Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda

Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda

Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna 1. Meditate upon the Knowledge and Bliss Eternal, and you will also have bliss. The Bliss indeed is eternal, only it is covered and obscured by ignorance.

2. The less your attachment is towards the senses, the more will be your love towards God. 3. Those who wish to attain God and progress in religious devotion should particularly guard themselves against the snares of lust and wealth. Otherwise they can never attain perfection.

4. Iron, after it is converted into gold by the touch of philosopher’s stone, may be kept under the ground or thrown into a rubbish heap; it will always remain gold and will not return to its former condition. Similar is the state of the man whose soul has touched, the feet of the almighty Lord. Whether he dwell in the bustle of the world, or in the solitude of the forest.

5. it’s enough to have faith in one aspect of God. Never get into your head that your faith alone is true and every other is false. Know for certain that God without form is real and that God with form is also real. Then hold fast whichever faith appeals to you.

6. Chant the name of God and sing his glories unceasingly; and keep holy company. Now and then one should visit holy men and devotees of God. If a man lives in the world and busies himself day and night with worldly duties and responsibilities, he cannot give his mind to God. So it’s important to go into solitude from time to time, and think about God. 7. When the plant is young, it should be fenced on all sides. Unless there’s fence around it, goats and cattle may eat it up. When you meditate, go into the solitude of a forest, or a quiet corner, and enter into the chamber of your heart. And always keep your power of discrimination awake. God alone is real, that is to say, eternal; everything else is unreal, because it

will pass away. As you discriminate in this manner, let your mind give up its attachment to the fleeting objects of this world. Attend to all your duties but keep your mind fixed on God. Wife, son, father, mother - live with all of them and serve them, as if they were your very own. But know in your heat of hearts that they are not your own.

8. In the Kaliyuga, man, being totally dependent on food for like, cannot altogether shake off the idea that he is the body. In this state of mind it is not proper for him to say: “I am He”. When a man does all sorts of worldly things, he should not say, “I am Brahman”. Those who cannot give up attachment to worldly things, and who find no means to shake off the feeling of “I”, should rather Cherish the idea, “I am God’s servant; I am His devotee.”

9. Man cannot really help the world. God alone does that – he who has created the sun and the moon, who has put love for their children in parents’ hearts, endowed noble souls with compassion, and holy men and devotees with divine love. The man, who works for others, without any selfish motive, really does well to himself.

10. There is gold buried in your heart, but you are not yet aware of it. It is covered with a thin layer of earth. Once you are aware of it, all these activities of yours will lessen. Through selfless work, love of God grows in the heart. Then, through His grace, one realizes Him in course of time.

God can be seen, one can talk to Him, as I am talking to you.

11. God is directly perceived by the mind, but not by this ordinary mind.

It is the pure mind that perceives God, and at that time this ordinary mind does not function. A mind that has the slightest trace of attachment to the world cannot be called pure. When all the impurities of the mind are removed, you may call that mind Pure Mind or Pure Atman.

12. God reveals Himself to a devotee who feels drawn to Him by the combined force of these three attractions; the attraction of worldly possessions for the worldly man, the child’s attraction for its mother, and the husband’s attraction for the chaste wife. If one feels drawn to Him by

combined force to these three attractions, then through it one can attain Him. 13. God laughs on two occasions. He laughs when the physician says to the patient’s mother, “Don’t be afraid, mother; I shall certainly cure your boy.” God laughs, saying to Himself, “I am going to take his life, and this man says he will save it!” The physician thinks he is the master, forgetting that God is the Master. God laughs again when two brothers divide their land with a string, saying to each other, “This side is mine and that side is yours.” He laughs and says to Himself, “The whole universe belongs to me, but they say they own this portion or that portion.”

14. Brahman and Sakti are identical. If you accept the one, you must accept the other. It is like fire and its power to burn. If you see the fire, you must recognize its power to burn also. You cannot think of fire without its burn, nor can you think of the power to burn without fire.

You cannot conceive of the sun’s rays without the sun, nor can you conceive of the sun without its rays. You cannot think of the milk without the whiteness, and again, you cannot think of the whiteness without the milk. Thus, one cannot think of Brahman without Sakti, or of Sakti without Brahman. One cannot think of the Absolute without the Relative, or of the Relative without the Absolute.

15. Think of Brahman, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute, as a shoreless ocean. Through the cooling influence, as it were, of the bhakta’s love, the water has frozen at places into block of ice. In other words, God now and then assumes various forms for His lovers and reveals himself to them as a person. But with the rising of the sun of Knowledge, the blocks of ice melt. Then one doesn’t feel any more that God is a person, nor does one see God’s forms. What He is cannot be described. Who will describe Him? He who would do so disappears. He cannot find his “I” any more.

16. Can you weep for Him with intense longing of heart? Men shed a jugful of tears for sake of their children, for their wives, or for money. But who weep for God? 19. So longs as the child remains engrossed with its toys, the mother looks after her cooking and other household duties. But when the child no longer relishes the toys, it throws them aside and yells for its mother. Then the mothers take the rice - pot down from the hearth, runs in haste, and take the child in her arms.

17. Direct the six passions to God. The impulse of lust should be turned into the desire to have intercourse with Atman. Feel angry at those who stand in your way to God. Feel greedy for Him. If you have the feeling of I and mine, then associate it with God. Say, for instance. “My Rama, My Krishna.” If you must have pride, then feel like Bibhishana, who said, “I have touched the feet of Rama with head; I will not bow this head before anyone else.”

18. It is said that truthfulness alone constitutes the spiritual discipline of the Kaiiyuga. If a man clings tenaciously to truth, he ultimately realizes God. Without this regard for truth, one gradually loses everything. I prayed to her, taking a flower in my hands; “Mother, here is Thy knowledge and here is Thy ignorance. Take them both, and give me only pure love. Here is Thy holiness and here is Thy unholiness. Take them both, Mother and give me pure love. Here is Thy good and here is Thy evil.

Take them both. Mother, and give me pure love. Here is Thy righteousness and here is Thy unrighteousness. Take them both, Mother, and give me pure love.” I mentioned all these. But I could not say: “Mother, here is Thy truth and here is Thy falsehood. Take them both.” I gave up everything at her feet but could not bring myself to give up truth.

19. The body was born it will die. But for the soul there is no death. It is like the betel-nut. When the nut is ripe it does not stick to the shell. But when it is green it is difficult to separate it from the shell. After realizing

God, one does not identify oneself any more with the body. Then one knows that body and soul are two different things.

20. Why may be called a paramahamsa? He who, like a swan, can take the milk from a mixture of milk and water, leaving aside the water. He who, like an ant, can take the sugar from a mixture of sugar and sand, leaving aside the sand.

21. Truth is one; only called by different names. All people are seeking the same Truth; the variance is due to climate, temperament, and name. A lake has many Ghats. From one ghat the Hindus take water in jars and call it “jal”. From another ghat the Mussalamans take water in leather bags and call it “pani”. From a third the Christians take the same thing and call it “water”. But this very thing is at the root of the friction among sects, their misunderstandings and quarrels. Everyone is going toward God. They will all realize Him if they have sincerity and longing of heart.

22. Live in the world like a waterfowl. The water clings to the bird, but the bird shakes it off. Live in the world like a mudfish. The fish live in the mud, but its skin always bright and shiny.

23. You must know that there are different tastes. There are also different powers of digestion. God has made different religions and creeds suit different aspirants. By no means are all fit for the Knowledge of Brahman. Therefore, the worship of God with form has been provided.

The mother brings home a fish for her children. She curries part of the fish, part she fries, and with another part she makes pilau. By no means can all digest he pilau. So, she makes fish soup for those who have weak stomachs. Further, some want pickled of fried fish. There are different temperaments. There are differences in the capacity to comprehend.

24. A man can reach the roof of a house by stone stairs or a ladder or a rope or even by a bamboo pole. But he cannot reach the roof if he set foot now on one and now on another. He should firmly follow one path.

Likewise, in order to realize God must follow one path with all his

strength. But you must regard other views as so many paths leading to God. 25. Suppose throne has pierced a man’s foot. He picks another thorn to pull out the first one. After extracting the first thorn with the help of the second, he throws both away; one should use thorn of knowledge to pull out the thorn of ignorance. Then one throws away both the thorns, knowledge and ignorance, and attains vijnana.

26. What is vijnana? It is to know God distinctly by realizing His existence through an intuitive experience and to speak to Him intimately.

That is why Sri Krishna said to Arjuna. “Go beyond the three gunas.”

27. You have been born in this world as a human being to worship God; therefore, try to acquire love for His Lotus Feet. Why do you trouble yourself to know a hundred other things? What will you gain by discussing philosophy? Look here, one ounce of liquor is enough to intoxicate you. What is the use of your trying to find out how many gallons of liquor there are in the tavern?

28. 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. 29. When an unbaked pot is broken. The potter can use mud to make a new one; but when a baked one is broken. He cannot do the same any longer. So, when a person dies in a state of ignorance, he is born again; but when he becomes well baked in the fire of true knowledge and dies a perfect man, he is not born again.

30. Two friends went into an orchard. One of them possessing much worldly wisdom immediately began to count the mango trees there and the

number of mangoes each tree bore, and to estimate what might be the approximate value of the whole orchard. His companion went to the owner, made friends with him, and then, quietly going into a tree, began at his host’s desire to pluck the fruits and eat them. Whom do you consider to be wiser of the two? Eat mangoes; it will satisfy your hunger.

What is the good of counting the trees and leaves and making calculations? The vain man of intellect busies himself with finding out the “why” and “wherefore” of creation, while the humble man of wisdom makes friends with the Creator and enjoys His gift of supreme bliss.

31. It is very pleasant to scratch an itching ring-worm, but the sensation one gets afterwards is very painful and intolerable. In the same way, the pleasures of this world are very attractive in the beginning, but their consequences are terrible to contemplate and hard to endure.

32. One must have childlike faith - and the intense yearning that a child feels to see its mother.

33. Give God the power of attorney. Let Him do whatever He wants. Be like a Kitten and cry to Him with fervent heart.

34. Subtle are the ways of dharma. One cannot realize God if one has even the least trace of desire. A thread cannot pass through the eye of a needle if it has the smallest fiber sticking out.

35. As long as there is bhoga, there will be less of yoga. Furthermore, bhoga begets suffering.

36. All the sins of the body fly away if one chants the name of God and sings His glories.

37. The one thing needful is to know how to cross the river of the world.

38. Rupee is clay and clay is rupee; gold is clay and clay is gold.

39. It is true that one’s spiritual feelings are awakened by looking at the picture of a sadhu. It is like being reminded of the custard apple by looking at an imitation one, or like stimulating the desire for enjoyment

by looking at a young woman. Therefore, I tell you should constantly live in the company of holy men.

40. By thinking day and night of God one acquires by nature of God. The mind is like white linen just returned from the laundry. It takes on the color you dip it in.

