Parables

From Gospel of

Sri Ramakrishna

"That which supports, that which holds together the

peoples (of the universe), that is Dharma.”

Dharma is not merely a set of beliefs having no

necessary connection with the daily life of

humanity, but it is the very principles of a

healthy and beneficent life.

Therefore to know those principles and act upon

them is to be a true follower of Vaidika Dharma,

and to tread the sure road to happiness,

individual as well as general.

principles of true life

" Cows are many- coloured ; but the milk (of all) has but

one colour. Look on knowledge as the milk, and on the

teachers as the cows.“

“ Therefore, without attachment, constantly perform action

which is duty, for in performing action without attachment,

man verily reaches the Supreme. "

" As the ignorant act from attachment to action,

O Bharata, so should the wise act without attachment,

desiring the maintenance of mankind."

Knowledge - action - unattached

" The Rishis, their sins destroyed, their doubts removed,

their selves controlled, intent upon the welfare of all

beings, obtain the Brahma-Nirvana. “Sat, Chit and Ananda

" Therefore He should be worshipped as that

Consciousness, whose nature is Sat, Chit and Ananda,

Lord of Maya, the Divine, with Maya, the Supreme Lady.“

Being thus seen as the illusion-producing Power of the

Lord, She is known as the cause of bondage

and also as the path to liberation. As Avidya she

deludes ; as Vidya she leads to Her Lord, and as

She vanishes in Him as the Atma knows itself as free.

[Sat, Chit, Ananda] - Maya

"The world is water and the mind milk. If you

pour milk into water they become one; you

cannot find the pure milk any more. But turn

the milk into curd and churn it into butter.

Then, when that butter is placed in water,

it will float. So, practise spiritual discipline in

solitude and obtain the butter of knowledge

and love. Even if you keep that butter in the

water of the world the two will not mix. The

butter will float.

world mind [butter] [water]

MASTER: "A little spiritual discipline is necessary in order to know

what lies within."

M: "Is it necessary to practise discipline all through life?"

MASTER: "No. But one must be up and doing in the beginning. After

that one need not work hard. The helmsman stands up and clutches

the rudder firmly as long as the boat is passing through waves,

storms, high wind, or around the curves of a river; but he relaxes

after steering through them. As soon as the boat passes the curves

and the helmsman feels a favourable wind, he sits comfortably and

just touches the rudder. Next he prepares to unfurl the sail and gets

ready for a smoke. Likewise, the aspirant enjoys peace and calm

after passing the waves and storms of 'woman and gold'.

practise discipline

MASTER: "You were talking of worshipping the

clay image. Even if the image is made of clay,

there is need for that sort of worship. God

Himself has provided different forms of worship.

He who is the Lord of the Universe has arranged

all these forms to suit different men in different

stages of knowledge. "The mother cooks

different dishes to suit the stomachs of her

different children. Suppose she has five children.

If there is a fish to cook, she prepares various

dishes from it - pilau, pickled fish,

fried fish, and so on - to suit their

different tastes and powers of digestion.

different forms of worship

"Listen to a story. Once a man entered a wood

and saw a small animal on a tree. He came

back and told another man that he had seen a

creature of a beautiful red colour on a certain

tree.

The second man replied:

'When I went into the wood, I also saw that

animal. But why do you call it red? It is green.'

Another man who was present contradicted them both and

insisted that it was yellow. Presently others arrived and

contended that it was grey, violet, blue, and so forth and so

on. At last they started quarrelling among themselves. To

settle the dispute they all went to the tree….continued

Parable of the chameleon

They saw a man sitting under it. On being

asked, he replied: 'Yes, I live under this tree

and I know the animal very well.

All your descriptions are true. Sometimes it

appears red, sometimes yellow, and at other

times blue, violet, grey, and so forth. It is a chameleon.

And sometimes it has no colour at all. Now it has a colour,

and now it has none.'

