Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 093 on 15-August-2023

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

Sunday, April 9, 1882, Sri Ramakrishna was seated with his devotees in the drawing room of Pranakrishna Mukherjee's house in Calcutta. It was between one and two o'clock in the afternoon. Since Colonel Vishwanath lived in the neighborhood, the Master intends to visit him before going to see Keshav at the Lele Cottage. A number of neighbors and other friends of Pranakrishna had been invited to meet Sri Ramakrishna. They were all eager to hear his words. This is a very beautiful scenario and it is also a good guideline, hint for us. Whenever you gather together, invite somebody who could speak something nice, which is really helpful in our day-to-day life. Even Sadhus have their own duties in life. Brahmachari's duty is Adhyayana Swadhyaya. Adhyayana means study of the Vedas. Brahmachari's life, student's life. Rarely people are taught now. The only goal of modern education seems to be how to equip a person to spend his time only in earning money and if time is available, to enjoy through that earning. This is one of the most negative types of education. It is not really an education. An education should be that would be fulfilling, that would make our life. We must feel that we are successful in life. Not successful in possessing, but successful in being. I am happy, not that I have possessions. I discussed about this having more and being more elaborately in the past. Nowadays, especially, people are not seeming to either discuss or to acquire how to live a life. Of course, they say we want to live happily, but they don't know what is called happiness. That certificate, I am a happy person, not because I have something, because I am happy under every circumstance. That is a true education and that used to be taught in the Gurukulas. How are they teaching? It is not more of the education that the students are receiving, but it is the way the Rishis used to live. Very simple life, very contented life and what we call simple living and high living. That is the type of life exemplified by Sri Ramakrishna. Even if people do not understand what is avatara, what is dharma sthapana, but this is what the meaning of dharma sthapana, how can I be myself? That is called my dharma. My nature is my dharma and my nature is to be healthy, to be happy, to be wise. That is my dharma, sat, chit, ananda. Very few people teach, but Sri Ramakrishna was so great during these talks on the gospel. I will be referring to so many incidents, but very briefly I am referring. Sri Ramakrishna's father was a fairly rich person, but because a wicked person, but wicked but powerful person seems to be insisting that Kshudiram should tell a lie in order to cheat somebody else's of that property and Kshudiram flat out refused and as a result he lost immense property from quite comfortable property ownership to practically nothing, na kinchana and he came in that condition to Kamarpakur. God through his friend arranged a small piece of land and this is important for us. Whatever he was getting out of that one small bheega, one eighth of an acre was more than sufficient. Kshudiram, Chandramani and their children, they never complained that we don't have thing. They were highly satisfied and here is what Sri Ramakrishna's biographer, Swami Shardhanji Maharaj says, Neighbors, whenever they could, they will rush to the hut of Kshudiram. What are they expecting? Treat, good sweets, good food, sufficient food? No. If they had, they would have got, but there used to be tremendous peace of mind and he was a shantivan, not dhanavan, not sampadavan, but shantivan, trishtivan and that is what people wanted. There were other people who were very rich in many respects or much well to do, much better to do than Kshudiram's family, but they used to come running. Why? That is what. And in our life also, just look back. We are attracted to somebody. We want to rush whenever we have an opportunity. Why? Because there we get more happiness than what we get when we are left alone. This is the attraction. We are not attracted to outside things, though we mistake it so, but we are attracted to, I want to be happy and I don't want that happiness to depart. Wherever Swami Vivekananda used to come, people used to gather around him. Like Sri Ramakrishna said, when bees see honey, they are attracted. The honey doesn't send a message, a whatsapp message, SMS. I am honey, come to me. The bees know. As soon as the lotus blooms, they know there is honey, they come running. And wherever Swamiji went, people used to be attracted. What was that attraction? It is peace. I would not even say, categorize, label it as happiness. But it is a state of mind which is completely satisfied, whatever be the circumstances. Because we see, Swamiji led a very hard life. And others knew that there was nothing much he could give in the form of material help. But why were they coming? Why were they attracted? Because there used to be a tremendous power of pull, magnetism. What is that magnetism? Don't go on misunderstanding. There is a black magic, there is a power