Brahmacharya Quotes
-
Swami Ramakrishna Paramhansa
- Sri
Ramakrishna was uncompromising on the need
for celibacy for God-realization. He used to tell devotees, “To be able
to realize God, one must practise absolute
continence. Sages like Sukadeva are examples
of an ‘urdhvareta’ (a person of unbroken and
complete continence). Their chastity was absolutely unbroken.A
man practising unbroken brahmacharya
for twelve years develops a special power. He grows a new inner nerve
called the nerve of memory. Through that nerve he remembers all, he
understands all.When a man succeeds in the
conservation of his sexual energy, his intellect
reflects the image of Brahman. The man who carries this image of Brahman
in his heart is able to accomplish everything – he will succeed
wonderfully in whatever action he engages himself.
- The
loss of reproductive elements dissipates a person’s strength. But there is
no harm in nocturnal emission. That reproductive element is from food.
After nocturnal emission, a man retains enough to succeed. But he must not
lose it voluntarily. What
remains after nocturnal emission is very refined. The Lahas
stored pots of molasses[18]
with holes in the bottom. After a year it was found that the molasses had
turned into crystals, like sugar candy. Whatever liquid there was had come
out through the holes.
- Sri
Ramakrishna (to Mahima): “What you were
saying about men of continence is correct. One cannot hold these spiritual
teachings without practising brahmacharya.
Someone said to Chaitanya Deva,
‘You give the devotees so much instruction. Why aren’t they able to make
much progress?’ He replied, ‘They squander it all by breaking brahmacharya. That’s why they’re not able to hold on
to spiritual instruction.’ If you fill a leaky pail with water, the
water trickles out little by little.”
- Sri
Ramakrishna (to Balaram) — Maya is only ‘lust
and greed’. By living in the midst of them for a few days, one loses
spiritual awareness but feels that all is well. A scavenger carries a
pot of excreta and in course of time, doesn’t feel any repulsion for it.
One gradually acquires love and devotion for God by practicing the
chanting of the Lord’s name and glories.
- If
you want to realize God, you will have to be a brahmachari.
Without practising brahmacharya,
one cannot concentrate steadily on God. From brahmacharya
comes intellectual conviction and then comes faith in the power of
Brahman. Without this faith, one cannot feel that he is living in Brahman.
Practise japam
(repetition of the holy mantra) and meditation day and night. This is the
way one can get rid of attachment to lust and gold.
- When
a man succeeds in the conservation of his sexual energy, his intellect
reflects the image of Brahman, even as a glass gives a perfect image when
its back is painted with mercury solution. The man who carries this image
of Brahman in his heart is able to accomplish everything–he will succeed
wonderfully in whatever action he engages himself.
- “As
long as you have even a little consciousness of ‘I,’ you are under the
jurisdiction of the Primal Power – and unable to set yourself free.
- Sri
Ramakrishna and principle of yoga – ‘lust and greed’ are impediments to
yoga – You ask me why you don’t
develop deep dispassion. There is a reason for it. You have a strong
desire for sense enjoyments, your mind is filled with pravritti[261].
I say the same to Hazra. In the countryside
before they bring water to the fields, they make mud ridges on all four
sides of the field so that water can’t flow out. They are mud ridges, but
they have water outlets here and there. There are holes. Water is brought
with full force to the field, but it goes out through the holes. Our
desires are like these holes, these outlets. You may be practicing japa (repetition of God’s name) and
austerities, but at the back of your mind, you have desires for sense
enjoyments. From the outlets of desire, everything leaks out. “One
catches fish with a bamboo trap. Ordinarily bamboo is straight, but when
bent to the ground, it acts as a fish trap. Desire for sense enjoyments is
the fish, so the mind remains bent toward the world. If there is no
desire, the mind naturally orients upward, toward the Lord.Do
you know how? Like the needles of a scale. Because of the weight of ‘lust
and greed,’ the upper needle does not align itself with the lower needle.
Thus one strays from the path of yoga. Haven’t you seen the flame of a
lamp? It flickers by just a puff of air. The state of yoga is like the
flame of a lamp where there is no wind. Our mind is spread out in
different directions. A part of it has reached Dacca, a part Delhi and
another part Coochbehar. You have to collect
this mind and concentrate it to a point. If you want a cloth worth
sixteen annas[262],
you have to pay this amount to the cloth merchant. Even if there is a
slight obstacle, yoga is not possible. If the telegraph wire is broken,
howsoever small the break may be, it will not
convey your message.
- The
nearer you come to God, the more tranquility you feel. Peace, peace, profound
peace. The nearer you approach the holy Ganges, the cooler you feel.A dip in it is even more soothing. On attaining the knowledge of Brahman, attachment to
the world and enthusiasm for ‘lust and greed’ vanishes. You attain perfect
peace. A piece of burning wood produces a crackling sound and gives out
heat. When it is consumed and has turned to ash, all sound ceases. As soon
as you get rid of attachment, the restlessness for ‘lust and greed’
vanishes. Finally you attain tranquility.
