Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 052 on 18-January-2022

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Om Jananem Sharadam Devem Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padme Tayo Sritva Pranamami Mohor Moho In our last class, the topic was God Vision, which we were discussing. God Vision through pure love. There was a devotee called Mr. Choudhury and he is asking Shri Ramakrishna, How can one see God? A most beautiful question, even though most of us think that is not our concern. What is it that I, you, everybody in this world is really seeking? It's only God. What do you mean by God? Sat, Chit, Ananda. I want to be pure existence so that I will have no birth or death. I will have pure knowledge, which is called Chit, which will know not many things, but one thing. To know the many is what Shri Ramakrishna used to call ignorance because the many covers the vision of the one. Just like a child, he sees various colored sweets, all made out of melted sugar. What he thinks, one is a parrot, another is a horse, another is an elephant, another is a conch, like that. But a grown-up person knows that this is all nothing but pure sugar. Sugar here, Ananda Swaroopa. We are all seeking Ananda and Ananda is obtained by removing the obstacle called Dukkha. So everybody wants to be happy for all time, wants to be alive for all time and wants to be aware that I am a happy person. This is called God vision. Shri Ramakrishna, in answer to Mr. Chaudhary's question, says very beautifully, Not with these eyes, God gives one divine eyes and only then can one behold him. God gave Arjuna divine eyes so that he might see his universal form. The Rishis had the vision of the super sensuous spirit form and talked with it. And the devotees acquire a love body and with its help they see the spirit form of the absolute. I would like to speak this particular teaching of Shri Ramakrishna. First, Shri Ramakrishna says, not with these eyes. Can one see God? Not with these eyes. Then what are we seeing? In fact, we are seeing nothing but God. Just as a child, when he sees even a parrot's head, he is seeing only sugar. But the important point is that he thinks it is not sugar, but it is a parrot's head. And that creates, I like this and I don't like the other one. Everybody is a fool, only I am a wise person. This is called likes and dislikes, Raga and Dvesha. So, as long as we have what we call awareness, we have vision. And that vision, what type of vision we have depends upon what type of mind it is. Here also, such an interesting thing. Do the eyes... I am assuming that the eyes have good vision. The power of seeing as it is, not cloudy, not cataract, etc. No other disease is there. But what do the eyes really see? So, they don't see. The eyes do not see. The ears do not hear. The tongue does not taste. We think it is the eyes which are seeing. No, it has the power to receive certain type of information. That's all. And it doesn't know, more important, that this is a good form, good colour, and I like it. These belong to the realm of the mind. How do we know? Because when our thoughts are elsewhere, our eyes are seeing, our ears are hearing, even we are eating also, but it makes no difference to us. When a child is in distress, even if a scorpion bites a mother, she doesn't care for it, she forgets it, she runs to the rescue of the child. So, the sense organs, surprisingly, they only are vehicles, instruments, medium through which information is conveyed, and they convey it also in a very peculiar manner, through the particular nerve centres associated with them. It is only the mind which sees the colour. Without the mind, the sense organs are nothing. That's a very important point for us to note down. Then now, the mind, in how many ways it can see? Well, myriads of ways it can see. How is it possible? Because if there is a tree in front of me, if there is a mountain in front of me, if there is a person in front of me, I can only see the person, I can only see the tree or the mountain. No, Sir. The mind, inevitably, it sees what it wants to see, and what it wants to see depends upon its constitution. And what is the constitution? There are three Gunas. Sattva Guna, Prajna Guna, and Tama Guna. This marvellous analysis has been given to us in the Bhagavad Gita by Lord Krishna. In the 18th chapter, it says whether it is of knowledge, whether it is of action, or whether it is of the person, the person who feels, I am the doer. What he thinks, what he decides, what he does, it depends upon whether the mind is endowed with Sattva Guna, Prajna Guna, or Tama Guna. So, every sense organ hears only. Here also wonderful points are there. A great psychologist had pointed out, we are so much identified with our ego. He gives an example. Suppose there are 1000 people, and they are spread over, and they are chatting quite loudly, and we cannot hear what some people are talking at some distance. Perhaps we can hear even the persons near to us. But when 1000 people are talking simultaneously, it is impossible to focus our mind and hear. Then the psychologist points out, somebody