"In like manner, one who constantly thinks of God can

know His real nature; he alone knows that God reveals

Himself to seekers in various forms and aspects. God has

attributes; then again He has none. Only the man who

lives under the tree knows that the chameleon can appear

in various colours, and he knows, further, that the animal

at times has no colour at all. It is the others who suffer

from the agony of futile argument.

Parable of the chameleon

"If you enter the world without first cultivating love for

God, you will be entangled more and more. You will be

overwhelmed with its danger, its grief, its sorrows. And

the more you think of worldly things, the more you will be

attached to them.

"First rub your hands with oil and then break open the

jack-fruit; otherwise they will be smeared with its sticky

milk. First secure the oil of divine love,

and then set your hands

to the duties of the world."

secure the oil of divine love

But one must go into solitude and meditate to

attain this divine love. To get butter from milk

you must let it set into curd in a secluded spot;

if it is too much disturbed, milk won't turn into

curd. Next, you must put aside all other duties,

sit in a quiet spot, and churn the curd. Only

then do you get butter.

attain divine love

MASTER: "Truthfulness in speech is the tapasya

of the Kaliyuga. It is difficult to practise other

austerities in this cycle. By adhering to truth one

attains God. Tulsidas said: 'Truthfulness,

obedience to God, and the regarding of others'

wives as one's mother, are the

greatest virtues. If one does not

realize God by practising them,

then Tulsi is a liar.'

realize God by….

"It is necessary to pray to Him with a longing

heart. The kitten knows only how to call its

mother, crying, 'Mew, mew!' It remains satisfied

wherever its mother puts it. The mother cat puts

the kitten sometimes in the kitchen, sometimes on

the floor, and sometimes on the bed. When it

suffers it cries only, 'Mew, mew!„ That's all it

knows. As the mother hears this cry, wherever

she may be; she comes to the kitten."

pray longingly

see God in all

bow low before them! In a forest there lived a holy

man and his disciples. He

taught them to see God in all

beings and, knowing this, to

bow low before them all. A

disciple went to gather wood

for the sacrificial fire. Suddenly

he heard an outcry: 'Get out of

the way! A mad elephant is

coming!' The disciple

reasoned that the elephant

was also God in another form.

Then why should he run away

from it? He stood still, bowed

before the animal, and began

to sing its praises.

The mahut of the elephant

was shouting: 'Run away!

Run away!' But the

disciple didn't move. The

animal seized him with its

trunk, cast him to one

side, and went on its way.

Hurt and bruised, the

disciple lay unconscious

on the ground.

..continued

Hearing what had happened, his teacher and his brother

disciples came to him and carried him to the hermitage.

With the help of some medicine he soon regained

consciousness. Someone asked him, 'You knew the

elephant was coming - why didn't you leave the place?'

'But', he said, 'our teacher has told us that God Himself

has taken all these forms, of animals as well as men.

Therefore, thinking it was only the elephant God that was

coming, I didn't run away.' At this the teacher said: 'Yes,

my child, it is true that the elephant God was coming; but

the mahut God forbade you to stay there. Since all are

manifestations of God, why didn't

you trust the mahut's words?

You should have

heeded the words of the mahut God.'

(Laughter)

see God in all

"One man may read the Bhagavata by the

light of a lamp, and another may commit

a forgery by that very light; but the lamp is

unaffected. The sun sheds its light on the wicked

as well as on the virtuous.

"You may ask, 'How, then, can one explain misery and sin

and unhappiness?„

The answer is that these apply only to the jiva; seek Siva.

Brahman is unaffected by them. There is poison in a snake;

but though others may die if bitten by it, the snake itself is

not affected by the poison.

Jiva suffers, Love Siva

"Men often think they have understood Brahman fully.

Once an ant went to a hill of sugar. One grain filled its

stomach. Taking another grain in its mouth

it started homeward. On its way it thought,

'Next time I shall carry home the whole hill.' That is the

way shallow minds think. They don't know that Brahman is

beyond one's words and thought. However great a man

may be, how much can he know of Brahman? Sukadeva

and sages like him may have been big ants; but even they

could carry at the utmost eight or ten grains of sugar!

