Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 105 on 30-January-2024

Summary

Swami discusses how spiritual progress can be made with or without a guru. He shares examples from the lives of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and their disciples to illustrate the guru-disciple relationship. The main points are:

- It is possible but extremely difficult to make spiritual progress without a guru. Sri Ramakrishna relied on his intuition and prayers to the Divine Mother in his early sadhana. Later, the Divine Mother herself guided him step-by-step in his spiritual practices.

- A guru should not be worshipped out of ego. True reverence for the guru arises when one's devotion transcends ego and sees the guru as an instrument of the Divine. The guru is a conduit for the grace and teachings of the Divine.

- The sign of spiritual progress is not ego gratification, but one's own transformation. If the disciple is not improving, it indicates lack of spiritual readiness rather than inadequacy of the guru. When the disciple is ready, the guru will come.

- One must have the courage to face oneself truthfully, without excuses or self-deception, in order to grow spiritually. Swami outlines 22 thoughtful self-reflection questions to help spiritual aspirants analyze their own motives and progress.

- To be considered a true devotee of God or Guru, one must follow their teachings and commandments in daily life. One should reflect whether one's actions match one's claims of devotion.

- One must give up criticizing, gossiping, and wasting time in fruitless activities. One's company shapes one's character. Association with holy people, places, conversations uplifts the mind.

- Delighting in holy company, one should seek to understand the deeper meaning in scriptures, songs, teachings. Contemplating these elevates the mind.

- How one reacts to criticism reveals one's spiritual maturity. Critique by others can help one see their own faults. Progress requires living among those who point out one's flaws.

- Like the Divine Mother's tough love for disciples, a guru may sometimes appear harsh outwardly for the disciple's inner benefit. This demands surrender of ego and unquestioning faith.

- The guru-disciple relation is the greatest spiritual practice. The fully surrendered disciple sees the guru as God Himself and follows the guru's wish over personal desire.

In conclusion, Swami emphasizes that spiritual growth demands absolute sincerity, discrimination, proactive effort and introspection. One must give up ego and fully surrender to the guru or chosen deity. By their grace, one transcends the ego-self and achieves God-realization. Living an exemplary life of selflessness and compassion is the proof of inner attainment.

Detailed Transcript

We are studying how to progress in spiritual life. In that context, can we progress without the help of a Guru? The answer is yes, it is possible but extremely difficult. Many times I had mentioned, Sri Ramakrishna's first spiritual sadhana was without the help of any Guru, any scripture, any guidance. Purely through intuition, purely through wholehearted prayer, the Divine Mother had manifested Herself, and then She used to guide him to such an extent.

We can recollect one small incident. Sri Ramakrishna started the puja. Of course, He knew – we must never forget that Sri Ramakrishna is what is called – once He listens to something, He will never forget. Swami Vivekananda had to read or listen twice, but Sri Ramakrishna only once. So He formally learned how to do puja, but He completely relied upon the Divine Mother. Later on, He was recollecting that, I earnestly prayed to the Divine Mother, and She started telling, now this is the first step, this is the second step, this is the third step, so on and so forth. But very soon His devotion had grown so enormously, which Swami Vivekananda used to call Raghatmika Bhakti, mature devotion, supreme devotion where the rules and regulations completely fall down. The rules, regulations – Sri Rama Krishna used to give an analogy. How long does a plant really require a fence? A fence is meant to protect the plant. Once the plant grows sufficiently strong, even, He used to say, elephants could be tied to it. What is that fence we are talking about? That is called Guru. Our fence is the Guru. We must surround ourselves with the Guru. But as we elaborately discussed in our earlier talks, Guru cult should never be encouraged.

What is Guru cult? My ego supporting my Guru, surpassing my Guru, and I feel accordingly. If someone praises my Guru, I feel inflated. If someone criticizes, I feel deflated. So this is called Guru cult. There is nobody else who is as great as my Guru. Nobody as great, as supreme as my God. Even sometimes there are some people, they do not belong to Guru cult, but they are highly advanced spiritual people, maybe even realized souls. They consider Guru even greater than God.

