Message from the Gospel – 26. Four Classes of Men

MASTER (to Narendra): "How do you feel about it? Worldly people say all kinds of things about the spiritually minded.  But look here! When an elephant moves along the street, any number of curs and other small animals may bark and cry after it; but the elephant doesn't even look back at them.  If people speak ill of you, what will you think of them?"

NARENDRA: "I shall think that dogs are barking at me."

MASTER (Smiling): "Oh, no! You mustn't go that far, my child! (Laughter). God dwells in all beings.  But you may be intimate only with good people; you must keep away from the evil-minded.”

"Men may be divided into four classes: those bound by the fetters of the world, the seekers after liberation, the liberated, and the ever-free.” 

"Among the ever-free we may count sages like Narada.  They live in the world for the good of others, to teach men spiritual truth.” 

"Those in bondage are sunk in worldliness and forgetful of God.  Not even by mistake do they think of God.” 

"The seekers after liberation want to free themselves from attachment to the world.  Some of them succeed and others do not.”

"The liberated souls, such as the sadhus and mahatmas, are not entangled in the world, in 'woman and gold'.  Their minds are free from worldliness.  Besides, they always meditate on the Lotus Feet of God.” 

"Suppose a net has been cast into a lake to catch fish.  Some fish are so clever that they are never caught in the net.  They are like the ever-free.  But most of the fish are entangled in the net.  Some of them try to free themselves from it, and they are like those who seek liberation.  But not all the fish that struggle succeed.  A very few do jump out of the net, making a big splash in the water.  Then the fishermen shout, 'Look! There goes a big one!' But most of the fish caught in the net cannot escape, nor do they make any effort to get out.  On the contrary, they burrow into the mud with the net in their mouths and lie there quietly, thinking, 'We need not fear anymore; we are quite safe here.' But the poor things do not know that the fishermen will drag them out with the net.  These are like the men bound to the world.” 

"The bound souls are tied to the world by the fetters of 'woman and gold'.  They are bound hand and foot.  Thinking that 'woman and gold' will make them happy and give them security, they do not realize that it will lead them to annihilation.  When a man thus bound to the world is about to die, his wife asks, 'You are about to go; but what have you done for me?' Again, such is his attachment to the things of the world that, when he sees the lamp burning brightly, he says: 'Dim the light.  Too much oil is being used.' And he is on his death-bed!”

"The bound souls never think of God.  If they get any leisure they indulge in idle gossip and foolish talk, or they engage in fruitless work.  If you ask one of them the reason, he answers, 'Oh, I cannot keep still; so I am making a hedge.' When time hangs heavy on their hands they perhaps start playing cards."

A DEVOTEE: "Sir, is there no help, then, for such a worldly person?"

MASTER: "Certainly there is.  From time to time he should live in the company of holy men, and from time to time go into solitude to meditate on God.  Furthermore, he should practise discrimination and pray to God, 'Give me faith and devotion.' Once a person has faith he has achieved everything.  There is nothing greater than faith.”

Message from the Gospel – 25. Scare the Wicked

A DEVOTEE: "Sir, if a wicked man is about to do harm, or actually does so, should we keep quiet?"

MASTER: "A man living in society should make a show of tamas to protect himself from evil-minded people.  But he should not harm anybody in anticipation of harm likely to be done him.” 

"Listen to a story.  Some cowherd boys used to tend their cows in a meadow where a terrible poisonous snake lived.  Everyone was on the alert for fear of it.  One day a brahmachari was going along the meadow.  The boys ran to him and said: 'Revered sir, please don't go that way.  A venomous snake lives over there.' 'What of it, my good children?' said the brahmachari.  'I am not afraid of the snake.  I know some mantras.' So saying, he continued on his way along the meadow.  But the cowherd boys, being afraid, did not accompany him.  In the meantime, the snake moved swiftly toward him with upraised hood.  As soon as it came near, he recited a mantra, and the snake lay at his feet like an earthworm.  The brahmachari said: 'Look here.  Why do you go about doing harm? Come, I will give you a holy word.  By repeating it you will learn to love God.  Ultimately you will realize Him and so get rid of your violent nature.' Saying this, he taught the snake a holy word and initiated him into spiritual life.  The snake bowed before the teacher and said, 'Revered sir, how shall I practise spiritual discipline?' 'Repeat that sacred word', said the teacher, 'and do no harm to anybody'.  As he was about to depart, the brahmachari said, 'I shall see you again.'”

"Some days passed and the cowherd boys noticed that the snake would not bite.  They threw stones at it.  Still it showed no anger; it behaved as if it were an earthworm.  One day one of the boys came close to it, caught it by the tail, and, whirling it round and round, dashed it again and again on the ground and threw it away.  The snake vomited blood and became unconscious.  It was stunned.  It could not move.  So, thinking it dead, the boys went their way.”

"Late at night the snake regained consciousness.  Slowly and with great difficulty it dragged itself into its hole; its bones were broken and it could scarcely move.  Many days passed.  The snake became a mere skeleton covered with a skin.  Now and then, at night, it would come out in search of food.  For fear of the boys it would not leave its hole during the day-time.  Since receiving the sacred word from the teacher, it had given up doing harm to others.  It maintained its life on dirt, leaves, or the fruit that dropped from the trees.”

"About a year later the brahmachari came that way again and asked after the snake.  The cowherd boys told him that it was dead.  But he couldn't believe them.  He knew that the snake would not die before attaining the fruit of the holy word with which it had been initiated.  He found his way to the place and, searching here and there, called it by the name he had given it.  Hearing the teacher's voice, it came out of its hole and bowed before him with great reverence.  'How are you?' asked the brahmachari.  'I am well, sir', replied the snake.  'But', the teacher asked, 'why are you so thin?' The snake replied: 'Revered sir, you ordered me not to harm anybody.  So I have been living only on leaves and fruit.  Perhaps that has made me thinner.'”

"The snake had developed the quality of sattva; it could not be angry with anyone.  It had totally forgotten that the cowherd boys had almost killed it.”

"The brahmachari said: 'It can't be mere want of food that has reduced you to this state.  There must be some other reason.  Think a little.' Then the snake remembered that the boys had dashed it against the ground.  It said: 'Yes, revered sir, now I remember.  The boys one day dashed me violently against the ground.  They are ignorant, after all.  They didn't realize what a great change had come over my mind.  How could they know I wouldn't bite or harm anyone?' The brahmachari exclaimed: 'What a shame! You are such a fool! You don't know how to protect yourself.  I asked you not to bite, but I didn't forbid you to hiss.  Why didn't you scare them by hissing?'”

"So you must hiss at wicked people.  You must frighten them lest they should do you harm.  But never inject your venom into them.  One must not injure others.”

"In this creation of God there is a variety of things: men, animals, trees, plants.  Among the animals some are good, some bad.  There are ferocious animals like the tiger.  Some trees bear fruit sweet as nectar, and others bear fruit that is poisonous.  Likewise, among human beings, there are the good and the wicked, the holy and the unholy.  There are some who are devoted to God, and others who are attached to the world.”

We must protect ourselves by scaring the wicked. But we must not injure anyone in anticipation of harm.

Message from the Gospel – 24. Keep Away From the Wicked

Sri Ramakrishna says, “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.  (Laughter).  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?'”

"Let me tell you a 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.'” (Laughter)

"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."

More on 'Solitude'

We received a comment for the blog, ‘Message from the Gospel – 19. Solitude Is Necessary’ from Club106 on August 15, 2012. It said, “Very interesting thoughts.

I would be interested to hear what you and your readers think of a similarly themed article I just had published at Elephant Journal. ‘The Lost Art of Being Alone with God’  bit.ly/Qy1cm4.”

The readers may get the article by clicking on the link:

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2012/08/the-lost-art-of-being-alone-with-god/

The above-mentioned article has many beautiful quotes on solitude and brings out the main goal of solitude in these words: “How can we speak what we need to speak, what we want to speak,… if we can’t hear our own inner voice, and if we can’t hear the voice of God within us?

The purpose of meditation is just that – to hear our own inner voice, the voice of God within us. If we learn to listen to that voice, we will never take even a single wrong step.

It is worthy to ponder over the following words of Swami Vivekananda:

The ideal man is he who, in the midst of the greatest silence and solitude, finds the intensest activity, and in the midst of intensest activity finds the silence and solitude of the desert. He has learned the secret of restraint, he has controlled himself. He goes through the streets of a big city with all its traffic, and his mind is as calm as if he were in a cave, where not a sound could reach him; and he is intensely working all the time. That is the ideal of Karma-Yoga, and if you have attained to that you have really learned the secret of work.

