Parable of the four friends

Once four friends, in the course of a walk, saw a place enclosed by a wall. The wall was very high. They all became eager to know what was inside. One of them climbed to the top of the wall.

What he saw on looking inside made him speechless with wonder. He only cried,‘Ah! Ah!’ and dropped in. He could not give any information about what he saw.

The others, too, climbed the wall, uttered the same cry, ‘Ah! Ah!’, and jumped in. Now who could tell what was inside?

“Sages like Jadabharata and Dattatreya, after realizing Brahman, could not describe It.

A man’s ‘I’ completely disappears when he goes into samādhi after attaining the

Knowledge of Brahman. That is why Ramprasad sang, addressing his mind:

If you should find the task too hard, Call upon Ramprasad for help. The mind must completely merge itself in Knowledge. But that is not enough. ‘Ramprasad’, that is, the principle of ‘I’, must vanish too. Then alone does one get the Knowledge of Brahman.”

A DEVOTEE: “Sir, is it possible then that Sukadeva did not have the ultimate Knowledge?”

MASTER: “According to some people, Sukadeva only saw and touched the Ocean of Brahman; he did not dive into It. That is why he could return to the world and impart religious instruction.

According to others, he returned to the world of name and form, after attaining the Knowledge of Brahman, for the purpose of teaching others. He had to recite the Bhagavata to King Parikshit and had to teach people in various ways; therefore God did not destroy his ‘I’ altogether. God kept in him the ’ego of Knowledge.’”

God and religious organization

DEVOTEE: “Can one keep up an organization after attaining the Knowledge of Brahman?”

MASTER: “Once I talked to Keshab Sen about the Knowledge of Brahman. He asked me to explain it further. I said, ‘If I proceed further, then you won’t be able to preserve your organization and following.’ ‘Then please stop here!’ replied Keshab. (All laugh.) But still I said to Keshab: ’ “I” and “mine” indicate ignorance. Without ignorance one cannot have such a feeling as “I am the doer; these are my wife, children, possessions, name and fame”.’ Thereupon Keshab said, ‘Sir, if one gave up the “I”, nothing whatsoever would remain.’ I reassured him and said: ‘I am not asking you to give up all of the “I”. You should give up only the “unripe I”. The “unripe I” makes one feel: “I am the doer. These are my wife and children. I am a teacher.” Renounce this. “unripe I” and keep the “ripe I”, which will make you feel that you are the servant of God, His devotee, and that God is the Doer and you are His instrument.’ "

DEVOTEE: “Can the ‘ripe I’ form an organization?”

Two kinds of ego

MASTER: “I said to Keshab Sen that the ‘I’ that says, ‘I am a leader, I have formed this party, I am teaching people’, is the ‘unripe I’. It is very difficult to preach religion. It is not possible to do so without receiving the commandment of God. The permission of God is necessary.

Sukadeva had a command from God to recite the Bhagavata. If, after realizing God, a man gets His command and becomes a preacher or teacher, then that preaching or teaching does no harm. His ‘I’ is not ‘unripe’; it is ‘ripe’.

“I asked Keshab to give up this ‘unripe I’. The ego that feels, ‘I am the servant of God and lover of God’ does not injure one. I said to him: ‘You have been constantly talking of your organization and your followers. But people also go away from your organization.’

Keshab answered: ‘It is true, sir. After staying in it several years, people go to another organization. What is worse, on deserting me they abuse me right and left.’ ‘Why don’t you study their nature?’ I said. ‘Is there any good in making anybody and everybody a disciple?’

“I said to Keshab further: ‘You should accept the Divine Mother, the Primal Energy.

Brahman is not different from Its Śakti. What is Brahman is also Śakti. As long as a man remains conscious of the body, he is conscious of duality. It is only when a man tries to describe what he sees that he finds duality.’ Keshab later on recognized Kāli.

“One day when Keshab was here with his disciples, I said to him that I would like to hear him preach. He delivered a lecture in the chandni. Then we all sat by the bathing-ghat and had a long conversation. I said to him: ‘It is Bhagavan alone who in one form appears as bhakta, and in another as the Bhagavata. Please repeat “Bhagavata-Bhakta-Bhagavan”.’ Keshab and his disciples repeated the words. Then I asked him to repeat ‘Guru-Krishna-Vaishnava’. Thereupon Keshab said: ‘Sir, I should not go so far now. People will say that I have become an orthodox Hindu.’

“It is extremely difficult to go beyond the three gunas. One cannot reach that state without having realized God. Man dwells in the realm of maya. Maya does not permit him to see God. It has made him a victim of ignorance.

Man’s inordinate attachment

“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 tie the calf there every day?’ ‘Uncle,’ he said, ‘I am going to send this 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 down unconscious. Only after a long time did I regain consciousness.” It was three or four o’clock in the afternoon. M. found Sri Ramakrishna seated on the couch in an abstracted mood. After some time he heard him talking to the Divine Mother. The Master said, “O Mother, why hast Thou given him only a particle?” Remaining silent a few moments, he added: “I understand it, Mother. That little bit will be enough for him and will serve Thy purpose. That little bit will enable him to teach people.”

Did the Master thus transmit spiritual powers to his disciples? Did he thus come to know that his disciples, after him, would go out into the world as teachers of men?

Rākhāl was in the room. Sri Ramakrishna was still in a state of partial consciousness when he said to Rākhāl : “You were angry with me, weren’t you? Do you know why I made you angry? There was a reason. Only then would the medicine work. The surgeon first brings an abscess to a head. Only then does he apply a herb so that it may burst and dry up.” After a pause he went on: “Yes, I have found Hazra to be like a piece of dry wood. Then why does he live here? This has a meaning too. The play is enlivened by the presence of trouble-makers like Jatila and Kutila. (To M.) “One must accept the forms of God. Do you know the meaning of the image of Jagaddhatri? She is the Bearer of the Universe. Without her support and protection the universe would fall from its place and be destroyed. The Divine Mother, Jagaddhatri, reveals Herself in the heart of one who can control the mind, which may be compared to an elephant.” RĀKHĀL: “The mind is a mad elephant.”

MASTER: “Therefore the lion, the carrier of the Divine Mother, keeps it under control.” It was dusk. The evening service began in the temples. Sri Ramakrishna was chanting the names of the gods and goddesses. He was seated on the small couch, with folded hands, and became absorbed in contemplation of the Divine Mother. The world outside was flooded with moonlight, and the devotees inside the Master’s room sat in silence and looked at his serene face.

In the mean time Govinda of Belgharia and some of his friends had entered the room. Sri Ramakrishna was still in a semi-conscious state. After a few minutes he said to the devotees: “Tell me your doubts. I shall explain everything.” Govinda and the other devotees looked thoughtful.

Black complexion of the Divine Mother

GOVINDA: “Revered sir, why does the Divine Mother have a black complexion?”

MASTER: “You see Her as black because you are far away from Her. Go near and you will find Her devoid of all colour. The water of a lake appears black from a distance. Go near and take the water in your hand, and you will see that it has no colour at all. Similarly, the sky looks blue from a distance. But look at the atmosphere near you; it has no colour.

The nearer you come to God, the more you will realize that He has neither name nor form. If you move away from the Divine Mother, you will find Her blue, like the grass-flower. Is Syama male or female?

A man once saw the image of the Divine Mother wearing a sacred thread. He said to the worshipper: ‘What? You have put the sacred thread on the Mother’s neck!’ The worshipper said: ‘Brother, I see that you have truly known the Mother.

But I have not yet been able to find out whether She is male or female; that is why I have put the sacred thread on Her image.’“That which is Syama is also Brahman.

That which has form, again, is without form.

That which has attributes, again, has no attributes. Brahman is Śakti; Śakti is Brahman. They are not two. These are only two aspects, male and female, of the same Reality, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute.”

GOVINDA: “What is the meaning of ‘yogamaya’?”

MASTER: “It signifies the yoga, or union, of Purusha and Prakriti. Whatever you perceive in the universe is the outcome of this union. Take the image of Śiva and Kāli. Kāli stands on the bosom of Śiva; Śiva lies under Her feet like a corpse; Kāli looks at Śiva. All this denotes the union of Purusha and Prakriti. Purusha is inactive; therefore Śiva lies on the ground like a corpse. Prakriti performs all Her activities in conjunction with Purusha. Thus She creates, preserves, and destroys. That is also the meaning of the conjoined images of Radha and Krishna. On account of that union, again, the images are slightly inclined toward each other.

“To denote this union, Sri Krishna wears a pearl in His nose, Radha a blue stone in hers. Radha has a fair complexion, bright as the pearl. Sri Krishna’s is blue. For this reason Radha wears the blue stone. Further, Krishna’s apparel is yellow, and Radha’s blue. “Who is the best devotee of God?

It is he who sees, after the realization of Brahman, that God alone has become all living beings, the universe, and the twenty-four cosmic principles. One must discriminate at first, saying ‘Not this, not this’, and reach the roof. After that one realizes that the steps are made of the same materials as the roof, namely, brick, lime, and brick-dust. The devotee realizes that it is Brahman alone that has become all these-the living beings, the universe, and so on.

“Mere dry reasoning-I spit on it! I have no use for it! (The Master spits on the ground.)

“Why should I make myself dry through mere reasoning? May I have unalloyed love for the Lotus Feet of God as long as the consciousness of ‘I’ and ‘you’ remains with me!

(To Govinda) “Sometimes I say, ‘Thou art verily I, and I am verily Thou.’ Again I feel, ‘Thou art Thou.’ Then I do not find any trace of ‘I’. It is Śakti alone that becomes flesh as God Incarnate.

According to one school of thought, Rāma and Krishna are but two waves in the Ocean of Absolute Bliss and Consciousness.

Seeing God in everything

“Chaitanya, Consciousness, is awakened after Advaita-jnāna, the Knowledge of the non-dual Brahman. Then one perceives that God alone exists in all beings as Consciousness.

After this realization comes Ānanda, Bliss. Advaita, Chaitanya, and Nityananda.

(to M.) “Let me ask you not to disbelieve in the forms of God. Have faith in God’s forms. Meditate on that form of God which appeals to your mind.

(To Govinda) “The fact is that one does not feel the longing to know or see God as long as one wants to enjoy worldly objects. The child forgets everything when he plays with his toys. Try to cajole him away from play with a sweetmeat; you will not succeed.

He will eat only a bit of it. When he relishes neither the sweetmeat nor his play, then he says, ‘I want to go to my mother.’ He doesn’t care for the sweetmeat any more. If a man whom he doesn’t know and has never seen says to the child, ‘Come along; I shall take you to your mother’, the child follows him. The child will go with anyone who will carry him to his mother.

The soul becomes restless for God when one is through with the enjoyment of worldly things. Then a person has only one thought-how to realize God. He listens to whatever anyone says to him about God.”

M. (to himself): “Alas! The soul becomes restless for God only when one is through with the enjoyment of worldly things.”

August 18, 1883

Mystery of Divine Incarnation

Sri Ramakrishna was at Balarām Bose’s house in Calcutta. mystery of Divine Incarnation to the devotees. He was explaining the

MASTER: “In order to bring people spiritual knowledge, an Incarnation of God lives in the world in the company of devotees, cherishing an attitude of love for God. It is like going up and coming down the stairs after having once reached the roof. In order to reach the roof, other people should follow the path of devotion, as long as they have not attained Knowledge and become free of desire. The roof can be reached only when all desires are done away with. The shopkeeper does not go to bed before finishing his accounts. He goes to sleep only when his accounts are finished. (To M.) “A man will certainly succeed if he will take the plunge. Success is sure for such a man.

“Well, what do you think of the worship conducted by Keshab, Shivanath, and the other Brahmo leaders?”

M: “They are satisfied, as you say, with describing the garden, but they seldom speak of seeing the Master of the garden. Describing the garden is the beginning and end of their worship.”

MASTER: “You are right. Our only duty is to seek the Master of the garden and speak to Him. The only purpose of life is to realize God.” Sri Ramakrishna then went to Adhar’s house. After dusk he sang and danced in Adhar’s drawing-room. M., Rākhāl , and other devotees were present. After the music he sat down, still in an ecstatic mood. He said to Rākhāl: “This religious fervour is not like rain in the rainy season, which comes in torrents and goes in torrents. It is like an image of Śiva that has not been set up by human hands but is a natural one that has sprung up, 301as it were, from the bowels of the earth. The other day you left Dakshineswar in a temper. I prayed to the Divine Mother to forgive you.” The Master was still in an abstracted mood and said to Adhar, “My son, meditate on the Deity whose name you chanted.” With these words he touched Adhar’s tongue with his finger and wrote something on it. Did the Master thereby impart spirituality to Adhar?