← Sri Ramakrishna

CHAPTER I.

1884.

SECTION IX.

1884.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA AT THE TEMPLE. (DAKSHINESWAR.)

Place—Dakshineswar Thakurbadi, Calcutta.

Scene—The Master's room.

Date—3rd August, 1884, 2 P. M. to 9-30 P. M.

Present—Balaram, M., Rakhal: Bauls^* from Shibpore and visitors from Bhowanipur; Hazra; Adhar; Rama Chatterji, etc., etc.

CHAPTER I.

The Master is seated on the lounge as usual with his face to the north. The western and the northern doors of his chamber look out on the sacred waters of the Ganges. The Bauls from Shibpore are seated on a mat spread on the floor of the room. They are singing hymns upon musical instruments—one of which was the well-known Gopijantra with one string, popularly called Bong-bonga-bong. They are seated with their faces towards the Master, that is towards the west. Others of the company are seated with their faces to the south and towards the Master.

^* A sect of devout Hindus; lit. Mad for the Lord. These Bauls from Shibpore chant what is now known as Kâli-Kirtan.

One of the songs has a particular reference to the Six Lotus Wheels¹ marking the different stages of progress towards Union² with the Universal Soul.

At the end of this song, the Master says:—

The Six Wheels and the Seven³ Mental Planes.

The six wheels mentioned in the Yoga system of the Tantras correspond with the seven mental planes mentioned in the Vedas. When the mind is immersed in worldliness, it makes its abode in 1st, the anus,⁴ 2nd, the sexual organ⁵ and 3rd the navel⁶

In the 4th plane the abode of the mind is the heart⁷. The man is blessed with the Vision of Divine⁸ Glory and cries out What is all this! what is all this!

In the 5th plane, the place of the mind is the throat.⁹ The devotee talks only on subjects related to God and gets impatient if any other subject comes up before him in the course of conversation.

In the 6th plane the mind is localised between the eyebrows. The devotee comes face to face with God, only a thin glass-like partition, so to speak, keeps him apart from the Divine Person. To him God is like a light within a lantern or the photograph behind a glass frame. He seeks to touch the Vision, but he cannot. His perception falls short of complete realisation, for there is the element of self-consciousness¹⁰ retained to a certain extent.

¹ Shad-chakra.

² Yoga.

³ Sapta-bhumi.

⁴ Guhya.

⁵ Linga

⁶ Nâbhi.

⁷ Hridaya.

⁸ Jyoti.

⁹ Kantha.

¹⁰ Aham.

In the last or the 7th plane it is perfect Samadhi. Then all sense-consciousness ceases and pure God-consciousness takes its place. In this state the life of the Saint lingers for twenty-one days, after which he passes away. During these days he ceases to take any food. Milk, if poured into his mouth, runs out and never gets into the stomach.

The Master continues:—

The Ego of Divine Knowledge.

Some who may have got on to the seventh or the highest plane and have thus become lost in God-consciousness are pleased to come down from that spiritual height with a view to the good of mankind.

They keep the Ego of Knowledge¹ or, in other words, the Higher Self. But this Ego is a mere appearance. It is like a line drawn across a sheet of water.

Hanuman was blessed^* with the vision of God both with² form and without³ form. But he retained the Ego of a servant of God.

Such was also the case with the Saints Nârad, Sanak, Sananda and Sanat Kumar.

Here the question was asked whether Nârad and others worshipped God as dualists⁴ and did not realise Him as God, the Absolute.

The Master says.

¹ Vidyâ.

² Sâkâr.

³ Nirâkâr,

⁴ Bhaktas.

^* Adhyâtma Râmâyana, etc.

Nârad and others had attained the Highest Knowledge¹. But still they continued like the murmuring waters of the rivulet to talk and to sing. This shows that they too kept this Ego of Knowledge.

They were knowing ones² and also devotees³: they talked and sang about the Lord with a view to the good of others.

A 'steam-boat' not only gets to its own place of destination, but also carries numbers of people on board to the same place.

Preceptors like Nârad are like 'steam-boats.'

The Master on the Highest Teachers⁴ of Mankind: the Higher-Self after Realisation.

