Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 102 on 19-December-2023

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

So one of the devotees had given a bit of a quotation, the souls play, something like that it goes. How do we understand it in the topic, in the context of Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna? Frankly, I never read this kind of books. When I want to understand about spirituality, I only read the books that are the teachings or the sayings or even sometimes the writings of books by realized souls. How do we know whether this is a realized soul or not? There is an infallible test, the greater a person, the more the realization, the simpler the language becomes. Anybody who uses such language, which is unreadable, un-understandable, undigestible, we have to understand, maybe the person is sincere, we do not know, but certainly is far away from the truth. Now one of the things is, when we have some problem, defect, it says about other people's energy. As I said, frankly, I do not understand even that language. But one thing I can tell you that from the Vedantic point of view, everything that happens is for good. A man's throat is being cut, is it for good? As it happened, as it is happening in history, many times it happened and it is happening now, it will happen tomorrow, it will happen forever. Yes, otherwise we become hypocrites. We every day, practically every day also, we pray, O Lord, You are Asesa Kalyana Gunasagara. You are an ocean of infinite auspicious qualities. Sarva Mangala Mangalye Shivay. The Divine Mother is called auspiciousness. Can any inauspicious thing, event happening, can it happen in the realm of the Divine Mother? Impossible. But I just wanted just a flashback, my own comments, because somebody may be expecting, I don't know. As I said, I never touch such kind of books. I never touch in my life. For entertainment, it may be okay, but it is not really good. Okay, it is like that. Each one of us is guided by our own Prarabdha Karma. And if we notice, Prarabdha Karma never takes place when we are alone. It is always connected with somebody, in the company. Our parents' Prarabdha Karma is exhausted by the children. Many others, I am just only mentioning children. And by each other, husband and wife, they come together to exhaust their Prarabdha Karma. Children come to exhaust their, as well as parents' Prarabdha Karma. So this is all that happens. Then what is the point? The point is, whether we are happy or unhappy, we have to pause and then question ourselves. So what is happening here? Why is it happening here? And what lesson can I learn? Very often, we do question ourselves when we are suffering. But rarely, if you notice, do we question when we are happy. But when we are experiencing happiness, so what is the lesson I have to learn? Simple. I didn't have this happiness. And it has come now. And it is not going to be there forever. And same thing, we can apply to the opposite effect. I was not suffering. The suffering came. And it will not be there forever. It comes, it goes. How long it stays, we don't know. Everything is temporary only. So this much only I want to comment upon the writings of this book. And I earnestly also suggest, request, so far as spiritual life is concerned, depend upon your Guru, Guru's teaching, hold on, everything will happen for good. Now we will go back to our class. So in our last class, which happened on 5th December, we were discussing especially a very, very important topic called Guru. And in that context, we just have to remind, Sunday, April 9th, 1882, a master is telling, everybody will surely be liberated. And the greatness of Hinduism is, everybody will be liberated. Because from our viewpoint, some people are good, some are evil. But from God's point of view, from Shiva's point of view, there is no Aastika, Naastika, Dharmika, Adharmika, or Hindu, Muslim, or human, non-human, no such difference ever exists. Sarvam Brahmamayam, Re Re, Sarvam Brahmamayam. Sadashiva Brahmendra's beautiful Sankirtana is there. Or Khelati Brahmande Bhagavan, Bhagavan plays as what? As this world. And how does He play? Hamsa Soham, Hamsa Soham, Hamsa Soham, Sohamiti, Hamsaha Soham, I am that Paramatma, I am that Paramatma, I am that Paramatma, Aham Brahmasmi, Soham Aham Asmi. This is the only play. So what about a human being? Yes, I am a human being, I am Brahman in the name and form of a human being. I am not a human being, at some time going to become spiritual. I am a spiritual being, for some time I forgot myself, and I am thinking I am a human being. This is what Shri Ram Krishna means. Everybody will be liberated. And how is this liberation possible? This liberation is made possible by a Guru. And who is that Guru? Satchidananda alone is the Guru. Because Guru means Gnanam. Gnanam means right knowledge. And whatever is not right knowledge is called Agnanam. There is nothing called 50% right knowledge, 90% right knowledge, 99% right knowledge. Either it is