Sri Rama Krishna is a beautiful example because he knew how to make us understand. There was one Goswami, a disciple of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He was in Vrindavan. He had a lot of disciples. And Hindus have a peculiar belief that every place is ruled by a particular deity. For example, Kashi is ruled over by whom? Not by Lord Vishwanath, but by Mother Annapurna. Kanchi is ruled over by the Divine Mother Kamakshi. Madhura or Madurai is ruled over by Meenakshi. So here in Vrindavan, it is the Radha. Because she is the Shakti. She is the Divine Energy.

So this Sanatana Goswami, I think, it doesn't matter. He was extremely harsh, strict towards his disciples. Of course, they were all great people. So they could not tolerate his harshness. So they prayed against their Guru. And I think most of us are also like that. Oh Mother, our Guru is becoming intolerable. Please reduce his harshness. And then she did their prayer. And one day appeared to this Goswami Guru and said, Son, be a little bit compassionate towards your children. And he turned against her. And then said, You are the daughter of a cowherd. You know only how to graze cows. What do you know how to discipline disciples? So take off from yourself.

So you see, that is not Guru cult. That is extreme devotion and the welfare of the disciples. Because the Guru can take harsh measures. But nowadays it is just the Guru has to totally go on pleasing, sharing whatever he gets. Otherwise, there is a great chance that the disciples will give notice to the Guru. We have found out a better quality Guru and we can reach there. So our devotion to Guru, that is the greatest fence. Not only it is the greatest fence, but it is the greatest spiritual practice, which I will come to later on.

What should be our relationship with our Guru? How do we know that what I am going to speak out is right or wrong? So say Ramakrishna, Holy Mother. Of course, Holy Mother was an exception. But Swami Brahmananda, Swami Vivekananda, etc. But best of all, say Ramakrishna. Even better is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

I am just remembering some of the incidents since we are talking about the gospel of Ramakrishna. Most of us not only have heard about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, at least those who are attending the gospel classes are familiar with the life of Ramakrishna and the Ramakrishna mission literature. They know how close Ramakrishna and Chaitanya were. And there is a great belief that Chaitanya has reincarnated himself in the form of Sri Ramakrishna. Not only he said he who was Rama, he who was Krishna, and in brackets we have to add he who was Buddha, Jesus or Christ, etc. Because every avatar comes from the same source. Saguna Brahma, Qualified Brahman. Assuming the form of a human being for teaching human beings who cannot otherwise understand and leading a model life. That is very important. So this Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, extraordinarily sweet person. So far, if a person approaches only, just sufficiently near. But anybody approaches too near, then he becomes one of the strictest punish masters. So there is an incident, there was a great devotee and a great attendant of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He was called Choto Haridas. That is Junior Haridas. Because there was a Senior Haridas who was actually a Muslim. Very, very interesting story. There was a Muslim and he was a lover of Krishna. He was initiated by a Hindu Guru. And anybody, any Muslim who converts himself into other religion, most likely he will be killed. And this person, everyday he used to chant the name of, or the Maha Mantra, they call it Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare This is called Maha Mantra. This is what most of the Krishna Bhaktas, especially North India, want to do it. But the South Indian Vaishnavas, they are called, most of them, Sri Vaishnavas. Om Namo Narayanaya That is the Astakshari Mantra. A few people, Om Namo Bhagvate Vasudevaya As Narada initiated Dhruva Maharaj.

Now coming back, there was this another younger person and he is also called Haridas. To distinguish between these two, he was called Choto Haridas, Bodo Haridas. Now the story of the Bodo Haridas, I have narrated, but it is worth recollecting every time. These are the most sacred lives of the greatest souls.

He was living in a village and he never used to mix with anybody. Everyday he used to chant the name of God one hundred thousand times. Practically, that left no time for him, excepting a little bathing, eating and a few hours of snatched sleep. And people instinctively understood that here is a very holy person. By the pure life he was leading. And then he became very popular. That became an eyesore to the Jamindar, the landlord. He paid some amount of money, engaged a public woman to go and tempt him. This happens practically in every religion. In Christianity we have got hundreds of stories like that.

