Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 099 on 07-November-2023

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

In our last class, we have been dealing with a very important concept in human life. Especially or probably it will make a better sense if we look at the things that are going on all around us. What is the solution? Is there any solution really, universally? No. Hindu scriptures crystal clearly tell us that good and evil are part and parcel of creation itself, life itself. Very interestingly, Srishti, Stithi and Laya. You take the image of any God or Goddess. Best example perhaps would be that of Mother Kali. Take the example of Mother Kali. Four hands, Vara, Avaya indicating Srishti and Stithi and Laya on the left side. A garland of skulls is hanging around her neck, a sword and a decapitated head. So much of philosophy has been compressed in this figure of Mother Kali. That is why I have heard from so many senior Swamis that there is no figure in the whole world's religion which is equivalent to that of Mother Kali. Why? Because it represents the complete essence of what the world is. Where there is time, there will be a beginning, a continuation and an end. Part of that is good and evil. Without evil, as we discussed quite a number of times, we cannot even recognize what is good, vice versa. Here Ramakrishna said that if there were no evil in this world, then saints will not be made. Very, very profound statement. A saint can be made only when there is evil and the person conquers. Conquering means not destroying evil, but looking upon evil, changing one's worldview. What appears to be evil is the most auspicious thing in this whole world. And every spiritual attempt is not to destroy evil, not to eliminate, not to remove, which is impossible in any case, but to change our view and react accordingly. Just as birth we accept, death also we have to accept. If we want to go beyond, we have to go beyond the mind itself. In fact, bondage and liberation both belong to the mind alone. This was the essence of what we were discussing. Ramakrishna said, and I am going to quote something very interesting. Ramakrishna gives the example. There was a zamindar and he had appointed a state manager to manage the estate. And his name was Golak Choudhury. This must have been a historical person about whom Shri Ramakrishna had heard. And this Golak Choudhury is a ruffian. He was such a harsh administrator that the tenants trembled at the very mention of his name. Very interesting episodes from Shri Ramakrishna's life. Once Shri Ramakrishna had visited the estate of Mathur Babu in Bihar or Orissa. And there was a drought. But Mathur Babu was insistent that the tenants should pay the annual fees, rents. But Shri Ramakrishna scolded him. Don't you see, they don't have food for themselves. Not because of their fault. They would have given you had there been abundant rains. But they are starving. Shri Ramakrishna not only made him stop collecting the rents. On the contrary, spend your own money and feed them at least for a short time. And then Mathur Babu had no option. Same thing happened at Dev Ghar also on the way to Kashi. Shri Ramakrishna made Mathur Babu spend a lot of money to feed thousands of starving people. To give them a piece of cloth and a spoonful of oil to rub on their heads. In that connection, he told him, You are not the owner, you are only a trustee. The business of a trustee, that is, who is the real owner? God. We are all trustees. Not only what we have, but what we are. Our body, we are the trustee. And our mind, we are the trustee. But if we behave forgetting this fact, that this body belongs to me, mind belongs to me, and I am the body-mind, and behave as we like, then the blow will come to correct us. Every evil is only to correct ourselves. And such a powerful idea, that this evil is not really evil, it is only a discipline, a training, for us to transcend not only evil, but ultimately both good and evil. This is called Punatita. This is also called Dvandvatita. Dvandvatito vimatsaraha. Krishna advises Arjuna, If you want to be a sadhaka, you must go beyond. Everything in this world, there is no exception, everything in this world has an evil element. And evil element is part and parcel of the creation. Why? Because the whole universe is nothing but a manifestation of three gunas. Sattva, Prajas and Tamas. All the gunas are good, and all the gunas must be utilised in their proper places. I gave many times examples. If you want to deal with some indisciplined people, Sattva guna will not work. Golakshapadri is necessary. If you want to sleep, then Rajyoguna will not work. Only Tamoguna will be our greatest friend. But if you are driving, then Rajyoguna is our greatest friend, not Tamoguna. So judiciously harmonising all the three gunas, that is how we transcend all the three gunas. And such a person is called Gunatita. So what is the essence? We will have plenty of opportunity to talk about the same subject because it crops up again and again. So the next question that comes is will evil