Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 122 on 08-October-2024

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

We are studying the chapter Visit to Vidyasagar in the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Some of the most essential, important teachings of the Gospel we find in this particular chapter. Of course in the Gospel every chapter is Veda so far as we devotees of Sri Ramakrishna are concerned. But sometimes we get gems as it were falling from the mouth of Sri Ramakrishna. So Sri Ramakrishna found out that Vidyasagar was a compassionate man and a great learned man. And not only a learned man, he was also called Dayasagara, very compassionate man. He never refuses anybody who approaches him for help. In that connection Sri Ramakrishna's valuable advice to him and I will give you a slight background. Vidyasagar did not invite Sri Ramakrishna. Sri Ramakrishna himself expressed a desire. I want to meet Vidyasagar. There are two reasons why Sri Ramakrishna wants to visit Vidyasagar and many others. Many others means those who are quite well known in the society at that time and possess some great qualities in abundance. So one reason is Sri Ramakrishna knew better than anybody that the power that was emanating in the form of greatness, which Bhagavan Krishna calls Vibhuti, is all from God only. In fact if we study the scriptures, not only Hindu scriptures but any scriptures, find God is the creator. That means God himself is both the material cause and also the intelligent cause and also the instrumental cause, which means the whole world creation is nothing but God. So in that sense even the most ordinary person is none other than God. Even an insect is nothing but God. This is called seeing Brahman everywhere. But in some people the power of God is more manifest. In Vidyasagar and in Dayananda Saraswati, the power was more manifest. That is why Sri Ramakrishna had this idea. I must visit my Divine Mother. And so he himself came. He never felt they did not invite me and why should I go myself. No. The second reason is that by the very presence of Sri Ramakrishna, if he could bring about some progress, improvement, because whenever Sri Ramakrishna talks, visits anybody, people will get benefit all by it without their direct knowledge. So everything is like that only. That is the second reason. And also Sri Ramakrishna wants to estimate what is the spiritual content. Because many people can be great without spiritual content. But even that greatness which is called worldly greatness. For example, Napoleon. For example, Hitler. Would you be surprised if I say that is also God's power? Yes. If and when we sing the song, All is Thy Will, O Mother, people think that they are doing according to their will. Shokali Tomari Iccha, Iccha Moi Tara Tumi. Tomar Kormo Tumi Koro Maa, Loke Bole Kori Aami. People think I am somebody. I do something, etc. etc. This is all complete ignorance. It is God only. Just like in our dream, his dream, God's dream. Does God dream all the time? And what is his dream called? We don't call his dream. We call it Leela. As if. That is why even Shankaracharya starting his Bhagavad Gita, he says crystal clearly. So, Jataiva Pravruddhaiva. As if born. As if Krishna was growing up. As if he was doing Dharmastapana. Why? This is of course from the purely Advaitic point of view. According to Advaita, the world doesn't exist at all. It is false. Mithya. And in Mithya world, the incarnation of God cannot be the truth. So, profound meanings are there in Sri Ramakrishna's words. So, by his visit, if some people can turn their mind towards God, they can do much more, much greater good to the world. Not only that, now we are going to study a little bit that this Vidyasagar was doing great service to the society. He was a very sincere person. Later on, he was telling that I do not believe in God. But then he used to say that one should behave in such a way, live in such a way as if God were to command him, do this as if the person completely does what God orders him to do. And Vidyasagar said, if everybody can live like that, then the whole world will be transmuted into pure gold. So, Sri Ramakrishna was advising, the activities that you are engaged in are very good. It is very good if you can perform them in a selfless spirit, renouncing egotism, giving up the idea that you are the doer. Through such action, one develops love and devotion to God and ultimately realizes Him. Many people, especially Advaitins, they are dead against accepting the fact that accepting Jnana Marga, any other path, can lead you to Brahman realization. Swami Vivekananda said, any yoga, adopt any yoga, whether it is Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Jnana Yoga, every path, independent of the other path, can lead one to God. Even Swami Vivekananda's own disciple, Sharad Chandra Chakravarti, he was a staunch follower of Advaita Vedanta, especially of Shankaracharya. He challenged him, how does one realize God through Karma Yoga? Swami ji explained so