which attracts. If you are attracted to black magic, do you know what happens? You will be attracted, but you will not be happy. You will be troubled in mind, you will be frightened of a person. But if you are attracted, joyfully you go to a person, that means you are getting joy. And that joy you don't have, but you are getting by going to that person. And that is the attraction of God. And that is what makes everything worthwhile in life. So whenever we have the opportunity, this is what creation of Satsanga will do for us, for other people also. And that is how we are supposed to live. This is what we are supposed to learn from the lives of the Guru in the Brahmacharya Ashrama, Guru Kula. Second, become householders. There are rules, regulations. Life is a game. It has to be played. Every play, every game has rules and regulations. Those don'ts and do not cross borderline, we have to learn about it and we have to practice. Then some result will come, no doubt about it. The purpose of all this is to make us realize that we cannot get what we are seeking in this world. So, Avrutta Chakshubhu Amrutatvam Icchan. So the person seeks now elsewhere. All this time, Janma Janmantara, the person sought outside in the external world. That means external objects. But through birth, tragedy, separation and indescribable agony, just imagine, just only I am giving hints which we should do. Perk up and take notice. What is happening in Ukraine now? How many people are suffering? We have no idea at all. We are only hearing Russia is discharging and so many buildings are burning, pictures we see. How many people are frightened, worried, terrified to death and dying? Soldiers, not only Ukrainian soldiers but even Russian soldiers. There is no such thing called one party winning only all the time. Sometimes yes, most of the time no. So how much suffering is there? Turkey, more than 70,000 people, that is official estimate. In what circumstances being buried, the whole building had fallen. And at that time, who do you think they will remember? We used to have ice cream party and such colorful, tasteful, fruitful ice creams were. We were enjoying, cutting capers, singing songs. Who is going to remember? So that is the lessons we have to learn and we will not get permanent solution. Even sometime lasting solutions also we don't get. Very temporary solution in a very small measure. Then ultimately we come to realize the only way out is God and that is what the scripture is telling. The point I wanted to emphasize, Shri Ramakrishna was a Rishi even if people do not accept him as an Avatar Purusha. That is only for intimate disciples. But many, many people recognize him. His teachings are simplify your life, lead a satisfying life, and you be content with whatever you have and never do anything evil. And that is the first level, lowest level of teaching. Because he has to teach for many people. And whatever he taught seems to be very rational actually. Very highly rational. He is not talking anything exotic that is unknown to any one of us. He is merely pointing out what we are experiencing every day. That is the beauty of every saint really speaking. Every saint is none other than God. And the words of every saint is God only speaking to us, to his children. Lovingly God speaking to each one of us like a mother speaking to her children. We should always remember. Among saints there is no discrimination. Small saint, big saint, etc. They are all men of God. That is all. So Shri Ramakrishna had gone to the house of one of his devotees. We do not hear his name very frequently. He is called Pranakrishna. He was a Brahmana. But great good fortune he could come across, he could love Shri Ramakrishna. But even more good fortune, Shri Ramakrishna used to love him. And one thing we notice in the gospel, Shri Ramakrishna never talks about anything excepting God. Whatever the topic, he will centre it as God only. That is what we are going to teach. God and his glories and dangers of worldly life. Master. God and his glory. This universe is his glory. People see his glory and forget everything. They do not seek God whose glory is this world. What a beautiful sentence. Every word that stemmed out of Shri Ramakrishna's mouth is nothing but Veda. Veda Vani. Why should we say? Every Upanishad is proclaiming. And we have seen in Prashna Upanishad, in Shweta Shvatara Upanishad. And we are looking at it in the Aitareya Upanishad. That the whole universe was created by God. And what was before the creation? Only God was there. There was nothing that was other than God. And then he became the material cause. He became the intelligent cause. He became the instrumental cause. Like a potter, potter making a pot. That is a beautiful example. Empty number of times the example is given. Potter is the intelligent cause. Potter's wheel is the instrumental cause. And clay is the material cause. In this world, every object must have these three causes. So we see here that the potter cannot create without the wheel, without the clay. Clay cannot become pot without these two. And potter's wheel is completely useless without the potter and also the clay. This is