41. 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 vijnana.

42. The misfortune that befalls a man on account of his egotism can be realized if you only think of the condition of the calf. The calf says, ‘Hamma!’ ‘Hamma!’ that is ‘I!’ ‘I!’ and just look at it misfortune.

43. He who has merely heard of milk is ‘ignorant’. He who has seen milk has ‘knowledge’ but he who has drunk milk and been strengthened by it.

Ha attained vijnana.

44. All the knots of ignorance come undone in the twinkling of an eye, through the Guru’ grace.

45. There are two classes of devotees. One class has the nature of the kitten. Devotees of this class give God the power of attorney and thus become free of all worry. There is another class of devotees. They have the nature of the young monkey. The young monkey clings to its mother with might and main. The devotees who behave like the young monkey have a slight idea of being the doer.

46. A man who is himself ignorant starts out to teach others: like the blind leading the blind.

47. Haven’t you noticed the flame of candle? The slightest wind makes it waver. The state of yoga is like the candle flame in a windless place.

48. Yoga is possible when the mind becomes pure.

49. There are many pundits who speak words of wisdom. But they merely talk; they don’t live up to them. They are like vultures, which soar very high but keep their gaze fixed on the charnel – pit.

50. Why should you give up the world? Since you must fight, it is wise for you to fight from a fort. You must fight against your sense-organs, against, your hunger and thirst. Therefore, you will be wise to face the battle from the world.

51. as a piece of rope, when burnt, retains its form, but cannot serve to bind, so is the ego which is burnt by the fire of supreme Knowledge.

52. If you feel proud, let it be the thought that you are the servant of God, the son of God, Great men have the nature of a child. They are always a child before Him; so, they are free from pride. All their strength is of God and not their own.

53. The young bamboo can be easily bent, but the full-grown bamboo breaks when it is bent with force. It is easy to bend the young heart towards God, but the untrained heart of the old escapes the hold whenever it is so drawn.

54. A boat may stay in water, but water should not stay in boat. A spiritual aspirant may live in the world, but the world should not live within him.

55. As a boy holding to a post or a pillar whirls about it with headlong speed without any fear or falling, so perform your worldly duties, fixing your hold firmly upon God, and you will be free from danger.

56. A thief enters a dark room and feels the various articles therein. He lays his hands upon a table perhaps, and saying “Not his” passes on. Next he comes upon some other article - a chair, perhaps - and again saying “Not this” continues his search, till, leaving article after article, he finally lays his hands on the box containing the treasure. Then he exclaims “It is here!” and there his search ends, indeed is the search for Brahman.

57. Knowledge leads to unity, but Ignorance to diversity.

58. So long as God seems to be outside and far away, there is ignorance.

But when God is realized within, that is true knowledge. Truth is one; only called by different names. All people are seeking the same.

59. Everyone is going toward God. They will all realize Him if they have sincerity and longing of heart.

60. Just imagine Hanuman’s state of mind. He didn’t care for money, honor, creature comforts, or anything else. He longed only for God. 61. The bliss of worship and communion with God is the true wine, the wine of ecstatic love.

62. God dwells in all beings. But you may be intimate only with good people: you must keep away from evil - minded.

63. God undoubtedly dwell in hearts of all - All holy and unholy, righteous and unrighteous.

64. God alone is the Doer, and none else that is knowledge.

65. Compassion, love of God and renunciation are the glories of true knowledge.

66. Brahman is beyond vidya and avidya, knowledge and ignorance.

67. He who has Faith has everything; He who lacks faith lacks everything. It is the Faith in the Name of Lord that works wonders.

Faith is Life & Doubt is Death.

68. He is born in vain who having attained the human birth so difficult to get, does not attempt to realize God in this very life.

69. With the realization of Sat-Chidananda one goes into Samadhi, the duties drop away.

70. The aspirant enjoys peace and calm after passing the waves of storms of ‘Kamini’ & Kanchan”.

71. If you desire to be pure, have firm faith, and slowly go on with your devotional practices without wasting your energy in useless scriptural discussions and arguments. Your little brain will otherwise be muddled.

72. Householders entangled in worldliness are like the silkworm.

73. This world is whirlpool. Once a boat gets into it there is no hope of it rescue.

74. There are no doubt six alligators (passions) lust, anger avarice, delusion, pride and envy within you.

75. Kali none other than Bahman. That which is called Brahman is really Kali. She is primal energy. When that energy remains inactive, I call it Brahman, and when it creates, preserves, or destroy I call it sakti or Kali.

76. You may learn a great deal from books; but it is all futile if you have no love for God and no desire to realize Him. 77. You see, there is no need to read too much of the scriptures. If you read too much you will be inclined to reason and argue. What you get by repeating the word ‘Gita’ ten times is the essence of the book. In other words, If you repeat ‘Gita’ ten times it is reversed in to ‘tagi’ which indicates renunciation.

78. Suppose you have entered a tavern for drink is it necessary for you to know how many gallons of wine there are in the tavern. One glasses enough for you. What need is there of your knowing the infinite qualities of God? You may discriminate got millions of years about God’s attributes and still you will not know them.

79. When butter is heated it sizzles and crackles. But all sound comes to a stop when it is thoroughly boiled. As a man’s mind is, so is his conception of God. 80. Rain water never collects on a high mound; it collects only in low land. Similarly, the water of God’s grace cannot remain on the high mound of egotism. Before God one should feel lowly and poor.

81. Suffering is in evitable when one assumes a human body.

82. God is the Kalpataru, the wish –filling tree. You certainly get whatever you ask of Him. But you must pray standing near the Kalptaru - only then will your prayer be fulfilled.

83. The tadpole, so long it has not dropped its tail, lives only in the water.

It cannot move about on dry land. But as soon as it drops its tail it hops out on the bank. Then it can live both on land and in water. Likewise, as

long as man has not dropped his tail of ignorance, he can live only in the water of the world. But when he drops his tail, that is to say, when he attains the knowledge of God, then he can roam about as a free soul, or live a house holder if he likes.

84. A good sadhu behaves like a python. He sits in one place and the food comes to him. Python doesn’t move from where it is. A young Sadhu, who had been a brahamachari from his boyhood, went out to beg. Young girl offered him alms. The sadhu saw her breasts and thought she had abscesses. He asked about them. The elderly women of the family explained that she would someday be a mother and that God had given her breasts to give milk to her children; God had provided for all this beforehand. At these words the sadhu was stuck with wonder. He said: Then I don’t need to be begging. God must have provided for me too.

85. Japa means silently repeating God’s name in solitude. When you chant His name with single-minded devotion you can see God’s form and realize him. Suppose there is piece of time a sunk in the water of the Ganges and fastened with a chain to the bank. You precede link by link, holding to the chain, and you dive into the water and follow the chain.

Finally, you are able to reach the timber. In the same way, by repeating God’s name you become absorbed in Him and finally realize Him. 86. A bird sat on the mast of a ship. When the ship sailed through the mouth of Ganges into ‘black water’ of the ocean, the bird failed to notice the fact. When it finally became aware of the ocean, it left the mast and flew north in search of land. But it found no limit to the water and returned. After resting a while it flew south. There too it found no limit to the water. Panting for breath the bird returned to the mast. Again, after resting a while, it flew east and then west. Finding no limit to the water in any direction, at last it settled down on the mast of the ship. – As long as a man feels that God is ‘there’ he is ignorant, but he attains knowledge when he feels that God is ‘here’.

87. Bhakti is the one essential thing. To be sure God exists in all beings.

88. He who from the depth of his soul seeks to know God will certainly realize Him; He must.

89. Thou sees many stars at night in the sky, but finest them not when the sun rises. Canst thou say that there are no stars, then, in the heaven of day? So, O man, because thou behold not the Almighty in the days of thy ignorance, says not that there is no God. 90. As with one gold various ornaments are made, having different forms and names, so one God is worshipped in different countries and ages, and has different forms and names. Though He may be worshipped variously, some loving to call him Father, others Mother, & yet it is one God that is being worshipped in all these various relations and modes.

91. Q. If the God of every religion is the same, why is it then that the God is painted differently by different religionists? A. God is one, but His aspects are different: as one master of the house is father to one, brother to another, and husband to a third, and is called by these different names by those different persons, so one God is described and called in various ways according to the particular aspect in which He appears to His particular worshipper.

92. In a potter's shop there are vessels of different shapes and forms pots, jars, dishes, plates, &c. but all are made of one clay. So, God is one, but is worshipped in different ages and climes under different names and aspects.

93. Man is like a pillow-case. The color of one may be red, another blue, another black, but all contain the same cotton So it is with man--one is beautiful, one is black, another is holy, a fourth wicked; but the Divine dwells in them all.

94. All waters are brooded over by Narayan, but every kind of water is not fit for drink. Similarly, though it is true that the Almighty dwells in every place, yet every place is not fit to be visited by man. As one kind of water may be used for washing our feet, another may serve the purpose of

ablution, and others may be drunk, and others again may not be touched at all; so, there are different kinds of places. We may approach some; we can enter into the inside of others, others we must avoid, even at a distance.

95. The human body is like a boiling pot, and the mind and the senses are like water, rice or potato, &c. in it. Put the pot with its ingredients on the fire; it will be so hot as to burn your finger when you touch it. But the heat does not belong to the pot, nor anything contained in it, but is in the fire. So, it is the fire of Brahman in man that causes the mind and the senses to perform their functions, and when that fire ceases to act, the senses also, or the organs, stop. 96. The Lord can pass an elephant through the eye of a needle. He can do whatever He likes.

97. As fishes playing in a pond covered over with reeds and scum cannot be seen from outside, so God plays in the heart of a man invisibly, being screened by Maya. From human view.

98. A man sitting under the shade of the Kalpa-vriksha (wishing-tree) wished to be a king, and in an instant, he was a king. The next moment he wished to have a charming damsel, and the damsel was instantly by his side. The man then thought within himself, if a tiger came and devoured him, and alas! In an instant, he was in the jaws of a tiger! God is like that wishing-tree: whosoever in His presence thinks that he is destitute and poor, remains as such, but he who thinks and believes that the Lord fulfills all his wants, receives everything from Him. 99. As a boy begins to learn writing by drawing big scrawls, before he can master the small-hand, so we must learn concentration of the mind by fixing it first on forms; and when we have attained success therein, we can easily fix it upon the formless. As a marksman learns to shoot by first taking aim at large and big objects, and the more he acquires the facility, the greater becomes the ease with which he can shoot at the smaller marks on the target, so when the mind has been trained to be fixed on images

having form, it becomes easy for it to be fixed upon images having no form.

100. As a large and powerful steamer moves swiftly over the waters, towing rafts and barges in its wake, so when Savior descends, He easily carries thousands across the ocean of Maya (illusion).