So this lady came and she was an expert actress. She dressed herself not as a public woman, but as a great devotee of Krishna. Pure white cloth and Tulsi beads and Namas. And she sat in front of this person's cottage. Cottage means... English cottage is totally different. Most of the English cottages are palatial homes. Whereas our huts, there is no comparison at all. So he used to come once at noon. She was waiting and at noon he came out. Immediately she wanted to speak with him, spend time with him. He said, Mother, please pardon me. I have not completed my Harinama. So I will have to go and take bath and come back. And when I complete it, then I will speak with you. But it took the whole day. So the same incident occurred three times. And by the third day, what Sri Ramakrishna used to call the glory of Satsanga, she was totally converted. And then on the fourth day, when he had a little time, she confessed her motive. But by that time, she was thoroughly transformed. Then he said, Please give me the name of Krishna. And ever afterwards, she spent, until she died, only the name of Bhagavan Krishna. And unsurprisingly, same thing happened to many of the actresses whom Girish Babu introduced to Sri Ramakrishna and their life, Tara, etc., exemplary life. Even many sannyasins cannot bear resemblance or comparison to these so-called people because they have gone to the lowest depths that is possible. They know what is what. But when the reformation came, that was the greatest thing that had happened.

So, now coming back, this Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is served by this Chotavari Das. And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is very fond. Why was he very fond? Why was Sri Ramakrishna very fond? Nowadays, to speak of one man being fond of the other person leads to many miscalculations, misunderstandings. But this is the purest relationship. The more devotion a person has, the more that person comes nearer to either Sri Ramakrishna, or Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, that is the truth.

So he came, this Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, knowing the purity of this person, he had engaged him that you be my personal attendant. And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was living at Puri at that time because the last 18 years of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu were spent at Puri and there was a place, a cottage called Gambhira. And that is where he lived. And according to Sri Ramakrishna, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu used to pass through three states, not Jagrat, Swapna, Sushupti. That is common to all of us. But conscious state, semi-conscious state, completely unconscious state. Nothing to do with our three states. That is when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu used to be conscious of the external world, his own body, he used to mix with the devotees, sing, dance, etc.

When he used to enter into semi-conscious state, he used to only dance, no one could ever escape because the mind was not there. But when he used to enter into deep Samadhi, the question of either dancing or much less singing doesn't arise at all. And 18 years Mahaprabhu had spent that way.

So what happened, this Haridas used to serve him and everyday Chaitanya Mahaprabhu used to take the Prasadam of Jagannath Mahaprabhu. But occasionally, some devotees used to invite him and if he knows that they are pure devotees, he used to go and eat the Prasadam. And one day, he was invited by a poor couple, householder, and he went but he found first-class rice, quality rice and many other things. He knew this couple could not afford so as if very casually, he asked them, this beautiful food, tasty food, and then they confessed. Haridas is the reason. He only went to some rich person and then saw that we get good rice, etc.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had come to know that his attendant had spoken with a woman devotee. Because Haridas was considered a sanyasi now. And then he went back. And thereafter, he never talked with Haridas. He asked him to get out of his presence and he did not relent. Devotees tried. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, if you do not like my behavior, I will go away from here. And immediately, their mouth was shut. And this Haridas, against hope, that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would forgive him. But he did not see. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did not relent at all. So he had to willy-nilly leave the place, go to Allahabad and commit suicide at Triveni. This is a very sad story from our point of view. And when this news later on came to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, because the devotees did not dare to mention the name of Haridas, even the name. Long afterward, when he came to know, his only remark was well served. He deserved it. For a sanyasi to speak with the opposite sex. Now how harsh it was, we can just understand. Can we understand that? Absolutely no. So this is not Guru cult. This is a Guru. Can he be so harsh? Can he not forgive? Even after the disciple realizes his mistake, repents of it and would never again dare to do it. We don't know. Sometimes it happens. We just have to swallow it. Whatever be our judgments. Even now I cannot understand it.

What I am trying to tell you is that when one considers one's Guru greater than God, and then he is ready to forge that kind of relationship, what does that mean? We are going to discuss. But before that, I want to know. We all have the highest regard, respect, reverence for our own Gurus. So we say, "My Guru is great." It could be a statement of egotism. If my Guru is great, then I must be great because I had the brains to choose such a person. So once we choose a Guru, then we should never leave him. Why? The question was also discussed by me quite a number of times. If a teacher happens to be slipping down from the path of spirituality later on, will it affect the spiritual progress of the disciple? The categorical answer is no; it will never happen. Why? Because if a disciple has the highest love for the Guru, then that Guru will not be a human being but God Himself. The highest reverence can never be given to any human being, only to God.

