Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 054 on 15-February-2022

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Om Jananim Sharadaam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padme Tayo Shritva Pranamami Mohur Moho For the last few classes, we have been discussing about vision. This word vision in Sanskrit is one of the most important words in the literature of Vedanta. It is called in Sanskrit Darshana. Darshana means direct perception. Direct perception means complete identity. That is why perhaps some of you remember when we visit a holy man, we say we are going to have darshan of the holy person. The reason for that is that even we may be ignorant, but the holy person is supposed to look at us as we are supposed to look at ourselves or as God always looks at ourselves. That is God cannot see anything other than God. Similarly, a spiritual person cannot see anything but spiritual entity within each one of us. When we visit the temples, there is what we use the word Darshana. That is why in front of every Hindu temple, there would be a Dvajasthamba, a pillar and that pillar really represents all our false identity called I and we have to surrender it completely to God and only then we will have real vision of God. Thereafter, there is a tradition when we enter into the temple, there is no I, He or It. That is why we are not even allowed to make pranams there. Especially, if you go to places like Tirupati, the priest would not allow you just to go stand in front and then move and that is all you have to do. So, this is what we need to remember all the time. Here, we are talking about Darshana and when this every holy person and he becomes holy and to the extent he is able to have Darshana, that is called holiness and what about all of us? All of us have this Darshana all the time but not true Darshana. So, here there are three states are there. These are well-known states beautifully described in the Vedantic scriptures. The waking state, the dream state and then the deep sleep state where there is no distinction between the knower and the known, the seer and the seen. And all of us from birth to death, from the very beginning of our creation until we attain liberation, there is no fourth state, so to speak, which we experience. One after the other, sequentially we go on experiencing these three states. And now, why did I bring up this subject? When we are in the waking state, we identify everything, especially a living thing, with this vision of the waking state. What is the vision of the waking state? If you see another person, there is a person and he has a mind inside, thinking power, consciousness. So, consciousness plus mind plus body is our idea of every living creature including the one-celled amoeba. Since we identify ourselves, since I identify myself with this body-mind complex, then I become a jiva and I see everything as jiva. I see everything as distinct. As I see myself, this is my hand, this is my foot, this is my hand, eye, this is my ear, etc. We see only difference everywhere. But as soon as we enter into the second state called dream, then we become identified completely with the mind, consciousness plus mind. So, there we experience everything as a matter of thought. But when we enter into the third state, we do not experience any distinction, but we know that I have no knowledge and therefore nobody has any knowledge. Even though it is indistinct, that idea is there. Many people have the understanding, in deep sleep, I am not conscious. No, in all the three states, we are 100% conscious. But in the deep sleep state, I am not conscious of anything else. I am conscious only that I am not conscious of anything else. I am conscious, I know that I do not know anything. That is the state, not that I am unconscious. Because if I am unconscious, then who experiences, who knows that I have gone through that sleep state. Now, the same thing, we can understand much better way, if we take the second model. This three body, three state model is the first model. But the five body and five sheath model, pancha-kosha model is much superior in understanding. We all know, at least we must have read it, that every jiva is nothing but pure consciousness covered with five dresses. And since we see only the outer dress, and then second dress, third dress, fourth dress, last dress, etc. So, whenever we are identified with one particular state, or kosha, we see everything else, only in the light of that kosha. For example, suppose you put on a yellow colored specs. Everything appears to be yellow. Change it to red color. Everything appears to be red. This is a crude way of illustrating. But a better way of illustrating would be, if you put on deep dark tinted glasses. And whatever you look at, that appears to be very indistinct and very black. Hardly we can distinguish anything. And then when we go to the second kosha, the darkness of my specs, your specs, is much less. Then we see things much more clearly, and much more subtly, and much more pervadingly. So on, when we go into the third kosha, and the picture is much clearer. When we go into the fourth kosha, the picture is very very clear. When we go into the fifth kosha, the picture is absolutely clear. But still there is a very slight tint is there. And we have to, first of all, we have to go from the fifth to the fourth, to the third, to the second, to the first. And then, by God's grace, go beyond even the fifth one. And then