From the Gospel – 3

M. (humbly):"How ought we to live in the world?"

MASTER: "Do all your duties, but keep your mind on God.  Live with all - with wife and children, father and mother - and serve them.  Treat them as if they were very dear to you, but know in your heart of hearts that they do not belong to you.

A maidservant in the house of a rich man performs all the household duties, but her thoughts are fixed on her own home in her native village.  She brings up her Master's children as if they were her own.  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.

The tortoise moves about in the water.  But can you guess where her thoughts are? They are on the bank, where her eggs are lying.  Do all your duties in the world, but keep your mind on God.

If you enter the world without first cultivating love for God, you will be entangled more and more.  You will be overwhelmed with its danger, its grief, its sorrows.  And the more you think of worldly things, the more you will be attached to them.

First rub your hands with oil and then break open the jack-fruit; otherwise they will be smeared with its sticky milk.  First secure the oil of divine love, and then set your hands to the duties of the world. 

But one must go into solitude to attain this divine love.  To get butter from milk you must let it set into curd in a secluded spot; if it is too much disturbed, milk won't turn into curd.  Next, you must put aside all other duties, sit in a quiet spot, and churn the curd.  Only then do you get butter.

Further, by meditating on God in solitude the mind acquires knowledge, dispassion, and devotion.  But the very same mind goes downward if it dwells in the world.  In the world there is only one thought: 'woman and gold'.

The world is water and the mind milk.  If you pour milk into water they become one; you cannot find the pure milk any more.  But turn the milk into curd and churn it into butter.  Then, when that butter is placed in water, it will float.  So, practise spiritual discipline in solitude and obtain the butter of knowledge and love.  Even if you keep that butter in the water of the world the two will not mix.  The butter will float.

Together with this, you must practise discrimination.  '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.  Do you understand?"

M: "Yes, sir.  I recently read a Sanskrit play called Prabodha Chandrodaya.  It deals with discrimination."

MASTER: "Yes, discrimination about objects.  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?"

From the Gospel – 2

Ishan of Bhawanipur asked Sri Ramakrishna, “Sir, why have you renounced the world? The scriptures extol the householder’s life as the best.”

Master: “I don’t know much about what is good and what is bad. I do what God makes me do and speak what he makes me speak.”

Ishan: “If everybody renounced the world, they would be acting against God’s will.”

Master: “Why should everybody renounce? On the other hand, can it be the will of God that all should revel in ‘woman and gold’ [meaning lust and greed] like dogs and jackals? Has He no other wish? Do you know what accords with His will and what is against it?

You say that God wants everybody to lead a worldly life. But why don’t you see it as God’s will when your wife and children die? Why don’t you see His will in poverty, when you haven’t a morsel to eat?

Maya won’t allow us to know the will of God. On account of God’s maya, the unreal appears as real and the real as unreal. The world is unreal. This moment it exists and the next it disappears. But on account of His maya, it appears real. It is only through His maya that ego seems to be the doer. Furthermore, on account of this maya a man regards his wife and children, his brother and sister, his father and mother, his house and property, as his own.

There are two aspects of maya: vidya and avidya. Avidya deludes one with worldliness, and vidya – wisdom, devotion, and the company of holy men – leads one to God.

He who has gone beyond maya, through the grace of God, views alike both vidya and avidya. Worldly life is a life of enjoyment. After all, what is there to enjoy in ‘woman and gold’?  As soon as a sweetmeat has gone down the throat, one doesn’t remember whether it tasted sweet or sour.

But why should everybody renounce? Is renunciation possible except in the fullness of time?...”

Lot more on Renunciation in Part 3…

From the Gospel – 1

We wish to present some highly inspiring passages from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. We trust a dose of the powerful words of the Master (Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa) everyday will be sufficient to kindle spirituality, renunciation, and earnestness to realize God as well as imparting discrimination to shun lust and greed.

According to Sri Ramakrishna, three qualities – pride, hatred, and fear – obstruct an aspirant in realizing God. Here are some words of the Master regarding pride:

Master: “Oh, how vanity turns a person’s head! There was a scavenger woman in the temple garden at Dakshineshwar. And her pride! And all because of a few ornaments. One day a few men were passing her on the path and she shouted to them, ‘Hey! Get out of the way, you people!’ If a scavenger woman can talk that way, what can one say about the vanity of others?”


“Rain-water never collects on a high mound; it collects only in low land. Similarly, the water of God's grace cannot remain on the high mound of egotism. Before God one should feel lowly and poor.