Not only to commune with God, but also to achieve mental peace and balance, solitude is necessary. I have seen two types of people – one type gets irritated in a crowd and the other type becomes restless when left alone. But, according to Swami Vivekananda, the ideal man is the one who has self-control, one whose mind is calm.

Solitude gives us the best opportunity to calm our mind; and to realize and practice the presence of God within us. Therefore, the next time we are alone, let us not feel lonely or bored. Rather, let us rejoice that we have some time to be with ourselves. And make an effort to listen to the voice of God within.

Sri Krishna - 16,000 wives yet a Brahmachari: Part 2. Nitya Brahmachari and Nitya Upavasi

We received three comments in the last seven days: two comments for the blog, ‘Sri Krishna – 16,000 wives, yet a brahmachari’ and one comment for the blog, ‘Message from the Gospel – 19. Solitude Is Necessary’. All these comments are highly valuable as they provide new insights regarding those topics and also help us learn important lessons.

The comments received for the blog, ‘Sri Krishna – 16,000 wives, yet a brahmachari’ provided a link:

http://www.celextel.org/storiesandanecdotes/krishnanityabrahmachari.html.”

This made us aware of a site celextel.org. We visited this site and read the story mentioned in the link above. The wealth of knowledge available at celextel is simply remarkable.

Whereas our blog provided only the information about Sri Krishna’s brahmacharya, the story at celextel explains what makes Sri Krishna a nitya brahmachari. Here is the story in short:

One day, Krishna informs his wife Rukmani that Sage Durvasa is camping on the other side of the river Yamuna and tells her, “Prepare a sumptuous meal and take it to the sage and feed him. He will be pleased and will bless you.” Rukmani prepares the food but when she goes to the river, she was not able to find any boatman to take her across the river. So, she seeks the help of Krishna. He tells her, “Say to the river that the Nitya brahmachari has asked her to part and let you cross.” Rukmani was surprised but still she says what she was asked to say and the river indeed parts and lets her cross it. Rukmani goes to the sage, feeds him, and the sage was indeed pleased and he blesses her. When she has to leave, she tells him, “Please help me cross the river.” Sage Durvasa says, “Tell the river that the Nitya Upavasi [one who has never eaten food] has asked her to part and let you cross.” Again Rukmani is surprised and thinks, “Just now he had a sumptuous meal, yet he calls himself Nitya Upavasi?”  Still, she doesn’t ask him anything and follows his instruction. The river indeed parts when she tells that the Nitya Upavasi had asked her to part. Rukmani reaches the other side and unable to control her curiosity, asks Krishna, “You called yourself Nitya Brahmachari and the sage called himself Nitya Upavasi after eating the food I offered him. And the river agreed to both and parted. I am not able to understand.” Krishna laughs and tells her, “We are both realized souls. When we perform an action we understand that it is the body which is performing the action. The soul is unattached. That soul does not marry and does not take food.”

That is how Sri Krishna (his soul) is a brahmachari and Sage Durvasa (his soul) is a upavasi. Once we understand this great truth, we can lead a contended and happy life.

Is it possible to remain unattached? When we accomplish something and people praise us, do we have the humility to believe that we are not the doer? When problems confront us and we receive blows left and right, is it possible for us not to blame the Almighty for the misfortune? When we develop the equanimity of mind – to remain unperturbed in success and failure – we may think that we are getting closer to the ideal.

Message from the Gospel – 23. All Can Be Controlled

Sri Ramakrishna had repeated again and again that God cannot be realized without discrimination and renunciation.  This made M. (the author of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna) extremely worried.  He had married and was then a young man of twenty-eight, educated in college in the Western way.  Having a sense of duty, he asked himself, "Do discrimination and dispassion mean giving up 'woman and gold'?" He was really at a loss to know what to do. 

M. (to the Master): "What should one do if one's wife says: 'You are neglecting me.  I shall commit suicide?' "

MASTER (in a serious tone): "Give up such a wife if she proves an obstacle in the way of spiritual life.  Let her commit suicide or anything else she likes.  The wife that hampers her husband's spiritual life is an ungodly wife."

Immersed in deep thought, M. stood leaning against the wall.  Narendra and the other devotees remained silent a few minutes.  The Master exchanged several words with them; then, suddenly going to M., he whispered in his ear: "But if a man has sincere love for God, then all come under his control - the king, wicked persons, and his wife.  Sincere love of God on the husband's part may eventually help the wife to lead a spiritual life.  If the husband is good, then through the grace of God the wife may also follow his example."