Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 117 on 30-July-2024

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

We are discussing Sri Ramakrishna's visit to Eshwar Chandra Vidya Sagar, August 5th, 1882. Today is 30th July, that means another one week in 1882, but even today the words of Sri Ramakrishna are priceless because human nature has not changed, the reality of God has not changed, nothing in this world changes. The world will remain a world for eternity, always in a state of changefulness and Brahman will be in the state of changelessness. Nothing changes in this world, whatever we are experiencing, the changeable or changeless experience appearing as a changing nature. The main discussion, let us remember Vidya Sagar was really an ocean of learning and he was one of the most generous persons in this world, not only learned but highly principled person, what Swami Vivekananda called a self-respecting person. Once a European, that is UK person had showed terrible disrespect towards him, he called him to speak and put his legs on his own table pointing towards Vidya Sagar and did not even offer a chair and Vidya Sagar did not take it lightly. Next time when the officer wanted to visit him, Vidya Sagar put up his feet on a table and made his own officer stand in front of him and talk to him like an inferior person and the European naturally he got very angry, in those days, even today, this is called the superiority of the white skin and then he complained to his superior officers who knew Eswar Chandra Vidya Sagar very well, so they only supported Vidya Sagar. Did you behave like this and an officer had to admit, I think he also became a changed person after that. So he was very humble but self-respecting, highly learned, very rational, extraordinarily compassionate and Shri Ram Krishna firmly believed that the Divine Mother is manifesting in Vidya Sagar in a much more intense degree than in many other people. That is why Vidya Sagar did not invite Shri Ram Krishna. Shri Ram Krishna invited himself. Of course, Vidya Sagar heard about Shri Ram Krishna from the published accounts of Keshav Chandra Sen etc. and the topic that we are talking in the Gospel of Shri Ram Krishna like Upanishad and Upanishad consists of three parts. The first part of any Upanishad, any scripture, by Upanishad I mean any spiritual teaching of any religion whether it is Bible etc. contains three parts. The first part is a person should become moral. That is the basis of one's happiness in this world. This is called Karma Siddhanta, the belief in the Karma of the Hindus, Buddhists etc. The second part consists of cultivating certain special qualities, spiritual qualities like concentration of mind, firm belief in God etc. Of course, the third one is dedicating oneself to the very pure nature of God. How I can attain God, become like God and become free from the trammels, limitations of time, space and causation. And after so much of discussion and in our previous talks Shri Ram Krishna was talking about Brahman. And he said in this world, in the past and at present and the same thing applies to the future. Nobody can tell anything about Brahman. Why? Because Brahman is something. Even conceptually it is impossible. So in that context what is the state of a realized soul? A Jeevan Muktha. This is a very special topic. There are many spiritual aspirants and they are striving their level best. Some of them, they have a vision of God. A vision as I explained earlier is not seeing something. I am seeing a tree, I am seeing a mountain, I am seeing you even though on what is called phone's monitor. And you are seeing me all the time. So we are seeing so many things. Seeing so many things, limited things is not called seeing God. Seeing God means seeing reality. Seeing reality means seeing only one thing, not many. Multiplicity doesn't exist. Only infinity, one without a second. And this person, he knows I am not a human being, I am not the body, I am not the mind. Then who are you? I am pure consciousness. I am pure existence, pure consciousness or knowledge and pure bliss. There is not even a slightest trace of unhappiness. Here comes a very special definition, crystal clear definition of what is called a Jeevan Mukta. A person who knows I am Brahman. Even in the dualistic philosophies of India and the qualified non-dualistic philosophies of India, I am referring to Madhvacharya's philosophy and Ramanujacharya's philosophy, the Jeevatma, individual soul does not become one with God. In the dualistic philosophy, the individual soul ever remains completely separate with other souls, with other things in this world and the world will be totally separate from God and God will be separate from every Jeeva. Not only we are separate from each other, we are separate from every object in this world. We will be forever separate, related, but separate from God. That is called dualistic philosophy, Dvaita Vedanta. Dvaita