right knowledge or it is wrong knowledge. And another name for knowledge, right knowledge, is called God, Sat, Chit and Ananda. And Shri Ram Krishna says, Satchidananda alone is the Guru. How to find a Guru? This is the way of recollecting what we have discussed in our last class. Swami Vivekananda says, when the field is ready, the seed must come. So we don't find the Guru. We find the need. When our need is very great, a solution, a answer will also come. And that answer is called Guru. And then a neighbour was asking, Sir, you just referred to the instructions of the Guru. So how shall we find him? This is the answer. Do you feel hungry? Food will come wherever you are. Then a very important point. These are all discussions about Guru. One of the most important points is, a Guru should be a Sampradaya Vidya. He should be coming from a Guru-Sishya Sampradaya lineage, of Guru-Sishya system. Why? Because I have seen, and even now there are such people, quite popular, means many people follow them, and they just shut their intellect, close their door. No need to think. Whatever my Guru says, that is this one. So if a Guru is not a Sampradaya Vidya, he will misinterpret God, he will misinterpret the scripture, he will misinterpret even the Acharyas. That is how schools of philosophies arise, confusing or confusion made worse, confounded. So a Guru goes on saying, no other path excepting Gnana Marga. There is no other path for liberation, excepting Gnana Marga. These stupid idiotic fools, never have brains to understand, that Gnanam and Gnana Marga, quite different. When I say Gnana Marga, this is the way to reach Kashi. The path is not Kashi. It is only a path. Follow it. If it is the right path, it will take us to the right destination. But to confuse the goal with the path, this is the greatest mistake people make. That is why I have discussed it many times, and I hope you remember also, but any number of times, we can remind ourselves. Accepting God's grace, accepting through God's grace, nobody can know God. Gnanam alone can give Gnanam. Only a person who has got something, can give something. A poor person cannot give wealth. A powerless person cannot give power. An ignorant person cannot give knowledge. Only ignorance he can give. So the distinction between Gnanam and Gnana Marga. So what is the distinction? Gnanam means God. Margas, many are there. How many margas? Infinite. How come? Because God is infinite. So any point is a point of entrance. Jato moth tato path. As many understandings, faiths, so many pathways. But to the same goal, because the goal is not different. Anybody says, if others do not follow my pathway, he will go to the other place. He is an asampradaya. I am just giving a few examples. Bhagwan Krishna, upon whom these people place importance. But really speaking, they don't have faith in Krishna. They only have faith in the interpreter of Krishna. For example, some of the interpreters of this Advaita sampradaya, Shankara, that means Shankaracharya. What Shankara had said about Krishna is greater than what Krishna is trying to tell about himself. What does Krishna say in the Gita? He says, everybody is only approaching me. All people. So whatever path a person may take, including a wrong path, what happens, provided the person is very earnest. Oh Lord, I am an agnani. I do not know the path, but at this moment, somebody told me to follow this and I am following it. But he only surrenders himself to God. God himself will guide him to the right destination. Ramakrishna gives an example. A great devotee never visited Puri Jagannath and he wants to have darshan of Jagannath. He started from Kolkata, but he started travelling towards the north. Somebody will ask him, where are you going? Oh, this is not the way to reach Puri. You have taken the wrong path. So you go to the south. Somebody or other. Who is that somebody or other? God himself comes in that form, guidance is God and that guidance inevitably leads one to God only. That is called God's grace. Second, there is a verse in Bhagavad Gita, कर्मणाये वही सम्शिद्धिम् आस्तिताः जनकादयः There were great people, Arjuna. They all attained me. Siddhi means perfection. Perfection means God realization. They all had my realization. कर्मणाये वही सम्शिद्धिम् आस्तिताः जनकादयः Through Karma Yoga. And these people, following Shankaracharya, they say that this Siddhi, that is Chitta Shuddhi, who the hell has asked you to interpret this way, is what Shankaracharya had committed this grave error. Swami Vivekananda tells, Acharyas, they were great people, but they sometimes tortured the texts. Text torturer. Why do we say? When Bhagavan Himself is using this word Siddhi, so can He not give somebody who is following Karma Yoga? God is pleased with that person. He says, this child of mine only wants to come to me through this path. So I will run and embrace him, take him into my lap. If there is any dirt or dust, I will cleanse that person and I will hug. Every mother does it all the time to her