What I mean to say is, when our reverence naturally grows, then it transcends all the barriers of brother disciples, Guru, everybody. Only God is manifest in the mind of such a person. So he is getting the directions directly, straight from God Himself, Satchitananda Himself. So when Satchitananda Himself occurs through the instrumentality of that particular person, it doesn't matter. Like a broken pipe or leaky pipe, it doesn't matter. But the water that is coming would not be coming from the Guru. It is coming pure water from the sky. Pure rainwater, distilled water. So He can never grow up because the God who is inside the hearts of everybody He knows, He is watching, and accordingly He will guide us. And so Satchitananda alone is the Guru. So we should, if at all we want to claim our Guru is great, then how do we know? Because if we are great, our Guru is great. If we are progressing, then our Guru is great. But if we are not progressing, if our lives are not being transformed, then even God Himself can never teach us until we are ready. This is what Swami Vivekananda said. When the field is ready, the seed will come by itself.

So, there are some questions I have formulated. There are 22 questions. Every aspirant should ask oneself and answer for oneself. And even to answer for oneself or even to ask for oneself, one should have the courage. What great philosophers tell us is that the courage to face oneself squarely, not excusing, not hiding, not inventing some kind of covers because all mad fellows, they become mad, they are mad, they are certified as mad only because they are trying to run away from their own problematic selves. So, even to analyze ourselves, we require certain qualifications. Only a sharp mind that is granted to us by the grace of the Divine Mother alone can come to us.

So, am I a devotee of God? Last class I have raised this question. And most of the people, not only we say, "I am a devotee of God," and we certify other devotees, "This is a devotee of God" while introducing. Why? Because we go to Belur Math, we go to some ashrama and some of us have taken initiation, so we must be devotees of God. And sometimes I make fun, as you know, that if God is asked, "Do you know this person?" He says, "I never heard of this person." So, the answer, most likely, we say, "Yes, I am a devotee of God. Other people are also devotees of God." But we are talking about one's own self, let alone other people. So, most likely, I say that I am a devotee of God. But most likely, I am wrong. The best I should answer is, "I am not yet one; I am not a devotee yet, but I wish to be a devotee of God." Then, who can call me a devotee of God? Only Bhagawan. The 12th chapter in the Bhagavad Gita is a marvellous chapter, and there are certain verses. And we have to go back and say that such a person with such qualifications, qualities, sattva gunas, he alone is qualified to be. Bhagawan has to give the certificate, not any one of us.

Now, coming back to these questions, these are very, very profound questions. So, I can only briefly describe them. So, I am talking because this is a gospel class, that means we are studying the teachings of life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna for the followers of Sri Ramakrishna, but for the followers of any other teacher, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, a Christian, a Muslim, or a Buddhist or following any other traditions, Rama or Hanuman or so many Gods and Goddesses are there. Hinduism is spoiled for choice. It is a big supermarket. Even Krishna himself, how many forms he has got. Do you want Balakrishna? Do you want Gopikrishna? Do you want Gopakrishna? Do you want Gita Krishna? What? And some of our devotees might not know it because we always see the figure of Sri Krishna as very young, but it is said he lived nearly 125 years. How do you think Krishna will look at the age of 100, not to speak of 125? But the devotees will say this photograph of my chosen deity is what I would like to keep all the time and contemplate upon it. So if I am a devotee, follower or I claim I am a follower of Sri Ramakrishna, then what should I do? What can prove I am a follower? Do I follow the commandments of Sri Ramakrishna or Holy Mother or Swami Vivekananda, etc.? I have in some details discussed these five commandments of Sri Ramakrishna, five commandments of the Holy Mother and some of these questions. So this is the first thing. Do I know what are the commandments of Sri Ramakrishna and Holy Mother and do I understand them and do I follow them? And the rest of these questions are a little bit of elaboration based upon these commandments of Sri Ramakrishna and Holy Mother. So the first question, we have to question ourselves and answer ourselves. Do I follow the commandments of either Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swamiji but as I said, do I imitate Jesus Christ? Do I really follow the spiritual teachings of Mohammed? Because there are political issues. There are many other issues. We are not concerned. A devotee is never concerned. So second, based upon this, do I indulge in criticizing, backbiting, gossiping, etc.? Now, I put it in an extreme form. It doesn't mean that only when I criticize, backbite, gossip. So if I go on reading the newspaper or watching the news for a long time, that also comes under this question only. I am wasting my time, etc. So much less if I am criticizing or backbiting or gossiping and most of these things are deadly poisonous things. Let us question and see how many of us dare