The Highest Teachers⁴ may be divided into two classes:—

1st. Those⁵ that declare the Supreme Being as the Formless One. Trailingya Swami belongs to this class. Generally speaking, holymen of this class are comparatively selfish, so to speak. They care only for the liberation of their own soul.

The Master on Himself—a Hint.

Those of the second class⁶ say that God is with Form as well as Formless, and that He manifests Himself to His devotees as a Being with Forms.

Have you ever seen a water-passage running over with the water of the river with which it is joined?

The passage has sometimes no trace left, being entirely one with the river-water. But very often there may be noticed a slight movement in its water which proves its separateness from the river-water.

¹ Brahmajnâna.

² Jnânins.

³ Bhaktas.

⁴ Paramahamsas.

⁵ Nirâkâr-vâdi.

⁶ Sâkâr-vâdis.

Pretty much the same is the case with the Teacher belonging to the second class. His soul becomes one with the Universal Soul. Still there is this Ego of Knowledge kept on—a slight trace of individuality to mark his separate existence from the Deity.

Again, such a Teacher may be compared to a jar or pitcher of water when it is filled to the brim. At the same time its contents or part of its contents may be transferred to another vessel. The disciple is the second vessel. The pitcher filled to the brim indicates the perfect state derived from the Highest Knowledge.¹

Thus the Ego of Knowledge is kept for the purpose of teaching others the saving truths of religion.

Again, suppose a person digs a well. He is thirsty and drinks the water the well. It is not unusual for such a person to keep with him the digging implements, that is, the hoe, the shovel, the spade, etc., for the sake of others who may want them for the same object. In the same way a Teacher of the second class who may have drunk the waters of Everlasting Life and may have thus quenched his spiritual thirst come to the perfection of Brahma-jnâna, is often anxious to do good to mankind. With this view he retains the Ego of Knowledge, the Ego of Bhakti, the Ego of Preceptor.

¹ Brahmajnâna.

Some persons eat mangoes and take away all traces of eating by wiping their mouth with a towel. These persons care only for their own selves. But there are others who are sure to share the mangoes with other people whenever they eat them.

This was precisely the mental attitude of the Gopis of Brindaban. They always desired to retain the power of tasting the Love of Sri Krishna. To them He was the Thing¹ to be enjoyed, i.e., spiritually. They wanted to be the persons² enjoying. So sang Ram Prasâd, 'I would much prefer to eat the sugar to being the sugar itself.'

Involution and Evolution.

It is a case of Involution and Evolution. You go backwards³ to the Supreme Being and your personality becomes lost in His Personality. This is Samadhi. You then retrace⁴ your steps. You get back your ego (Personality) and come back to the point whence you started only to see that the world and your ego or self were involved in the same Supreme Being, and that God, Man and Nature (or the world) are mere identities, so that if you hold to one of them you realise the others.

Call with Bhakti upon His Hallowed Name and the mountain of your sins shall go out of sight; just as a mountain of cotton will burn up and vanish if it but catches one spark of fire.

¹ Rasa.

² Rasika.

³ Anulom.

⁴ Vilom.

The Doctrine of Sin and Worship from Fear.

Popular Christianity and Brahmoism.

The worship from fear, that is, of hell-fire, is intended for the beginner. Some people talk of sin and sin only. Take Popular Christianity and Brahmoism. Now these Christians and Brahmos as a general rule look upon the sense of sin as the whole of religion. Their ideal of a devotee is he who can pray, 'O Lord I am a sinner; deign to forgive my sins.' They forget that the sense of sin marks only the earliest and a lower stage of spirituality. There is yet a higher ideal, a higher stage of spirituality,—the Love of God as our own Father or Mother.

People do not see the force of habit.¹ If you say eternally 'I am a sinner,' 'I am a sinner,' you will remain a sinner to the end of the chapter.

One who says, 'I am bound² to the world,', I am bound,' will go on to be in bondage indeed for ever.

But that man is free³ who says, 'I am free from the bondage of the world,' 'I am free.' Is not the Lord our own Father?

Such is the great force of habit.