babies. And who is God? या देवि सर्वभूतेषु मात्रु रूपेण सम्शिद्धाः So that is why a Guru must be Sampradaya with. What is Sampradaya? The Sampradaya started by Bhagavan Himself in the form of Brahma, Parameshwari. And Bhagavan will never mislead a person. And what is their teaching? Just now what we read. What did we read? All will be liberated. जतो मो ततो पथ। Every path. There is no wrong path. Either a person is sincere or he is not sincere. When a person is sincere, every footstep is a right path. If something is to be corrected, God Himself will correct. There was a beautiful incident. Once Shri Ramakrishna went to visit a Hari Sabha in Calcutta. When Shri Ramakrishna was born, hundreds of Hari Sabhas sprang up like mushrooms in Calcutta. In and around Calcutta. Nobody knew. Only later on Shri Ramakrishna had said, these things have come because of this. Means because of His incarnation. And Hari Sabha people sincerely do Hari Bhajan. And they keep a seat. All these people are followers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. They keep a seat in the middle. And they believe when the Kirtana is going on, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in a subtle form will be inspiring them with His presence in a very invisible form standing on that seat. I am not sure whether they asked him to stand up only and not to sit. Whether they are giving restrictions even to their Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So once Shri Ramakrishna visited, no woman is allowed to occupy that seat, to step on it. But Shri Ramakrishna, dancing like a mad elephant, became unconscious and stepped on it and went into Samadhi. At that time, there was no one dared to disturb because their own minds had never even thought it was wrong. After the Kirtana was over, everybody enjoyed it. They were all in a highly elevated atmosphere. Of course, that came down because it all was inspiration because of Shri Ramakrishna's presence. And they all bowed down to him and he left. After that, they became normal and they started criticizing Shri Ramakrishna. Why is it we did not stop him stepping onto the special seat meant for Shri Chaitanya? And this news reached the great leader of Vaishnava community called Bhagavan Das Baba who was residing at that time at a place called Kalna. So once Shri Ramakrishna heard about this Bhagavan Das Babaji, he was a great soul and he went to visit him. And this Bhagavan Das Babaji, he intuited that a great soul has come to his ashrama. He was looking but he could not find. But Shri Ramakrishna was very shy sometimes. So he sent Hriday ahead and Bhagavan Das Babaji saw Hriday entering and he understood this is not the Mahatma. I was intuiting. And he was doing something else. There was a Vaishnava who committed some errors and this was reported to the Guru, the leader, Bhagavan Das Babaji. And he was scolding. At that time Shri Ramakrishna entered with a veil on his head. Everybody recognized him. He looked like a very ordinary person, very insignificant person. And Vaishnava Das Babaji, he was angry. Anger means so smriti, smriti nastaha. Then when smriti goes away, buddhi nashaha. This is beautifully outlined in the Bhagavad Gita, second chapter, one of these sthita prajna lakshanas. One forgets who is a father, who is a mother, that memory is lost. Once the memory is lost, then a person does not know what he is doing, what she is doing. A person coats ruin, he becomes ruined and it all starts eight-stepped way to going down and down. Strange thing is, it is a psychological process. So the same eight-stepped way from which we fall down as if like a play ball, once you throw it down the staircase, dancing and dancing and dancing, it in no time reaches the ground floor. Similarly, our mind can coat ruin through this eight-fold way. But the same eight-fold way can also ruin the samsara if we follow exactly the same footsteps. Anyway, so Bhagavan Das Babaji was scolding and Sairam Krishna, such a great soul, he could never tolerate this kind of behavior either with his guru Totapuri or with Bhagavan Das Babaji. He got up, his wearing cloth had fallen down. He started severely scolding. You think you are a great man. You think you will throw this person out of the community. You think you are the Jagat Guru. Who the hell are you? Is not the Divine Lord present? Can he not correct his own children? As Sairam Krishna was scolding, everybody was shocked. Until that time, perhaps nobody scolded Bhagavan Das Babaji whom they used to revere as a very great soul. Almost an incarnation of Sri Chaitanya. But here is an ordinary looking person and everybody was hesitated. How dare they criticize our Guru? But what was the reaction of Bhagavan Das Babaji himself who was being scolded? Immediately he understood what this person is saying is absolutely right. What right have I got? The Divine Lord is doing. He is the Palanakarta, Rakshanakarta, Stithikarta, Poshanakarta. Who am I to assume that I will snatch away your Japa Mala. I