ever disappear from the world? Will there be a time when everybody is wonderful, spiritual, marvellous, harmonious, loving and wanting to give everything to everybody else? Will it come? Never is it going to come. And this is so beautifully illustrated in the Devi Saptashati, Durga Saptashati, Chandi. At the very end, the Divine Mother tells to both Swaradha, the Raja, and also Samadhi, the businessman, who was even more intelligent than this king. How do we know? Because he wanted from the Divine Mother only Samadhi. Whereas the king, even though he got so many slaps from his own people, again he wanted to enter into the same dirty water. So that is why the Divine Mother had to give. Very soon you will get back your own kingdom. But at the same time, in future, you are going to be a Manu. What is called in charge of all this, this entire world. In future, Manu. In fact, the word Manushya comes only from the word Manu. Manu's children, offspring are called Manavas. Manava. So the Divine Mother had helped conquer Madhu and Kaitabha, Mahishasura, Raktaveja, and so many others, but most important Shumbha and Nishumbha. And then at the very end, before closing, the Rishi who composed this most marvellous hymn, he is making the Divine Mother tell because the person was made to become enlightened by the grace of the Divine Mother. As if the Divine Mother is speaking and every Sadguru is only none other than Satchitananda. We will come to that topic again and again in this world. So this is where, in two shlokas, the Divine Mother tells us ittham yada yada badha tanavottha bhavishyati tada tada avateerya aham karishyami arisankhyayam so vaivasvate antare prapte asta vimshati me yuge shumbho nishumbhas chaiva anyau utpatsyate mahasurau Then what does she say? This very Shumbha, Nishumbha who have been annihilated, destroyed by the Divine Mother. They are not individuals. They are the qualities. Qualities of uncontrolled tamo guna and without three gunas the world doesn't exist at all. So the Divine Mother says these very Asuras Shumbha Nishumbha Kamand Krodha or you might even say Tamas and Rajas anyau utpatsyate they are going to be reborn. That is to say in the whole act of creation there would be no time when there would be no evil. Because if you remove evil from creation good also will disappear. So the warp and woof we call it. If you remove the thread from a cloth, the cloth itself will not exist. So the warp and woof of this entire world creation is good and evil. So ittam but what is the remedy? Do we have to go on suffering? No. Yadah Yadah Badha. Dhanavodtha Whenever this indestructible trouble from the Asuras, that is from Ajnana, arises Yadah Yadah at that time. For whom? For those who take refuge in the Divine Mother. Aham I will be incarnating as Chandi, as Kali, as Parvati, as Lakshmi, as Saraswati, as in a very conceivable form. Arisamshayam Sankshayam Karishyami I will be destroying all these inimical forces. So both like left hand and right hand, left leg and right leg, left eye and right eye, both good and evil are the warp and woof of the very fabric of this entire universe. So if we want to progress in any field of life, we have to encounter. That is why if we can read and enjoy, study and enjoy the lives of great people, in any particular field, greatness is always a conquering or turning into one's favor of the obstructions that come in life. So with this temporarily, the question of evil, will evil ever disappear? No, it will never disappear. It will always be there. Then how to deal with evil? Scripture, every scripture tells us in detail, evil is not something that is outside. What comes from outside is our karma phala. But the real evil is our own samskaras which are called asuric samskaras. So with this, for now, that topic will be over. Again it will come. Because in life, this is one of the most repeated, repeatable topic in the world. Then the next topic, God realization in householder's life. Now before we go into this, I have to give you a very brief introduction, which in fact I have been giving practically in every talk. But we have to remind ourselves. So what was the question? A person who came from the neighborhood, he is asking, Sir, is it ever possible to realize God while leading the life of a householder? And then Sir Ramakrishna is reflecting, certainly he doesn't say, yes, yes, very difficult. Of course you will realize by grace of God. But certainly, absolute assurance. But as I said just now, one must live in holy company and pray unceasingly. One should weep for God. When the impurities of the mind are thus washed away, one realizes God. The mind is like a needle covered with mud and God is like a magnet. The needle cannot be united with the magnet unless it is free from mud. And Sir Ramakrishna explains what he meant well. But I will revert to what I said just now. In Hinduism, and I do not know, so far as I know, such things do not exist. In any religion, excepting in Hinduism, life is divided into four stages. So very marvelous concept. Evolution is divided into four categories. That