we realize, there are no five. There is only one. Now, I will slightly, very briefly illustrate this. When I am identified with this body, external gross body, and body consists of only ten things. Five sense organs, organs of knowledge, jnana indriyas, and five indriyas of action. The whole body is nothing but five organs of knowledge, and five organs of action. The five organs of knowledge are inputs, knowledge bringers. And the five karmendriyas are what to do with that knowledge, action, reaction, bringing, throwing out, etc. This is what is the gross body. When a person is completely identified with the gross body, he cannot imagine that anybody else is anything other than gross body. Now, somehow, not that we are whole life and all the time identified only with the gross body. No. What happens when we are seeing something, hearing something, tasting, and feeling, and touching, and smelling, etc., it is done through the five sense organs. Then we see what we think the external world. But sometimes when we see something and we like it, and we develop liking because of past experience. For example, when you have never seen a particular plant with a particular flower, but you have seen and you want to know, you went near the plant and somebody explains perhaps to you, this is called a rose plant, this is a rose flower, and it is a most beautiful flower, not only beautiful, very soft, and very fragrant, and very eatable. We know in sweets rose petals are put and we spray this rose fragrance on our bed, on our cloth, on our curtains, etc., to make us very happy because this smell brings a change in consciousness and drives us to more happiness, less unhappiness. So when we see something through experience and we say this is wonderful, I like it, I love it, whenever I get it, I feel very joyous and my prana, my enthusiasm, now that plant is there, that sweet is there, that person is there, and as soon as our eyes light up tremendous enthusiasm comes, strength comes. Now where are we? We are identified with the prana maya kosha. Prana as if it is perhaps we are encountering all negative experiences until that time and suddenly we have this most beautiful experiences, see something and immediately our prana comes up as it were, enthusiastically. At that time we see everything with tremendous joy, tremendous enthusiasm. Our sagging prana gets a new life as it were and that is the indication we are identified with the prana maya kosha. Then we see everything. Here is a person, but we see this person as a joyous person because joy means our tendency is that likely to see positively anybody because this happiness is a positive tinted glass, so we see everything in a positive light. Even if we are angry with somebody before that, our anger will not be so intense as it is before if we are identified with the gross physical body. Then we go inside. Suddenly some wonderful understanding dawns. For example, you are hearing this talk and previously also you have read about it, but now you are hearing in a different way and perhaps your understanding has become much deeper and you are now identified with the manomaya kosha. Beautiful. Then you see everybody, you judge everybody, you see everybody, you interact with everybody, not merely as having a body and prana, but people of understanding. Oh, poor fellow, what can he do with that kind of understanding? God has given me that understanding or if you find somebody, Oh, this person is having so much of knowledge. I could not appreciate that person previously. Now, with this renewed deeper understanding, I can appreciate that person. Actually, what am I appreciating? I am appreciating that person's deeper knowledge. This is when we identify ourselves with the manomaya kosha, mind kosha, then we definitely see, the only way we see, here is a person with deep knowledge, here is a person with shallow knowledge and there is some prana and there is the body accordingly, etc., etc. Now, when we go still deeper and say that these are beautiful ideas and I must adopt these ideas, when a person understanding a higher idea adopts that idea, he accepts that idea as an ideal, as a goal, a determination comes. That person could live with that kind of life and the other person also could excel in so many things and why can't I do that? So, a mere idea, understanding, now becomes a goal in itself. That's why it is called ideal. I deal with it. I interact with it. I become with it. Now, in which kosha I am identifying with? Vijnanamaya kosha. And that is how we see our appreciation for truly great people, an Einstein, a Kalidasa, a Bhavabhuti, a Sri Ramakrishna, a Mahatma Gandhi, anybody great in any particular way. Here we have to understand greatness of a person is greatness of an ideal which is practicalized and which is being lived 24 hours a day. Such a person alone can be great. You cannot simply add the title great from a university. One can pass many examinations and get something like a doctor, etc. But true greatness does not come until a person has higher, highest ideals personified in one's own life. So, when we ourselves become enthused and try to practice higher ideals, then only we can appreciate other people's higher ideals and then only they become objects of inspiration for us. Say, I want to be a spiritual person. Here is Sri Ramakrishna and he is the greatest spiritual person. So, he can be a guide to me. So also we appreciate Jesus, Buddha, Saint