Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 115 on 02-July-2024

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

We are discussing Sri Ramakrishna's visit to Ishwar Chandra Vidya Sagar. The topic is extraordinarily great. This is what a toughest, most difficult to understand part of the Upanishads. But in practical terms, the topic that we are discussing, what is the nature of a Jeevan Mukta? Does he have an ego? If he has, then who keeps it? Does he keep it? Very, very interesting because we all have egos. Jeevan Mukta also seems to be having an ego. Really speaking, he doesn't have. But he cannot function like a Jeevan Mukta, like a living free. If there is no ego, transaction is not possible at all. That is very important for us to understand. What is the difference between a bound soul and a free soul? Bound soul also will be doing things, activities. Life is nothing but spending of energy, exhausting energy, replenishing energy. A Jeevan Mukta also has to do. He has to breathe, he has to eat, he has to drink. There are certain fundamental differences. First of all, a Jeevan Mukta doesn't have identity. There is a body, there is a mind. He doesn't say this is my body or my mind. It is God's body, it is God's mind. And this is one of the greatest lessons. Totapuri Maharaj has to learn after staying with Sri Ramakrishna in the company of Sri Ramakrishna for 11 months. He wanted to give up his body. What does he mean? I have a body and that has become an obstruction, so I must give it up. Does the body really belong to him? Does he really, even his own existence, is it an independent existence? He had to learn the lesson in a very hard way, even though he was granted Nirvikalpa Samadhi out of Divine Mother's grace. Then the mother, after a failed attempt at suicide, in that huge Ganga, where huge ships sink, and this body could not get drowned. And that itself was a source of astonishment for him. Then he came to the other side. Then the Divine Mother understood. My child is ready for the highest realization. He doesn't have an existence apart from me. So what you are calling your body is me. Your body is me. Your mind is me. Whatever you say yours is me only. This is one of the highest concepts. We should not, at least persons who are capable of thinking, should not say Divine Mother has a body or Divine Mother has a mind. Then there would be no difference between us and the Divine Mother. Does God have a body? No, He doesn't have. Because that which is all-pervading cannot have a form. Because form is a limitation. Even the biggest mountain, it is measurable. It has a limitation in space, height, weight, width, three-dimensional. But that which is all-pervading cannot have. Similarly, we have to apply this logic to existence, as well as knowledge, as well as to bliss. So when we say, I am happy, it is part of being unhappy. Most of us do not realize that the very knowledge that I am happy is the result of my knowledge that I was unhappy. For now, I am not unhappy. So none of us really own a body. Then who owns the body? Is there any individual, at least a Jeeva called Jeevatma? Really speaking, that is also not there. But our problem is we do not have that knowledge that I as an individual have no existence. This we think we are alive, we are individuals and we have an ego. Limitedness we impose. This is my body, not your body. This is my mind, not your mind. This is my property, not your property. I do not know whether Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar is able to understand it. So a Jeevanmukta, very interesting. If you happen to meet a Jeevanmukta and you ask him, for example, Sri Ramakrishna, Are you a Jeevanmukta? He would definitely deny it. Because what do you mean by a Jeevanmukta? Previously I was bound and I did something and by God's grace I became free. So now I am a free man. So some people they are jailed. After coming out of jail, they are called freedmen. Some people became slaves. In fact, we are all slaves only. Even the highest CEO is none but a slave only. He is getting a salary. He is expected to do something. And if he does not do what he is expected to do, he is supposed to be removed from that post. So there are limitations for each one of us. Body is a limitation. Mind is a limitation. Sense organs are limitation. Time, space, causation. And this goes by the technical name Parichcheda. Desha Parichcheda, Kala Parichcheda and Vastu Parichcheda. So what is the state of a realized soul? A Jeevanmukta. And Sri Ramakrishna is explaining a Jeevanmukta. First of all, he knows I am Brahman. Second, he knows there is nothing else but Brahman. This is the realization of a Jeevanmukta. Ekam eva advetiyam. I am one without a second. But it is difficult for us to understand. So Sri Ramakrishna has to come down to give this teaching to people like us who cannot do. Like a teacher in a nursery school or elementary school. 