Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 049 on 07-December-2021
Full Transcript(Not Corrected)
Om Jananem Sharadam Devem Ramakrishnam Jagad Gurum Pada Padme Tayo Shritva Pranamami Mohor Moho We are studying the gospel of Sri Ramakrishna and we have come to a very very special point God's grace alone can bestow God vision and how to obtain God's grace? Only through God's grace That's what Sri Ramakrishna was telling You may try thousands of times but nothing can be achieved without God's grace One cannot see God without His grace Is it an easy thing to receive the grace of God? One must altogether renounce egotism One cannot see God as long as one feels I am the doer One can see God only if he turns his light toward his own face Sri Ramakrishna gives a very beautiful illustration He was a great observer In those days these police sergeants used to go round with a light So here is the illustration The police sergeant goes his rounds in the dark of night with a lantern in his hand No one sees his face But with the help of that light the sergeant sees everybody's face and others too can see one another If you want to see the sergeant however you must pray to him Sir, please turn the light on your own face Let me see you In the same way one must pray to God O Lord, be gracious and turn the light of knowledge on thyself that I may see thy face What marvelous words Echoing the Upanishadic words one can realize the Atman only by one's grace Here also the greatest Vedantic truth is being expressed in the simplest way So the sergeant is the Chidavasa and it is because of the Paramatma's light which is reflected in the minds of all of us and we are able to see the world we are able to see each other and of course Sakshi, the sergeant also sees us, everybody But it is very hard to see the sergeant, the Sakshi and for that we have to pray Sir, please turn the light upon yourself The whole of spiritual life is to turn this light which is being focused outside into inside Turn it inside Brahma created all the sense organs so they turn outward but that is the reason why we all focus our attention on the outside Our sense organs only move in the direction of the external world but we are all seeking the inner light, God In this world we are seeking everything There is a beautiful story a Sufi story created by Mulla Nasruddin that was the character that was there So once some people saw Mulla Nasruddin searching furiously for something at day time in the street and they asked him they thought perhaps he had lost something Mulla, did you lose something? Yes and can we also help in searching? What is it? So he told what he lost Then they all started searching They couldn't find Finally one intelligent person asked him Where did you lose it? When did you lose it? and Mulla Nasruddin he said I lost it yesterday night I lost it in my home They were shocked They asked him at your home and at night and why are you searching here? Because he said yesterday night it was very dark and so I could not search for it Today it is still dark in my home but here it is full of light is there What is the moral of this story? We are all like that Mulla Nasruddin We have lost something and we have lost it in our homes and we have lost it long back and there is no light and here that means in the external world, street represents the external world, light in the street represents the Jagradhavastha waking state We are all searching where instead of searching where we have lost it we are searching here and we have to slowly understand where did we lose it at our home Where is that home? Inside, within ourselves and then that is the meaning that Aavrutta Chakshu person tried is a level best, he couldn't succeed he became enlightened enlightened I cannot get it here because it is somewhere else. I searched the whole world and now I have to search somewhere and that somewhere is only inside This is what Shri Ram Krishna is telling We are all in dark For a worldly person as if the whole life is nothing but pure darkness. Darkness means he cannot see he cannot understand Wisdom is not there He is searching for God Everybody is searching for God but he is searching for in the world, that which is limited that which is changing God is unlimited and unchanging. For that we have to turn our sight our search within, inside and that is the marvelous message of the Upanishads Shri Ram Krishna is telling That is the first point only First point Next point is that even to turn our search inside, we require the grace of God because it is just like trying to search at night when there is complete darkness We require tremendous light What is that light? The light of God The light of faith and where do we search for it? In the words of the Guru In the words of the scriptures That is our house and how do we do that? First, listen then the scripture will tell us This is what you have lost You are not aware you have lost and it is here, where? In the Chidakasha