what we see in this world. Father and mother. And they come together. Their coming together is called the instrument. And we are the outcomes. We are the effects. So what is the intelligent cause? The intelligent father and mother. And what is that intelligence? That we want to be happy. That is why it is said we are born from Ananda. We are living in Ananda. And we go back to Ananda. Anandadheva kalvimani bhutani jayante Anandena jatani jivanti Anandam pravishanti Tad vijignasasva Tad brahmeti Taittiriya Upanishad is crystal clearly telling us this great truth. So God and His glory. What is the point? What are we discussing? Sri Ramakrishna is illustrating this fact. That God alone is the intelligent cause. God alone is the material cause. So if God is the material cause. The whole universe is the material. A pot is nothing but clay. May be the potter helped the shape of the clay. The wheel also helped. But the most important point is the material cause. The clay. Similarly father might have helped the mother. But it is the mother who is the material cause of all of us. We are nothing but mother's body and mother's prana and mother's consciousness. Everything is extended from mother to us. So that is why in the Vishnu Sahasranama the very first thing is He is called Vishwam. Because first we see the Vishwam. And then we say where I see this world. Where from it has come? Because everything is created in this world. Everything that we experience in this world is an effect. And everything that is an effect must have a cause. And then when we enquire it is Vishnu. It is the Divine Lord. Vishnu means He who is all pervading. That is why He is called Vishnu. So this is what Sri Ramakrishna is telling. So this universe is His glory. That means this universe is Himself. That is the meaning. People see His glory. What happens? We go to see a magic show. We forget the magician. We become absorbed in the magic. But when we went before the magic began there was the magician. When the magic began we forget that the magician alone was there. Because everything was only magic. That means it did not really exist. Who existed? Only the magician. And then in the end the magic disappears. Show is over. And only the magician bows down to us. And we clap him. So magician alone is real. The magic is not real. This world is His glory. No doubt about it. Without Him nothing can be really there. God's existence called Sat is the root substrate of every object. A tree is. A fruit is. A man is. A woman is. A bird is. An aeroplane is. That isness and everything that exists has its knowledge. That is called Chit. Knowledge of the tree. Knowledge of the man. Knowledge of the fruit. Knowledge of the bird etc. And everything that we experience has some effect upon us. That is called Ananda. So the whole world is His glory. Glory is like the magic. Magic will disappear. The universe will disappear. Everything is in fact disappearing. Every millisecond. That is why a great Greek philosopher has said that no man steps into the same river second time. Because the water has changed. Everything has changed. What about the banks? Do they remain? Foolish people think they are permanent. No. The banks are also changing. The rivers are also changing. The river was not there. Then it will be there. And it will continue for some time. And it will disappear for some time. Cities become deserts. Deserts become cities. A baby born becomes old. Old man dies. This we know. But the same person who lost the body will be provided with another body for his further evolution. That we do not see. So we come from the unmanifest. We remain in the manifest. And we again go back into the unmanifest. And when we understand the very root from where we came is God. Then there would be no more birth. And therefore no more death, etc. This is what Shri Ramakrishna wants to say. People see His glory and forget everything. They do not seek God whose glory is this world. And Shri Ramakrishna is telling, If really we see this world as glory of God, we will be only thinking. Like you know, you see a beautiful painting. Oh, what a great painter. You hear marvelous music. Oh, what a marvelous singer or player. He has made us very happy. But when we look at this world, rarely people say, If this world is so great, how great must be the person, the being who has created this world. I will narrate a beautiful incident. Swami Vivekananda, along with some of his disciples, was coming back to India. He had to cross the Atlantic Ocean. And there was a night when the whole sea was like molten silver. Absolutely there were no ripples. It was a rare moment, but sometimes it happens. It was night, cloudless sky, brilliant moon. And the brilliance of the moon increases because there is absolutely no pollution at all. If anybody had seen full moon in the villages before electricity came, only they know what I am talking about. I was born in a village and we used to sleep, especially during the summer season, etc., outside. Then we used to see the open sky. And the moon will be just like a thousand watt bulb, not like this dim light we get in cities. Rarely we get, because of pollution, dust