to say, "No, I do not criticize. I do not backbite. I do not gossip." How do we know? Because I have no time. I remember a beautiful incident in the life of Rabia. Rabia was one of the greatest women saints following Sufism not the orthodox what is called Islam. So once she had many followers. She became famous as a great mystic. She used to have a lot of visions, etc. So one day, somebody came and said such and such a person is criticizing you left right center. Then they were watching. She was not saying anything. Then they asked Rabia, why are you not reacting? And then she replied, "I am in so much love with Allah that I do not have time to think who is praising me or who is blaming me." Such a marvelous life. And by the way, every devotee who wishes to be a devotee must read the stories of saints and sages. Every day, no day should pass by without reading something about the glorious scriptures or especially the lives of saints. The teachings of saints, more or less they will be the same. They don't differ much. But the incidents in the lives of great saints and sages were great inspiration to most of us. So ask the question, do I criticize, backbite, gossip and honestly answer. You can write down these things actually. Third, am I wasting my time, energy in needless activities? And this is most important. So even there was a great book, you know, I don't remember the author actually, I am forgetting nowadays some of the things. So, it says how to live 24 hours a day. This is the name of the book. It's available on the internet and for your good devotees it is completely free. Downloadable and free. So how to live 24 hours a day? And a beautiful instruction is given. Supposing a person wants to complete the gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. It is having more than 1000 pages. So, when I get, when I retire, when I get long holiday, then I will take it up. That's never going to happen. So it says, buy a book, tear it into a single page, stuff a few pages into your pocket and while you are travelling on the coach or on the train, whatever it is, then you take out the page just to finish. And in no time, you are going to finish it. Very important point is we should never waste. Sri Ramakrishna's life, look at it, as soon as he became aware that he was spending his time in worldly life, he was as if possessed by a tremendous spiritual fervor. The first thing he did was stop wasting time in talking with others and doing unnecessary things whole night. For more than 12 years, he used to spend in Panchavati, only weeping for the Divine Mother. And early morning he used to come. Of course, naturally some of our listeners, audience, they will get the doubt, when was he able to sleep? What is the purpose of sleep? To get rest. And when Sri Ramakrishna used to plunge into deep Samadhi, what do you think he was getting? Tremendous amount of rest. So he will get much more rest than what we get in deep sleep. So he stopped all other activities. Only one earnest prayer. And this attitude did not stop until 12 years have passed. So, let us ask. Then, what is the fourth question? What type of company am I keeping? By company, I mean what type of food? What type of books? What type of people? What type of places? So, what am I watching? What am I contemplating? So ask yourself. Because the very first instruction of Sri Ramakrishna was always to cultivate Satsanga. Satsanga alone can transform our lives. If we are in holy company, we also become holy. Sri Ramakrishna used to give an example. There is one analogy in Sanskrit. It is called Brahmara Keta Nyaya. Keta means a small insect that was stung by a wasp and the pain was so intense that the insect cannot but keep on thinking when am I going to get the next dosage. It thinks fearfully of the wasp. And in course of time, it transforms itself into wasp, meaning to say what happens is when it catches some insect, it bites it and because of it, it becomes paralyzed. And then, the wasp lays its eggs and when the small insects come out, babies come out, they go on eating. This is called storage food. People must have noticed only this insect is gone and the wasp babies have come as if the insect has turned itself into a wasp. Of course, we should not take literally this comparison. Brahmara Keta Nyaya means a person who meditates. When he meditates upon, she meditates upon, he or she becomes it. Ramakrishna became like Hanuman by meditating constantly upon Hanuman. She became like a beautiful woman by meditating upon Radharani. So by meditating upon Divine Mother Kali, he became Mother Kali. Sometimes his whole body used to become twisted and express Mother Kali's forms. The devotees who have seen, they alone can understand what intense thinking can do. Modern psychologists really cannot appreciate that intense thinking can transform us. And that is the psychology. If we keep holy company, think deeply, intensely about those people, those books, those holy places, those bhajans, etc. Our life also slowly becomes transformed. So what type of company am I keeping? In English there is a saying, you tell me what books you read or what company you keep, I will tell you who you are. And literally it is true. Then fifth question, do I delight in holy company? Do I delight in holy books, holy talks, holy conversation, holy thoughts? Am I listening? Because my Guru told me and I feel guilty, I am supposed to be a spiritual aspirant, so I listen to these talks. I listen to these bhajans. Very, very sad story, how many hundreds of bhajans we have heard. First of all, we enjoy the music and especially if the singer is a very good singer, then we become delighted. Is that really a holy delight or is it our lower instinctual nature has been roused up and then we enjoy. If we have even the smallest aesthetic sense, we can really enjoy. But that is far removed from bhajanananda. This is not bhajanananda. This is a little bit of beautiful voice, hypnotic voice and some people have marvelous voice. They can really make us enter deep into ourselves. That has nothing to do. We have to make effort to understand the meaning of the bhajans and to contemplate upon the bhajans. Simple example I am giving. You are all intelligent people. You can extrapolate whatever you want to do. There is a beautiful song. I think Narsimhaitha. Vaishnava janathon Tene kahiye, che peed parayi jane re. Who is entitled to be called a real Vaishnava. Vaishnava janathon. That he is a Vaishnava. Tene kahiye. Such a person alone deserves. Who? Je parayi peeda jane re. He who knows the sorrows, the sufferings, all the what is called negative experiences that person is going through, identifies himself and then he feels I am going through that experience. Only such a person is entitled. But this is not the only one. He who considers what is called the other people's wives or daughters as one's own mother. Such a person is a Vaishnava. A catalogue of beautiful characteristics of a devotee are outlined there in that bhajan. Sri Ramakrishna was very fond of singing bhajans. So there are many bhajans. Our first, if we want to enjoy, our first duty is to find out. Let me understand the literal meaning of this bhajan and then let me enjoy the music and let me contemplate.

