Message from the Gospel – 3. Faith is THE Essential thing

Throw a child into the air. It will laugh. Throw it higher. The child will laugh louder. Children consider it as fun. They firmly believe that they will be caught when they start falling down.

Let us extrapolate the analogy to our own life. When circumstances force a decent in our life, do we trust that it is a play of God, who is the Father of all fathers and Mother of all mothers, and that He will surely protect us? If we have such unshakable faith, no situation should alarm us and we should also be able to laugh like children.

Sri Ramakrishna emphasizes the importance of faith at several occasions in the Gospel. He says, “Pray to God, 'Give me faith and devotion.' Once a person has faith he has achieved everything.  There is nothing greater than faith.” 

(To Kedar) "You must have heard about the tremendous power of faith.  It is said in the purana that Rāma, who was God Himself - the embodiment of Absolute Brahman - had to build a bridge to cross the sea to Ceylon.  But Hanuman, trusting in Rama's name, cleared the sea in one jump and reached the other side.  He had no need of a bridge.  (All laugh)

"Once a man was about to cross the sea.  Bibhishana wrote Rama's name on a leaf, tied it in a corner of the man's wearing-cloth, and said to him: 'Don't be afraid.  Have faith and walk on the water.  But look here - the moment you lose faith you will be drowned.' The man was walking easily on the water.  Suddenly he had an intense desire to see what was tied in his cloth.  He opened it and found only a leaf with the name of Rāma written on it.  'What is this?' he thought.  'Just the name of Rāma!' As soon as doubt entered his mind he sank under the water. 

If a man has faith in God, then even if he has committed the most heinous sins - such as killing a cow, a brahmin, or a woman - he will certainly be saved through his faith.  Let him only say to God, 'O Lord, I will not repeat such an action', and he need not be afraid of anything."

What more assurance we need? If faith in God can save even people who had committed the most heinous crimes, will it not save us?

Sri Ramakrishna admires the extraordinary faith of one of his devotees Krishnakishore. He says, "What tremendous faith Krishnakishore had! Once, while at Vrindāvan, he felt thirsty and went to a well.  Near it he saw a man standing.  On being asked to draw a little water for him, the man said: 'I belong to a low caste, sir.  You are a brahmin.  How can I draw water for you?' Krishnakishore said: 'Take the name of Śiva.  By repeating His holy name you will make yourself pure.' The low-caste man did as he was told, and Krishnakishore, orthodox brahmin that he was, drank that water.  What tremendous faith!

"Once a holy man came to the bank of the Ganges and lived near the bathing-ghat at Ariadaha, not far from Dakshineswar.  We thought of paying him a visit.  I said to Haladhāri: 'Krishnakishore and I are going to see a holy man.  Will you come with us?' Haladhāri replied, 'What is the use of seeing a mere human body, which is no better than a cage of clay?' Haladhāri was a student of the Gita and Vedanta philosophy, and therefore referred to the holy man as a mere 'cage of clay'.  I repeated this to Krishnakishore.  With great anger he said: 'How impudent of Haladhāri to make such a remark! How can he ridicule as a "cage of clay" the body of a man who constantly thinks of God, who meditates on Rama, and has renounced all for the sake of the Lord? Doesn't he know that such a man is the embodiment of Spirit?' He was so upset by Haladhāri's remarks that he would turn his face away from him whenever he met him in the temple garden, and stopped speaking to him.

   

Faith has another positive quality. The one who has faith is fearless. Even when pushed to extreme suffering, a man/woman of faith would be able to carry on life without running to various people for help. He/she would simply believe, “No harm will ever come to me. God will never let me down.”

Sri Ramakrishna explains this through the following example: “Sambhu Mallick used to come on foot from Baghbazar to his garden house at Dakshineswar.  One day a friend said to him: 'It is risky to walk such a long distance.  Why don't you come in a carriage?' At that Sambhu's face turned red and he exclaimed: 'I set out repeating the name of God! What danger can befall me?' Through faith alone one attains everything.”

Sri Ramakrishna says further, "One must have faith in the guru's words. The guru is none other than Satchidananda. God Himself is the Guru. If you only believe his words like a child, you will realize God. What faith a child has! When a child's mother says to him about a certain man, 'He is your brother', the child believes he really is his brother. The child believes it one hundred and twenty-five percent, though he may be the son of a brahmin, and the man the son of a blacksmith. The mother says to the child, 'There is a bugaboo in that room', and the child really believes there is a bugaboo in the room. Such is the faith of a child! One must have this childlike faith in the guru's words.”

Can we trust like a child, the kind of trust that child devotee Prahlada had?

Message from the Gospel – 2. Call by Any Name, But Call

Some people recite long verses and worship God, while some others sing devotional folk songs in not so sweet voices and dance. Those not capable of either of these may simply shout the holy name of God, who no doubt is equally pleased with all of them. It is the depth of the devotion that matters more than the procedure of worship. In my case, I, sometimes, recite verses and at other times sing devotional songs. When neither is possible, I scream the name of God inside my heart without letting the sound out. Nobody around me might know what I am doing.

The most important point is that we must call God in whatever way it is possible for us. That all-pervading and in-dwelling spirit knows very well who is being called, understands our suffering and earnestness, and will surely respond without fail.

Sri Ramakrishna explains this with a beautiful analogy: "It is enough to have yearning for God.  It is enough to love Him and feel attracted to Him: Don't you know that God is the Inner Guide? He sees the longing of our heart and the yearning of our soul.  Suppose a man has several sons.  The older boys address him distinctly as 'Baba' or 'Papa', but the babies can at best call him 'Ba' or 'Pa'.  Now, will the father be angry with those who address him in this indistinct way? The father knows that they too are calling him, only they cannot pronounce his name well.  All children are the same to the father.  Likewise, the devotees call on God alone, though by different names.  They call on one Person only.  God is one, but His names are many."¹

Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi had also emphasized the same point. Once, a devotee asked her, “Mother, how should we worship you?” To this she replied, “Just call me as ‘mother’. Always remember, you have a mother.”

When trials of life tear us apart, when we feel we have no refuge, when we lose all hope, let us not forget the one unfailing divine existence, and just scream inside our heart, “Maa, I can’t bear this” or “Paa, I can’t take this suffering anymore” as loudly as possible. The call will be surely answered.

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¹This has been already quoted in Part 35 of ‘From the Gospel.’ 

Message from the Gospel – 1. Do not pretend

I heard this from a friend of mine. She was staying at a relative’s house and attending work. One day, she woke up after an afternoon nap and found the lady of the house was watching a movie in the television in the bedroom with the door closed. The lady's son was watching a cricket match in another television in the living room.  In the pooja room, a music system was playing Lalitha Sahasranama¹ cassette. My friend was surprised. It was not the watching of the movie or cricket match which surprised her. People do watch movies and cricket match at home. But why play a sacred hymn if nobody wants to listen to it? It was the playing of Lalitha Sahasranama cassette in the pooja room that surprised her. She wondered, “For whose sake is this cassette being played? Is not the Sahasranama recited to remind ourselves about the greatness of the deity we are worshipping and contemplate on those qualities and if possible to aspire for those qualities in ourselves? Why this hypocrisy?”

Why should people pretend? And that too with God? Are they so dumb to think that God will not know they are watching television? She did enquire later (after the movie was over and the lady came out of the bedroom), “What was the purpose of putting such a sacred recitation when you are not interested in listening to it?”  Can you guess the answer she got? You will never be able to. The lady said, in the most casual tone, “Oh, that is for the sake of the neighbor. They play devotional music, so I want them to know that I am no less religious.”

When I heard the above from my friend, I was reminded how vehemently Sri Ramakrishna chides hypocrisy. Here are some of his important teachings regarding hypocrisy:

1.    MASTER: "The worldly man is a hypocrite.  He cannot be guileless.  He professes to love God, but he is attracted by worldly objects.  He doesn't give God even a very small part of the love he feels for 'woman and gold'.  But he says that he loves God.  (To Mani Mallick) Give up hypocrisy." [Chapter 20: RULES FOR HOUSEHOLDERS AND MONKS]

2. MASTER (to Bankim): God cannot be realized by a mind that is hypocritical, calculating, or argumentative. One must have faith and sincerity. Hypocrisy will not do. To the sincere, God is very near; but He is far, far away from the hypocrite. [Chapter 34: BANKIM CHANDRA]

3. A Brahmo devotee tells a sub-judge to accept whatever Sri Ramakrishna says without  questioning.  When Sri Ramakrishna hears that, he immediately responds.  MASTER (sharply, to the Brahmo): "What sort of man are you? To accept words without conviction! Why, that is hypocrisy! I see you are only a counterfeit." The Brahmo was much embarrassed. [Chapter 32: VISIT TO THE SINTHI BRAHMO SAMAJ]

Hypocrisy must be avoided at all cost. It is not easy. One has to closely watch one's own actions and look for pretension. Am I sincere or am I pretending? And carefully eliminate hypocrisy. Only if one wishes to move closer to God...

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¹Read all about Lalitha Sahasranama in the Wikipedia.

Not Satisfied

I was not satisfied with my presentation of the series, ‘From the Gospel’. And I did not know how it should be. Therefore, after dragging it to 41 parts, I finally stopped it. I told myself that I will continue with the series only when I am convinced that I am doing it the way it should be done.

The reason for my dissatisfaction was the doubt whether each of those blogs with the title, ‘From the Gospel’ is inspiring the readers. By ‘inspiring’ I do not mean that the readers should immediately implement the message being conveyed in their lives. Even if it inspires them to such an extent that forces them to look up/read the next part, it will be sufficient for me. But I was not sure whether the blogs ‘From the Gospel’ are having such an impact.

For those who have already read the Gospel many times, it might not be difficult to read those parts and take the message conveyed in those parts. However, for those who read them for the first time, will the impact be the same?  What should I do to maintain the interest level of the newcomers?

Note that I was not unhappy about the contents of any of those parts. I was fully satisfied with the contents of every part. I was unhappy only about the way I was presenting each of those parts.

Today morning, ‘the right presentation’ suddenly occurred to me. Now that I got the clarity, I will restart the series. There will be two major changes.

(1)   The title of the series will now be ‘Message from the Gospel’.

(2)   I will try to present each message with a small discussion or a real-life situation to which the message may be applicable.

This I hope will keep the interest level of the readers. I may not be able to present the blogs at regular intervals, but will write them as and when I get a clear good idea. 


Looking forward to your continued support

R. Padma 

Pride is a Cancerous Disease

Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi had great reverence towards monks.

Once a monk asked the Mother, “Are not all equal who have taken refuge in the Master [Sri Ramakrishna], irrespective of their being monks or householders, inasmuch as they will all be freed [from rebirth]?”

The Mother replied, “Good gracious! Can the monk and householder be equal? The householders are a prey of passions and desires, while the monks have come away leaving everything behind. How can they be compared?”

Although she revered the monks, she cautioned them against pride. Once Swami Arupananda said to her, “Mother, sanyasa brings with it a great conceit,” she replied, “Yes, a great conceit – ‘I have not been saluted, I am not honoured, I have not been treated with the respect due to me!’ Compared with all that, I am much better as I am (pointing to her white saree, and implying her internal renunciation).”

While discussing the above comments of the Holy Mother in a discourse,¹ Swami Purushottamananda² quoted a Kannada 4-liner by DVG,³ a rough translation of it may be given as follows:

Miserable is the craving for food

More so is the man-woman attraction

Craving for recognition is worse than the previous two

As it eats away the very soul, my ignorant friend

Swami Purushottamananda further narrated an episode from his life to drive home the importance of humility. One day, he was walking in the Ramakrishna Math, Bangalore with a senior monk from Belur Math, Calcutta. A devotee saw them and came towards them to pay his respects. As Swami Purushottamananda was more familiar to the devotee than the other monk, he tried to prostrate to Swami Purushottamananda first. Stopping him and pointing to the senior monk, Swami Purushottamananda told the devotee, “Pay your respects to him, first. He is much elder.” Hearing this, the senior monk replied it seems, “Where is the question of elder and younger among monks? A Tulsi plant whether big or small is equally sacred.”

What a great level of humility! How many people can think like that? What a beautiful example he chose! And how true is that example! Tulsi plant whether big or small is indeed sacred. So are the world-renouncing monks.

Let us remember Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi’s words regarding pride and a craving for recognition. Let us keep a close watch on our own behaviour and do not let this cancerous disease called ‘pride’ eat away our soul.   

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¹ I heard this recently from a CD, whereas the original talk was given probably around 1985.

² Swami Purushottamananda was a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order. He was with the Ramakrishna Math, Bangalore for more than 30 years and later was the President of Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Belgaum. See Wikipedia to know more about him. I would like to write more about him, if God permits, as soon as possible.
³  DVG stands for Padma Bhushan DV Gundappa, a great writer of Karnataka, India. See Wikipedia to know more about him.

Cycling 32 km each day

"A primary school teacher in Dharmapuri district in Tamil Nadu has bicycled 32 kilometers each day for the past 20 years without missing a single day of school." This appeared in Times of India in May 2005.

Because of his commitment and also his ability to inspire students, a surprising number of his former students went on to become hugely famous. When asked about the roots of his motivation, he answered, "Teaching is my dharma."

In contrast to the above case, a study on government primary school teachers in India revealed that one out of four teachers is absent and one in four, although present, is not teaching. Thus one out of two teachers in our primary schools is not doing his/her job.

I read the above facts in a book titled, The Difficulty of Being Good by Gurcharan Das. I tried to search in the internet for the name of the teacher mentioned in the first paragraph of this blog. I could not get it. I would have felt lot more happier if I could have mentioned his name. Anyways, I admire his sincerity.

I am reminded of a Tamil couplet, its rough translation may be given as follows:

Establishing a thousand free food distribution centres
Building 16,000 temples
More rewarding than all those
Is educating one poor person

I truly admire the dedication of that primary school teacher of Dharmapuri. May his tribe expand and flourish.  

From the Gospel - 41

In the previous part, M. had asked a question, "What is meant by God realization?" In this part also the answer to that question is being continued. Sri Ramakrishna is trying to explain with various examples the complex idea of realizing God. 

M: "When one sees God does one see Him with these eyes?"

MASTER: "God cannot be seen with these physical eyes.  In the course of spiritual discipline one gets a 'love body', endowed with 'love eyes', 'love ears', and so on.  One sees God with those 'love eyes'.  One hears the voice of God with those 'love ears'.  One even gets a sexual organ made of love."

At these words M. burst out laughing.  The Master continued, unannoyed, "With this 'love body' the soul communes with God."

M. again became serious.

MASTER: "But this is not possible without intense love of God.  One sees nothing but God everywhere when one loves Him with great intensity.  It is like a person with jaundice, who sees everything yellow.   Then one feels, 'I am verily He'. 

A drunkard, deeply intoxicated, says, 'Verily I am Kāli!' The gopis, intoxicated with love, exclaimed, 'Verily I am Krishna!'

One who thinks of God, day and night, beholds Him everywhere.  It is like a man's seeing flames on all sides after he has gazed fixedly at one flame for some time."

"But that isn't the real flame", flashed through M.'s mind. 

Sri Ramakrishna, who could read a man's inmost thought, said: "One doesn't lose consciousness by thinking of Him who is all Spirit, all Consciousness.  Shivanath once remarked that too much thinking about God confounds the brain.  Thereupon I said to him, 'How can one become unconscious by thinking of Consciousness?' "

M: "Yes, sir, I realize that.  It isn't like thinking of an unreal object.  How can a man lose his intelligence if he always fixes his mind on Him whose very nature is eternal Intelligence?"

MASTER (with pleasure): "It is through God's grace that you understand that.  The doubts of the mind will not disappear without His grace.  Doubts do not disappear without Self-realization.

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?" thought M.

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."

From the Gospel - 40

M: "Sir, what is the meaning of the realization of God? What do you mean by God-vision? How does one attain it?"

MASTER: "According to the Vaishnavas the aspirants and the seers of God may be divided into different groups.  These are the pravartaka, the sadhaka, the siddha, and the siddha of the siddha.  He who has just set foot on the path may be called a pravartaka.  He may be called a sadhaka who has for some time been practising spiritual disciplines, such as worship, japa, meditation, and the chanting of God's name and glories.  He may be called a siddha who has known from his inner experience that God exists.  An analogy is given in the Vedanta to explain this.  The master of the house is asleep in a dark room.  Someone is groping in the darkness to find him.  He touches the couch and says, 'No, it is not he.' He touches the window and says, 'No, it is not he.' He touches the door and says, 'No, it is not he.' This is known in the Vedanta as the process of 'Neti, neti', 'Not this, not this'.  At last his hand touches the master's body and he exclaims, 'Here he is!' In other words, he is now conscious of the 'existence' of the master.  He has found him, but he doesn't yet know him intimately. 

There is another type, known as the siddha of the siddha, the 'supremely perfect'.  It is quite a different thing when one talks to the master intimately, when one knows God very intimately through love and devotion.  A siddha has undoubtedly attained God, but the 'supremely perfect' has known God very intimately.

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."

From the Gospel - 39

M: "How long should a man feel obliged to do his duty toward his wife and children?"

MASTER: "As long as they feel pinched for food and clothing.  But one need not take the responsibility of a son when he is able to support himself.  When the young fledgling learns to pick its own food, its mother pecks it if it comes to her for food."

M: "How long must one do one's duty?"

MASTER: "The blossom drops off when the fruit appears.  One doesn't have to do one's duty after the attainment of God, nor does one feel like doing it then.

If a drunkard takes too much liquor he cannot retain consciousness.  If he takes only two or three glasses, he can go on with his work.  As you advance nearer and nearer to God, He will reduce your activities little by little.  Have no fear. 

Finish the few duties you have at hand, and then you will have peace.  When the mistress of the house goes to bathe after finishing her cooking and other household duties, she won't come back, however you may shout after her."

From the Gospel - 38

In this part, we get the answer to the common query of all householders: "Is it correct to make an effort to earn more money?"

MASTER: "Perform your duties in an unselfish spirit.  The work that Vidyasagar is engaged in is very good.  Always try to perform your duties without desiring any result."

M: "Yes, sir.  But may I know if one can realize God while performing one's duties? Can 'Rama' and 'desire' coexist? The other day I read in a Hindi couplet: 'Where Rama is, there desire cannot be; where desire is, there Rama cannot be.' "

MASTER: "All, without exception, perform work.  Even to chant the name and glories of God is work, as is the meditation of the non-dualist on 'I am He'.  Breathing is also an activity.  There is no way of renouncing work altogether.  So do your work, but surrender the result to God."

M: "Sir, may I make an effort to earn more money?"

MASTER: "It is permissible to do so to maintain a religious family.  You may try to increase your income, but in an honest way.  The goal of life is not the earning of money, but the service of God.  Money is not harmful if it is devoted to the service of God."