Teachings of Swami Brahmananda Lecture 02

Invocation

ओं जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुं, पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः.

Oṃ jananīṃ śāradāṃ devīṃ rāmakṛṣṇaṃ jagadguruṃ, pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuḥ.

Teachings of Swami Brahmananda

We are reading the teachings of Swami Brahmanandaji Maharaj. So I am selecting a few of them which I thought would be very useful in our day-to-day life.

Question: Did those who met Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa need to struggle?

One of the questions—very important questions:

"Maharaj, many people are of the opinion that those who met Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa didn't need to struggle to find God. To know Him was quite sufficient. Even the great devotee Rāmacandra Datta held this view."

This was the question.

Answer: The Unique Faith of Rāmacandra Datta

Answer: Rāmacandra Datta was unique. He had true faith—a faith which grew in intensity and which lasted all his life. Few have such faith. With the majority, it is merely lip faith.

There is an incident. You know, Rāmacandra Datta is one of the very great devotees of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, and very interesting incidents are there with regard to him. Definitely he was a great devotee, but he was very miserly. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa wanted to help him to get rid of his miserliness. Miserliness and misery—it is the same. It is absolutely the same. Because people don't understand: if a person is miserly, what is miserliness? He does not want to expand. So what happens? Even if circumstances are there to be happy, he refuses to be happy. That is called misery.

It is very interesting—at least for me it is very eye-opening. Suppose there are one hundred circumstances: five circumstances are not happy, ninety-five circumstances are very happy. What do we do? We focus upon the five negative circumstances. "What right have I got to be happy?" This is called miserliness. He does not want to spend money. But this is not merely external. Have you ever seen a miser very happy? A miser cannot be happy because whatever we do, externally or internally, they are both related in some way or the other.

Narada's Role

Anyway, he was a great devotee, and God always helps the devotees. If there is any defect, it will be gotten rid of. Nārada's main work was to help his devotees get rid of the defect and make them better devotees. But you know, usually our opinion about Nārada is that he is a creator of quarrels. There are two factors about him. The first factor is that he will never create quarrels between you and me because he knows it is a hopeless case. He will only create quarrels between two great spiritual persons who both must have a defect, and both will become better devotees of God. That is why he is called Nārada—naram dadhāti iti Nāradaḥ. Naram means jñānam (knowledge). Jñānam dadhāti—He helps us to get more knowledge, so enlightenment, through some painful periods, painful operations. Instead of spending lives together, within a short time, it is called fast-tracking. That is what he does.

The Wrongness of Miserliness

So miserliness is wrong for two reasons. The first thing is—even from the karmaphala standpoint—if a person is generous according to Karma Siddhānta, what happens? If a person is very generous, he is donating, he is a philanthropist, he is helping and serving other people, spending his time and his money—from the karmaphala point of view, what do you think he is going to get? Fast-track spirituality—puṇya. It is investment for future lives. That is why I gave a name for God, if you remember it: "Interloka Insurance Company." You invest in this; it will be effective in the other world also. From the puṇya point of view, it is investment. It is the law of karma, is it not? So people should be aware of that.

From the spiritual point of view, you do not want to go to Svargaloka or anything. So what is the problem? Why are you holding on? Why does anybody hold on? The simple reason is, "If I spend it here, who is going to look after me?" So the person should think, "Is God not there to look after me?" For example, if Ṭhākur wanted, Lakṣmīnārāyaṇa Mārwāṛī would have given Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa ten thousand rupees in those days. But he did not accept. Earlier to that, Mādhur Bābū wanted to give him a huge land; he refused. Why did he refuse? There are many reasons why he refused. He cannot accept. Not only that, he is a Jagadguru. Jagadguru means what? What is your idea of a Jagadguru? That he sits there and gives upadeśa? No—he is a person who sets an ideal. So if he has got a landlord and says, "Renounce everything," who is going to be listening to him? So he has to set an ideal. And then he says, "Is not Mother going to look after me?" So should he depend upon these things? Any dependence upon anything in this world other than God is non-devotional. Rakṣiṣyati—"He will protect"—this is the faith. Sītā—Viśvāsaḥ (faith). Rakṣaṇa means what? He only saves in emergencies? Other times he does not come? Is it that? All times he comes. So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa wanted to remove that.

The Transformation of Rāmacandra Datta

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was a supreme psychologist. One day, a lot of devotees were there, and that day, unstinted praise for Rāmacandra Datta: "Oh, he loves to feed devotees. And you know, he only arranges the best materials." I presume, in my imagination, as Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was speaking, Rāmacandra Datta's heart was beating: "What is this? What comes next?" And his imagination also came true. After praising so much in public—that part we want—after that, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said, "Rāma, when are you going to arrange a meeting?" Not only that, he fixed the date: "We will all come." And now, after getting praised so much, if he feeds like that—Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa made remarks about Bālārām. But later on, he became totally transformed. You see, whomsoever Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa touched, his life, her life, is totally transformed.

So Rāmacandra Datta arranged. First time, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa and all the important devotees went and attended. The presence of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa gave so much joy to Rāmacandra Datta and others; he never experienced so much joy of serving the devotees and Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. And that transformed his life. After that, he himself started inviting devotees in such a way that very soon, wherever there was any devotee inviting Ṭhākur and devotees, he would be the manager. "Rāma is the manager." Once the food was getting delayed, then Rāmakṛṣṇa asked, "Who is the manager?" And somebody mentioned Rāmacandra. "Oh, Rāma is the manager! Then we have to wait for a long time." But he became totally transformed.

The Dream Mantra

Now, the interesting part was: at some point in his life, Rāmakṛṣṇa appeared to Rāmacandra Datta in a dream and gave him a mantra. That was not mentioned. So one day, Rāmacandra Datta came to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, and that day Rāmakṛṣṇa was in a Kalpavṛkṣa mode. So as soon as Rāmacandra Datta bowed down, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said, "Rāma, what do you want?" He asked him, "What do you want?"—meaning you can ask anything you want. Rāmacandra Datta was a very intelligent person. He said, "You decide. Whatever is good for me, you give it." This was the incident that happened. Immediately Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said, "Give back the mantra which I gave you in your dream." So from that only I came to know that he must have got it; otherwise, I do not know whether Rāmacandra Dutta's life—whether any mention is there, I have not read. So definitely he must have. Then immediately Rāmacandra Datta imagined the mantra as a beautiful flower—"mantra is a beautiful flower"—and offered it at the feet of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. Very interesting incident. Because, "Oh, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa has given me the mantra, and now he is taking it back." Do you think that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa will take it back? Unless he wants to give something better.

What Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said: "From now onwards, you do not need to do anything. Now and then come here, but bring a paisā-worth of some sweet or something." Because they did not know. The custom is: when we go to temple, a baby and a monk should not go empty-handed. So this is the custom. Many Hindus—some Hindus definitely know, Mārwāṛīs definitely know. That is why whenever they visit, they bring lots of things to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. The only caveat is that with even one betel nut, there will be sixteen desires—that is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa mentioned. But Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa himself said, "They are true Hindus; they know what to do." So good things we have to take. Then Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa told, "That is all you need to do."

What Did They Preach?

Rāmacandra Datta and others preached. What did they preach? That seeing Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa once is enough; you do not need to do anything else. That was the question. There are some people who had the privilege of seeing. But when this question was being put, maybe there were not many people. So what about Swami Brahmananda? What about Mahāpuruṣa Mahārāj? They were all jīvanmuktas—living free. Brahmavid Brahmaiva bhavati—a person of realisation is Brahman, none other than Brahman. So they can do.

The Jīvanmukta's Puṇya

There are statements in the scriptures which are wonderful:

Bhūtikāmo mukta-puruṣam yajeta.

"Any person who wants any type of desire in this world should take recourse to a realised soul." Why? You know why? There is a very peculiar reason involved in it. So before a jīvanmukta became a jīvanmukta, he would be doing karmas—good karma and bad karma. Everybody had to do some pāpa-karma and puṇya-karma. So long as the person has not realised, the karma will be affecting that person. But the moment he realises God, the remaining puṇya and pāpa—what happens to that? Do not ask the reason; we can only tell what is written in the scriptures. Anybody who criticises him will only get the pāpa. That is why it is very good. You are all devotees—so if anyone criticises you, be happy that all your pāpa is going there. No, it does not matter. Even if you are not a realised soul, the moment somebody is criticising any one of us, our negative side will go and affect that person. Our negativity will go to them. That is what it is.

So if you offer some reward—what happens to the jīvanmukta's puṇya? That is why it is said, if we take the service of aparigraha—you know, yama? The first five qualities of yama, the last of those five qualities is aparigraha (non-receiving of gifts) because the moment we receive, something belonging to that person also comes to us. So if somebody takes something, praises you, serves you, or gives you something, something from you has to go back to that person. That is the idea. So what happens to the jīvanmukta's puṇya? They who adore him, praise him, serve him—they will be taking the puṇya part.

So many times this is demonstrated. You know what happened? In a little bit of a funny way, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa once asked Swami Brahmananda, "Hey Rākhāl, give me a message." He said, "I do not know anything to do with a message." He said, "I am telling you." He had to tell three times before he was forced. Reluctantly, he was pressing Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's legs. Then as he was pressing his legs, suddenly he saw Mother Kālī came into the room in the form of an eight-year-old girl and went round and round Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa and entered into his body. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said, "Instantaneous results. You had the vision." Sādhu, Śiva, kulli, irukum hoy—he said. So this is true with regard to every sādhu, but the result may not be vision or anything; something good will happen.

So the jīvanmukta also, so long as he lives—whether it is six months or one year or ten years—I am asking you, what do you think he will be doing? Will he be doing any pāpa-karma? And what will he be doing? Only puṇya-karma. So that means he is accumulating puṇya. He does not need puṇya because he has no connection with the body and mind. What happens to that puṇya? You have to be very careful in understanding. No pāpa will be there after. The pāpa which is remaining in the past life goes to the critics, or people who denigrate him or try to harm him—they will get it. But after realisation, whatever he does, his very breath generates only puṇya. And what is remaining? He has no connection with that. He does not say, "This is my puṇya." What happens to that puṇya? It goes to the people who are devotees, who do sevā and all that. So that is the idea.

Bhūtikāmo mukta-puruṣam—"one who wants prosperity should take recourse to a realised soul." So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's example: what is it? Upendranātha Mukhopādhyāya—Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa told him, "Bring jalebī," and then "I will give you" these words. Jalebī was brought; Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa ate and transferred the puṇya. How much jalebī was that? This much. How much money he had to pay for that? Millions! That jalebī cost several millions of rupees. That Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa wanted to give. Sudāmā—Bhāṭṭa Sudāmā—what did he carry? Just a little one. And Śrī Kṛṣṇa took only one fistful because he becomes, you know, multi-Bill Gates. This is the fact of life. It happens. Even today it is true. That is the important point. This is not a one-off event that happened; it happens even today also. Same thing happens.

True Faith vs. Lip Faith

So Rāmacandra Datta had that great, tremendous faith. But what about people like us? Do we have that kind of faith? That is why Rāmacandra Datta was one of the first people to declare Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as an incarnation of God. That is why on 1st January, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa went there and said, "One is a doctor, one is an actor, and they are proclaiming that I am an incarnation of God." What did they understand? Of course, Girīśa Chandra was very clever, you know. He said, "He whom Vālmīki and Vyāsa could not describe—how can I describe? Rāmakṛṣṇa could not." Okay. "May your spiritual consciousness be awakened." Awakened! What a wonderful incident.

Whatever it was, Mahārāj was saying: "Rāmacandra Datta was unique. He had true faith, and then a faith which grew in intensity and which lasted all his life. Few have such faith. With the majority, it is merely lip faith." So what were they replying? It is not enough to see a sādhu or a great soul; you have to see what made him great, how he is behaving. That is why Arjuna asked Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa, "How can I progress in spiritual life?" And He said, "What are the characteristics of a sthitaprajña?" Why was he asking? Because we have to cultivate those qualities. That is why Śaṅkarācārya makes a beautiful commentary: what is natural for a realised soul must be assiduously practised by every sādhaka. How does it become natural? Only through practice. You practise and practise and practise, and when it becomes natural, you become a liberated soul.