There is a beautiful incident in the life of Sri Ramakrishna. There was a would-be sannyasin called Sri Maharaj. In the future, he would be Swami Turiyananda. Just a few days back, on the 24th of this month, we had the birthday celebration of Swami Turiyananda ji. For those who do not know, he left Calcutta and came to Varanasi and lived here. Just next to the next building, he lived in a small room, and he passed away there. Another monastic disciple who came was Swami Adbuthananda. These two direct disciples have decided to come to Kashi and then pass away.

So this Swami Turiyananda, he was studying Vedanta. Sometimes he did not even care to come and visit Sri Ramakrishna. So one day, Sri Ramakrishna wanted to teach him a lesson. He sang a beautiful Bengali song. The essence of the song is, "O Lord, You are my everything. Natha tumi sarvasho amar. You are my everything. You are my past. You are my present. You are my future. You are my relatives. You are my Guru. You are my loving mother. You are my chastising father. Everything." And then, at the end, Sri Ramakrishna remarked, "Take up one particular idea from this song and then be absorbed in realizing it. You will reach the goal. You will realize God." Every bhajan practically takes up. But there is something very special. Perhaps in the future, I might talk about the different moods, Navarasa. But apart from that, so many sadhakas, when they are undergoing spiritual practice, according to the progress they are making, according to the obstacles that they are encountering, spontaneously, they used to burst out in this poetic. They are not simply sitting and thinking and writing. All these things are inspired by the Divine Mood, and it used to spontaneously come out through their intuitive experiences. So, some of us might be going through the same processes, and if we can have, if we can sing those bhajans, suiting those particular moods, then there is great aid, help to push us forward in our own sadhana. So, this is how Sri Ramakrishna did. This is how we also have to do it. The fifth question, what is it? Do I delight in holy company, holy books, holy talks, holy conversation, holy thoughts? Do holy conversation, holy talks? Do you get bored? Do you go to sleep? And how long can you hold a speech? Very interesting. And since you are good devotees, I am sharing this secret with you. Some useless fellows come to waste my time. And they claim that they are sincere spiritual aspirants. But a few seconds we know what is the trend of their thought. So, they only want to talk about worldly things. They want somebody. Probably their spouses are not ready to listen. So, this poor Swami, he has got all the time in the world. So, he can spend his time. So, they dare to come. And I also found out the remedy for it. So, you know what is the remedy? If I go on listening to them, 25 minutes, one hour, one and a half hours they will only catalogue all their worldly affairs. And it is their waste of time, my waste of time. And then at the end, you know, they love me. "Swami, you are so sympathetic, so loving. I want to come and meet you again." And I say, "No more of that nonsense. I know." So, from that, we have to learn by talking with each person how to react to that person. So, if I am sincere about it, I want to save my time. As soon as the devotee comes, I take him to my interview room. May keep him there. And I bring out the highest subjects, Nirvikalpa Samadhi, and etc. And then, you know what happens? After 5-10 minutes, they start looking at their watches. And then they say, "Swami, such marvelous talk. We don't really want to leave, but we have urgently to meet. We have an appointment." And I know in my heart, I have succeeded. And then, they make good pranam and then take leave of me. And that would probably be the last thing that I see their faces. So, if you want, so it may be your relatives. This is a very practical question. Especially for householders. So many people come. They are not interested in spirituality. They want to kill your time. Killing your time