Brahman is beyond

"As for what has been said in the Vedas and the Puranas,

do you know what it is like? Suppose a man has seen the

ocean, and somebody asks him, 'Well, what is the ocean

like?' The first man opens his mouth as wide as he can

and says: 'What a sight! What tremendous waves and

sounds!'

The description of Brahman in the sacred books is like

that. It is said in the Vedas that Brahman is of the nature of

Bliss - It is Satchidananda.

"Suka and other sages stood on the shore of this Ocean of

Brahman and saw and touched the water. According to

one school of thought they never plunged into it. Those

who do, cannot come back to the world again.

- It is Satchidananda

From these two triangles is formed the symbol of

Ishvara and His universe, often seen in Temples,

the two interlaced, and a point in the centre, the

symbol of the ONE, the whole giving the Great

Septenary, the Supreme Brahman and the Universe.

Maya

Ishvara, mulaprakriti

As the triple nature of Ishvara, Sat – Chit -

Ananda, was symbolically represented by a

triangle pointing upwards, like a flame, so is the

triple nature of Mulaprakriti symbolised as a

triangle, but now it points downwards, like a drop

of water.

Ishvara, mulaprakriti

By the philanthropic activities you are really doing good to

yourself. If you can do them disinterestedly, your mind

will become pure and you will develop love of God. As

soon as you have that love you will realize Him.

"Man cannot really help the world. God alone does that -

He who has created the sun and the moon, who has put

love for their children in parents' hearts, endowed noble

souls with compassion, and holy men and devotees with

divine love. The man who works for others, without any

selfish motive, really does good to himself.

become pure develop love of God

One may enter the world after attaining discrimination and

dispassion. In the ocean of the world there are six

alligators: lust, anger, and so forth. But you need not fear

the alligators if you smear your body with turmeric before

you go into the water. Discrimination and dispassion are

the turmeric. Discrimination is the knowledge of what is real

and what is unreal. It is the realization that God alone is the

real and eternal Substance and that all else is unreal,

transitory, impermanent. And you must cultivate intense

zeal for God. You must feel love for Him and be attracted to

Him. The gopis of Vrindāvan felt the attraction of Krishna.

cultivate intense zeal for God

"If one analyses oneself, one doesn't find any such thing as

'I'. Take an onion, for instance. First of all you peel off the

red outer skin; then you find thick white skins. Peel these off

one after the other, and you won't find anything inside.

"In that state a man no longer finds the existence of his ego.

And who is there left to seek it? Who can describe how he

feels in that state-in his own Pure Consciousness-about the

real nature of Brahman? Once a salt doll went to measure

the depth of the ocean. No sooner was it in the water than it

melted. Now who was to tell the depth?

Illusoriness of "I"

"One cannot see God if one has even the slightest trace

of worldliness.

Match-sticks, if damp, won't strike fire

though you rub a thousand of them

against the match-box.

You only waste a heap of sticks.

The mind soaked in worldliness is such a damp match-stick.

"Is it possible to see God?"

MASTER: "Yes, certainly. Living in solitude now and

then, repeating God's name and singing His glories,

and discriminating between the Real and the unreal

- these are the means to employ to see Him."

'Why, we don't see Him

God's nature like that of a child

"I used to see God directly with these very eyes, just as I

see you. Now I see divine visions in trance.

"After realizing God a man becomes like a child. One

acquires the nature of the object one meditates upon.

The nature of God is like that of a child. As a child builds up

his toy house and then breaks it down, so God

acts while creating, preserving, and destroying the

universe. Further, as the child is not under the control of

any guna, so God is beyond the three gunas-sattva, rajas,

and tamas. That is why paramahamsas keep five

or ten children with them, that they may assume their

nature.“

God is like a child

Master's attitude toward the wicked

"It is God alone", he said, "who has become all this. But in

certain places- for instance, in a holy man-there is a greater

manifestation than in others. You may say, there are wicked

men also. That is true, even as

there are tigers and lions; but one

need not hug the 'tiger God'.

