THE MASTER'S LOVE FOR HIS DEVOTEES

Wednesday, April 21, 1886

Narendra and M. & Narendra’s scepticism

M. AND NARENDRA were strolling in the garden of the house at Cossipore. Narendra was very much worried, because he had not yet been able to solve the financial difficulties of his family.

NARENDRA: “I don’t care for the job at the Vidyāsāgar School. I have been thinking of going to Gaya. I have been told that a Zamindār there needs the services of a manager for his estate. There is no such thing as God.”

M. (smiling): “You may say that now, but later on you will talk differently. Scepticism is a stage in the path of God-realization. One must pass through stages like this and go much farther; only thus can one realize God. That is what the Master says.”

NARENDRA: “Has anybody seen God as I see that tree?”

M: “Yes, our Master has seen God that way.”

NARENDRA: “It may be his hallucination.”

M: “Whatever a person experiences in a particular state is real for him in that state.

Suppose you are dreaming that you have gone to a garden. As long as the dream lasts, the garden is real for you. But you think of it as unreal when your mind undergoes a change, as, for instance, when you awake. When your mind attains the state in which one sees God, you will know God to be real.” NARENDRA: “I want truth. The other day I had a great argument with Sri Ramakrishna himself.”

M. (smiling): “What happened?”

NARENDRA: “He said to me, ‘Some people call me God.’ I replied, ‘Let a thousand people call you God, but I shall certainly not call you God as long as I do not know it to be true.’

He said, ‘Whatever many people say is indeed truth; that is dharma.’ Thereupon I replied, ‘Let others proclaim a thing as truth, but I shall certainly not listen to them unless I myself realize it as truth.’ "

M. (smiling): “Your attitude is like that of Western savants-Copernicus and Berkeley, for instance. The whole world said it was the sun that moved, but Copernicus did not listen.

Everybody said the external world was real, but Berkeley paid no heed. Therefore Lewis says, ‘Why was Berkeley not a philosophical Copernicus?’ “NARENDRA: “Can you give me a History of Philosophy?

M: “By whom? Lewis?”

NARENDRA: “No, Uberweg. I must read a German author.”

M: “You just said, ‘Has anybody seen God as I see that tree?’ Suppose God comes to you as a man and says, ‘I am God.’ Will you believe it then? You certainly remember the story of Lazarus. After his death, Lazarus said to Abraham, ‘Let me go back to the earth and tell my friends and relatives that hell and the after-life exist.’

Abraham replied: ‘Do you think they will believe you? They will say it is a charlatan who is telling them such things.’ The Master says that God cannot be known by reasoning. By faith alone one attains everything-knowledge and super-knowledge. By faith alone one sees God and becomes intimate with Him.”

It was 3PM. Sri Ramakrishna was in bed. Ramlal, who had come from Dakshineswar, was massaging his feet. Gopal of Sinthi and M. were in the room.

Sri Ramakrishna asked M. to shut the windows and massage his feet. At the Master’s request Purna had come to the Cossipore garden in a hired carriage. M. was to pay the carriage hire. Sri Ramakrishna made a sign to Gopal, asking whether he had obtained the money from M. Gopal answered in the affirmative.

At 9PM, Surendra, Ram, and the others were about to return to Calcutta. It was the sultry month of April and Sri Ramakrishna’s room became very hot during the day; so Surendra had brought some straw screens to keep the room cool.

SURENDRA: “Why, nobody has hung up these straw screens. Nobody here pays attention to anything.”

A DEVOTEE (smiling): “The devotees here are now in the state of Brahmajnana. They feel, ‘I am He.’ The world is unreal to them. When they come down to a lower plane and regard God as the Master and themselves as His servants, they will pay attention to the service of Sri Ramakrishna.” (All laugh.)

Thursday, April 22, 1886

In the evening Rākhāl , Śaśi, and M. were strolling in the garden at Cossipore.

M: “The Master is like a child-beyond the three Gunās .”

ŚAŚI AND RĀKHĀL: “He himself has said that.”

RĀKHĀL: “He sits in a tower, as it were, from which he gets all information and sees everything; but others cannot go there and reach him.“M: “He said, ‘In such a state of mind one sees God constantly.’ In him there is not the slightest trace of worldliness. His mind is like dry fuel, which catches fire quickly.”

ŚAŚI: “He described the different kinds of intelligence to Charu. The right intelligence is that through which one attains God; but the intelligence that enables one to become a deputy magistrate or a lawyer, or to acquire a house, is a mean intelligence. It is like thin and watery curd, which merely soaks flattened rice but does not add any flavour to it. It is not like thick, superior curd. But the intelligence through which one attains God is like thick curd.”

M: “Ah, what wonderful words!”

ŚAŚI: “Kāli said to the Master: ‘What’s the good of having joy? The Bhils are joyous.

Savages are always singing and dancing in a frenzy of delight.’ "

RĀKHĀL: “He [meaning the Master] replied to Kāli: ‘What do you mean? Can the Bliss of Brahman be the same as worldly pleasure? Ordinary men are satisfied with worldly pleasure. One cannot enjoy the Bliss of Brahman unless one completely rids oneself of attachment to worldly things. There is the joy of money and sense experience, and there is the Bliss of God-realization. Can the two ever be the same? The rishis enjoyed the Bliss of Brahman.’ "

Master on Buddha

M: Kāli nowadays meditates on Buddha; that is why he speaks of a state beyond Bliss.”

RĀKHĀL: “Yes, Kāli told the Master about Buddha. Sri Ramakrishna said to him: ‘Buddha is an Incarnation of God. How can you compare him to anybody else? As he is great, so too is his teaching great.’ Kāli said to him: ‘Everything, indeed, is the manifestation of God’s Power. Both worldly pleasure and the Bliss of God are the manifestation of that Power.’ "

M: “What did the Master say to that?”

RĀKHĀL: “He said: ‘How can that be? Is the power to beget a child the same as the power through which one realizes God?’”

Sri Ramakrishna was sitting in his room on the second floor. Narendra, Rākhāl , Śaśi, Surendra, M., Bhavanāth, and other devotees were present. Dr. Mahendra Sarkar and Dr. Rajendra Dutta were also there to examine him. His condition was growing worse.

The house-rent was between sixty and sixty-five rupees. Surendra bore most of the expenses and had rented the house in his name. The other householder devotees contributed financial help according to their power. A cook and a maid had been engaged to look after the members of the house-hold.MASTER (to Dr. Sarkar and the others): “The expenses are mounting.”

DR. SARKAR (pointing to the devotees): “But they are ready to bear them. They do not hesitate to spend money. (To Sri Ramakrishna) Now, you see, gold is necessary.” MASTER (to Narendra): “Why don’t you answer?”

Narendra remained silent. Dr. Sarkar resumed the conversation.

DR. SARKAR: “Gold is necessary, and also woman.”

RAJENDRA: “Yes, his [meaning Sri Ramakrishna’s] wife has been cooking his meals.”

DR. SARKAR (to the Master): “Do you see?”

MASTER (smiling): “Yes-but very troublesome!”

DR. SARKAR: “If there were no troubles, then all would become paramahamsas.”

MASTER: “If a woman touches me I fall ill. That part of my body aches as if stung by a horned fish.”

DR. SARKAR: “I believe that. But how can you get along without woman?”

MASTER: “My hand gets all twisted up if I hold money in it; my breathing stops. But there is no harm in spending money to lead a spiritual life in the world-if one spends it, for instance, in the worship of God and the service of holy men and devotees.

“A man forgets God if he is entangled in the world of māyā through a woman. It is the Mother of the Universe who has assumed the form of māyā, the form of woman. One who knows this rightly does not feel like leading the life of māyā in the world.

But he who truly realizes that all women are manifestations of the Divine Mother may lead a spiritual life in the world. Without realizing God one cannot truly know what a woman is.”

Sri Ramakrishna had, felt a slight improvement as a result of the homeopathic treatment.

RAJENDRA (to the Master): “After getting rid of this illness you must begin to practise medicine as a homeopath. Otherwise, what’s the use of this human life?” (All laugh.) NARENDRA: “Nothing like leather!” (All laugh.)

A few minutes later the physicians took their leave. Sri Ramakrishna and M. were engaged in conversation. The Master was telling M. how he felt about woman. MASTER (to M.): “They say I cannot get along without ‘woman and gold’. They don’t understand the state of my mind.Sri Ramakrishna and woman

If I touch a woman my hand becomes numb; it aches. If in a friendly spirit I approach a woman and begin to talk to her, I feel as if a barrier had been placed between us. It is impossible for me to cross that barrier.

If a woman enters my room when I am alone, at once I become like a child and regard her as my mother.”

As M. listened to these words, he became speechless with wonder at Sri Ramakrishna’s exalted state of mind. Bhavanāth and Narendra were sitting at a distance, talking together.