will throw you out of Vaishnava community. Instead of trying to make the person a better person, I will punish you. This is never an idea of any Sadguru. But this man was a great Sadhaka. Because he accepted, he understood and he folded his hands. And then somebody told him So when this Harishabha incident was reported, Bhagavan Das Babaji directed his scolding. What does it mean? It means his getting angry and scolding others was a habit. So he must have scolded many other people. And he will be scolding also until Sri Ram Krishna came and put a stop. He understood. This was the person who occupied. This was the person whom he felt a great soul, a great Mahatma has entered into my ashram. But looking at his heart, he thought this cannot be. Probably I was wrong. But now he realized. This is the person, that Mahatma. Only one Mahatma can recognize the other Mahatma. Pardon me for giving a wrong analogy. Only one thief can recognize the other thief. So one Jivanmukta alone can recognize another Jivanmukta. One great Sadhaka alone can recognize other great Sadhaka. And he took a bow. In future, I will not fall into this error. Hopefully that's what happened. Because the history doesn't tell us what happened. And he humbly begged the pardon of Sri Ramakrishna. They became very great chums and they started talking with each other. For some time they spent. And Sri Ramakrishna he really said, Bhagwan thus Babaji is a very great soul. Why? Because only a great soul is ever ready to accept his or her defects. So a Guru must be a Sampradayavit. This is the burden of very very important thing. Sampradayavit means what? His Guru never criticizes anybody. His Guru doesn't say that only one path is there. It is there all over. Sarvadeva Devi Swaroopa. Holy Mother was Sarvadeva Devi Swaroopa. Sri Ramakrishna is Sarvadeva Devi Swaroopa. Venkateshwara is Sarvadeva Devi Swaroopa. Sri Rama is Sarvadeva Devi Swaroopa. Shiva is Sarvadeva Devi Swaroopa. Divine Mother is Sarvadeva Devi Swaroopini. And this is there clearly in the Devi Mahapnya. Shumba. He criticizes. Shumba or Nishumba, I do not remember. Criticizes Divine Mother. Also you are flaunting your power because you are so many Shaktis. I am the only one. And then Divine Mother. Ekai Vaham Vritiya Na Asti. I am one only. Eta Madhvi Bhutaiyaha. All these Shaktis are my own powers. Look, I am withdrawing. She did not withdraw the powers. Separateness is gone. And of course she kills ultimately. So the same God is manifesting as Rama, as Krishna etc. We hear about Sri Ramakrishna very often quoted saying of Sri Ramakrishna himself. He was born as Rama. He was born as Krishna. In this age he is reborn as Ramakrishna. But we should never stop with Rama and Krishna. I was Jesus. I was Buddha. And how many other, in every other incarnation about whom? Infinite incarnations in infinite number of ages. Yadah Yadahi Dharmasya Glanir Bhavati. Aphyuddhanam Adharmasya Tadah Atmanam Sujamyaham Paritranaya Sadhunam Vinashaya Chadushkrutam Dharmasamstha Anarthaya Sambhavami Yuge Yuge Very interesting. You should know Yuge Yuge. What is Yuga? It is not a period of time. Of course it is a period of time from one point of view. But it is not a fixed period of time. This is one millennium. This is another millennium. No. Whenever Dharma goes down, that is the time Bhagawan comes. How does He come? As an incarnation. And what does He do? He wants to save good people and He wants to destroy evil people. Vinashaya Chadushkrutam But the wars, the killings, we have to understand in the Kurukshetra war do you think that only Kauravas died? Pandava army also entered and they were being eaten. Everything is food. You know for whom? For Bhagawan. In what form do you know? Kaala. Kaaloham Lokakshaya Krut Pravruddho Hrithepitvam Nabhavishyanti Sarve So you are just Nimitta Matram Bhava Savya Saachin You are only Namka Vaste. But everything I am only doing. So Kaaloh Jagat Bhaksha Kaha. Kaala is eater of everything. Whatever comes into existence will be eaten up and sent back to its constituent elements by time. Even if somebody is going to be born long time back hence may be after thousand thousand thousand billion years but after sometime Kaala it will destroy that being that object living non-living everything. So a Sampradaya with Navar says Navar limits the grace of God. That's why I want to remind you every time many times I reminded you I am reminding you I will be reminding you that does your Sadhana whether it be Karma Yoga Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Mana Yoga, will it give us liberation? Ram Krishna emphatically said no. No Sadhana can give us liberation. Why? What is liberation? Attainment of unlimitedness Mukti. And what is Sadhana? Limited. Limited by time, limited by space, limited by causation. So a limited effort can never give any unlimited result. I am repeating a limited effort can never give an unlimited result. This is what Shankaracharya repeats beautifully Karma is limited. Through Karma it is impossible