by its means multiplicity. But with a little higher progress, it becomes qualified non-dualism, Pisishta Advaita, in which God and us are illustrated as the limbs of a body and the body. So every limb of the body can be clearly distinguished. This is my hand, this is my leg, this is my eyes, this is my ear, nose, etc. And at the same time, the concept of body includes everything and yet one can distinguish. This is called unity in diversity. It is diverse as well as unity is there. But in Dvaita Vedanta, the world and Brahman do not exist. Both are, you look with your mind at Brahman, he appears as the world. And you go beyond the mind and you experience. You don't even experience Brahman, you know I am Brahman. When a person, according to Dvaita Vedanta, realises that I am Brahman, and then still Vedanta, Advaita Vedanta, distinguishes that that previous person completely disappears. To make us understand clearly this concept, we give the example of, there are many rivers and they all flow towards the, what is called, down to join the sea. That is why it is called sea level. That which is originating in high mountains, slowly comes down, gathers width, depth, power, but ultimately it mixes with ocean. Let us say in our country, Ganga, Yamuna, so many rivers are there. Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu, Kaveri. There are still many more, Brahmaputra is also there. All these, when they join the sea, they give up their names and forms. But nearer to the sea, that means almost 100 miles, the power of the sea and especially the moon is very powerful and it throws back the water. And in the same channel, the water flows back. Ganga is flowing back again. Yamuna is flowing back, etc. We call it. But really speaking, Ganga, Yamuna have disappeared into the ocean long back. So what comes back is called ocean water. That is the illustration, if you understand, that when a Jeeva, individualized soul through spiritual practice sheds all the identity with body-mind, and remember, shedding identity with body-mind is equivalent to shedding the whole world. That means even he will not remember that I was in the world as such and such a person, etc. Just as in deep sleep, we do not remember our individualized personalities. But only difference is, in deep sleep, it is there in a causal form. As soon as that causal form pushes us back into the waking state and then dream state and then deep sleep, continuously from birth to death, we go on changing from one state to another state. But when the same person sheds his identity with body-mind, along with the identity of the body-mind, the whole universe, which is obtainable only through the body and mind, also becomes completely unavailable. Even the very existence, just as in deep sleep, we do not exist that I am so and so, these are my parents, friends, enemies, country, race, religion, nothing is remembered. So also this person becomes one. And then he becomes one with Brahman. That is called, the Guru comes and teaches, Tat Tvam Asi, the word that, and then by God's grace, Guru's grace, he realizes Aham Brahmasmi. What Guru teaches, this person personally experiences, and then he declares, and that declaration is possible only in this state, through this body and mind. But what exists in that body-mind, and who declares through that body-mind, is not the previous individual, but God Himself. That Brahman, as it were, takes the help of the body and mind, and who determines who will come back and who will not? It is only God's will. And how does He determine? So some teachers must be kept, who are the living examples of this realization, Jeevan Mukti. That is why it is called, they are completely free, even when the body and mind are functioning. But this person never claims, this is my body, this is my mind. That is the difference between them and us. We don't know anything excepting, I am the body, I am the mind. Continuously we are being buffeted, by the waves of the changes that are occurring, both in the body and in the mind. So it is God only. Why does He come? For the good of the world. Because He wants to teach, who will be the most effective teacher? He, God Himself. That is why Shri Ram Krishna says, I know nothing. In His simple village, Patwa, what does He say? I know nothing. I eat and make merry, but it is my Divine Mother who is speaking. Whether it is a teaching, whether it is a joke, whether that particular body is eating, or whether that particular body is suffering, we have to remember this. Because most of the so-called Jeevan Mukthas, they probably undergo more suffering than any one of us. So Ramana Maharshi, ultimately he developed a cancerous growth on his left hand, and that had to be operated. Twice they operated, and vigorously it came back twice. Third time the doctors said, we will have to cut off the hand. Ramana Maharshi smiled and said, don't worry, I am assuring you, it will cure itself. They did not understand. What