One should keep away from him and salute him

from a distance. Take water, for instance. Some water may

be drunk, some may be used for worship, some for bathing,

and some only for washing dishes."

need not hug the 'tiger God'.

God cannot remain unmoved if you have raga-bhakti,

that is, love of God with passionate attachment to Him.

Do you know how fond God is of His devotees' love? It

is like the cow's fondness for fodder mixed with oilcake.

The cow gobbles it down greedily.

"Raga-bhakti is pure love of God, a love that seeks God

alone and not any worldly end. Prahlada had it.

Suppose you go to a wealthy man every day, but you

seek no favour of him; you simply love to see him. If he

wants to show you favour, you say: 'No, sir. I don't need

anything. I came just to see you.' Such is love of God

for its own sake. You simply love God and don't want

anything from Him, in return."

pure love of God

Indications of God-realization

"There are certain signs of God-realization. The man in

whom longing for God manifests its glories is not far from

attaining Him. What are the glories of that longing? They

are

• discrimination,

• dispassion,

• compassion for living beings,

• serving holy men, loving their company,

• chanting the name and glories of God,

• telling the truth, and the like.

When you see those signs of longing in an aspirant, you

can rightly say that for him the vision of God is not far to

seek.

signs of God-realization

"The state of a servant's house will tell you

unmistakably whether his master has decided to

visit it. First, the rubbish and jungle around the

house are cleared up. Second, the soot and dirt

are removed from the rooms.

Third, the courtyard, floors, and other places are

swept clean. Finally the master himself sends

various things to the house such as a carpet, a

hubble-bubble for smoking, and the like. When

you see these things arriving, you conclude that

the master will very soon come"

signs of God-realization

The impurity of the mind is destroyed through the

performance of duty. It is like getting rid of a disease by

means of medicine, under the instruction of a competent

physician.

Perform duty

"Why doesn't God free us from the world?

Ah, He will free us when the disease is cured. He

will liberate us from the world when we are

through with the enjoyment of 'woman and gold'.

Once a man registers his name in the hospital,

he cannot run away. The doctor will not let him go

away unless his illness is completely cured."

He will free us_pray for it

Parable of the elephant and the blind men

"Once some blind men chanced to come

near an animal that someone told them was

an elephant. They were asked what the

elephant was like. The blind men began to feel its

body. One of them said the elephant was like a pillar;

he had touched only its leg. Another said it was like a

winnowing-fan; he had touched only its ear. In this way

the others, having touched its tail or belly, gave their

different versions of the elephant. Just

so, a man who has seen only one aspect of God limits

God to that alone. It is his conviction that God cannot

be anything else.

vision of aspects of God

Born with God-Consciousness.

There is the parable of the Homa bird in the Vedas.

The bird lives high up in the sky and never descends to

earth. It lays its egg in the sky, and the egg begins to

fall. But the bird lives in such a high region that the egg

hatches while falling.

The fledgling comes out and continues to fall. But it is

still so high that while falling it grows wings and its

eyes open.

Then the young bird perceives that it is dashing down

toward the earth and will be instantly killed. The

moment it sees the ground, it turns and shoots up

toward its mother in the sky.

Then its one goal is to reach its mother.

Awake to vision of God

"There was a monastery in a certain place. The monks

residing there went out daily to beg their food. One

day a monk, while out for his alms, saw a landlord beating

a man mercilessly. The compassionate monk

stepped in and asked the landlord to stop. But the

landlord was filled with anger and turned his wrath against

the innocent monk. He beat the monk till he fell

unconscious on the ground. Someone reported the matter

to the monastery. The monks ran to the spot and found

their brother lying there. …continued

Seeing God in everything

Four or five of them carried him back and laid him on a

bed. He was still unconscious. The other monks sat

around him sad at heart; some were fanning him. Finally

someone suggested that he should be given a little milk to

drink. When it was poured into his mouth he regained

consciousness. He opened his eyes and looked around.

One of the monks said, 'Let us see whether he is fully

conscious and can recognize us.' Shouting into his ear, he

said, 'Revered sir, who is giving you milk?' 'Brother,'

replied the holy man in a low voice, 'He who beat me is

now giving me milk.'

Seeing God in everything

" 'As is a man's feeling of love, so is his gain.' Once

two friends were going along the street, when they saw

some people listening to a reading of the Bhagavata.

'Come, friend', said the one to the other. 'Let us hear

the sacred book.' So saying he went in and sat down. The

second man peeped in and went away. He entered

a house of ill fame. But very soon he felt disgusted with

the place. 'Shame on me!' he said to himself. 'My

friend has been listening to the sacred word of Hari; and

see where I am!'

… so is his gain

But the friend who had been listening to the Bhagavata

also became disgusted. 'What a fool I am!' he said. 'I

have been listening to this fellow's blah-blah, and my

friend is having a grand time.' In course of time they both

died. The messenger of Death came for the soul of the

one who had listened to the Bhagavata and dragged it off

to hell. The messenger of God came for the soul of the

one who had been to the house of prostitution and led it

up to heaven.

… so is his gain

Different moods of aspirants to realize God

"But in order to realize God, one must assume one of these attitudes:

Śānta, Dāsya, sakhya, Vātsalya, or Madhur.

"Śānta, the serene attitude. The rishis of olden times had this attitude

toward God. They did not desire any worldly enjoyment. It is like the

single-minded devotion of a wife to her husband. She knows that her

husband is the embodiment of beauty and love, a veritable Madan.

"Dāsya, the attitude of a servant toward his master. Hanuman had this

attitude toward Rama. He felt the strength of a lion when he worked

for Rama. A wife feels this mood also. She serves her husband with

all her heart and soul. A mother also has a little of this attitude, as

Yaśoda had toward Krishna”.

"Sakhya, the attitude of friendship. Friends say to one another, 'Come

here and sit near me.' Sridāmā and other friends sometimes fed

Krishna with fruit, part of which they had already eaten, and

sometimes climbed on His shoulders.

"Vātsalya, the attitude of a mother toward her child. This was Yaśoda's

attitude toward Krishna. The wife too, has a little of this. She feeds her

husband with her very life-blood, as it were. The mother feels happy

only when the child has eaten to his heart's content. Yaśoda would

roam about with butter in her hand, in order to feed Krishna.

"Madhur, the attitude of a woman toward her paramour. Radha had

this attitude toward Krishna. The wife also feels it for her husband.

This attitude includes all the other four."

"But do you know the attitude of one who has

realized God?

He feels: 'I am the machine, and Thou, O Lord,

art the Operator.

I am the house and Thou art the Indweller.

I am the chariot and Thou art the Driver.

I move as Thou movest me; I speak as Thou

makest me speak.'

pure love of God

"As long as God keeps the awareness of 'I' in us,

so long do sense-objects exist; and we cannot

very well speak of the world as a dream. There

is fire in the hearth; therefore the rice and pulse

and potatoes and the other vegetables jump

about in the pot. They jump about as if to say:

'We are here! We are jumping!' This body is the

pot. The mind and intelligence are the water.

The objects of the senses are the rice, potatoes,

and other vegetables. The 'I-consciousness'

identified with the senses says, 'I am jumping

about.' And Satchidananda is the fire.

The 'I-consciousness'

"The Truth established in the Vedas, the Puranas, and the

Tantras is but one Satchidananda. In the Vedas It is called

Brahman, in the Puranas It is called Krishna, Rāma, and

so on, and in the Tantras It is called Śiva.

The one Satchidananda is called Brahman, Krishna, and

Śiva.“

A man who has seen God sometimes behaves like a

madman: he laughs, weeps, dances, and sings.

Sometimes he behaves like a child, a child five years old-

guileless, generous, without vanity, unattached to

anything, not under the control of any of the gunas,

always blissful.

Oneness of God

Shiva, or Mahadeva, or Maheshvara, is the

Destroyer, He who frees Atma from imprisoning

forms, who destroys Avidya and so gives Vidya,

and who, finally rolling up the universe, brings the

peace of liberation. His Shakti is

Uma, “IchchhA‟, Will, called also,

Brahmavidya, who reveals Brahman. Name

Shiva implies, Ananda, the peace and bliss of

Atma, freed from desire and master of mind.