- Sri
Ramakrishna: “Those through whom God will teach mankind must renounce
the world. It is essential for religious teachers to renounce ‘lust and
greed.’ Without it, their teachings are not accepted. It is not enough for
them to renounce inwardly. They must also renounce outwardly. Only then
can they teach mankind. If they don’t, people will think that they are
being asked to renounce ‘lust and greed,’ while they secretly enjoy them.
“An Ayurvedic physician[13]
prescribed some medicine to a patient and said, ‘Please come again another
day and I will tell you about diet.’ That day, there were a number of jars
of molasses[14]
in his room. The patient lived quite far away. He came another day. The
physician said to him, ‘Be careful about your diet. Molasses is not good
for you.’ When the patient had left, somebody asked the physician, ‘Why
did you cause him the trouble of coming here again, all that way? You
could have said this to him the first day.’ The physician laughed and
said, ‘There is a reason. I had some jars of molasses in my room that day.
If I had asked him to give up molasses, he wouldn’t have trusted me. He
would have thought, He has so many jars of molasses in his room, he must surely be eating some of it. In that case
it can’t be so bad. Today I have hidden the jars; he will now believe me.’
“I have seen the religious teacher[15]
of the Adi [Brahmo] Samaj. I hear that he has married two or three times.
And that he has grown sons. Such are religious teachers! If these people
say that only the Lord is real and all else is an illusion, who will
believe them? You can guess very well what kind of disciples they will
have.
- Full
renunciation is for sannyasins. They shouldn’t
even see the picture of a
woman. Women are like poison for them. They must keep at least ten
cubits away or, if that’s not possible, at least one cubit. Even if a
woman is a great devotee, a sannyasin
shouldn’t talk to her for long. “A sannyasin
should live in a place where he doesn’t even see the face of a woman, or
very rarely. “Money is also a poison for sannyasins.
When you have money, you quickly fall prey to anxiety, pride, physical
comfort, anger, and so forth. Rajas increases. When there is rajoguna, it leads to tamoguna.
So a sannyasin shouldn’t touch money. ‘Lust
and greed’ make you forget God. Why such difficult rules of conduct for a sannyasin? They are there for the instruction of
humanity as well as for his own good. Even if a sannyasin lives unattached, having controlled his
senses, he should renounce ‘lust and greed’ in order to teach mankind. People
will muster the courage for renunciation only if they see the one hundred
percent renunciation of a sannyasin. Then only
will they endeavour to renounce ‘lust and
greed.’ If a sannyasin doesn’t impart this
instruction of renunciation, who else will? One should lead a
householder’s life only after attaining God. It is like keeping butter
in water after it has been churned. Janaka led
the life of a householder only after attaining the knowledge of Brahman.
- Discrimination
and dispassion.One is able to renounce the
attachment to ‘lust and greed’ by the yoga of practice. The Gita says this. Practice brings extraordinary strength
to the mind. Then you don’t find it difficult to subdue the senses, to
control passions like lust and anger. For instance, a tortoise doesn’t
bring out its limbs once it has drawn them inside its shell, even if you
cut it into four pieces with an axe. Differentiating between the real and the unreal in
this manner is discrimination. Dispassion means a
distaste for worldly things. This does not come about all of a
sudden. It has to be practiced daily. To begin with, you have to renounce
‘lust and greed’ in the mind. Then, God willing, you can renounce them
externally as well as internally.
- If
you are attached to ‘lust and greed,’ you develop pride of learning, pride
of wealth and high position – all these things … Sri Ramakrishna (to the devotees) — Do you
know what happens when you live as a householder? A lot of your mental
powers are unnecessarily expended. This wastage of mental powers can be
made up only by embracing sannyasa. Your father
gives you your first birth. Your second birth is when your sacred thread
ceremony is performed. And the third one is when you enter monastic life[96].
“ ‘Lust and greed.’ These indeed are the two
obstacles. The attachment to a woman leads one away from the path to the
Lord. A man is unable to realize what has brought his downfall. When I
went to the Fort, I hardly knew that I was going down a slope. When the
carriage reached the Fort, I observed how far down I had come. Ah, She doesn’t let man know! Captain said, ‘My wife is
spiritually wise.’ When an evil spirit possesses a person, he does not
know that he is possessed. He just says, ‘I am all right.’ (Everybody sits
perfectly still.) “It is not only lust which is a danger in family life.
There is anger, too. When you are thwarted in your desire, you get angry.”
M. — When a cat reaches out to snatch fish
from my plate, I can’t do anything about it. Sri Ramakrishna — Why
not? You must beat it once, there is no harm in
that. The householder must hiss [threaten], but never pour venom. Reason?
One must not harm anybody. However, you have to make a show of anger to
save yourself from the enemy or he will hurt you. But one who has
renounced need not even hiss.
- Sri
Ramakrishna: “Lovelorn! Oh, you have to be mad for God to attain Him!
