then some of them asked him questions.
Love and prayer
Sir, what is the way?
Attachment to God, or, in other words, love for Him. And secondly, prayer.
Which one is the way-love or prayer?"
First love, then prayer.
The Master sang:
Cry to your Mother Syama with a real cry, O mind! And how can She hold Herself from you? How can Syama stay away? . . .
One must always chant the name and glories of God and pray to Him. An old metal pot must be scrubbed every day. What is the use of cleaning it only once?
Further, one must practise discrimination and renunciation; one must be conscious of the unreality of the world."
BRAHMO: “Is it good to renounce the world?”
Not for all. Those who have not yet come to the end of their enjoyments should not renounce the world. Can one get drunk on two ānnās ’ worth of wine?
How to lead a householder’s life
BRAHMO: “Then should they lead a worldly life?”
Yes, they should try to perform their duties in a detached way. Before you break the jack-fruit open, rub your hands with oil, so that the sticky milk will not smear them.
The maidservant in a rich man’s house performs all her duties, but her mind dwells on her home in the country. This is an example of doing duty in a detached way.
You should renounce the world only in mind. But a sannyasi should renounce the world both inwardly and outwardly."
BRAHMO: “What is the meaning of the ’end of enjoyments’?”
I mean the enjoyment of ‘woman and gold’. It is risky to put a typhoid patient in a room where pitchers of water and jugs of pickled tamarind are kept. Most people don’t feel any longing for God unless they have once passed through the experience of wealth, name, fame, creature comforts, and the like, that is to say, unless they have seen through these enjoyments.
Who is really bad, man or woman?
There are women endowed with vidyaŚakti. There are also women with avidyaŚakti.
A woman endowed with spiritual attributes leads a man to God, but a woman who is the embodiment of delusion makes him forget God and drowns him in the ocean of worldliness.
This universe is created by the Mahamaya of God. Mahamaya contains both Vidyā-māyā, the illusion of knowledge, and Avidyā-māyā, the illusion of ignorance. Through the help of Vidyā-māyā one cultivates such virtues as the taste for holy company, knowledge, devotion, love, and renunciation.
Avidyā-māyā consists of the 5 elements and the objects of the 5 senses:
- Form
- Flavour
- Smell
- Touch
- Sound
These make one forget God.
If the power of avidyā is the cause of ignorance, then why has God created it?"
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 throwaway 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 vidyā and avidyā may be likened to the skin of the mango. Both are necessary."
Is it good to worship God with form, an image of the Deity made of clay?"
You do not accept God with form. That is all right.
The image is not meant for you. For you it is good to deepen your feeling toward your own Ideal. From the worshippers of the Personal God you should learn their yearning-for instance, Sri Krishna’s attraction for Radha.
You should learn from the worshippers of the Personal God their love for their Chosen Ideal. When the believers in the Personal God worship the images of Kāli and Durga, with what feeling they cry from the depths of their souls, ‘Mother! O Mother!’ How much they love the Deity! You should accept that feeling. You don’t have to accept the image."
How does one cultivate the spirit of dispassion? Why don’t all attain it?"
Dispassion is not possible unless there is satiety through enjoyment. You can easily cajole a small child with candies or toys. But after eating the candies and finishing its play, it cries, ‘I want to go to my mother.’
Unless you take the child to its mother, it will throw away the toy and scream at the top of its voice.