2 plus 2. Are they taught 2 plus 2 is 4? No. They bring 2 apples and then another 2 apples. Perhaps by that time one apple is gone. And then how many are there? And then slowly only words will bring along that concepts. So for people like us, we cannot get rid of the idea of individuality. Individuality means some sense of ego. That is the topic. This is the background I have spoken. Sri Ramakrishna, Shankaracharya retained the ego of knowledge in order to teach others. After the vision of Brahman, man becomes silent. Seems to be contradictory statements in one sentence. So after the vision of Brahman, man becomes silent. Which man becomes silent? That person who was doing spiritual practice. He doesn't exist anymore. But into that body-mind complex, like you take a tumbler full of water and you go and put it back in a tank and again refill it and bring back. Ask yourself, is it the old water or is it completely new water? Through these examples we have to understand. So once Jivatma merges in Brahman, that Jivatma is gone. Only Brahman remains. But when that Brahman again in some people, that body-mind is required for some purpose of God. So that Brahman flows back into that body-mind complex. For us, oh this was Ramakrishna. He went into Samadhi and then now he came back out or he came out of Samadhi. These are our understandings. So Sri Ramakrishna is telling, Shankaracharya retained the ego of knowledge. Did he retain? Did Shankaracharya exist to retain? After Brahma Jnanam, I myself, the previous me, like a river, once it merges in the ocean and when it comes back, it cannot claim I am Ganga. I merged. I stayed with my mother for some time and it is time for me to come back. These are all what is called improper understanding. Who retained? I also mentioned Sri Ramakrishna specifically asks do I have any ego? And this point we discussed. Sri Ramakrishna's categorical reply. No, I have not kept because I can't keep because I did not exist. It is the Divine Mother who kept. That is difficult for us to understand. But through that body-mind, whatever be the limitations of that body-mind, that Brahman, he works like that. So Shankaracharya retained the ego of knowledge. For what? In order to teach others. So there are also Narada. Retained the ego of bhakti, devotion. And Sri Ramakrishna, what did he retain? He was a bhakta, he was a jnani, he was a yogi. He was everything else. Then man becomes silent. Why does a man after the vision of Brahman becomes silent? Sri Ramakrishna is trying to explain from our point of view. That is very important for us to keep in mind. After the vision of Brahman, that means here vision of Brahman and seeing of any other object, there is enormous difference. I see you, you see me. I am there, you are also there. That is not vision. Here vision of Brahman means there is no duality. That is called vision. So a man, he reasons about it as long as he has not realized Brahman. So did Shankara, Narada, Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda retain egoism? No, only God keeps it in them. How does he keep? According to their capacity of the body and mind. There is enormous difference. And this subject also comes up very soon with Vidyasagar. Does some people possess more shakti than others? Sri Ramakrishna made a little bit of fun here. So if you did not have that more shakti, Shakti means more power, more manifestation of knowledge, etc. Why did we come to see you? Did you grow two horns? That was Sri Ramakrishna's reply, rejoinder. But we will come to that. Sri Ramakrishna continues, If you heat butter in a pan on the stove, it makes a sizzling sound as long as the water it contains has not dried up. But when no trace of water is left, the clarified butter makes no sound. If you put an uncooked cake of flour in that butter, it sizzles again. But after the cake is cooked, all sound stops. This word cooked is a very beautiful word in Sanskrit. So it is called Siddha. Have you boiled your rice? Siddha. Siddha, the word Siddha has many meanings. A perfect person that is called Siddha, Siddhi. Or a person who has realized God, that is also attainment of Siddhatma only. Or you cook something and it is well cooked, well done, whatever it is, that is called Siddha. So what happens, so long as a person has not realized God, sizzling sound comes. What is this sizzling sound? That is to say, the ego is making noise, thoughts. Do thoughts make noise? Plenty of noise. That is why certain thoughts, when they choke, then we can't even sleep, we have to get up. Just so, a man established in Samadhi comes down to the relative plane of consciousness in order to teach others and then he talks about God. Here also, the highest concepts about Samadhi, what is Samadhi? I have explained to you what is Samadhi. It is not like entering into a room and coming out of that room. We have to be little more intelligent to understand this concept. Samadhi means absolute realization I am God, I am Brahman. A person attains to this knowledge the question of whether he forgets sometimes, doesn't arise. Just as we don't forget I am so and so, even in dream do I forget? No. My concept of so and so, that changes. In the waking state, I am the waker. In the dream state, I am the dreamer. In the sleeping state, I am the sleeper. Empty number of times I try to explain this point. Okay. In the waking state, we all know I am the waker. In the dream state, do you feel that I am a dreamer? No, you don't say. Even while dreaming, you don't say I am dreaming. You say this is a waking state. Dream state is not a dream state when the person