Siva = peace and bliss

"By taking off, one by one, the sheaths of a banana tree,

one obtains the pith. The sheaths are one thing, and the

pith is another. The sheaths are not the pith, and the pith

is not the sheaths. But in the end one realizes that the

pith cannot exist apart from the sheaths, and the sheaths

cannot exist apart from the pith; they are part and parcel

of one and the same banana tree. Likewise, it is God who

has become the twenty-four cosmic principles; it is He

who has become man.

… it is God who has become

"There are three kinds of devotees: superior, mediocre,

and inferior. The inferior devotee says, 'God is out

there.' According to him God is different from His

creation. The mediocre devotee says: 'God is the

Antaryami, the Inner Guide. God dwells in everyone's

heart. The mediocre devotee sees God in the heart. But

the superior devotee sees that God alone has become

everything; He alone has become the twenty-four

cosmic principles. He finds that everything, above and

below, is filled with God.

kinds of devotees

"Can't you forbid people to salute you by touching your

feet?"

"Can all comprehend the Indivisible Satchidananda?"

DR. SARKAR: "But shouldn't you tell people what is right?"

Different disciplines for different temperaments:

MASTER: "People have different tastes. Besides, all have

not the same fitness for spiritual life.“

DR. SARKAR: "How is that?"

MASTER: "Don't you know what difference in taste is?

Some enjoy fish curry; some, fried fish; some, pickled fish;

and again, some, the rich dish of fish pilau. Then too, there

is difference in fitness. I ask people to learn to shoot at a

banana tree first, then at the wick of a lamp, and then at a

flying bird."

Dr. Sarkar & Master

MASTER: "If a man practises spiritual discipline

before his death and if he gives up his body

praying to God and meditating on Him, when will

sin touch him? It is no doubt the elephant's

nature to smear his body with dust and mud,

even after his bath. But he cannot do so if the

mahut takes him into the stable immediately

after his bath."

If U die praying to God…

"Take the case of the infinite ocean. There is no limit to

its water: Suppose a pot is immersed in it:

there is

water both inside and outside the pot. The Jnāni sees

that both inside and outside there is nothing but

Parmatman. Then what is this pot? It is 'I-consciousness'.

Because of the pot the water appears to be divided

into two parts; because of the pot you seem to perceive

an inside and an outside. One feels that way as long

as this pot of 'I' exists. When the 'I' disappears, what is

remains. That cannot be described in words.

Parmatman is infinite ocean

MASTER: "Listen to a story. There was a king who

used daily to hear the Bhagavata recited by a

pundit. Every day, after explaining the sacred

book, the pundit would say to the king, 'O King,

have you understood what I have said?' And every

day the king would reply, 'You had better

understand it first yourself.' The pundit would

return home and think: 'Why does the king talk to

me that way day after day?‟

'O King, I now understand.'

I explain the texts to him so clearly, and he says to me,

"You had better understand it first yourself." What does

he mean?' The pundit used to practise spiritual discipline.

A few days later he came to realize that God alone is real

and everything else_ house, family, wealth, friends,

name, and fame-illusory. Convinced of the unreality of

the world, he renounced it. As he left home he asked a

man to take this message to the king: 'O King, I now

understand.'

'O King, I now understand.'

"A man wanted a smoke. He went to a neighbour's house

to light his charcoal. It was the dead of night and the

household was asleep. After he had knocked a great

deal, someone came down to open the door. At sight of

the man he asked, 'Hello! What's the matter?' The man

replied: 'Can't you guess? You know how fond I am of

smoking. I have come here to light my charcoal.' The

neighbour said: 'Ha! Ha! You are a fine man indeed! You

took the trouble to come and do all this knocking at the

door! Why, you have a lighted lantern in your hand!' (All

laugh.)

"What a man seeks is very near him. Still he wanders

about from place to place."

God is very near U

MASTER: "Proof? God can be seen. By practising

spiritual discipline one sees God, through His grace.

The rishis directly realized the Self. One cannot know

the truth about God through science.

Science gives us information only about things

perceived by the senses, as for instance: this material

mixed with that material gives such and such a result,

and that material mixed with this material gives such

and such a result.

"For this reason a man cannot comprehend spiritual

things with his ordinary intelligence. To understand

them he must live in the company of holy persons. You

learn to feel the pulse by living with a physician."

practice spiritual discipline, C God

MASTER: "The best path for this age is the path of

bhakti: to sing the name and glories of God and pray to

Him with a longing heart, 'O God, give me knowledge,

give me devotion, and reveal Thyself to me!'

The path of karma is extremely difficult. Therefore one

should pray: 'O God, make my duties fewer and fewer;

and may I, through Thy grace, do the few duties that Thou

givest me without any attachment to their results! May I

have no desire to be involved in many activities!'

reveal Thyself to me!'

"It is not possible to give up work altogether. Even to

think or to meditate is a kind of work. Begin with dutiful

life. As you develop love for God, your worldly activities

become fewer and fewer of themselves. And you lose all

interest in them. Can one who has tasted a drink made of

sugar candy enjoy a drink made of ordinary molasses?“

Know the Self the chariot-owner, the body the chariot ;

know Reason the charioteer, and the mind as the reins ;

they call the senses the horses, the sense-objects their

province. Charioteer may control through reins the

horses.

path of bhakti & Karma

"Live in the world like an ant. The world contains a

mixture of truth and untruth, sugar and sand. Be an ant

and take the sugar.

"Again, the world is a mixture of milk and water, the bliss

of God-Consciousness and the pleasure of sense-

enjoyment. Be a swan and drink the milk, leaving the

water aside.

"Live in the world like a waterfowl. The water clings to the

bird, but the bird shakes it off.

Live in the world like a mudfish. The fish lives in the mud,

but its skin is always bright and shiny.

"The world is indeed a mixture of truth and make-believe.

Discard the make-believe and take the truth."

Sri Ramakrishna

take the truth

"Though the chatak bird is about to die of a parched

throat, and around it there are seven oceans, rivers, and

lakes overflowing with water, still it will not touch that

water. Its throat is cracking with thirst, and still it will not

drink that water. It looks up, mouth agape, for the rain to

fall when the star Svati is in the ascendant. 'To the chatak

bird all waters are mere dryness beside Swati water.„

However much a bhakta may experience physical joy

and sorrow, he always has knowledge and the divine

love. This treasure never leaves him.

Divine bliss is the highest

Another day the Master was seated on the small couch in

his room, with his usual beaming countenance. M. arrived

with Kalikrishna, who did not know where his friend M.

was taking him. He had only been told: "If you want to see

a grog-shop, then come with me.

You will see a huge jar of wine there."

M. related this to Sri Ramakrishna,

who laughed about it.

wine of ecstatic love

.The Master said: "The bliss of worship and communion

with God is the true wine, the wine of ecstatic love. The

goal of human life is to love God, Bhakti is the one

essential thing. To know God through jnāna and reasoning

is difficult."

MASTER: "Everybody will surely be liberated. But one

should follow the instructions of the guru; if one follows

a devious path, one will suffer in trying to retrace one's

steps. It takes a long time to achieve liberation. A man

may fail to obtain it in this life. Perhaps he will realize God

only after many births. Sages like Janaka performed worldly

duties. They performed duties, bearing God in their

minds, as a dancing-girl dances, keeping jars or trays

on her head. Haven't you seen how the women in

northwest India walk, talking and laughing while carrying

water-pitchers on their heads?“

water-pitchers on heads

What is the significance of the Gita? It is what

you find by repeating the word ten times. It is

then reversed into 'tagi‟ which means a person

who has renounced everything for God. And the

lesson of. the Gita is: 'O man, renounce

everything and seek God alone.' Whether a man

is a monk or a householder, he has to shake off

all attachment from his mind.

One must have faith and love. There is a popular

saying that Hanuman jumped over the sea

through his faith in Rama's name, but Rama

himself had to build a bridge.

have faith and love

Parable of the wood-cutter

"Go forward. A wood-cutter once entered a forest to gather wood. A

brahmachari said to him, 'Go forward.' He obeyed the injunction and

discovered some sandal-wood trees. After a few days he reflected,

'The holy man asked me to go forward. He didn't tell me to stop

here.' So he went forward and found a silver-mine. After a few days

he went still farther and discovered a gold-mine, and next, mines of

diamonds and precious stones. With these he became immensely

rich.

"Through selfless work, love of God grows in the heart. Then,

through His grace one realizes Him in course of time. God can be

seen. One can talk to him as I am talking to you."

"Therefore having thus become wise, calm,

subdued, dispassionate, enduring, collected, he

sees the Self in the Self, he sees the Self as all ;

nor does sin overcome him, he overcomes all

sin ; nor does sin consume him, he consumes

all sin. Free from sin, free from passion, he

becomes a Brahmana ( of the nature of

Brahman) ; this the Brahman-world'

sees the Self as all

To see the Self is Jnana, is wisdom ; to love the Self is

Bhakti, devotion ; to serve the Self is Karma, action.

Such Jnana, Bhakti, Karma, are the three Margas,

ways, to Moksha, liberation. The Jnana Marga is for

those in whom Chit predominates; the Bhakti Marga for

those in whom Ichchha predominates; the Karma Marga

for those in whom Kriya predominates. But in each path,

as each Jivatma is triune, the evolution of all of its three

aspects must be carried on.

three aspects

"How ought we to live in the world?"

MASTER: "Do all your duties, but keep your mind on God.

Live with all - with wife and children, father and mother -

and serve them. Treat them as if they were very dear to

you, but know in your heart of hearts that they do not

belong to you.

"A maidservant in the house of a rich man performs all the

household duties, but her thoughts are fixed on her own

home in her native village. She brings up her Master's

children as if they were her own.

For a householder

"But one need not fear anything if one has received the

grace of God. It is rather easy for a child to stumble if he

holds his father's hand; but there can be no such fear if the

father holds the child's hand. A man does not have to suffer

any more if God, in His grace, removes his doubts and

reveals Himself to him. But this grace descends upon him

only after he has prayed to God with intense yearning of

heart and practised spiritual discipline. The mother feels

compassion for her child when she sees him running about

breathlessly. She has been hiding herself; now she appears

before the child."

"But why should God make us run about?"

Immediately Sri Ramakrishna said: "It is His will that we

should run about a little. Then it is great fun. God has

created the world in play, as it were. This is called

Mahamaya, the Great Illusion. Therefore one must take

refuge in the Divine Mother, the Cosmic Power Itself. It

is She who has bound us with the shackles of illusion.

The realization of God is possible only when those

shackles are severed

The whole symbolic world is represented in the temple

garden –

• the Trinity of the Nature Mother (Kāli),

• the Absolute (Śiva), and

• Love (Radhākānta),

• the Arch spanning heaven and earth. The terrific

Goddess of the Tantra, the soul-enthralling Flute-Player

of the Bhāgavata, and the Self-absorbed Absolute of

the Vedas live together, creating the greatest synthesis

of religions. All aspects of Reality are represented

there.

Dakshineshwar temple

the temple garden

But of this divine household, Kāli is

the pivot, the sovereign Mistress.

She is Prakriti, the Procreatrix,

Nature, the Destroyer, the Creator.

Nay, She is something greater and

deeper still for those who have eyes

to see. She is the Universal Mother,

"my Mother" as Ramakrishna would

say,

the All-powerful, who reveals Herself to Her

children under different aspects and Divine

Incarnations, the Visible God, who leads the elect

to the Invisible Reality; and if it so pleases Her,

She takes away the last trace of ego from created

beings and merges it in the consciousness of the

Absolute, the undifferentiated God. Through Her

grace "the finite ego loses itself in the illimitable

Ego- Ātman - Brahman".

Universal Mother