In your heart of hearts Kabir Das tells us Fool, where are you searching for me? I am here, inside you very near to you In fact, I am you When did I leave you? I never left you If I leave you, you do not exist at all So, Sri Ramakrishna is interpreting In the same way one must pray to God O Lord, be gracious and turn the light of knowledge on thyself that I may see thy face The whole point is that nobody can have even the desire to see God unless God's grace descends upon him but how does that desire come? How does the grace of God come? In the form of the desire by obeying the instructions of the scriptures We see in the Bhagavad Gita the Lord has described in graphic detail all about His nature and He said that this whole universe is nothing but my Vibhuti a small part of me manifesting Atyatishthat Dasaangulam There is a beautiful Purusha Sukta Sahasraseersha Purushaha Sahasraakshaha Sahasrapa Sa Bhoomim Vishvato Ritva Atyatishthat Dasaangulam Only a tiny bit of that pure existence knowledge, bliss Sachidananda is manifesting as this entire cosmos So this was what Bhagavan Krishna described graphically to Arjuna, that means to all of us in the 10th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita Then Arjuna by the grace of the Lord he was endowed with Shraddha and he had a desire that is what I am talking about By the grace of God I believe in what you say, but I want to prove to myself So can I see you? This is what he said Drashtum ichchami te roopam aishwaram purushottama manyase yadit achchakyam maya drashtum ithe prabho Lord, I would like to see your real form not how I am seeing you till now as Krishna You are great as Krishna as an avatar but that is only a small bit of your true manifestation, how can I see and then the Lord says prayer has to come Lord, I would like to see if you think manyase yadit achchakyam if you feel that I am a fit person to have your vision maya drashtum ithe prabho, so please enable me to see you and then immediately the Lord also confirms Arjuna's vision he says so you see my universal form to Arjuna but you will not be able to see with your ordinary eyes because your normal, ordinary external vision is extremely limited it can only see dvaita divisions limited, changing it can never see the unlimited with your these eyes of the body you will not be able to see then how to see? I will give you divine eyes I will give you divine eyes only with the help of the divine eyes you will be able to behold me and then he granted but of course we know the story that Arjuna saw just a fraction of a second he couldn't bear it why? because we want to see srishti we want to see sthiti but we don't want to see laya laya is the hardest thing in the world and so laya means what? destruction, destruction means what? we think we are going to be annihilated really even a great soul like Narendranath who was one of the greatest rishis when Sri Ram Krishna touched him he felt his ego was melting, that was expressed in the form of the whole universe was melting down, going round and round, he became dizzy as it were and he said what are you doing to me? I have got my parents in Kolkata, my father mother Sri Ram Krishna understood Narendranath though he wanted to have the vision, not ready just like Arjuna just like Arjuna he also involuntarily expressed I cannot bear this state which you are about to bestow upon me so Arjuna said I want to see you in the same form and Narendra also said I want to see you in the same form as Narendra, as the son of that Mr and Mrs Datta, Bhuvaneshwari Devi, Vishwanath Datta, so Sri Ram Krishna had to bring his mind down and Sri Krishna had to bring Arjuna's mind down and Bhagavad Gita is nothing but the essence of Upanishads there are so many Upanishadic statements but in Katha Upanishad here is one I am Atma the vision of this self Pravachanena any amount of learning Nalabhyaha, not possible Namedhaya, any amount of understanding Manana, Nidhidhyasana Bhagunashrutena not by Shravana not by Manana not by meditation Nidhidhyasana it is not possible, that's why many times I have repeated can any yoga lead to vision of God? No, it cannot lead. Does Karma Yoga lead? No. What about Bhakti Yoga? No. What about Raja Yoga? No. What about Jnana Yoga? No. Then are they useless? No. Then what do they do? They prepare us so that when God's grace descends and when we are ready, God is ever ready, then we will be able to enjoy that vision. It is not that God is not willing to show himself to us, but we cannot bear it. Like a billion watts electricity volts electricity suddenly touches a 5 watt wire fuse, immediately it will be burnt out instant it comes out it is not preparing ourselves that is the obstruction because God cannot hide after where can he hide? God is ever manifesting and forever manifesting, for eternity he is manifesting, manifesting everywhere, but we have to, as Ramakrishna says unfurl our sails prepare ourselves to receive that divine vision so here goes