pollution, and light pollution, sound pollution, food pollution, environmental pollution. How many pollutions? And the worst poisonous pollution is the mental pollution. We are all going through. How much hard it is for us to do sadhana. So what was happening? Swamiji used to sleep very little. And his disciples used to be enthralled by his talks. Whatever Swamiji talks, it gives a new perspective for every subject. Even if he talks on the same subject a hundred times, every time it is understood in a new perspective, like a kaleidoscope. So Swamiji was walking up and down along with the disciples and then it was practically midnight. The whole sea was getting reflection of the moon in a billion billion ways. And that particular night, that scene was indescribable. So beautiful. And everybody fell silent in the majesty of that beauty. And a long time passed. Then Swamiji slowly came back to his normal senses and then he made a remark, if this Maya, the glory of God is so beautiful, how much more beautiful would be he who could create or who could only reflect perhaps a billionth billionth billionth part of his glory which is so enthralling all of us. And this world should give us the glory. Look at Einstein, look at Kalidasa, look at Beethoven, look at Shakespeare, look at all the great Rishis and other people, great people. What marvellous Chaitanya, intelligence, which is but a vibhuti of an infinite small part. That is why in the Sahasra, what is called Narayana Suktam as well as Purusha Suktam, Sahasra Sirsha Purushaha, Sahasra Akshaha, Sahasra Path Sabhumim Vishvato Vritva, Atyatishtati Dasangulam God is far superior. And this world is an infinitesimal part of His glory. And if this world, majestic mountains, vast oceans, take anything, even study a leaf, a blossom, if we have the power of imagination, we will see no two leaves are alike, no two flowers are alike. If this is the glory of this what is called ephemeral world, how much more be that infinite divine Lords. That is why one of the hymns on Shiva is called Shiva Mahimna Stotra, a hymn on the glory of Lord Shiva. And one day Ramakrishna was chanting this verse, Asita Giri Samamsayat Kajjalam Sindhu Patre Surat Aruvara Shakha Lekhani Patramurvi Likhati Yadi Grihitva Sarada Sarvakalam Tadapina Tava Gunanamesha Param Nayati O Lord, if the earth be the paper, the ocean, water of the ocean be the ink, and the best branch of the Indraloka tree, Parijata, is the pen, and there is a mountain heap of ink. And Saraswati herself starts writing the glories of Lord Shiva. Tava Gunanam Esha How long? Sarvada. That is for eternity. Tava Gunanam Esha Param That is, she will never be able to come to the end of your glories. That is what Sri Ramakrishna is telling. Why is he telling? Because there are two ways of looking at the world. Look at a baby. Even today, even the biggest brains cannot even imagine how to create a baby like that. But it is going on. Even a mosquito baby, even an insect's baby, a baby of a bird, it is a marvel, not to speak of human baby. And this itself requires so much of intelligence and poetry and painting. What to speak of? Bhagavan Himself. That is why, if we can look at it, and there were some poets, they were called nature poets, and there were like Shelley, Keats, Longfellow, Wordsworth, in foreign countries, but in India, Banabatta, etc., Kalidasa, etc., and in our modern times, we have Rabindranath Tagore, and so many other, in every language, poets are there. They only but glimpse an infinitesimal part of the glory. That is why the whole chapter is devoted in the Bhagavad Gita, the 10th chapter. It is aptly called Bhagavat Vibhoti Yogonama Dasamo Adhyayaha. Then He says, Whatever greatest glory, the most majestic Mount Everest, it is nothing but, not even one infinitesimal part of My glory. It is but, this whole unimaginable cosmos. We are not talking about puny planet Earth. Astronomers, they are astonished. It is impossible. One day, if you get time, you just peek. There are beautiful documentaries on YouTube. And our heads will start reeling. What am I talking about? There is this one way of looking at it, remembering the author of this universe, and that helps us. But there is another way. And that is what Sri Ramakrishna is trying to tell us. All seek to enjoy women and gold. Sri Ramakrishna's words are very precious words. He doesn't mince words. He uses Kama and Kanchana. Sometimes translated as women and gold. But sex and money. Money and sex. That is very practical. Two words are there. Now you look at any country, at any political leader, at any person, you will see only they are all bond slaves to money and sex. That is it. Nothing else. And for the sake of fulfilment of this, which will be destructive, people are killing each other for a piece of land, for a piece of some property, or for the sake of what we call Kshanika Bhangura, Kshana Bhangura. That is just like a small bubble which doesn't last even for a few milliseconds. People are killing, hating, fighting, spending their whole life, even if they don't fight, which is only for a short time. But their planning, their thinking, their whole mind is contaminated. That's what Sri Ramakrishna is telling. But there is too much misery and worry in that. This world is like the Viral Pool of Ishalakshi. There is a Viral Pool. There is a small river there. And sometimes it forms Viral Pools. Water goes round and round and round. And even sometimes, small boats, when they get in, they go on round and round and round. Finally, they sink into that. But even in the oceans, they say there is a Bermuda Triangle. And any ship that has entered into it, it has never come back. So there is some sucking power there. That is what Sri Ramakrishna is saying. This whole universe is nothing but the Viral Pool of Ishalakshi. But more popularly, what it means is, on the way from Kamarpakur, there is a cart road there. And there are some places on the road, where the wheels of the oxen cart will be caught. And unless some 5-6 people come and lift up that, nobody will be able to proceed forward. That is what Sri Ramakrishna is referring. But he is referring to the Viral Pool here. Once a boat gets into it, there is no hope of its rescue. That means it will be destroyed. That means those who are caught in money and sex, they will be destroyed. But this is not a message of doom. Vedanta is a message of hope. Even if a person, for whatever reason, sinks into this Viral Pool of Ishalakshi for a billion times, but Swami Vivekananda had proclaimed, each soul is potentially divine. We are coming from God. It is God only who is caught by God. Mahamaya is nothing but the glory of God. So nobody can go down. Everything in this world is a great lesson. That is why Hinduism divided life into four progressive stages of consciousness. Learning stage, Experimenting and Experiencing stage, Withdrawal and Focusing stage, and finally Complete Self-Surrendering stage called Sanyasa Ashrama. Brahmacharya, Garhastya, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa Ashrama. Sri Ramakrishna is giving beautiful village examples. Again the world is like a thorny bush. You have hardly freed yourself from one set of thorns before you find yourself entangled in another. I have seen this. In UK, there are certain small bushes are there full of thorny, like sticky. Once your chadar, your cloth is caught in it, so by that time you freed one set of small thorns and another set of thorns has already caught hold of you. Since I experienced it personally not once but quite a number of times. And you may ask, why did you enter into that quite a number of times? Because there is a particular type of berry. It is called blackberry. It is the size of a small gooseberry and it is very tasty, full of juice. When it is ripe, we can see bunches of those small berries, the whole bush. But this bush is like that. So you just go inside and then you think you are very clever. Sometimes, of course, without catching you can do that pluck and you have to be adroit in it because there are some not so ripe. They will not be so tasty. But those which are there and it is a pleasure for us because that child remains even after growing up. I want to pick up directly from the bush and it is a challenge for me and I want. If somebody picks up and brings, it doesn't give that much joy. If we ourselves go and pick up, it gives tremendous joy. And our own garden grown blackberries, very tasty. Sometimes our devotees go there, lady devotees in small baskets and after one or two hours pick up quite a good quantity of them and they are used in beautiful cakes also. But the point is that there are some bushes like that. So that is what Sri Ramakrishna is telling. If hardly you have freed yourself from one set of thorns before you find yourself entangled in another. What is the analogy for? Hardly you have solved some problems of life before you are caught by another set of problems. Is there any end? Are there only three or four problems? Problems create problems and there is no end for it and until we get out of that samsara, there is no way out. That is what Sri Ramakrishna wants to tell. If anybody is mistaking that there are only a few problems and I will solve the problems and then forever I will be happy, that's never going to happen. Once you enter a labyrinth, you find it very difficult to get out. Living in the world, man becomes seared as it were. After hearing these words, a devotee is asking, Sir, what is the way? Then Sri Ramakrishna says, Prayer and holy company and earnest longing. So prayer, holy company and earnest longing and prayer to the Divine Lord. O Lord, I have had enough. You have shown me both sides of the coin. I know what both sides contain. Now I want only You, nothing else. Sri Ramakrishna used to illustrate this. A child is completely mesmerized by the play and mother is calling, but he will not come. But after some time he gets hungry and voluntarily he throws the whole, everything smashes and then rushes. Ma, I am very hungry. Please feed me. And a time will come, we also become tired of this world and we will go back. Now, it is a beautiful topic. First of all, I want to tell you what is the difference between prayer and japa. Because India, Indians, Buddhists usually use this word japa. Japa means what? Guru gives a particular name usually, but we can also pick up Om Namo Bhagvate Vasudevaya or Om Namo Narayanaya, Om Namah Shivaya, etc. And they are equally effective. Remember, even if Guru doesn't give, it doesn't matter. If we have faith, then it is going to work out. This is called go on repeating the name of God, remembering the name of God, that is called japa, usually adopted by most Hindus. But when we go to Muslims, when we go to Christians, it becomes a prayer. What is the difference? Seating God in our hearts and thinking He is sitting there and is pleased with us, looking at us graciously, we go on repeating the name thousand times, five thousand, ten thousand. Sometimes, most of the time, though we do not count, this is called japam. Japam is nama smarana, remembering, repeating the divine name. And to do that, many times we use also a japamala and go on fixing a number, etc. Whereas prayer, it is not simply repeating the name of God, but imagining that I am sitting in front of God and then I am praying earnestly. One such, we will say, Muslim prayer. Oh Allah, you please bestow your grace to me. Allah, please bestow your grace upon me. Allah, please bestow your grace upon me. Again and again and again, beseeching the divine Lord to bestow His grace upon us. This is prayer. And Sairam Krishna's main method, I would say, is prayer. Through prayer, when his mind became more enlightened, then he merged himself into meditation. That is meditation, absolute oneness with the divine. When we are thinking of divine in our hearts, just imagine, I am giving an example. It is cold outside and you lit a fire inside your room, in a fireplace, and you are sitting comfortably near and you are not praying, but you are actually experiencing the result of your earlier prayer. I am suffering from cold. Please bestow your grace, oh fire. And now the fire, as if bestowing its grace, really it is not bestowing anything, but by its very presence, is making us warm and very comfortable, very happy. And that is called prayer. And that is what the Muslims do. What about Christians? There is a mantra, perhaps many of you have heard from me or other places. It is called Jesus Mantra. It goes like this. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner. By the way, there is the autobiography of a great Russian saint. And that is the entire autobiography. It is only a type of... I will come to that issue just now. But it is a combination of both Nama Japa, Nama and Japa, and also prayer. It is a combination of Japa and prayer. So let us take this example. Lord Jesus Christ is how God is addressed. O Narayana, O Shiva, have mercy on me, a sinner. Go on repeating it. Lord Jesus Christ, or Jesus, or Christ, have mercy on me. There are many varieties, what is called variations. Have mercy on me, a sinner. So it is both a prayer. I am addressing you. Have mercy on me. I am repeating it. So this is what happened to this Russian saint, a mere householder. And he was a very pious man. Suddenly his wife was taken away by illness. He accepted it. And he had no desire for becoming a leading householder's wife. And he used to attend. He was a Christian. Russian Orthodox Christianity. So he heard from his priest that remember God, pray to God unceasingly. This was the exhortation of Saint Paul. And he wanted to find out how to do it. So he goes in search of a guru like our Indian sadhakas. Finally he meets whom he called his teacher, guide, spiritual guide. And that spiritual guide gave him this Jesus mantra. And he said, first you repeat it 500 times. And this man went on repeating it within a day or two. So he could very happily, easily, joyfully. And he had started straight away to have some experiences. His heart becomes warm. It becomes filled with indescribable joy. And he becomes so enthusiastic, so energetic. He had no desire to talk with anybody. He doesn't want to keep the company of any people. His one desire is to keep as much distance as possible between people and himself. So he started seeking solitary places voluntarily and joyfully. Then after one or two days, he came and said that very easily I can do. What shall I do now? And his guru told him that now you repeat it, increase it 1000 times. And then this time something unusual happened. Instead of his repeating, the mantra started repeating itself. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner. And it went on increasing. And the moment any forgetfulness comes, all that this person should do is like self-starter. You press the self-starter key. And then after a few seconds, the motor catches on. Like that this person for one or two days only he had to do it. And then the mantra had taken over. It started repeating itself. And he became restless. And the guru must have been astonished. So he went a third time. So go on increasing 1000, 5000, 10,000, 15,000. After that the teacher told him that now you just follow what your heart is doing. You don't need to... This is called pray unceasingly. And that is what Saint Paul had really meant. And this person went on from experience to experience. He was commanded by his teacher to write his autobiography. Otherwise he was not willing to glorify himself like Saint Teresa of Avila. And he wrote this is called Way of a Pilgrim. And the pilgrim continues. Two volumes are there. I highly recommend reading through it. No book had given me such a joy for many reasons. One important reason is that this book never mentions a single negative thing. Oh, I was depressed. Oh, I was distracted away. From day one until the last day as if he was increasing in joy and the words that come out of his mouth is nothing but pure joyous positive expression. And this is one of the books I will definitely recommend. And there is another book I will recommend. That is called The Imitation of Christ. Very very important book. Swamiji was so impressed. Swamiji means Swami Vivekananda. He himself translated it. Now coming back to our subject. What is the difference between Japa means repetition of Divine Name with full awareness. Prayer means so you pour out your heart. Oh Lord, I want you to help me. This is what is making me suffer. But there are some mantras. The third type of mantra which is both Japa and Prayer combined. That is the example I gave. In Hindu mantras also, there are certain mantras are there. That is what Ramakrishna was going to tell the Master. Prayer and the company of holy men. So if we are in the company of holy men, our desire to pray grows. And if we are in the company praying, then our desire for holy company also grows in our heart. This is what Ramakrishna wants to tell. You cannot get rid of an ailment without the help of a physician. But it is not enough to be in the company of religious people only for a day. You should constantly seek it for the disease has become chronic. Just again, I will comment upon it. Very short comment. One should visit your doctor so long as you are not free from the disease. Once the disease is cured, nobody will go to a doctor for the sake of company or for the sake of chit-chatting. So, so long as this disease and this disease has become chronic. Chronic means what? Our sanskaras have become deep-rooted. That is why however much we want to get out, sometimes we feel like getting out. But we are incapable of getting out because the sanskaras pull us down again and again into that same old habit. Ramakrishna continues. Again, you can't understand the pulse rightly unless you live with a physician. Moving with him constantly, you learn to distinguish between the pulse of phlegm and the pulse of bile. See, there are some people who are extraordinary people, talented people. These what is called unani physicians, they are called pulse doctors. Just by feeling the pulse, they can accurately diagnose a disease and also help us to get curated. In this world, there are so many people out there. Nowadays, allopathic medicine has got so many diagnostic methods, very much improved. No doubt about it. Ramakrishna is giving. In those days, a young man wants to become what is called Ayurvedic doctor. And Ayurveda uses this pulse. Through this pulse, where is the real problem? Some physicians are able to diagnose it. So even allopathic doctors also use it. So this is what Ramakrishna is referring. This disciple had to move along with the Ayurvedic physician. He will say, you also feel. So this is the pulse of phlegm. This is the pulse of bile. And so many other things are there. That is what is Ramakrishna meaning. You have to have the company of such great spiritual people, because then you understand what is my problem, what is my most important problem, how many such problems I am suffering from, and what is the way this person had succeeded in getting out of it, and how can I myself get out of it. All these things are possible only by constantly living with him. Ramakrishna also used to give another example. You know there are people and they sell threads and the difference between, they count it. This is 41 number thread, this is 40 number thread, this is 42 number thread. Now the distinction between 40, 41 and 42, extremely hard for people like us. But by living with such a person, one can say, and in course of time we also come to distinguish. So this is the benefit of Satsanga. Now here only he gave the example of a physician. And say Ram, what is the whole purpose? Purpose is increases, increases our power. What is my problem? And what is the remedy? And what is the best way to apply the remedy and get out of this? This knowledge cannot come unless we live with a Guru. And for that, three examples are there. In today's class I will only mention the examples, but in our next class we will go a little bit deep into it. First example, that Ramakrishna had trained his body never ever to accept anything that is deceitful that is obtained by lying, etc. And this is a beautiful incident illustrates this point, say Ramakrishna and a lemon. Second, one's future monastic member, Baburao Maharaj, he slept and Ramakrishna got up at midnight and acted very peculiarly. That is the second example. And once Hriday suggested to Sri Ramakrishna, Mama, you pray for Siddhis to the Divine Mother. And he had a very peculiar experience. And what these examples exemplify, teach a lesson, we will talk about it in our next class.