प्रजहाति यदा कामान्सर्वान्पार्थ मनोगतान् | आत्मन्येवात्मना तुष्टः स्थितप्रज्ञस्तदोच्यते || दुःखेष्वनुद्विग्नमनाः सुखेषु विगतस्पृहः | वीतरागभयक्रोधः स्थितधीर्मुनिरुच्यते || यदा संहरते चायं कूर्मोऽङ्गानीव सर्वशः | इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेभ्यस्तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता || विषया विनिवर्तन्ते निराहारस्य देहिनः | रसवर्जं रसोऽप्यस्य परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते || यततो ह्यपि कौन्तेय पुरुषस्य विपश्चितः | इन्द्रियाणि प्रमाथीनि हरन्ति प्रसभं मनः || तानि सर्वाणि संयम्य युक्त आसीत मत्परः | वशे हि यस्येन्द्रियाणि तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता || ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते | सङ्गात्सञ्जायते कामः कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते || क्रोधाद्भवति सम्मोहः सम्मोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रमः | स्मृतिभ्रंशाद्बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति || यदा सङ्गान्न संजायते स्पृहा विषयेषु च | यदा समाधिसिद्धिः स्यादात्मन्येवात्मना स्थितिः || एषा ब्राह्मी स्थितिः पार्थ नैनां प्राप्य विमुह्यति | स्थित्वास्यामन्तकालेऽपि ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृच्छति ||

prajahāti yadā kāmān sarvān pārtha manogatān | ātmanyevātmanā tuṣṭaḥ sthitaprajñastadocyate || duḥkheṣvanudvignamanāḥ sukheṣu vigataspṛhaḥ | vītarāgabhayakrodhaḥ sthitadhīrmunirucyate || yadā saṃharate cāyaṃ kūrmo 'ṅgānīva sarvaśaḥ | indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyastasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā || viṣayā vinivartante nirāhārasya dehinaḥ | rasavarjaṃ raso 'pyasya paraṃ dṛṣṭvā nivartate || yatato hyapi kaunteya puruṣasya vipaścitaḥ | indriyāṇi pramāthīni haranti prasabhaṃ manaḥ || tāni sarvāṇi saṃyamya yukta āsīta matparaḥ | vaśe hi yasyendriyāṇi tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā || dhyāyato viṣayān puṃsaḥ saṅgasteṣūpajāyate | saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ kāmāt krodho 'bhijāyate || krodhād bhavati sammohaḥ sammohāt smṛtivibhramaḥ | smṛtibhraṃśād buddhināśo buddhināśāt praṇaśyati || yadā saṅgān na sañjāyate spṛhā viṣayeṣu ca | yadā samādhisiddhiḥ syād ātmanyevātmanā sthitiḥ || eṣā brāhmī sthitiḥ pārtha naināṃ prāpya vimuhyati | sthitvāsyāmantakāle 'pi brahmanirvāṇamṛcchati ||

This is called Brāhmī Sthiti. He who has got these qualities of an enlightened soul, even if a person attains to this state just before the last breath—sthitvāsyāmantakāle 'pi brahmanirvāṇamṛcchati—he becomes one with Brahman. So we have to go on trying. So, "last breath"—so it says, "OK, I have got enough time; it is enough to practise it in the last breath." That is our logic, you know. Why go through that trouble from now onwards? Will you know what is your last breath?

Question: Is Spiritual Struggle Necessary for Those Who Served Holy Mother?

"Maharaj, many devotees who have seen the Holy Mother and have served holy men think it is not necessary for them to continue their spiritual struggles. Maharaj, merely to see the Holy Mother and to serve holy men is not enough. It is most necessary to practise renunciation and discrimination and to live a contemplative life."

So, suppose somebody had seen the Holy Mother, somebody had received mantra-dīkṣā from the Holy Mother. Is it necessary for that person to practise spiritual disciplines? What do you say? It is not necessary? You see, we have to be very clear about it. Very clear about it.

An Incident from 1973

OK, let me narrate one experience. I was, in 1973, at Bālārām Bose's house, and I had to go to Ubudhan for taking food—breakfast, lunch, and night food also. There was one disciple of the Holy Mother who served Parameśvara Mahārāj. And I was very curious: "Mahārāj, you served the Holy Mother for so many years, so can you tell me what is your experience?" And he told me something which I can never forget in this life. He said—not only about him, but about the other young men—"So long as we were serving Holy Mother, the idea that we are men and these are women did not arise in our minds, because Mother naturally lifted our minds to such a high state. And we were—you know, so many women used to go to the Holy Mother's relatives themselves, young people, and devotees used to go there, and mostly women used to go to see. Both men also, but so many women. And these people had to go inside and then brush, and they say, walk through the women—and naturally, the idea that this is a woman arose in my mind." Then he said, "As soon as Holy Mother passed away, we are like any other man. We have to struggle hard not to think undesirable thoughts about other women, because they were all young people."

The Need for Personal Practice

That is the important point here: serving Holy Mother and seeing Holy Mother, getting mantra-dīkṣā. So what was the question? Is spiritual practice necessary? Why did Swami Brahmananda practise so much, even though Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa had given him everything? What does it mean? See, equality must become one's own. That is the important point. So here, the Swami's frank admission that "we were like anybody else; it was Mother's power, but they have not acquired it." So, what happens if Holy Mother gives initiation, or Rājā Mahārāj gives initiation, or Mahāpuruṣa Mahārāj gives initiation—what happens to them? They will all be liberated in the end. Meanwhile, what are you going to do?

Two points here. The first point is: supposing a person gets—mukti is okay, like dying in Vārāṇasī. Until one dies in Vārāṇasī, what happens? He will be the same person, subjected to depression, excitement, everything like normal day-to-day life, is it not? So that is what everybody is going through. What is your greatness as a devotee? A devotee must be somewhere different, is it not? So what is it? Every person goes through its ups and downs. What is your greatness then? So if we want to be like devotees, we should behave like devotees, so that the mind should be what is called balanced.

समत्वं योग उच्यते.

samatvaṃ yoga ucyate.

Equanimity is called yoga. So we should behave—not that we are like stone, but we should not be like this and like this. Okay, a little bit like this is okay, but not like this—violent, you know, like an aeroplane turbulence. It is not like that.

The Second Point: Gratitude and Liberation

Second point, even more important: "All right, you will get liberation in the end. Meanwhile, what will you do with your life? Is it a licence? 'Now that I am going to get liberation, I will do whatever I like.'" It will be like that young priest who was bitten by a dog. There was a young priest. One day he finished his work in the church, locked it, and was walking in the street. He was bitten by a dog. So he went to a doctor. He was waiting in the reception room. So he was thinking. He took one white paper and started writing, waiting for the doctor to see him. After a few minutes, the doctor called him inside. He noticed this fellow was still crouching, writing. Then he asked, "What are you doing here in the reception room?" Then he said, "Doctor, I have been bitten by a dog. I don't know if it is a normal dog—that's fine—but suppose it is a rabid dog and I become rabid, and before I die, I want to bite these fellows. I am writing now whom I would like to bite." Do you think that you want to write down? Anyway, you will not have a chance to take revenge. "These are the people whom I want to bite." Is this what you are going to do? Do you catch what I am trying to tell you?

What are you going to do? First thing is: if you really believe Mother is going to give liberation, then you are only—"Oh, how grateful I am!" What is Mother's grace? You will never forget Mother's grace. This was what Swami Śaradānanda writes, the great master. Girīśa Chandra Ghosha thought, "All that I need to say is 'yes,' and Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa will take all my responsibility, and thereafter I can do whatever I like, and he will guarantee my whole life." Then he said, "Every breath I have to remember His will, His will." That is what Rāmānuja puts it so beautifully, you know. Rakṣiṣyati—"He will protect." Then what does he do? Rokitvā varaṇam—I will discuss it very shortly. Very, very beautiful concept.

Then ātma-vikṣepaḥ. What is the last one? Kārpaṇya. What is kārpaṇya? Humility. What is humility? Surrender. You are only repeating a cycle of words. What kārpaṇya means is: "I am so grateful, I cannot forget." Ordinary gratefulness—if somebody does something extraordinary, you can never, you should never, you can never forget what this person has done. Is it not? So how can you forget a person who has guaranteed your liberation? Is it ever possible? So every moment what would you be thinking? So, "Should I ask what should you be thinking?" That means: "What should I do? Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa has given me liberation. Now what am I supposed to do? Shall I be grateful to him? How long shall I be grateful to him? Every day for five minutes if I say I am grateful to him, is it enough? Or five and a half minutes is too much?" Is that what you want to do? Every living breath you have to go on remembering. That is what is called kārpaṇya. Kārpaṇya means I can never forget. How can I forget God? Suppose I forget God—what happens to you? That very moment your mukti is gone. Ultimately, when you are about to die, mukti will come or not—you do not know. See, so much psychology is involved here.

The Danger of Claiming Devotion Without Practice

So you have to be very, very grateful. And if you are grateful, what is that? Is this not smaraṇa (remembrance)? Continuous, avirata-smaraṇa? Is it not meditation? Is it not japa? What else is that? That is the point we have to understand here. So we have to always not only see the holy people, but we should try to practise spiritual discipline so that we also become holy people. So holy people, how do they serve us? They serve us as role models. You know, young people in their rooms have pin-ups. What are the pin-ups they do? Their favourite celebrities or players. What does that mean? "I would like to be like this." They are showing the way. Same way, we must also have pin-ups. What is the pin-up here? "I also would like to be like Holy Mother." Otherwise, our devotion to Holy Mother or Rāmakṛṣṇa or Guru is not devotion; in fact, it is a shameful act.

I have seen: "My Guru is a great Guru." We should be proud in that way, one way. But we are proud in another way. You know, "Swami Brahmananda is my Guru. Holy Mother is my Guru." All right, what are you? When people look at you, you will bring shame. If this is what you are, then your Guru must be worse than you. I heard a conversation like this—not directly, but indirectly, you know. Some devotee was very proud in proclaiming "so and so, I think Prabhu Mahārāj or somebody like that." Then another devotee who knows this devotee's behaviour says, "I think your Guru is a dud. Why? Because if he had initiated a person like you, then certainly he does not show any wisdom." Do you see? We are bringing bad name to our Guru. How does anybody know our Guru is great? See, people have—as soon as we hear, "Oh, this is a disciple of so and so"—and then, how do we know that Guru is great or not? Have you seen the Guru? How do others know that you are? Do you not see? If a child is doing bad things, they will blame the family: "These parents must be very bad to bring up this child like that." So immediately Guru will be blamed. If this Guru is having this kind of disciple, then the bad name will come to the Guru. You know, sometimes respect for even Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa will go away. So many people—you know, nowadays many people have lost respect, faith in Jesus Christ. Why did they lose faith in Jesus Christ? Because of the behaviour of his followers. And the same thing will happen also.

Spiritual Practice Reflects on the Guru

So, not only for other people, even for us, we can have real respect. If you have real respect for your father, mother, for your Guru, for your God, it should reflect in our behaviour. Otherwise, we are behaving like anybody else—or even worse. This is a matter we have to think over. Otherwise, do not claim to be a spiritual person. Then nobody will blame you. "He is also a worldly person; I am also a worldly person. That is fine." But this fellow goes to the church, attends the Vedanta Society meetings, and he or she is behaving like that—then "this is the end product." If this is the effect, the cause must be like that. This is the reason. We are only focusing on one effect: "My Guru is great, he is very powerful, he is very gracious; at the end, he will pull me up wherever I go. So let me test my Guru—how much down I can go." We have to be careful. This is what Mahārāj is telling.

You have faith. Faith is indirect knowledge. Knowledge always transforms itself into effect. A knowledge which does not show in the form of an effect is ignorance; it is not knowledge at all. That is what Mahārāj is telling.

But "Mahārāj, when you will give knowledge, but if he is not accepting the knowledge, what will you do?" You say that we learn—our Guru said, our teacher said, we heard it is written in Gītā or Bhāgavata—but the person whom you want to teach, if he will not listen to those things, what will you do? There is nothing we can do. That is not the point here. The point is, we are talking not about others; we are talking about ourselves. So we claim we are devotees of God. That will bring bad name to whichever religion or philosophy we are following. If other people see, "Oh, this person was like that in the past; now what a change we see in this person. He is so happy and he is so unselfish." Then they feel that we also would like to come to that same state. That is called inspiration. But if they see us very unhappy, they will run to somebody who can give happiness, better happiness. This is a normal tendency of human beings. That is what we are telling you: it is not enough to see sādhus; it is not enough to attend lectures. We have to translate them for ourselves in any case.

Dealing with Doubts

But if doubts come—"Mahārāj, this is one of the things, if doubts come. Are we having doubts or not? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?" Doubts will come until you have realised God. Therefore, you must hold fast to God and pray. Think to yourself: "God is, but because of the impurities of my mind, I cannot see Him. When my heart and mind have become purified, then through His grace, I shall surely see Him."

So what is that? Doubts will come until we have realised God. That is why in the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad, the mantra is said: doubts will not go; doubts will keep on coming. But it does not mean doubt should stop us from doing something. Here is a little clarification, you know. "I do not know whether God exists or not. So should I follow the spiritual path or not? Because suppose in the end it proves there is no God—all my efforts will be a waste." Is it a waste? Is it not a waste? Put it in another way. What is spirituality? What is the spiritual journey? It is a journey from a lower state of happiness to a higher state of happiness. Suppose you attain the highest state of happiness and you find there is no God—have you lost anything? So our problem comes from our concept of God: He is some being sitting there and all those things. No, that is not God. God is a state of highest happiness.

Happiness as a Sign of Spirituality

So if you are more happy—that is why we can also put this: here is a fellow and he is very unhappy doing japa; here is another fellow who is drinking and very happy. Who is nearer to God? You have to be... But our conventional thinking: "Oh, drinking is very bad"—that is a wrong type of thinking. I am not saying that you rush immediately. What it means is that spiritual people should be happy people for many reasons. One reason is: who is not having problems? Have you noticed there are people who do not claim that they are following any religion, but they are very enthusiastic, they do a lot of good work, and they are cheerful? And here is a fellow so miserable that nobody would like to go near him. This is what we call a "castroyal face." Which person would you like to go to? Would you associate with this kind of devotee? Never. Because there must be happiness. Why is it happiness? To think a positive thought. First of all, what is religion? Belief in God. Belief in God means what? Everything is positive: there is meaning, there is justice, there is hope. That is the meaning of faith in God. That is the real meaning. If we do not understand it, then there is somebody who is waiting with a big rod—that is a wrong concept of God.

So what is spiritual life? It is a journey from a lower state of happiness to a higher state of happiness. We also discussed that happiness or unhappiness are states of the mind. So what does religion or faith do? It helps us to reduce the negative thoughts and accept things in a positive light. That is why sometimes if we have gone through a depression state, it is really God's grace. If I am going through a depressive state, what does that indicate? I have been expecting something, and things have not turned up according to my expectations. Is there any guarantee that all my expectations would turn out exactly like that? No. So we have to be very careful and say, "OK, I learned."

The Benefits of Going Through Depression

When I have gone through this state and then come out of it, two things will happen. The first thing is: if such a situation repeats in the future, then I would not go through that state again. The second thing that happens is: when we see another person in that state, we understand what that person has gone through, and when we give some advice, it really works because the person is receptive to our words. There is an authenticity behind it because I myself have gone through this. That is why nowadays you get all these stories: here is a person who was an alcoholic and somehow he has come out, and if he tells his experience to somebody else, then the other person will be encouraged. Suppose a person has never taken alcohol—he goes and tells, "You know, he has a bad habit, he does this, he does that"—it will not have that effect. Authenticity always works. This is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa used to call "did you have the authority?" At least a little bit of experience. I am not talking about God-experience, but at least practise something. This is such a wonderful idea we have to absorb. That is why when some people speak, immediately you feel very enthused; but when other people go on giving big lectures, it does not help.

The Conundrum of Guaranteed Liberation

In any case, even if you are—another example, you know: suppose, not supposing, we have faith that anybody who dies in Vārāṇasī will get mukti. You go and start staying in Vārāṇasī. What should you do? Anyway, mukti is guaranteed. So what should you do? Be miserable until you get mukti, or go on doing something good to make oneself a better person? Now here is this conundrum—we all have to intellectually think, understand, and accept. What is it? Any attempt that we do to better ourselves, maybe in the initial state it is painful, but very soon we get tremendous joy of fulfilment inside. Experiment it. You make a rule: "I do not have so much faith in God, but Swamiji told me I have to do japa for one hour." Actually, doing one hour japa is quite an ordeal. But you do one hour japa, you do second day one hour japa, you do third day one hour japa—you know what happens? You may not be happy in one way, but you are happy in another way—you get a joy of fulfilment. Have you noticed that? "I have been able to do it." That is why you eat sometimes—it is kārakāya (bitter gourd). It helps in two ways: even if it does not help in any other way, it helps your willpower. "I can do what I do not like to do." It is very helpful.

So the important point is—constantly, two points I want to say. The first point is: let us try constantly to improve ourselves in every field. Read better, focus better, speak better, understand better, meditate better—it is always good. The second point is: always try to be more and more and more happy. If you put a castroyal face and then, as sheer willpower, you want to do something because "I have decided to do it," it is not going to help. Enjoy what you are doing. People are enjoying mountain climbing. Have you noticed? Sitting in the easy chair and doing japam is better than taking a backpack and then trying to climb—which is better? So that is the point we have to understand.

On Depression and Spiritual Aspirants

"On the depression, for a spiritual aspirant, normally the state of depression stays long, or does it go away faster?" No, that is not a correct way of questioning. If a person has got a disease, "how soon or how fast it goes away"—that question is a wrong type of question. It depends upon how much I am dealing with it, what light I am doing it, and what lesson I have learned from doing it. It depends upon that. That is why I mentioned that one: it is good to go through depression once in a while. Always depression will come—only behind it there is some kind of expectation: "Things should go like this, but things may not go like that." We are all in the same boat, so depression will come, and it is good. I told you for two reasons.