is the Vaishya, Shudra, Vaishya, Kshatriya and Brahmana. This is called Varna Ibhaga. Varna means, popularly we have come to know about caste and a lot of misunderstandings have taken place about caste. That is not what is meant. Here, it is evolution, evolutionary process from Tamoguna to more Rajoguna and more Sattvaguna. As a person goes on acquiring or becoming more of these better Gunas, Sattvaguna, but the other Gunas will not disappear. But they will be controlled, they will be kept in their proper places and utilized fully. But the master will be the Sattvaguna. So a Brahmana is supposed to be an heir of Brahman. That is the concept. But in this, specifically, there is another type of Varna and that is called Ashrama Dharma. Hinduism divides every single life, be it Shudra, Vaishya, Kshatriya or Brahmana into four categories. In fact, we can probably arrange this like this. Supposing there is a Shudra and because of the predominance of Tamoguna, this person had become a little less intellectual. So he can do things, but he has to be directed at every turn. You have to do like this. Such a person whose power of thinking is less, whose power of taking a decision is much more less, but he is willing to do. When he is given a direction by a higher intelligence, such a person can be termed as a Shudra. But don't ever think of Shudra by birth. Then all sorts of problems will come. So this Shudra, even his life, can be divided into four parts. What is the first process? I am spending my time. What do I learn? How do I learn to be a better person? It is not I must be more educated. That is the gross misunderstanding that is coming now. No. The idea is how can I be a wiser person? How can I know what is a wiser person? A person whose power of viveka and vairagya and body and mind control and the desire to improve oneself, to progress in life is more dominant. Such a person, that is called wisdom. How can I become a more wise person? So this is called brahmacharya ashrama. And these ashramas usually when we try to explain we go on saying that from this age to this age is brahmacharya ashrama. From this age to this age is grihasta, so vanaprastha, so sanyasa. That is ok. But the better explanation would be that all the four ashramas will be simultaneously working throughout one's life. For example, there is a person, he is old, but still that brahmacharya ashrama is there, grihasta ashrama is there. I will explain to you to the best of my ability. First of all let me define or remind you how I define these four ashramas. As soon as we say brahmacharya, grihasta, vanaprastha and sanyasa we get a particular picture in our imaginations. That is ok, but a better way of understanding will be this. What is brahmacharya ashrama? The eagerness to learn then what we already know become a little more wiser. And then learning will never improve until we experiment and experience. Only through experience what we learn academically becomes more practical. And that is called grihasta ashrama. Natural desires will be there and the nature wants us to propagate because we are also partners, bhagaswamis in the process, in the drama of the Divine Mother. Through us the Jagat will be expanding. So we also act both as Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara. How? When there is an irrepressible, unsuppressible desire to reproduce ourselves. That is called we get married, we get children. Why? Because we become Brahmas. When we become Brahma who will be the protector? Brahma only. As the creative aspect, the creator is called Brahma. The same like a mother. When the mother is protecting, sustaining the same child she has been growing from within herself and even after coming out of her body this is called Vishnu's aspect. But at the same time, the same mother also assumes the punishing aspect. All for the good of the child. So the Divine Mother Ya Devi Sarvabhuteshu Matru Rupena Samstita, she only reincarnates as the trainer, as the punisher, as the corrector, all out of love for the whole world. So whatever we have learned, put to use, experiment and then experience the results. Through experimentation we understand what needs to be done, what should be done, avoided. And that will be beautifully learned by us that learning through experimentation that is called Brihastha Ashrama. What is the difference from Brahmacharya Ashrama? In Brahmacharya Ashrama, like sponges we just absorb without experimenting. But in Brihastha Ashrama we experience only when we directly do something wade into the mud as it were or enter into the circle of fire. Then only we understand what to do what not to do. Any amount of theories will not do at all. So this is called Brihastha Ashrama. Experiment, experience, learn from that and evolve. And then a third stage will come and then we understand what I am seeking is within myself. The experiences in the world have taught me a great lesson. I am looking all the time in the wrong place. The right place to learn what I want to learn is from within myself. I am in search of myself like the musk deer which is