Spirituality and book-learning

(To Bankim) “Some people think that God cannot be realized without the study of books and scriptures. They think that first of all one should learn of this world and its creatures; that first of all one should study ‘science’. (All laugh.)

They think that one cannot realize God without first understanding His creation. Which comes first, ‘science’ or God? What do you say?”

BANKIM: “I too think that we should first of all know about the different things of the world. How can we know of God without knowing something of this world? We should first learn from books.”

MASTER: “That’s the one cry from all of you. But God comes first and then the creation.

After attaining God you can know everything else, if it is necessary.

“If you can somehow get yourself introduced to Jadu Mallick, then you will be able to learn, if you want to, the number of his houses and gardens and the amount of his money invested in government securities. Jadu Mallick himself will tell you all about them.

But if you haven’t met him and if you are stopped by his door-keepers when you try to enter his house, then how will you get the correct information about his houses, gardens, and government securities? When you know God you know all else; but then you don’t care to know small things.

The same thing is stated in the Vedas. You talk about the virtues of a person as long as you haven’t seen him, but no sooner does he appear before you than all such talk stops. You are beside yourself with joy simply to be with him. You feel overwhelmed by simply conversing with him. You don’t talk about his virtues any more.

“First realize God, then think of the creation and other things. Valmiki was given the name of Rāma to repeat as his mantra, but was told at first to repeat ‘mara’. ‘Ma’ means God and ‘ra’ the world. First God and then the world. If you know one you know all. If you put fifty zeros after a one, you have a large sum; but erase the one and nothing remains. It is the one that makes the many. First one, then many. First God, then His creatures and the world.

God and the world

“The one thing you need is to realize God. Why do you bother so much about the world, creation, ‘science’, and all that? Your business is to eat mangoes. What need have you to know how many hundreds of trees there are in the orchard, how many thousands of branches, and how many millions of leaves? You have come to the garden to eat mangoes. Go and eat them. Man is born in this world to realize God; it is not good to forget that and divert the mind to other things. You have come to eat mangoes. Eat the mangoes and be happy.”

BANKIM: “Where do we get the mangoes?”

MASTER: “Pray to God with a longing heart. He will surely listen to your prayer if it is sincere. Perhaps He will direct you to holy men with whom you can keep company; and that will help you on your spiritual path. Perhaps someone will tell you, ‘Do this and you will attain God.’”

BANKIM: “Who? The guru? He enjoys all the good mangoes himself and gives us the bad ones!” (Laughter.)

MASTER: “Why should that be so? The mother knows what food suits the stomachs of her different children. Can all of them digest pilau and Kalia? Suppose a fish has been procured. The mother doesn’t give pilau and Kalia to all the children. For the weak child with a poor stomach she prepares simple soup. But does that mean she loves him the less?

Faith in guru

“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 125%, 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. 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.

Yearning for God-vision

“One must have for God the yearning of a child. The child sees nothing but confusion when his mother is away. You may try to cajole him by putting a sweetmeat in his hand; but he will not be fooled. He only says, ‘No, I want to go to my mother.’ One must feel such yearning for God. Ah, what yearning! How restless a child feels for his mother!

Nothing can make him forget his mother. He to whom the enjoyment of worldly happiness appears tasteless, he who takes no delight in anything of the world-money, name, creature comforts, sense pleasure-, becomes sincerely grief-stricken for the vision of the Mother. And to him alone the Mother comes running, leaving all Her other duties.

“Ah, that restlessness is the whole thing. Whatever path you follow-whether you are a Hindu, a Mussalman, a Christian, a Sakta, a Vaishnava, or a Brahmo-the vital point is restlessness. God is our Inner Guide. It doesn’t matter if you take a wrong path-only you must be restless for Him. He Himself will put you on the right path.

“Besides, there are errors in all paths. Everyone thinks his watch is right; but as a matter of fact no watch is absolutely right. But that doesn’t hamper one’s work. If a man is restless for God he gains the company of sādhus and as far as possible corrects his own watch with the sādhu’s help.”

Trailokya of the Brahmo Samaj began to sing. Presently Sri Ramakrishna stood up and lost consciousness of the outer world. He became completely indrawn, absorbed in samādhi. The devotees stood around him in a circle. Pushing aside the crowd, Bankim came near the Master and began to watch him attentively. He had never seen anyone in samādhi.

After a few minutes Sri Ramakrishna regained partial consciousness and began to dance in an ecstatic mood. It was a never-to-be-forgotten scene. Bankim and his Anglicized friends looked at him in amazement. Was this the God-intoxicated state? The devotees also watched him with wondering eyes.

The singing and dancing over, the Master touched the ground with his forehead, saying, ‘Bhagavata - Bhakta - Bhagavan! Salutations to the jnanis, yogis, and bhaktas! Salutations to all!” He sat down again and all sat around him.

BANKIM (to the Master): “Sir, how can one develop divine love?”

MASTER: “Through restlessness-the restlessness a child feels for his mother. The child feels bewildered when he is separated from his mother, and weeps longingly for her. If a man can weep like that for God he can even see Him.

“At the approach of dawn the eastern horizon becomes red. Then one knows it will soon be sunrise. Likewise, if you see a person restless for God, you can be pretty certain that he hasn’t long to wait for His vision.

“A disciple asked his teacher, ‘Sir, please tell me how I can see God.’ ‘Come with me,’ said the guru, ‘and I shall show you.’ He took the disciple to a lake, and both of them got into the water.