outside at a distance from the 1000 people, simply utters, O Keshava, in a medium voice. Immediately our eyes become pricked up. We hear our name. Somebody is calling my name. How is it possible? This fellow who cannot hear even what people are talking 6-7 feet away, but here his name is called nearly 100 or 200 meters away, and still he hears it crystal clearly, comes out awake. Similarly, there are 100 people sleeping, and a person goes and calls softly, O Keshava. And it is said, this person whose name is Keshava, immediately he comes to life. Similarly, so many other things are there. Why? Because we are extremely intensely conscious of ourselves. Such is the power of this Ahamkara. Why did I bring up this subject? Because there are three gunas which affect our attitude. I will give you a classic example. Vibheshana, Ravanasura, and Kumbhakarna. Vibheshana represents Sattva guna. Ravanasura represents Raju guna. And Kumbhakarna represents Tamo guna. Now, there is this being called Rama. Just let us say Rama. How is Vibheshana looking at Rama? As God incarnate. How is Ravanasura seeing? He is a useless fellow, and he is an obstacle in my way. His wife is very beautiful. In fact, this is a marvellous statement. Rama is considered as an incarnation of God. And then who could be Sita? She is an incarnation of Lakshmi, Divine Mother. How is Vibheshana? Suppose Vibheshana looks at Sita. It is not mentioned. But if he could understand Rama as God, how do you think he will understand Sita? He must be understanding that this must be Mother Lakshmi herself or Divine Mother. That is what I will say. And how is Ravanasura seeing Sita? She is the most beautiful woman. Worth possessing and enjoying. Desirable. Why? Because in his eyes, Rama is an ordinary person. Not to be counted at all. And why Vibheshana, when he was looking at Rama as God incarnate, why was Ravanasura looking at? Because Vibheshana's mind has crystal clear vision, clarity. Ravanasura's mind is hazy because it is covered with Prajogna. So he is seeing, not seeing God, but not even seeing a good human being. He is seeing a dangerous opponent. Of course, Ravanasura will never admit it. He says, yes, yes, he has got some power, but nothing compared to me. And I will snatch away his wife. That was his Darshana. And what about Kumbhakarna? Well, we all know when a person is sleeping, neither good nor bad, as if he were dead. That is because his mind is covered with pure Tamoguna. And through this example, we have to understand what we are seeing, what we are hearing, what we are tasting, touching, smelling. Shabda, Sparsha, Rupa, Rasa, Gandha is nothing but pure God, pure Atman, pure consciousness. Brahman means pure consciousness. But depending upon our state of mind, we see it either as Brahman or Anatma, as this world, man, woman, plant, animal, living, non-living, etc., etc. Now, with this background, let us understand the Master's reply, and it exactly tallies with Krishna's reply. अनेनैवस्वचक्षिषा Through these eyes that you now possess, O Arjuna, you will not be able to see me. But out of compassion for you, temporarily, I will correct your vision. Just as you know, we go to an ophthalmologist, and then he puts on, and one particular combination on the same eyes will give us more or less a very good vision. So also, दिव्यम् ददामिते चक्षिः पश्यमे योगम् आईश्वरम् So, God gave Arjuna divine eyes. What is the first reply of Thakur? Not with these eyes. That means, do you get special eyes? No, it means not with this mind. Eyes means not eyes. There is nothing wrong with the eyes. Arjuna's eyes have not been removed. Arjuna's cataract has not been removed. Arjuna has not been given some kind of extra contact lenses, 3D lenses. He was not given. His mind was temporarily made pure. That is the meaning of, it is the mind which sees, it is the mind which hears, and not the real this thing. That is the first reply. Yes, it is possible to see. So, not with these eyes, but with divine eyes. And God gave Arjuna, that means what? Only God can give God vision. Ordinary worldly objects can give only worldly vision. So, God's grace is very important. That's why the very message of the whole Gospel, as well as Bhagavad Gita, as well as the Upanishads, Vedas, is take refuge in the Divine Mother. So, this is the second answer. God gave Arjuna divine eyes, so that he might see his universal form. And Sri Ramakrishna is adding, the Rishis had the vision of the super sensuous spirit form, and talked with it. The Rishis, according to Sri Ramakrishna, the Rishis, the ancient Rishis, they were worshipping the formless aspect of God, that is called the spirit form, that is called Brahman's form, and they talked with it. They talked with it. How could the spirit talk? In that Parabrahman, state of Brahman, in fact, there cannot be two. Somebody to speak with two people, talking to each other. No. But, that means they had such intimate, exalted vision, experience. That's what it meant. So, let me tell you also, something very interesting. Sri Ramakrishna, very often used to talk with the Divine Mother. Now, what did I say? Sri Ramakrishna, very often, used to talk with the Divine Mother. What Divine Mother? The first mistake we commit is, there is a Goddess called Kali, and Sri Ramakrishna worshipped her, and he used to talk with her. That is the first mistake we commit, because Gods and Goddesses cannot have a form like we imagine we have a form. Secondly, when we say Mother Saraswati, we imagine her in a particular way. When we think of Mother Lakshmi, we think of another way. When we think of Mother Kali, one way, Mother Parvati, another way. So, various forms are there. A devotee of Mother Lakshmi, and suddenly if Mother Kali comes, do you think he will be happy? He will be horrified. He may have a heart attack also. But, if he is an intelligent one, he says, I know you are Lakshmi, you are Kali, you are Saraswati, you are everything, but my favourite form, which I enjoy really, is this. But here also we have to understand, for a devotee of Mother Kali, she is not frightening at all. Not only not frightening, she is the most loving person on earth. Not only the most loving person on earth. Just to make a little bit fun of, supposing this devotee has got some severe cold, and rivers of water is flowing from his nostrils, and any number of handkerchiefs, blankets, towels are not enough. Two hands are not enough. But, Mother Kali has got four hands. So, it would be extremely useful. Very quickly, she can dry him up, and give him comfort. The more hands, the better. So, with one hand, she can give him message. Another hand, she can feed him. Another hand, she can take him to another place. Another hand, she can play with him. So, the more hands, the better. I am just making a bit of fun. Now, coming back, for a devotee of Mother Kali, is she ferocious? On the other hand, she is the most lovable person. If one millisecond separation from her, and like a person, or like a fish out of water, like a person inside the water, he will be struggling for an air of breath. It is an important point, because the Darshana, the eyes, which are looking at this form, are totally different form. There is, the mind has become, has assumed the form of love, Bhakti. Not only that, we have to understand, perhaps, you go to a Kali temple, and you see Mother Kali, and you have, of course, tremendous devotion, especially after studying the life of Sri Ramakrishna, and then you prostrate before her. What do you see? Here is a woman, with four hands, with a sword in hand also, and with skulls round her neck, with one decapitated head in her left hand, lower left hand, all these things. You are not frightened of it. But this is your vision, very gross vision, of the image, that is right in front of you. But do you think, an exalted soul like Sri Ramakrishna, he will be also seeing, now how horribly inconvenient it is, to have four hands. Only a person, if God gives you four hands, you will understand, how terribly inconvenient. Supposing, somebody has made a dress for you, a shirt for you, or let us say, a jacket for you, and you have got ten hands, and now, even for putting on this ordinary two-handed jacket, especially in winter season, takes a hell of a lot of time. But if you have got ten hand sleeves, and winter freezing cold, you want to get into it, and one hand enters into the other sleeve, and the other hand enters into the other sleeve, one is backward, one is forward, you just imagine. This is what we call, human frailty. That is what is most important for us to understand. So, this is what we need to, all of us need to understand. So, what am I talking about? As our mind becomes purer, our conception of the Gods or Goddesses will also become better. Slowly, the outer crust, outer form disappears. That means, more manifestation of the pure consciousness is manifest, rather than the ordinary vision. This is what is most important for us to understand. So, if you put the question, how is Ramakrishna seeing the Divine Mother? How was Arjuna beholding Krishna before Krishna gave him the Divine Vision? And how was Arjuna beholding Krishna after he had been given this Divine Vision that makes heaven and hell different? This is where some amount of psychology comes to our help. It is very important. So, here there is a beautiful saying in practically every language that the young one of a crow is the most lovable baby to its mother in the eyes of its mother. Why? Because the mother's eyes or mother's mind is covered with the greatest love. A loving mind doesn't see a ferocious form, an ugly form, an undesirable form. It is the most joyous form. Love, joy, concentration, interest, memory. All these are synonymous words. If somebody says, I love but I am not happy, that is horrible because it is untruth. If there is love, there would be joy. And where there is joy, there would be love. And where there is joy, there would be interest. Where there is joy, there would be memory. Where there is joy, there would be concentration. The mind doesn't want to think anything else at all. So, Sairam Krishna's beautiful answer. But, devotees acquire a love body and with its help, they see the spirit form of the Absolute. So here, Sairam Krishna, elsewhere, he gives a beautiful quotation. What is the love body? It is the greatest pleasure. Any living creature. We don't know when a male and a female mosquito mate, how much pleasure they get. Definitely, they get because the amount of competition, only the strongest male can get such a female. We can see it. Even cows, buffaloes, dogs, sometimes, if anyone dares to interrupt their pleasure, they will turn ferocious. I happen to see such a vision. It is very interesting, but I will not tell you about it. So, this is the physical union between a man and a woman. It is the intensest pleasure a person can get. I also gave an explanation in case you have forgotten. Why is it no other sense organ or no other action can give this much of pleasure? The reason is, one can eat the most desirable food and yet be aware of other things. So, the mind is less concentrated when other four sense organs, especially the action of eating, hearing, smelling, etc., are concerned. But when this physical union takes place, man and woman, male and female cannot think of anything else except concentrating upon that action. And that is why, that means what? The concentration. Concentration means what? Forgetfulness of time and space. That is why it is the most difficult obstacle to overcome in spiritual life. Of course, according to our scriptures, that is the second most difficult obstacle. What is the foremost? It is the tongue. Why? Because the action of the tongue starts right from birth and ends only with death. Whereas this physical union is possible only when people attain a certain age and certain condition. Very interesting. Even if a person is sick, you give him a choice. Do you want to eat this or do you want to eat the other thing? Inevitably, he will recollect, even if I am sick, I want only this because I love it. Even if it is not suitable also. Anyway, I will not dwell upon it too much. But Shri Ramakrishna used to tell, when a devotee acquires tremendous amount of devotion, every pore of the body becomes an organ of union. That means, he is trying to tell in human terms, how much is the joy this devotee gets from union with God. Accepting through these comparisons, in Bible also we get. This comparison has to be given. That is why Gita Govinda is one of the most marvellous poems created by any human being. Jaya Deva. He was one of the greatest devotees of God. And he could not have created this poem unless he experiences that loving devotion towards Krishna. He puts himself in the place of Radha and imagines what happens when they are separated, when they are united. The whole Gita Govinda is a marvellous expression. The highest expression of the love that exists, the union, the experience of union between devotee and God. And this is what is called in common language, Shri Krishna's, Gopi's Rasa Krida. It is the height, the very pinnacle of the union between God and a devotee. And it has nothing to do with the body, nothing to do with the mind. It is the highest expression. This is called acquiring a love body. So devotees acquire a love body. And with all the five sense organs completely united, so they embrace God, become one with Him and experience His union. They keep a thin layer of separation between them so that the devotee can experience. This is the meaning of Radha and Krishna. Radha represents the highest devotion possible for any human being. Krishna represents God who is the goal of everybody's union with Him. So this is what is most important. What have we been discussing? That it is possible for a devotee as he progresses in his spiritual life, his body changes. Really body also changes because the Tamoguna, Rajoguna become less, Satvaguna becomes more and his sense organs become heightened in their powers and his mind becomes, as his mind becomes pure, his way of looking at things, the gross experience subtly changes to subtle form, subtlest form until he sees only the spirit form, which means until he sees God everywhere. And this is possible. And according to Vaishnava literature, this highest transformation of the devotee is called Mahabhava. Mirabai, Andal, Radha Devi, these are a few examples of how a human mind can become, require that kind of devotional body, Bhakti Sharira and that has been described in the Bhagavatam. Every Gopi represents this highest Mahabhava. Every soul aspiring to realize God first must become a Gopi. In the eyes of the Gopi, nothing matters. And then Sri Ramakrishna says that Ishta Nishta, that one's devotion to one's own chosen form. Once it said, Gopis, I have not seen Krishna for long. In that version, Krishna became, Krishna was the king of Madhura. So, once they went to Madhura from Vrindavan and they bribed the watchman, somehow entered into a side door. Krishna was sitting on his throne and they peeked at him. One looked at him and they turned away their eyes and said, whom have we come to see? This is not our Krishna. This is a Parapurusha. This is a stranger. Should we look at him? No. We want our Krishna with a peacock feather. Who is this fellow? Sitting on a golden throne, having the diamond studded crown on his head. This is not our concept, our Ishta Devata. So, they turned away with that. Similarly, Hanuman, when he saw Narayana's form, he became very, very fidgety. These are all wonderful examples of how a person's mind, remember, is not fanaticism, this is not one-sidedness, but this is the very height of devotion as a Ishta Nishta. That is what is most important. Now, Ramakrishna is reminiscing his God-intoxicated state. Why is it? We read the Kathamruta, we read the Bhagavatam, we read Upanishads, we read the stories of so many saints and sages. We know, intellectually we can understand, but unless we read, somebody had really experienced these things, it is very difficult for us to understand that these are real things one can experience. In fact, one must experience them. If we do not, then we lose so much. So, Ramakrishna is narrating not to get adoration, not to be admired, but to confirm to the devotees, do not have any doubt, my children, all these are true. I had myself experienced. If you develop that much of longing and devotion for God, you will also experience all these things. It is for assuring us and encouraging us that Ramakrishna is narrating these things. Ramakrishna says, Oh! What a state of mind I passed through. When I first had that experience, I could not perceive the coming and going of day or night. People said I was insane. What else could they say? They made me married. I was then in a state of God intoxication. At first, I felt worried about my wife. Then I thought, she too would eat and drink and live like me. I visited my father-in-law's house. They arranged a kirtan. It was a great religious festival and there was much singing of God's holy name. Now and then, I would wonder about my future. I would say to the Divine Mother, Oh! Mother, I shall take my spiritual experiences to be real if the landlords of the country show me respect. They too came of their own accord and talked with me. Oh! What an ecstatic state it was. Even the slightest suggestion would awaken my spiritual consciousness. I worshipped the beautiful in a girl 14 years old. Very interesting. We have to read these words of Sri Ramakrishna very carefully with full awareness. What was he telling? He did not say, I worshipped a beautiful girl. There is no beautiful girl. There is no ugly girl. Beauty or ugliness lies in the beholder. I worshipped the beautiful, the saundarya, in a girl 14 years old. What did he say? I saw that she was the personification of the Divine Mother. At the end of the worship, I bowed before her and offered a rupee at her feet. One day, I witnessed a Ramleela performance. I saw the performers to be the actual Sita, Rama, Lakshmana, Hanuman and Vibheshana. Then I worshipped the actors and actresses who played those parts. In this connection, we can also recollect in the life of Tulasidas, was eager to have Ramadarshan. So, a ghost helped him. It is a beautiful story. I think I narrated it. I don't remember whether in this class or in other classes, but it is worth remembering. Tulasidas was in Varanasi and he used to go a little far for answering the calls of nature. He used to carry a small pot full of water and after finishing the ablutions, some water used to remain in that pot and he used to put it at the root of one particular tree every day. And after some days, a spirit appeared to him and said, I am so pleased with you. This water is helping me to survive. I would like to repay. And then Tulasidas said, I have only one wish. I want to have the darshan of Rama. Ramadarshan. And the spirit said, even hearing the name of Rama, we spirits run away from that place out of fright. I cannot help you directly, but I will help you indirectly. You know, there is a temple called Sankatamochan Hanuman temple and every day a Brahmana, an old man, an old Brahmana visits that place. At this time, he will come. At this time, he will leave. And he is none other than Hanuman. So catch hold of him and your desire will be fulfilled. And next day, Tulasidas was observing. He saw the Brahmana and he fell at his feet and the Brahmana at first pretended to be angry. Then he revealed himself. We have to understand, it is not the ghost. It is Rama's Kripa that flowed through Hanuman. That made the ghost speak out the truth. Without God's grace, this would not have happened. So, Tulasidas said, I only wanted to have the Darshana of Rama. Then Hanuman, he commanded him, go to Chitrakoot and live there and you will have Rama Darshana. So, Tulasidas shifted immediately to Chitrakoot. In those days, it was a 15th century, it was a small village and Chitrakoot was supposed to be the place where Rama, Sita, they all visited there. So he was waiting for Rama Darshana and he used to pass his time in prayer, in meditation, in Japa, etc. And one night, early in the night, he heard a big commotion as if people were running. And then he came out and saw everybody, all the villagers were streaming towards the outside village. And he also asked, what is the matter? He said, oh, don't you know, a Ram Leela is going to be enacted here. Some actors and actresses had arrived. We