Peter, Tukaram, Mirabai, Tulasidas, Surdas, Purandardasa, Thyagaraja, everybody. And then comes the highest state. Because of certain actions I do, because of the transformation that is taking place in my life, I derive tremendous happiness. The higher the ideal, the longer I live, practically transform my life in the mould of that ideal, the result will be the quantitatively, qualitatively more of happiness and that is called Anandamaya Kosha. So, when I am identified with Anandamaya Kosha, I become a very happy person first. Second, I become a very positive person looking at everything in the most possible positive light and then I become also a spiritual person. It is easy to forgive other people when a person is in a happy state of mind. You know sometimes, when a person grievously hurt by somebody, if this person who was hurt drinks some wine or something, temporarily his consciousness will be changed, he will be on the top of the world and then he can even embrace his enemy and say, come brother, I will offer you another peg. You can also have it. It is on the house. Like that, the person will be very generous until that mood lost. So, this Anandamaya Kosha not only makes us very happy, it makes us very positive and my reactions will be very positive and that is how no person all the time remains identified with one Kosha but at different times, the person will be identified with different Koshas. So, whole day we are swinging from the lowest Kosha to the highest Kosha and let us not forget an important point, no Kosha alone remains. All the Koshas like a piece of flesh. There is no way you can cut and dry, there are no wall in between that that is that piece of flesh and this is this piece of flesh. No, they are all together. You know like a motorway, suppose there is a five lane motorway, so right side is for the fastest cars and left side for the slowest cars. Middle ones are those with varying speeds. The ground is the same, they all go together, all of them take us to the same goal but there is a qualitative difference is there. We have to understand the Pancha Kosha model in that respect. Now, I have gone into the subject because it to understand what is a vision. A vision is whenever we identify with a particular Kosha, our way of looking as if it is a five storied house and perhaps we are in the second story and so the second story window has got a thick black glass and whenever we look out, not only when we look out, even it acts as a mirror when we look at ourselves or the outside world, it appears only in that tint. That is the first point. Second is that we are all programmed to evolve. As I said many times, we are all standing on the evolutionary escalator gradually from inorganic matter becoming organic, then one cell, then multi-cell, then a small insect, a worm and then slowly birds and then plants and then animals and finally human being and finally we become saints and God. So this vision has to be developed. Now there is a natural way, there will come a time when our own conscience tells to us that we have to do something. This is called sadhana and then we will be able to manifest our potential divinity properly and that is how the whole life is programmed by God to evolve slowly but if we can get the guidance of the scriptures like the gospel of Shri Ram Krishna, we have a better way, a scientific way, a proven way of adopting certain experimental steps so that we can hasten our spiritual progress and that is why I have brought up this subject. Shri Ram Krishna was a person who transcended to the highest level and that is why he is describing all these visions. What is a vision? A truer way of perceiving what is truth. The lower the vision, the truth is perceived in a distorted, divided, unrealistic way. The higher the vision, we are nearer to the truth. The lower, the more is the multiplicity, division, difference. The higher, slowly like a pyramid, huge base but slowly as we go up, it tapers. Finally, it can end like the Himalayan Everest peak. It ends. So, all these visions are absolutely true. If anybody foolishly, after reading a few modern books, especially scientific books, go on criticizing, condemning, these are the ravings of madcaps, these are the hallucinations of deluded people, then we have to say that person is deluded. Of course, there are delusions but what is a delusion? A distorted way of perceiving the truth or reality. What is real darshana? Real darshana is to see the truth as it is. That is why in the Bhagavad Gita, the vision of the highest evolved spiritual person is graphically described in the 5th chapter, 18th shloka. विद्याविनेसं पन्ने ब्राम्हने गवी हस्तिनि शुणिचैव श्वपाकेच पंडिताः समधर्शिनाः There is a Brahmana. He is leading a most holy life as Brahmins are supposed to do. Not only that, he is most learned Brahmana. Not only that, the more learning comes, true learning comes, true knowledge seeps in, the more humble a person becomes. Like a person climbs a small hill thinking this is the highest peaked hill. But when the same person climbs to the top of the hill, he finds behind there are so many mountains which are far higher. Until he climbs to the small first hillock, he will not be able to see what is behind it. If a person truly has acquired some learning, then his vision opens. And then he says, Oh my God! I thought I have become a learned person. But what I see, in comparison what I see from here, my learning is not even one drop in a ocean. That is why Vidya Dadhati