Master sharply reprimands Dr. Sarkar

MASTER: “Listen to you? You are greedy, lustful, and egotistic.“DR. BHADURI (to Dr. Sarkar): “That is to say, you have the traits of a jiva, an embodied being. These are his traits: lust, egotism, greed for wealth, and a hankering after name and fame. All embodied beings have these traits.”

DR. SARKAR (to the Master): “If you talk that way, I shall only examine your throat and go away. Perhaps that is what you want. In that case we should not talk about anything else. But if you want discussion, then I shall say what I think to be right.”

All remained silent.

After a while the Master became engaged in conversation with Dr. Bhaduri. Paths of negation and affirmation

MASTER: “Let me tell you the truth. He [meaning Dr. Sarkar] is now following the path of negation. Therefore he discriminates, following the process of ‘Neti, neti’, and reasons in this way: God is not the living beings; He is not the universe; He is outside the creation. But later he will follow the path of affirmation and accept everything as the manifestation of God.

“By taking off, one by one, the sheaths of a banana tree, one obtains the pith. The sheaths are one thing, and the pith is another. The sheaths are not the pith, and the pith is not the sheaths. But in the end one realizes that the pith cannot exist apart from the sheaths, and the sheaths cannot exist apart from the pith; they are part and parcel of one and the same banana tree. Likewise, it is God who has become the twenty-four cosmic principles; it is He who has become man.

Three classes of devotees

(To Dr. Sarkar) “There are three kinds of devotees: superior, mediocre, and inferior. The inferior devotee says, ‘God is out there.’ According to him God is different from His creation. The mediocre devotee says: ‘God is the Antaryami, the Inner Guide. God dwells in everyone’s heart. The mediocre devotee sees God in the heart. But the superior devotee sees that God alone has become everything; He alone has become the twenty- four cosmic principles. He finds that everything, above and below, is filled with God.

“Read the Gitā, the Bhagavata, and the Vedānta, and you will understand all this. Is not God in His creation?”

DR. SARKAR: “Not in any particular object. He is everywhere. And because He is everywhere, He cannot be sought after.”

The conversation turned to other things. Sri Ramakrishna was always experiencing ecstatic moods, which the doctor said might aggravate his illness. Dr. Sarkar said to him: “You must suppress your emotion. My feelings, too, are greatly stirred up. I can dance much more than you.”

THE YOUNGER NAREN (smiling): “What would you do if your emotion increased a little more?“DR. SARKAR: “My power of control would also increase.”

MASTER AND M: “You may say that now!”

M: “Can you tell us what you would do if you went into an ecstatic mood?” The conversation turned to money.

MASTER (to Dr. Sarkar): “I don’t think about it at all. You know that very well, don’t you? This is not a pretence.”

Absent-mindedness of worldly people

DR. SARKAR: “Even I have no desire for money-not to speak of yourself! My cash-box lies open.”

MASTER: “Jadu Mallick, too, is absent-minded. When he takes his meals he sometimes becomes so absent-minded that he doesn’t know whether the food is good or bad. When someone says to him, ‘Don’t eat that; it doesn’t taste good’, Jadu says: ‘Eh? Is this food bad? Why, that’s so!’”

Was the Master hinting that there was an ocean of difference between absent- mindedness due to the contemplation of God, and absent-mindedness due to preoccupation with worldly thoughts?

Pointing to Dr. Sarkar, Sri Ramakrishna said to the devotees, with a smile: “When a thing is boiled, it becomes soft. At first he was very hard. Now he is softening from inside.”

DR. SARKAR: “When a thing is boiled, it begins to soften from the outside. I am afraid that won’t happen to me in this birth.”

(All laugh.) .

Dr. Sarkar was about to take his leave. He was talking to Sri Ramakrishna.

DOCTOR: “Can’t you forbid people to salute you by touching your feet?”

MASTER: “Can all comprehend the Indivisible Satchidananda?”

DR. SARKAR: “But shouldn’t you tell people what is right?”

Different disciplines for different temperaments

MASTER: “People have different tastes. Besides, all have not the same fitness for spiritual life.”

DR. SARKAR: “How is that?”

MASTER: “Don’t you know what difference in taste is? Some enjoy fish curry; some, fried fish; some, pickled fish; and again, some, the rich dish of fish pilau. Then too, there isdifference in fitness. I ask people to learn to shoot at a banana tree first, then at the wick of a lamp, and then at a flying bird.”

It was dusk. Sri Ramakrishna became absorbed in contemplation of God. For the time being he forgot all about his painful disease. Several intimate disciples sat near him and looked at him intently. After a long time he became aware of the outer world and said to M. in a whisper: “You see, my mind was completely merged in the Indivisible Brahman. After that I saw many things. I found that the doctor will have spiritual awakening. But it will take some time. I won’t have to tell him much. I saw another person while in that mood. My mind said to me, ‘Attract him too.’ I shall tell you about him later.”

Shyam Basu, Dr. Dukari, and a few other devotees arrived. Sri Ramakrishna talked to them.

SHYAM: “Ah, what a fine thing you said to us the other day!”

MASTER (smiling): “What was that?” Jnāna, ajnāna, and vijnāna

SHYAM: “What remains with a man when he goes beyond jnāna and ajnāna, knowledge and ignorance.”

MASTER (smiling): “It is vijnāna, special Knowledge of God. To know many things is ignorance. To know that God dwells in all beings is knowledge. And what is vijnāna? It is to know God in a special manner, to converse with Him and feel Him to be one’s own relative.

“To know that there is fire in wood is knowledge. But to make a fire with that wood, cook food with that fire, and become healthy and strong from that food is vijnāna.”

SHYAM (smiling): “About the thorn?”

MASTER (smiling): “Yes. When a thorn gets into the sole of your foot, you procure a second thorn. After taking out the first thorn with the help of the second, you throw both thorns away. Likewise, you should procure the thorn of knowledge in order to remove the thorn of ignorance. After destroying ignorance, you should discard both knowledge and ignorance. Then you attain vijnāna.”

Sri Ramakrishna was pleased with Shyam Basu. He was quite an elderly person and wanted to devote his time to contemplation. This was his second visit to the Master.