is dreaming. It is a fully waking state so long as the dream lasts. When does it become a dream? When he comes out from that state to the waking state and then remembering Oh! I was dreaming. Similarly, waking state is not a waking state. When a person goes into a dream state, waking state takes up the position of a dream state. I thought, how did I ever come to think that I was in Varanasi when I am sleeping so nicely in Bangalore or how come I am in New York or America when I am only in India. You see, sometimes those who are living in America they come to India and then soon after that still their mind is only, what is it called? This is called mind lag. They don't call usually jet lag and then they still they dream I am still in America even when they reached India. So also vice versa. So when we are in the dream state that is the real state and our waking state becomes the dream state. Okay, this is a little bit understandable. What about the sleep, deep sleep state? What happens in deep sleep? So is it possible in the deep sleep state to know that I am a sleeper? Yes. That state where a person is capable of saying I am in a state of full rest and I am alone. I am not seeing any other object. I slept soundly. I did not know anything. I was very happy. This is a statement upon waking up. But during the experience of sleeping state, are we aware that we are sleeping? 150% we are aware that we are sleeping. But what is the nature of that experience in the waking state? When I see a tree, I am seeing a tree. In the dream state exactly same thing. But in deep sleep state I don't see anything. That is the experience. I am in this state where I don't see anything. Therefore I don't know anything. Continuously, so long as from the start of that deep sleep until we wake up, I am in that state. I am trying to convey this understanding. Supposing you are kept in a terribly dark room. You can't see anything. You have been taken from a well-lighted place into this dark room and you are totally blind. Hardly you can see anything. Several hours or several days pass and then what is your experience? I don't see anything. Of course you say I feel my hand, I feel my leg, etc. You can say that. But I don't see anything else. Is that a state are you fully conscious? I don't see anything. See anything. Are you fully conscious or not? Exactly in the deep sleep state also, every millisecond unbrokenly. Why do we say? If we have to use reason, it goes like this. That if you say I was not in that state, then somebody came and did somebody come and sleep for you? Do you feel that for several hours I was in deep sleep, but in between for half an hour, somebody had come and slept for me on my behalf. Do you say that? You are the person who vehemently denies and says I slept, I did not know anything. So that not knowing anything is the continuous experience and we are present and this is the strange thing about the three states of experience. We are continuously aware. We have never lost awareness when we are in the waking state. When I am in the waking state, I am continuously aware. Every millisecond I am aware that I am in the waking state. Objects may differ. I see a tree, then I see a car, then I see something else, but every millisecond I am aware I am and I am experiencing. And a little bit further I go, you will have to mull over it to understand that before I can say I am able to see or hear etc. The first thing that must be present is I am, I am, I am and that will never disappear. I am in the waking, I am in in dream, I am in deep sleep. There is not a single millisecond or millisecond when I was absent. I am. But after I am, whatever I am experiencing, that experience is changing. I am is not changing. Hold on to that I am. Try to find out what that I am is and you will see a great progress can be made if we can do that. So when we are studying Sri Ramakrishna's Gospel, we are not reading, we are studying a man established in Samadhi comes down to the relative plane of consciousness. As soon as we read, what is our understanding? For some time he is in a higher state, now he has come down to the lower state. Sri Ramakrishna was in Samadhi, he was in a higher state. Then he came down to speak with devotees, with you and me. Is he speaking with you and me? Yes. Whenever you are reading the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, he is speaking to you directly because very interesting. Suppose there are 10 people, 15 people in the room and you are also imagining. I am also in that room. You are imagining the room, you are imagining all the people and you are imagining you are also present there and Sri Ram you are reading but you are hearing Sri Ramakrishna what he is speaking. You are present there. Every millisecond you are present there and if you understood what I said few minutes earlier, we were all there in the room of Sri Ramakrishna so long as at least we are reading the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna and then funny thing is, oh we are reading. So a man establishes in Samadhi, comes around to the relative plane of consciousness. This is what just now I read from the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna and when I read about it, do you know what I