Vinayam. True knowledge always must bring about humility. Humility naturally comes. And if we don't see that humility, it is not real learning. It is an information. Many professors are there like that. But it is information. Now the distinction between knowledge and information, many times I have pointed out, but in case we have forgotten, information doesn't bring any change in our minds. It remains a dry piece of knowledge. But knowledge is that which instantaneously, automatically brings about a reaction either for good or bad. That is called knowledge. So our purpose is to acquire the true knowledge. What is the knowledge? All knowledge, every type of knowledge, ends only in one thing, must end only in one thing. What is it? It must tell me who I am really. At the beginning, all the sciences tell that you are the body only. But when they advance a little bit, they tell us you are nothing but prana. When we advance a little bit, they say you are mind, you are ideas. Modern science stopped here. Now modern science also is confirming this. But a truly learned brahmana and humble with the eyes of divine knowledge, what does he see? When a person, when a sage, when a realized soul sees this kind of brahmana, then he sees a cow passing in the street. Then he sees an elephant grazing in the forest. Then he sees a dog running away with a piece of bone. Then he sees a fellow going behind that dog and he wants to catch that dog and eat that dog. He is called a dog-eater. He is called a swapach. Swavidya panditaha sunichayo swapakecha. Swapaka. Paka means to cook. Swa means a dog. He who eats dogs. Do you think people are not there who eat dogs? Now most of you must be knowing more than me. In China, there are many, many big dog farms like cow farms, cattle farms, chicken farms, bird farms, rabbit farms, etc. Human being is growing every possible animal whether it is for its pelt or skin or fur or for its flesh or for its blood or for something special like sheep is grown both for not only food but also making blankets out of the hair, etc., etc., etc. So, there are huge dog farms are there and it is such a pitiful thing. These dogs are grown scientifically and fed scientifically and exercised scientifically all for the sake of a little bit of the titillation of the tongue and that is why all these diseases, as it were, all the animals are rebelling against us and then tell, we will also inflict this upon you. So, this is how the karma phala is going to come back to us. So, do not wonder that why I am innocent and why this dire disease is spreading here. So, the recent COVID is just one smallest phenomenon of nature. Why is it coming? Not randomly, not accidentally but it is the will of God that we have to wake up and learn our lesson because we cannot learn our lesson while sleeping. Only when we wake up, why am I suffering? Am I doing something wrong? Are we doing something wrong? To some extent, to a small extent, we are all growing up and say we are producing so much of CO2, carbon dioxide and that is why so many disasters are taking place but we are completely blind to how much torture, how much pain we are inflicting upon these innocent animals. Anyway, I don't want to go on ranting about that but when a man of true vision looks at any of these phenomena, what does he see? Such a person whose vision is exalted vision, he is called Pandita. Panda means Atma Jnana. He who has got Atma Jnana is called a Pandita, true Pandita. What does he become? Samadarshina. They become equal sighted. What does it mean? It means they see nothing but pure Brahman, pure consciousness. Sri Ramakrishna says in one place, I happen to see a small worm and it is wriggling and I see this wriggling worm. It is nothing but Brahman. It is wriggling through the limitation of this small worm's body and mind. Now, modern science has already proved that the whole universe is nothing but a transformation of one thing. Usually, we use the word matter but usually scientists mean energy. Energy cannot be created. Energy cannot be destroyed. Energy can be transformed and the modern science is as it is improving its knowledge, it is also discovering not one type of energy, dark energy, white energy, red energy. God knows how many types of five types of energies they have already discovered and how many more remain to be truly discovered and it goes on and on but one thing they have not been able to discover now. This energy is devoid of consciousness but then now I wonder and every thinking person must wonder now it is this how can an inorganic matter which is also made out of the same energy, transformation of the energy have suddenly evolved into prana. Prana means life. Life means consciousness. Please keep this point in view. Consciousness and prana, they always go together. There is no consciousness without prana and there is no prana without consciousness. Even when a person is sleeping, consciousness is not sleeping but certain instruments are sleeping. That's all. So they have not discovered yet. They have not even admitted but slowly some people are studying. More and more interest is coming with consciousness. What is it? But they are not talking about consciousness now. First step is prana. That means inorganic matter also contains prana. So every inorganic thing is a potential prana and then slowly once that step is overcome, the next step will be what is this prana? Prana means activity. Activity means intelligent activity. Intelligent activity