“This does not happen if the mind dwells on ‘lust and greed.’ What joy is there in lust? One feels ten million times
that joy from a vision of God. One feels the joy of union with the Atman
in every pore.”
- When
a person gets even a drop of God’s ecstatic love, ‘lust and greed’ become
so insignificant! When
you get a drink sweetened with sugar candy, how can you care for one mixed
with molasses? When you pray to God with a yearning heart, when you chant
His name and glories incessantly, you gradually develop that kind of love
for Him.
- The
Brahmo devotee:Lust and anger are the real enemies. What can we do about
them?” Sri Ramakrishna: “Turn the six enemies around – towards God.
Have lust for union with the Atman. Show anger to those who are an
obstacle in the way to God. Have greed to attain
Him. If you have to say, ‘Me and mine,’ say it in relation to Him – as,
for example, ‘My Krishna or my Rama.’ If you have pride, let it be like
the pride of Bibhishana who said, ‘I have bowed
to Rama. This head shall never bow to anybody else.’”
- There
is a view that a man doesn’t attain spiritual awakening until his desire
for worldly enjoyments is over. But what is there to enjoy? The
pleasures of ‘lust and greed’ are momentary – this moment they exist and
the next moment they disappear. What is there in ‘lust and greed’? Its
enjoyment is like eating a hog-plum that is all stone and rind. Eat it and
you get colic. The moment you swallow sweet sandesh,
it is gone.
- One
does not realize God unless ‘lust and greed’ have vanished from the mind. The fire of spiritual wisdom first burns up lust,
anger and other such enemies. Later it destroys the sense of I-ness[117].
Lastly, it brings about a great turmoil [in the body].
- Sri
Ramakrishna — He has
seen the plight of worldly people who are forgetful of God. That is why he
is developing renunciation for these things. Need one whose mind is freed
from the attachment to ‘lust and greed’ worry about anything? “Oh, how
strange! I had to perform so much repetition of the Name and meditation to
get rid of these desires. How is it that he has absolutely freed his mind
from desire so quickly? Is it so easy to get rid of lust? Oh, what a
sensation I felt in my chest even six months after starting my spiritual
practices! I would lie under a tree and weep. I cried to the Divine
Mother, ‘Mother! If I experience the feeling of lust, I will cut my throat
with a knife!’ (To the devotees) “If the mind is free from ‘lust
and greed,’ what else remains to be attained? Then one enjoys only the joy
of Brahman.”
- Sri
Ramakrishna (to the devotees): “You
cannot achieve union with God when the mind dwells on ‘lust and greed.’
The mind of an ordinary person remains in the centres
of awareness located at the genital, anal, and naval regions.[2]It takes a lot of effort in spiritual
discipline for the kundalini to awaken.
There are three nerves – ida,
pingala, and sushumna.
And in the sushumna are six lotuses, the lowest
being the muladhara. Then there are svadhisthana, manipura, anahata, vishuddha, and ajna. These are the six spiritual centres.
“When the kundalini awakens, after it has
crossed the lotuses of muladhara, svadhisthana, and manipura,
it reaches the anahata lotus located at the
heart. It stays there. The mind is then withdrawn from the three lower centres of anus, sex organ, and navel; it attains a
spiritual consciousness and sees a light. The aspirant is speechless with
wonder and exclaims, ‘What is this! What is this!’
“Having pierced six centres, the kundalini reaches the lotus of sahasrara
and unites with it. When the kundalini reaches
there, the aspirant passes into samadhi.
“According to the Vedas, these centres are
called bhumis or planes. There are seven planes.
The heart is the fourth, and the lotus at anahata
is twelve-petalled.“The
vishuddha centre is the fifth plane. When the
mind reaches there, the heart yearns only to talk of God and to hear about
Him. This centre is located in the throat. It has a sixteen-petalled lotus. The person whose mind has reached this
centre feels great pain to hear any worldly talk, such as talk of ‘lust
and greed.’ When he hears such talk, he gets up and leaves the place.
“After this comes the sixth plane, the ajna centre of two petals. When the kundalini reaches there, one has the vision of God’s
form. But there is still a thin screen of separation. Like a lantern, the
light can’t be touched because of a glass barrier. “Then one reaches the
seventh plane, the thousand-petalled lotus. When
the kundalini reaches there, samadhi
comes about. The Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute Shiva resides at the sahasrara. Here He unites with Shakti
– it is the union of Shiva and Shakti. “When the
mind reaches the sahasrara, one becomes absorbed
in samadhi. In this state all awareness of the
external disappears, and the person cannot preserve his body. If milk is
poured into his mouth, it runs out.
- Difference
between the mind of a worldly man and a genuine renouncer.
Girish
(to Sri Ramakrishna) — Well sir, at times the mind rises so high – and
then it falls so suddenly! Why is this? Sri Ramakrishna — This does happen when one leads a worldly life. The
mind is first up, then down. First you feel so strong – and then so weak.