101. In some seasons water can be obtained from the great depths of the wells only and with great difficulty, but when the country is flooded in the rainy season, water is obtained with ease everywhere. So ordinarily, God is reached with great pains through prayers and penances, but when the flood of Incarnation descends, God is seen anywhere and everywhere.

102. Five are the kinds of Siddhas found in this world: (1) The Svapna Siddhas are those who attain perfection by means of dream inspiration.

(2) The Mantra Siddhas are those who attain perfection by means of any sacred mantra.

(3) The Hathat Siddhas are those who attain perfection suddenly. As a poor man may suddenly become rich by finding a hidden treasure or by marrying into a rich family, so many sinners become pure all of a sudden, and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

(4) The Kripa Siddhas are those who attain perfection through the tangible grace of the Almighty, as a poor man is made wealthy by the kindness of a king.

(5) The Nitya Siddhas are those who are ever-perfect. As a gourd or a pumpkin-creeper brings forth fruit first and then its flower, so the everperfect is born a Siddha and all his seeming exertions after perfection are merely for the sake of setting examples to humanity.

103.There is a fabled species of birds called 'Homa,' which live so high up in the heavens, and so dearly love those regions, that they never condescend to come down to the earth. Even their eggs, which, when laid in the sky, begin to fall down to the earth attracted by gravity, are said to

get hatched in the middle of their downward course and give birth to the young ones. The fledgelings at once find out that they are falling down, and immediately change their course and begin to fly up towards their home, drawn thither by instinct. Men such as Suka Deva, Narada, Samkarakarya and others, are like those birds, who even in their boyhood give up all attachments to the things of this world and betake themselves to the highest regions of true Knowledge and Divine Light. These men are called Nitya Siddhas.

104. Ornaments cannot be made of pure gold. Some alloy must be mixed with it. A man totally devoid of Maya. Will not survive more than twenty-one days. So, long as the man has body, he must have some Maya, however small it may be, to carry on the functions of the body.

105. In the play of hide-and-seek, if the player once succeeds in touching the non-player, called the grand-dame (Boori), he is no longer liable to be made a thief. Similarly, by once seeing the Almighty, a man is no longer bound down by the fetters of the world. The boy, by touching the Boori, is free to go wherever he wishes, without being pursued, and no one can make him a thief. Similarly, in this world's playground, there is no fear to him who has once touched the feet of the Almighty.

106. So long as a man is far from the market, he hears a loud and indistinct buzzing only, something like 'Ho! Ho!' But when he enters the market he no longer hears the uproar, but perceives distinctly that someone is bargaining for potatoes, another for Brinjal, and so on. As long as a man is far away from God, he is in the midst of the noise and confusion of reason, argument, and discussion; but when once a person approaches the Almighty, all reasoning, arguments, and discussions cease, and he understands the mysteries of God with vivid and clear perception.

107. So long as the bee is outside the petals of the lotus, and has not tasted its honey, it hovers around the flower, emitting its buzzing sound; but when it is inside the flower, it drinks its nectar noiselessly. So, long as

a man quarrels and disputes about doctrines and dogmas, he has not tasted the nectar of true faith; when he has tasted, it he becomes still.

108. The naked Sage, Totapuri, used to say, 'If a brass pot be not rubbed daily, it will get rusty. So, if a man does not contemplate the Deity daily, his heart will grow impure.' To him Sri Ramakrishna replied, 'Yes, but if the vessel be of gold, it does not require daily cleaning. The man who has reached God requires prayers or penances no more.'

109. When water is poured into an empty vessel a bubbling noise ensues, but when the vessel is full no such noise is heard. Similarly, the man who has not found God is full of vain disputations. But when he has seen Him, all vanities disappear, and he silently enjoys the Bliss Divine.

110. It is fabled that the pearl oyster leaves its bed at the bottom of the sea and comes up to the surface to catch the rain-water when the star Svati is in the ascendant. It floats about on the surface of the sea with its mouth agape, until it succeeds in catching a drop of the marvelous Svatirain. Then it dives down to its sea-bed and their rests, till it has succeeded in fashioning a beautiful pearl out of that rain-drop. Similarly, there are some true and eager aspirants who travel from place to place in search of that. watchword from a godly and perfect preceptor (Sad-guru) which will open for them the gate of eternal bliss, and if in their diligent search one is fortunate enough to meet such a Guru and get from him the muchlonged-for logos, which is sure to break down all fetters, he at once retires from society, enters into the deep recess of his own heart and rests there, till he has succeeded in gaining eternal peace. 111. Two persons were hotly disputing as to the color of a chameleon. One said, 'The chameleon on that palm-tree is of a beautiful red color.' The other, contradicting him, said, 'You are mistaken, the chameleon is not red, but blue.' Not being able to settle the matter by arguments, both went to the person who always lived under that tree and had watched the chameleon in all its phases of color. One of them said, ‘Sir is not the Chameleon on that tree of a red color?' The person replied, 'Yes, sir.' The other disputant said, 'What

do you say? How is it? It is not red, it is blue.' That person again humbly replied, 'Yes, sir.' The person knew that the chameleon is an animal that constantly changes its color; thus, it was that he said 'yes' to both these conflicting statements. The Sat-Chit-Ananda likewise has various forms.

The devotee who has seen God in one aspect only, knows Him in that aspect alone. But he, who has seen Him in His manifold aspects, is alone in a position to say, 'All these forms are of one God, for God is multiform.'

He has forms and has no forms.

112. Many are the names of God, and infinite the forms that lead us to know Him. In whatsoever name or form you desire to call Him, in that very form and name you will see Him. 113. Four blind men went to see an elephant. One touched the leg of the elephant, and said, 'The elephant is like a pillar.' The second touched the trunk, and said, the elephant is like a thick stick or club.' The third touched the belly, and said, 'The elephant is like a big jar.' The fourth touched the ears, and said, 'The elephant is like a winnowing basket.'

Thus, they began to dispute amongst themselves as to the figure of the elephant. A passer-by seeing them thus quarrelling, said, 'What is it that you are disputing about?' They told him everything, and asked him to arbitrate. That man said, 'None of you has seen the elephant. The elephant is not like a pillar; its legs are like pillars. It is not like a big water-vessel, its belly is like a water-vessel. It is not like a winnowing basket; its ears are like winnowing baskets. It is not like a thick stick or club, but its proboscis is like that. The elephant is the combination of all these.' In the same manner those quarrel who have seen one aspect only of the Deity.

114. Once a holy man, while passing through a crowded street, accidentally trod upon the toe of a wicked person. The wicked man, furious with rage, beat the Sadhu mercilessly, till he fell to the ground in a faint. His disciples took great pains and adopted various measures to bring him back to consciousness, and when they saw that he had

recovered a little, one of them asked, 'Sir, do you recognize who is attending upon you?' The Sadhu replied, 'He who beat me.' A true Sadhu finds no distinction between a friend and a foe.

115. So long as no child is born to her, the newly-married girl remains deeply absorbed in her domestic duties. But no sooner is a son born, then she leaves off all her house-hold concerns, and no longer finds any pleasure in them. On the contrary, she fondles the newborn baby the livelong day, and kisses it with intense joy. Thus, man, in his state of ignorance, performs all sorts of worldly works, but no sooner does he see the Almighty, then he finds no longer any relish in them. On the contrary, his happiness now consists only in serving the Deity and doing His works alone.

116. Little children play with dolls in a room apart just as they like, but as soon as their mother comes in they throw aside the dolls and run to her crying, 'Mamma, Mamma!' You also are now playing in this world deeply absorbed with the dolls of wealth, honor, and fame, and have no fear or anxiety. But if you once see the Divine Mother entering in, you will not find pleasure any more in wealth, honor, and fame. Leaving off all these you will run to her.

117. As many have merely heard of snow but not seen it, so many are the religious preachers who have read only in books about the attributes of God, but have not realized them in their lives. And as many may have seen but not tasted it, so many are the religious teachers who have got only a glimpse of Divine Glory, but have not understood its real essence.

He who has tasted the snow can say what it is like. He who has enjoyed the society of God in different aspects, now as a servant, now as a friend, now as a lover, or as being absorbed in Him, & he alone can tell what the attributes of God are.

118. As a lamp dose not burn without oil, so a man cannot live without god.

119. Know the one, and you will know the all-ciphers placed after the figure one get the value of hundreds and of thousands, but they become valueless if you wipe out that figure. The many ciphers have value only because of the one. First the one and then the many. First god, and then the jives and the jagat (world).

120. There are some who boast of their wealth and power, of their name and fame, and high status in society; but all these are for a few days only.

None of these will follow them after death.

121. Water always flows out under a bridge but never stagnates; so money passes through the hands of the free, and is never hoarded by them.

123. The heavier scale of a balance goes down while the lighter rises up.

Similarity, he who is weighed down by the many cares and anxieties of the world sinks down into it, while he who has fewer rises up towards the feet of the lord.

124. Disease is the tax which the soul pays for the use of the body as the tenant pays house rent for the use of house.

125. Sri Ramakrishna used to say: ‘people become generous and simple minded only in consequence of much penance. God can never be attended accept with a simple mind. It is to the simple - minded that he revels his own nature.’ 126. Have a bhakti within, and give up all cunning and deceit. Those who are engaged in business, such as work in office or a trade, should also stick to truth. Truthfulness is the tapasya of kalyuga.

127. Be not a traitor to your thoughts. Be sincere; act according to your thoughts; and you shall surely succeed. Pray with a sincere and simple heart, and your prayers will be heard.

128. Do you seek god? Than seek him in man. His divinity is manifest more in man than in any other object look around for a man whose heart overflows with the love of god, a man who lives, moves, and has his being

in god - a man intoxicated with his love. In such a man god manifests himself.

129. In ordinary season water from wells can be drawn from great depths and with much difficulty but when the country is flooded with water in the rainy season, water is obtained with ease everywhere. So ordinarily god is attended with great difficulty thought prayer and penances; but when the flood of incarnation descended on earth god is seen everywhere.

130. First rub your hands with oil and then break open the jack-fruit; otherwise they will be smeared with its sticky milk. First secure the oil of divine love, and then set your hands to the duties of the world. But one must go into solitude to attain this divine love. To get butter from milk you must let it set into curd in a secluded spot; if it is too much disturbed, milk won't turn into curd. Next, you must put aside all other duties, sit in a quiet spot, and churn the curd. Only then do you get butter.

131. God reveals Himself to a devotee who feels drawn to Him by the combined force of these three attractions: the attraction of worldly possessions for the worldly man, the child's attraction for its mother, and the husband's attraction for the chaste wife. If one feels drawn to Him by the combined force of these three attractions, then through it one can attain Him. The point is, to love God even as the mother loves her child, the chaste wife her husband, and the worldly man his wealth. Add together these three forces of love, these three powers of attraction, and give it all to God. Then you will certainly see Him. It is necessary to pray to Him with a longing heart.

132. The kitten knows only how to call its mother, crying, 'Mew, mew!'

It remains satisfied wherever its mother puts it. And the mother cat puts the kitten sometimes in the kitchen, sometimes on the floor, and sometimes on the bed. When it suffers, it cries only, 'Mew, mew!' That's all it knows. But as soon as the mother hears this cry, wherever she may be; she comes to the kitten.

133. The almanac forecasts the rainfall of the year. But not a drop of water will you get by squeezing the almanac. No, not even one drop. How long should one reason about the texts of the scriptures? So long as one does not have direct realization of God. 134. A Jnani is like one who knows beyond a doubt that a log of wood contains fire. But a Vijnani is he who lights the log, cooks over the fire, and is nourished by the food. The eight fetters have fallen from the vijnÄ ni. He may keep merely the appearance of lust, anger, and the rest.

135. The vijnani enjoys the bliss of God in a richer way. Some have heard of milk, some have seen it, and some have drunk it. The vijnÄ ni has drunk milk, enjoyed it, and been nourished by it.

135. Vijnani isn't afraid of anything. He has realized both aspects of God: Personal and Impersonal. He has talked with God. He has enjoyed the Bliss of God. It is a joy to merge the mind in the Indivisible Brahman through contemplation. And it is also a joy to keep the mind on the Lila, the Relative, without dissolving it in the Absolute.

136. Live in the world like an unchaste woman. She performs her household duties with great attention, but her mind dwells day and night on her paramour. Perform your duties in the world but keep your mind always fixed on God. 137. The mother brings home a fish for her children. She curries part of the fish, part she fries, and with another part she makes pilau. By no means all can digest the pilau. So, she makes fish soup for those who have weak stomachs. Further, some want pickled or fried fish. There are different temperaments. There are differences in the capacity to comprehend.

138. Perfected souls describe to others the various spiritual disciplines by which they have realized God. They do this only to teach others and to help them in spiritual life. With great effort men dig a well for drinking water, using spades and baskets for the purpose. After the digging is over, some throw the spades and other implements into the well, not needing

them anymore. But some put them away near the well, so that others may use them.

139. Some eat mangoes secretly and remove all trace of them by wiping their mouths with a towel. But some share the fruit with others. There are sages who, even after attaining Knowledge, work to help others and also to enjoy the bliss of God in the company of devotees. 'I want to eat sugar. I don't want to be sugar.'

140. The important thing is somehow to cultivate devotion to God and love for Him. What is the use of knowing many things? It is enough to cultivate love of God by following any of the paths. When you have this love, you are sure to attain God. Afterwards, if it is necessary, God will explain everything to you and tell you about the other paths as well.

141. It is enough for you to develop love of God. You have no need of many opinions and discussions. You have come to the orchard to eat mangoes. Enjoy them to your heart's content. You don't need to count the branches and leaves on the trees.

141. A man can reach the roof of a house by stone stairs or a ladder or a rope-ladder or a rope or even by a bamboo pole. But he cannot reach the roof if he sets foot now on one and now on another. He should firmly follow one path. Likewise, in order to realize God a man must follow one path with all his strength.

142. You must regard other views as so many paths leading to God. You should not feel that your path is the only right path and that other paths are wrong. You mustn't bear malice toward others.

143. A devotee who has really and truly renounced all for God is like the chatak bird. It will drink only the rain-water that falls when the star Svati is in the ascendant. It will rather die of thirst than touch any other water, though all around there may lie seven oceans and rivers full to the brim with water.

144. Faith in the guru's words. One attains God by following the guru's instructions step by step. It is like reaching an object by following the trail of a thread.

145. What is the use of merely repeating, 'There is butter in the milk'?

Turn the milk into curd and churn it. Only then will you get butter. What will one gain by merely quoting or hearing the scriptures? One must assimilate them. The almanac makes a forecast of the rainfall for the year, but you won't get a drop by squeezing its pages.

146. They want someone to extract the butter for them and hold it to their mouths. They won't throw the spiced bait into the lake. They won't even hold the fishing-rod. Someone must catch the fish and put it into their hands! God is beyond the Vedas and their injunctions. Can one realize Him by studying the scriptures, the Vedas, and the Vedanta? The Vedas give only a hint.

147. Yoga through practice. Keep up the practice and you will find that your mind will follow in whatever direction you lead it. The mind is like a white cloth just returned from the laundry. It will be red if you dip it in red dye and blue if you dip it in blue. It will have whatever color you dip it in.

148. All doctrines are only so many paths; but a path is by no means God Himself. Indeed, one can reach God if one follows any of the paths with whole-hearted devotion.’ Suppose there are errors in the religion that one has accepted; if one is sincere and earnest, then God Himself will correct those errors.

149. Some people have the nature of a snake: they will bite you without warning. You have to discriminate a great deal in order to avoid the bite; otherwise your passion will be stirred up to such an extent that you will feel like doing injury in return. The companionship of a holy man is greatly needed now and then. It enables one to discriminate between the Real and the unreal.

150. Once the Lord was pleased with a certain devotee. He appeared before him and said: 'I am very much pleased with your austerities. Ask a boon of Me.' The devotee said, 'O Lord, if You are gracious enough to give me a boon, then please grant that I may eat from gold plates with my grandchildren.' One boon covered many things-wealth, children, and grandchildren.

151. According to the Gita, one becomes afterwards what one thinks of at the time of death. King Bharata thought of his deer and became a deer in his next life. Therefore, one must practice sadhana in order to realize God. If a man thinks of God day and night, he will have the same thought in the hour of death.

152. A lens cannot burn paper inside the house. If you stand outside, then the rays of the sun fall on the lens and the paper burns. Again, the lens cannot burn the paper if there is a cloud. The paper burns when the cloud disappears. The darkness of the mind is destroyed only when a man stands little apart from. 'Woman and gold' and, thus standing apart, practices a little austerity and spiritual discipline.

153. One attains God through japa. By repeating the name of God secretly and in solitude one receives divine grace. Then comes His vision.

Suppose there is a big piece of timber lying under water and fastened to the land with a chain; by proceeding along the chain, link by link, you will at last touch the timber.

154. A man must be extremely careful during the early stages of spiritual discipline. Then he must live far away from any woman. He must not go too close to one even if she is a great devotee of God. You see, a man must not sway his body while climbing to the roof; he may fall. Weak people should hold on to a support while going up the stairs. But it is quite different when one reaches perfection.

155. After the realization of God there is not much for a man to fear; he has become to a great extent secure. The important thing is for a man somehow to climb to the roof. Again, after climbing to the roof, you need

no longer discard what you discarded before. You find that the stairs are made of the same materials-bricks, lime, and brick-dust-as the roof.

156. The woman you have to be so careful about at the beginning will appear to you, after the realization of God, as the Divine Mother Herself.

Then you will worship her as the Divine Mother. You won't fear her so much. The thing is to touch the 'granny', as children do in the game of hide-and-seek. Then you can do whatever you like.

157. Live in the world like a waterfowl. The water clings to the bird, but the bird shakes it off. Live in the world like a mudfish. The fish live in the mud, but its skin always bright and shiny.

158. As a boy holding to a post or a pillar whirls about it with headlong speed without any fear or falling, so perform your worldly duties, fixing your hold firmly upon God, and you will be free from danger.

159. He who has Faith has everything; He who lacks faith lacks everything. It is the Faith in the Name of Lord that works wonders.

Faith is Life and Doubt is Death.

160. Many are the names of God, and infinite the forms that lead us to know Him. In whatsoever name or form you desire to call Him, in that very form and name you will see Him. 161. There are no doubt six alligators (passions) lust, anger avarice, delusion, pride and envy within you.

162. So long as God seems to be outside and far away, there is ignorance.

But when God is realized within, that is true knowledge. Truth is one; only called by different names. All people are seeking the same.

163. it’s enough to have faith in one aspect of God. Never get into your head that your faith alone is true and every other is false. Know for certain that God without form is real and that God with form is also real.

Then hold fast whichever faith appeals to you.

164. There is gold buried in your heart, but you are not yet aware of it. It is covered with a thin layer of earth. Once you are aware of it, all these

activities of yours will lessen. Through selfless work, love of God grows in the heart. Then, through His grace, one realizes Him in course of time.

God can be seen, one can talk to Him, as I am talking to you.

165. God is directly perceived by the mind, but not by this ordinary mind.

It is the pure mind that perceives God, and at that time this ordinary mind does not function. A mind that has the slightest trace of attachment to the world cannot be called pure. When all the impurities of the mind are removed, you may call that mind Pure Mind or Pure Atman.

166. God reveals Himself to a devotee who feels drawn to Him by the combined force of these three attractions; the attraction of worldly possessions for the worldly man, the child’s attraction for its mother, and the husband’s attraction for the chaste wife. If one feels drawn to Him by combined force to these three attractions, then through it one can attain Him. 167. When an unbaked pot is broken. The potter can use mud to make a new one; but when a baked one is broken. He cannot do the same any longer. So, when a person dies in a state of ignorance, he is born again; but when he becomes well baked in the fire of true knowledge and dies a perfect man, he is not born again.

168. It is true that one’s spiritual feelings are awakened by looking at the picture of a sadhu. It is like being reminded of the custard apple by looking at an imitation one, or like stimulating the desire for enjoyment by looking at a young woman. Therefore, I tell you should constantly live in the company of holy men.

169. He who has merely heard of milk is ‘ignorant’. He who has seen milk has ‘knowledge’ but he who has drunk milk and been strengthened by it.

Ha attained vijnana.

Teachings of Sri Sarada Devi 1. I am the mother of the wicked, as I am mother of the virtuous, whenever you are in distress, just say to yourself, ‘I have a Mother.’

2. If you want peace of mind, then give up fault finding. If you would search for fault at all, find out your own faults and short comings.

3. Who is able to renounce all for His Sake? Even the injunctions of Destiny are cancelled if one takes refuge in God. Destiny strikes off with her own hand what she has written about such a person.

4. Meditate on and pray to the particular aspect of the Divinity revealed to you.

5. If one is steady in meditation, one will clearly see the Lord in one’s heart and hear His voice. The moment an idea flashes in the mind of such a one, it will be fulfilled then and there. You will bath in peace.

6. Those that come here thinking of the Master will certainly see their chosen Ideal. If this does not take place at any other time. It will at least come just before their death.

7. My child, you have been extremely fortunate in getting this human birth. Have intense devotion to God. One must work hard. Can one achieve anything without effort? You must devote sometime for prayer even in the midst of the busiest hours of the day. Do the Master’s work, and along with that practice spiritual disciplines too. Work helps one to keep off idle thoughts. If one is without work, such thoughts rush into one’s mind.

8. One suffers as a result of one’s own actions. So, instead of blaming others for such suffering, one should pray to the Lord and depending entirely on His grace, try to bear them patiently and with forbearance under all circumstances. One must be patient like the earth. What iniquities are being perpetrated on her! Yet she quietly endures them all.

Man, too, should be like that.

9. It is not a fact that you will never face dangers. Difficulties always come, but they do not last forever. You will see that they pass away like water under a bridge.

10. No doubt, God alone has become all these objects, animate and inanimate, but in the relative world all being act and suffer according to their past karma and innate tendencies. The sun is one, no doubt, but is manifestation differing according to objects and places.

11. Open your grief-stricken heart to the Lord. Weep and sincerely pray. ‘O Lord, draw me towards you; give me peace of mind.’ by doing so constantly you will gradually attain peace of mind.

12. One who makes a habit of prayer will easily overcome all difficulties and remain calm and unruffled in the midst of the trials of life.

13. As wind removes the cloud, so the names of God destroy the cloud of worldliness. Do you know the significance of Japa and other spiritual practices? By these, the power of the sense-organs is subdued.

14. The room may contain different kinds of food-stuff, but one must cook them. He who cooks earlier gets his meal earlier too. Some eat in the morning, some others in the evening. And there are yet others who fast because they are too lazy to cook. The more intensely a person practices spiritual disciplines, the more quickly he attains God. But even if he does not precise any spiritual disciplines, he will attain Him in end, surely he will. Only, he who spends his time idly, without practicing prayer and meditation, will take a long time to attain Him. 15. There is no such rule that the grace of God will fall on one simply because one is practicing austerities. In olden days, the Rishis practiced austerities for thousands of years with their feet up and head down and a lighted fire burning under them. Even then, only some received the grace of God. 16. Repeat the name of God in the innermost core of your heart, and in all sincerity, take refuge in the Master. Do not bother to know how your

mind is reacting to things around. And do not waste time in calculating and worrying whether or not you are progressing in the path of spirituality. It is Ego to judge progress for oneself. Have faith in the grace of your Guru and Ishta.

17. As long as a man has desires there is no end to his transmigration. It is the desires alone that make him take one body after another. There will be rebirth for a man if he has even the desire to eat a piece of candy.

Desire may be compared to a small seed. It is like a big banyan tree growing out of a seed, which is no bigger than a dot.

18. Rebirth is inevitable so long as one has desires. It is like taking the soul from one pillow-case and putting in to another. Only one or two out of many us can be found who are free from all desires.

19. Everything, husband, wife, or even the body, is only illusory. These are all shackles of illusion. Unless you can free yourself from these bondages, you will never be able to go to the other shore of the world.

Even this attachment to the body, the identification of the self with the body, must go. What is this body; it is nothing but three pounds of ashes when it is cremated. Why so much vanity about it? However strong or beautiful this body maybe, it culmination is in those three pounds of ashes. And still people are so attached to it.

20. Sri Ramakrishna would say, “Musk is in the navel of the deer. Being fascinated with its smell, the deer run hither and thither. They do not know where the fragrance comes from”. Likewise, God reside in the Human body, but man does not know it. Therefore, he searches everywhere for bliss, not knowing that it is already in him. ‘God alone is real, all else is false’.

21. How to love all equally? Do not demand anything of those you love.

If you make demands, some will give you more and some less. In that case, you will love more those who give you more and less those who give you less. Thus, your love will not be the same for all. You will not be able to love all impartially.

22. What does a man become by realizing God? Does he grow two horns, No, what happen is that he develops discrimination between the real and unreal, obtains spiritual consciousness, and goes beyond life and death.

God is realized in spirit. How else can one see God? Has God talked to anyone who is devoid of spiritual fervor? One envisions God in spirit, talks to Him and establishes a relationship with Him in Spirit.

23. In the course of time one does not feel even the existence of God. After attaining enlightenment one sees that gods and deities are all Maya.

Everything comes into existence in time and disappears in time. Deities and such things really disappear at the dawn of enlightenment. The aspirant then realizes that the Mother alone pervades the entire universe.

All then become one. This is the simple truth.

26. My son forbearance is a great virtue; there’s no other like it. There is no treasure equal to contentment and no virtue equal to fortitude 27. One who makes a habit of prayers will easily overcome all difficulties and remains calm and unruffled in the midst of the trials of life.

28. However spiritual a man may be, he must pay the tax for the use of the body to the last farthing (i. e undergo suffering and death incidental to the embodied state). But the difference between a great soul and ordinary man is this latter weep while leaving this body, whereas the former laughs. Death seems to him a mere play.

29. These earthly ties are transitory. Today they seem to be the be-all and end-all of life, and tomorrow they vanish. Your real tie is with god.

30. If you love any human bring you will have to suffer for it. He is blessed, indeed, who can love god alone. There is no suffering in loving god. Always do your duties to others, but love you must give to god alone.

Worldly love brings in its wake untold misery.

31. Do not puzzle the mind with too many inquiries. One finds it difficult to put one single thing into practice, but dares invite distraction by filling the mind with too many things. The mind keeps well when

engaged in work and yet japa, meditation, payer also is specially needed.

You must at least sit down once in the morning and again in the evening.

That acts as a rudder to a boat. When one sits in meditation in the evening, one gets a chance to think of what one has done-good or badduring the whole day. Next one should compare the states of one’s mind in the preceding day and the present, unless you meditate in the mornings and evening along with work, how can you know what you are actually doing?

32. If you practice spiritual discipline for some time in a solitary place, you will find that your mind has become strong, and then you can live in any place or society without being in the least affected by it. When the plant is tender, it has grown big, not even cows and goats can injure it.

Spiritual practices in a solitary place are essential.

33. The rich should serve god and his devotees with money, and the poor worship god by repeating his name. 34. The mantra purifies the body.

Man, becomes pure by repeating the mantra of god. It is said,’ the human teacher utters the mantra into the ear; but god breathes the spirit into the soul.

35. A devotee asked:’ mother, what is the secret?’ she pointed to a small timepiece and said,’ as that timepiece is ticking, so also go on repeating god’s name. That will bring you everything. Nothing more need be done.

36. The power of the teacher enters into the disciple, and the power of the disciple enters into the teacher that is why; when initiate and accept the sins of the disciples, it is extremely difficult to be a teacher. On the other hand, by leading a virtuous life the disciple does well to the teacher. 36.

Those that have been initiated by me need not practice spiritual austerities go their salvation. At the hour of death all will realize God; surely, they will see Him, but those who want immediate results will have to practice discipline. The more they practice, the quicker they will get them, those, however, who idle away their time will have to wait. Even

those who give up all spiritual effort will realize god at the hour of death; there is no doubt about it.

37. Swami Saradananda once explained the meaning of the term “last birth”; he said that Holy Mother did not say to all her disciples that after this present birth they would not be born again. If she gave this assurance to a particular disciple, the latter would of course be liberated at the hour of death. But in this very life he would practice God-consciousness intensely to get a foretaste of the bliss of which he was assured hereafter.

The Swami said further that the term “last birth” need not be taken literally. What she perhaps meant was that in the case of her disciples a limit had been put to the apparently endless chain of births and deaths.

They might have to be born a dew times more. As for worldly- minded people, they might have to be born a few times more. As for worldly minded people, there was no knowing when they would attain.

38. Holy Mother said of them: “I regard all the disciples as my children.

But with these I have a special relationship. They visit me always and look on me as their own.” Two statements of Holy Mother’s may apply to them. First: “Even if my disciples do not practice any disciplines, they will surely realize God at the hour of death.” Second: “To surrender oneself to discipline." There was a third group of disciples, few in number, who suffered terribly if they did not see the Mother or had to live away from her. For many years, they requested her place and rendered her personal services. Some of them attended her with unbelievable devotion.

This service was their spiritual austerity. Certainly, they were needed to help the Mother in her work and for the very preservation of her body.

Referring to them, she said: “Those who are my own are born with me in every cycle.” And lastly, there were those monks who were quiet and serious, and who led an austere lee. Though they believed that holy Mother was the Divine Mother of the Universe, they seldom bothered her, once having been initiated by her. They felt that the contact of the soul was the real contact, the outer contact being only a means to it. They

further felt that the Mother’ blessings and grace became fruitful when his inner contact was made. That is why they seldom visited her after initiation, and when they visited her they satisfied with mere prostration.

They did not want to bother her with many questions.

39. How to love all equally. Do not demand anything of those you love.

If you make demands, some will give you more and some less. In that case, you will love more those who give you more and less those who give you less. Thus, your love will not be the same for all. You will not be able to love all impartially.

40. The path leading to Brahman is very difficult. It is quite natural for a man to forget God. Therefore, whenever the need arises, God becomes incarnated on earth and shows the path by practicing spiritual discipline himself. this time, too, God has shown the example of renunciation.

41. Many thinks of god only after receiving blows from the world. But blessed indeed is he who can offer his mind, like a fresh flower, at the feet of the Lord from his very childhood. One should practice renunciation in youth. In old age the body deteriorates and loses strength. The mind does not possess vigor.

42. Solitude, Holy Mother taught, deepens one’s spiritual mood. “If you practice spiritual discipline for some time in a solitary place, you will find that your mind has become strong, and then you can live in any place or society without being in the least affected by it. When the plant is tender it should be hedged around. But when it has grown big not even cows and goats can injure it. Spiritual practices in a solitary place are essential.

43. She emphasized the practice of truthfulness. “The Master used to say that truthfulness alone is the austerity of the present age. One attains to God by holding to the truth.”

44. The mind is everything. It is the mind alone that one feels pure and impure. A man first makes his own mind guilty and then sees another’s fault. Can you injure anybody by enumerating his faults? You only injure

yourself. I cannot see anybody’s shortcomings. If a man does a trifle for me, I try to remember even that. To see faults in others! Forgiveness is a great religious austerity. There is no virtue higher than forbearance.”

45. One must not speak unpleasant truths unnecessarily. By indulging in rude words one’ nature becomes rude. One loses sensitivity without control over one’s words.

46. If you love a human being, you will have to suffer for it. He is blessed, indeed, who can love God alone. There is not suffering in loving God. Be devoted to god and take shelter at His feet. Like a magnet, God is constantly attracting His creatures to Him. We do not feel the force of His attraction because our minds are filled with impurities. It is experienced in the depth of contemplation when the mind’s impurities are removed, for purifying of the mind.

47. Householders who wanted to lead a spiritual life to practiced inner renunciation and not run away from the world. The rich householder should serve God and his devotees with money, and the poor, by repeating His name. But she admonished householder to lead a life of self-control, but monk, strict about both the outer and the inner renunciation of a monk. A monk must always be alert. The path of the monk is slippery.

While one is on a slippery road, one should walk tiptoe. If you had so desired, you could have married and lived as a householder. Now that you have given up such an intention, the mind should not be allowed to think of worldly things. What has been spat out is not eaten again. The ochre robe protects a monk as the collar protects a dog. No one molests a dog with a collar, as it belongs to somebody else. The monk with his ochre robe belongs to God. All gates are open to a monk. He has admission everywhere. A monk should be above attachment and jealousy. He must remain unruffled under all circumstances.

48. The mother crab peeps out from her hole every so often, and then goes back. She struggles hard to be free, but fails. Why is this so? Because of her attraction to her numerous young one living in the hole. This

attraction draws her back in spite of her efforts. So, it is with those who are immersed in worldly life.

49. One must always do some work. Only through work can one remove the bondage of work. Total detachment comes later. One should not be without work even for a moment. Work helps one to fend off idle thoughts. If one is without work such thoughts rush into one’s mind.

50. Holy Mother emphasized self-surrender as the penultimate stage before God’s grace bestows final liberation. It has already been stated that genuine self-effort, by which mental impurities are removed, leads to self-surrender. This is followed by His vision. What is self-surrender? It is the surrender of the individual soul to the Universal soul or God. Dualists conceive of God as an extra-cosmic reality, a person, to whom one should surrender one’s words, deeds, and thoughts. According to the Vedantists, Ultimate Reality is universal spirit, or universal consciousness, or universal intelligence, which alone exists. Man, has separated himself from the Universal self because of ignorance. And this separation is the cause of desire, selfishness, greed, anger, passion, fear, suspicion, and all the other evil propensities which cause his suffering.

They all spring from a narrow view of the self. The aim of spiritual disciplines is to realize the oneness of the individual soul and the Universal soul, which is its true nature. This realization is finally achieved by means of self-surrender. True self-surrender means the complete effacement of illusory individuality; it makes a man channel for the expression of the power, wisdom, and majesty of the Godhead. It removes all his weakness caused by the idea of separateness. The great powers displayed by saints are derived from self-surrender, or the absence of the sense of individual agency.

51. Can everybody recognize divinity? There lay a big diamond at a bathing place. People thought it was an ordinary stone and rubbed the soles remove the dry skin. One day a jeweler went there, saw the precious stone and realize that it was a valuable diamond.

52. When an aspirant has passed through the entire gamut of austerities, he realizes that God is still far away. He totally surrenders himself to God, seeking his mercy. Genuine self -surrender is not possible without prior self-effort. Only Through self- effort does one come to know that God cannot be realized through self-effort, Then God reveals Himself to a man in His own good time Neither meditation nor spiritual effort can compel this revelation. God’s grace is showered when a seeker is completely free from desire or ego. Yet when the revelation comes, the seeker will not recognize God unless he has made himself ready through prior self-effort. Spiritual unfoldment may be compared to the transformation of a larva into a butterfly or a seed into a plant. The larva goes on eating leaves, with the help of air and sunlight, changes into a chrysalis and then silently into a beautiful butterfly. So, too, a seed draws nourishment from earth, water, and air, till finally a sprout emerges and from it a large tree. Likewise, the spirituality transmitted even by a competent guru becomes fully unfolded only with such extraneous help as meditation, japa, prayer and other practices. That grace and self- effort are complementary in spiritual realization will become clear from Holy Mother’s teachings. Holy Mother said; “The aim of life is to God alone is real and everything else is false. God is one’s very own, and this is the eternal relationship between God and creatures. One realizes God in proportion to the intensity of one’s feeling for Him. He who is really eager to cross the ocean of the world will somehow break his bonds. No one can entangle him.

53. He who has prayed to the Master even once has nothing to fear. By praying to him constantly one obtains ecstatic love, through his grace.

This love is the essence of spiritual life. Meditate on Sri Ramakrishna and repeat his name; through his grace every desire of the seeker would be fulfilled. Those who pray to him, will never suffer from want of food or other physical privations, and will also easily gain love and knowledge of Brahman.

Teachings of Swami Vivekananda 1. Each Soul is potentially divine. The Goal is to manifest this Divinity within, by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy by one or more or all of these and be free. This is the whole religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals or books, or temples, or Forms, are but secondary details.

2. The ideal person is one who, in the midst of the greatest silence and solitude, finds the most intense activity, and in the midst of the most intense finds the silence and solitude of the desert. Such a person has learnt the secret of restraint. This is the ideal of Karma Yoga, and if you have attained to that, you have really learnt the secret of work.

3. When we come to non-attachment, then we can understand the marvelous mystery of the universe; how it is intense activity and vibration and at the same time intensest peace and calm, how it is work every moment and rest every moment.

4. The less passion there is, the better we work, the calmer we are, and the better for us and the more the amount of work we can do. When we let loose our feelings, we waste so much energy, shatter our nerves, disturb our minds, and accomplish very little work.

5. Every duty is holy, and devotion to duty is the highest form of the worship of God. When you are doing any work, do not think of anything beyond. Do it as worship, as the highest worship, and devote your whole life to it for the time being.

6. Have charity towards all beings. Pity those who are in distress. Love all creatures. Do not be jealous of anyone. Look not to the fault of others.

7. It may be that I shall find it good to get outside my body, to cast it off like a worn-out garment. But I shall not cease to work. I shall inspire men everywhere until the whole world shall know it is one with God.

8. Doing well to others is virtue (Dharma); injuring other is sin. Strength and manliness are virtue; weakness and cowardice are sin. Independence is virtue; dependence is sin. Loving other is virtue; hating others is sin.

Faith in God and in one’s own self is virtue; doubt is sin. Knowledge of oneness is virtue; seeing diversity is sin.

9. Never think you can make the world better and happier.

10. The only way is to give up all the fruits of work, to be unattached to them. Know that this world is not we, nor are we this world; that we are not the body; that we really do not work. We are the Atman, eternally at rest and at peace. Why should we be bound by anything?

11. It is easy for us to think that we can understand anything; but when it comes to practical often experience, we find that abstract ideas are often very hard to comprehend.

12. It is not the receiver that is blessed but the giver.

13. By the grace of the Guru, a disciple becomes a Pundit (scholar) even without reading books.

14. How can we see evil unless it is in us?

15. No force can be created; it can only be directed. Therefore, we must learn to control the grand powers that are already in our hands, and by will power make them spiritual, instead of merely animal. Thus, it is clearly seen that chastity is the cornerstone of all morality and of all religion.

16. Moreover, unless the eye is, to a certain extent, trained, one cannot appreciate the subtle touches and blending, the inner genius of a work of art.

17. Hold to the idea, “I am not the mind, I see that I am thinking. I am watching my mind act,� and each day the identification of yourself with thoughts and feelings will grow less, until at last you can entirely separate yourself from the mind and actually know it to be apart from yourself.

18. In a day, when you don’t come across any problems, you can be sure that you are traveling in a wrong path.

19. Jealousy is the Center vice of every enslaved race. And it is jealousy and want of combination which cause and perpetuate slavery.

20. be not afraid of anything. You will do marvelous work, the moment you fear, you are nobody. Be a hero. Always say, ‘I have no fear,’ tell this to everybody ‘have no fear’. Take the whole responsibility on your own shoulders, and know that you are creator of your own destiny.

21. Take up on idea. Make that one idea your life. Think of it, dream of it. Live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, and every part of your body be full of that idea and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to “success” and this is the way great spiritual giants are produced. Other is mere talking machines.

22. One must learn, “he (Sri Ramakrishna) said, “to put oneself into another man’s very soul.”

23. If you have marked anything in the disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, it is this that they are sincere to the backbone.

24. I am the disciple of a man who could not write his own name. And I am not worthy to undo his shoes, how often have I wished I could take my intellect and throw in into the Ganges.

25. “The goal of mankind is knowledge. Now this Knowledge is inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside; it is all inside. What we say man ‘knows, should, in strict psychological language, be what he ‘discovers’ or ‘unveils’ what man learns’ is really he discovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge.”

26. The Moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him- that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanish, and I am free.

27. If you have faith in all three hundred and thirty million of your mythological gods, and still have no faith yourselves, there is no salvation for you. Have faith in yourselves, and stand up on that faith and be strong; that is what we need.

28. This world is the great gymnasium where we come to make ourselves strong.

29. You cannot teach a child any more than you can grow a plant. All you can do is on the negative side-you can only help. It is a manifestation from within; it develops its own nature-you can only take away obstruction.

30. Purity, patience, and perseverance are the three essentials to success, and above all love.

31. Never loved a husband the wife for the wife’s sake or the wife the husband for the husband’s sake. It is God in the wife the husband loves, and God in the husband the wife loves. It is God in every one that draws us to the one we love, God in everything and in everybody that make us love. God is the only love.

32. If you cannot attain salvation in this life, what proof is there that you can attain it in the life or lives to come?

33. All power is within you, you can do anything and everything believes in that, do not believe that you are weak. Stand up and express the divinity within you.

34. Whatever you think, that you will be. If you think yourself weak, weak you will be; if you think yourselves strong, strong you will be.

35. When the death is so certain it is better to die for a good cause.

36. Strength is life; weakness is death.

37. It is love and love alone that I preach, and I base my teaching on the great vedantic truth of the sameness and omnipresence of the soul of the universe.

38. Stand up for God; let the world go. Have no compromise.

39. Arise! Awake! And stop not Till the Goal is reached.

40. Be a Hero. Always say “I have no Fear�.

41. Religion is the manifestation of the Divinity already in man.

42. We are what our thoughts have made us; so, take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.

43. They alone live who live for others, the rest are more dead than alive.�

44. Strength- strength it is that we want so much in this life, for what we call sin and sorrow have all one cause, and that is our weakness. With weakness comes ignorance, and with ignorance comes misery.

45. My ideal indeed can be put into a few words, and that is: to preach unto mankind their divinity. And how to make it manifest in every movement of life.

46. The idol man is he who in the midst of the greatest silence and solitude finds the intersect activity and the midst of the intense activity finds the silence and solitude of the desert he has learned the secret of restraint, he has controlled himself. He goes thought the streets of a big city with all its traffic, and his mind is as if he were in cave, where not a sound could reach him; and he is intensely working all the time that is the idol of karma yoga and, if you have attained to that you have really learned the secret of work.

47. This is the one prayer, to remember our true nature, the god who is always within us, thinking of it always as infinite, almighty, ever-good, ever-beneficent, selfless, and bereft of all limitations. And because that nature is selfless, it is strong and fearless; for only to desire for himself, whom does he fear and what can frighten him? What fear has death for him? What fear has evil for him?

48. Strength, strength is what the Upanishads speak to me from every page. This is the one great thing to remember, it has been the one great

lesson I have been taught in my life; strength, it says, strength, O man, be not weak.

49. They will call with trumpet voice upon the weak, the miserable, and the downtrodden of all races, all creeds and all sects to stand on their feet and be free. Freedom, physical freedom, mental freedom, and spiritual freedom are the watchwords of the Upanishads.

50. What we want is vigor in the blood, strength in the nerves, iron muscles and nerves of steel, not softening namby pamby ideas.

51. Be moral, be brave, be a heart whole man strictly moral, brave unto desperation. Don't bother your head with religious theories; cowards only sin, brave men never. Try to love anybody and everybody.

52. Thinking all the time that we are diseases, will not cure us; medicine is necessary. Being reminded of weakness does not help much. Give strength; and strength does not come by thinking of weakness all the time. The remedy for weakness is not brooding over weakness, but thinking of strength.

53. We have wept long enough; no more weeping, but stand on your feet and be a man. It is a man making religion that we want. It is man making theories that we want. It is man making education all round that we want. And here is the test of truth anything that makes you weak physically, intellectually and spiritually reject as poison; there is no life in it, it cannot be true. Truth is strengthening. Truth is purity, Truth is all knowledge. Truth must be strengthening, must be enlightening, must be invigorating.

54. Be bold! My children should be brave, above all. Not the least compromise on any account. Preach the highest truths broadcast. Do not fear of losing your respect or of causing unhappy friction. Rest assured that if you serve truth in spite of temptations to forsake it, you will attain, a heavenly strength, in the face of which men will quail to speak before you things which you do not believe to be true. People would be convinced of what you would say to them if you can strictly serve truth

for fourteen years continually, without swerving from it. It is only in our scriptures that this adjective is given to The Lord- Abhih, Abhih, we have to become Abhih, fearless and our task will be done.

55. I remember that grand word of the Katha Upanishad-Sharaddha, or marvelous faith. To preach the doctrine of Shraddha or genuine faith is the mission of my life. Let me repeat to you that this faith is one of the potent factors of humanity, and of all religions. First, have faith in yourselves. Do not look up the rich and great men who have money. The poor did all the great and gigantic works of the world. Be steady, and above all be pure and sincere to the backbone. Have faith in your destiny.

56. That ideal of freedom that you perceived was correct, but you projected it outside yourself, and that was your mistake. Bring it nearer and nearer, until you find that it was all the time within you, it was the Self or your own self. That freedom was your own nature, and this Maya never bound you.

57. Time, space and causation are like the glass through which the Absolute is seen. In the Absolute, there is neither time, space nor causation.

58. Two birds of golden plumage sat on the same tree. The one above, serene, majestic, immersed in his own glory; the one below restless and eating the fruits of the tree, now sweet, now bitter. Once he ate an exceptionally bitter fruit, then he paused and looked up at the majestic bird above; but he soon forgot about the other bird and went on eating the fruits of the tree as before. Again, he ate a bitter fruit and this time he hopped up a few boughs nearer to the bird at the top. This happened many tines until at last the lower bird came to the place of the upper bird and lost himself. He found all at once that there had never been two birds, but that he was all the time that upper bird, serene, majestic and immersed in his own glory.

59. What our country now wants are muscles of iron and nerves of steel gigantic wills which can penetrate into the mysteries and secrets of

universe and will accomplish their purpose in any fashion even if it meant going to the bottom of the ocean and meeting Death face to face.

60. All this, whatsoever exists in the universe, should be covered by the lord. Having renounced (the unreal) enjoys (the Real). Do not covet the wealth of any man.

61. He who sees all beings in the Self and the Self in all beings, he never turns away from It (the Self).

62. He who perceives all beings as the Self, for him how can there be delusion or grief, when he sees this oneness (every –where)?

61. The Self is subtler than the subtle, greater than the great; it dwells in the heart of each living being. He who is free from desire and free from grief, with mind and senses tranquil, be holds the glory of the Atman.

62. Though sitting, it travels far; though lying, it goes everywhere. Who else save me is fit to know that God, who is (both) joyful and joyless?

63. This self cannot be attained by study of the scriptures, nor by intellectual perception, nor by frequent learning (of It); he who the self chooses, by him alone is It attained. To him the self-reveals its true nature.

64. Know the Atman (self) as the lord of the chariot, and the body as the chariot. Know also the intellect to be driver and mind the reins.

65. The senses are called the horses; the sense object are the roads; when the Atman is United with body, senses and mind, then the wise call Him the enjoyer.

66. He who is without discrimination and whose mind is always uncontrolled, his senses are unmanageable, like the vicious horses of a driver.

67. But he who is full of discrimination and whose mind is always controlled, his senses are manageable, like the good horses of a driver.

68. The man who has a discriminative intellect for the driver, and a controlled mind for the reins, reaches the end of the journey, the highest place of Vishnu (the All-pervading and Unchangeable One).

69. This Atman hidden in all beings does not shine forth; but it is seen by subtle seers through keen and subtle understanding.

70. A wise man should control speech by mind, mind by intellect, intellect by the great Atman, and that by the peaceful one (Paramatman or Supreme Self).

71. Arise! Awake! Having reached the great ones (illumined Teachers), gain understanding. The path is as sharps as a razor, impassable and difficult to travel, so the wise declare.

72. The Purusha (Self) of the size of a thumb resides in the middle of the body as the lord of the past and future. (he who knows Him0 fears no more. This verily is that.

73. That Purusha, of the size of a thumb, is like a light without smoke, lord of the past and the future. He is the same today and tomorrow. This verily is That.

74. The city of the unborn, which knowledge is unchanging has eleven gates. Thinking on Him, man grieves no more; and being freed (from ignorance) he attains liberation. This verily is that.

75. He is the sun dwelling in the bright heaven; He is the air dwelling in space; He is the fire burning on the Alter, he is the guest dwelling in the house, He dwells in man. He dwells in those greater than man. He dwells in sacrifice. He dwells in the ether. He is (all that is) born in water, (all that) is born in earth, (all that) is born in sacrifice, (all that) is born on mountains. He is the True and the Great.

76. He is who sends the (in-coming) prana (life-breath) upward and throws the (outgoing) breath downward. Him all the senses worship, the adorable Atman, seated in the center (the heart).

77. Who this Atman, which is seated in the body goes, out (from the body), what remains then? This verily is that.

78. The good and the peasant approach man; the wise examines both and discriminates between them; the wise prefers the good to the pleasant, but the foolish man chooses the pleasant through love of bodily pleasure.

79. Some Jivas (individual souls) enter wombs to be embodied; other go into immovable forms, according to their deeds and knowledge. (This text shows the application of the law of cause and effect of all forms of life; the thoughts and actions of the present life determine the future birth and environment).

80. The Being who remains awake while all sleep, who grants all desires, that is pure, that is Brahman That alone is said to be immortal. On that all the worlds rest. None goes beyond that. This verily is That.

81. As the Sun, the eye of the whole world is not defiled by external impurities seen by the eyes, thus the one inner self of all living beings is not defiled by the misery of the world, being outside it. (The sun is called the eye of the world because it reveals all objects. As the sun, may shine on the most impure object, yet remain uncontaminated by it, so the Divine Self within is not touched by the impurity or suffering of the physical form in which it dwells, the Self being beyond all bodily limitations.

82. He who thinks he knows It nothing, He knows It. He who thinks he know It, he knows It nothing. The true knowers think they can never know It. (Because of Its infinitude), while the ignorant think they know it.

83. It (Brahman) is known, when it is known in every state of consciousness. (Though such knowledge) one attains immortality. By attaining this Self, man gains strength; and by self-knowledge immortality is attained.

83. If one knows It here, that is Truth; if one knows It not here, then great is his loss. The wise seeing the same Self in all beings, being liberated from this world, become immortal.

84. In enjoyment is the fear of disease; In high birth, the fear of losing caste; In wealth, the fear of tyrants; In honor, the fear of losing her; In strength, the fear of enemies; In beauty, the fear of old age; In knowledge, the fear of defeat; In virtue, the fear of scandal; In the body, the fear of death. In this life, all is fraught with fear. Renunciation alone is fearless.

85. Be the Witness!

Say, when the tyrant hand is on your neck, "I am the Witness! I am the Witness! “Say, "I am the Spirit! Nothing external can touch me." When evil thoughts arise, repeat that, given that sledge-hammer blow on their heads, "I am the Spirit! I am the Witness, the Ever-blessed! I have no reason to do, no reason to suffer, I have finished with everything, and I am the Witness. I am in my picture gallery - this universe is my museum, I am looking at these successive paintings. They are all beautiful, whether good or evil. I see the marvelous skill, but it is all one, Infinite flames of the Great Painter!"

86. No One to Blame Blame none for your own faults, stand upon your own feet, and take the whole responsibility upon yourselves. Say, "This misery that I am suffering is of my own doing, and that very thing proves that it will have to be undone by me alone." That which I created, I can demolish; that which is created by someone else I shall never be able to destroy.

Therefore, stand up, be bold, and be strong. Take the whole responsibility on your own shoulders, and know that you are the creator of your own destiny. All the strength and succor you want is within yourselves.

Therefore, make your own future. "Let the dead past bury its dead." The infinite future is before you, and you must always remember that each word, thought, and deed, lays up a store for you and that as the bad

thoughts and bad works are ready to spring upon you like tigers, so also there is the inspiring hope that the good thoughts and good deeds are ready with the power of a hundred thousand angels to defend you always and forever.

87. Man, The Maker of His Destiny Weak men, when they lose everything and feel themselves weak, try all sorts of uncanny methods of making money, and come to astrology and all these things. "It’s the coward and the fool who says, 'This is fate'" so says the Sanskrit proverb. But it is the strong man who stands up and says, "I will make my fate. “There is an old story of an astrologer who came to a king and said, "You are going to die in six months." The king was frightened out of his wits and was almost about to die then and there from fear. But his minister was a clever man, and this man told the king that these astrologers were fools. The king would not believe him. So the minister saw no other way to make the king see that they were fools but to invite the astrologer to the palace again. There he asked him if his calculations were correct. The astrologer said that there could not be a mistake, but to satisfy him he went through the whole of the calculations again and then said that they were perfectly correct. The king's face became livid. The minister said to the astrologer,� And when do you think that you will die?" "In twelve years", was the reply. The minister quickly drew his sword and separated the astrologer's head from the body and said to the king, "Do you see this liar? He is dead this moment."

(It has nothing to do with devils - but says that you have taken your fate in your own hands. Your own Karma [action] has manufactured for you this body; and nobody did it for you. And all the responsibility of good and evil is on you. This is the great hope. What I have done, that I can undo.)

88. The Need for a Guru The soul can only receive impulses from another soul, and from nothing else. We may study books all our lives, we may become very intellectual,

but in the end, we find that we have not developed at all spiritually. It is not true that a high order of intellectual development always goes hand in hand with a proportionate development of the spiritual side in Man. In studying books, we are sometimes deluded into thinking that thereby we are being spiritually helped; but if we analyze the effect of the study of books on ourselves, we shall find that at the utmost it is only our intellect that derives profit from such studies, and not our inner spirit. This inadequacy of books to quicken spiritual growth is the reason why, although almost every one of us can speak most wonderfully on spiritual matters, when it comes to action and the living of a truly spiritual life, we find ourselves so awfully deficient. To quicken the spirit, the impulse must come from another soul. The person from whose soul such impulse comes is called the Guru - the teacher; and the person to whose soul the impulse is conveyed is called the Shisha - the student.