means, intelligence means pure consciousness and I am sure that scientists will progress. They are not progressing because they are blind people that science is only this much and nothing else. They don't understand science is the quest for truth from the outside. Spirituality is the quest for truth from inside, from within. So this is what happens. So every time we also are having only darshan. That is the point of all this half an hour or 40 minutes talk of mine. Today's class that we are all having vision and we are not all having same vision all the time. As a baby, we have baby vision. As a child, childish vision. As an adult, adult vision. As a middle aged person, middle aged vision. As an old person, old age vision. And if we are having some health issues, then that kind of vision will be there. This is one way of looking. But the other way of looking, as I outlined the five kosha model, that alternatively, sequentially, sometimes we are identified with the prana, we become very excited, very energetic we become. Then we transcend to the ideational level. Then we transcend to the ideal level. And then we transcend to the happiness, blissful level. Anandamaya kosha. And a time will come in everybody's life, may not be in one lifetime, when we discover the whole universe consisting of these pancha koshas are nothing but the play of these five Brahman, pure consciousness playing, manifesting in the form of these five koshas, in the form of the pancha bhutas, etc. Now, how to equate these pancha koshas with the pancha bhutas? That is a beautiful subject. When time comes, we will analyse it. Now, I want to read from the Gospel of Shri Ramakrishna. So, a master's visions. Master, I want to know how you meditate? And then he is telling, when I meditated under the bell tree, I used to see various visions clearly. One day, I saw in front of me, money, a shawl, a tray of sandesh and two women. I asked, what are all these things? A shawl, a tray of sandesh and two women. What is it? Pure vision from the annamaya kosha point of view. Whenever we are identified with our annamaya kosha, a baby sees God, or chocolates as God, or dolls as God. A grown up young man and young woman, they see a beautiful young man and a rich, heroic young man and a most delicate and beautiful young woman who is so frail that unless he rescues, unless he protects her, she is likely to break like a delicate piece of glass. These are all puerile, stupid ideas we have, but that is what mahamaya is. So, Shri Ramakrishna is telling, I asked my mind, do you want any of these? I saw this sandesh to be mere filth. Interesting, but I am here to comment and you are here to put up with me. So, what does you eat sandesh? How much do you digest? Part of it. What happens to the undigested part? That is what we call filth. Filth is not filth. Filth is unsuitable matter for us, but the same filth, you put it in the field, some animals also, for example, beetles, dungs, etc., they thrive on it. So, for them it is not filth and what is filth in some animals is greatly cherished food for human beings. For example, what is honey? Honey is something which has been eaten and then spat out or vomited or coming out from the other side, I don't know. It is from the honey bees and there is a peculiar kind of, type of South American coffee or Brazilian coffee which is some animals eat the coffee seeds and throw it out as filth and that is the most aromatic. That aroma is most liked by some people and it is the costliest coffee in this world, Rama Rama. What is filth? That which is not suitable, that is filth and that which, let me put it, you will have to excuse me, the filth that we cherish and we are happy at is first class food, fit to be offered to God and that filth which is not suitable for us, that is called what we call filth. The whole world is nothing but a recycling plant. What others give up, we eat, we subsist on and what we give up, others subsist on whether it is carbon dioxide we give, whether the oxygen which other plants give etc. It is only a recycling movement. So, from the lowest state of mind, that is complete identification with the body, Sri Ramakrishna is stating, Mind, do you want any of these? I saw this sandesh to be mere filth. One of the women had a big ring in her nose. I could see both, the inside and outside, entrails, filth, bone, flesh and blood. Okay. Can we see like that? A little bit of it, definitely we can see. Where? You look at your, take a photograph, x-ray photograph of yourself and put it there in front of the, or by the side of the mirror. Look at it. Oh mind, am I this, so what I think, a beautiful body reflected in the mirror or am I these bones that is there, the skull that is grinning at us and if it can be electronically made to wriggle and then to dance and do and leering at us, then we understand that this is me, this is everybody, there is absolutely no difference between an ant, a goat, a cow and an elephant and a learned Brahmana and myself. This is the lowest visions. But vision means way of perceiving the truth. I could see both there, inside and outside. Supposing God grants anyone of us that insight, you see at the other person. Here is a young man and he looks at a young woman and says this is the most beautiful dream girl and then suddenly God gives him Divyam Dada Mitey Chakshu Pashyamayi Ohm Aishwaram and he looks at her and she also looks at him. Do you think they will be retaining their so-called