Nature of Brahman

“What Brahman is cannot be described in words. Everything has been polluted, like food that has touched the tongue-that is, everything has been described in words. But no one has been able to describe Brahman. It is therefore unpolluted. I said this to Vidyasagar and he was delighted.

“But the Knowledge of Brahman cannot be realized if the aspirant is worldly-minded even in the slightest degree. He succeeds in acquiring this Knowledge only when his mind is totally free from ‘woman and gold’. Parvati once said to Her father, ‘Father, seek the company of holy men if you want the Knowledge of Brahman.’ " Addressing Mr. Mukherji, Sri Ramakrishna said: “You are rich, and still you call on God. That is very good indeed. It is said in the Gitā that those who fall from the path of yoga are born in their next birth as devotees of God in rich families.”

Mr. Mukherji quoted the line from the Gitā.

MASTER: “God, if He so desires, can keep a Jnāni in the world too. The world and all living beings have been created by His will. But He is self-willed.”

MUKHERJI (with a smile): “How can God have any will? Does He lack anything?”

MASTER (with a smile): “What’s wrong in that? Water is water whether it is still or in waves. The snake is a snake whether it is coiled up motionless or wriggles along. A man is the same man whether sitting still or engaged in action.

“How can you eliminate from the Reality the universe and its living beings? If you do that, It will lack Its full weight. You cannot find out the total weight of the bel-fruit if you eliminate the seeds and shell.

“Brahman is unattached. One finds good and bad smells in the air, but the air itself is untainted. Brahman and Śakti are identical. It is the Primordial Power that has become the world and all living beings.”

MUKHERJI: “Why does one deviate from the path of yoga?”

MASTER: “As the saying goes: ‘In my mother’s womb I was in a state of yoga; coming into the world, I have eaten its clay. The midwife has cut one shackle, the navel cord; but how shall I cut the shackle of maya?’

“Woman and gold”

“Maya is nothing but ‘woman’ and ‘gold’. A man attains yoga when he has freed his mind from these two. The Self-the Supreme Self-is the magnet; the individual self is the needle. The individual self experiences the state of yoga when it is attracted by the Supreme Self to Itself. But the magnet cannot attract the needle if the needle is covered with clay; it can draw the needle only when the clay is removed. The clay of ‘woman’ and ‘gold’ must be removed.”

MUKHERJI: “How can one remove it?”

MASTER: “Weep for God with a longing heart. Tears shed for Him will wash away the clay. When you have thus freed yourself from impurity, you will be attracted by the magnet. Only then will you attain yoga.”

MUKHERJI: “Priceless words!”

MASTER: “If a man is able to weep for God, he will see Him. He will go into samādhi. Perfection in yoga is samādhi. A man achieves kumbhaka without any yogic exercise if he but weeps for God. The next stage is samādhi.

“There is another method -that of meditation. In the Sahasrara, Śiva manifests Himself in a special manner. The aspirant should meditate on Him. The body is like a tray; the mind and buddhi are like water. The Sun of Satchidananda is reflected in this water. Meditating on the reflected sun, one sees the Real Sun through the grace of God.

“But the worldly man must constantly live in the company of holy men. It is necessary for all, even for sannyasis. But it is especially necessary for the householder. His disease has become chronic because he has to live constantly in the midst of ‘woman and gold’.”

MUKHERJI: “Yes, sir. The disease has indeed become chronic”

MASTER: “Give God the power of attorney. Let Him do whatever He wants. Be like a kitten and cry to Him with a fervent heart. The mother cat puts the kitten wherever she wants to. The kitten doesn’t know anything. It is left sometimes on the bed and sometimes near the hearth.”

MUKHERJI: “It is good to read sacred books like the Gitā.”

MASTER: “But what will you gain by mere reading? Some have heard of milk, some have seen it, and there are some, besides, who have drunk it. God can indeed be seen; what is more, one can talk to Him.

Different stages of spiritual progress

“The first stage is that of the beginner. He studies and hears. Second is the stage of the struggling aspirant. He prays to God, meditates on Him, and sings His name and glories. The third stage is that of the perfect soul. He has seen God, realized Him directly and immediately in his inner Consciousness. Last is the stage of the supremely perfect, like Chaitanya. Such a devotee establishes a definite relationship with God, looking on Him as his Son or Beloved.”

M., Rakhal, Jogin, Lātu, and the other devotees were entranced by these words of divine realization.

Mr. Mukherji and his friend were taking leave of the Master. After saluting him, they stood up. The Master also stood up to show them courtesy.

MUKHERJI (smiling): “That you should stand up or sit down!”

MASTER (smiling): “But what’s the harm? Water is water whether it is placid or in waves. I am like a cast-off leaf in the wind. The wind blows that leaf wherever it lists. I am the machine and God is its Operator.”

Mr. Mukherji and his friend left the room. M. thought: “According to the Vedānta all is like a dream. Are all these-the ego, the universe, and the living beings-unreal then?” M. had studied a little of the Vedānta. He also had read the German philosophers, such as Kant and Hegel, whose writings are only a faint echo of the Vedānta. But Sri Ramakrishna did not arrive at his conclusions by reasoning, as do ordinary scholars.

It was the Divine Mother of the Universe who revealed the Truth to him. These were the thoughts that passed through M.’s mind.

A little later Sri Ramakrishna and M. were conversing on the porch west of the Master’s room. No one else was there. It was a late winter afternoon, and the sun had not yet gone below the horizon.

Is the world unreal?

M: “Is the world unreal?”

MASTER: “Why should it be unreal? What you are asking is a matter for philosophical discussion.

“In the beginning, when a man reasons following the Vedantic method of ‘Not this, not this’, he realizes that Brahman is not the living beings, not the universe, not the twenty- four cosmic principles. All these things become like dreams to him. Then comes the affirmation of what has been denied, and he feels that God Himself has become the universe and all living beings.

“Suppose you are climbing to the roof by the stairs. As long as you are aware of the roof, you are also aware of the stairs. He who is aware of the high is also aware of the low. But after reaching the roof you realize that the stairs are made of the same materials-brick, lime, and brick-dust-as the roof.

“Further, I have given the illustration of the bel-fruit. unchangeability belong to one and the same Reality.

“The ego cannot be done away with. As long as ‘I-consciousness’ exists, living beings and the universe must also exist. After realizing God, one sees that, it is He Himself who has become the universe and the living beings. But one cannot realize this by mere reasoning.

“Śiva has two states of mind. First, the state of samādhi, when He is transfixed in the Great Yoga. He is then Ātmārāma, satisfied in the Self. Second, the state when He descends from samādhi and keeps a trace of ego. Then He dances about, chanting, ‘Rāma, Rāma!’”

Did the Master describe Śiva to hint at his own state of mind?

It was evening. Sri Ramakrishna was meditating on the Divine Mother and chanting Her holy name. The devotees also went off to solitary places and meditate on their Chosen Ideals. Evening worship began at the temple garden in the shrines of Kāli, Radha- Krishna, and Śiva.

It was the second day of the dark fortnight of the moon. Soon the moon rose in the sky, bathing temples, trees, flowers, and the rippling surface of the Ganges in its light. The Master was sitting on the couch and M. on the floor. The conversation turned to the Vedānta.

MASTER (to M.): “Why should the universe be unreal? That is a speculation of the philosophers. After realizing God, one sees that it is God Himself who has become the universe and all living beings.