Paragraph 60

In plain words

Sri Ramakrishna: That is because She is far away. Come near and She has no colour at all. From afar the water of a lake looks black; scoop some up in your hand and it has no colour. The sky looks blue from afar; look at the sky near you, and it has no colour. The closer one comes to God, the clearer it becomes that He has neither name nor form. Step back a little, and again it is "my Mother Syama!", as though of the colour of a grass flower. Is Syama male or female? Once a devotee performed worship. Someone came to see and found a sacred thread round the neck of the image! He said, "You've put a sacred thread on the Mother!" The devotee said, "Brother, it is you who have known the Mother. I have not yet been able to tell whether She is male or female. So I put a sacred thread on Her!"