means killing you, literally speaking. So, you have to find out some strategy. How to minimize that thing without offending the other person. And that can create a lot of tensions, even what we call friendships can break, but that is the price we have to pay. And those who are sincere, and they are very few, so in the end, we are left out to be alone. That is the price we have to pay. Ask yourself, do I delight? Does it give me happiness? And do you know what Sri Ramakrishna used to do? Whenever such people come, he understands intuitively that these persons are not interested in spiritual talks. So, very nicely, beautiful buildings. So, you go and see beautiful buildings, or the garden is very beautiful. At this time, there are many flowers. It is a very polite way of saying, 'Get the hell out of here.' We have to bring out. If we are sincere, we have to do that. And many of you may be thinking, 'Swami, it is okay for sannyasins, but we are householders.' In spiritual life, this sannyasa and householdership do not hold. Do you want to move forward? Or you don't want to move forward?

So, great householder disciples like Ramachandra Dutta, like M, like Nagamahasaya, there are some, how did they spend their time? Go back to their lives. You will understand. Then, we move on to the sixth question. Mind you, that I have got a lot to speak on this subject, but I am going to only briefly introduce you. Sixth question: How do I react to other people's criticism? You see, when we are living in this world, don't expect everybody will praise you. Most likely, the only person who will praise you is the person who wants to get something from you. But, genuinely speaking, very few people appreciate, because everybody compares themselves and feels they are superior, greater than any one of us. So, if other people criticize, what do they do? This is one way of impasse for them. And one psychologist had expressed, why do people criticize other people? Because this is the only way they can feel that 'I am not like that.' But, there is a subtle psychological fact involved. If I want to criticize others, if I want to find fault with others, unless I have that fault, unless I have the knowledge of that fault, I cannot even see the other person's fault. It is impossible. A child cannot criticize a grown-up person like that. A child only sees from a child's point of view because he has not yet developed those negative qualities himself. Therefore, he is incapable of even finding out the same qualities in other people. So, this is an infallible test. How do I react to other people's criticism? And there is something very great in this. If we want to grow, we must grow in an environment where most of the time we receive criticism. Seems to be a strange advice, adverse advice, but this is not my advice. This is what Swami Vivekananda said in his inspired talks that he had given for three weeks' time at Thousand Island Park near New York. He said, 'If you want to progress fast in spiritual life, go and live in the company where everybody is finding your faults.' And if some people are criticizing us, does it benefit us? Definitely, it will benefit us. Because we are blind to other people. We are blind to our own faults. But, we have got tremendous expertise to find out other people's faults. That's why Senior Swami mentioned something very beautiful. So, it is like using a telescope. When we look at other people's faults, we look in the right way. The small side of the telescope and a bigger lens will be there at the other end. Everything is magnified a thousandfold. Even the smallest defect appears to be a huge defect. But, when we have to criticize ourselves, we reverse the telescope, and we see at ourselves from the other end. And, that is why Jesus Christ was forced to tell that before you want to take out the mote in the other person's eye, take out the beam which is in your own eye. Very beautiful. Jesus Christ's teachings are pure Vedanta. There is no difference. Because He was an Incarnation of God and He teaches only what is Truth.