are all going there. So, Tulasidas joyfully joined the group and there was a small temporary place was cleared and the whole night Ram Leela had taken place. And it was so marvelously enacted that Tulasidas did not know how time passed. Whether you read a book, you watch a movie, or you listen to a talk, you are conversing, the joy we get depends upon whether you forget the time space. And that's what happened to Tulasidas and at last, the Ram Leela came to an end and he saluted the actors and actresses, came back home, had a little rest and his mind was filled with tremendous joy. Next day, he went out to chat with his neighbours and he said, yesterday night, what a marvellous Ram Leela we had and they looked blank. They were shocked. What are you talking about? Well, you were also there. We all went. We sat there. I saw you. We were all sleeping peacefully in our homes. Where did it take place? Outside our small village. It was cleared also. Come on, let us go and see. There was nothing. It was all pure jungle. Nothing was cleared. Then Tulasidas understood. It is all Rama's grace. The whole Ramayana was enacted for his benefit. It is said, shortly after that, Tulasidas returned to Varanasi and he received Rama's commandment that now you write my story in the local dialect so that ordinary people can understand. You also, what you write, just take pen and paper. I will dictate it. I will come out from your heart in the form of this Tulasi Ramayana which is called Ramcharitmanas. And every night you sing that one. This is how devotion will be spread among the people. And that is what happened. And then somehow people, as Sri Ramakrishna used to say, when the lotus blooms, bees, they find out, they know it instinctively and they gather. That is how this Tulasidas Ramayana, Ramcharitmanas, whatever he used to write, he used to sing and somehow by word of mouth the news reached far away villages. From nearby villages, people used to stream in more and more and more. One can only imagine how absorbed Tulasidas was to sing his beloved Ishta Devata's name and he had a melodious voice and the villagers used to be absorbed and the local priests became very jealous, very angry and there was a story, I will not go into it, but Sri Ramakrishna was telling I saw the performers, the actual Sita, Rama and Lakshmana, Hanuman and Vibhishana. From a spiritual point of view, whatever we are seeing is nothing but Brahma. It is only because of our, what we call ignorance, because of our Tamoguna and Rajoguna that we are incapable of seeing the right thing as if our eyes have been covered with layers and layers of some coverings. So, if our mind becomes clear, we see nothing but God. That is the most important thing in this world. At that time, Sri Ramakrishna continues, I used to invite maidens here and worship them. I found them to be embodiments of the Divine Mother Herself. One day, I saw a woman in blue, standing near the Bakul tree. She was a prostitute but she instantly kindled in me the vision of Sita. I forgot the woman. I saw that it was Sita Herself on her way to meet Rama after her rescue from Ravana in Ceylon. For a long time, I remained in Samadhi, unconscious of the outer world. Now, Sri Ramakrishna was describing His Divine Visions. Earlier visions He was talking is very interesting analysis for us to understand. When He used to sit for meditation, He forgot the entire outer world and He was seeing the Divine Visions of the Divine Mother etc. That was one kind of visions. Next, we saw that I saw a drama, Ram Leela. It may be Mahabharata. It may be Ramayana. It may be Bhagavatam. Actually, some people have dressed themselves and enacting the parts of either Krishna or Rama or Shiva or whatever it is. So, there is a concrete suggestion here. This is Rama. This is Krishna. This is Shiva. This is Parvati etc. This is Sita. But He was seeing the actual Rama, Sita, Shiva etc. Now, in this just now what we read, it is not a drama. It is not in meditation. It is with full open eyes. So, there was a woman. Ramakrishna was returning and she was a public woman. But his perception, his heart, it was seeing only Sarvatra Brahma Darshana. So, she instantly kindled in me the vision of Sita. I forgot the woman. Not only that, I saw that it was Sita on her way to meet Rama. That means what? She was waiting for this public woman was waiting for the customers to arrive and what was Ramakrishna's understanding? It was Sita waiting to meet Rama. The customers were also Rama. In that state of mind, everything used to be like that only. Now, I just remembered perhaps most of you remember but any number of times we must remember, that will only go to deepen our devotion. One day Madhur Babu had taken Ramakrishna for a ride in a, what we call two horses pulling a carriage. There, suddenly what happened? On the way, Ramakrishna was thinking about Ramayana. One incident in the Ramayana. The incident was that Ramana came and in the guise of a monk and then carried away Sita and there was a Jatayu and Jatayu saw and attacked Ramanasura and started fighting. This became a vision when Ramakrishna was driving in that he forgot his devotee Madhur Babu was driving and he was taking him in his Jatka two horse Jatka horse carriage and he became, suddenly what happened? That this scene was being enacted that was going on in Ramakrishna's mind. Madhur Babu did not know anything. Suddenly the two horses stopped their body it jumped into the air as if somebody hit them in the face and the carriage came to a stop. Madhur Babu was driving there was no obstacle there was nothing which caused anything but this accident had happened and he was wondering what could have made the horses jump up like that into the air. Sri Ramakrishna later on when he came back to normal consciousness he did not know of course what has happened he narrated this incident to Madhur Babu and Madhur Babu was astonished and said Baba you were thinking in your mind that Jatayu fighting with Ravanasura and Ravanasura had cut the wings of Jatayu and he fell down from the sky at that exact moment that you had that vision as if my horses reared up into the sky and came to an abrupt stop falling if your thought can have so much of effect upon the physical events it is sometimes very dangerous even to drive you that was Madhur Babu's observation after Sri Ramakrishna happened to narrate what happened to him so this is also very interesting thing because if somebody's mind is in an absorbed state that can have effect usually the effect will be very positive and it uplifts the people's minds also this is our experience if you are in the presence of a great sadhu great personality your mind also will be uplifted then what are we talking about Sri Ramakrishna seeing ordinary people ordinary things in this world getting absorbed his mind suddenly associating ordinary being with God so here another example is being given Sri Ramakrishna saw Krishna in an English boy another day I had gone to the Maidan in Calcutta for fresh air a great crowd had assembled there to watch a balloon ascension suddenly I saw an English boy leaning against a tree as he stood there his body was bent in three places, this is called tribhanga, bhanga means bending, tribhanga means three times the body bends, the vision of Sri Ramakrishna seeing this boy in that particular bent position immediately his mind associated with Krishna so the vision of Krishna came before me in a flash I went into samadhi then for a exalted person who had exalted vision sarvatra samadarshanaha this has been so beautifully expressed in the Bhagavad Gita, it is a most marvelous scripture when a person attains to the vision of Brahman brahma darshana, then he cannot see anything else but only Brahman everywhere yavine sampanne prambhane gavi hastini shunicheva shrapa kecha panditaha samadarshanaha once at Shihur I fed the cowherd boys I put sweetmeats into their hands, I saw that these boys were actually the cowherd boys of Vrindavan and I partook of the sweetmeats from their hands as prasada so who were these boys near Shihur? Cowherd boys, but in Sairam Krishna's vision they were not cowherd boys they were companions of Bhagwan Krishna who were companions of Bhagwan Krishna? The Gopas the Gopis they were all devatas that came to help in the leela of Bhagwan Krishna so many according to Sairam Krishna these were the 64,000 Rishis who never knew the intense joy of meditating upon the Saguna Brahma they only know about Nirguna Brahma but it is said when Rama entered into Dandakaranya the Rishis experienced such a joy which they never experienced in their lives before their only desire was Oh Rama, we want to be with you and Bhagwan Rama blessed them and he said I grant you your desire but I will give you even greater joy than this but not in this incarnation I will be incarnating as Krishna and you will be incarnating as Gopis Why Gopis? Because a Gopi is a woman a woman's mind is according to the constitution of a female body and the attraction a female feels for her husband a chaste woman, for her lover is incomparable a man's attraction for God in the form of a male and a woman's attraction for the same God in the form of a male or there is heaven and hell difference will be there and Rama was gracious you are all my devotees you experienced Brahmananda but now I will show you what is the greatness of Saguna Brahma for that Advaita slight distinction that I and you are different has to be created but you will be born as with woman's bodies purest devotion and I will be born and then you will experience such joy, this is called Madhurabhava this is called Mahabhava and that is really incomparable but these Gopis were not illiterate, impure unpurified minds that's why they could say in the Gopi Gita Nakalu Gopika Nandano Bhavan Akhila Dehinam Antaratmadrik you are not the son of a ordinary cow head illiterate woman you are not the son of a village woman you are that Paramatma who reside in everybody as Brahman because they were Rishis so Sri Ramakrishna was able to see Sarvatra Brahma Darshanam, Bhagavad Darshanam these beautiful visions will continue in our next class May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vikananda bless us all with Bhakti. Thank you.