beautifully. He said, through Karma Yoga, what happens? The mind becomes pure. Mind becomes like a clean mirror. And in that mirror, what is the function of a mirror? To reflect anything that is in front of it. So, when the mind becomes pure, it can reflect the glory of God, oneself. You stand in front of a mirror, exactly as you are dressed, it will show you what you are. And if we can take off all our dresses, and how many dresses we have? Five dresses. They are called Panchakosha. So, what is called Annamaya Kosha, Pranamaya Kosha, Manomaya Kosha, Vijnanamaya Kosha, Anandamaya Kosha. Then, if we can remove all of them, can get rid of all of them, what remains is nothing but pure Atman. So, the mirror reflects. Pure mirror means, it will show the real nature of man. This is what Sri Ramakrishna is telling, that slowly, a purified mind understands, starts understanding, and grows in understanding, grows in faith. As faith develops, love also develops. So, through Karma Yoga, one realizes God, because as soon as the mirror is clean, it reflects the exact image, it doesn't distort. Here, Sri Ramakrishna is solving this contradiction, that through any Yoga, any path, any form, any name, any religion, any Yoga, any action, even a butcher can also attain God, if he can do that job beautifully. I have narrated this story. There is a beautiful story, and there are also corresponding Sanskrit shlokas. Tasmat, Jagrata, Jagrata. Therefore, be awake, be awake. This is called the drum sound of awakening. Coming back to our subject, that as one's mind becomes pure, the idea comes, that there is no reliable object in this world, there is no security in this world, there is nobody who belongs to me in this world, but who is ours, only God is ours. Naturally, our devotion, our love, we love things because we think they are going to save us. But nothing can save accepting God, devotion to God. And then Sri Ramakrishna says, no, like Advaitin, what is called pure Advaitin, or Khattar, fanatical Advaitin. What does he say? He says, a person develops Bhakti, then he understands that God alone is real, then he does Upasana, and then through that his mind turns towards a Guru, then he will have to go through the three steps of Shravana, Manana, Nidhidhyasana, and then ultimately he realizes Aham Brahmasmi. Sri Ramakrishna says, ultimately he realizes Him. The more you come to love God, the less you will be inclined to perform action. Because Sri Ramakrishna is summarizing the most crucial point here, activities get reduced. How and why? Because every activity has only one purpose, to fulfill some need. When a person tries to love God, his needs become less and less, his only desire is, I don't want anything except God. So therefore, I want to think of God, I want to meditate upon Him, I don't require these distracting things. That means any Karma, that means any desire, is only something that takes our attention away from God. And to illustrate this, Ramakrishna gives a beautiful illustration, which we discussed. This is the illustration, that when a daughter-in-law, newly married daughter-in-law, is plied with tremendous amount of work by her mother-in-law. Especially we have to remember, this was what Sri Ramakrishna observed in his days. And even we can remember, this dichotomy between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. And the tradition continued, when the daughter-in-law becomes mother-in-law, then she will take it out with compound interest. Now, Karmapala has come back, now daughter-in-law takes upon the mother-in-law. So the illustration in that context, when the daughter-in-law is with child, her mother-in-law gives her less work to do. By these philanthropic activities, you are really doing good to yourself. If you can do them disinterestedly, your mind will become pure, and you will develop love of God. As soon as you have that love, you will realize Him. And then part of this Karma Yoga, is called Karma Siddhanta. What is Karma Siddhanta? That each one of us, that means the whole creation, is going through what? It is man. A person is a man, another person is a woman, another one is rich, another is poor. That is according to the Karmapala, according to the activities, actions we had performed in our last birth. Our very birth, Jati, our very circumstances, and how long we are going to live, Ayu, and how much happiness is our lot, unhappiness our lot. That is called Bhoga. These three are the results of Karma Yoga. Patanjali Rishi crystal clearly outlines them. Now, man cannot really help the world. Suppose a poor person comes to you, you want to give him something. And suppose a hungry person comes, you feed him. Is he not helped by you? No. You have not helped him. Then, did I not give food to him? And is he not very happy after removing his hunger? Yes, he is very happy. He got food. He got food because, not because you gave, because it was his lot to get it from you. And you gave it to him. And how did he get it from you? Because he did lot of Punya Karmam in his past life. So, this is what Sri Ramakrishna is telling, that people cannot help. The whole show called creation, is run by the Divine Mother. You elevate some people, O Mother, and you degrade some people, other people. Or you elevate and degrade the same person. And then you again elevate him, again degrade him. Everything is Thy will. What is Ramakrishna telling? He is only explaining Vedic understanding of the law of Karma, that if a beggar is not lucky enough to get food from you, his Karma doesn't allow him to approach you. Maybe you have fed 3-4 beggars, and then another beggar comes. You have nothing to give to him. So, you say, sorry, everything is exhausted, you can go. So, why were you not able to help? Not because of your helplessness, but your helplessness is the result of that fellow's Papa Karma. Had he come a bit earlier, as the first beggar, he would have got it. That means what? That means Hinduism tells us that you do it, you help other people and don't try to harm them. What happens? You will get Punyam and you will not accumulate Papam. It has nothing to do with the other person. Can a murderer murder another person? Not unless that person deserves it. Can Israel kill people? I am bringing the modern context and my own belief in it. If Israel throws out bombs, some people are lucky to escape, but some people die on the spot. And who is responsible? According to our ignorant points of view, then Israel is the person who killed them. No. It is the law of Karma that killed them. I know most of our own devotees won't believe what I am saying. And yet they go on saying Karma, Karma, Karma. They don't understand. You can't help. You can't give a bit of happiness to anybody. You are unable to give a bit of happiness to yourself. Where is the question of giving happiness to other people? And similarly, you are not able to give a bit of unhappiness also to other people. We have to try our level best that I will try to help. And whom does it do good? Oneself. This is what Sri Ramakrishna's words. So much depth is there. Man cannot really help the world. God alone does that. And how does God do? He gives an opportunity for you to accumulate Punyam. And also, He gives opportunity. You don't use it. You misuse it. Then you accumulate Papam. Everything. This is called the Law of Karma. In this context, I was reading the life of Ramana Maharshi. Once a patriot came and charged Ramana Maharshi that the whole of India has rose like one man and it is fighting to get freedom. What a stupid misunderstanding this statement is. The whole of India. How many people, loved British people, didn't want independence of India. They were the greatest non-patriots of India. And even today you find most of the people are not patriots. All our, what is called biggest political leaders are nothing but utter incarnations of selfishness. If somebody, if they can get one vote, they will promise anything. Including God. Even though they don't believe in God. So, a man who works for others. So, that person, he will be helped by himself. So, this devotee, so called devotee, he was agitated. And then he came, challenged Ramana Maharshi. He was overcome with emotion. Mahatma Gandhi was trying to inspire people. And then Ramana Maharshi smiled. He answers. But you know, I think even he had given up hope that his answers will be understood by the people who are asking. Simply, he made a small statement. Do you think that people who are sitting, they are not helping? And the rest, we have to understand. What does it mean? That means by the very presence, by the very noble thoughts, ideal thoughts, what would be the prayer of a devotee of God? Not to speak of realized soul. Every devotee of God is supposed to pray for the welfare of the whole world. Not excluding his enemies. This prayer, these are called universal prayers. And we have to pray before anybody. Only such a person will progress spiritually. Same thing was asked of Mahapurush Maharaj. And he also gave more or less the same type of reply. Do you think that we are simply sitting here and preaching selfish spiritual practice? There are so many people and they are all doing welfare to the country in their own way. Even a person who is doing his or her duties properly. That is why in the Bhagavad Gita it is said that one worships God through one's own Swadharma. So if somebody does his own duties, Swadharma Anushtanena, he is only worshipping the Divine Lord. So Sri Ramakrishna is telling that nobody can help God or hinder God. Does God help or does God hinder? So there is something. He doesn't help, he doesn't hinder. But he distributes the results of karma, one's own karma properly. But there is something else. If one earnestly prays to God, that is a good karma, then the grace of God comes. Why am I saying this? Because grace of God, as if He is sitting there waiting with a big bucket of grace and whoever comes, he will ladle out some bits of it. Sri Ramakrishna himself gave the answer that the breeze of God's grace is blowing eternally. Why are we not feeling it? Because we are not unfurling our sails. So unfurling means what? Do such an action that we will be capable of receiving the grace which is surrounding us all the time, even from before our birth. That is the meaning of that. So whatever actions we do, it is only to receive. So if a person works very hard, if a child plays, goes and plays very hard, he becomes very hungry. The mother is not saying to the child that my child, I will give you only this much. But if the child is not hungry, he himself will not be able to take whatever mother wants to give as much as possible. A child can receive only what he is capable of receiving. And if that child is active, running about, plays about, and this can be applied not only physiologically, psychologically, morally, aesthetically, in every way it can be applied. So the man who works for others without any selfish motive, whom does he do good? Who really does good to himself? This is the crux of the law of karma. Karma Siddhanta. Hence Ramakrishna says, there is gold buried in your heart, but you are not yet aware of it. What does it mean? Swami Vivekananda expanded and expounded this one. Each soul is potentially divine. Is gold buried only in the heart of Ishwar Chandra Vidya Sagar? Is it not there in a mosquito, in an amoeba, in a piece of rock, in a speck of dust? It is there everywhere. This division between living and non-living, and an insect and a highly developed human being, this is only a human being's concept. So then he says, Sri Ramakrishna is directly addressing Vidya Sagar, there is gold buried in your heart. Means what? You are potentially divine, but you are not yet aware of it. Even though you are the biggest scholar in the world, and you give the same teaching to many people, you have written books also, but you yourself are not aware of it. It is covered with a thin layer of clay. What is this thin layer of clay? Maya. Avidya. Ajnana. But once you are aware of it, all these activities of yours will lessen. And then, illustration, the daughter-in-law was with a child, and the mother-in-law is terribly interested. She is terribly oppressive and opposed to her daughter-in-law. But she is dreaming of a grandson. I don't know how this contradiction works out in life. And then, not for the sake of the daughter-in-law, but for the sake of the grandchildren. And that is why there is a saying that when a woman becomes pregnant, that is the time to pester her husband at whatever desires, because they are terribly terrified. If we don't fulfil, if this woman becomes unhappy, it directly affects the child. So, out of their interest in the child, they will fulfil. So, whatever she wants, take it out completely before the child is born. I am just making a bit of fun. So, thereafter, what happens? As the daughter-in-law's pregnancy is advancing, her external activities are reduced by the mother-in-law. And a few days before, the mother-in-law strictly forbids her to do any activity. And once the child is born, look at this illustration, our mother-in-law doesn't let her do any household duties. Everything the new mother does is only for the child. That is to say, once the child called Bhakti is born, then the whole attention is only to look after the Bhakti, to see that it grows up, etc. Then Sri Ramakrishna gives a beautiful parable on how we can slowly progress in spiritual life. This parable is called the parable of the woodcutter. And what is a parable? A usually short, fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle. And we all know, you must have all read about it, there was a poor woodcutter and every day he used to go to the wood, collect a little bit of firewood, come back, sell it, and somehow he was eking out some living, but he was suffering. And he must have done some punya in his past life. You have to presume that. Otherwise, every day a great monk or a great rishi is not going to come and tell you, Go forward. So this fellow, one day he was going and then he saw a holy man and the holy man said, Go forward. He didn't say anything. Only two words. Go forward. And by the way, there is a beautiful, marvellous book called Go Forward. That is the title of the book. The letters, the teachings, the writings of Swami Premeshanji Maharaj, who was a disciple of Holy Mother and whom we know what a marvellous life he had led. Anyway, Go Forward. Maybe he had taken the title from this story of the woodcutter only. Probably, I don't know. Anyway, this woodcutter heard these words. Holy man went on his own way and many days passed and he did not heed. Then one day he was suffering more and then suddenly he remembered, This holy man had asked me to go forward. Why did I not listen? And then he moves forward, finds a sandal trees, full of sandal trees and then he becomes very, very rich. And then one day he was in misery and he remembered, The holy man did not ask me to stop here. He asked me simply to go forward. Why not I go a bit further? And he went and found silver mines. After a few days, then gold mines. After a few days, diamond mines. What is the moral lesson that we have to learn from this parable? And then every one of us have to reflect and find out our own meaning. Life is meant to move forward. That is called evolution. Evolution is a very poorly understood concept. Everything is evolving. But even an insect, an amoeba has evolved into a human being. What is his lot? He grows up, becomes old, he dies. Where is the forwardness? To understand the concept of forwardness, one has to accept that there are a series of lives. Punar Janma. So until we reach God. That beautiful teaching has been illustrated practically in every Upanishad. In the Taittiriya, for example, satapotapyata satapas tattva This was the teaching given by Varuna, a knower of Brahman, to his own son, but not an ordinary son, but a Brahmavidya seeker, Brahmachari. To him, he gave this teaching. So we are all moving forward. We are learning the lesson. What lesson? The last lesson that we have to learn. Before that I want to give you. So many times I go on repeating. Gospel class is meant only for repetition. Repetition means parayana. It means japa. So I am a child of God. I am a child of God. Whenever you do mantra japa, what does it mean? Om namo narayanaya. What does it mean? Salutations to Narayana. How does it help me? If Narayana is God and His name is marvellous, why should I salute? Why should I salute Him? Because you belong to Him. You don't belong to this world. You have come from Him. Allide nammane illibande summane Our real home. Manachalo nijaniketane Samsar videshe videshe vese Brahmo kheno akarane So our home. Where is our home? That is in God. We have come from strayed, wandered, far away from our home. Suddenly the darkness is coming. And then we realise. And then darkness means fear. Darkness means death. Darkness means danger. Darkness means suffering. Then we realise. We should not have strayed from God. And then slowly try to move towards our home world. Beautiful illustration. So we are all the poor woodcutters. What is our lot in our life? We are suffering. Somehow we are eking out our life. Just try to expand your imagination. Just look at what is happening today. In Lebanon or anywhere. People are terribly frightened. Today is the bomb going to fall upon me. Who is going to survive? Of course, I am exaggerating. Few people think of death. They think other people may die. Not us. So are we not rushing towards death? All of us, like people, sliding from a mountain top towards the ocean and get drowned. The fall will crush us. What is that? That's why people go on celebrating happily. They drink. I suspect why they drink. Because I have become one year old. And that is not a very pleasant thought. So I think to forget that I am becoming old, they drink. Nobody should celebrate. Because every birthday celebration is one year nearer to the chopping block, means death. So we are all such kind of people. And why does the man suffer? Because he is not happy. So he wants more money. Why does he want more money? Because he wants to be happy. Has anyone anywhere proved in this world that if a person is a very rich person, his happiness is proportionate to that person's wealth, money. Nowhere. It is our day-to-day experience. Even the richest person, when he becomes old, or without becoming old also, if he develops stomach troubles, digestive troubles, many other... what they call sometimes, these doctors call it Arista. You have entered into your last stage of Arista. We all have to enter. Whether it is animals, mosquito, everything. We want to become more and more happy. Unbroken happiness. Infinite happiness. Why? Because our unconscious nature is God. And that forgotten divinity is driving us that you realize you are that Brahma Satyam. Jeevo Brahma eva na aparaha. So we are all woodcutters. And due to some good fortune, punya karma, a holy man comes. Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, teachings of Ramana Maharshi, works of Swami Vivekananda, or songs of Purandar Dasa, or works of Tulasi Dasa, bhajans of Tulasi Dasa. Beautiful bhajans are there. Some of you might have heard. Mamata tu na gayi mere manate. Oh, attachment. Mamata means attachment. You have not gone from my heart even today. That means what? I am on deathbed. And nobody wants. Suta hi bulavatu karate. A fellow was on deathbed, unable to even call, My son, I want to see you. Please come. The son is running away. Nobody wants to confront. Old age, disease, much less death. And what is the wife doing? Nikarat. So she will be throwing out as soon as this. She doesn't want even to touch. So this is our condition. Even under that condition, these are my people. They belong to me. I love them. That is your choice if you love them. But they love me. That is not your choice. It is a pure delusion. One of the greatest delusions we all suffer. Somebody loves me. Nobody loves anybody. What am I talking about? The conversation, dialogue between Yajnavalkya and Maitreyi. O Maitreyi, the only thing dear to anybody, dearest to everybody is only Atma, Putrad, Dharad. So even greater than our love for a son, a wife. Atma, Priyata Maha. Atma is the greatest. Why? Because we are the Atman. It is the nearest. Then if somebody loves a son, is it not real love? No, it is fake love. What is fake love? If I love something, somebody, for my sake, because that object or person is contributing to my own happiness, that is called fake love. What is real love? I want to gain from this person, but I wish on the contrary everything good for that person, the welfare of that person. That is called real love. Only God can give that love. Nobody else can give. That is why He said, Sarvam Atmartham Priyo Bhavati. Everything becomes dear, O Maitreyi, only for the sake of the Atman. No wife loves for the sake of the husband. She loves the husband because he is providing for her, he is bringing jewels, etc. for her, and he is feeding her. For her own happiness, he is sacrificing himself. And so the coin also is returned. He also loves her, not for her sake. How do we know? Let her become ugly, let her become diseased, and then let her become old. Many times our love, which was earlier, becomes much reduced. Are not couples loving each other, even in old age? Yes, that is called attachment. What is attachment? I cannot live without you, you cannot live without me. I am loving you because I feel lonely without you. And you love me because you feel lonely without me. This is called fake love. Any love other than love for God is called fake love. And we are that God. Therefore, we love only our own selves. This is the truth. So this woodcutter, that means all of us, somehow the advice of this holy man, suddenly it comes and inspires, especially at moments of greater suffering and agony. And even that takes a long time to remember it. And then we move forward. What is this moving forward? That may be greater happiness, greater riches means greater happiness may be found if I dig deep into myself. Or go forward means progress in life. And this is what I call progress in the existential ladder, progress in the ladder of happiness. What is it? When a person is capable of moving from what is called Vishayananda, the lowest level, which is severely limited by time and space and quantity, if he can move into the level of Medhananda, that is intellectual happiness, understanding things, understanding ideas, then he has achieved. Because greater happiness, you can even listen, you can read, you can even think, you can even meditate. I am not talking about spiritual meditation. Think deeply and appreciate the ideas and then that is called understanding. The greater happiness will be there. Every day you are also realizing it. You are doing some work, for example, maybe you are cooking and then one day suddenly, after 50 years or so, suddenly an idea comes, why not today I add something else and see how it tastes and then the result is excellent, much more tasty than before. Oh, I discovered a new idea how to increase the happiness. How did we improve the cooking? Because of increment in intellectual understanding. That is called Medhananda. But there is a far superior, higher happiness. That is called Kalananda. Kala means aesthetic enjoyment. Appreciate beauty. See the whole universe in a drop of dew. Poets, artists, they all know what it is. Ramakrishna, when he was a young boy, one day he was munching some what is called flattened rice and he was moving in the fields. It was rainy season. Suddenly the whole sky was covered by pitch black clouds and suddenly a great flock of white swans started flying in formation and we also look at it many times. But nothing happens because we are not endowed with this Kalananda. So this person immediately, see Ramakrishna, I am talking, as soon as he saw, he became immersed in that universal happiness in the form of this beautiful scenario like a painted picture and then he fainted and people thought he was suffering from fainting disease. Then he said, no, I was contemplating upon the divine beauty. This is called Kalananda. Hear beautiful bhajan. Is that Kalananda? No. Hearing beautiful bhajan also falls under Medhananda only, Vishayananda only. But when a person develops this keen aesthetic sense, then when he hears that bhajan, then he enjoys one way, artistic, beautiful raga, beautiful laya, thala, beautifully rendered. But when he goes to still higher realm which is called Dharmananda, moral realm, then he understands. When Sri Ramakrishna says Vishayananda, Bhajanananda, he is referring to this Dharmananda because he is dwelling now on the meanings. How do we know? Because if you are reading gospel, and I think you are reading, then you see, whenever some song is sung, he used to enter into deep meaning. Maybe the song is about Divine Mother and he is absorbed. Only the idea of the Divine Mother is flashing in his mind. Why do we say it is Divine Ecstasy? Because what about the others? Some were enjoying the same bhajan as Vishayananda. Nice voice, rhythmic voice. It is rendered nicely. That is one. But if somebody is endowed with Medhananda, he enjoys it even further. Somebody is endowed with Kalananda, he enjoys it in a different way. If somebody is endowed with Dharmananda, then he will enjoy it much, much, much more. But if a person is a realized soul, he understands this is all the glory of Bhagawan Himself. There are so many incidents. Sri Ramakrishna once entered into a Shiva temple, one of the Shiva temples. You know, at Dakshineswar, there are 12 Shiva temples, 6 on one side, 6 on the other side. And he was reciting one of the shlokas in the Shiva Mahamana Stotram Shlokas in Shiva Mahamana Stotram He was overwhelmed thinking of the glory of Lord Shiva. That means God. And he became completely unconscious. So you see, these are 5 layers. Vishayananda, Medhananda, Kalananda, Dharmananda and finally Brahmananda. So this is called progress. And it happens. I want to clarify something here. Medhananda doesn't mean you have to attend school, colleges. Medhananda means by the grace of the Divine Mother. In the Medha Suktam, we have studied that one. I hope you remember it. Or those who are repeating Gayatri Mantra O Mother, please grant me that Divine Buddhi. So that is called Medha. What Buddhi? Medha. What Medha? That which understands truth. That is called Medha. That which mistakes the unreal, fleeting, anything as real. That is called Lauki Ka Pragnya. Beautiful concepts. So this person went. And the higher the development, higher is the happiness. So this person went forward. That means he found Sandalwood. Sandalwood is associated with whom? It is the worship of God in the form of sandal paste, etc. Then he found silver mines. That means he is seeing everything in a different light. The creation was done by God. And the maintenance is also done by God. And the recycling that is also done by God. Mrityu, what is it called? That is called Laya. Laya is everyday Laya. We are going through. That is deep sleep. Is deep sleep death? No. Is death also death? No. Because that is called Pralaya. Prakruti Pralaya. No. Death is only the beginning of a new life. There is nothing called death. In fact, there is nothing also called birth. They are all stages in one's spiritual progress. As we progress, we discover higher and higher levels of spirituality. Instead of... We can also try to understand this parable. Previously, a person was only living in the realm of what? Muladhara, Swadhishtana and Manipura. God's grace comes in the form of a holy person's good advice. Then he moves to Anahata Chakra. Then he moves to Vishuddha Chakra. Then he moves to Agnya Chakra. Then he moves to Sahasrara Chakra. We can also take it as woodcutter, silver mine. Anahata. Not strictly necessary, but it is a wonderful way of thinking. Then he moves forward. First, he gets sandalwood. Anahata Chakra. Because as soon as our mind rises to the level of Anahata, our mind is fixated in God, seeing the divinity of things, seeing everything as separate. Sri Ramakrishna says at that stage, everybody sees light in everything, every object. What is that light? Light of Atma Chaitanyam. Jyoti Rajyoti. And then he moves forward from Anahata to Vishuddha Chakra. You can say it is silver mines. Then Agnya Chakra. You can say it is gold mines. Then he reaches diamond mines. What is the diamond mine? Sahasrara Chakra. That means he realizes his oneness with Brahman. Or in other words, Brahman is only sporting in this world as I, as you, as everything in this world, both living as well as non-living. What marvelously rich meaning is there. So every parable we have to meditate, every single parable, every great teacher, Buddha, Jesus, Mahavira, everybody used these parables to illustrate higher states. But the speciality is we have to, each one of us, my understanding is not your understanding. Your understanding is not somebody else's understanding. So we will have to, each one of us have to meditate, derive our own meaning and move forward. It means progress from gross to subtle to subtler to subtlest and go to the fourth called Turiya Avastha. So another way of looking this woodcutter's progress is from the waking state to the dream state to the dreamless state or deep sleep state and then finally reach the Turiya Avastha, fourth state. So this is the result of doing good karma. So the result of good karma is love of God through selfless work. Love of God grows in heart. Then through God's grace and even when we have some devotion, that is also grace of God only. How it came? Because of selfless work and the idea that I must without any motivation do some good that is also grace of God. So love of God grows in the heart. Then finally through His grace one realizes sin in course of time. And this is what Ramakrishna is assuring that God is real and He can be talked to also. Because the fundamental question is, is there really God? And has anyone seen? Can He be talked with? With this subject we will discuss in our next class. May Ramakrishna Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with bhakti. Ramakrishna