So, find out how do I react? Even my husband, even my children, even my wife. So, find out. Everybody criticizes. I have encountered something very important, you know. When I was in the UK, one householder devotee's husband and wife came, and the wife was complaining, 'Swamiji, my husband always finds fault with my cooking, especially dal.' Then, the husband also said, 'Yes, it is true.' He admitted in front of me that he is. Then I asked him, 'How long are you married?' 'More than 33 years.' 'Okay. How many times did she cook? Has she been cooking your food, preparing your food?' 'Practically every day. Except when we go on holidays, etc.' And, 'How many times did she spoil the dal or the curry?' 'Hardly. You can count on your this thing. Maybe, salt is a little more added or less added. If salt is added less, there is no problem. You can add it. If it is added more, then there is a problem.' So, you forgot 33 years of cooking and only remember just a few times. Interestingly, Sri Ramakrishna passed a very biting remark. 'What is the difference between God and man?' Sri Ramakrishna said, this is there in many wisdom sayings. So, there Sri Ramakrishna said that if you do 99 turns good to a human being and one bad turn, he will forget all the 99 good turns and remember only that bad turn. But if you do 99 bad turns to God and one good turn, then God will remember only that one turn and never anything else. This is the difference between God and man, and we want to be God. Therefore, we also have to acquire the quality of that God. So, what is the 6th question? How do I react to others' criticism? Moving on to the 7th question: How do I cope with suffering, with death, with tragedy, and all the downsides of life? Do you see something very curious here? Whenever something good is happening, we don't take much cognizance of it. Only we remember for a long time when there is suffering; we start complaining to God. Do we complain to God when I am so happy? What right have you got to impose this so much joy on me? Do we ever complain? No. But the slightest suffering, pain, immediately, why me? Meaning, let others have it but let me not have so much of it. So, a devotee, how does he cope? He has to say Sukha Dukhe Sukha Dukhe Same Kritva Labha Labha Jaya Jaya Yuddhaya Yujjasva Naivam Papam Avapsyasi. Bhagavan Krishna's advice to Arjuna Sukha Dukha: Why do they happen? Because of one's own past karmas. But we are reaping them now. Not only that, it is not proper to think only of the remembrance of past karmas. Of course, we don't remember what we have done in the past life. But definitely, we should be able to remember what wrong things we have done in this life. And that is how we learn. The learning curve is there. So, how do I cope with all these things? Have they something to teach to us? Have failures, sufferings, pains; do they have something to teach to us? Definitely, they are great teachers. From each suffering, we can learn a tremendous lesson. What is the first lesson? That I must have done something wrong. And this is only karma phala. Because most Hindus, we are believers of past karma, especially of what is called previous existences, previous births.But the most important thing is, if we don't suffer, how do we develop sympathy? How do we develop what is called compassion? Looking upon others and feeling their suffering, etc. Why do you think Swami Vivekananda, Sri Ramakrishna was born in a poor family, why do you think Swamiji had to suffer so much? Not because he did any terribly bad karma. He never did any bad karma. But Sri Ramakrishna, our God, wanted to make him teach that most of the people are suffering so much. And if you do not feel sympathy, compassion, empathy with them, then you will not be able to do much good.

Here is a great psychological principle that only a person who feels people's suffering, like his own, such a person alone, he can do really something good. The rest of the people, they do not do it. Beautiful things are there. And so many other questions also. And remember, I am only discussing very briefly. We will talk about them in our next class. Om Jananim Sharadaam Deivim Ramakrishnam Jagat Gurum Pada Padme Tayo Saritva Pranamaami Mohur Moho May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna."

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