understood? Absolutely no. Do I know what you understood? Absolutely no. So far as I am concerned, I am listening, I am hearing. So far as you are concerned, you are only hearing. Whether M was hearing, whether Narendra and others were hearing, you have absolutely no idea and even now, if you are listening with many people sitting in the same room and listening to my talk, you know that they are listening but what they are listening, what they are thinking, how they are understanding, you have absolutely no concept about it at all. All that you know is what you understood. At least that I hope you will understand it. So what was I trying to tell you that when you hear Sri Ramakrishna's words, he comes down then his knowledge becomes less. When he was in Samadhi, that was full and now it is much less. That is a very misunderstanding Sri Ramakrishna's words. Once knowledge comes, the question of what you call that making that knowledge more or less doesn't arise at all. Knowledge will be absolutely the same knowledge whether you are in that state or you are not in that state. But this is for our understanding especially of a Jeevan Mukta. So he comes down means what? He uses words, he uses certain thoughts to express his understanding not for his understanding but for our understanding. Sri Ramakrishna gives several examples. The bee buzzes as long as it is not sitting on a flower. It becomes silent when it begins to sip the honey but sometimes intoxicated with the honey, it buzzes again. What does Sri Ramakrishna mean? Means when we are experiencing something we cannot speak about that experience. This is a marvelous concept. You have to focus upon this idea again and again. What is it? That when suppose you are eating a sweet, there is a time when you became one with that sweet and that experience very shortly it passes away and then you can talk. Oh, that was very nice. When you start thinking, when you start speaking, you are not one with the sweet. You have come, you have separated yourself from that sweetness. So when a bee starts to sip the honey and it becomes silent because it became one with the the experiencer and the experiencer become one. But sometimes, that is when it has finished sipping the honey, whether complete or incomplete, intoxicated with the honey, it buzzes again. An empty pitcher makes a gurgling sound when it is dipped in water. When we are hearing somebody's talk, that is like, our minds are like empty pitchers and we are being filled up with the knowledge the other person is trying to give us. So there will be a sound means thoughts, etc. But when we understand what we hear or read, then when it fills up, it becomes silent. I don't know how much people understood but God himself was talking so they must have understood something. At least he also gives the capacity for them to understand. But if the water is poured from it into another pitcher, that is to say, when an aspirant receives this knowledge, there will be some thoughts about it. That is called Sadhana. But there will come a time when he is full. That means he knows, I am one with this Gnanam. I am Gnanam. Then he becomes silent. But when that Gnanam is by God's will, is given to others, that is, he starts thinking. Then, this is what Ramakrishna means, if the water is poured from it into another pitcher, then you will hear the sound again. So, what is an empty pitcher? That is, when we do not have sufficient knowledge, that is called emptiness. When we get that knowledge, that is called getting filled up. And when we realize it, not merely swallow it, then we become silent. Means what? Complete realization. So, there are people being in the midst of ignorance, an empty pitcher. There are so many empty pitchers making enormous noise. And this is described in the Mundaka Upanishad very beautifully. Being in the midst of ignorance and thinking in their own minds about themselves that they are highly intelligent and learned, the ignorant people wander afflicted with troubles like the blind led by the blind. So, how do we know that a person is a learned person? Ramakrishna gives the hint that afflicted with troubles, there will be no troubles. When we realize I am God, He rises above troubles. Does it mean that the body will not have any problems? Mind all, body can have problems. Ramakrishna had throat cancer. Holy Mother suffered terribly. Swami Vivekananda suffered from diabetes etc. But mentally they don't have any trouble. Why? Because they say let the body and mind mind their own selves. Oh mind, you enjoy the presence of God. Ramakrishna used to sing. In Ramana Maharshi's case, he had developed a carbuncle and doctors decided to operate. He had accepted it and without anesthesia they operated. He was looking as if somebody else's hand is being done surgical operation. Not the slightest, it would be very painful because of the swelling etc. But Ramana Maharshi did not feel at all. Not only these people, they do not have that knowledge but they think they are realized souls and they go on preaching and there will be many people following them. This is called Andha Parampara. Andhe Naivan Imanaya Dhandaha. Ignorant following the diverse ways of ignorance flatter themselves that their objects have been accomplished. That