Message from the Gospel – 18. Bondage and Liberation Are Her Making

The Gospel further quotes Sri Ramakrishna as saying, “Brahman and Śakti are identical.  If you accept the one, you must accept the other.  It is like fire and its power to burn.  If you see the fire, you must recognize its power to burn also.  You cannot think of fire without its power to burn, nor can you think of the power to burn without fire.  You cannot conceive of the sun's rays without the sun, nor can you conceive of the sun without its rays.”

"What is milk like? Oh, you say, it is something white.  You cannot think of the milk without the whiteness, and again, you cannot think of the whiteness without the milk.” 

"Thus one cannot think of Brahman without Śakti, or of Śakti without Brahman.  One cannot think of the Absolute without the Relative, or of the Relative without the Absolute.” 

"The Primordial Power is ever at play.  She is creating, preserving, and destroying in play, as it were.  This Power is called Kāli.  Kāli is verily Brahman, and Brahman is verily Kāli.  It is one and the same Reality.  When we think of  It as inactive, that is to say, not engaged in the acts of creation, preservation, and destruction, then we call It Brahman.  But when It engages in these activities, then we call It Kāli or Śakti.  The Reality is one and the same; the difference is in name and form.”

"It is like water, called in different languages by different names, such as 'jal', 'pani', and so forth.  There are three or four ghats on a lake.  The Hindus, who drink water at one place, call it 'jal'.  The Mussalmans at another place call it 'pani'.  And the English at a third place call it 'water'.  All three denote one and the same thing, the difference being in the name only.  In the same way, some address   the Reality as 'Allah', some as 'God', some as 'Brahman', some as 'Kāli', and others by such names as 'Rama', 'Jesus', 'Durga', 'Hari.'"

“In the Vedas creation is likened to the spider and its web.  The spider brings the web out of itself and then remains in it.  God is the container of the universe and also what is contained in it.” 

"Is Kāli, my Divine Mother, of a black complexion? She appears black because She is viewed from a distance; but when intimately known She is no longer so.  The sky appears blue at a distance; but look at it close by and you will find that it has no colour.  The water of the ocean looks blue at a distance, but when you go near and take it in your hand, you find that it is colourless."

The Master continued: "Bondage and liberation are both of Her making.  By Her Maya worldly people become entangled in 'woman and gold', and again, through Her grace they attain their liberation.  She is called Saviour, and the remover of the bondage that binds one to the world."

May the grace of the Divine Mother fall on us and liberate us from this cycle of birth and death.

Message from the Gospel – 17. God Is One

Message 16 concluded with the words, ‘The mystery about God will remain forever’ as it is impossible to comprehend the infinite. Our each attempt may let us get a glimpse of the infinite but nobody can claim that he/she has understood God 100%. This is the reason for the differences found among different religions. Even among the Hindu religious seers, Sankaracharya’s perception of God was different from that of Ramanujacharya and Madhwacharya. Accordingly, the followers of each of them hold different views about God. The worshippers of Shakthi or Kali, the Divine Mother, differed from all of them. There is no similarity between Krishna and Kali or between Ram and Shiva. If this is the situation among Hindus, what can be said about the worshipers of Jesus and Allah? Even among Christians, Protestants and Catholics hold different beliefs. Among Muslims also there are many subsects. 

    

Sri Ramakrishna says, “Don't harbour malice toward anybody. Don't turn up your nose in hatred and say: 'Oh, this man believes in God with form and not in the formless God. That man believes in the formless God and not in God with form. This man is a Christian. This man is a Hindu. And this man is a Musslman.' It is God alone who makes people see things in different ways. Know that people have different natures. Realize this and mix with them as much as you can. And love all. But enter your own inner chamber to enjoy peace and bliss.

Lighting the lamp of Knowledge in the chamber of your heart, 
Behold the face of the Mother, Brahman's Embodiment.

You can see your true Self only within your own chamber.  The cowherds take the cows to graze in the pasture. There the cattle mix. They all form one herd. But on returning to their sheds in the evening they are separated. Then each stays by itself in its own stall. Therefore I say, dwell by yourself in your own chamber."

    

Sri Ramakrishna condemns religious quarrels. He says, "It is not good to harbour malice.  The Saktas, the Vaishnavas, and the Vedantists quarrel among themselves.  That is not wise.  Padmalochan was court pundit of the Maharaja of Burdwan.  Once at a meeting the pundits were discussing whether Shiva was superior to Brahma, or Brahma to Shiva.  Padmalochan gave an appropriate reply.  'I don't know anything about it', said he.  'I haven't talked either to Shiva or to Brahma.'"

    

Let there be as many religions as there are humans. It is still possible to live peacefully if only we understand that each one’s belief is the perception of one of the infinite attributes of God and that nobody’s view is wrong. More on this in the next blog…

Message from the Gospel – 16. God's True Nature

Sri Ramakrishna says, "The nature of Brahman cannot be described.  About It one remains silent.  Who can explain the Infinite in words? However high a bird may soar, there are regions higher still.  What do you say?"

PREACHER: "Yes, sir, it is so stated in the Vedanta philosophy."

MASTER: "Once a salt doll went to the ocean to measure its depth.  But it could not come back to give a report.  According to one school of thought, sages like Sukadeva saw and touched the Ocean of Brahman, but did not plunge into It."

"Once I said to Vidyasagar, 'Everything else but Brahman has been polluted, as it were, like food touched by the tongue.' In other words, no one has been able to describe what Brahman is.  A thing once uttered by the tongue becomes polluted.  Vidyasagar, great pundit though he was, was highly pleased with my remarks.”

"It is said that there are places near Kedār that are covered with eternal snow; he who climbs too high cannot come back.  Those who have tried to find out what there is in the higher regions, or what one feels there, have not come back to tell us about it.”

"After having the vision of God man is overpowered with bliss.  He becomes silent.  Who will speak? Who will explain?”

"The king lives beyond seven gates.  At each gate sits a man endowed with great power and glory.  At each gate the visitor asks, 'Is this the king?' The gate-keeper answers, 'No.  Not this, not this.' The visitor passes through the seventh gate and  becomes overpowered with joy.  He is speechless.  This time he doesn't have to ask, 'Is this the king?' The mere sight of him removes all doubts."

PREACHER: "Yes, sir, it is so described in Vedanta."

MASTER: "When the Godhead is thought of as creating, preserving, and destroying, It is known as the Personal God, Saguna Brahman, or the Primal Energy, Ādyāśakti.  Again, when It is thought of as beyond the three gunas, then It is called the Attributeless Reality, Nirguna Brahman, beyond speech and thought; this is the Supreme Brahman, Parabrahman.”

"Under the spell of God's maya man forgets his true nature.  He forgets that he is heir to the infinite glories of his Father.  This divine maya is made up of three gunas.  And all three are robbers; for they rob man of all his treasures and make him forget his true nature.  The three gunas are sattva, rajas, and tamas.  Of these, sattva alone points the way to God.  But even sattva cannot take a man to God.”

 

"Let me tell you a story.  Once, a rich man was passing through a forest, when three robbers surrounded him and robbed him of all his wealth.  After snatching all his possessions from him, one of the robbers said: 'What's the good of keeping the man alive? Kill him.' Saying this, he was about to strike their victim with his sword, when the second robber interrupted and said: 'There's no use in killing him.  Let us bind him fast and leave him here.  Then he won't be able to tell the police.' Accordingly, the robbers tied him with a rope, left him, and went away.”

"After a while the third robber returned to the rich man and said: 'Ah! You're badly hurt, aren't you? Come, I'm going to release you.' The third robber set the man free and led him out of the forest.  When they came near the highway, the robber said, 'Follow this road and you will reach home easily.' 'But you must come with me too', said the man.  'You have done so much for me.  We shall all be happy to see you at our home.' 'No,' said the robber, 'it is not possible for me to go there.  The police will arrest me.' So saying, he left the rich man after pointing out his way.”

"Now, the first robber, who said: 'What's the good of keeping the man alive? Kill him', is tamas.  It destroys.  The second robber is rajas, which binds a man to the world and entangles him in a variety of activities.  Rajas makes him forget God.  Sattva alone shows the way to God.  It produces virtues like compassion, righteousness, and devotion.  Again, sattva is like the last step of the stairs.  Next to it is the roof.  The Supreme Brahman is man's own abode.  One cannot attain the Knowledge of Brahman unless one transcends the three gunas."

One has to transend the three gunas – sattva, rajas, and tamas – to understand the nature of Brahman. It cannot be described in words as it is beyond speech and thought. Each aspirant has to understand It only through personal experience. Every experience may be different as who can experience all of the infinite in one go? So the mystery about God will remain forever! 


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'MASTER' stands for Sri Ramakrishna as he was referred in the Gospel.

Message from the Gospel – 15. Pray for Pure Love

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna presents countless number of incidents displaying the God-intoxicated ecstatic love of Sri Ramakrishna. This fact compelled me to write one more blog on this subject even though I had already written about the importance of ‘love for God’ in Messages 11 and 14.

Sri Ramakrishna says, “I prayed to the Divine Mother: 'O Mother; here, take Thy dharma; here, take Thy adharma; and give me pure love for Thee. Here, take Thy virtue; here, take Thy vice; and give me pure love for Thee. Here, take Thy knowledge; here, take Thy ignorance; and give me pure love for Thee.' You see, I didn't ask even for knowledge or public recognition. When one renounces both dharma and adharma, there remains only pure love of God – love that is stainless, motiveless, and that one feels only for the sake of love."

To the question, “How can one realize God?”, he says, "Attachment to God, or, in other words, love for Him.  And secondly, prayer."

BRAHMO DEVOTEE: "Which one is the way – love or prayer?"

MASTER: "First love, and then prayer." 

The Master sang:

Cry to your Mother Syama with a real cry, O mind!
And how can She hold Herself from you?
How can Syama stay away? .  .  .

Continuing, the Master said: "And one must always chant the name and glories of God and pray to Him.  An old metal pot must be scrubbed every day.  What is the use of cleaning it only once? Further, one must practise discrimination and renunciation; one must be conscious of the unreality of the world."

"Bhakti, love of God, is the essence of all spiritual discipline.  Through love one acquires renunciation and discrimination naturally."

"The meaning of bhakti is to adore God with body, mind, and words. 'With body' means to serve and worship God with one's hands, go to holy places with one's feet, hear the chanting of the name and glories of God with one's ears, and behold the divine image with one's eyes. 'With mind' means to contemplate and meditate on God constantly and to remember and think of His lila.¹ 'With words' means to sing hymns to Him and chant His name and glories.”

"Devotion as described by Nārada is suited to the Kaliyuga. It means to chant constantly the name and glories of God. Let those who have no leisure worship God at least morning and evening by whole-heartedly chanting His name and clapping their hands.”

"Ahalyā once said to Rāma  'O Rāma, I have no objection to being born even as a pig. But please grant that I may have pure love for Thy Lotus Feet. I do not want anything else.'”

"Nārada went to Ayodhya to remind Rāma that He was to kill  Ravana . At the sight of Rāma and Sita, he began to sing their glories. Gratified at Nārada's devotion, Rāma said: 'Nārada, I am pleased with your prayer. Ask a boon.' Nārada replied, 'O Rāma, if Thou must give me a boon, then grant that I may have pure love for Thy Lotus Feet and that I may not be deluded by Thy world-bewitching māyā. Rāma said, 'Ask something more.' 'No, Rāma,' answered Nārada, 'I do not want anything else. I want only pure love for Thy Lotus Feet, a love that seeks no return.'”

We may spend our whole life thinking and talking about this one aspect: pure love for God, a love that seeks no return. Still we would not have exhausted all that can be said about it. Well, if we can spend our whole life thinking and talking about this single aspect, it only means that we have understood the aim and the goal of life, and the purpose of being born as a human has been served, indeed.

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¹ ‘lila’ means divine plays.

Message from the Gospel – 14. What God Wants From Us?

Man loves his own riches, and so he thinks that God loves His, too.  He thinks that God will be pleased if we glorify His riches.  Once Sambhu, a devotee of Sri Ramakrishna, said to him, “Please bless me, that I may die leaving my riches at the Lotus Feet of God.” Sri Ramakrishna answered: “These are riches only to you.  What riches can you offer God? To Him these are mere dust and straw.”

In the Dakshineshwar temple premises there were 12 Shiva temples and a temple dedicated to Vishnu known as the temple of Radhakanta. Once a thief broke into the temple of Vishnu and robbed the image of its jewels.  Mathur Babu, who was the custodian of the temple after the death of his mother-in-law Rani Rasmani (who built the temple) and Sri Ramakrishna went to the temple after they were told about the theft to get first-hand information about the matter.  Addressing the image of God in the sanctum sanctorum, Mathur said bitterly: “What a shame, Lord! You are so worthless! The thief took all the ornaments from Your body, and You couldn't do a thing about it.” Thereupon Sri Ramakrishna said to Mathur: “Shame on you! How improper your words are! To God, the jewels you talk so much about are only lumps of clay.  Lakshmi, the Goddess of Fortune, is His Consort.  Do you mean to say that He should spend sleepless nights because a thief has taken your few rupees? You mustn't say such things.”

Sri Ramakrishna says further, "Can one ever bring God under control through wealth? He can be tamed only through love.  What does He want? Certainly not wealth! He wants from His devotees love, devotion, feeling, discrimination, and renunciation.”

We have reason to rejoice. Here is somebody who cannot be controlled by wealth. But to control God we need a few things. Do we have any of those – love, devotion, feeling, discrimination, and renunciation – even a small measure? If we have them, and if we can give them to Him, then we have the most powerful person under our control.

There is a beautiful song of Purandara Dasa, a poet saint of Karnataka, India, which goes like this:

If you lie down and sing, He would sit and listen

If you sit and sing, He would stand and listen

If you stand and sing, He would dance

And if you dance and sing, He would immediately appear before you...

Can everybody sing? Singing is an expression of intense devotion. God can be bound by unselfish love and intense devotion. 

Message from the Gospel – 13. Move Forward

Sri Ramakrishna tells the following story of the wood-cutter to emphasize that with continuous effort God-realization is possible in course of time.

"Once upon a time a wood-cutter went into a forest to chop wood. There suddenly he met a brahmachari. The holy man said to him, 'My good man, go forward.' On returning home the wood-cutter asked himself, 'Why did the brahmachari tell me to go forward?' Some time passed. One day he remembered the brahmachari's words. He said to himself, 'Today I shall go deeper into the forest.' Going deep into the forest, he discovered innumerable sandal-wood trees. He was very happy and returned with cart-loads of sandal-wood. He sold them in the market and became very rich.”

"A few days later he again remembered the words of the holy man to go forward. He went deeper into the forest and discovered a silver-mine near a river. This was even beyond his dreams. He dug out silver from the mine and sold it in the market. He got so much money that he didn't even know how much he had.”

"A few more days passed. One day he thought: 'The brahmachari didn't ask me to stop at the silver-mine; he told me to go forward.' This time he went to the other side of the river and found a gold-mine. Then he exclaimed: 'Ah, just see! This is why he asked me to go forward.'”

"Again, a few days afterwards, he went still deeper into the forest and found heaps of diamonds and other precious gems. He took these also and became as rich as the god of wealth himself.”

"Therefore I say that, whatever you may do, you will find better and better things if only you go forward. You may feel a little ecstasy as the result of japa, but don't conclude from this that you have achieved everything in spiritual life. Work is by no means the goal of life. Go forward, and then you will be able to perform unselfish work. But again I say that it is most difficult to perform unselfish work. Therefore with love and longing in your heart pray to God: 'O God, grant me devotion at Thy Lotus Feet and reduce my worldly duties. Please grant me the boon that the few duties I must do may be done in a detached spirit.' If you go still farther you will realize God. You will see Him. In time you will converse with Him."

Message from the Gospel – 12. The Best Path

MASTER: "The best path for this age is bhaktiyoga, the path of bhakti prescribed by Nārada: 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!'"

"It is not possible to give up work altogether. Even to think or to meditate is a kind of work.”

“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?"

A DEVOTEE: "The English people always exhort us to be active. Isn't action the aim of life then?"

MASTER: "The aim of life is the attainment of God. Work is only a preliminary step; it can never be the end. Even unselfish work is only a means; it is not the end."

"Sambhu Mallick once said to me, 'Please bless me, sir, that I may spend all my money for good purposes, such as building hospitals and dispensaries; making roads, and digging wells.' I said to him: 'It will be good if you can do these things in a spirit of detachment. But that is very difficult. Whatever you may do, you must always remember that the aim of this life of yours is the attainment of God and not the building of hospitals and dispensaries. Suppose God appeared before you and said to you, "Accept a boon from Me." Would you then ask Him, "O God, build me some hospitals and dispensaries"? Or would you not rather pray to Him: "O God, may I have pure love at Your Lotus Feet! May I have Your uninterrupted vision!"? Hospitals, dispensaries, and all such things are unreal. God alone is real and all else unreal. Furthermore, after realizing God one feels that He alone is the Doer and we are but His instruments. Then why should we forget Him and destroy ourselves by being involved in too many activities? After realizing Him, one may, through His grace, become His instrument in building many hospitals and dispensaries."

"Therefore I say again that work is only the first step. It can never be the goal of life. Devote yourself to spiritual practice and go forward. Through practice you will advance more and more in the path of God. At last you will come to know that God alone is real and all else is illusory, and that the goal of life is the attainment of God."

Message from the Gospel – 11. The Aim of Human Life

What need is there of penance if God is worshipped with love?
What is the use of penance if God is not worshipped with love?
What need is there of penance if God is seen within and without?
What is the use of penance if God is not seen within and without?

Krishna, God Incarnate, lived the years of His boyhood in Vrindāvan as a cowherd. He tended His cows on the green meadows along the bank of the Jamuna and played His flute. The milkmaids could not resist the force of His divine attraction. At the sound of His flute they would leave their household duties and go to the bank of the sacred river. Their love for Krishna destroyed their attachment to worldly things. Neither the threats of their relatives nor the criticism of others could make them desist from seeking the company of Krishna. In the love of the gopis for Krishna there was not the slightest trace of worldliness. It was the innate attraction of God for pure souls, as of the magnet for iron. The author of the Bhagavata has compared this love to the all-consuming love of a woman for her beloved. Before the on rush of that love all barriers between man and God are swept away. The devotee surrenders himself completely to his Divine Beloved and in the end becomes one with Him.

For centuries and centuries the lovers of God in India have been worshipping the Divine by recreating in themselves the yearning of the gopis for Krishna. Many of the folk-songs of India have as their theme this sweet episode of Krishna's life. Sri Chaitanya revived this phase of Hindu religious life by his spiritual practice and his divine visions. In his ecstatic music Chaitanya assumed the role of Radha and manifested the longing to be united with Krishna. For a long period Sri Ramakrishna also worshipped God as his beloved Krishna, looking on himself as one of the gopis or as God's handmaid. 

Sri Ramakrishna says, "Ah! If anyone has but a particle of such prema! What yearning! What love! Radha possessed not only one hundred per cent of divine love, but one hundred and twenty-five per cent. This is what it means to be intoxicated with ecstatic love of God. The sum and substance of the whole matter is that a man must love God, must be restless for Him. It doesn't matter whether you believe in God with form or in God without form. You may or may not believe that God incarnates Himself as man. But you will realize Him if you have that yearning. Then He Himself will let you know what He is like. If you must be mad, why should you be mad for the things of the world? If you must be mad, be mad for God alone."

He says further, "Suppose you have entered a tavern for a drink. Is it necessary for you to know how many gallons of wine there are in the tavern? One glass is enough for you. What need is there of your knowing the infinite qualities of God? You may discriminate for millions of years about God's attributes and still you will not know them."

"What need is there of your counting the number of trees and branches in an orchard? You have come to the orchard to eat mangoes. Do that and be happy. The aim of human birth is to love God. Realize that love and be at peace.”

Can we love God unless we have faith in Him that He will protect us, that He will save us, relieve us from our suffering? Before we love God, let us ask ourselves whether we love our relatives and friends. Once, Sri Ramakrishna asked a woman devotee the same question, whether she loves her family members. Her answer was “No”. Then he told her, "If you cannot love your own family members who are with you, how will you be able to love God whom you have not seen?” So let us cultivate unselfish love towards our fellow human beings and strive to realize the love that gopis of Vrindaban cherished for Krishna.

As is a man's meditation, so is his feeling of love; 
As is a man's feeling of love, so is his gain;
And faith is the root of all. . . .

Message from the Gospel – 10. Be like a kitten

Sri Ramakrishna says, “There are two kinds of aspirants.  The nature of the one kind is like that of the young monkey, and the nature of the other kind is like that of the kitten.  The young monkey, with great exertion, somehow clings to its mother.  Likewise, there are some aspirants who think that in order to realize God they must repeat His name a certain number of times, meditate on Him for a certain period, and practise a certain amount of austerity.  An aspirant of this kind makes his own efforts to catch hold of God.  But the kitten, of itself, cannot cling to its mother.  It lies on the ground and cries, 'Mew, mew!' It leaves everything to its mother.  The mother cat sometimes puts it on a bed, sometimes on the roof behind a pile of wood.  She carries the kitten in her mouth hither and thither.  The kitten doesn't know how to cling to the mother.  Likewise, there are some aspirants who cannot practise spiritual discipline by calculating about japa or the period of meditation.  All that they do is cry to God with yearning hearts.  God hears their cry and cannot keep Himself away.  He reveals Himself to them."

“Be like a kitten and cry to Him with a fervent heart.  The mother cat puts the kitten wherever she wants to.  The kitten doesn't know anything.  It is left sometimes on the bed and sometimes near the hearth. Devotees of this class give God the power of attorney and thus become free of all worry.”

“Give God the power of attorney. If a man entrusts his affairs to a good person, will the latter do him any harm? With all the sincerity of your heart resign yourself to God and drive all your worries out of your mind. Do whatever duties He has assigned to you. The kitten does not have a calculating mind. It only cries, 'Mew, mew!' It lies in the kitchen contentedly if the mother cat leaves it there, and only calls the mother, crying, 'Mew, mew!' It has the same feeling of contentment when the mother cat puts it on the soft bed of the master of the house. It only cries for its mother."

Maintaining equanimity of mind in pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow, success and failure is not easy. The best example that comes to our mind is Lord Sri Ram. When told about His coronation He remained calm. Again when the fortunes changed and He was asked to leave the kingdom and proceed to forest He maintained His composure.

Let us be like a kitten and not like a baby monkey. Let the trials of life put us in any kind of situation. May God give us unflinching faith in His kindness and compassion that He will carry us through all hurdles and will never let us down.

Message from the Gospel – 9. ‘I’ and ‘mine’ Is Ignorance

Sri Ramakrishna says, "The feeling of 'I ' and 'mine' is ignorance. People say that Rani Rasmani built the Kāli temple; but nobody says it was the work of God. They say that such and such a person established the Brahmo Samaj; but nobody says it was founded through the will of God. This feeling, 'I am the doer', is ignorance. On the contrary, the idea, 'O God, Thou art the Doer and I am only an instrument; Thou art the Operator and I am the machine', is Knowledge. After attaining Knowledge a man says: 'O God, nothing belongs to me – neither this house of worship nor this Kāli temple nor this Brahmo Samaj. These are all Thine. Wife, son, and family do not belong to me. They are all Thine.'

To love these objects, regarding them as one's own, is māyā. But to love all things is daya, compassion. To love only the members of the Brahmo Samaj or of one's own family is māyā; to love one's own countrymen is māyā. But to love the people of all countries, to love the members of all religions, is daya. Such love comes from love of God, from daya.

Māyā entangles a man and turns him away from God. But through daya one realizes God. Sages like Sukadeva and Nārada always cherished daya in their hearts.

God is the Ocean of Bliss; Don't you want to plunge into this Ocean? Suppose there is a cup of syrup and you are a fly. Where will you sit to sip the syrup?' Narendra said, 'I will sit on the edge of the cup and stick my head out to drink it.' 'Why?' said I. 'Why should you sit on the edge?' He replied, 'If I go far into the syrup, I shall be drowned and lose my life.' Then I said to him: 'But, my child, there is no such fear in the Ocean of Satchidananda. It is the Ocean of Immortality. By plunging into it a man does not die; he becomes immortal. Man does not lose his consciousness by being mad about God.”

It is not easy to lose the feeling of ‘I’ and ‘mine’. When people achieve success, their ego soars up and they start thinking, “How hard I worked to achieve this success”, “How much I helped him in work”, etc. But when they encounter failure, they blame God. Even though it is very difficult, by constant effort, by continuously reminding oneself that God is the Doer and we are only instruments in His hand, it is indeed possible to reach a stage where one can surrender both – success and failure – at the feet of God and attain complete peace. 

Message from the Gospel – 8. Discrimination about Food

After presenting some lofty ideals of Sri Ramakrishna, I decided to present some lighter ideas before getting back to heavy subjects again. One such being the choice of food. Some people are extremely fussy about food. I have seen people saying, “I can eat only that and that. I can’t eat this.” Or, “If I eat this, this will happen. If I eat that, something else will happen!” I have also seen another type of people who eat peacefully whatever is given to them. I believe I belong to this second category and never complain about food. So, I used to wonder why people make so much fuss about food. Although I said “I never complain about food”, I must add to that “most of the time”. This is because, I am 100% vegetarian, no eggs even. So, here my discrimination starts! Now, compared to people who may eat eggs and non-veg, I am fussy isn’t it? I used to think, “The more fuss you make about food (or about anything else) the more miserable is your life” but only until I read Sri Ramakrishna’s message in the Gospel regarding food.

There is a discussion about this topic in the Gospel, which will help us understand all about food choices.

MASTER (to Vijay and the other devotees): "A man brought a bottle of consecrated wine for me; but I couldn't even touch it."

VIJAY: "Ah!"

MASTER: "I become intoxicated at the mere thought of God. I don't have to take any wine. I feel drunk at the very sight of the charanamrita. I feel as if I had drunk five bottles of liquor. When a person attains such a state he cannot help discriminating about food."

NARENDRA: "As regards food, one should take whatever comes."

MASTER: "What you say applies only to a particular state of the aspirant's mind. No food can harm a Jnāni.

According to the Gitā, the Jnāni himself does not eat; his eating is an offering to the Kundalini. But that does not apply to a bhakta. The present state of my mind is such that I cannot eat any food unless it is first offered to God by a brahmin priest. Formerly my state of mind was such that I would enjoy inhaling the smell of burning corpses, carried by the wind from the other side of the Ganges. It tasted very sweet to me. But nowadays I cannot eat food touched by anybody and everybody. No, I cannot. But once in a while I do. One day I was taken to see a performance of a play at Keshab's house. They gave me luchi and curries to eat. I didn't know whether the food was handed to me by a washerman or a barber; but I ate quite a little (all laugh).  Rākhāl  had asked me to eat."

(To Narendra) "With you it is all right. You are in 'this' as well as in 'that'. You can eat everything now. (To the devotees) Blessed is he who feels longing for God, though he eats pork. But shame on him whose mind dwells on 'woman and gold', though he eats the purest food – boiled vegetables, rice, and ghee."

Even though, in the above discussion, Narendra (later Swami Vivekananda) said, “One should take whatever comes”, later in his life, he also went through a stage when he felt highly repulsive about certain foods and also about food cooked by certain people.

On another occasion, Narendra told Sri Ramakrishna, referring to Bhavanath (a young devotee), "He has given up fish and betel-leaf."

MASTER: "Why so? What is the matter with fish and betel-leaf? They aren't harmful.  The renunciation of 'woman and gold' is the true renunciation.

The message from the above discussion is that ‘eating’ and ‘not eating’ are just different stages of evolution of life and we may simply accept them without getting unduly concerned about either. Giving up eating some food may imply some amount of self-control but in no way implies true renunciation. As Sri Ramakrishna emphasizes, renunciation of 'woman and gold' is the true renunciation.

Message from the Gospel – 7. Exercise Caution

It is God alone who has become everything. But that doesn’t mean that one should embrace a lion or befriend a fox. Although God dwells in everything, the magnitude of His manifestation is different in different beings. Sri Ramakrishna explains this with a beautiful story.

"In a forest there lived a holy man who had many disciples.  One day he taught them to see God in all beings and, knowing this, to bow low before them all.  A disciple went to the forest to gather wood for the sacrificial fire.  Suddenly he heard an outcry: 'Get out of the way! A mad elephant is coming!' All but the disciple of the holy man took to their heels.  He 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.  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.'

God dwells in all beings.  But you may be intimate only with good people; you must keep away from the evil-minded.  God is even in the tiger; but you cannot embrace the tiger on that account.  You may say, 'Why run away from a tiger, which is also a manifestation of God?' The answer to that is: 'Those who tell you to run away are also manifestations of God - and why shouldn't you listen to them?'

"It is said in the scriptures that water is a form of God.  But some water is fit to be used for worship, some water for washing the face, and some only for washing plates or dirty linen.  This last sort cannot be used for drinking or for a holy purpose.  In like manner, God undoubtedly dwells in the hearts of all - holy and unholy, righteous and unrighteous; but a man should not have dealings with the unholy, the wicked, the impure.  He must not be intimate with them.  With some of them he may exchange words, but with others he shouldn't go even that far.  He should keep aloof from such people."

Sri Ramakrishna says further, "One must be careful about these few things. First, an influential man who has much money and many men under his control. He can injure you if he wants; you must be careful while talking to him; perhaps you may have to approve what he says. Second, a dog. When it chases you or barks at you, you must stand still, talk to it gently, and pacify it. Third, a bull. If it runs after you with lowered horns, you must calm it with a gentle voice. Fourth, a drunkard. If you arouse his anger, he will abuse you, naming fourteen generations of your family. You should say to him: 'Hello uncle! How are you?' Then he will be mightily pleased and sit by you and smoke.

"In the presence of a wicked person I become alert. If such a man asks me whether I have a pipe for smoking, I say, 'Yes, I have.' Some people have the nature of a snake: they will bite you without warning. You have to discriminate a great deal in order to avoid the bite; otherwise your passion will be stirred up to such an extent that you will feel like doing injury in return. The companionship of a holy man is greatly needed now and then. It enables one to discriminate between the Real and the unreal."

May God bless us holy company and wise guidance.

Message from Gospel – 6. God Alone Has Become Everything

Sri Ramakrishna says, “At first one discriminates, 'Not this, not this', and feels that God alone is real and all else is illusory.  Afterwards the same person finds that it is God Himself who has become all this – the universe, maya, and the living beings.  First negation and then affirmation.  This is the view held by the Puranas.  A vilwa-fruit, for instance, includes flesh, seeds, and shell.  You get the flesh by discarding the shell and seeds.  But if you want to know the weight of the fruit, you cannot find it if you discard the shell and seeds.  Just so, one should attain Sarchidananda by negating the universe and its living beings.  But after the attainment of Satchidananda one finds that Satchidananda Itself has become the universe and the living beings.  It is of one substance that the flesh and the shell and seeds are made, just like butter and buttermilk.”

“During the period of struggle one should follow the method of discrimination-'Not this, not this'-and direct the whole mind to God.  But the state of perfection is quite different.  After reaching God one reaffirms what formerly one denied.  To extract butter you must separate it from the buttermilk.  Then you discover that butter and buttermilk are intrinsically related to one another.  They belong to the same stuff.  The butter is not essentially different from the buttermilk, nor the buttermilk essentially different from the butter.  After realizing God one knows definitely that it is He who has become everything.  In some objects He is manifested more clearly, and in others less clearly.”

"When a flood comes from the ocean, all the land is deep under water.  Before the flood, the boat could have reached the ocean only by following the winding course of the river.  But after the flood, one can row straight to the ocean.  One need not take a roundabout course.  After the harvest has been reaped, one need not take the roundabout course along the balk of the field.  One can cross the field at any point.”

"After the realization of God, He is seen in all beings.  But His greater manifestation is in man.  Again, among men, God manifests Himself more clearly in those devotees who are sattvic, in those who have no desire whatever to enjoy 'woman and gold'.  Where can a man of samādhi rest his mind, after coming down from the plane of samādhi? That is why he feels the need of seeking the company of pure-hearted devotees, endowed with sattva and free from attachment to 'woman and gold'.  How else could such a person occupy himself in the relative plane of consciousness?”

"He who is Brahman is the Ādyāśakti, the Primal Energy.  When inactive He is called Brahman, the Purusha; He is called Śakti, or Prakriti, when engaged in creation, preservation, and destruction.  These are the two aspects of Reality: Purusha and Prakriti.  He who is the Purusha is also Prakriti.  Both are the embodiment of Bliss.”

"If you are aware of the Male Principle, you cannot ignore the Female Principle: He who is aware of the father must also think of the mother. He who knows darkness also knows light.  He who knows night also knows day.  He who knows happiness also knows misery.”

“Satchidananda Itself has become the universe and the living beings. It may be asked, 'How has Satchidananda become so hard?' This earth does indeed feel very hard to the touch.  The answer is that blood and semen are thin liquids, and yet out of them comes such a big creature as man.  Everything is possible for God.  First of all reach the indivisible Satchidananda, and then, coming down, look at the universe.  You will then find that everything is Its manifestation.  It is God alone who has become everything.  The world by no means exists apart from Him.”

"All elements finally merge in Ākāśa.  Again, at the time of creation, Ākāśa evolves into mahat and mahat into Ahamkāra.  In this way the whole world-system is evolved.  It is the process of involution and evolution.  A devotee of God accepts everything.  He accepts the universe and its created beings as well as the indivisible Satchidananda.”

"God alone is the Master, and again, He is the Servant.  This attitude indicates Perfect Knowledge.”

Message from the Gospel – 5. Discrimination and Dispassion Are the Protective Shields

When a human being travels through the ocean of life, there is a danger of being attacked by the alligators such as lust and greed. How to save oneself from the alligators? Sri Ramakrishna says, smear your body with turmeric before diving in – the turmeric of discrimination and dispassion.

To the question, "What is discrimination?" by a devotee, Sri Ramakrishna answers, "Discrimination is the reasoning by which one knows that God alone is real and all else is unreal.  Real means eternal, and unreal means impermanent.  He who has acquired discrimination knows that God is the only Substance and all else is non-existent.  With the awakening of this spirit of discrimination a man wants to know God.  On the contrary, if a man loves the unreal – such things as creature comforts, name, fame, and wealth, then he doesn't want to know God, who is of the very nature of Reality.  Through discrimination between the Real and the unreal one seeks to know God.”

He says further, "'Woman and gold' is impermanent.  God is the only Eternal Substance.  What does a man get with money? Food, clothes, and a dwelling-place - nothing more.  You cannot realize God with its help.  Therefore money can never be the goal of life.  That is the process of discrimination.

 

Consider - what is there in money or in a beautiful body? Discriminate and you will find that even the body of a beautiful woman consists of bones, flesh, fat, and other disagreeable things.  Why should a man give up God and direct his attention to such things? Why should a man forget God for their sake?"

Regarding dispassion, Sri Ramakrishna says, "If you want to realize God, then you must cultivate intense dispassion. You must renounce immediately what you feel to be standing in your way. You should not put it off till the future. 'Woman and gold' is the obstruction. The mind must be withdrawn from it.”

On another occasion he explains, "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.  She even speaks of them as 'my Rāma' or 'my Hari'.  But in her own mind she knows very well that they do not belong to her at all.”

Attachment brings bondage. Non-attachment ensures freedom. Therefore, says Sri Ramakrishna, “When you plunge in the water of the ocean, you may be attacked by alligators.  But they won't touch you if your body is smeared with turmeric.  There are no doubt six alligators - lust, anger, avarice, so on¹ - within you, in the 'heart's fathomless depths'.  But protect yourself with the turmeric of discrimination and renunciation, and they won't touch you.” 

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¹The six passions of the mind or the six enemies that ruin a human being are lust, anger, avarice (greed), blind attachment, pride, and jealousy.

Was Sri Krishna Guileful?

The word ‘Guile’ has the following meanings listed in Word 2010: Cunning, Astuteness, Treachery, Slyness, Wiliness, Cleverness, Craftiness, and Deviousness. ‘A guileful person’ may be taken to mean a person marked by skill in deception.

Sri Ramakrishna says, “A man of guile will never be able to realize God” (see Ganappa blog, Message from the Gospel -1. Do not Pretend). This message was fresh on my mind when I was reading the chapter titled ‘Krishna’s Guile’ in the book, The Difficulty of Being Good by Gurcharan Das. The book reviews some of the main characters of the great Indian epic Mahabharata in the context of their role toward upholding dharma. The chapters of the book have been titled Yudhishthira’s  Duty, Draupadi’s Courage, Arjuna’s Despair, and Bhishma’s Selflessness, etc.

The chapter titled ‘Krishna’s Guile’ discusses how the main warriors of the Kaurava side were killed one-by-one by unfair tricks and how Krishna master-minded each one of those killings. For example, on the 12^th day of the Kurukshetra war, Arjuna pierces Bhishma with 25 arrows keeping Shikandi in front knowing that Bhishma would not fight Shikandi as Shikandi was a woman in a previous birth. (Bhishma did not die immediately as he had a boon to choose his time of death.) On the 15^th day of war, Drona was misinformed that his son Ashwattama had been killed, whereas it was indeed an elephant of the same name. Krishna forces Yudhishthira to tell this lie by trusting which Drona lays down his armour and sits down to meditate. Dhrishtadyumna utilizes that moment and kills the unarmed Drona. On the 17^th day of war, when Karna was trying to lift the sunken wheel of his chariot caught in a slush of water, Krishna asks Arjuna not to miss the moment but to strike him. Although Arjuna did not want to take advantage of Karna’s moment of distress, Krishna urges Arjuna to finish the enemy. On the final 18^th day of war, Bhima strikes Duryodhana’s thigh with the maze and wins the duel. (In a fair combat, the opponent should not be hit below the navel.) Then the war ends.

Even though all this was known to me, I had looked upon them as a necessity. My line of thinking used to be, “Kauravas were bad. They had to be killed by all means.” However, after reading the chapter, ‘Krishna’s Guile’, I felt very much disturbed. Was Krishna guileful?

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna quotes a song that Sri Ramakrishna used to sing. In the song Sri Krishna tells a cowherd girl Chandravali that He would not hesitate to grant moksha (salvation = no more birth) to His devotees but He would hesitate to grant bhakti (pure love). The reason being, owing to the pure love of King Vali, He is standing as His door-keeper in the Hell and, again, due to the love of the pure-hearted cowherd boys of Vrindaban, He had to lift the Govardhan mountain to protect them.

I had always perceived Sri Krishna as a God of exceptional love and compassion, who became a charioteer for the sake of His friend Arjuna but the book is calling Him guileful. Then what about Sri Ramakrishna’s message that a man of guile will never be able to realize God? Sri Krishna, who is worshiped as God, seems to be full of guile. Did we choose to worship a wrong person as God? Again and again the same thought struck me. Whenever I sat down for meditation, I was not able to concentrate on my chosen deity. The peace I used to derive after every session of meditation seems to have gone forever. Although I did not stop my meditation sessions and continued my routine, they became too lifeless and monotonous.

After suffering for a couple of days, one fine day, I got the answer to all my doubts during morning meditation. I am back to my normal self,  happy and peaceful. As I felt that the same doubts may appear for others as well, I decided to write this blog and share my understanding.

Many years ago, I had a habit – whenever I felt people are troubling me, it may be my boss giving too much work or a colleague disturbing me too often for petty issues – I would simply pray to God, “I am not able to take this anymore. Please lift your Gadha (maze).” Immediately, I would add a rejoinder, “Just lift your Gadha and scare them. Do not bring it down, they don’t have the strength to take the power of your Gadha.” Very soon, my troubles would subside and I would feel peaceful. I believed that God must have scared the trouble-makers with His maze. In recent times, I had not prayed for such help, probably because I have grown more mature and my prayers these days have been, “Please help me understand the lesson you are trying to teach me through these pain and suffering. I am too dumb to understand your hidden message.”

During meditation, I remembered my old prayer. I felt as though God asked me, “Why did you expect me to raise my Gadha for your sake?” Immediately, I understood. The Pandavas were guileless and they were devoted to Sri Krishna. So He took the responsibility to protect them. He declares to Arjuna at the beginning of the Kurukshetra war that He had already decided to finish the Kuru race, and all the Kauravas will be killed irrespective of whether Arjuna fights them or not. Then He carries on His mission. 

As Sri Krishna declares in the Bhagavad Gita, He had nothing to gain or lose from the Kurukshetra war. Why should He participate in the war at all? His single responsibility was to establish dharma which fell when Draupadi was dragged into the court of Dhritharashtra and when Dusshasana attempted to disrobe her.

I also remembered a line of a sloka I recite everyday: it refers to God as ‘Kapata naataka soothra dhara’ meaning ‘master-mind of the cunning drama of life’. God is indeed a master-mind of cunningness. He has to be. Only then wicked people will be punished and good people will be saved.

I also understood that there is no clash between the teaching of Sri Ramakrishna and the behavior of Sri Krishna. Sri Ramakrishna asked humans to be guileless if they wish to realize God. Pandavas were guileless and therefore they had Sri Krishna on their side. Sri Ramakrishna never said God should be guileless. The all-powerful God will assume various forms as per the need of his devotees. To save Sugreeva, Sri Rama hid behind a tree and killed Vali. To protect Prahlada, God assumed a man-lion form Narasimha and killed Prahlada’s father Hiranyakasipu. The same way, to protect the guileless Pandavas, Sri Krishna had to use guile.

All my doubts vanished and Sri Krishna's compassion filled my heart.