to attain Mukti. Of course he limits rather limited interpretation of what is called Karma. But Sri Ram Krishna says even Gnana Yoga even to say I am Brahman is a Karma. Manasika Karma a thought I am Brahman I am not the world, I am not the body, I am not the mind. What are you doing? You are thinking, thinking, thinking your thoughts only. Every thought is limited. So a limited something cannot give unlimited. So is Karma Yoga limited or not? Yes. Bhakti Yoga is limited or not? Yes. Raja Yoga similarly. Gnana Yoga similarly. Everything is in the mind. Mind is limited and mind can never give Moksha. It need not give Moksha. It cannot give. It need not give. But then what happens? It becomes receptive. Sadhana will make us receptive. Proper receivers. And ultimately God's grace alone is the single cause for liberation. That is what Sri Ram Krishna emphasized and that is the essence of the Gospel of Sri Ram Krishna that is the essence of Ramayana, Mahabharata. A part of the Mahabharata is Bhagavad Gita. Ultimately after teaching everything what many Acharyas call Charamashloka. Surrender yourself. Remove yourself and I will liberate you. So Sadhana is meant only for complete self-surrender. God's grace alone can liberate. Not any limited effort which is called Karma. This must be crystal clear to all of us. So what am I talking? What are we discussing? A Sampradaya with Guru never says that this Marga alone is right and fit. Other Margas are inferior. Everybody it is like byways small roads leading to the motorway, national way, highway. No. Any path is a infinite path to the infinite because God is infinite. This is very necessary. Any Guru who teaches otherwise is an A Sampradaya with. That is he has not understood and he is misleading. Then do we really need a Guru? Without Guru nobody can reach God because who is Guru? Only God. And why is Guru necessary? Only a realized soul is a Guru. A realized soul is none other than Brahman and that Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara are manifesting in the form of the Guru. That should be our attitude. Now I want to emphasize something here. That's why I am taking so much of time. So an ordinary person, can he be a Guru? Yes. Provided you have Bhakti that is more than enough. In fact, even Guru is not necessary. Accepting Guru, somebody being accepted as a Guru if the disciple is sincere, the disciple will attain perfection. The greatest story we have to remember in this context is Ekalavya. Guru himself had rejected him and what type of Guru we will come to know later on that the most horrible Guru in this whole world was Dronacharya. Ekalavya was rejected and he went. He fashioned a small image of Dronacharya and he sincerely believed my Guru is God. Of course, God taught him and he became even better than Arjuna who was himself trained with special attention like what is called a professor guiding a PhD student. And then this was tested and then Guru was ashamed. How can this man be? So there must be some other Guru greater than me. Of course, he did not understand that the greatest Guru is God himself. So he asked who was your Guru? He did not even remember. And he said, you are my Guru. Oh! Then you are not given Guru Dakshina. Whatever you want, my Pranas you want, what do you want? You know, if Dronacharya had asked Ekalavya, give up your life, that would have been far better. But give up your right thumb. That means without that thumb, nobody can even try to string a bow and to use an arrow. That means he has deprived him. Instead of commanding, you also join the party of Pandavas. Instead of saying, simply cut off. And Ekalavya immediately cut off. Who is great? Guru or Sishya? Sometimes this kind of Gurus are there. They are more to be called Gurus. That is why Dronacharya's throat was cut. Not only that, so many things we have to learn from Mahabharata. Dronacharya was very partial. He taught this Brahmastra to his unworthy son because he was his son, Ashwathama. And he did not teach completely. Only how to press on the on button. But he forgot to give him instructions how to stop it. And what a disaster had happened because of this Ashwathama. Dronacharya was such a fool not to understand his son. He knew it. Here was a worthy disciple. He refused to teach. Here was an unworthy son. And because he is my son, I will teach him. That too to teach. This is how you launch an atom bomb. But you do not know how to stop it. What a horrible things. But all these are lessons learned from the Mahabharata. So, why is a Guru necessary? First of all, he must be Sampradaya. That means what? There will be absolutely no difference of opinion between what Vedas are talking, Upanishads are talking, Bhagavad Gita is talking, Gospel is talking. No Sampradaya with Guru. Every word of theirs will tell you what is said in the Upanishads, etc. And this is all we are recollecting. It does not matter. So, why is a Guru necessary? There are so many contradictory teachings in the Vedas. That is why