maddened by the intoxication of that musk fragrance and it is running like mad. We are also like that not knowing that all the happiness that we get is belonging to us. It is our nature. Our self is Ananda Swaroopa. But as it were we are looking through this mirror of our mind as if it is coming from outside not understanding a mirror is only reflecting our own self but different colors, different angles, different rough edges. Our reflection appears to be completely different from each other. So we learn our lesson and then we understand that I have built a lot of what we call filters. The body filter, the possession filter, body filter and our likes and raga and dvesha and slowly when we eliminate that is called chittavruti nirodha and in the end when we look into it then we find that every jiva is none other than paramatma only. There is no jiva, there is no parama, only atma is there and that process of slow elimination of not what is outside, what appeared to be outside but what is really within us, that removal and as we remove our own obstructions that has been accumulating since ages together then we understand that slowly, slowly the light, the reflection of the light of the atman becomes stronger and stronger clearer and clearer until we find the mirror itself is eliminated and we are in direct contact with the divine, potentially divine. This is the meaning of vanaprasthashrama withdrawal turning away from such external search and directing the search to within oneself beautifully expressed आउरुत्तचेक्षो अम्रुतत्वम् इच्छन् कस्चिद्धी रहा A wise man and all the wisdom has come only because of this experimentation and experiencing and then now the person understands what I am seeking now I know is not without, outside it is definitely within because it is there and then eliminating all the layers and layers and layers of samskaras we have created since innumerable births are slowly to be removed and as we go on removing we find we are approaching nearer and nearer and nearer. Ram Krishna's parables are extraordinarily revelatory in this sense he gives a beautiful parable. A man once came to know that a great treasure is hidden underneath earth at a particular spot and he was convinced how do we know he was convinced because until we are convinced we do not take any action every action represents that we are convinced what we are seeking can be obtained by doing a particular action so this person he brought one digging shovel etc and started digging the earth and he was digging and digging and digging and after a back breaking work suddenly the iron rod with which he was digging struck something metallic until that time it was only striking mud it was only striking some stones but suddenly the distinctive sound of metal and then immediately his heart becomes leaps up with joy yes I have found out then after digging a while he gets a box and then he knows this box is what I heard about it will be containing very precious treasure very valuable treasure and then again with some implements he opens and then finally he lays his hands upon the most precious treasure invaluable jewel this was the parable what is the symbolism as we go on removing the hidden layers that is the earth the stones the rubbish everything which is nothing but our purva janma krita sanskara all the sanskaras have to be removed first negative sanskaras then even positive sanskaras that is why papa also has to be removed punyam also has to be removed because both create so then when this treasure comes into the hand when the person beholds the box then he is convinced what I heard what I had faith is absolute truth and then the more he is convinced through direct experience even though he is not yet beheld the treasure within he becomes extraordinarily happy as one approaches nearer to the fire more and more heat will be experienced or light will be experienced as we come out of the long tunnel sometimes we have to travel by trains this is very common in the western countries through hills there are tunnels are there even the underground railway in UK so it will be completely pitch dark you cannot see anything but when it is coming to a station you see beautiful light but that is also underground only like that the more joy we are reaching our destination and here the destination is invaluable immeasurably valuable jewel precious gem but it has to be unlocked how to unlock it you cannot unlock it because it is locked with a passcode what to do with that passcode only a person who knows that passcode he can give it to us that means the person who actually set the passcode and locked it and buried it he only knows it who is that person none other than Ishwara so we have to surrender ourselves to Ishwara please and then you need not give the passcode he will open it for you by his mere wish and then you behold the treasure what is the treasure the treasure is called Mahavakya I am not separate from you you and I two things do not exist at all this division I was separate and I heard that I am one with you from the scriptures and I am doing sadhana all this what is called impure notions agnana everything is agnana I was born then I am in bondage and I have to do sadhana and I will be progressing and one day I will realize God the whole thing as Godapadacharya else was in the Vaitatya prakaranam of the Mandukya Upanishad which is 32nd karika so then we realize but until that time bondage is real samsara is real and my struggle is also real my progress is also real and the person holds beholds what is that jewel self knowledge what is that box the bondage prakruti maya avidya and then what is the first struggle it is called vikshepa shakti removal of the vikshepa shakti is digging and reaching the box and opening the box is called removing the avarana shakti what is the knowledge I was never bound I am brahman this is the knowledge that comes see how beautifully every parable of Shri Ram Krishna contains depths layers of meaning as we go on digging deeper our understanding becomes better it has nothing to do with external treasure because if you apply to external treasure the more treasure you get probably you will deeper you sink into the samsaric bondage so here what is the vanaprastha ashrama what is the grihastha ashrama trying to acquire punyam by avoiding papa karma what is the vanaprastha ashrama now is the attempt to get rid of even punyam because we have to go both beyond punya as well as papa and then we come across the jewel beholding that opened box is called sanyasa ashrama so by definition what is vanaprastha ashrama the viveka discrimination that what I am seeking cannot be found outside but it can be found it is there within me trying to get rid of the all the obstacles removal of the obstacles that represents the essence of vanaprastha ashrama and then ultimately the ultimate sadhana is to surrender ourselves to god that is called sanyasa when a person succeeds in surrendering and that surrender simply is called complete sharanagati that is to say the lord opens, breaks open the seal, actually there is no seal it is only ajnana is removed as soon as light is brought the darkness will be destroyed and then the person beholds that jewel, what is that jewel aham brahmasmi so this is what is called the concept of the ashrama and accordingly hinduism tells us there is no such division in the vedas that this is a what is called spiritual life this is a worldly life every stage of life is an ashrama if we do not understand and follow the regulations of the scripture, vidhi and nishedha then we remove that ah from ashrama and what remains is nothing but pure shrama only tiredness will be there, not much benefit will be there, some benefit will be there, not much benefit will be there so we can convert in the light of what we discussed now if we can rephrase a neighbor's question is it ever possible to realize God by leading the life of a householder and the master but then he says but as I said just now one must live in holy company and pray unceasingly one should weep for God and then when the impurities of the mind are thus washed away one realizes God what is it telling in other words that one must first get over all the papa samskaras that is those which strengthen our bondage, those samskaras but even those samskaras what we call spiritual qualities they all belong to the samsara they all lie far below from the realm of the self knowledge but these are the like staircase we have to transcend transcending is called progress and so we have to pray to God and then live holy company what is it? whatever wrong things we have been doing we have to stop it slowly, it takes time and whatever good things we need to acquire assiduously we have to try to acquire them this is what Shri Ramakrishna is telling living in holy company doesn't mean that you just find somebody and then you go and live stones can live kamandalus can live monkeys can live dogs can live with holy people and they are not going to become holy people there is a beautiful Zen story there was a Zen sadhaka student for 60 years he was with his master and many of the other students of the Zen master have been sent away by this Zen master, you have reached a state of maturity now you go and establish your own ashramas and propagate this marvelous philosophy Zen Buddhism is nothing called nothing else but dhyana pure meditation which means self observation and finding out all one's faults and trying attempting to remove these faults and acquiring good qualities with whose aid we can slowly move forward Zen means dhyana corruption of dhyana this is called Zen so here was the 60 year old student 60 years he served actually the guru and he was seeing in front of him many other students whom the master himself, they never asked this is the beauty of the story they never said that we want to become teachers in our own right no, the master when he observed these people are ripe now Paka means what Sri Ramakrishna used to say Kacha Ami Paka Ami Kacha Am Paka Am unripe mango ripe mango, here Ami means ego not mango so he himself said to them now you are sufficiently enlightened I know you are not going to fall down now you spread this message but this student has never been asked, so a painful doubt has come, a master perhaps forgotten about me let me myself remind him one day he went to the master and said, master I wish to establish my own ashram to find out my own disciples and the master instantaneously understood, said fine definitely we will think about it but before that you fulfill one of my desires what is it? so you go on a pilgrimage for 6 months and visit all the holy places and worship every place and take bath in the holy waters and come back the disciple joyously agreed hoping that after 6 months the master is going to make him a teacher in his own right but just before starting the master gave him a bitter fruit and then a bitter cucumber and then said take this along with you and whenever you take a dip whenever you enter into the shrine take this also along with you it also has the same benefits as you so the stupid student did not understand and he took it gladly followed the instructions of the guru assiduously and then at the end he returned back joyfully, I fulfilled your command now the teacher said we will talk about other things later on now this bitter cucumber must have become very sweet, very eatable now because it has been doing Tirtha Yatra for the last 6 months along with you let us cook it and joyfully eat it and then the disciple cooked it and all of them ate and it was as bitter if not more bitter then it was taken on a pilgrimage and then I do not know whether the disciple really understood but I think he did not understand, if he understood he would never have requested him said my son did you do Tirtha Yatra, yes did this cucumber do Tirtha Yatra yes, and did it lose any of its bitterness, no did you lose any of your Jnana perhaps by the grace of the teacher he might have understood and he kept quiet he never raised the question again so what are we talking about when we progress whatever progress we made itself will become an enlightened factor teaching us what to avoid and what to accept in future every bit of light shows us more impurity and how to overcome it so a stage of life it may take several millions of births so this Brahmacharya Ashrama and Grahastha Ashrama and Sanyasa Ashrama Vanaprastha and Sanyasa they are not limited to certain ages in life but our evolution of right understanding in the mind this is called Ashrama when this devotee asked this question that do householders have any hope and I have to rephrase it Shri Ram Krishna was telling like that that if what we discussed so far householdership means experiment, experience and lesson your lesson if this type of life is led certainly one can realize not immediately but gradual progress will be there one of the most beautiful points in this explanation is that when a person reaches sufficient progress in life that very progress will tell him whether he reached the goal or not there is no need Shri Ram Krishna had another saying when the fruit ripens you don't need to pluck it it will fall automatically so if we become mature like that fruit nobody need to pluck us that is we ourselves or God plucks us out that means he himself will reveal if God doesn't reveal that means we are not ready so if we are not ready even the greatest grace of God can never be experienced or realized and in fact on 1st January 1886 Ram Krishna had bestowed his grace upon so many who gathered on that day it was a holiday, new year's day but so far as we know none of the sanyasin disciples was present they were present, they were there they were doing airing Ram Krishna's bed etc, cleaning his room etc even after being called they refused to come because they had the faith Ram Krishna is our father and mother and the property the what is called belongings everything, the inheritance of the father and mother will always come to the children we don't need to ask by law it itself will come in this background there are so many beautiful thoughts coming but with this background we will move forward so Ram Krishna says certainly but as I said just now one must live in holy company but be vigilant pray unceasingly O Lord bestow your grace and what does the grace do so Bhagavan Krishna he answers that one so what does he do buddhi yogam dadamyaham upon whomsoever my grace falls I will make them understand things rightly, buddhi yogam that is gnanam wisdom that wisdom itself will tell them you have progressed thus far these are the obstacles still to be overcome and he need not ask and he need not pray he himself will say these are the obstacles for receiving God's grace which is infinity so he himself will strive more vigorously than before to get rid of all those evil qualities so this is what is called pray unceasingly means struggle unceasingly and one should weep for God that is when our desire for God realization becomes 100% God is bound to reveal himself as we progress our desire for God realization or mumukshrutvam also grows when the impurities of the mind are thus washed away one realizes God marvelous what is called gems of teachings what is the