What is one reason? Once we go through it and recover from it, and there is only one way to recover from it—what is that way? "Because of my own expectations, and I should not expect, so I will not expect in future. I will try to take everything in a light way." So that certainly helps. Otherwise, depression depresses some persons even more because they are thinking more about the depression, not how to get out of the depression—"Oh, why has God cursed me this and that?" Negative thoughts only increase about you. So that is the first point. What is the second point I said? When we come across another person, we have genuine sympathy: "I have gone through the same thing, so I understand what you are going through." And when we give consolation or how you have come across, it will have a better effect upon the person than a person who has never gone through depression. So this is very good.

A Humorous Perspective on Madness

Even swamis will go through depression. Swamis will also become mad. Always there are a few people—you see, in a huge organisation, there are 1500 monks; it is normal to expect one or two people go like that. So it is not unusual; it is wrong to say that every monk is psychologically absolutely wonderful. I think there was a very great scholar in the UK—John Johnson, his biography was written by the first man who made the dictionary—I forget his name now. Johnson. So he was a young man, and he was courting a young woman. The young woman one day said, "John, I have to tell you, before you go any further, that in my family, my uncle was hanged, and another relative was imprisoned for doing wrong things." Then Johnson said, "It is good you told me, that none of my relatives have been hanged or been put in jail, but at least thirty of them need to be hanged—deserve to be hanged."

So, just because a person has not gone mad does not show that he is not mad. Actually, somewhere I read something, you know: why there are so few mental hospitals compared to...? That is because the real mad cops in number are so many. They kept only a few comparatively less mad people in the lunatic asylums; the rest are segregated. Anyway, this is not true. This is a statement by no less than Rāmakṛṣṇa himself. He said, "The whole world is mad. I am also mad," he said, "but I am mad for God. The others are mad for so many others." In case you are really thinking 100% "I am not mad"—that is a sure sign that I am mad. I mean, all of us. None of us think that we are mad. We are mad—definitely. What is madness? If anybody asks you, "Who are you?" and you say, "I am a human being," you are mad. If you ask somebody, "Who are you?" and he says, "I am Napoleon," do you consider him as normal or mad? So he is saying Napoleon, and our saying "I am a human being"—from a spiritual perspective, it is exactly the same. No different at all. But because there is such a huge support, we call God-men as mad-men, and we are all very nice.

Śivnāth Śāstrī's Remark

Of course, each word has such a depth of meaning. Once Śivnāth Śāstrī had made a remark about Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa: "Thinking of God, he has gone mad." Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's reply was unique. You know what was the reply he made? "See, I am thinking of consciousness, and I have become unconscious. And these fellows are thinking of non-conscious objects, and they are very normal people." Anyway, it is a very interesting thing.

So doubts will not go, and it is good to have doubts. But there are two types of doubts: doubting for the sake of doubt is very bad; but doubting for the sake of knowing the truth is an excellent thing. This is what is called the Socratic method. Socrates always would controvert—define what is justice—and then he would pull this fellow deeper and deeper into deep hot water until the fellow admits finally, "I don't know." And then he will be made to understand what it is. So the mind becomes very clear. Doubts are good.

The Mind Cannot Know God

"God cannot be known by the finite mind. He is beyond the mind and far beyond the intellect. This apparent universe is a creation of the mind. The mind has conjured it up. It is its author. And the mind cannot go beyond its own domain." What a marvellous teaching this is! Read again, because it is such a marvellous statement. We can hold several classes just trying to understand what it was. God cannot be known by the mind. Why? There is no need to say "finite mind," because mind means it is finite. Because God is infinite—how can infinite be known? If you are knowing infinite through finite, then is it finite or infinite? Cannot be known. Here it is: "He is beyond the mind and far beyond the intellect. This apparent universe is a creation of the mind. The whole universe is a creation of the mind. The mind has conjured it up. It is its author. So a mind which has created its own world and is caught in its own net cannot go beyond its own conjuring up. So within this, is God there? The mind is questioning: 'Is God there? Or is He not there?' The mind has conjured it up, and the mind cannot go, unfortunately, beyond itself."

The Silkworm Analogy

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa used to sing a beautiful song. Come on, devotees of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa—so many times you have read the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. What is that song which Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa indicates this particular idea? He is talking about a silkworm. Oh! A silkworm had woven what is called a cocoon out of itself, and now it cannot get out; it is bound by that. So the mind has conjured up this world. That means the whole world is in the mind. Unless you go beyond the mind, you cannot go beyond the world. Simple words: bondage is in the mind; liberation is also in the mind; sādhana is in the mind; and siddhi also is in the mind. This is a stark fact. How difficult it is for us to understand, and how many doubts it will create, you know. Anyway, this is the state of the mind.

The Subtle Mind

Behind this mind of ours, there is a subtle spiritual mind existing in seed form. Through the practice of contemplation, prayer, and japa, this mind is developed. With this development, a new vision opens up, and the aspirant realises many spiritual truths. Next, Mahārāj is telling: behind this ordinary mind there is a subtle mind, but it is in a seed form. What is spiritual practice? To develop that mind. What is that mind? There is a controversy, you know. God is beyond the mind. Ātman is very pure—Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa used to say. So apparently this pure Ātman cannot be experienced at all because it is beyond mind. But Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says, "Pure mind and pure Ātman are one and the same." So we develop that. What is that? It is called intuition. It is still within the realm of the mind only. It has various names, but one of the best names for the second mind is called Brahmakāravṛtti.

The Final Experience

He says, "This, however, is not the final experience. The subtle mind leads the aspirant nearer to God, but it cannot reach God, the Supreme Ātman. Having reached this stage, the world no longer holds any charm for the aspirant. He becomes absorbed in the consciousness of God. This absorption leads to Samādhi, an experience which cannot be described. It is beyond ease and ease-not. There, there is neither happiness nor misery, neither light nor darkness. All is infinite being, inexpressible."

Namo namo prabhu, vātāya mānādhikā, and yet, mano-vācanā ekādhā. That is why Swamiji's hymn—it is the most beautiful hymn. You see, contradictory qualities are indicated at every step, in the beginning itself. What is that?

Nirañjana, nārārupadhara, nirguṇa, guṇamaya, mocana, agadoṣaṇa, jagabhūṣaṇa, cidghanakāya, nānāñjana, vimalanāya, vikṣaṇe, mohajaya.

If Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa looks at you, your moha will disappear. And if you can look at Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa through narañjana—otherwise he will be an old man. One day, it seems, long before I went to the UK, an English lady happened to come to the ashram. Once she was taken to the ashram, the moment she saw the photograph: "Why are you worshipping this half-naked man?" Natural. She does not know who Rāmakṛṣṇa is. And we think we know who Rāmakṛṣṇa is. That is the problem. We think we know. We also do not know. But we accept that we do not know. That is our greatness. Who is a devotee? A person who knows he is not a devotee—he is a devotee. A person who says, "I am a devotee," is an ajñānī (ignorant) because he is not behaving like a devotee. This is the simple truth. Think of it.

The Magnetic Rock

So beyond this normal mind, there is a pure, subtle mind. Where can it take us? Until nearer to God. Then what happens? It is like a huge ship goes near a magnetic rock, and that magnetic rock attracts—the ship will become wrecked. Like that, our prayer is, "Let us go." Even you cannot go; it is only God's grace which will take you there. You have to unfurl yourself. It is wonderful.

Even those who follow what you call the Jñāna Mārga—they said, in the beginning Śaṅkarācārya did not understand. So many incidents are there. He did not accept Śakti, like Totāpurī—very interesting. So he was very proud. "What is Śakti? It is Māyā—nonsensical business." So there was one old woman lying across the path. He wanted to go, but this old woman said, "My son, please move me a little. I am in such a weakened state." You know what is "weakened state"? Every day is a weak day. From Monday to Friday, what is the day? Weak day. And Saturday and Sunday? Weakened day. "I am in a weakened state. Please move me aside." So he did not understand. He touched her. The moment he touched, he became weakened. He could not move from that place. So then he understood—he was a great soul. He understood, "Oh, Mother!" Then he composed all those hymns on the Divine Mother, etc.

There is a Telugu film—was there Pāṇḍava Vanavāsam? Bhīma goes to bring that flower, and on the way he meets Hanumān. His tail. Bhīma goes like this: "Old monkey, move this one." The monkey says, "Bābā, I have become old; I do not have that power. Somehow it has fallen. You move." And he tries—like that he goes—and nothing happens; even one hair also cannot move. Then he understood: "It must be an extraordinary being, and that must be only Hanumān." So Dādā! Dādā! Dādā! All goondas, you know—Dādā means goondā leader, reference leaders. He said, "You understand? You understand? What about Didi? Didi!" So this is the point: whichever path we take, it is only the grace of the Divine Mother.

Jñāna Mārga and Intellect

So this morning also we discussed—you know, an intellect is a Jñāna Mārga. Jñāna Mārga is not trying to sit and then think about what Śaṅkarācārya said, what Rāmānuja said. Whatever the intellect is convinced of, immediately the person will follow that. Whatever intellect is convinced is poison, immediately that person will give it up. That person alone is fit for Jñāna Mārga—not simply sitting and then thinking logically. So many are called paṇḍits, and paṇḍits are—so many paṇḍits are there. Anyway.

So there is a subtle mind behind this mind. That subtle mind can take us only to that far and no further. But when we reach that place, we do not need to worry. So somebody is awaiting us, and God Himself will take us to that state. But how far we are from this state! I will stop here. It is 8:16. If you have any questions, we can deal with it.

How to Develop the Power of Thinking Deeply

We have to develop the power of thinking deeply, and what a joy it is to think deeply. How do we develop the power of thinking deeply? This is one of the questions. So you go on thinking about a subject, and you go on questioning: "What does this mean? Do I understand? Is it correct? Can it not be the other way around?" So as you go, your mind gets into what is called creative ideas. Once somebody had said something very nice, and this applies to our present topic also. You know, there is something called "writer's block"—the person does not seem to have any ideas what to write—blank. So what is the advice given by seasoned writers? They say, "It does not matter. You write any trash that comes into your mind. Anything—'The crow is flying,' and like that, 'The carpet is black.'" It sounds as though it is absolute nonsense. That is not the point. The point is you write something. The moment you write something, ideas just start rushing. Like a spring—you just take off some stones, slowly trickle a little bit of water. You take out—that very trickling takes up its own obstacles. Have you noticed it? You help it a little bit. After that, it is now how to stop that? That is the same process: deep thinking.

The Snowball Effect

I find something very, very joyful. The moment I start thinking like that, then all the related things—like a net, like a jigsaw puzzle—they come and fall into that. Of course, you have to have chosen a lot of things before that. So it just comes and falls, and then my understanding grows. With this understanding, when I think something else, that expands. Like that it goes on expanding. You cannot express everything that you can really understand, only a few things. So this is one of the greatest, easiest exercises we can undertake. The same thing works with any field. You want to learn music? First song will be very difficult; second song will be a little bit easier; third song will be even more easier. Like that, it is said—I will tell you something very interesting also.

If you can learn about twenty to thirty songs—different types of songs—that means so many rāgas. After that, any song is only a little bit of khicḍī—from that rāga a little bit, from this rāga a little bit. You will never hear a totally new tune, have you ever heard? It is impossible. All the tunes will fall only in saptasvara—ṣa-ri-ga-ma-pa-dha-ni. All rāgas will fall there only. So if you learn twenty to thirty songs nicely, after that it is very easy to learn any song.

Swami Ranganathananda's Secret

Once I asked Swami Ranganathananda Mahārāj, "You are such a wonderful orator—how did you become?" He said, "This is my secret." What he said—you know—in the beginning, he said, "I have written down verbatim the whole of my lectures—twenty lectures complete, one hour or one and a half hours. And after that, everything—I will take a little bit from here to there, and from there to here. It becomes a new recipe." You know, like recipes. I learned something from my assistant, Swami Śivaroopānanda. He cooks two days in a week, so he prepares something extra—leftovers. So he adds next morning something to eat, gives a new French name, and it tastes very good because it is a new French name, you know. Okay, that is a good example: your cooking. You cook a hundred different varieties of curry. What is that? How many ingredients are there? How many ingredients are there? You know the tastes—sweet, salty, sour, bitter, astringent. Like that—if you are there—pañcabhakṣa, we call it. I think five or six tastes. So whatever recipe you do falls into that only: here a little bit more sour, there a little bit more garam, etc. Is there anything else? So everything is like that only—a little bit of this combination. After twenty, thirty songs—yes.

You know what he said about this? Very interesting comment. Recently he came to the UK. So he said, "The secret is copy and paste." But one thing great about Swami Chaitanyananda—you see there are so many books in Bengali; new books are coming which are not available for non-Bengali speakers. Even for Bengali speaking people—see, so many Bengalis are here everywhere—how many? They do not know a book has come in Bengali, say, on one devotee. But he keeps track of that and he brings it. Some of the incidents are already mentioned there; some new incidents are there, and he will add this and then put it. So it is a meditation, you know. Beautiful. They lived with Rāmakṛṣṇa. It is copy and paste, but very nice. Many people get so much information which they would not get otherwise in English books. That is his greatest contribution to the devotees.

Question: If the World Is My Mind's Creation, Why Do Others See the Same Thing?

Either you have some questions? What else do we do? That is a very common question. Did you understand what she said? "If it is the creation of my mind, I alone should see that object as I see it, and the others need not see it. But how come everybody is seeing a table as a table? Is it not?" Yes.

The answer is: who are the other people? Creation of my mind? Yes. So your master will has created—here is a table—and your master will has created other people's minds. And your master will is in everybody's mind. That is why He is doing the same thing. So Swami Śaradānandaji has written a book, Rāmakṛṣṇa the Great Master. He does not say that it is our creation; he says it is the universal mind's creation. So there is a universal mind—it is also called Īśvara. Īśvara is a universal mind. And this universal mind, whatever idea arises, everybody created by that universal mind will experience that object exactly in the same way. This is one important point.

The Variations in Perception

But the other important point we have mentioned—I think you were there yesterday—even though, for example, this book is a book for everybody, Eternal Companion is Eternal Companion for you, me, everybody whoever sees it. But does everyone see this book exactly in the same way? Or are there variations? Variations! Every person—a child sees it; he looks at it in a different way. My favourite example: a woodworm also sees it. How does it see it? Nice food. So a child sees it: nice book, but he does not understand what is the value of it. Supposing a non-Hindu—a Christian or a Muslim—sees it. How does he see this book? "What is it called? Blasphemous. It is unspiritual. It is not written in our Qur'ān like this. This teaching is wrong—'All paths lead to God'—this is wrong. 'You become one with God'—that is wrong." That is his view. So from one point of view, it is all our creation. From another point of view, each one of us are living in our own peculiar universe.

Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi and Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi Together

So there is a beautiful theory. I will not go into it; it is a bit complicated. In brief, what it means is: I see this book because God has created this book. Because the book is there, I come across it and say, "OK, this is a book." This is called Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi Vāda. But at the same time, Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi Vāda is there. You and I do not look at this book exactly in the same light. I gave the example—a terrorist will not look at this book in the same way. So this is called Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi Vāda—that means your dṛṣṭi (outlook) makes that book into a different category. Both are true. There is a fundamental material which God created, and we interact with that material in our own way. This is what is called varanda.

But one thing is very, very common to everything. Do you know what that is? When your mind is closed, Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi Vāda disappears and Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi Vāda also disappears. And who remains? You alone—I alone remains. That is our goal. So that is why it is called mind creation. Am I clear? God might have created, but if I choose not to look at it, even God cannot do anything. When you go into deep sleep, does the world exist to you? Do you argue about Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi Vāda and Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi Vāda? You do not do it. So that is the important thing for us.

The Practical Takeaway

The first point. Second point: even when I am looking at you, how much I enjoy, how much I feel fulfilment depends upon the way I perceive the world. And I want to be happy—is it not? So there are ways. How can I make myself happy? That is important. Clear? So let us deal with that. These two points you remember: when I choose to go beyond mind, the problem does not arise, the solution is not needed because there is no problem. But so long as I am experiencing it, there is only one way open to me: I cannot change the world, but I can change my mind. And through that mind, I can get a lot of happiness. In fact, all our happiness is only from our mind.

The Camel and the Thorns

That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says—something very profound. A camel goes on chewing thorny bush—thorns—and is very happy because it thinks the thorns are giving such very good, tasty food. Actually, the thorns—do they give any food? Where is the food coming from? From its own mouth. So this is analogous to what we are discussing here. If we can change our attitude, then we will be very happy.

Voltaire's Enemies

There was a very interesting incident—I forget—Victor Hugo, or what is the other name? No, Victor Hugo perhaps—some French philosopher. Anyway, I am forgetting the names. Voltaire—that is it. Voltaire had a lot of enemies, and they were trying to kill him, finish him off. So once, all these enemies—until they get an opportunity in secret, they are all friends—so they came, and that day they decided "we will finish him," something like that. So Voltaire's friends advised him, "Your enemies are waiting, but you have to meet them. So be careful." He went inside the room, and we do not know what happened. After some time he came out, broadly smiling. He had the opportunity to kill them—broadly he came out, smiling. Then somebody asked, "Voltaire, did you finish all of them?" He said, "I finished all of them." They went and saw—everybody was enthusiastically shouting at each other. Then this fellow came out and said, "You said you finished them?" "Yes, I killed all my enemies—I made them my friends." Making friends means what? Killing the enemies. That is what we are supposed to do. You cannot kill any enemy, because so long as you do not kill an enemy here—if you kill this enemy, a hundred other rakta-bījas will come on the other side. That is what America is experiencing. In fact, that is what is happening.

All right. Om Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ.

Closing

ओं जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुं, पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः.

oṃ jananīṃ śāradāṃ devīṃ rāmakṛṣṇaṃ jagadguruṃ, pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuḥ.

May Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa.