Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

Opening Invocation

ॐ जननीं सारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगदगुरुम पादपद्मे तयो: श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहु :

Om Jananim Saradam devim Ramakrishnam jagadgurum Padapadme tayoh shritva pranamami muhurmuhuh.

Introduction and Previous Discussion

So we are discussing Narada Bhakti Sutras, Bhakti Sadhanas. In our last class, we discussed two important sutras: mukhyās tu - the most important sadhana - and mahat-kṛpā-yoga - grace and association with great souls.

The Power of Divine Grace

We then discussed bhagavat-kṛpā-leśa-dvāma - that a little bit of God's grace (bhagavat-kṛpā) is enough. Ramakrishna illustrates this so beautifully:

Suppose there is a room that has been in darkness for one thousand years. How much time does it take to drive away the darkness? One match. Instantaneously, the darkness will disappear.

So how much, how little jñāna (knowledge) is needed? What is the jñāna? "I belong to God, God belongs to me."

Three Steps of Spiritual Progress

Madhusūdana Sarasvatī has written a commentary on this bhagavat-kṛpā, wherein he says that spiritual progress takes place in three steps:

First Step: I Belong to God

100% certainty - "I belong to God." So if I belong to God, whose responsibility is it to take care of me? God's.

Second Step: God Belongs to Me

When there is a child, the child doesn't know all these concepts. All that it knows is, "My mother is there. She will take care of me." That is God - I belong to my mother, I belong to God. God will take care of me.

But when the child grows, he says, "Not only do I belong to God, but my mother also belongs to me. So God also belongs to me." This is a much higher step.

Third Step: No Difference Between Me and God

The final step is that there is no difference between me and God, because it is the same pure consciousness - śuddha caitanya.

The Difficulty of Obtaining Holy Company

What is the point? Unless a person has earned a lot of puṇya, he can't get the company of great people. Durlabhaṃ trayam evaitad devānugraha hetukam manūṣyatvaṃ mumukṣutvaṃ mahāpuruṣa saṃśraya.

So the human body, the desire for self-improvement (mumukṣutva), and then the favorable atmosphere - everything is favorable. Favorable company, favorable house, etc. All are available by God's grace. Ultimately, it's God's grace - mukhyatās tu.

The Rarity of True Saints

Now we don't have God directly, but we have God indirectly through great people. So mahat-saṅga - the company of great people - is durlabha (very difficult to obtain). First of all, it's very difficult because how many mahātmās are there? And mahātmās don't advertise themselves as "Self-realized soul - cheapest guru available on the internet" with "American Express and all credit cards acceptable."

Do you think such a person would be advertising? The greater a spiritual person, the more he wants to hide himself. Why? Because he knows if anybody has to come to him, God will send him. He knows it. And anybody who comes to him is sent by God. Otherwise, they are rebels.

Rebels means what? They don't want God. They want God to be their servant. "Hey, bring it. I will give this much. This is our contract. You will give me so much." Not even fifty-fifty - one horse versus one rabbit. Not even that much. Here, even a rabbit is something substantial.

So mahat-saṅga is durlabha - obtainable only by God's grace. Then agamya - even if we have the opportunity to understand mahat-saṅga, it requires a tremendous amount of God's grace.

Illustrative Stories

The Story of the Devoted Lady

I'll give you one example. One day, Ramakrishna was eating many dishes. One devotee, a close devotee, was serving him. She was serving but thinking, "This man loves to eat. Why does he need five or six dishes? Any one dish should do."

Ramakrishna could understand anybody's thoughts. He was smiling and looking at her. She was looking at him. Then he took one handful of food - muddhe - rāgi muddhe.

Only yesterday, somebody offered me rāgi muddhe. He said, "I'm not very fond of rāgi." I said, "rāga should not be there. Some rāga should be there - rasagullā rāga should be there. That's okay."

But even to give bhikṣā of rāgi to sādhus, is it so easy? Rāgi, tanderiya, bhikṣā, ke rāgi, yogya rāgi, bhogya rāgi, bhāgya vandana - all these spiritual qualities must be there. Then only you are fit to give this rāgi to a sādhu. Then only you get real benefit. See how he turned that word rāga into rāgi tanderiya. He brought this rāgi - yogya rāgi, bhogya rāgi, bhāgya vandana rāgi.

The Vision of the Snake

So agamya means very difficult. As this lady was watching, suddenly she saw Śrī Ramakrishna take the food near his mouth, when suddenly a snake came out from inside, snatched it, and went back inside. She got frightened.

What was the meaning of this vision? Śrī Ramakrishna is not the eater. Śrī Ramakrishna gives a beautiful example:

The Story of Vyāsadeva and the Gopīs

One day Vyāsadeva had to cross the Yamunā. The gopīs also had to cross, but there was no boat. They understood that here was a great ṛṣi - if he wished, Yamunā would part the ways. They said, "Please help us to cross." They were returning from somewhere.

Vyāsa said, "I will help you, but I am very hungry. You have to help me." They said, "We have lots of unsold milk, curds, butter - so many things are there." Everything he ate - unsold food means they were also free, he was also free.

Then they said, "Okay, your hunger is gone. Now please help us go across."

Then he said, "O Yamunā, if I had not eaten anything, then part the way." Immediately Yamunā parted the way. They all crossed.

But they were thinking, "This man just now ate so many things, and yet he says 'if I had not eaten.' What does that mean?"

The Meaning of Selfless Action

It means he doesn't have ahaṅkāra. Sarvaṃ prasādaṃ brahmārpaṇam. That is the meaning of it. "I am not eating. The eater is Brahman. The offering is Brahman. The food is Brahman. And the instrument through which I am putting this inside is also Brahman. Everything is nothing but Brahman only." That was the attitude of Vyāsadeva.

So it's very difficult. This lady had been associating with Śrī Ramakrishna for so many years. What did she understand? She did not understand anything.

The Meaning of Divine Grace

So it is all because of what? Mahat-kṛpayā eva - all because of graciousness.

So it is durlabha (rare), it is agamya (difficult to believe that this person is God, that this person is such a great soul). But once we get it, amogha - amogha means vyartha nahin. Amogha means absolutely - it is the greatest benefit we can get.

But mukhyatās tu mahat-kṛpayā - the most important sādhana is satsaṅga. And satsaṅga is available only by the grace of God. But once we get the grace of God, we get the company of great people. Once we get the company of great people - first of all it is durlabha, then it is difficult to recognize them. If we can recognize them, then the highest puruṣārtha can be obtained through them.

The Role of the Guru

What does the guru do? He doesn't give anything new. He simply reminds us, "This is what you already are."

A Jewish Parable: The Treasure Within

To illustrate this, I am going to tell you a Jewish parable:

There was a rabbi who was very poor. He was praying to God: "O Lord, I am very poor. I am not asking for riches - just a little bit to run my family."

One night, after prayer, he went to sleep and had a dream. He was dreaming that near his village, a few miles away, there was a bridge, and underneath the bridge he saw a lot of treasure - money. God showed him this. He believed: "I went to sleep after prayer, and then I saw this dream with a lot of treasure."

He had faith in God. Next day he went and reached there after one or two hours. He saw a watchman on the bridge. He didn't want the watchman to know what he was doing, but the watchman was not leaving. Ultimately, he simply went there and started digging in a place.

The watchman saw him and said, "This crazy old fellow, what is he doing under the bridge?" So he came down and said, "Hey Tata, what are you doing, foolish fellow?"

Being a very pure, simple person, he told him: "You know, I'm a poor rabbi and I prayed to God. I had this dream and God showed me treasure."

That watchman went on laughing and laughing. "You have really become old to believe all these silly dreams! You were wishing, that's why you had this dream. Why, for example, yesterday night I had a dream - there is a village and there is an old rabbi, and beneath his kitchen, beneath his hearth, there is a lot of treasure. That was the silly dream I had."

The moment he heard this, he understood - that was his village, that was his house, that was his kitchen! Immediately he thanked the watchman, ran back to his home, started digging, and got a lot of money.

The Parable's Meaning

This is a parable. What is the meaning? We are all searching for God somewhere outside. What does the guru say? "Tat tvam asi" - "That thou art." But to understand that, we have to go to a guru. That's very important.

Another Story: The Distant Guru

There is another story, a very beautiful one. There was a young man in a village searching for a guru. Outside the village there was one old man, a monk. But the behavior of that old monk was such that nobody could believe he was a mahātmā.

Anyway, the young man went there and asked, "Sir, do you know any spiritual person? I am in search of God - who can guide me?"

He said, "Yes, yes. There is a mountain 100 miles from here, and at the top of the mountain there is one of the greatest mahātmās. If you can go and get his grace, you will reach God."

This man believed it. He traveled 100 miles. There was a mountain. He climbed for three days. With great difficulty, he reached the top and really found a monk there. That monk very rarely talked, so one had to wait.

He waited for one year. After one year, the guru looked at him. Another year, he smiled at him. Third year, he asked, "Where are you coming from?" Fourth year, he asked, "Why did you come here?" Fifth year, he told him: "See, what I am today is all because of my guru, who is now old and stays outside the village as an old monk. That was his village, that was his guru. You go to him. As he showed me the path, he will also show you the path."

The young man went back. When we see somebody in front of our eyes, we don't believe he is a great person. "Somewhere at a distance, he talks very rarely, he's a bit weird, but he wears guru rudrākṣa mālā. Now and then he opens his eyes - he is a mahātmā. But this person who wears a watch - how can he be a mahātmā?"

The Truth About Spiritual Seeking

What is it? All the treasure we are seeking is right within us. This is the truth. We don't believe this. Even though God is within us, we don't believe in ourselves. So we have to go out, and then he will tell us that whatever you are seeking is within yourself. But to believe in him and to do sādhana, we need a lot of preparation.

That is what he is telling: Mahat-saṅgas tu durlabho 'gamyo 'moghash ca.

How Divine Grace is Obtained

He says: labhyate api tat kṛpayā eva - one gets the company of true satsaṅga only by the grace of God. That is what Śaṅkarācārya used to say: Manuṣyatvaṃ mumukṣutvaṃ mahāpuruṣa saṃśrayaḥ durlabhaṃ trayam evaitad devānugraha hetukam.

Labhyate api tat kṛpayā eva - this company of great people is available only by God's grace. Eva is very interesting - "only." You can't get it by money or by anything except by the grace of God.

Earning God's Grace Through Action

So the difference comes now: How to get God's grace? Ramakrishna gives a beautiful analogy:

There was a jamindar who had a big garden and employed two gardeners. One gardener always stands in front of the jamindar: "Oh, your face is so wonderful! Your nose is most beautiful! Your eyes are brimming with so much kṛpā!" Like that, morning and evening - mukhastuti (flattery).

But the other gardener never comes in front of him. He goes on working hard and produces more fruits. Upon whom will the jamindar be more gracious? The person who is working very hard.

The Story of the Swami's Japa

So devotees who go and say flattering words - this is okay. But when it comes to japa-dhyāna, you know what? One of our Swamis, a very old Swami over 60, was always found doing japa. After many years, one day they came and saw him - no japa mālā, no japa. He was roaming happily. They were shocked.

"Mahārāj, what happened to your japa mālā? Why were you not found doing japa?"

He said, "What a fool I had been! Every day, how many times I am going to the temple - Śrī Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, Holy Mother and Swami doing nothing! So today morning I got three japa mālās. I went and gave one each: 'You do japa for me, I will roam free. All these days you were roaming free while I was doing japa. From today onwards, you do the japa, I will roam free.' They are doing japa for me."

Is it so easy? That confidence - sat-guru will take care of me.

Bahūnāṃ janmanām ante jñānavān māṃ prapadyate vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ - after so many births we come to know God alone can save us. Nobody else can. But it takes so many janmas of sādhana.

Following Divine Instructions

How can we get God's grace? We can get God's grace only through following His instructions. What God asks us to do, we have to do. But what is God asking us to do?

Śāstra - God has given us instructions called śāstra. The instructions fall into two categories: do and don't - do's and don'ts - vidhi and niṣedha. Śāstra consists of "do this" and "do not do anything else."

So this is God's śāstra, and we have to follow the scriptures. That is why in the śaraṇāgati of Rāmāyaṇa: Tavāhām asmi śaraṇam prapanno dehi me bhayam - "I take a vow: I will do only what pleases You, and I will never do what doesn't please You."

Then only faith will come.

The Scriptures for Ramakrishna's Devotees

What is the śāstra for Śrī Ramakrishna's devotees? The Gospel - Gospel of Śrī Ramakrishna. What is the inspiration? Life of Śrī Ramakrishna. What is the instruction? Gospel of Śrī Ramakrishna.

That's why I told you: The whole Vedas are squeezed into Upaniṣads. Upaniṣads are squeezed into Gītā. Gītā is squeezed into Gospel. Gospel is squeezed into the first chapter. The first chapter is squeezed into five commandments of Śrī Ramakrishna.

The Five Commandments of Sri Ramakrishna

Have you heard about the five commandments? I have written articles in Vedanta about the five commandments of Śrī Ramakrishna. What are they?

Always sing the name and glories of God
Keep holy company - cultivate holy company
Now and then, go into solitude and call upon God more intensely
Always discriminate what is eternal from what is temporary
Live in this world like a maidservant

These are the five commandments of Śrī Ramakrishna. You can Google "Five commandments of Śrī Ramakrishna" and you will get detailed information.

The Power of Google

Nowadays, somebody was asking me about desert fathers. I got so upset - "Why don't you Google? Only ask me what is not available on Google!" Google is like Mother Sarasvatī - sarvajñā. You can get everything there, except one thing. Somebody queried "What is the secret of a successful marriage?" and only one answer came: "We are still searching!"

Making Ourselves Receptive to Grace

For us, the five commandments of Śrī Ramakrishna are his instructions. If he wants to certify us as "You are my devotee," then we have to put them into practice. If we practice them, his grace will come. What will these five commandments do? They will make us receptive to his grace.

All sādhana is meant only for one purpose - so that we are able to receive what he is able to give. Mother wants to feed the child, and she says "Go and play." The child happily goes and plays. What does play do? It makes the child hungry. What does hunger do? It makes the child ready to receive what the mother is able to give.

All sādhana is meant only for one purpose - to receive the grace of God.

The Paradox of Dharma in the Bhagavad Gītā

That's why the entire Bhagavad Gītā ends with carama śloka: Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṃ śaraṇaṃ vraja. A big question is raised here: He is talking about śreyas, svadharma, para-dharma, karma-yoga, bhakti-yoga, rāja-yoga, jñāna-yoga. He is telling "practice dharma, dharma, dharma." Here he is saying "Give up all dharmas." Is it not contradictory?

What is the answer? By performing all those dharmas properly, you are in a state to receive my grace. That's why he says: When you are able to receive my grace, that is called śaraṇāgata. Śaraṇāgata dīnārta paritrāṇa - she is ready to help us, but we are not ready to receive mother's help. That understanding comes.

No Difference Between God and Saints

So labhyate api tat kṛpayā eva. Then he says: Tasmin tajjane bhedābhāvaḥ - there is absolutely no difference between God and God's people.

Example: Is there any difference between Divine Mother and Śrī Ramakrishna? Is there any difference between Śrī Ramakrishna and Holy Mother?

That's why it is said: Śrī Ramakṛṣṇa karuṇā rūpiṇī mā - who is Holy Mother? Ramakṛṣṇa tapo-sūrya kiraṇa bimbā - what does Holy Mother do? What does the moon do? It absorbs the harshness of the powerful sun and gives us only cool light.

You know what it means? If we go to Śrī Ramakrishna, we have to do all sādhana. If we go to Holy Mother, she will do all sādhana for us and we get only the benefit, which is realization.

The Saints as Divine Instruments

There is no difference between God and saints because the saints are completely surrendered to God. They are just vessels. Inside, what is there? Only God. Nothing but God. There is absolutely no difference at all. Whatever comes out from their mouth is only God. They are just mouthpieces.

That's why Swami Vivekananda said, "I am a voice without a form." Who is that voice? Śrī Ramakrishna. Śrī Ramakrishna had to practice four and a half years of Narendra sādhana to make him an empty vessel so that Śrī Ramakrishna could enter into him, identify with him. Then whatever Swami Vivekananda spoke was nothing but [Śrī Ramakrishna].

That is tasmin tajjane bhedābhāvaḥ - there is no difference between God and [His devotees]. Actually, we cannot stand God directly. We cannot stand God.

The Story of Holy Mother and Chandra

Here is an illustration: Holy Mother had a devotee - a poor boy who was kicked out by his own brother and had no shelter. He came to Udbodhan and Holy Mother took him under her shelter. His name was Chandra. She used to call him Chandra.

She gave him initiation and employed him there to do odd jobs. He would get a monthly salary and food. He was a lover of food - without food his brightness (Chandra) would disappear.

The Shivaratri Incident

What happened? It was Śivarātrī day. It was about 10 o'clock and Holy Mother saw his face was completely shrunk. Holy Mother said, "Baba Chandra, what happened to you?"

He said, "Mā, today is Śivarātrī. The sādhus forced me to fast."

Mother said, "Baba, you don't need to fast. You go and eat."

He said, "But I have already fasted for 3 hours. All that puṇya will disappear."

He was willing to eat but feeling bad because he would lose the merit of 3 hours of fasting. Mother understood and said, "Baba, I will fast for you. You go and eat."

You should have seen his face - like a thousand-petalled lotus blooming! He could have all the puṇya without doing the sādhana. He ran joyously to eat.

Who is that? What are we talking about? Our Holy Mother - she will do the sādhana, we get the benefit. You understand? That is the grace of the Mother.

That is why: Ramakṛṣṇa tapo-sūrya kiraṇa bimbā candrīkā. If we can genuinely believe in it and take shelter at the feet of the Mother, then Mother's grace is enough.

Kṣaṇam api sajjana-saṅgatis trikṣā bhavati bhavārṇava-tāraṇe naukā - but it must be genuine. I must feel "I belong to Mother, Mother belongs to me."

The Unity of Ramakrishna and Holy Mother

That is why Ramakrishna had hidden himself and is manifesting in the form of Holy Mother. So what is the difference between Ramakrishna and Holy Mother? Is there any difference? Absolutely, there is no difference. This is what we have to understand.

Closing Prayer