the Katha Upanishad, 2nd chapter 23rd Mantra Nayam Atma Pravachanena Labhyaha Namedhaya Nabhahunashrutena How to obtain? Yam Eva Esha Atma Vrnute Om the Atman here in this case Om the police sergeant the God decides to bestow his grace Tena Labhyaha he will be seen experienced Darshana How Tasya such a yogya adhikari sadhaka a fit student Atma Tanum Swam Vebrunate it just unfolds in all its glory and if we are not ready then the slightest thing not only we can't bear we might even go mad infinite number of examples are there this Atman cannot be attained by the study of the Vedas or by intelligence or by much hearing of sacred books it is attained by him alone whom the Atman chooses to such a one the Atman reveals its own form this was what Sri Ramakrishna wants to convey to us through the example of that police sergeant and then Sri Ramakrishna continues I have taken a lot of quotations from the Gospel God's nature is like that of a child Sri Ramakrishna was telling I used to see God directly with these very eyes just as I see you now I see divine visions in trance very interesting statement because just now I said we cannot see but Sri Ramakrishna's eyes are not ordinary eyes he was already he has put on the cholerium of Bhakti devotion, faith, Shraddha and knowledge Gnanam, that's why everyday the devotees of Sri Ramakrishna sing Sri Ramakrishna is categorically declaring I used to see God directly because his eyes are very pure eyes are truthful eyes so it is only the truth devotee naturally after hearing this statement from Sri Ramakrishna a devotee was asking can one see God Master, yes surely one can see both aspects of God God with form and God without form, one can see God with form, the embodiment of spirit, again God can be directly perceived in a man with a tangible form seeing an incarnation of God is the same as seeing God himself very interesting statement because there is a very beautiful incident was there there was a very senior Swami, he was a disciple of Swami Brahmanandaji his name was Swami Prabhavanandaji and his reminiscences Swami Prabhavanandaji plus Swami Yathishwaranandaji the reminiscences of these spirit souls had been put in a book form it is called the Eternal Companion and they are the spiritual teachings of Swami Brahmananda it is a most marvelous book, it is truly an eternal companion for every sadhaka until he has the vision of God so here the devotee is telling can one see God, now I want to just discuss about this, seeing God is not like seeing any other object Hinduism had developed a very special word it is called Darshana, Darshana is not seeing with the eyes, but Darshana is seeing God Pratyaksha, Aparoksha Anubhuti, directly that is why Indian philosophy is called Darshana, why is it called Darshana, because it talks about God and it shows the ways how to obtain the vision of God and it unerringly takes the sadhaka by hand and leads him or her to God scripture is nothing but the Darshana and that is Indian philosophy is called Darshana, because the people who have seen God directly, experienced God directly they have expressed their teachings, later on the disciples of these great seers after hearing from their teachers, that is why it is called Shruti, they remembered it so it is called Smriti they tried to make a philosophy out of it because intellect demands explanation rational explanation but as I mentioned earlier many times, Indian philosophy does not accept rationality as a primary source it is only there to support or rather it has to take the statements of the scriptures as the primary source and tries to make us understand if the statements of the scriptures seem to be a little bit irrelevant to us or un-understandable by us philosophy is only trying to make us understand in the right way the statements of the expressions of these people's experiences, that is why Indian philosophy inevitably wants to lead and aspirant only to God, whatever may be that particular philosophy, school's vision or idea about God but ultimately God realization, that is the only goal of every philosophy not only that when we visit a temple we say, I am going to have darshan of Lord Vishwanath Mother Annapurna so darshan here means there is no way of seeing God just as we see any other object it is a very special type of vision and what does it involve it involves that I become one with God, then I see the world, everything I see myself, I see the world as God sees himself as God sees the whole world that is called darshan and so Indian temples bear a very special symbolism, one such symbolism I have already repeated but I will just give you so that we can remind of it, it is a beautiful temple and this is the Ranganatha temple in Sri Rangam and there, it is one of the biggest temples and there are four doorways indicating, symbolizing four yogas either through Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Jnana Yoga, earlier I mentioned no yoga can give the vision of God but it can lead us to the vision of God, it can show us as a pathway is absolutely right but God's vision can only be had by God's grace so four doorways, east, west, south, north, four doors are there all of them lead to sanctum sanctorum and then on the way there are seven praharas are there, seven enclosures are there indicating the saptabhoomi or the seven states of consciousness of how kundalini has to go through the six chakras the seventh chakra ending in the garbha griha and inevitably in front before entering into the seventh there would be a flagpole called dhwaja stambha this dhwaja represents the ego of each one of us and it is a purified ego because a purified ego alone can lead one to God vision so every devotee whatever offering she wants to take including the pujaris the priests they have to prostrate or make sastang pranams there only according to tradition once they cross that dhwaja stambha they cannot prostrate because there is no eye eye is left behind what is inside is nothing but pure bhagavan, darshana that is called darshana so philosophy is called darshana and when we see God in a great temple that is also called darshana, when we go to visit a sadhu a senior monk etc that is also we are going to have darshana of God I am just reminding you about this so can one see God? yes, how? one cannot see God first of all with his eyes one can only see with spiritual eye and that God alone like he gave to Arjuna like Sri Ram Krishna gave to Narendranath one can only get it from God and then what can he see? first he sees that everything is Brahman thereafterwards whatever he sees there is seeming duality what is called mithya jagat but really the world is nothing but Brahman with name and form, manifestation of Brahman it is like a drama actor cinema actor when you see we know this person who is acting is our neighbour, he is so and so but every cinema, every drama a person puts on a different dress, different name different form, different qualities but within it is nothing but is play acting that is why the whole universe is compared to a drama, dramatic, the world is a stage on which the divine lord he writes the script and he directs the film and he acts, he only enacts as actors and actresses and he alone witnesses, that is why one of the most wonderful names of Bhagawan is Sri Ranganatha Ranga means the whole world is a stage for the divine Leela of himself, so he is the creator, he is the sustainer, he is the enjoyer and there is nothing called I or you or we or anything everything is nothing but God and that vision is called darshana and that is called seeing God, with this we will continue M. Constantine dwelt on certain Shri Ram Krishna sayings, the master had said one can certainly see God through the practice of spiritual discipline and again the vision of God is the only goal of human life so first is God exists he can be seen and seeing God is the only goal of life, now here I will deviate a little bit and there was a great western so called father of western psychology in the 19th century, he came across Swami Vivekananda and addressed him as my master and his name was William James and he had really marvelous insights into the psychology of people and he had written rather gave a series of lectures in a prestigious conference, Zimbard's lectures and his talks were most often written almost verbatim and they came published as varieties of religious experiences there he analyzes what is a religious conversion and conversion means a person on a particular time, until that time he goes on saying I believe in God, I have faith in God but no change had ever taken place in his mind but one day suddenly something catches hold of him this is what I said this is what is called faith the difference between belief and faith I have described it many times belief is what we control, what our mind cherishes but faith is that which controls us, like a mad cat, he is possessed of a particular idea he cannot but behave according to the dictates of that particular idea so also when a man is possessed of Shraddha Shraddha will control him in every single matter so when this conversion comes conversion means this belief transforms itself into Shraddha deep faith it is a very weak word deep faith and then possesses that man and if it is real faith then it will bring about three changes in that personality and that is what he says three characteristics of real conversion so first integration of personality here I will tell you, give two examples you look at a baby, he is a completely integrated personality there is no multiple personality syndrome in a child until he grows up and starts becoming a hypocrite divides himself into what is inside what he thinks what he speaks and what he does are completely three irrelevant what is called non-relational activities but a child and a madcap he may be mad but one thing he is not a hypocrite what he thinks, what he talks and what he sees how he acts, everything is dictated by whatever idea possessed that particular person so he may be mad but he cannot be charged as hypocrite so this is a wonderful example of course who is a saint is a godman here is a madman but here is a godman, same characteristic god possesses a godman and he cannot do otherwise, he cannot think something else, he cannot speak something else, he cannot do anything else excepting that which expresses that spirit, that is why Ramakrishna's words they can never fail so Ramakrishna cannot tolerate hypocrisy in other person's people this is the first transformation when conversion, religious conversion takes place this is the first thing that happens that integration of personality, the unconscious the conscious everything becomes completely integrated second is always the conversion is the lower will be merged into the higher because some person may become mad he may be possessed, this person is my enemy and he is obstructing my goal in life I want to kill him this is from a descending from a higher state to a lower state but in this true religious conversion always from a lower state to a higher state from worldliness it is a journey to divinity this is the second characteristic, second transformation, third transformation and this conversion this transformation will be for life only once, there afterwards the person becomes a man of God so what happens in some of our cases may be we are in imminent danger of being killed our whole heartedly we pray to God and it seems to be our personality is integrated and it is from lower to higher and it seems as if we have been converted for life but no, as soon as the danger passes away, we become the same old people again that is why Sri Ramakrishna tells when Rajasic person worships his mind is absorbed in God but the moment he steps out of the puja room, he again becomes possessed of his worldly attachments so he compares such people to flies sometimes a fly may sit on a honeycomb and suck the honey on a beautiful flower and suck the nectar but sometimes it also sits on festering shores and dirty places and that also it absorbs but a true devotee will be like a honey bee, he will not sip anything excepting the nectar that comes from the flower so let us always remember whenever we think we are devotees of God, let us question ourselves is our personality integrated, what I am thinking, that means unconsciously, not conscious thinking, unconsciously or is this a journey from lower to higher or is it from higher to lower because a person who desires, I want wealth he will also earnestly praise to God but this journey is from God to God must manifest in the form of money etc, no that is no, lower to higher that is to say, I don't need this world, I can I only want God, excepting God, I don't want anything Sri Ramakrishna expresses this very beautifully, a child is completely merged in play, mother is calling him so many times Baba, food is ready you are hungry, please come and eat, afterwards you can go and play the child doesn't listen but when hunger seizes him he kicks everything that he is playing and then in Bengali Sri Ramakrishna uses a very beautiful word I want to go to mother I want mother only, he will not listen to anybody Sri Ramakrishna brings this idea many times in the gospel so when we read the gospel, we come across it, I want to go to mother and anybody who promises I will take you to mother immediately the child jumps onto his shoulders and trusts him and who is that person that person is called Guru, so this is the beautifully described thing let us question is it from lower to higher or higher to lower and then temporarily we all become integrated devotees but the moment some temptation comes so even a smallest temptation we forget God, everything and we become our lower self, Sri Ramakrishna used to say a parrot can be taught to repeat the name of Rama or Krishna and many times it will be repeating but when a cat catches then only the natural sound comes, what he means is that when a person comes across worldly things, only the worldly things attract he completely forgets God in every single way, so the conversion to devotion it is for life it doesn't mean we have become 100% devotees, what it means is that our heart says I am never going to give up spiritual practice even if I have to be reborn any number of times maybe I am at the lowest step but until I reach God I am not going to give up and Swami Vivekananda used to illustrate it with the example of Bhagawan Buddha unable to get illumination one day on a full moon night Vaishya Agapurnima sat down on a seat with this firm resolve so this enlightenment can come only with the greatest difficulty and after a long time but I am determined, let this body become, let this flesh blood, bones everything become completely dried that means if death comes, let it come until I attain illumination this body is not going to get up and it is said that very night, slowly his mind entered from a lower state to a higher state until he awakened and said that I have become Tathagata, Tatha means Sathyam, Agata means one who reached the truth, Tatha beautifully the Mandokya Karikasa of Gaudapada reminds us the second prakaranam called by Tathya, Tathya means truth, Vithatha means complete opposite to truth, untruth called Mithya and the entire chapter is dedicated only to expound how this world as we see it is a Mithya so let us remember integration of personality there is no inner war, lower mind wants something, higher mind wants something and it is always, it wants only God and it will never give up that quest Janma Janmantra, not only in this life in many lives now it is possible to see God and God vision is the only goal of life and these great souls come, the great sages, great avatar purushas why do they come? there are two books which are the authentic sources of Sri Ramakrishna's life and teachings life, Sri Ramakrishna the great master, teachings the gospel of Sri Ramakrishna and then in the life of Sri Ramakrishna, the great master, Swami Shardanandaji he tells why did God incarnate when does he incarnate? we all know that, when dharma goes down adharma increases that is the time, somebody asked me recently that now adharma seems to be on ever increasing terms and then in the Bhagavad Gita Bhagavan Krishna promises whenever there is rise of adharma and the disappearance of dharma sambhavami yuge yuge I incarnate myself again and again, is it not time for God to come once more and then the reply is, he just came just 100 years back 100 years is nothing in the calculation of history, it is just 100 years Swami Vivekananda came, Holy Mother came and 15 direct disciples have also come Ramana Maharshi had come what else do you want? you go back their life in the blazing explanation of what human life is and their teachings are there to guide us unerringly towards that goal so this is the answer, Shri Ram Krishna is born to fulfill the promise if anybody depends upon me I will take care of him I will fulfill all his desires I will make, I will give him liberation, I will make his life blessed and people lost faith in that promise of the Divine Lord and the Divine Lord wants once more to prove to the whole world, to demonstrate to the whole world that it is not empty words but the Divine Lord really does so and Shri Ram Krishna's life is a blazing illustration total dependence upon the God whom he used to call as the Divine Mother and he had marvelous visions, by this what the scriptures are describing that God can be seen both with form without form and Shri Ram Krishna's gospel is nothing less than any Upanishad, any Veda so once more to prove he was not talking, it is possible to see God, he says I have seen God and I can show you also to others but people shed potfuls of tears because their children or their family members or somebody near and dear, husband and wife is on death bed and they cannot help themselves who is shedding tears, I want God, I cannot live without God, so when we are ready God is always ready, Shri Ram Krishna had tremendous visions and the next probably this class may be next class also I have culled many important passages from the gospel of Shri Ram Krishna where Shri Ram Krishna himself graphically describing his visions of God so it is not continuously there now here and there scattered throughout the thousand pages of the gospel I have searched for them and collated them so we can discuss under this topic there was a devotee called Vijay Krishna Goswami, he was present he was asking is Bhakti alone sufficient for the attainment of God for his vision is Bhakti Marga alone yes, master says yes, one can see God through Bhakti alone but he says it must be Vaipu Bhakti, Prema Bhakti, Raga Bhakti when one has that Bhakti, one loves God even as if the mother loves the child, the child the mother or the wife the husband, when one has such love and attachment to God, one doesn't feel the attraction of Maya to wife, children relatives and friends one retains only compassion for them this is a very beautiful world, Sri Ram Krishna quite a number of times repeats them what is the difference between Daya and Maya, when a person has attachment towards the spouse, towards the children, towards parents towards possessions that is called Maya, but when a person shares equally with praise for everybody's happiness and removal of everybody's miseries, that is called truly Daya this is what he is telling here when one doesn't feel the attraction of Maya to wife, children relatives and friends but one retains only compassion for them compassion because each soul is potentially divine, you are also divine you may be my family members, but we are all here only as co-pilgrims trying to help each other and progress in spiritual life to such a man what happens, the world appears a strange land a place where he is merely to perform his duties it is like a man's having his real home in the country but coming to Calcutta