filthy love? Love will be retained. Don't have any mistake. But that love will be from a higher angle, higher point of view, not from the lower point of view. The mind did not want any of these, money, shawl, sweets or woman. This is what Shri Ramakrishna has condensed, summarized Kamini and Kanchana. It remained fixed at the lotus feet of God. I had all the experiences that one should have according to the scriptures. It is from the scriptures that what is the scripture? The life experiences of his sincere spiritual aspirant and while practicing, they have different visions and when they had reached the goal, identified themselves with the Sathyam or reality and they have another type of vision and that highest vision will never change but barring that, all the other visions will be as you go on turning the knob of a dimmer switch, more and more and more light will come. But when the dimmer switch reaches its maximum, then that is the maximum brightness that we get. That is how a realized soul's vision never again varies. So, I saw the visions described in the scriptures one after the other. So, direct perception. I behaved. So, Shri Ramakrishna is telling how does this man behave? From his point of view, he knows who he is. From our point of view, his behavior is classified. That is what Shri Ramakrishna is describing and it is described in Vivekachudamani. I behaved like a child, like a madman, like a ghoul and like an inert thing. Vivekachudamani also says that when this great realized soul happens to be in the company of great scholars debating, he will be the greatest scholar. This happened in the life of Shri Ramakrishna after Totapuri Maharaj had trained him in the Advaita vision and he had the vision within 3 days and after that, after nearly 11 months of stay, Totapuri Maharaj himself completed. He had all-round vision of Brahman and he left. Shri Ramakrishna remained like an inert thing in Nirvikalpa Samadhi for 6 months. From some unknown place, an unknown monk came and he understood the condition of Shri Ramakrishna. He understood that the Divine Mother had kept his body for the good of the world and he used to take a little bit of soft wood in his hands and a small stick and then strike Shri Ramakrishna's body gently or hard as necessary. When he found signs of outer consciousness returning back, he used to thrust a little bit of food into the mouth of Shri Ramakrishna and slowly some little bit of food slowly went inside and that was enough to sustain like a bear hibernating and it has its own fat inside and a little bit of that fat is enough for the few activities that are going on to keep the prana in that hibernated state. Like this, Nirvikalpa Samadhi requires very little maintenance of the body because practically even the beating of the body, heart, the flow of the blood, everything becomes completely slowed down. So, he survived. This sadhu served Shri Ramakrishna for 6 months and then we know there is a big story by the commandment of the Divine Mother, Shri Ramakrishna had come down, his mind has come down and then he was in his room and then Swami Shardanandji recollects to us that as soon as Shri Ramakrishna completed a particular type of spiritual practice, practitioners, sadhakas who are struggling to advance in that particular sadhana, they will come, hundreds of them, unbeknown, why they are coming to Dakshineswar, they do not know but it is the law where when the field is ready, the seed also is ready. So, these people's heart is ready and they used to be attracted like small pieces of iron being attracted to the powerful magnet. They used to come to Dakshineswar, sit in the presence of Shri Ramakrishna, take the advantage of all his experiences and he used to point out this is the defect you have, you have to rectify it and this is the dangerous curve, you be careful while taking steps, you go around it. So, showing the shortcuts like a guide, mountaineering guide and they used to get all the help and then be glad, progress in their life, bless him, pray for him and depart. After this Nirvikalpa Samadhi, hundreds of Paramahamsa, Sanyasins used to flock and then Shri Ramakrishna was telling because my mind had to come down and the disease of Jagadambadashi, the wife of Madhur Babu had become transformed, transferred into my body and then continuous, what is called diarrhea like, dysentery like, not dysentery, diarrhea like motions. Shri Ramakrishna became so weak, so fragile that they arranged a big pot so that Shri Ramakrishna could sit on that and then pass. He was completely naked. The Paramahamsas never minded, somehow they recognized, intuitively they recognized here is a person who can help us and day and night talks were going on Asti, Bhati, Priya equivalent to Sat, Chit and Ananda and then they used to debate about some naughty term which they could not understand and Shri Ramakrishna said mother through this instrument used to clarify their doubts. This is how a Jeevan Mukta in the company of Pandits, he will behave like a Mahapandita. So that is what we see but Shri Ramakrishna did not say this one and then in one of the scriptures I do not remember where I read supposing there is a meeting of Maharajas and this Jeevan Mukta happens to enter into their presence and he will be the greatest king. All the kings automatically they bend their heads down because from inside they recognize here is the greatest uncrowned king of all. That means he can be anything not only that if