he meant was, the time has come for this body, it has accomplished its purpose. God had decided to end that particular body and mind, and all the while, swimming in an ocean of bliss, Ramana Maharshi passed away. Ramakrishna suffered terribly from throat cancer, and it is indescribable, and we get it through the descriptions of M's brief entries in his diary. Still even now, there are a few diaries out there, which nobody was able to depict. Swami Prabhanandaji, he tried, and a little bit he could understand, because of the recordings in the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, and he could describe a little bit, but those two or three books, it is completely enigma to him also. Only M, he knew, but he passed away, and then why did he pass away? Why did Sri Ramakrishna not allow him to decipher the whole thing? Because what Sri Ramakrishna had given, not to speak of thousand pages of the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, even the very first chapter, is more than sufficient for our sake. So such people, they are called Jeevan Muktas, they are also called Vijnanis, but this is what we need to understand. Every Jeevan Mukta is a Vijnani, a Sesha Jnani. What is the difference between a Jeevan Mukta or a Vijnani? And an Avatar, we have to keep this point in mind all the time, the difference in knowledge is nil. Both of them know, I am Brahman, I am Brahman, but the difference is in the redeeming power. The power that emanates from a Jeevan Mukta is very little. The power that emanates from an Acharya is much greater. And the power that emanates from Ishwara Koti, the companions of an Incarnation of God, is much, much more. And the power that emanates from what we call an Avatar, an Incarnation of God, just look back into history, whether it was Rama, we don't know how many thousands of years, even today they have that power to transform the lives of even the greatest sinners, Krishna. Even today, how many people fall in love with this what is called eternal youth, dressing so beautifully, and everybody loves Krishna. He represents, what does he really represent? He represents the Ananda aspect. Rama represents the same Ananda, but more in the form of Dharma. Dharma Avatar or Ramaha. Rama is the very Incarnation of Dharma. But Ananda Avatar or Krishna, especially Krishna Rasaleela. The Vedavyasa who wrote this Bhagavatam had devoted five complete chapters to describe this divine bliss. Every spiritual aspirant is compared to a Gopi. Why? Because this is the nearest way to make us understand. Like King Solomon's songs in the Bible, in what is called the Old Bible, that in the form of a relationship between a man and a woman. Vaishnavas also take up the same analogy. He says Radha represents the devotee. Krishna represents the supreme reality. They are completely one, but they want to enjoy the presence of each other. First separation called Viraha, and then union called Milana. Viraha and Milana. That is the theme of every devotee, East or West, Orient or Occident. So a Vijnani is a Jeevan Mukta. He knows I am Brahman. But a Jnani is one who has 100% faith that I am Brahman. But that direct personal experience is lacking. And of these people, there are some among the Vijnanis, like Shri Ramakrishna. So all the time they are experiencing mohor mohoho again and again and again and again. This is what Shri Ramakrishna is trying to explain, for us it is enough to understand. What to understand? Shri Ramakrishna explains. The Vijnani. Vijnani means Visesha Jnani. V plus Jnani. V is the prefix. The Vijnani says that Brahman is immovable and actionless, like Mount Sumeru. And this universe consists of the three gunas, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. They are in Brahman. But Brahman is unattached. And the Vijnani further says that what is Brahman is the Bhagwan, the personal God. The personal and the impersonal. Saguna and the Nirguna. They are not too different, as Brahmanacharya never accepts the impersonal aspect of God. But that is also a stage of development. And He is also called Bhagwan. He who is beyond the three gunas is the Bhagwan with His six supernatural powers. The living beings, the universe, mind, intelligence, love, renunciation, knowledge, all these are the manifestations of His power. How does this Jeevan Mukta really live in this world? Why is this subject so necessary for us? Because consciously or unconsciously, we are all striving to attain what you call fearlessness, that is overcoming the fear of death, overcoming ignorance in the form that my knowledge is limited, my understanding is very shallow, I want to understand better. And of course, even a mosquito doesn't want to experience what is called pain or unhappiness. Even for a single moment, you ask a mosquito, after all, whole life God will make you happy. Can you just sacrifice one millisecond and suffer? No, it is not possible. Why? Because that is like non-existence. That