is they have reached the goal they wanted to reach. As these followers of karma do not learn the truth owing to their overwhelming desires. They grow miserable and after the fruits of their own karma are consumed, fall from heaven. There are some people they perform rituals, they obtain higher enjoyment and then when the momentum of their karma phala comes to an end, that is called exhaustion of the karma phala and then where were you? Where are you now? So where I was before going to heaven etc. Now the topic in the presence of remember Ishwar Chandra Vidya Sagar has turned. Now nobody asked the question. Ramakrishna, through Ramakrishna the Divine Mother was pouring His knowledge and the topic of the Rishis has come up. So how did the Rishis, the seers of old, that is many thousands of years back lived life? Ramakrishna describes. But this description also shows how did Sri Ramakrishna attain to that same state. So Ramakrishna continues. The Rishis of old attained the knowledge of Brahman. One cannot have knowledge of Brahman so long as there is the slightest trace of worldliness. Worldliness is worldly knowledge. Worldliness is the result of worldly knowledge. And the knowledge of Brahman is the result of Brahma Gnanam. Knowledge of Brahman. So if these are diametrically opposed Atma Gnanam, Anatma Gnanam, Brahma Gnanam, Brahma Gnanam Delusory, that is multiplicity. Knowledge of oneness, knowledge of multiplicity. They cannot go together. How did the Rishis obtain this knowledge? Sri Ramakrishna continues. How hard the Rishis labored early in the morning. They would go away from the hermitage and would spend the whole day in solitude, meditating on Brahman. At night they would return to the hermitage and eat a little fruit or roots. They kept their minds aloof from the objects of sight, hearing, touch and other things of a worldly nature. Only thus did they realize Brahman as their own inner consciousness. This is the exact state of Sri Ramakrishna. Every night he took up the employment of worshipping the Divine Mother in the Kali Temple. At first, he was reluctant as we know. Then his Hriday had forced him in a way, Hriday and Mathur, but it was the Divine Mother's will. She forced him to do it through them and he took it up. And as soon as he took up, then the question that came, am I worshipping a lifeless image or is the Divine Mother really there? Does God, Divine Mother really exist? And I want to know because if I am worshipping a lifeless image, a piece of stone, my life is completely useless. So, we know the sadhana, what had happened. What did he do? That idea that I must realize God had possessed him. Shraddha Abhivesha. Then, day and night, he was thinking only about the Divine Mother. As soon as his duties were over, he will repair into the solitude of nearby Panchavati. And there, people used to walk with fear, even during day time. They have to go to collect some fruits or grass, etc. But mostly, they tried to avoid as much as possible. Just imagine, we have to exercise our imagination. Nowadays, you visit the Dakshineswar temple, the area has not changed. Exactly the same area. From Ramakrishna's room to the north side, because to the west side, there is Ganga. To the north side, there is a huge area. Not very huge, but you have to imagine, huge area was there. Nowadays, many many houses, etc. and shops have come up. In those days, they were not there at all. That small area had become densely grown jungle. It was there like that. Ramakrishna had found it extraordinarily useful. There was a banyan tree there and he used it to go there and sit. Once he goes there, nobody could understand where he has gone. Even a few feet, if they enter into that jungle, as if they are in an Amazon rainforest. That was the feeling. People were superstitious and they used what is called ghouls, ghosts, all those things for the spirits, dead spirits, etc. People were terribly afraid. There would be inevitably snakes. India is full of snakes. So, there will be snakes, there will be poisonous insects like scorpions and it must be crawling with all these native atmosphere. Ramakrishna used to disappear. His one thought was, I will not be able to live without having the realization of God. So, I want to prove whether my Divine Mother really exists or not. That was his quest and this is the same quest the Vedic Rishis had to undergo. Of course, in those days extensive forest area was available. They don't need to go very far but even then they used to go a little bit further because family people, most of them, remember, were married people. Rishis were not Sannyasins. A few of them were renounced later on like Yajnavalkya, but most of them were married people, householders, but they were endowed with that Shraddha and then they kept their minds aloof. Ramakrishna used to pray, Oh Mother, I do not want what he used to call Kamakanchana, that is objects of enjoyment or money, etc. I want only Your Lotus Feet. That is all. Give me Bhakti. I want to see You. I don't want anything else. The longing which the Rishis had, Ramakrishna had, exactly the same longing because the nature of realization is only when a person is endowed with that kind of intense yearning for God-realization. That is the crux of the matter whether we follow the path of devotion or concentration or knowledge or selfless activity, the mental condition should be exactly the same. So Ramakrishna did the same thing. Not only that, we also have to do the same thing. Only thing is we can't do as much as Ramakrishna had done. Ramakrishna used to say that if you live even a few minutes, how these Rishis used to live is not meaning the externally. The thought they used to keep in their minds, very, very high level of thought. Then you will be born to do that. Swami Vivekananda used to say that. So this keeping the mind aloof from the objects of all the five sense organs, ambitions, desires of worldly nature is very, very important. One cannot have God and mammon together. And that is how they realized. That is how Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, Swamiji realized. That is how anybody who realized, realized. That is how who want to realize must follow whether we live in an air-conditioned room or in a most uninhabitable place. This is external nature. But the mind should be tuned only, tied only to the lotus feet of God. That is very important. Having said this, Ramakrishna was not a fool. He is completely aware of all our condition. But in the Kali Yuga, that is the age in which we are living now, man being totally dependent on food for life cannot altogether shake up the idea that he is the body. In this state of mind, it is not proper for him to say, I am he. That is, Ramakrishna is not saying that nobody can realize God by following the path of knowledge which says I am he, Aham Brahmasmi. He is telling that it is for most people that is not suitable. That is what he is trying to explain. When a man does all sorts of worldly things and Ramakrishna is not going to elaborate these words. That is when a householder, he, the husband and wife, do what they are supposed to do or what normally do and then say, he should not say, I am Brahman. So when he is not doing such things, eating nice things, drinking nice things, talking, all sorts of shop and he should not say, I am Brahman. Those who cannot give up attachment to worldly things and who find no means to shake up the feeling of I, should rather cherish the idea, I am God's servant, I am his devotee. This is the most marvelous teaching of Ramakrishna. But here also, we should be aware. Oh Lord, my mind is very weak. It cannot sustain the thought that I am not the body, I am not the mind. I am very much attached to things. But I understand in the deep, within the cave of my heart that you alone are real and there is no way to get out of the trouble. What is called Tapatraya. Unless I live with you, in you. Therefore, the path of devotion. What is it? I am God's servant. I am his devotee. Here also, I can go on expounding for many classes. I am God's servant. How many of us feel that I am God's servant? What does it mean? It means, when anybody is saying I am, I believe in God, then you ask such a person, who is the creator? He says, God is the creator. Who created you? God created me. Then who created me? God created you. Who created everybody else? God created. So who created a tiger? God only created. So several thought processes have to come as a result of this kind of thinking. What is it? If everything is a creation of God, then everybody are what is called children, child of God. All of us are, just as we say, if ten of us have taken initiation from a Guru, then we become Gurubhais and Gurubhagnis. And if thousand people have taken from the same Guru, then all of them are Gurubhais and Gurubhagnis. Do we feel like that? Do we even feel that in the same family, my father has produced several children, I have brothers, I have sisters, and do you know, if you have to be honest, how many brothers love each other, so that they want to share everything equally? How many sisters? Especially after they get married. Before marriage, they are chum-chums, chum-chas. But after marriage, then they said, oh, what type of husband, my sister, she got very good husband, he is not only handsome. What does it mean? That means my husband is a worst looking fellow in the whole world. Oh, my brother-in-law, what a great job, everybody is running to him, etc. Jealousy starts. The children of sisters, if the children of one sister is doing better than the children of the other sister, jealousy starts. Look, what intelligent children my sister has given birth to. And look at my own children, intolerable. But what can I do? I cannot get them, I cannot get rid of my own children. Study history, you will understand whether it is because of ambition, because of jealousy, how many. In fact, the whole world is fighting only between cousins, that Kurukshetra, between cousins. So the Israel-Hamas war is between cousins. And the Ukraine-Russia war is between not even cousins, brothers only, Christians and so-called Christians only. So, anybody who says, I believe in God, and then he has to admit, she has to admit that everything is the creation of God. So if I am a servant of God, first question we have to ask is, does God require your service, your miserable service? You want to cook something and feed, even your dog also would not like to taste what sometimes you cook. Sometimes, I am very generous person, you know. So, if, do you think God is running after you, coming, panting to eat what you cook? Does he require food? Does he require anything as we require? No. Then what does it mean, service? So, a small piece of, portion of our time, we have to serve him as if he is our eldest member of our family, our most beloved mother or father, and then when the Taittiriya Upanishad is teaching us, Matru Devo Bhava, Pitru Devo Bhava, Acharya Devo Bhava, Atidi Devo Bhava, what it really means is, that we have to consider God in the form of his manifesting. So, if I can serve my mother, my father, my teacher, or any guest that comes, that is called service to God. Personal worship to God must expand our service. Service to God, that is, if I can serve the creation, and there are many people who do not serve, service is an alien concept to them. Personally, I am ready to spend time in worship, but I am not willing to serve anybody else. That means, I am not willing to become less selfish because serving other people requires money and energy, time, so I have to spend my time, my energy. Ask yourself only one question, if I want to progress in spiritual life, can I progress without service at least some part of our life, without dedicating serving? It could be in the form of teaching others, or helping other people, or if we know something, then helping other people, passing knowledge, etc. Without this, there is no other way. The first part of the Vedas is full of Karma Kanda. That Karma Kanda later on turns to Upasana Kanda. What is Upasana Kanda? Doing the same ritual, but turning it with a higher motive. I am serving God. That is called Upasana. Not simply sitting and selfishly trying to serve our own purposes. In fact, most of our devotional practices only increase our selfishness instead of reducing it. But we are deeply satisfied. I am a great devotee of God. I am going to realize God very soon. God is very gracious. I am very comfortable. What am I talking about? Without at least spending some part of my life dedicated to the service of God, as I said, God does not require our services, but in the form of serving. A person who knows, let him teach others. A person who cannot teach, let him do some service. This is what Holy Mother used to say, That is, if some people have money or power or knowledge, then distribute it to others. Serve others. But if one does not have, there are so many people without knowledge, etc. Chappo, pray for them. But its service has to be done. There are so many Christian organizations whose only goal, these are specific organizations, is to pray to God. And they are not allowed even to hear the radio news, much less TV, etc. So the Mother Superior, she will be getting the news and if any disaster takes place in any part of the world, and she will tell that these people in this area are suffering so much, let us pray to God. So they dedicate maybe the whole morning to singing the praise and earnestly supplicating to God, O Lord, please help these people to the best of with your blessings, anything can be done. So some sort of service must be done. This is called I am God's servant. And there are so many people, they say I am God's servant. And some of them are very happy to go to a temple and to render service. But if any human being asks them, why don't you do this? They refuse. And these people, they are convinced, but by doing what I am doing, I am going to progress in spiritual life. That is an impossible thing. So Sri Ramakrishna is telling that it is impossible for us to get rid of this idea, this egotism, egoism. So we should say, I am God's servant. That is where very few people understand the significance of the first part of the Vedas called Karma Kanda. Karma Kanda, then Upasana Kanda, then only comes a person becomes so indifferent. His mind has become tuned to such a finest level. He says, I only want God. But his every breath, every football is only for the welfare of the world. Swami Vivekananda used to say, every breath that a Jivan Mukta breathes is for the good of the world because he sees God. Very interesting. When we come across such a person and who has only positivity, this is called power of positive thinking, who is emanating only goodness and we can also feel the love from that person. When we come across such a person, we cannot but be elevated for a short time. Even we can feel that our troubles are not that much troublesome, a little bit less. So this is the advice, what should we do? One can also realize God by following the path of devotion. Then Ramakrishna diverts the talk to something extraordinary. What is the difference between a Gnani and a Vignani? And Sri Ramakrishna's delineation of who is a Gnani and who is a Vignani is not only very enlightening, it is a very practical guide to all of us. Because sometimes we also may not say I am a Gnani but we definitely feel I am a devotee, I am a Bhakat. But am I really a devotee? Is there any difference between a Bhakta and a Gnani? So who is a Gnani, who is a Vignani is a beautiful topic which we will discuss about in our next class. Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padmetayo Sritva Pranamami Moho Rumoho May Sri Ramakrishna Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna