Message from the Gospel – 4. Woman (Man) and Gold Are the Obstacles

Throughout the Gospel, there are many references to ‘woman and gold’ and Sri Ramakrishna emphasizes time and again how they obstruct spiritual progress.

A point to be noted here is that the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna recorded in the Gospel are day-to-day conversations of Sri Ramakrishna with his devotees. As the audience happened to be men, he used the words ‘woman and gold’. If the audience were women, he would have probably said, ‘man and gold’. Generalizing, we may say, any type of attraction towards the opposite sex is a weakness, an obstacle, as it takes away the mind from God. It is a negative quality and should be eliminated.

The second obstacle to spiritual progress is gold. Although the word ‘gold’ has been used, it may be generalized as ‘greed’. A worldly person, no doubt, has to undertake materialistic pursuits. There is no harm in working hard and earning money in the right way. But when people become greedy, they start indulging in illegal activities to usurp others’ wealth, and their degradation begins. Greed pushes them to commit all possible crimes.

Sri Ramakrishna says, " 'Woman and gold' alone is the obstacle to yoga.  Always analyse what you see.  What is there in the body of a woman? Only such things as blood, flesh, fat, entrails, and the like.  Why should one love such a body?”

"A man practises spiritual discipline, but his mind is on 'woman and gold' – it is turned toward enjoyment.  Therefore, in his case, the spiritual discipline does not produce the right result.”

"A man may live in a mountain cave, smear his body with ashes, observe fasts; and practise austere discipline; but if his mind dwells on worldly objects, on 'woman and gold', I say, 'Shame on him!' But I say that a man is blessed indeed who eats, drinks, and roams about, but who keeps his mind free from 'woman and gold'.”

“'Worldliness' means 'woman and gold'."

“'Woman and gold' is the cause of bondage. 'Woman and gold' alone constitutes samsara, the world. It is 'woman and gold' that keeps one from seeing God. (Holding the towel in front of his face) Do you see my face any more? Of course not. The towel hides it. No sooner is the covering of 'woman and gold' removed than one attains Chidananda, Consciousness and Bliss.”

MASTER (to Kedār, Vijay, and the other devotees): "He who has renounced the pleasure of a wife has verily renounced the pleasure of the world. It is 'woman and gold' that hides God. You people have such imposing moustaches, and yet you too are involved in 'woman and gold'. Tell me if it isn't true. Search your heart and answer me."

VIJAY: "Yes, it is true."

Kedār remained silent.

MASTER: "I see that all are under the control of woman. One day I went to Captain's house. From there I was to go to Ram's house. So I said to Captain, 'Please give me my carriage hire.' He asked his wife about it. She too held back and said: 'What's the matter? What's the matter?' At last Captain said, 'Ram will take care of it.' You see, the Gitā, the Bhagavata, and the Vedānta all bow before a woman!” (All laugh.)

"A man leaves his money, his property, and everything in the hands of his wife. But he says with affected simplicity, 'I have such a nature that I cannot keep even two rupees with me.'”

"A man went to an office in search of a job. There were many vacancies, but the manager did not grant his request. A friend said to the applicant, 'Appeal to Golapi, and you will get the job.' Golapi was the manager's mistress.”

"Men do not realize how far they are dragged down by women. Once I went to the Fort in a carriage, feeling all the while that I was going along a level road. At last I found that I had gone four storeys down. It was a sloping road.”

"A man possessed by a ghost does not know he is under the ghost's control. He thinks he is quite normal."

VIJAY (smiling): "But he can be cured by an exorcist if he finds one."

In answer to Vijay, Sri Ramakrishna only said, "That depends on the will of God." Then he went on with his talk about women.

MASTER: "Everyone I talk to says, 'Yes, sir, my wife is good.' Nobody says that his wife is bad. (All laugh.) Those who constantly live with 'woman and gold' are so infatuated with it that they don't see things properly. Chess-players oftentimes cannot see the right move for their pieces on the board. But those who watch the game from a distance can understand the moves more accurately.”

"Woman is the embodiment of māyā. In the course of his hymn to Rāma, Nārada said: 'O Rāma, all men are parts of Thee. All women are parts of Sita, the personification of Thy māyā. Please deign to grant that I may have pure love for Thy Lotus Feet and that I may not be deluded by Thy world bewitching māyā. I do not want any other favour than that.' "

"But on attaining the state of the paramahamsa one becomes like a child. A child five years old doesn't know the difference between a man and a woman. But even a paramahamsa must be careful, so as not to set a bad example to others."

MASTER (to Bankim): "'Woman and gold' alone is the world; that alone is māyā. Because of it you cannot see or think of God. After the birth of one or two children, husband and wife should live as brother and sister and talk only of God. Then both their minds will be drawn to God, and the wife will be a help to the husband on the path of spirituality. None can taste divine bliss without giving up his animal feeling. A devotee should pray to God to help him get rid of this feeling. It must be a sincere prayer. God is our Inner Controller; He will certainly listen to our prayer if it is sincere.”

The two great Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata describe how great men fall due to lust and greed. Ramayana describes how Ravana, in spite being an accomplished warrior and a great devotee of Shiva, fell due to his lust to possess Sita. On the other hand, Mahabharata teaches that Duryodhana’s greed to rule the entire kingdom and his unwillingness to part with even five villages as requested by Yudhishthira led to the complete destruction of Kauravas.

Remembering the lessons taught by the two great epics, let us pray like Narada, “Oh God! Please grant that I may have pure love for Thy Lotus Feet and that I may not be deluded by Thy world bewitching māyā. I do not want any other favour than that.”

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.