The Evil of 'I' and 'mine'

The relationship of master and servant is the proper one. Since this ‘I’ must remain, let the rascal be God’s servant.

“‘I’ and ‘mine’ - these constitute ignorance. ‘My house’, ‘my wealth’, ‘my learning’, ‘my possessions’ - the attitude that prompts one to say such things comes of ignorance. On the contrary, the attitude born of Knowledge is: ‘O God, Thou art the Master, and all these things belong to Thee. House, family, children, attendants, friends, are Thine.’

“One should constantly remember death. Nothing will survive death. We are born into this world to perform certain duties, like the people who come from the countryside to Calcutta on business. If a visitor goes to a rich man’s garden, the superintendent says to him, ‘This is our garden’, ‘This is our lake’, and so forth.

But if the Superintendent is dismissed for some misdeed, he can’t carry away even his mango-wood chest. He sends it secretly by the gate-keeper.

(Laughter.)

God laughs on two occasions. He laughs when the physician says to the patient’s mother, ‘Don’t be afraid, mother; I shall certainly cure your boy.’ God laughs, saying to Himself, ‘I am going to take his life, and this man says he will save it!’

The physician thinks he is the master, forgetting that God is the Master. God laughs again when two brothers divide their land with a string, saying to each other, ‘This side is mine and that side is your’. He laughs and says to Himself, ‘The whole universe belongs to Me, but they say they own this portion or that portion.’

“Can one know God through reasoning? Be His servant, surrender yourself to Him, and then pray to Him.

Vidyasagar

(smiling): Some day I shall tell you.

(All laugh)

Ramakrishna

(laughing): God cannot be realized through mere scholarly reasoning.

Intoxicated with divine love, the Master sang:

Who is there that can understand what Mother Kāli is? Even the six darsanas are powerless to reveal Her. It is She, the scriptures say, that is the Inner Self Of the yogi, who in Self discovers all his joy; She that, of Her own sweet will, inhabits every living thing.

The macrocosm and microcosm rest in the Mother’s womb; Now do you see how vast it is? In the Muladhara The yogi meditates on Her, and in the Sahasrara: Who but Śiva has beheld Her as She really is? Within the lotus wilderness She sports beside Her Mate, the Swan.

When man aspires to understand Her, Ramprasad must smile; To think of knowing Her, he says, is quite as laughable As to imagine one can swim across the boundless sea. But while my mind has understood, alas! my heart has not;

Though but a dwarf, it still would strive to make a captive of the moon.

Continuing, the Master said: “Did you notice?

The macrocosm and microcosm rest in the Mother’s womb;

Now do you see how vast it is?

Again, the poet says:

Even the six darsanas are powerless to reveal Her.

She cannot be realized by means of mere scholarship.

Power of faith

“One must have faith and love. Let me tell you how powerful faith is. A man was about to cross the sea from Ceylon to India. Bibhishana said to him: ‘Tie this thing in a corner of your wearing-cloth, and you will cross the sea safely. You will be able to walk on the water. But be sure not to examine it, or you will sink.’

The man was walking easily on the water of the sea - such is the strength of faith - when, having gone part of the way, he thought, ‘What is this wonderful thing Bibhishana has given me, that I can walk even on the water?’ He untied the knot and found only a leaf with the name of Rama written on it. ‘Oh, just this!’ he thought, and instantly he sank.

“There is a popular saying that Hanuman jumped over the sea through his faith in Rama’s name, but Rama himself had to build a bridge.

“If a man has faith in God, then He need not be afraid though he may have committed sin - nay, the vilest sin.”

Then Sri Ramakrishna sang a song glorifying the Power of faith:

If only I can pass away repeating Durga’s name, How canst Thou then, O Blessed One,

Withhold from me deliverance, Wretched though I may be? The Master continued: “Faith and devotion. One realizes God easily through devotion. He is grasped through ecstasy of love.” With these words the Master sang again: How are you trying, O my mind, to know the nature of God?

You are groping like a madman locked in a dark room.

He is grasped through ecstatic love; how can you fathom Him without it?

Only through affirmation, never negation, can you know Him;

Neither through Veda nor through Tantra nor the 6 darsanas.

It is in love’s elixir only that He delights, O mind;

He dwells in the body’s inmost depths, in Everlasting Joy.

For that love, the mighty yogis practise yoga from age to age.

When love awakes, the Lord, like a magnet, draws to Him the soul.

He it is, says Ramprasad, that I approach as Mother;

But must I give away the secret, here in the marketplace?

From the hints I have given, O mind, guess what that Being is!

While singing, the Master went into samādhi. He was seated on the bench, facing west, the palms of his hands joined together, his body erect and motionless.

Everyone watched him expectantly. Vidyasagar, too, was speechless and could not take his eyes from the Master.