is, our real nature is Asti, Bhati, Priya, or what is called Sat, Chit and Ananda. And these three are not three qualities. We have to be intelligent enough to understand these are not the qualities. This is our very nature. What is the difference between a quality and a nature? Just like sweetness is the very nature of sugar or any sweet, there are some bitter fruits. Bitterness is the very nature of that fruit. So you cannot separate sugar and sweetness. But there are some flowers which are very beautifully pink in the morning and they slowly turn towards pale whiteness in the afternoon and towards the evening they droop and become like a white-coloured one. So the qualities can go on changing. That which changes is called a quality. But that which ever remains absolutely the same, that is called nature. Fire and its burning power. Light and its power of giving light. We say sunlight. So sunlight means like a rich man's car. We should not understand that way. A rich man is different and a rich man's car is different. It is a possessive case. So the sun doesn't possess light and heat. He is the light and heat. So we are all striving not to die and that includes not to be unhealthy physically or mentally. We never want to be sick. And then we get this idea we always want to know what is the right thing. We never want to have wrong knowledge. Only right knowledge. And then we want to be very happy all the time. So these three are our nature. That is why an unconscious prayer springs up from the very depths of the heart. This is a speciality of Vedanta, I have to say. And though it is the same thing. Every saint can be called a real saint. That is, one who has the vision of God can be said to be exhibiting certain characteristics. And even among the Christian saints we see some special saints like Saint Philip of Neri. Very marvelous soul. So he used to go for some time in his life. He used to live in Rome. And he used to go make a pilgrimage. And hundreds of people, so instinctively they were drawn to this saint. Why were they drawn? Like flies are drawn towards sweets. So they are drawn because this saint was so joyful. And whenever he steps out, he will be followed. And he will go from one church to the other church practically the whole day he used to spend. And how was he moving about? So in peculiar ways. He shaves his moustache and beard half the side. I don't know. Maybe right side of the moustache is gone. And left side of the beard is also gone. And every time he will have, perhaps moustache is gone, beard is there. Perhaps beard is gone, moustache is there. And he used to dress also in a very, what is called that which attracts, not attractive dress, but dress which attracts our notice. So what we call, what I call nowadays, people have become very holy, full of their dresses, full of holes, both men and women. And it is like that. But when he used to offer Mass, people used to see with great difficulty he was trying to control himself. Otherwise his body will be floating in the air. So many people have witnessed it. And even the Pope could never be angry with him. And then he used to tear. He will sit in the Pope's lap and go on pulling his beard like a child. And of course, the Pope must have been very lucky or fortunate Pope because this Philip Neri, if you have time, please go through his life, is one of the most joyful saints in the world. Similarly, Saint Francis of Assisi, he meditated upon Jesus Christ so intensely, like Sairam Krishna became Pradha Devi or Hanuman. Saint Francis of Assisi, he developed the living marks of stigmata and their Muslim, Sufi, Saint Rabia. If I am reading side by side, supposing there is a book and it is written, these are the teachings, sayings of Sairam Krishna and somebody mischievously inserts the teachings of either Saint Philip Neri or Rabia or some of these Sufi saints, Muslim saints in an ordinary way, then I would not be able to distinguish and say Sairam Krishna is only talking. Why? Because Sairam Krishna used to say that all jackals howl the same way because the experience is the same. The expression, even though in different languages, must be exactly the same. So there cannot be any difference. But what is the speciality? Some of these Vedantic texts, they describe the characteristics of a Jeevan Mukta, living free, so voluminously and so precisely and so that this is what exactly we also want to be like that. I am not talking about the dress, etc. I am talking about the state of their mind. Remember, even when incarnation comes, he has to work through the mind only, not only body, but through the mind only. The body doesn't know that I am the body. If the mind of course also doesn't know I am the body, I am the mind, but there is more reflection of consciousness and the subject is very beautifully exposed or discussed so beautifully in a Shankaracharya's beautiful book called Drik Dreshya Viveka. The discrimination between the seer and