for work, he has to rent a house in Calcutta for the sake of his duties, when this is what Sriram Krishna also used to encourage devotees to sing a particular song our home is with God mind, let us go back to our own home, our home is God but this is a foreign country, you have donned a foreign dress and roaming aimlessly without understanding why you are roaming in this foreign country called Maya Rajya so a place it is only to perform his duties, what are the duties so that my mind can be ready, my body can be ready to receive the divine vision, that is the true such thing to such a man, the world appears a strange land, a place where he is merely to perform his duties, it is like a man's having his real home in the country but coming to Calcutta for work, he has to rent a house so we are all living in a rented house, Dharmashala once I shared a beautiful Sufi story once a Fakir entered into the court of a Nawab, the court was in full swing and the Nawab gave orders, any Fakir a Muslim Sanyasi, if he happens to come, nobody should obstruct his path and then this man was watching slowly the court dispersed the Nawab was alone then he addressed the Fakir what can I do how can I serve you then the Fakir asked so to whom this Dharmashala belongs, travellers in belongs, the Nawab who was a foolish person until then he got flared up, what are you talking about, this is my palace and the Fakir looked at him and said oh is it so, then there were some paintings hanging remember there was no photography at that time, wonderful painters were there, many paintings of this Nawab's father, grandfather, relatives etc were hanging there he pointed to one and said who is that person and the Nawab explained that was my great grandfather and where did he live, in this palace only, how many years he lived, so many years then the Fakir pointed to the next, who is that and that is my grandfather and same reply next, who is that that's my father, where did he live, in this palace and how long did he live, for so many years, the Fakir turned towards the Nawab and said where people come stay for a few days and leave, where from they come, where they go nobody knows as if they come from nowhere and they go into nowhere such a place where just few years in our eyes few days what do you call it, accepting a travellers inn, a hotel in Nawab's eyes got opened, such beautiful gems of stories should remind us, in this world, this is like a dharma shala, we have come to become fit to have the vision of God and once it is over we go back, we have our own home and that is with God, God is our mother God is our father we have to go to Him for that we have to complete the business here once we complete our duties completely, then God himself will take us, we have come with a return ticket, it may be after one billion years but we are going to go to God, this is what Ram Krishna was telling for the sake of duties a man rents a house, comes to Calcutta, but his house is in the village when one develops love of God one completely gets rid of one's attachment to the world and worldly wisdom, wonderful marvellous pointers so how do I know whether I am a true spiritual aspirant, here is the way to understand did I get rid of attachment to the world and am I still using worldly wisdom what is worldly wisdom, that wisdom through which I want to gather many worldly things that is called worldly wisdom, Sri Ram Krishna continues one cannot see God if one has even the slightest trace of worldliness slightest trace if matchsticks if damp won't strike fire though you rub a thousand of them against the matchbox you only waste a heap of sticks, the mind soaked in worldliness is such a damp matchstick Sri Ram Krishna gives a beautiful example once Sri Radha said to her friends that she saw Krishna everywhere, both within and without, the friends answered why Radha we don't see him at all are you delirious, Radha said friends, paint your eyes with the cholerium of divine love and then you will see him, with this quotation Sri Ram Krishna again turned to him and then he is telling to Vijay it is said in a song of your Brahmo Samaj, O Lord is it ever possible to know thee without love, however much one may perform, worship and sacrifice, without love it is not possible if the devotee but once feels this attachment and ecstatic love for God this nature of devotion and longing then he sees God in both his aspects with form and without form the next subject is purity of heart, that's what every yoga is supposed to bestow upon us, whether it is Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Jnana Yoga all yogas have only one goal to make the heart pure so that it is ready to receive God's grace in the form of his vision, we will talk about this in our next class Om Jananem Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagad Gurum Pahada Padme Tayo Sritva Pranamami Muhurmoho May Ram Krishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti Jai Ram Krishna