You see, it is because one has to live amidst ‘lust and greed’. In worldly
life the devotee contemplates the Lord and repeats His name – but then he
gives his mind to ‘lust and greed’. He is like a housefly. Sometimes it
sits on sandesh, at other times on a festering
wound – and even on excreta. It is different with tyagis
(those who have renounced the world). Taking their mind from ‘lust and
greed,’ they give it to the Lord and only sip the sweetness of Hari’s name. A genuine man of renunciation doesn’t
like anything but the Lord. When he hears worldly talk, he gets up and
leaves. He only listens to Godly matters. The genuine renouncer
talks of nothing but the Lord. The bee sits only on flowers, for it drinks
honey. It likes no other thing.”
- They
who live only with ‘lust and greed’ – who don’t think of God even once –
are bound souls. What great work can they perform? They are like mangoes pecked by crows. Such mangoes
cannot be offered to the gods. Eating them yourself is also risky. Bound
souls, worldly people, are like silkworms. They could come out of their cocoons
if they wished, but they have built their own homes and maya does not allow them to escape. And it all
ends with death. Liberated souls are not under the control of ‘lust and
greed’. Some clever silkworms cut their cocoons and come out. But
they are very few. Because of maya (attachment),
one remains forgetful. Few attain spiritual awakening, few are not deluded
by the magic of maya, are not subject to
the control of ‘lust and greed.’ When the pot[57]
containing ashes from the maternity room falls on one’s feet, the ‘damn,
damn’ word of the magician can do no harm. One can see exactly what the
magician is doing.
- …A
young man sadly asked Sri Ramakrishna: “Sir, how can I get rid of lust? I strive so hard, still I suffer from restlessness due
to passion and bad thoughts.” Sri Ramakrishna: “… Do you think I am
free from it? At one time I believed that I had conquered lust. Then one
day when I was seated in the Panchavati, I
suddenly had such an onrush of lust that it was hard for me to maintain
control! Immediately I began crying, rubbing my face in the dust, and
saying to the Divine Mother: “I have made a big mistake, Mother. I shall
never again think that I have conquered lust.’ Only then did it subside.
Do you know, you boys are now passing through a
flood tide of adolescence? You can’t stop it. Can an embankment or a
breakwater stop a tidal wave? The overflowing water breaks through and
rushes forward, and then the water stands as high as a bamboo over the
paddy fields. There is a saying, ‘Mental sin is not considered to be a sin
in this Kaliyuga.’ If a bad thought happens to
arise once or twice in the mind, why should you go on brooding about it?
Sometimes those feelings come and go. They are natural to the body;
consider them to be physical functions like the call of nature. Do people
worry when they have an urge for the call of nature? Similarly, consider
those feelings to be insignificant, trifling, and worthless, and don’t think
of them anymore. Pray to God intensely, chant His name, and meditate on
Him. Don’t pay any heed to whether those feelings come or go. Gradually,
they will come under control.” …
- Sri
Ramakrishna: “‘Lust and
greed’ are the cause of bondage. ‘Lust and greed’ mean worldliness. In
fact it is ‘lust and greed’ that keep one from seeing God.” Saying this, Thakur covers his face with a hand towel and says,
“Can you see me now? This is a veil. When the veil of ‘lust and greed’ is
removed, one attains consciousness-bliss.[5]
“Just see. Whoever has given up the joy of lust has renounced the joy of
the world. God is very near to this person.” Some of the devotees are standing, others are sitting, as they silently listen
to these words. (To Kedar, Vijay, and others)
“He who has given up the pleasure of lust has given up the pleasures of
the world. This ‘lust and greed’ is truly the veil. You show off such big
moustaches, and you are still immersed in it. Tell me truly. Search your
mind and see if it isn’t so.” Vijay: “Sir, it is true.”
- Those
who live amidst ‘lust and greed’ aren’t able to understand because of
their inebriation. Chess
players often don’t know if a move is right until the game has continued
for some time. But onlookers from a distance can see and understand the
game better.
- In
the state of a paramahamsa one becomes like a
child. A five-year-old does not distinguish between a man and a woman. Even
so, the paramahamsa has to be careful to set a
good example.
- Why
was Keshab Sen not
able to teach people?Keshab Sen was associated with
‘lust and greed.’ It hindered his teaching of humanity. That is what Thakur is saying. Sri Ramakrishna: “He (Keshab) – do you understand?” Vijay: “Yes,
sir.” Sri Ramakrishna:
”He (Keshab Sen) tried to take care of both the worldly and the
spiritual. So he couldn’t achieve very much.”
- Why
did Chaitanya Deva
renounce the world?Vijay:
“Chaitanya
Deva said to Nityananda,
‘Nitai, if I hadn’t renounced the world, people
would not be helped. They would all want to live a worldly life. Nobody
would try to give his whole mind to the lotus feet of God by renouncing
‘lust and greed.’” Sri Ramakrishna: Chaitanya
Deva renounced the world to set an example. “A sadhu renounces ‘lust and greed’ for his own good. And
then even when he has become detached, he must not allow a woman or gold
near him, to set an example. A man of renunciation, the sannyasin, is a world teacher. Just seeing him gives
spiritual awakening.”
- “One
may wash a cup that contains garlic many times, but the smell of garlic
will not leave the cup. The boys who have not touched ‘lust and gold’ are
pure vessels. When a person is rubbed with the garlic of ‘lust and gold’
for a considerable time, the smell of garlic persists in him. “They are like mangoes pecked at and defiled by crows.
Such a mango cannot be offered to Bhagavan. It
is suspect even for personal use. It is as different as new earthen pots
and the pots in which milk was once turned into curds. It is not safe to
keep pure milk in vessels that once contained curds. The chances are that
the milk will turn sour.“With ‘lust and
greed’ always around you, how is it possible to realize God? It is very
hard indeed to live unattached in their midst. In the first place, one is
a slave of one’s spouse. In the second place, one is a slave to money. And
in the third place, one is a slave to him whom one serves for the sake of
his living.
- M.
— Will
one always have to perform spiritual practices? Sri Ramakrishna — No,
in the beginning you must be up and doing, but you don’t have to work so
hard later on. As long as there are storms, tempests and rough water, the
boat has to be steered along zigzag routes; so long does the boatman stand
and hold the rudder – but he no longer does so when he is past them. When
the boat rounds a bend and a favourable wind
blows, he can sit down and relax and just touch the rudder. Then he
prepares to hoist the sail and sits down for a smoke. There is peace when
the storm and tempest of ‘lust and greed’ pass.
- Some
people show signs of yoga. But even they have to be careful. ‘Lust and
greed’ are the obstacles to yoga. They make one deviate from yoga and fall
into worldliness – if there is still any desire for sense enjoyment.
- If
the mind is restless, yoga is not possible. The wind of the world always
distracts the flame of the mind. When the flame does not waver, one
attains a perfect state of yoga. ‘Lust
and greed’ are obstacles to yoga. You must discriminate: what is there in
human body but blood, flesh, fat, intestines, worms, urine, faeces and so on. Why love such a body? … “Worldly
people are intoxicated – inebriated with ‘lust and greed’. They have lost
their awareness. That is why I am fond of the young men. ‘Lust and greed’
have not yet entered their minds. They are ‘good receptacles’ and can be
of use in the Lord’s work. Worldly people are full of worthless stuff.
- “‘Lust
and greed’ is maya. One attains union with God
when the mind is rid of these two. The Atman, the Supreme Soul, is the magnet. The
embodied soul is like a needle. When the former pulls the latter, it
results in union. But if the needle is covered with dirt, the magnet can’t
pull it. When, however, the dirt is removed, it is drawn again. You have
to clean yourself of the dirt of ‘lust and greed.’”Mukherji:
“How can we do this?”Sri Ramakrishna: “Weep for God with a longing
heart. The water of your tears will wash off the dirt. And then the magnet
can pull it. Only then will you attain union with God.” Mukherji: “Oh, wonderful!” Sri Ramakrishna:When
you are free from lust and greed, Kumbhak
(breath retention) occurs by itself. Samadhi comes after that. “And then
there is the practice of meditation. Shiva manifests especially in the Sahasrara. Meditate on Him. The body is like a saucer,
and the mind and intellect are like water. In this water, the sun of
Sat-chit-ananda is reflected. By meditating on
that reflected sun, one has the revelation of the real sun through God’s
grace.” “When you can weep for God, He grants His vision. And you attain samadhi. Perfection in yoga is samadhi.
- Why
family life? – when desire for enjoyment is over,
one feels yearning for God and realizes Him. A devotee: “Why has He kept us in the world?”Sri Ramakrishna: “To
keep the creation going. That is His will. That is His maya.
God has bewitched us with ‘lust and greed.’”A devotee: “Why has He
bewitched us? Why does He will this?” Sri Ramakrishna: “If He
granted the bliss of God even once, no one would live a householder’s
life. And that would lead to the end of creation. Rice is stocked in
big bags in a warehouse. So that rats don’t find the rice, the grain
dealer keeps some puffed and sweetened rice in a husking pan. The rats
like the sweetened rice and eat it through the night. They don’t look for
the bagged rice. But look, you can make fourteen times the volume of one
seer of rice with puffed sweetened rice. How great is the bliss of God
compared to the joy of ‘lust and greed!’ Contemplating His beauty,
even the beauty of Rambha and Tilottama appears like ashes from a fire.” A
devotee: “Why don’t we develop that yearning to realize God?” Sri
Ramakrishna: “A person doesn’t feel yearning for God until the desire
for enjoyment is over. Until the desire for ‘lust and greed’ is satisfied,
a person doesn’t remember the Mother of the Universe. A child busy playing
doesn’t look for his mother. When his play is over, he says, ‘I want to go
to my mother.’ Once Hriday’s son was playing
with a pigeon. He was calling out to it, ‘Come here, tee tee!’ As soon as he had enough of playing, he began to
cry. A stranger came by and said, ‘Come, I’ll take you to your mother.’
The boy even climbed on the man’s shoulders to be taken. “Those who are
born perfect don’t have to go through the householder’s life. They are
already free from the desire for enjoyments since their birth.”
- Four
classes of men attachment to ‘woman and gold’ is the sign of worldly man: Sri Ramakrishna — Four
classes of human beings have been stated the bound souls, the seekers
after liberation, the liberated and the ever free. The world is like the
fishing net, the jiva (individual soul) like the
fish and the Lord (whose maya constitutes the
world) is the fisherman. When fishes fall into the fisherman’s net many of
them try to tear the net to escape, i.e. they try to free themselves. They
are like the men seeking liberation. However, all those who try to escape
cannot run away. Only a few fishes slip out with a splash. Then people call
out, ‘There goes the big fish.’ Such two or four beings are the liberated
ones. Some fishes are so cautious by nature that they never fall into the
net. Narada and such other saints are ever free;
they never fall in the net of the world. However, most of the fish keep
lying in the net unaware of the fact that they have fallen into a net and
will die. Remaining in the net, they dart straight ahead taking the net
along and try to hide their body into the mud. They make no attempt to escape, rather they fall deeper into the mud. They are
like the bound souls. They live in the net and think, ‘We are quite happy
here.’ The bound jivas remain attached to the
world that is to ‘woman and gold’. They remain sunk in the sea of evil and
think that they are very happy there. Those who seek for liberation
and those who are liberated look upon the world as a death well, they
don’t like it. So, some of them having attained jnana and the vision of Bhagavan
give up their bodies. However, giving up body in this way is a far cry. “The
bound creatures, the worldly men, don’t get awareness by any means. They
suffer so much misery, so many trials, and so many sorrows; even then they
don’t get awakening. The camel likes thorny bushes but the more it
eats, the more it bleeds from its face. Even so, it continues to eat the
same thorny bush and does not leave it. The worldly man suffers so much
agony, so much sorrow, yet he reverts back to his old self quite soon.
Perhaps his wife has died or she has proved faithless to him, yet he
marries again. Perhaps he has lost his son and suffered so much of sorrow,
yet he forgets all this in a few days. The mother of this boy, who was
beside herself with grief, ties up her hair again and bedecks herself with
jewellery. In the same way though people spend
all in the marriage of their daughters, they continue giving birth to more
children year after year. They lose all in litigation. Yet they again go
to law! They cannot feed the children they have, neither can they educate
them, nor can they look after them properly, still they beget more
children every year. At times, their state can be likened to that of
the snake trying to swallow the mole. The snake cannot swallow the mole,
nor can it give it up. The bound soul may have realized that there is no
substance in the world that it is like a hog plum that has nothing but
stone and skin yet he cannot give it up. Even though he cannot turn his
mind towards the Lord. A relative of Keshab Sen, fifty years old, was playing cards, as if time
was not yet ripe for him to think of the Lord. The bound jiva has yet another sign. If he is lifted from
worldly life to a better place, he will pine away to death. The worm of faeces feels pleasure in the excreta alone; it is only
there that it thrives. If you put it in a pot of rice, it will die.” (All
laugh.)
- Sri
Ramakrishna — The very ego of man is maya. This egotism has veiled everything.All
troubles cease when the I-ness dies. If
by the grace of the Lord a man realizes, ‘I am not the doer,’ he becomes a
jivanmukta[4].
He has nothing to fear then. The maya or the
I-ness is like a cloud. The sun becomes
invisible even if there is a patch of cloud. As soon as the cloud passes
away, one can see the sun. If by the grace of the Guru the feeling of I-ness vanishes, one realizes the Lord… You can get rid
of I-ness when you have attained jnana (spiritual knowledge). On attaining jnana, you go into samadhi. Only
in samadhi does I-ness
disappear. But it is very difficult to attain this jnana.
The Vedas say that I-ness vanishes only when
the mind ascends to the seventh plane. It is only after attaining samadhi,
that I-ness disappears. Where does
the mind generally dwell? In the first three planes at the organs of
generation and evacuation, and at the navel. Here the mind remains only
attached to the world, to ‘lust and gold’. When the mind dwells in the
heart, one sees the divine light. While seeing this light, one exclaims,
‘O, what is this! What is this!’ The next plane
is at the throat. On this plane one likes to hear and speak only of the
Lord. When the mind goes to the forehead, between the eyebrows, one sees
the form of Sachchidananda. One has the desire
to embrace and touch this very form, but one cannot. Though the flame in
the lantern can be seen but it cannot be touched. You feel as if you are
just touching it but you cannot. When the mind ascends to the seventh
plane, I-ness vanishes
one goes into samadhi. The ‘I’ that makes
one worldly, attaches one to ‘lust and gold’ is the ‘rascal I’. Because of
its intervention the jiva and the atman appear
apart. If a stick is put on water, it appears to be divided into two. In
reality the water is one but it appears to be two because of the stick. I-ness is the stick. Remove the stick,
the water will become one as before. What is the ‘rascal I’? That
which says, ‘Don’t you know me? I have so much money. Who is greater than
me?’ If a thief steals ten rupees, first of all this man snatches the
money from him and gives him a good beating. He doesn’t leave him even
then. He sends for the watchman and handing him over to the police gets
him punished. The ‘rascal I’ says, ‘Don’t you know, you stole my ten
rupees. Such impertinence!’ ” ….. Vijay — How
can one see the Lord? Sri Ramakrishna — Not till the mind is
purified. Living amidst ‘lust and gold,’ the mind remains soiled, it remains covered with their dirt. If the
needle is covered with mud, the magnet does not attract it. But when the
mud and dirt are washed off, the magnet attracts. You can wash the dirt of
the mind with the water of your eyes. If you weep with tears of
repentance, saying, ‘O Lord, I shall never do such a thing again,’ then
this dirt is washed away. Then the magnet of the Lord attracts the needle
of the mind. You then go into samadhi and have
the vision of the Lord. But you may try a thousand times,
nothing is achieved without God’s grace. Without His grace you cannot see Him.Is it easy to gain His grace? You will have to get
rid of your egoism completely. When you have the feeling that you are the
doer, you cannot see the Lord.
- Unless
you give up pride, you can’t attain spiritual knowledge. Water doesn’t
stay on the top of a mound. It flows down quickly on all sides to the
ground below.
- Surendra’s office – worldly life, the eight bonds, and the three gunas. Sri Ramakrishna: “Eight bonds bind man: shame, hatred, fear, pride of
caste, suspicion, and secretiveness are all bonds. Thakur
sings: “This is the grief that weighs on my heart: though You, my Mother, are here and I am wide awake, thieves
of passion rob my house.” Then he sings: “In the world’s bustling
marketplace, O Shyama, You fly kites that soar
on the wind of hope, held fast by maya’s
string.”“‘Maya’s string’ means wife and son. By rubbing the string with
the paste of sensuousness, the string has become hard. Sensuousness means
‘lust and greed.’ There follows another song: “One comes to this world
to play dice. I came with great hopes. But hope is in itself only a broken
state. First I got the piece marked five, and age after age the twelve,
the eighteen, and the sixteen. Divine Mother, last of all I got the unripe
twelve piece, and I got ensnared by the five and six-mark
pieces. Six and two equal eight, six and four make ten. O Divine Mother, I
have no control over these. I won neither honour
nor fame in this game, which I have been playing all through the night
until dawn. “The piece marked ‘five,’ that is the five elements. To get
ensnared in the ‘fives’ and ‘sixes’ means to fall under the control of the
five elements and the six passions. To play tricks with the six piece means not to fall under the control of the six
enemies. To deceive the ‘three’ piece means to be beyond the three gunas. “Sattva, rajas, and tamas, the three qualities of nature, have brought mankind under their control. They are like
three brothers: if there is sattva, it can call
on rajas; and if there is rajas, it can call on tamas. All three gunas are
thieves. Tamas destroys, while rajas binds. Sattva, though
it frees from the bonds, cannot take one to God.”Vijay (smiling): “Sattva is also a thief, isn’t it?”Sri Ramakrishna:
“It can’t take one to God, but it does show the way to Him.”Bhavanath: “Oh, what wonderful words!”Sri
Ramakrishna: “Yes, it is a very lofty thought.” The devotees are very
happy hearing these words.
- To
devotees: You don’t have to renounce women altogether. It’s not wrong to
sleep with your own wife. But after you’ve had children, you should
live like brother and sister.
- To
Bhavanath: “Keep your mind fixed on Bhagavan. He is a brave man indeed who, while
living with his wife, does not have physical relations with her. Talk only
about spiritual matters with your wife.” After awhile, Thakur again beckons Bhavanath
and says, “Take your meal here today.” Bhavanath
— As you please. Don’t worry about me. I am quite
all right.
- Sri
Ramakrishna: In the stage of spiritual practices,
one should think of a woman (man for female aspirants) as a forest fire!
Or a black cobra! In the state of perfection, after God-realization, one
sees woman as the All-Blissful Mother. One then looks at each as a
different aspect of the Divine Mother.” Many days ago, Thakur had
warned Narayan very seriously about women.
He said, “Do not let the breeze from a woman’s body touch you. Cover
yourself with a thick sheet so the air will not touch you. And except for
your mother, keep a distance of eight cubits, or two cubits, or at least
one cubit away from women.”
- Sri
Ramakrishna (to M.)
— There is nothing in the household life. His (Ishan’s)
household life is still better. Had that not been so and if the boys had
been womanizers, drug-addicts, drunkards, disobedient, there would have
been no end to troubles. Everybody’s mind is Godward,
the household is permeated with vidya (spiritual
knowledge); it is rarely to be seen. I have seen only a couple of such homes, otherwise there are only quarrels, wrangles,
violence and then disease, sorrow and poverty. Seeing so I said,
‘Mother, please give a turn just now.’ Just see, what problems Narendra is facing! His father has died. The members
of his family don’t have food to eat. Job is so hard to be found. He is
trying hard, but does not find any. Just see, how he is wandering about!
“M., earlier you used to go (to Dakshineswar) so
often, now why have your visits become fewer? It appears,
you have got too much attached to your family. Is that so? “This is not
anybody’s fault. All around there is ‘woman and gold.’ That is why I
pray, ‘Mother, if I shall ever have to take a human body, don’t make a
householder of me.’ ” Brahmin of Bhattapada
— But sir, the household life has been praised in
the holy books. Sri Ramakrishna — Yes, but it is very difficult.
- One
easily experiences a downfall by thinking of a woman as one’s wife. Taking
her as the Mother is a pure attitude.
- God
is not visible to this mind, but to the purified mind! Then this mind
disappears. Even one who has the least trace of attachment to sense
objects does not succeed. When the mind is purified, you may call it
the pure mind, or the pure Atman.
- Thakur
had many women devotees, but he did not talk much about them to the men
devotees. If someone went to visit women devotees, he would say, “Don’t go
to her very often. You may have a fall.” Sometimes he would say, “Even if
a woman rolls on the ground with love for God, you shouldn’t visit her
frequently.” Let men and women devotees live separately. This will be
good for both of them. And he would say further, “It isn’t good for
women devotees to practice motherly feelings for men. Such an attitude
could change and bring about a downfall.”
- A
Particular Devotee —
Sir, what is the way for worldly people? Sri Ramakrishna — Keeping
the company of holy men and listening to spiritual talk. “Worldly people
are intoxicated – they are inebriated with ‘lust and greed’. A drunkard
gradually comes to his senses if he is fed rice water in small quantities
at regular intervals. “And one must listen to the instructions of a Sadguru. There are signs of a Sadguru.
One should listen about Kashi from one who has
visited Kashi, who has seen it. A man of mere
learning will be of no help. One should not listen to the instructions of
a pundit who has not realized that the world is ephemeral. Only a pundit
who has gained discrimination and dispassion has the right to instruct
mankind.
- Despite
Ramakrishna’s childlike behaviour and unusual
humility during the moments of teaching he could and did speak with a
strange tone of authority, a mysterious divine power fortifying his simple
words. When he spoke to Bankim Chatterji, the eminent writer of those days, he
thundered like Christ on the Pharisees. His talks with Keshab,
Shivanath, Pratap, Ishan and Vidyasagar are
full of sparkling wisdom, striking the listeners with wonder. His words to
Kedar are awfully irrevocable.
His words in the presence of Michael Madhusudan Dutta are tragically poignant. But when he speaks to Narendra who was only a boy compared to these social
stalwarts already mentioned, Ramakrishna’s voice is unusually soft with
affection and even with an unmistakable respect of great expectation. M.
describes a scene (Kathamrita, Vol. 11, p. 202)
when Ramakrishna affectionately looks at Narendra
and speaks of renunciation in a tone of importunate request. – “My
child, nothing will be achieved until one renounces lust and gold.”
Speaking these words, Ramakrishna was again absorbed in a divine mood.
With the same compassionate look he began to sing in an inspired way: “I
am afraid to speak; I am afraid not to speak; I only fear lest I should
lose my darling. The mantra that I have learnt, The
same I give unto you, Now it belongs to you. “Sri Ramakrishna is afraid
lest Narendra should belong to somebody else.” (Kathamrita, Vol. II, p. 202).
- Swami
Yogananda (then Jogindranath
Roy Choudhury) asked Thakur
how to get rid of lust. Thakur replied: “Repeat
and repeat Hari’s Name,
lust will fly out.” Jogen was not impressed.
Thought he, “What a remedy! He does not know of
any kriya (Tantric ritual) so he says that this
will do. Can the repetition of Hari’s Name
eradicate lust? Besides so many people repeat Hari’s
Name. Why don’t they get rid of their lust?” Then he thought, “Since Thakur has said it why not see what is
the result?” Thinking in this way he began repeating the Name with
full concentration, and did in fact get clearly the results within a few
days as Thakur had said. Because of differences
in nature and variations in eligibility we find him in many places
teaching differently to different persons – telling everyone what was
needful for him. But nowhere did he prescribe anything difficult – he
never asked anybody to take up anything, which was hard to practise and distinguished him from others. On the
other hand he said, “You have not to take up anything unusual; you have to
lead a simple life.” He himself is an example of this simplicity: no long
hair, no smearing the body with ashes, no iron tongs – none of the outward
signs, which distinguish sadhus from the common
man – nothing like it. For them who go to him, the nearer they go the
farther they find him, the more vastness they see in him. This is his
wonderful uniqueness.