the seen. So I am going to quote from the Vivekachudamani. It is beautiful in four shlokas starting with 428th, 29th, 30th and 31st signs of Jeevan Mukta. यो जागरत् धर्म वर्जितः बोधो निर्वासनो इस्या स जीवन्मुक्तः इश्यते शान्त संसार कलनः कलावानपि निष्कलः यह स चित्तोपि निष्चित्तः सः जीवन्मुक्त इश्यते So, who is a Jeevan Mukta? The Jeevan Mukta, a reliberated sage, is absolutely free from egoism, doubt, fear and grief. And there are the four important signs that indicate that one has attained perfection. What are they? The Jeevan Mukta's perfect contentment, unruffled peace of mind, deep abiding joy and bliss and possession of super sensual spiritual knowledge. The Jeevan Mukta doesn't care even for the wants of the body. He is not afraid of death. He has no longing to live also. And Maya or Prakruti, nature, is his obedient and sweet nurse. She attends upon him carefully. In my last class, I explained with certain incidents how Swami Vivekananda wanted to test Ramakrishna, entered into a forest, climbed a tree and decided, I want to eat hot Khichdi. So, all bodily wants, anything, come by themselves. Prakruti arranges everything for him beforehand. And this is her lookout. So, like a baby who is looked after by the mother. So, a Jeevan Mukta can more or less be compared to a baby. With complete surrender, my mother, who is God, will look after me. How come we compare that way? The person who says, Aham Brahmasmi, because a Jeevan Mukta is working through a particular instrument called body and mind. And body and mind requires certain care. And that is taken care of. A Jeevan Mukta never thinks, I have to earn money. I have to visit a doctor. No, everything. That is why there is a beautiful shloka in the Bhagavad Gita, Ananyas chintayanto mam te janah pariyupasate Tesham aham. So, he says, he who thinks of me unceasingly and whatever is needed, Yogakshemam vahamyaham. I bring to them, myself, whatever is necessary. And then, Swami Saradanandaji, the Bhashyakara of Sri Ramakrishna's life, in his great mastery, he tells us, this time God incarnated because people forgot this promise of Lord Krishna and thought that this is a hyperbole. Okay, when you pray, He will look after you. No, if you surrender yourself, you don't need to pray. He will look after you. Like a mother who plants, even when the baby is not born, it is in the womb, the parents already, they are planning a small cot for the baby who is going to be born after several months. And I heard that in India, they even book a seat in the school because after when this baby attains three years old, very difficult to get admission in a reputed school. So they even start registering themselves, our baby is going to be there, boy or girl, it doesn't matter. But only thing is, God will look after all the time from birth to death. So a balanced mind, equal vision, indifference to pairs of opposites like pleasure and pain, censure and praise, heat and cold, success and failure, these are the marks of a Jeevan Mukta. Jeevan Muktas are not frightened or astonished at any unusual occurrence in nature. They will never be disconcerted even should the sun grow cold or the moon turn hot or the fire begins to burn with its flame downwards or the course of the river begin to rise upwards. That means the rivers start from the high altitude and come down. Natural gravity, they flow. But even if a river tries to climb up and go back to its home, a Jeevan Mukta will never be surprised because Maya by nature is aghatana ghatana pati asi. Maya is capable of accomplishing the impossible. So these Jeevan Muktas will never be disconcerted at anything. That is one of our greatest, biggest problem is why should good people suffer and why should wicked people prosper. But a Jeevan Mukta will never ever get surprised. Why? Because he knows the whole world is a circus. That means in the circus, just like a cinema, it is only a mere appearance. It is not the truth. Whereas for us, that is the only truth. So even if the unthinkable happens, they are never going to be surprised. So the Jeevan Mukta is never perturbed under any condition. He is undistracted amidst distractions because first he knows everything is Brahman. Everything is God. इशावास्यमिदखुम् सर्वम् एत्किञ्च जगत् याम् जगत् तेन तिक्तेन भुञ्जीथा मा गृधः कस्यस्विद्धनम् That summarizes the essence of every scripture. So this is how somehow Ramakrishna is giving us what has been described in Atmabodha, Vivekachudamani, etc. Practically in every work of Shankaracharya, we get the characteristics In every scripture practically we have discussed so many Upanishads so far. Small. And in every place there is a beautiful description of a Jeevan Mukta. Why? Because when we read the characteristics of Jeevan Mukta, actually that is what we are all striving unconsciously. We want to be Jeevan Muktas only. And the scripture tells us, you don't need to become a Jeevan Mukta. You are already a Jeevan Mukta. But you have forgotten that you are a Jeevan Mukta. That is the subject which is going to come. So the subject is Ramakrishna said, you know, everywhere there is an Ashwathar tree. Cut it down to the very root and the next day small new branch appears there. So like that you cannot kill the ego. Why can't we kill the ego? Because first of all we are failing to understand, failing to distinguish between what is egoism or egotism and ego. Aham and Ahamkara. Ahamkara is egoism. Aham is ego. What is ego? If something exists, existence is called ego. Aham. But whatever comes and then joins unnecessarily, what doesn't belong to this pure existence like rust, dust, etc. And that is called Kara. Aham plus Kara. Kara means I and mine. Aham means pure I. That's what Ramakrishna wants to say. Why can't the ego die? He says the ego doesn't vanish altogether. The man coming down from Samadhi perceives that it is Brahman alone that has become the ego, the universe and all living beings and this is known as Vijnana. In other words, a Vijnani is one who not only knows I am Brahman but he knows everything is Brahman. We can perhaps summarize this way. He who knows Aham Brahmasmi is a Jnani. But he who knows Sarvam Kalu Idam Brahma everything is Brahman Brahman actually to distinguish between the creator with a long vowel Brahma. So everything is nothing but pure Brahman. Sat, Chit, Ananda. And then Shri Ramakrishna is a person who is a Jeevan Mukta and he who knows Sarvam Kalu Idam Brahma he is called a Vijnani. That Visesha Jnana. What is the special knowledge? Previous knowledge? I am Brahman. That is in the state of Samadhi. But when God manifests through that body-mind then he knows everything is Brahman and that state is called Vijnana. Visesha Jnana. And then Shri Ramakrishna's central message what is the central message of Shri Ramakrishna? That people need not quarrel religions need not quarrel they need not kill each other if you merely follow the present war. So either it is between Christians and Christians because of greed or it is between two separate religions. I wonder that whether both the branches Judaism as well as Islam both spring from the same source from the same root what is called Islamites. There also one branch of the Jews and they became separated and there was a great soul among them born known as Prophet Muhammad and he preached to understand that every prophet only wants to unite every individual with God for that he teaches that everybody should mould his life live what is called Jeevan Mukta as if what is the Jeevan Mukta a person who knows I am God but living in this world known as the individual body and mind if you only judge him by his behavior it is only Godly behavior whereas here in this case they hate each other Islam wants to dominate the whole universe wherever they go they firmly believe that this is the final word of God and they want to keep the Islam as it was when Prophet Muhammad was there and he taught so that is the modernization that means reinterpretation of Islam according to the changed circumstances for most of them that is not acceptable they want the same situation and that is a very sad thing for all of us to understand so Shri Ram Krishna's central message is O man you are none other than God and God is infinite so the path how many ways are there, how many paths are there since God is infinite infinite are the paths, that is what he is trying to tell, the path of knowledge leads to truth as does the path that combines knowledge and love and the path of love too leads to the school the way of love is as true as the way of knowledge all paths ultimately lead to the same truth but as long as God keeps the feeling of ego separatedness in us it is easier to follow the path of love this is again a very important teaching of Shri Ram Krishna even though there are infinite paths all paths more or less have been classified by Vedanta into four that is serving God through the human beings called Karma Yoga or Nishkama Karma the path of Bhakti, devotion the path of controlling the mind called Yoga and the treading the path of knowledge that everything is Brahman these are the four ways and these four more or less some of them they dominate called as Christianity, Buddhism Islam, Hinduism Sikhism etc for example in Buddhism reasoning, rationality discrimination so from contacts arise attachment from attachment comes longing from longing comes action and action produces reaction and reaction reinforces if it is pleasant then I want it again if it is unpleasant I don't like it I don't want it again called Raga and Dvesha and Buddhism treads the path of knowledge whereas Vaishnavism or Shaivism or Shaktism or Christianity mostly it is love God and imitate Christ imitate so that is one path and then Buddhism also emphasizes serve other human beings as if they are your extensions of course Advaita Vedanta emphasizes more on the path of knowledge but there are so many people who attained God in all these ways and if we take note of Sri Ram Krishna's life we get that he had followed the path of Karma Yoga and he followed the path of Bhakti Yoga he followed the path of Raja Yoga of course he followed the path of Jnana Yoga especially by taking Sanyasa and following or meditating on the Mahavakya Aham Brahmasmi now when did Sri Ram Krishna you may have doubts really practice Karma Yoga from the very beginning of his life if we analyze his blessed life holy life even from the childhood he started singing songs and what was he expecting was he expecting honor, was he expecting riches, money no, Sri Ram Krishna when he was a young man he was neglecting studies he was performing Yatras if you study carefully why was he doing it first of all he will not act in any drama which is not talking about God you know the famous incident that happened one day there was a what is called Shivaratri on Shivaratri night and Hindus have a very special night called Shivaratri and then in the Kamarpukur there was a dramatic drama party which used to come and dress like Shiva and whole night singing about bhajans etc will be there but the person who was supposed to take on the role of Shiva fell suddenly sick and Sri Ram Krishna was requested and then he went and accepted the proposition to act like Shiva and became like Shiva became like a stone unconscious of course the drama could not be enacted because Sri Ram Krishna was identified with Lord Shiva so much he remained in Samadhi for a long time so the people they could not but when he was dressed and then got up onto the stage in that semi-conscious state people's mind was lifted up and they felt this is the living Shiva that was the effect so whenever he used to do puja he was not doing puja expecting something like the modern people who worship they expect money, they expect name and fame and etc but no purely out of devotion, out of joy he used to get by worshipping God he used to be absorbed how much the people were paying him especially when his eldest brother Ram Kumar brought him to Calcutta and he opened a small school at a small section of the so called Calcutta called Jhampukur and then his eldest brother Ram Kumar he wanted to pay attention to the school so he employed Sri Ram Krishna previously Ram Kumar was used to go to some houses and do the worship like any other Purohita and get a small amount of money, now Ram Kumar said you do that worship so our income will be a little bit comfortable but Sri Ram Krishna used to go there unlike any other priest, he was only worshipping because of sheer joy he used to get for this puja and he used to sing and he used to be absorbed soon there was a big fan club the people became so much enormous, so much enormous of Sri Ram Krishna because that unselfish devotion acted like a tremendous attraction magnet, so you see so Sri Ram Krishna followed the path of what I was trying to tell you Nishkama Karma he used to worship that is Karma but he was not expecting anything he used to worship the living God and he used to forget everything else and no doubt no wonder that everybody loved him because you understand even in our day to day life if somebody loves you without expecting anything from you which is normally not possible even for parents because parents also they have many motives our child will grow up, he will become a big man and he will attain name and fame and if the child is having name and fame more possessions wealthy and that will go to the comfort of the parents both physical and mental but above all they wanted to identify when we become old our son will be able to make better arrangements, he will look after us lovingly, every parent has this unconscious unexpressed desire that when we become old just as we are looking after you now, you should be able to look after us as long as we require, we don't quit this world so and nobody is so unselfish that it is our duty to bring you up that is impossible but whatever Sri Ramakrishna did he did it out of sheer joy, Atmananda and he was not expecting anything, if somebody gives oh that person did not give he gave only little and the other person gave me more so I am more attracted to the other person who gives more, absolutely no so then how many things Sri Ramakrishna did, you will be astonished if you study the great master, how much he tried to control his mind and then of course we also have seen after Totapuri Maharaj came how he completely withdrew his mind, became absorbed in Nirvikalpa Samadhi some of these incidents we will talk about in our next class because these are the things not only his teachings but how he himself had trodden these pathways and then why did Sri Ramakrishna tread so many paths, to prove that God is everywhere every path sincerely trodden will lead us only to that one God every religion leads to that one goal we will talk about this subject in our next class Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti Jai Ramakrishna