Divine grace removes bondage

MASTER: “They are not eight bonds, but eight fetters. But what if they are? These fetters fall off in a moment, by the grace of God. Do you know what it is like? Suppose a room has been kept dark a thousand years. The moment a man brings a light into it, the darkness vanishes. Not little by little. Haven’t you seen the magician’s feat? He takes string with many knots, and ties one end to something, keeping the other in his hand.

Then he shakes the string once or twice, and immediately all the knots come undone. But another man cannot untie the knots however he may try. All the knots of ignorance come undone in the twinkling of an eye, through the guru’s grace. “Well, can you tell me why Keshab Sen has changed so much lately? He used to come here very often. He learnt here how to bow low before a holy man. One day I told him that one should not salute a holy man as he had been doing. Harish says rightly: ‘All the cheques must be approved here. Only then will they be cashed in the bank.’”

(Laughter.)

M. listened to these words breathlessly. He began to realize that Satchidananda, in the form of the guru, passes the “cheque”.

MASTER: “Do not reason. Who can ever know God? I have heard it from Nangta, once for all, that this whole universe is only a fragment of Brahman.

“Hazra is given to too much calculation. He says, ‘This much of God has become the universe and this much is the balance.’ My head aches at his calculations. I know that I know nothing. Sometimes I think of God as good, and sometimes as bad. What can I know of Him?”

M: “It is true, sir. Can anyone ever know God? Each thinks, with his little bit of intelligence, that he has understood all of God. As you say, an ant went to a sugar hill and, finding that one grain of. sugar filled its stomach, thought that the next time it would take the entire hill into its hole.”

Surrender to the Divine Mother

MASTER: “Who can ever know God? I don’t even try. I only call on Him as Mother. Let Mother do whatever She likes. I shall know Her if it is Her will; but I shall be happy to remain ignorant if She wills otherwise. My nature is that of a kitten.

It only cries, ‘Mew, mew!’ The rest it leaves to its mother. The mother cat puts the kitten sometimes in the kitchen and sometimes on the master’s bed. The young child wants only his mother. He doesn’t know how wealthy his mother is, and he doesn’t even want to know. He knows only, ‘I have a mother; why should I worry?’ Even the child of the maidservant knows that he has a mother. If he quarrels with the son of the master, he says: ‘I shall tell my mother. I have a mother.’ My attitude, too, is that of a child.”

Suddenly Sri Ramakrishna caught M.’s attention and said, touching his own chest: “Well, there must be something here. Isn’t that so?”

M. looked wonderingly at the Master. He said to himself: “Does the Mother Herself dwell in the Master’s heart? Is it the Divine Mother who has assumed this human body for the welfare of humanity?”

Sri Ramakrishna was praying to the Divine Mother: “O Mother! O Embodiment of Om!

Mother, how many things people say about Thee! But I don’t understand any of them. I don’t know anything, Mother. I have taken refuge at Thy feet. I have sought protection in Thee. O Mother, I pray only that I may have pure love for Thy Lotus Feet, love that seeks no return. And Mother, do not delude me with Thy world-bewitching maya. I seek Thy protection. I have taken refuge in Thee.”

The evening worship in the temples was over. Sri Ramakrishna was again seated in his room with M.

M. had been visiting the Master for the past two years and, had received his grace and blessings. He had been told that God was both with form and without form, that He assumed forms for the sake of His devotees. To the worshipper of the formless God, the

Master said: “Hold to your conviction, but remember that all is possible with God. He has form, and again, He is formless. He can be many things more.”

MASTER (to M.): “You have accepted an ideal, that of God without form-isn’t that so?”

M: “Yes, sir. But I also believe what you say-that all is possible with God. It is quite possible for God to have forms.

MASTER: “Good. Remember further that, as Consciousness, He pervades the entire universe of the living and non-living.”

M: “I think of Him as the consciousness in conscious beings.”

MASTER: “Stick to that ideal now. There is no need of tearing down and changing one’s attitude. You will gradually come to realize that the consciousness in conscious beings is the Consciousness of God. He alone is Consciousness.

“Let me ask you one thing. Do you feel attracted to money and treasures?”

M: “No, sir. But I think of earning money in order to be free from anxiety, to be able to think of God without worry.”

MASTER: “Oh, that’s perfectly natural.”

M: “Is it greed? I don’t think so.”

MASTER: “You are right. Otherwise, who will look after your children? What will become of them if you feel that you are not the doer?”

M: “I have heard that one cannot attain Knowledge as long as one has the consciousness of duty. Duty is like the scorching sun.”

MASTER: “Keep your present attitude. It will be different when the consciousness of duty drops away of itself.”

They remained silent a few minutes.

M: “To enter the world after attaining partial knowledge! Why, it is like dying in full consciousness, as in cholera!”

MASTER: “Oh, Ram! Ram!”

The idea in M.’s mind was that just as a cholera patient feels excruciating pain at the time of death, because of retaining consciousness, so also a Jnāni with partial knowledge must feel extremely miserable leading the life of the world, which he knows to be illusory.

M: “People who are completely ignorant are like typhoid patients, who remain unconscious at the time of death and so do not feel the pain.”

MASTER: “Tell me, what does one attain through money? Jaygopal Sen is such a wealthy man; but he complains that his children don’t obey him.”

M: “Is poverty the only painful thing in the world? There are the six passions besides. Then disease and grief.”

MASTER: “And also name and fame, the desire to win people’s recognition. Well, what do you think my attitude is?”

M: “It is like that of a man just awakened from sleep. He becomes aware of himself. You are always united with God.”

MASTER: “Do you ever dream of me?”

M: “Yes, sir. Many times.”

MASTER: “How? Did you dream of me as giving you instruction?”

M. remained silent.

MASTER: “If you ever see me instructing you, then know that it is Satchidananda Himself that does so.”

M. related his dream experiences to Sri Ramakrishna, who listened to them attentively.

MASTER (to M.): “That is very good. Don’t reason any more. You are a follower of Śakti.”