Advice to the worldly

MASTER: “The Company of holy men. Worldly people should listen to spiritual talk. They are in a state of madness, intoxicated with ‘woman and gold’. A drunkard should be given rice-water as an antidote. Drinking it slowly, he gradually recovers his normal consciousness.

“A worldly person should also receive instructions from a sadguru, a real teacher. Such a teacher has certain signs. You should hear about Banāras only from a man who has been to Banāras and seen it. Mere book-learning will not do. One should not receive instruction from a pundit who has not realized the world to be unreal. Only if a pundit has discrimination and renunciation is he entitled to instruct.

“Samadhyayi remarked that God was dry. Think of his speaking like that of Him who is the embodiment of sweetness! It sounds like the remark, ‘My uncle’s cow-shed is full of horses.’

(All laugh.)

“Yes, a worldly person is in a state of intoxication. He always says to himself: ‘It is I who am doing everything. All these-the house and family are mine.’ Baring his teeth, he says: ‘What will happen to my wife and children without me? How will they get along? Who will look after my wife and children?’ Rakhal said one day, ‘What will happen to my wife?’”

HARAMOHAN: “Did Rakhal say that?”

Go beyond knowledge and ignorance

MASTER: “What else could he do? He who has knowledge has ignorance also. ‘How amazing!’ Lakshmana said to Rāma. ‘Even a sage like Vasishtha is stricken with grief because of the death of his sons!’ ‘Brother,’ replied Rāma, ‘he who has knowledge has ignorance also. Therefore go beyond both knowledge and ignorance.’

“Suppose a thorn has pierced a man’s foot. He picks another thorn to pull out the first one. After extracting the first thorn with the help of the second, he throws both away. One should use the thorn of knowledge to pull out the thorn of ignorance. Then one throws away both the thorns, knowledge and ignorance, and attains vijnāna. What is vijnāna? It is to know God distinctly by realizing His existence through an intuitive experience and to speak to Him intimately. That is why Sri Krishna said to Arjuna, ‘Go beyond the three Gunās .’

“In order to attain vijnāna one has to accept the help of Vidyā Māyā . Vidyā Māyā includes discriminationthat is to say, God is real and the world illusory-and dispassion, and also chanting God’s name and glories, meditation, the company of holy persons, prayer, and so forth. Vidyā Māyā may be likened to the last few steps before the roof. Next is the roof, the realization of God.

Nature of the worldly

“Worldly people are in a state of chronic intoxication-mad with ‘woman and gold’; they are insensible to spiritual ideas. That is why I love the youngsters not yet stained by ‘woman and gold’. They are ‘good receptacles’ and may become useful in God’s work.

But as for worldly people, you lose almost everything while trying to eliminate the worthless stuff in them. They are like bony fish-almost all bones and very little meat. “Worldly people are like mangoes struck by hail. If you want to offer them to God, you have to purify them by sprinkling them with Ganges water. Even then they are seldom used in the temple worship. If you are to use them at all, you have to apply Brahmajnana, that is to say, you have to persuade yourself that it is God alone who has become everything.”

A Theosophist gentleman arrived with Aswini Kumar Dutta and the son of Behari Bhaduri.

The Mukherji brothers entered the room and saluted Sri Ramakrishna. Arrangements were being made for devotional music in the courtyard. At the first beat of the drum the Master left the room and went there. The devotees followed him. Bhavanāth introduced Aswini to the Master. The Master introduced him to M. Aswini and M. were talking together when Narendra arrived. Sri Ramakrishna said to Aswini, “this is Narendra.”