we study the life history of Shri Ramakrishna and mind you when even earlier also he used to be bereft of body consciousness but later on after realization completely a different character emerged. Shri Ramakrishna used to say that when I am with children I become like a child. When I am with women I used to be like a woman and then what better statement we can understand. At some point of his sadhana life Shri Ramakrishna was kept in the house of Rani Rashmani. Mother Babu was a married person. He had daughters. Those daughters were married and those after the marriage these daughters used to be conducted to their husband's rooms for their first samagama and then Shri Ramakrishna was telling that I used to teach I used to catch hold of the hands of these girls who were just married and I used to teach them ways how to please their husband. By that what he meant God alone knows what I understand is how this kamakala that is erotically I am sorry to use those words erotically how to please the other man all these things how did Shri Ramakrishna know? Because he is Sarvagna. He knows everything and then he used to conduct them like any other woman and then he was telling that they never felt bashfulness that I am a man. They used to think an elderly woman is conducting me to my husband's house. When we study we are stunned how Shri Ramakrishna could become a woman among women a girl among girls and then the girls also never felt this is another man and I am a grown up girl and shyness comes automatically within each one of us but no this is another well-wisher of my aunt or my mother or something like that so like that they used to confide all the womanly secrets womanly problems to Shri Ramakrishna and he used also to console them and to give them guidance how to behave properly etc. This is the astonishing thing. So I behaved like a child like a madman like a ghoul and like an inert thing. I saw the visions described in many scriptures. Sometimes I saw the universe filled with sparks of fire. Sometimes I saw all the quarters glittering with light as if the world were a lake of mercury. Sometimes I saw the world as if made of liquid silver. Sometimes again I saw all the quarters illumined as if with the light of Roman candles. So you see my experiences tally with those described in the scriptures. It was revealed to me further that God himself has become the universe and all the living beings and the 24 cosmic principles. It is like the process of evolution and involution. Oh! What a state of state God kept me in at that time. One experience would hardly be over before another overcame me. It was like the movement of the husking machine. No sonar is one end down, then the other goes up. I would see God in meditation in the state of Samadhi and I would see the same God when my mind came back to the outer world. When looking at this side of the mirror, I would see him alone and when looking on the reverse side, I saw the same God. The devotees listened to these words and got attention. In today's talk, I will just pass a few comments on the first section of this paragraph. Sri Ramakrishna was telling that I would see God in meditation and meditation very soon merges in Samadhi, in the state of Samadhi and I would see the same God when my mind came back to the outer world. Look at this weird statement. When looking at this side of the mirror, I would see him alone and when looking on the reverse side, I saw the same God. Outside the mirror, same God. A reflection of the mirror, same God. On the back side of the mirror, same God. Where is not God? As Mundaka Upanishad as well on all the Upanishads describe where is Brahman? The question is where is not Brahman? Prahlada's father asks where is your Narayana? Prahlada challenges where is not my Narayana? Show me a place. Hiranyakashyapa says I don't see Narayana in this pillar. He says Narayana is inside the pillar. Narayana is outside the pillar. Narayana is the pillar. Only you don't have that eyes. If you have the eyes, then you will see it. What did he break? That pillar is nothing but what we call eye. Outside eye, it is God. Inside eye, it is God. Within the eye, the eye itself is nothing but God. That's why have you noticed when a Christian passes in front of a church, he takes his right hand and then he puts it one vertical line and then horizontally he crosses it symbolizing cross. What is a cross? Not me, not eye but Thou, O Divine Lord. When this eye disappears, what remains is nothing but God. When the snake seizes to be a snake in the when light is brought, it remains the absolute truth. This is what Ramakrishna's vision means. Why is it important? Because if anybody says my meditation is deep. I am not talking about Samadhi. In meditation, I could think of God deeply and I am not aware of anything else. If the same person becomes the same old person, sad, egotistic, selfish and completely behaves erratically, angrily, hatefully, we have to say there is something seriously wrong with that type of meditation. Once a person sees God, he cannot see anything else. What is the reason? Because there is nothing but God. These are beautiful topics which we will discuss in our next gospel class. That would be I think 29th of this month. It is February, so probably 1st of March. Om Jananim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagat Gurum Pada Padme Tayo Shritva Pranamami Muhur Moho May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Namah Shivaya.