Dear one,
1. The conclusion of all the śāstras is that the threefold misery of this world is not natural, and therefore it can be removed.
2. In the Buddha Avatāra the Lord says that the cause of this ādhibhautika misery is jāti; that is, every kind of jāti, whether by birth, by guṇa or by wealth, is the cause of this misery. In the Ātman there is no woman or man, no varṇāśrama, nor any such idea; and just as mud cannot be washed away with mud, so the sādhana of oneness cannot be accomplished through bheda-buddhi.
3. In the Krishna Avatāra He says that the cause of every kind of misery is avidyā. Niṣkāma karma brings citta-śuddhi; but ‘what is karma, what is akarma’, and the rest.
4. The karma by which this sense of the Ātman unfolds, that alone is karma. That by which the sense of what is not the Ātman unfolds, that is akarma.
5. Therefore the sādhana of karma and akarma varies with the person, the place and the time.
6. Yajñas and the like were fitting in ancient times, and so were the karmas of jāti and the rest; they are not for the present age.
7. The Satya Yuga began from the very day the Ramakrishna Avatāra was born.
8. In the Ramakrishna Avatāra the sword of jñāna will destroy the mleccha horde of atheism, and by bhakti and prema the whole world will be made one. Moreover, in this Avatāra there is no rajas at all, no craving for name and fame; that is to say, whoever takes His teaching is blessed. Whether one accepts Him or not, no harm is done.
9. The sectarians, of ancient times or of modern, have not been wrong. They have done well, but they must do better. Good, better, best.
10. So everyone must be taken just where they stand; that is, without disturbing anyone's way of feeling, each must be led on to a higher one. Likewise, what is in the present social order is good, but it must be made better, and better still, and best.
11. There is no hope for the welfare of the world unless women rise. A bird cannot rise on one wing.
12. That is why, in the Ramakrishna Avatāra, a woman was taken as Guru; that is why He did sādhana in the spirit of a woman; that is why the ideal of the Divine Mother is being preached.
13. That is why my first undertaking is to found a Math for women. That Math will be a mine from which women like Gargi and Maitreyi will come, and women of still higher attainment than they.
14. No great work is ever done by cleverness. Every work is carried through with the help of prema, a passion for truth, and tremendous energy. So put forth your pauruṣa.
15. There is no need to quarrel or argue with anyone. Teach what you have to teach; no need to bother about anyone else. Give your message, leave others to their own thoughts. Truth alone conquers, never untruth; then why quarrel?
I have just read Shankchunni's book. Give him my loving embraces, hundreds of thousands of them and more. He is manifesting Himself in his voice. Blessed Shankchunni! Let Shankchunni read that book to everyone. At the mahotsava let Shankchunni's book be read out before all. If the book is very long, let him read out choice pieces. Why, Shankchunni hasn't written a single word of nonsense! What joy I have had reading his book, how can I tell you! All of you together must try to make Shankchunni's book sell well. Then tell Shankchunni to go preaching from village to village. Bravo, well done, Shankchunni! He is doing His work. Let him go from village to village and make people hear His words; what greater fortune could he have than that? … Sashi, Shankchunni's book and Shankchunni himself must electrify the masses. Ah, my Shankchunni, I bless you with my whole heart, brother. May the Lord sit in your throat; make His name heard from door to door. There is no need at all to become a sannyāsin. Sashi, among the masses one should not be a sannyāsin. Shankchunni is the future apostle for the masses of Bengal. Take great care of Shankchunni! His faith and bhakti have borne fruit. Tell Shankchunni to write these few words in his third part, the part on preaching:
“Whatever the Vedas and Vedānta and all the other Avatāras have done, He alone has done in His own life, for all to see. Unless His life is understood, the Vedas, Vedānta, the Avatāras and the rest cannot be understood, because He was the explanation. From the day He was born the Satya Yuga has come. Now every distinction is gone; down to the caṇḍāla, everyone will receive prema. The distinction of woman and man, the distinction of rich and poor, of pandit and scholar, of brahmin and caṇḍāla, He has done away with them all. And He is the ender of quarrels: the distinction of Hindu and Muslim, of Christian and Hindu and all the rest, all of it is gone. That fighting over distinctions belonged to another age; in this Satya Yuga, in the flood of His prema, all is one.”
Tell him to expand these ideas and write them in his own language. Whoever does His pūjā, however low, will in a moment become truly great, woman or man. And this time it is the ideal of the Divine Mother: He used to dress as a woman, He is as it were our Mother, and just so every woman must be seen as the shadow of the Divine Mother. India has two great sins: trampling women underfoot, and crushing the poor with this cry of “jāti, jāti”. He was the Saviour of women, Saviour of the masses, Saviour of all high and low. And let Shankchunni have His pūjā done in every home. Brahmin or caṇḍāla, woman or man, all have the right to His pūjā. Whoever does His pūjā by ghaṭa-sthāpanā or by setting up a pratimā, with mantras or without, in whatever way, in whatever language, by whosever hand, whoever simply does His pūjā with bhakti will be blessed. Tell him to write in this style. No fear at all; the Lord will be his help. What more need I say?
Narendra.