89. The Qualifications of the Student Three things are necessary to the student who wishes to succeed. First: Give up all ideas of enjoyment in this world and the next, care only for God and Truth. We are here to know truth, not for enjoyment. Leave that to brutes’ that enjoy as we never can. Man, is a thinking being and must struggle on until he conquers death, until he sees the light. He must not spend himself in vain talking that bears no fruit. Worship of society and popular opinion is idolatry. The soul has no sex, no country, no place, no time. Second: Intense desire to know Truth and God. Be eager for them, long for them, as a drowning man longs for breath. Want only God, take nothing else, and let not seeming� cheat you any longer Turn from all and seek only God. Third: The six trainings: First - restraining the mind from going outward. Second - restraining the senses. Third - turning the mind inward. Fourth - suffering everything without murmuring. Fifth fastening the mind to one idea. Take the subject before you and think it out; never leave it. Do not count time. Sixth - think constantly of your real nature. Get rid of superstition. Do not hypnotize yourself into a

belief in your own inferiority. Day and night tell yourself what you really are, until you realize (actually realize) your oneness with God. 90. How to Be Illumined?

The illumined souls, the great ones that come to the earth from time to time, have the power to reveal the Supernal Vision to us. They are free already; they do not care for their own salvation - they want to help others. Upon these free souls depends the spiritual growth of mankind.

They are like the first lamps from which other lamps are lighted. True, the light is in everyone, but in most men, it is hidden. The great souls are shining lights from the beginning. Those who come in contact with them have as it were their own lamps lighted. By this the first lamp does not lose anything; yet it communicates its light to other lamps. A million lamps are lighted; but the first lamp goes on shining with undiminished light. The first lamp is the Guru, and the lamp that is lighted from it is the disciple.

91. Maya and Freedom Let us not be caught this time. So many times, Maya has caught us, so many time shave we exchanged our freedom for sugar dolls which melted when the water touched them. Don’t be deceived. Maya is a great cheat.

Get out. Do not let her catch you this time. Do not sell your priceless heritage for such delusions. Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached. Hold your money merely as a custodian for what is God's. Have no attachment for it? Let name and fame and money go; they are a terrible bondage. Feel the wonderful atmosphere of freedom. You are free, free, and free! Oh, blessed am I! Freedom is I! I am the Infinite! In my soul, I can find no beginning and no end. Everything is my Self. Say this unceasingly.

92. In the Hours of Meditation You must keep the mind fixed on one object, like an unbroken stream of oil. The ordinary man's mind is scattered on different objects, and at the

time of meditation, too, the mind is at first apt to wander. But let any desire whatever arise in the mind, you must sit calmly and watch what sort of ideas are coming. By continuing to watching that way, the mind becomes calm, and there are no more thought-waves in it. Those things that you have previously thought deeply, have transformed themselves into a subconscious current, and therefore these come up in the mind in meditation. The rise of these waves, or thoughts, during meditation is evidence that your mind is tending towards concentration. Sometimes the mind is concentrated on a setoff ideas- this is called meditation with Vikalpa or oscillation. But when the mind becomes almost free from all activities, it melts in the inner Self, which is the essence of infinite Knowledge, One, and Itself, Its own support. This is what is called Nirvikalpa Samadhi, free from all activities. In Sri Ramakrishna, we have again and again noticed both these forms of Samadhi. He had not to struggle to get these states. They came to him spontaneously, then and there. It was a wonderful phenomenon. It was by seeing him that we could rightly understand these things.

93. Meditation is the gate that opens infinite joy to us.

Prayers, ceremonials, and all the other forms of worship are simply kindergartens of meditation. You pray, you offer something. A certain theory existed that everything raised one's spiritual power. The use of certain words, flowers, images, temples, ceremonials like the waving of lights brings the mind to that attitude, but that attitude is always in the human soul, nowhere else. People are all doing it; but what they do without knowing it, do knowingly. That is the power of meditation.

Slowly and gradually we are to train ourselves. It is no joke - not a question of a day, or years, or maybe of births. Never mind! The pull must go on. Knowingly, voluntarily, the pull must go on. Inch by inch we will gain ground. We will begin to feel and get real possessions, which no one can take away from us - the wealth that no man can take, the wealth that nobody can destroy, the joy that no misery can hurt anymore.

94. Yoga is the science which teaches us how to get these perceptions [direct experiences of God]. It is not much use to talk about religion until one has felt it. Why is there so much disturbance, so much fighting and quarreling in the name of God? There has been more bloodshed in the name of God than for any other cause, because people never went to the fountainhead; they were content only to give a mental assent to the customs of their forefathers, and wanted others to do the same. What right has a man to say he has a soul if he does not feel it or that there is a God if he does not see Him? If there is a God we must see Him, if there is a soul we must perceive it; otherwise it is better not to believe. It is better to be an outspoken atheist than a hypocrite. Man, wants truth, wants to experience truth for himself; when he has grasped it, realized it, felt it within his heart of hearts, then alone, declare the Vedas, would all doubts vanish, all darkness be scattered, and all crookedness be made straight.

95. How Restless Is the Mind!

How hard it is to control the mind! Well has it been compared to the maddened monkey? There was a monkey, restless by his own nature, as all monkeys are. As if that were not enough someone made him drink freely of wine, so that he became still more restless. Then a scorpion stung him.

When a man is stung by a scorpion, he jumps about for a whole day; so, the poor monkey found his condition worse than ever. To complete his misery a demon entered into him. What languages can describe the uncontrollable restlessness of that monkey? The human mind is like that monkey, incessantly active by its own nature; then it becomes drunk with the wine of desire, thus increasing its turbulence. After desire takes possession comes testing of the scorpion of jealousy at the success of others, and last of all the demon of pride enters the mind, making it think itself of all importance. How hard to control such a mind!

96. How to Reach the Goal Practice hard; whether you live or die does not matter. You have to plunge in and work, without thinking of the result. If you are brave

enough, in six months you will be a perfect Yogi. But those who take up just a bit of it and a little of everything else make no progress. It is of no use simply to take a course of lessons. To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. "I will drink the ocean;" says the persevering soul, "at my Will Mountains will crumble up." Have that sort of energy, that sort of will, work hard, and you will reach the goal.

Every motion is in a circle. If you can take up a stone, and project it into space, and then live long enough, that stone, if it meets with no obstruction, will come back exactly to your hand. Just as in the case of electricity the modern theory is that the power leaves the dynamo and completes the circle back to the dynamo, so with hate and love; they must come back to the source. Therefore, do not hate anybody, because that hatred which comes out from you, must, in the long run, come back to you. If you love, that love will come back to you, completing the circle.

97. The Mind-Lake The bottom of a lake we cannot see, because its surface is covered with ripples. It is only possible for us to catch a glimpse of the bottom, when the ripples have subsided, and the water is calm. If the water is muddy or is agitated all the time, the bottom will not be seen. If it is clear, and there are no waves, we shall see the bottom. The bottom of the lake is our own true Self; the lake is the Chitta [mind-stuff] and the waves the Vrittis [thought-waves]. Again, the mind is in three states, one of which is darkness, called Tamas, found in brutes and idiots; it only acts to injure. No other idea comes into that state of mind. Then there is the active state of mind, Rajas, whose chief motives are power and enjoyment. "I will be powerful and rule others." Then there is the state called Sattva, serenity, calmness, in which the waves cease, and the water of the mind-lake becomes clear.

98. Mind and Its Control Meditation is one of the great means of controlling the rising of these [thought] waves. By meditation you can make the mind subdue these

waves, and if you go on practicing meditation for days, and months, and years, until it has become a habit, until it will come in spite of yourself, anger and hatred will be controlled and checked 99. Be Cheerful!

The first sign that you are becoming religious is that you are becoming cheerful. When a man is gloomy, that may be dyspepsia, but it is not religion. To the Yogi everything is bliss; every human face that he sees brings cheerfulness to him. That is the sign of a virtuous man. What businesses have you with clouded faces? It is terrible. If you have a clouded face, do not go out that day; shut yourself up in your room. What rights have you to carry this disease out into the world?

100. The Signs of a Yogi "He who hates none, who is the friend of all, who is merciful to all, who has nothing of his own, who is free from egoism, who is even-minded in pain and pleasure, who is forbearing, who is always satisfied, who works always in Yoga, whose self has become controlled, whose will be firm, whose mind and intellect are given up unto Me, such a one is My beloved Bhakta [devotee]. From whom comes no disturbance, who cannot be disturbed by others, who is free from joy, anger, fear, and anxiety, such a one is My beloved. He who does not depend on anything, who is pure and active, who does not care whether good comes or evil, and never becomes miserable, who has given up all efforts for himself; who is the same in praise or in blame, with a silent, thoughtful mind, blessed with what little comes in his way, homeless, for the whole world is his home, and who is steady in his ideas, such alone is My beloved Bhakta." Such alone become Yogis.

101. Be Like a Pearl Oyster There is a pretty Indian fable to the effect that if it rains when the star Svati is in the ascendant, and a drop of rain falls into an oyster, that drop becomes a pearl. The oysters know this, so they come to the surface when

that star shines, and wait to catch the precious raindrop. When a drop falls into them, quickly the oysters close their shells and dive down to the bottom of the sea, there to patiently develop the drop into the pearl. We should be like that. First hear, then understand, and then, leaving all distractions, shut your minds to outside influences, and devote yourselves to developing the truth within you.

102. Patience There was a great god - sage called Narada. Just as there are sages among mankind, great Yogis, so there are great Yogis among the gods. Narada was a good Yogi, and very great. He traveled everywhere. One day he was passing through forest, and saw a man who had been meditating until the white ants had built a hug mound around his body -- so long had he been sitting in that position. He said to Narada, "Where are you going?"

Narada replied, "I am going to heaven." "Then ask God when He will be merciful to me; when I shall attain freedom." Further on Narada saw another man. He was jumping about, singing, dancing, and said, "Oh, Narada, where are you going?" His voice and his gestures were wild.

Narada said, "I am going to heaven." "Then, ask when I shall be free."

Narada went on. In the course of time he came again by the same road, and there was the man who had been meditating with the ant- hill around him. He said, "Oh, Narada, did you ask the Lord about me?" "Oh, yes." "What did He say?" "The Lord told me that you would attain freedom in four more births." Then the man began to weep and wail, and said, "I have meditated until an ant - hill has grown around me, and I have four more births yet! Narada went to the other man. "Did you ask my question?" "Oh, yes. Do you see this tamarind tree? I have to tell you that as many leaves as there are on that tree, so many times, you shall be born, and then you shall attain freedom." The man began to dance for joy, and said, "I shall have freedom after such a short time!" A voice came, "My child, you will have freedom this minute." That was the reward for his

perseverance. He was ready to work through all those births, nothing discouraged him.