Vedavyasa was forced to write Brahma Sutras to reconcile all these seemingly conflicting Vedic statements. And so many doubts will arise. And which Veda, which Upanishad, which Gita is trying to remove every possible doubt. They only hint at general teaching. And one requires a very sukshma buddhi, a very purified, refined, subtle, subtle capacity. That is why we pray But if a person is lucky, and a person will be lucky when the person is sincere, then he will understand what is the right teaching. Is it possible to progress in spiritual life without the help of a Guru? It is impossible. But before that, we have to remind ourselves, who is a Guru really? What is the definition of a Guru? So the word, there are two letters, Guru. Guru is Andhakaara, darkness, means avidya, Agna. Rukaara, the second letter, Tejaha, means light, means knowledge. Andhakaara, Nirodhatva, because the Guru, or the teachings of the Guru, they destroy this ignorance completely. Without the least possible doubt remaining. Therefore, the person from whom such a doubt, such a knowledge comes, is called Guru. That is why Guru is lauded. Ramana Maharshi personifies this tremendous amount of peace. He was such a Guru. He was none other than Dakshinamurthy himself. Anybody who goes into his presence, what happens? Chitta Vishyanti. The mind becomes absolutely peaceful. And this is Durlabha. Impossible by any amount of labor. Whatever the scriptures cannot give you, and other people's teachings cannot give you, but when Guru Kripa comes, the person becomes enlightened instantaneously. So this is what one neighboring person called Choudhury asks her. Is it not possible to have the vision of God without the help of a Guru? And Shri Ramakrishna clarifies there are no two things called Guru and God. Satchidananda himself is the Guru. Just when the vision of the Ishta is about to take place, the Guru appears before the aspirant and says to him, Behold, there is your God. Saying this, the Guru merges in the Ishta Devata. That means Ishta Devata manifests in the form of the Guru to give us the right type of guidance and Guru will not leave us until we attain to that right knowledge. Until we become merged like Himself in God, He will not leave us. Until that time, He will be with us. And He who is the Guru is also the Ishta. The Guru is the thread that leads to God. So, what does a Guru really do? A Guru saves a disciple from six-fold dangers. First is Ajnana, ignorance. Ignorance of what? What is our true destiny? What is that we are searching all the time? And are we travelling in the wrong pathways? So, a Guru will save us from that. Then, Samshaya. In the process of Sadhana, whenever we have any doubts, Guru comes in some form or the other and He reads. I will narrate a small incident to illustrate this. It is a beautiful book. Everyone of you must read it. It is called The Way of the Pilgrim. It is the autobiography of a Russian saint. There was a man. He was a householder. As it happened, his wife died and he wanted none other than God and the way in Christianity is prayer, unceasing prayer as Saint Paul teaches. This is the only Sadhana. Unceasing prayer. Now, how to do unceasing prayer? So, this man went on asking and very few people could really point out. So, ultimately, he met because God Himself comes. If we take one step forward, God comes running 100 steps forward. And He came forward in the form of a Guru and He told him, you repeat Jesus Mantra. What is the Jesus Mantra? They did not call it Mantra but they called it the name of prayer actually. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Jesus, have mercy on me. Jesus, have mercy on me. SNR. A bit of variation but it is a Mantra. Om Namo Bhagvate Vasudevaya. It is a Mantra. Om Namah Shivaya. It is a Mantra. Whatever Guru says is a Mantra. His instructions are Mantras. Do this. Do not do this. So, this man said, you repeat thousand times until it becomes natural. Within one day, he said that I could easily repeat and I experienced tremendous glow in my heart. I feel very happy. Then Guru said, now repeat it five thousand times. Within one or two days, he could do it. Then again he approaches ten thousand times, fifteen thousand times. Then he did not approach. Guru asked him, what happened? He said, the Mantra has taken over me. It is not allowing me. It repeats itself. Like after self-starter, the car, the engine catches on and it goes on all by itself. So, this person, he had an old copy of Philokalia. A great book. Wonderful book. Marvelous book. Teachings of Realized Souls in Russian Orthodox Church. So, once he used to read only that book. He learned how to read. And then, once he had a doubt and he was praying to his Guru, who by that time had passed away. This person does not say who he was. He says, he is a pilgrim. And we are all pilgrims only. Nobody else. So, he wholeheartedly offered a prayer. Please come and help me. And he had a dream. And then, after reading, he went to bed, keeping the book at a particular place with a bookmark. And then, his Guru came, took up the book and removed the bookmark and put it somewhere else and said, you read from here to here, your doubts will be removed. And he underlined them with a piece of charcoal. This was the dream this man had. And then, after that, Guru disappeared and this man he woke up and he was shocked to find the book elsewhere. He eagerly ran and he saw the bookmark somewhere else and it was marked with a charcoal. And when he read, he knew this was the answer he was seeking. So, Samshaya Nivrutti, destruction of any possible doubt. Then, Viparyaya, wrong or erroneous knowledge, misunderstandings. So, Samshaya is one problem, Viparyaya is another problem. If we don't have right knowledge, that is okay. But, if we have wrong knowledge, it is horrible. But, Guru patiently removes. Then, Pramadaha, sometimes because of old samskaras, because of the janma janmantara samskaras, one codes Pramadaha means danger. But, Guru comes and saves. There was a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. He was addicted to prostitutes. But, that samskara had not gone. After the passing of Sri Ramakrishna, one day, he could not resist the impulse. So, he made a beeline to one of the prostitutes he knew. And, that house requires climbing a few steps. And, this person was so engaged in thinking of this prostitute. You know, when a desire possesses us, possesses us like a bhuta, like a ghost. When he climbed this staircase, he saw Sri Ramakrishna looking at him intently. And then, out of shame, he fled away. But, don't think that was the end of this thing. There are so many incidents like that. But, what is meant is a Guru can save us from all dangers. That is the fourth kripa of Guru. What is the fifth kripa? Vipraladhehi Prejudice. Knowledge got from other people's views. Andhenaiva Neemanai. This is called Andhaparampara. Sometimes, we may appear to be sincere. But, we may be thinking of wrong things. Because, we have read some other books or we are convinced some other person, what he is telling is right. And, it goes on throughout Srishti Krama. At all ages, we find it. This is called Vipraladhehi. Wrong opinion. So, no opinion, complete ignorance, pramada and wrong opinion. And, a Sadguru always saves us from this Vipraladhehi. Of course, the last one is Guru. So, every devotee has a limitedness. Guru helps us to overcome our limited capacities. That means He helps us. Whatever be our limitations, that very limitation becomes a tremendous grace. This is called Apakaranatham. These are the six dangers. Every Sadguru, when we comply with Guru, He helps us like that. Then, the question comes, how and when and where? How, when, where shall we find a Guru? Or, when does a Guru really come to our aid? As I mentioned, Swamiji says, it is a mysterious law of nature that as soon as the field is ready, the seed must come. Then, is a realized soul really necessary to guide us? Some fools, they go on saying, unless a person like Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi, we will not accept anybody. So, for that, I gave the answer. A student in high school doesn't require really an Einstein to come and teach him. If Einstein really comes and teaches him, including his own son if necessary, do you think that son will understand? No, he can never understand. So, Einstein is necessary only when we acquire such a high degree of Maths or Physics, then Einstein will be relevant. But anybody who knows one step ahead of us is more than sufficient, provided we are willing to learn. When can a Guru really help us? Very interesting question. Why is our Guru not listening to our prayer, etc.? So, then we have to understand when we are ready to receive the grace of the Guru. Otherwise, even if Guru bestows His grace, we might even have temporarily some experience elevating higher experience, but we won't be able to retain it. Ramakrishna used to say, utensil which can hold only half a share cannot hold one share of milk or anything else. So, one example, devotees of Sri Ramakrishna always know on 1st January 1886, He bestowed His grace almost upon everybody who was present, but so far as I know, no one could retain it. Everybody failed. What about Swami Vivekananda? Even Sri Ramakrishna wanted in his eagerness to bestow everything all of a sudden on His beloved, most beloved, dearest disciple, Narendra. He could not take it. Sir, what are you doing to me? I have my parents in Calcutta. And Sri Ramakrishna has to re-bring his mind down. So, what is the point of all this? It is that when we are ready, the Guru is ever ready. The breeze of God's grace is always blowing. Let us unfurl our sails. When we unfurl our sails, the wind of God's grace takes our boat to the right destination. So, how do we become qualified? This, we will discuss in our next class. Om Jananim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padme Tayo Sritva Pranama Me Mohur Mohur May Sri Ramakrishna Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna