Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 125 on 19-November-2024

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

Advice to Householders. We have entered into this third chapter. On August 13, 1882, Sri Ramakrishna was conversing with Kedar and other devotees. A music festival was arranged. A great singer was hired called Ustad. Sri Ramakrishna was highly pleased with the Ustad's music. He reminded us that if anybody has any special talent, that is the special manifestation of God in that person. Not only a special manifestation, the entire creation is nothing but manifestation of God. God without names and forms is called Brahman. And Brahman with names and forms is called Saguna Brahma, which is another name to say this entire universe. So we have to remember, ultimately it's not any special power. But everything in this universe is nothing else but God. And that is the understanding which is called complete self-surrender. Surrender the self. What is the self? I am somebody different from God and from everything else. What is the way to have this realization? Sri Ramakrishna's philosophy is Jato Moth Tato Poth. If you believe this is the way to God and sincerely if you believe, then for that particular person, that particular faith is the path through which he becomes one with God. Remember in Hinduism, attaining God means becoming one with God. And those of you who have read a little bit about Vishistha Dvaita and Dvaita, you may perhaps have a doubt that these people, they don't accept complete oneness with God. How do you explain it? Many times I try to inject that idea into you. I hope you will remember it. But any number of times we have to repeat until it becomes our very reality. For example, a Vishistha Dvaitin says I want to go to Vaikuntha, where according to them the union with God, complete oneness with God is not their idea. But we are not concerned here with our concept, our idea. We are concerned here with God's idea. Who can go to Vaikuntha? Only a person who surrenders himself totally to God, only he can go to Vaikuntha. Just like a mother taking up the baby and we have to understand it only in that limited sense for now. But does the mother withhold anything from her child? If she takes up a child, even an ordinary mother, she will try to protect, even giving up her life for the sake of the child. So our understanding should be when a person reaches Vaikuntha, Vishnu or Narayana, by whatever name, same thing Shiva or Kailasa or Devi, Devi Loka, these are all specific ideas of where they want to go, according to whom they are worshipping. So if the devotee goes there and nobody, even Vishistha Dvaitin, much less anybody will say God is ignorant, God is all-knowing. And if he is all-knowing, he knows I am the Saguna, I am the Nirguna. And he knows the Nirguna aspect is more complete than the Saguna aspect. So Narayana doesn't want to deprive his child of this highest realization. So what does it mean? It means he absorbs into himself the devotee who might be thinking I am separate, I want to be separate. That is why many of the legends, when God kills, for example, Narasimha kills Hiranyakashyapu, and somehow our translators, they stumbled perhaps upon that idea. As soon as the killing was done, a small lamp, light as it were, comes out. And God is a big lamp and this small light goes and merges into the bigger light. What does that mean? That means the Jivatva, however much he wants to keep, God will not keep the separation. God wants complete union. Devotee may want, I want to be separate because his understanding is limited. I cannot enjoy God if I am one with God. But higher understanding is there. Real unbroken enjoyment will be only when I become one with God. So whichever way we look at it, whether it is through Bhakti, through any other path, one attains complete oneness with God. That is called God Realization. It means God alone becomes real. Realization means this is the only reality. Now I can cite, there are so many devotees, especially in India. They may be shoemakers or they may be belonging to that class which is called Untouchables, Shudra. So there are so many stories, including some women too. So they have tremendous devotion to God. So there was a devotee, he was a hunter. He is very famous in South India. So he thinks his best way of showing devotion to Shiva is to offer to Shiva whatever is most palatable, tasteful for him. So he was a hunter. He used to bring meat and then half cooked. That was his way of life. Anyway somehow cooked. Maybe there is nothing excepting pure meat and he loves it. So he thinks his chosen deity, Shiva also loves it. So he takes it and offers it. Maybe if he drinks liquor, then he may think that Shiva also drinks liquor. And I half suspect that is what he likes it. Because Shiva Thandava is nothing but the inebriation streaming through the veerupura of his blood vessels. And in that ecstatic state, he goes on dancing. Thandava rithya. So if he offers meat and drink, that is his favorite. And then what happens? This is what Sri Ramakrishna, we see, repeatedly advocated. When somebody, when Girish Chandra Ghosh asked him, Do you advise me, Sir, that to give up drinking? Sri Ramakrishna said, No, no, no. Go on drinking as much as you want. But you offer it to the Divine Mother and then you drink. What happens? Our idea is Sri Ramakrishna is encouraging more drinking of the liquor. But Sri Ramakrishna is a superb psychiatrist. He knows better than anybody. So slowly, the intoxication of devotion overpowers the devotee. And the devotee will go on offering it at first. Then what happens? Bhagavad Gita gives us the answer. The answer is So if somebody is totally surrendering himself or herself to God, I will give them that true knowledge, whereby they approach me nearer and nearer and become completely one with me. So that is what happened to Girish Chandra Ghosh, to Kalipada Ghosh, to every blessed drunkard there. So as they offered the drink, but according to Sri Ramakrishna, Oh, this is a Prasada. So the intoxication of the idea of Prasada is even more intoxicating. And then they don't need. So when we go on thinking deep within our mind about some enjoyable object, then what happens? We all experience it every day. So in dream also, we see what we love. And then what happens? Same experience, like physically experiencing, enjoying something. But if it comes to that, we have to understand, even when I am eating Rasagulla, what happens to this Rasagulla? We don't know. But the idea that this Rasagulla is wonderful, and I am eating it, and I am so happy because of eating it. These are thoughts. This is sweet, and I love this sweet, and I obtained it. I am enjoying it. I am very happy. Every single mode is called Vritti or a thought. Actually, whether there is any object outside, according to psychology as well as philosophy, we don't know whether there is anything called external world. All that we know is what is reflected of the external world in the mirror of our mind. That is why, if you remember, when we talked about Dakshinamurthy Stotram, Vishwam Darpana Darshamana Nagare Tuliyam Nijantargatam, supposing there is a huge mirror in front of your window, and you are sitting, and just imagine you are on the 7th floor, and then the mirror is slightly angled downwards, outward and downward, so that you can see the reflection of all the traffic that is going on, 7 stories below on the roads, and you are seeing everything, as if you are sitting on the ground floor and watching the traffic. That is what exactly happens not only in the dream, but in the waking state too. No, no, I am seeing directly a tree in front of me. I am seeing you. No, no, no, you are not seeing me. Even in this Zoom class, are you seeing me? No, you are not seeing me. Your eyes are seeing my form, my picture, and that picture is digitized, and the information is carried inside, and it is presented to the mind, and the mind assembles my form, my sound, the sounds that I am uttering, like a telephone. When you are speaking with somebody, then you think that you are hearing that person's voice directly. No, that speech is digitized, compressed, and then transmitted through the wire, and on this other side, your telephone or mobile, whatever, and that rearranges the whole thing, so that you can really hear it and understand it. Otherwise, you know what happens in the wire? Zero and one. Nothing else is there but zero and one. So the same thing happens, whatever happens to these five sense organs. If somebody touches you, if they are not touching, you don't know who is touching. So therefore, only that information, the mind can really unfold. So even right now, we don't know what is the external world. That is the essence of what I am trying to tell. So when these devotees used to offer and feel, what is the feeling? This is not liquor. This is not meat. This is prasada. Prasada is another manifestation of God. Prasada is not something like we touch food, we look at food. That is, God himself becomes that food. In fact, God is food. When we offer food to God, that knowledge comes to us, a little bit of it, that this food is God. That is why it is called prasada. So this devotee offers meat, perhaps half-cooked. Does anybody eat half-cooked food? You look at the whole Western world and see what is happening. What is that medium rare? Or even, there is something I forget, which is just one time, the chef turns it from this side to the other side and then presents it to you on a platter and then he might spit also on it. No, no, no. I am just telling that spitting meat is a different issue. And then you say, Aha! How tasteful it is! It all depends upon how we are accustomed to, made, our habit is made through our parents or whoever is bringing us up, etc., etc. So, important thing is, slowly, the idea of God percolates. It intoxicates a person, whether it is through bhajan or bhojan or whatever is shuk, is called prasadam. And that is what Sri Ramakrishna is telling. Slowly, the joy that used to come from the outside objects becomes less and less and the idea of God. What is God? He is Anandaswaroopa. That takes over and finally, a devotee, by God's grace, cannot tolerate even one second's separation from God and this is graphically presented to us in the form of Lakshmi, Narayana, Shiva and Parvati, Radha and Krishna, etc. So, Sri Ramakrishna's most important teaching is don't say, everybody has to follow one path. Each person must follow his or her own path. As many people, so many paths. So, Sri Ramakrishna is trying to inject that idea. Why? Because in this yuga, we are seeing wars are fought on purely religious grounds. What is religious ground? That is, according to Sri Ramakrishna, every religion is represented by Mata. Mata means what? Opinion. So, Jews think one way, Muslims think another way, Christians think another way, Hindus think another way. So, we have no right to question. I am a Hindu. Every religion takes one to God. How come even in this 22nd century, people are still fighting in the name of wars? Well, that is the Leela of Bhagawan. So, therefore, Sri Ramakrishna says, but what is Bhakti? It is not enough to simply say, I have devotion, but one should have yearning. It is enough to have yearning for God. It is enough to love Him and feel attracted to Him. Don't you know that God is the inner guide? Here, Sri Ramakrishna gives a beautiful explanation. Supposing all my opinions are very limited, but also false, not right, but if I am sincere, if I have yearning to reach God, God is inside, then He guides at the appropriate time, so you don't travel that path. What does it mean? Don't cherish that opinion. You cherish this opinion, and then you move to here. In this way, you will reach your destination easily. And if there are obstacles, He will warn. So Sri Ramakrishna is sometimes better than even Kalidasa. And he gives a beautiful example. Don't you know that God is the inner guide? He sees the longing of our heart and the yearning of our soul. Then the simile example follows. Suppose a man has several sons. The older boys address him distinctly as Baba or Papa, Father, etc. But babies can at best call him Ba or Pa. Now, will the father be angry with those who address him in this indistinct way? The father knows that they too are calling him. Only they cannot yet pronounce his name. Well, all children are the same to the father. Likewise, the devotees call on God alone, though by different names. They call on one person only, one being only. God is one, but His names are many. Thursday, August 24th, 1882. Another day. In this chapter called Advice to Householders. Sri Ramakrishna was talking to Hajira on the long northwest veranda of his room when M arrived. So the master talked with M, now standing, now pacing up and down the long veranda. Master, a little spiritual discipline is necessary in order to know what lies within. A little spiritual discipline. Remember, every word of Sri Ramakrishna carries tons of meaning. Who said? Not Swami Dayatmananda. Swami Vivekananda said, on every word of Sri Ramakrishna, cart loads of commentaries can be made. So, what does it mean? So far as we can understand, because whatever spiritual discipline we might, that is whatever sadhana we might do, nobody has the right to say, I have done 100% sadhana. Absolutely no. It is not possible because body is limited, mind is limited. But whatever is our capacity, immediately if we can do it with yearning, with sincere intention, then God will understand and will reveal Himself. That is why it is called the grace of God. No sadhana can ever take us to God purely through effort. Self-effort must end in complete self-surrender. There is no other way. That is why Sharanagati is the only way. Even what is called the Gnani's Sharanagati is also I surrender my little Jeevatva, individuality, and merge it in the universal. That is, I want to become the universal. Aham Brahma Asmi. So, after hearing, a little spiritual discipline is necessary in order to know what lies within. What does Ramakrishna mean? What lies within? That is, each soul is potentially divine. I am divine. In Bhakti's words, I am the child of God. I have come from God. My parent is God. I must go back to God. I am unnecessarily roaming in this world. Hearing this, as a little doubt, we have to imagine sitting or standing there and then we are closely enjoying all these talks of Sharanakrishna with various devotees. And we have to enjoy. If anybody questions Sharanakrishna, that is me, questioning Sharanakrishna in the form of that particular devotee mentioned in the Gospel. Is it necessary to practice discipline all through life? Perhaps he means that one life is necessary to attain God. Or is it there is no respite, no rest? Ramakrishna says, no. But one must be up and doing in the beginning. And after that, one need not work hard. And then again, another example follows. A man is rowing the boat. A helmsman stands up and clutches the rudder firmly. As long as the boat is passing through waves, storms, high wind or around the curves of a river, but he relaxes after steering through them. As soon as the boat passes the curves and the helms, man feels a favorable wind. He sits comfortably and just clutches the rudder now and then. Next, he prepares to unfurl the sail and gets ready for a smoke. Beautiful imagery for us to meditate upon. Because this is what we see whenever we are traveling, especially by country boats, not huge, multi-storied ships like Elizabeth, like that. And so, a little bit, what man feels until man feels favorable wind and the boat is passing through curves, etc. So, what do these curves mean? Ramakrishna is going to explain that these are nothing but our worldly desires, Kama and Kanchana, which he put it as woman and gold. And whenever you read or see woman and gold, so, you have to substitute the words that is sex attraction and attraction of the money. So, woman and gold means sex and money. What is ruling the entire world today? But there is also, I heard something, this gospel of Ramakrishna was translated by Swami Nikhilananda. He had an assistant, a secretary, a lady who was a niece of President Roosevelt. So, this when Swami Nikhilananda was translating, he wanted to translate it as sex and money. Closer to that. But that lady put her foot firmly and said, Sri Ramakrishna used these words, O Swami, and you have no right to change it. So, at least, I am glad I am in India. My disciples don't challenge my words. But in the West, these fellows directly challenge. Not only challenge, I am even more glad that nobody threw a bomb on me in the West. But Swami Trigunathi Thanandaji, his own disciple, he threw a homemade bomb and then he died himself and after some days even Swami Trigunathi Thananda died. If you don't know this fact, you will have to remember that one of the first persons in 1914 or so to die of his own disciple throwing the bomb is not a new phenomena because Avatara and his disciples set the trend for others to follow. Anyway, so here boat means our journey from a lower destination to a higher destination. So, there will be eddies, whirlpools, storms, so many other things will be there. At that time, one has to be careful. But there comes a time when the river is flowing nicely, the wind is also helping us to move towards then the boatsman is called helmsman that is he who controls the rudder like the driver catching hold of the driving wheel, etc. and then he relaxes, prepares a hubble-bubble and then he prepares to enjoy it but before that he lifts the sail so that the winds themselves can carry. What is the wind? That is the grace of God. So, at first until our mind comes under control, we have to work a little bit. But once the mind is controlled, then we will have to enjoy. Hubble-bubble means the intoxication that comes whether a person smokes a cigarette or smokes a hubble-bubble or drinks liquor or addicted to some other type of pleasure, whatever it is, the object is not important but the enjoyment that is derived, supposedly derived from that object. We don't love the objects. We love only the happiness or the joy or pleasure that comes from out of the by contact with those objects. This is what he means. So, likewise Ramakrishna continues, the aspirant enjoys peace and calm after passing through the waves of storms of women and gold. Some are born with the characteristics of the yogi but they too should be careful. What does Ramakrishna mean? Means there are some people who do not need to do this hard sadhana. How come? Like Ramana Maharshi, the explanation is that they have done it in their previous births. There is so much of evidence, piling up evidence for past births and there are so many, what is called in India also, every state has called music competitions. Small children, even I have seen, 3 years, 4 years, not to speak of higher ages, when they sing, they sing divinely, keeping perfect rhythm, keeping the raga, of course they are imitating but they can also sing as their guru or gurus teach them and so perfect that we are transported into higher realms. How come among millions of small babies, this particular child has a particular talent and sometimes it may be even seen, the parents or the family have no such thing. Srinivas Ramanujan, one of the world's greatest mathematicians, he was from a village and when he was studying, his teachers were astonished, especially maths, even before the teacher writes down the question on the blackboard, a man is already blurting out the answer. How come he claims and I believe in it, many of us believe in it, that there is a goddess in the village, she granted him that special talent. How could a divine mother grant that boon to this person, of all the persons because he must have done sadhana in the previous birth. So that reminds me a beautiful story in the Bhagavata. We all know the story of Dhruva, how he became one of the greatest devotees but a very peculiar story from some angles. His father was a king who married twice and through both the queens he had two sons and one day both queens were there, both children were there and the father was sitting there and the step-mothers, that is Dhruva's cousin brother, he was sitting in the lap of his father Uttanapada. Then Dhruva, naturally the small child doesn't know, he also wanted to sit equally with his cousin brother but the step-mother stepped in, that's why she is called step-mother and then she said, my son, you are not fortunate enough to be born of my home you have no right to sit and that poor father, I am inclined to call him worse names but I will refrain myself so he was just swallowing but he was not saying anything that means he was terribly frightened of the step-mother otherwise she might step on him also so this wounded the pride of even that child, children have their own egotism you know and sometimes the psychiatrists call it sibling jealousy so this person immediately said, I will get a higher place than my cousin brother so he felt insulted, he told his mother and his mother told, the only person who can make you greater is God Narayana, so he went into the forest and Bhagavan Narayana who is the witness of everything whatever any creature is doing in this world, at all times, 24 hours a day he sent immediately the small child is going he is not initiated you please initiate him, I don't know whether he said the word, please go and initiate him into the 12 lettered mantra of mine om namo bhagavate vasudevay so Narada came initiated and you repeat with bhakti, God will bless you and Guru went away and the boy with firm determination hardly he did a little bit of japa and immediately God appeared, so this is the story in the Bhagavatam, a little bit later the explanation comes not in the Bhagavatam but some scholars of the Bhagavatam, so then this boy felt very proud oh what a great man I am I only did tapasya for a short time, even God has to come down etc Narada his Guru detected this pride and then he went there and said so Dhruva I am so pleased with you, you had the vision of Narayana himself, please come and Dhruva of course was self congratulating at his own talents so he followed what could this Guru show me and after taking him some distance Narada showed him a whole hillock consisting of bones Dhruva was unable to grasp, he asked sir what is this hillock and Narada explained these are the bones of millions and millions of your past births so many janmas you had done tapasya and as a result you obtained the vision of God in this, do not become proud just because you sat and uttered the mantra a few times, God came down running to bless you, then Dhruva's pride has vanished that very moment if we go to Bhagavata itself there is something very beautiful scenery described, so Dhruva had the vision of Narayana and this boy wanted to him praise Lord but he did not even get good education how to do it, then he praised Narayana please bless me so that I can express the feelings which are welling up within me and Lord Narayana he took a little bit of water from his conch and touched the head of his beloved son Dhruva and immediately a flow of Saraswati a river of him there is a Dhruva Stotram in the Bhagavatam very popular so I am reminded and Hindus firmly believe, Hindus Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs believe in Punar Janma that is what Shri Ramakrishna is telling, some people are born and Shri Ramakrishna used to call this, compare this great Yogis in the Purva Janma a little bit needed to complete and as soon as they are born, they are now attached to woman and gold and then they fly this is what he used to give the simile of a Homa bird and its six, I hope you have, you can recollect it then Shri Ramakrishna continues it is sex and money alone that is the obstacle it makes them deviate from the path of Yoga and drags them into worldliness, perhaps there was some desire for enjoyment after fulfilling their desire they again direct their minds to God and thus recover their former state of mind fit for the practice of Yoga then Shri Ramakrishna bursts into another simile have you ever seen a spring trap for catching fish called Satka Kaal and said no sir, I have not seen it but what happens is they use it in our part of the country, one end of a bamboo pool is phased in the ground and the other is bent over with a catch, from this end a line with a hook hangs over the water with bait tied to the hook and then when the fish swallows the bait there is a tug, there is a pressure and then this tied up bamboo it springs up, the bamboo jumps up and regains its upright position and then the fish is caught and that is what we also do while trapping sometimes the mice or rats, there is a bone, there is a trap there is a bait and as soon this poor mouse it jumps in search of that, in hope of that bit of biscuit etc and immediately the trap is sprung and it is caught and then Shri Ramakrishna bursts into another simile, again take a pair of scales, for example if a weight is placed on one side, the lower needle moves away from the upper one the lower needle is the mind and the upper one God that is to say the mind goes down and weighed by what? by sex and money, desires for sex and money the lower needle is the mind, but the meeting of the two is called Yoga, that is to say when the scale is absolutely same is called Samadarshana then that is called Yoga, what is Yoga? Jeeva and Brahman become one, so Ramakrishna concludes unless the mind becomes steady there cannot be Yoga it is the wind of worldliness that always disturbs the mind which may be likened to a candle flame if that flame doesn't move at all then one is said to have attained Yoga and Shri Krishna also gives in the Bhagavad Gita just like a lamp is lighted and kept in a glass case let us say that is windless place and then it will not flicker because no wind is touching and Shri Ramakrishna continues again and again, woman and gold alone is the obstacle to Yoga always analyze what you see, what is there in the body of a woman I will put it, what is there in the body of a man or an animal, only such things as blood, flesh, fat entrails, so why should one love such a body and our body is such a body so we should not have too much attachment but it is a great instrument that is why it is said for the attainment of Dharma this body is the most important instrument and Shri Ramakrishna is citing some inspirational incidents from his own life sometimes I used to assume a Rajasic mode in order to practice renunciation once I had the desire to put on a gold embroidered robe, wear a ring on my finger and smoke a habul-bhabul with a long pipe and that was very common thing in Shri Ramakrishna's time, many Muslims used that and Muslim kings also used that so Madhur Babu procured all these things for me I wore the gold embroidered robe and said to myself after a while, mind this is what is called a gold embroidered robe then I took it off and threw it away I could not stand the robe anymore, again I said to myself mind, this is called a shawl and this a ring and this smoking a habul-bhabul with a long pipe, I threw those things away once for all and the desire to enjoy them now arose in my mind again, first let us talk about the last sentence once Ramakrishna discriminated that this is what, it doesn't really matter so once discriminating but once was enough for his acute mind which is equipped with the highest type of wisdom, viveka and vairagya, they must always go together so he said only once I had a desire and I have fulfilled that desire and I threw those things away, he said once for all and the desire to enjoy them never again arose in my mind again we have to understand that was the statement of Sri Ramakrishna, it has nothing to do with us, we have to do that again and again and again, there is a graphic description of this these short words in the Sri Ramakrishna Leela Prasanga written by Swami Sharda Ananda, now what does this to teach us what does this statement of Sri Ramakrishna is going to teach us first of all he says simply saying I want God will not do, simply saying I don't want this world also will not help we will have to practice sadhana and as we go on practicing sadhana slowly as Sri Ramakrishna says the needle of the weighing instrument moves away from the world towards God until it becomes completely the world doesn't have anything to do and then here itself Sri Ramakrishna makes a statement what is yoga that which keeps the balance absolutely equal, same that is called yoga the first idea that might come to our mind is that means world also will be there on one side so 50% of my devotion to the world and 50% of my devotion to God, that is not what is meant, what is meant is that the other side what is called world the distinction between world and God both disappear everything becomes God only because remember world means objects and we are not after objects, we are after God only, what do I mean, I mean supposing we love a sweet, so we are not loving that object called sweet we are using that object called sweet to remove the desire that is weighing me down weighing my own Ananda so when I eat this sweet for example, the sweet removes my desire, the weigh and what I am, that will come out simple example Sri Ramakrishna himself gives this, once he was talking with some devotees and then he says what is Maya very beautifully Sri Ramakrishna illustrates said you see we are so close to each other, I am able to see you, you are able to see me, so then he had a towel on his shoulders takes out the towel and puts it in front of his face and then he says look this is a small towel but you cannot see me because this towel is hiding me, my face from you, even though we are so close that means how close we are to God, in fact we are never separated from God but we think we are completely further away where is Vaikuntha, how many billions and billions and billions of galaxies away Vaikuntha is there, we think like that because of our ignorance but the fact is where is not God, that was the question Hiranyakashipu asks Prahlada where is your Narayana and we know the answer Narayana is everywhere and then Hiranyakashipu still ignorant he asks is he inside the pillar, that is a wrong question, he didn't understand Prahlada's answer what was Prahlada's answer he alone exists he is everywhere, if Narayana is everywhere what is this business called inside and outside so there is a pillar and the pillar has an inside and it has an outside in between this inside and outside there is a pillar which is separating the inside from the outside etc so three things are there, so when I am, I think I am away from God, three things are there I am there second God is there, third that towel Shri Ram Krishna puts in front I mean or is a representation of Maya that is there so Advaita Vedanta is a beautiful simile to make us understand this truth so on some days especially in the rainy season there are thick black clouds hanging so we don't see the sun then what is our normal expression the clouds are covering up the sun nothing could be further from truth so the explanation of this simile is who produced the clouds only sun who is covering up the sun not the clouds clouds cannot cover up the sun, clouds are small the sun is huge then why are we unable to see because even if you put your little finger across your eye you cannot see anything so the cloud is covering my eyesight the beholder's eyesight not the sun that is the second point and second is we like wise people we exclaim the clouds are covering the sun so we are able to perceive that clouds how are we able to perceive the clouds it was deep darkness can we see the black clouds no the sun is the producer of the clouds as well as the revealer of the clouds only day time we can see the clouds so clearly and don't be clever and say nights I see when the moon is there sun is not there moon is there then I see the clouds also not only that I see this moon running from one cloud into the another cloud also that what does it indicate that my brain is completely clouded and I don't understand it so cloud is produced and the cloud is revealed and the cloud also covers our vision for all that the sun is needed similarly even to say that I am here God is there and Maya is making me to see that God is somewhere and somewhere means what even one billionth of billionth of billionth of meter away from me is called outside so we think God is somewhere else somewhere up in the clouds that is wrong what is the union there is nothing but God because we know the story then Hiranyakashyapu breaks breaks and then Ugra Narasimha Murthy comes out and then takes Hiranyakashyapu and breaks his neck that means he destroys the cloud of ignorance in the form of the body and mind and as I mentioned a small lamp light comes immediately because God himself had killed and then that light goes and merges as if it is only symbol into that greater light which is represented by Narayana there is nothing further from truth this is only to illustrate to people like us that we the Jivas are also each is potentially divine it is the ignorance what is ignorance I am not divine I am not God I am Anatma so in the Leela Prasanga we get this beautiful Sri Ramakrishna's own words I have spoken to direct disciples once I had a desire to eat a Sandesh so whatever desires came to Madhur Babu sorry Sri Ramakrishna immediately he tells to Madhur Babu and Madhur Babu immediately provides the best sweets Sri Ramakrishna started eating and then graphic description he was moving that Sandesh from one side one corner of his mouth to the other corner and discriminating oh mind this is called Sandesh and this is also made up of Pancha Bhutas only just as ordinary jaggery is made the bitter gourd is made everything in this world is nothing but expression of the Pancha Bhutas only so this sweet is also an outcome of the Pancha Bhutas every type of taste is the outcome of the Pancha Bhutas it is only your mind which says this is a better substance than other objects and then Sri Ramakrishna said after that discriminatingly eating process then he never felt any desire and then this desire for once covering himself with a costly shawl and Madhur Babu perhaps he had himself and then it was called Banarasi shawl and it was costing in those days 1000 rupees and immediately he presented it to Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Ramakrishna put it on and perhaps nobody was taking notice of him so he was running around hey come here, did you see my shawl yes yes I have seen do you know what is this that fellow will not appreciate this Sejo Babu means Madhur Babu had presented me got it from Banaras and do you know how much it cost 1000 rupees as if that fellow goes gaga over it and then for a few minutes like a child very proudly went on showing then his discriminating mind came out he said oh mind so every shawl is made up of the hairs of a either a lamb or a goat or something like that so it could be a rabbit rabbit or a mink coat like that also very costly mink animal is there they kill millions of them to make mink coats very costly coat don't ask me how I know about it I don't have one these are all information Nama only nothing else and then he said this binds people and then he started spitting upon it and then threw it down spitting upon it he wanted to make a fireworks of it probably he never had Deepavali time any fireworks anyway Hriday or somebody saw that andavarathiya immediately they snatched it away because sir if you don't want it I want it so after that Shri Ram Krishna never again hankered for any one of those things this is called discrimination and that is what we are also supposed to do what is the essence we are not after any object we are only after the joy that comes from those objects and that joy another name for it is called God Sat Chit Ananda Om Jananem Shardam Devem Ramakrishnam Jagat Gurum Padapatmetayo Saritva Pranamam Mohan Mohan May the Ramakrishna Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti Jai Ramakrishna