One should be extremely watchful. Even clothes create vanity. I notice that even a man suffering from an enlarged spleen sings Nidhu Babu's light songs when he is dressed up in a black-bordered cloth. There are men who spout English whenever they put on high boots. And when an unfit person puts on an ochre cloth he becomes vain; the slightest sign of indifference to him arouses his anger and pique.”

One day during the rainy season of 1881, Sri Ramakrishna and a number of devotees visited Surendra’s house…. Surendra approached the Master with a garland and wanted to put it around his neck. But the Master took it in his hand and threw it aside. Surendra’s pride was wounded and his eyes filled with tears. He went to the west porch and sat with Ram, Manomohan, and others. In a voice choked with sadness he said, “I am really angry. How can a poor Brahmin know the value of a thing like that? I spent a lot of money for that garland, and he refused to accept it. I was unable to control my anger and said that the other garlands were to be given away to the devotees. Now I realize it was all my fault. God cannot be bought with money; He cannot be possessed by a vain person. I have really been vain. Why should he accept my worship? I don’t feel like living any more.” Tears streamed down his cheeks and over his chest.

In the meantime, Trilokya was singing inside the room. The Master began to dance in an ecstasy of joy. He put around his neck the garland that he had thrown aside; holding it with one hand, he swung it with the other as he danced and sang. Now Surendra’s joy was unbounded. The Master had accepted his offering. Surendra said to himself, “God crushes one’s pride, no doubt, but He is also the cherished treasure of the humble and lowly.”

Pride, pride, pride. As mentioned in paragraph 2 above, there is no limit to the pride of people. Pride of good features, pride of youthfulness, pride of wealth, pride of good education, pride of charity, there is no end to the list of things that people pride over. Why, even the pride that “I am honest,” “I have never told a lie,” “I have not cheated anybody” will not let a person realize God. We have to keep a constant watch over our actions and should not let pride enter in any form.

Get Stronger Everyday

I have often seen people expressing their displeasure in carrying out tasks assigned to them. “Why should I do this?” “This is not my job.” “Oh, what I have been reduced into?”

My mother used to tell us, her children, “No work is degrading. As long as you are cooking food or cleaning vessels in your house, or mopping the floor of your house, or as long as you are cleaning the toilets of your house, you don’t have to feel bad. If you are doing these in someone else’s house, then you have to feel bad.” According to her, one must study well and become an engineer, doctor, or scientist. Household activities and other such jobs are meant for the uneducated. But I go one step ahead and believe that even if all the above-mentioned jobs are performed for a living (i.e. to earn money), there is no need to feel bad or ashamed. As long as we are not earning by cheating somebody or doing heinous crimes such as murder, etc., there is no reason to feel bad.

Everybody is not fortunate enough to get a good education and get into good jobs. In spite of all our limitations, if we can still hold on to values such as truth and honesty, we have nothing to regret, and I feel one may live with peace of mind.

In fact, what is more important is the attitude with which we perform the task. There is a beautiful story which most of you may be aware of. There was a saint who had mastered the holy scriptures and was revered by everybody in his neighborhood as a holy man. In the house opposite to his, lived a prostitute. The saint used to sit outside his house to meditate on God and would see the men entering and leaving the prostitute’s house. He would curse the woman and think what kind of life she is living. He used to put one stone every time he saw a man enter her house. In course of time, a heap of stones piled up in front of his house. The prostitute, on the other hand, used to see this saint with reverence and pray to God everyday to forgive her for the life she has chosen to live. When they died, the saint went to hell and the prostitute went to heaven. The saint was furious and wanted to know what crime he had committed. He was told that the number of his crimes equaled the number of stones of the heap collected in front of his house.

Never ever regret that you have been reduced to perform a low profile job. Remember, nobody can reduce you. Take it as a test from the Almighty. Perform every task that comes your way with the utmost sincerity. That sincerity will qualify you for bigger and better jobs. Here are the words of Swami Vivekananda:

            By doing well the duty which is nearest to us,

            the duty which is in our hands,

            we make ourselves stronger.

Get stronger everyday, both physically and mentally. Every work performed with sincerity and dedication takes us one step closer to the goal.


R. Padma

Get and Forget?

I heard this recently in a talk:

Humans get and forget, God gives and forgives

Even if it may not be right to generalize it as humans, in the majority of humans this nature is indeed observed.

Forgetting is good, if we can forget all the bad things others did to us.

When we can give something good, however small the gesture may be, even if you can make another person smile, you have given a moment’s joy – then we are moving from being human to being God. And when we learn to forgive, however bad the crime or mistake may be, we are indeed becoming God.

So, what is Godliness? It is being kind, being honest, being truthful, to be able to give rather than to get, and, above all, to be able to forgive.

Let us give as much as we can, let us forgive everyone, young and old, without exception…

Lessons to learn from the lives of Sri Ramakrishna’s disciples – Part 11

Sri Ramakrishna’s entire life demonstrated one theme ‘Religion is realization of God’. The goal of being born as a human gets fulfilled only when one is able to realize God -- feel God, see God, and talk to God. It is possible only for humans. Therefore, human life is considered special, precious. We have to sense God to be convinced that there is a God. Otherwise, this human birth is considered to have gone waste.

When Narendra (later Swami Vivekananda) asked Sri Ramakrishna whether he has seen God, he replied, “Yes, I see God as I am seeing you, only a lot more clearly.”

The next question is ‘How to achieve that?’ “Can you cry for God vision? People shed jugs of tears for family, children, wealth, etc. But who wants God?” was his answer.

For God realization, one has to develop an intense longing to see God. It will not happen overnight. It has to be cultivated, nurtured.

What are the obstacles in the path of a person seeking God realization? ‘Lust and greed’, says Sri Ramakrishna. As long as one craves for material gains and sexual pleasures, one cannot realize God. Although it may not be possible to get rid of them overnight, one should start restraining oneself from material and sexual pleasures as much as possible, and start spending more time thinking and meditating on God. Here is an anecdote from the life of Swami Subodananda, affectionately known as ‘Koka Maharaj’ as he was the youngest (probably 16 or 17 years old when he renounced his wealthy parents and chose to become a monk) disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. The following incident happened when Swami Subodhananda was practicing austerities in Haridwar.

He was suffering from fever for two months. One day he was too weak and could not lift even the water pot to drink some water to quench his thirst. When he went near the pot, he fell unconscious. When he regained his consciousness, he was overwhelmed by self-pity and cried: “Master, I am suffering terribly. There is none to look after me. You didn’t give sufficient strength even to drink a glass of water by myself.” Thinking thus, he fell asleep. Then he saw [in a dream or vision] the Master [Sri Ramakrishna] stroking his body with his hand and he said, “Why are you anxious? Don’t you see I am always near you? What do you want – attendants or money?” Swami Subodhananda replied, “I want neither of those things. I can’t avoid disease as long as I have a body. May I never forget you: that’s all I want. Be with me wherever I go.”

Early in the morning, he heard a voice from outside, “Swami, please open the door.” When he opened the door, he saw a young monk who told him, “Please tell me what you need. I shall beg food for you.” Swami Subodhananda told him, “I don’t need anything.” When he enquired how the monk knew about him, the monk said that he had arrived there a few days before to perform a religious rite at Brahmakunda. The previous night, Mother Durga appeared in his dream and said, “You will get more virtue by serving that sick monk in the cottage than by performing this religious rite.” So, early in the morning, he went to the cottage and understood that his dream was true. Tears trickled from the eyes of Swami Subodhananda. He controlled his emotions and told the monk to leave him as he preferred to live alone.

On the same day, another monk received fifty rupees by money order. He came to Swami Subodhananda and said, “”You are suffering from fever. You need food and medicine. Please use this money.” The swami declined his offer. Early next day morning the young monk came to the swami again and told him that Mother Durga appeared in his dream again and exhorted him to serve the swami. The swami told him politely that he really did not need any service and perhaps Mother Durga wanted the monk to serve someone else. The young monk left. Then Swami Subodhananda prayed earnestly to Sri Ramakrishna, “Please don’t tempt me anymore. I am glad that you crushed my pique.” The young monk came on the third day also but never again.

Reading the above anecdote in the book God Lived With Them by Swami Chetanananda made me wonder “What an amazing level of renunciation Swami Subodhananda had?”

“I will not ask for money, or servants. I will not even ask for good health since as long as a body exists there is scope for illness. Please ensure that I will never forget your name. Be with me always” This is what Swami Subodhananda asked. He has shown us the way. It is not easy to be all-sacrificing as he was. But if we can try to emulate even a percentage of that renunciation, we will soon realize the power and kindness of God.