obstruction for the realization of God impurities of the mind that is samskaras and according to our understanding even good samskaras also belong to impurities only so the mind is like a needle covered with mud and God is like a magnet so once the mud is removed the magnet automatically draws the needle there is no need to say now I am completely free from dirt and dust you kindly attract me the needle can never be united with the magnet unless it is free from mud tears wash away the mud which is nothing what is this mud lust, anger, greed and other evil tendencies and the inclination to worldly enjoyments as well as soon as the mud is washed away the magnet attracts the needle that is to say man realizes God then a beautiful teaching of Sri Ramakrishna comes only the pure in heart see God blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God this is from the sermon on the mount by Jesus Christ after all Jesus Christ I was Buddha I was Jesus I was Rama I was Krishna I was all the past incarnations there is no difference that incarnation was totally different from the other incarnation that is called ignorance it is the same God who is incarnating every time that is necessary and that is what we need to understand here so as soon as we become pure then we shall see God this was what Sri Ramakrishna earlier told well all the impurities are completely washed away then God realization becomes a reality you don't need to do anything then Sri Ramakrishna every time like Kalidasa Upama means similes he employs a fever patient has an excess of watery element in his system what can quinine do for him unless that is removed please don't go on scientifically questioning what does the quinine do what Sri Ramakrishna said does it tally with what the saint is saying this is only examples he says the fever patient has something which is obstructing so unless even to receive quinine and make it effective certain preparations have to be done so let the watery element be gotten rid of then give him quinine then it will remove the bacteria why because it is that moisture element which really makes the bacteria grow vigorously and then Sri Ramakrishna says why should not one realize God while living in the world but as I said one must live in holy company pray to God weeping for his grace and now and then go into solitude Sri Ramakrishna is repeating repetition it is very very necessary so we pray always oh lord please grant me your grace is that God requires our prayer for bestowing his grace so is the child to go to the mother stand in front of him do Ashtang Namaskaram mom I am very hungry will you kindly cook food for me without delay mom already anticipates my child will be hungry at this time so she already ready but is the child ready the child gets up from the bed and then runs around and then becomes hungry as soon as the child is hungry food is ready for him Swami Vivekananda ji used to tell a very beautiful saying when the field is ready the seed will come and we have to understand it in a broader light so what does it mean the seed means the necessary wisdom will come when we are ready the wisdom is not hanging hiding somewhere and we have to wrench it open from a safe it is open secret only when we are ready somewhat like you know there are some drawings are there practically every day in the news it comes there is a picture is presented and can you see there are at least 9 different animals in this picture and you look and look and look and then you skip it and go over it because you are not able to see but some people they can find one, some four and very sharp minds they can distinguish it so interesting so weeping for his grace that means you make me ready and now and then go into solitude what is solitude as I mentioned earlier that remove all dirt and dust and make the mind pure that is called the state of purity that is called solitude and then Ram Krishna says unless the plants on a footpath are protected at first by fences they are destroyed by catapult so visiting holy company avoiding evil company is called fencing and visiting holy company is protecting the fence itself and then slowly prayer and practice of self surrender all these are very necessary then our usual question comes, what happens then when we are ready Bhagawan himself comes to us to lead us further such a phenomena is called appearance of a Guru so what is the need of a Guru this was one of the questions the neighbor was asking then householders too will have the vision of God Guru there Master, everybody will surely be liberated but one should follow the instructions of the Guru if one follows a devious path one will have to suffer in trying to retrace one's steps it takes a long time to achieve liberation a man may fail to obtain it in this life perhaps he will realize God only after many births this is a beautiful subject we will talk about it in our next class Om Jananim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagat Gurum Adapatmetayos Ritva Pranamami Mohur Mohuhu May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti Jai Ramakrishna