Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 097 on 10-October-2023

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

In our last class we have been studying very useful teachings of Sri Ramakrishna. What is the benefit of Holy Company? Sunday, April 9, 1882 Sri Ramakrishna was seated with his devotees in the drawing room of Pranakrishna Mukherjee's house in Calcutta. It was between 1 and 2 o'clock in the afternoon. And there is another benefit from Holy Company. Many benefits are there. One benefit is by associating with holy people, we ourselves become holy. There is a beautiful saying in English language. We are what we eat. Tell me your friends, I will tell you who you are. Tell me what type of books you read, I will tell you what type of person you are. So association tells us, because we like certain types of foods depending upon what type of guna we have. And according to Vedanta, three types of gunas are there. Sattva guna, Rajoguna and Tamoguna. Every other guna, that is quality of a person, every samskara in the whole world is only derivatives. They affect different manifestations of infinite combinations of these three. Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. What we call evil or evil people, etc. is only Tamoguna Pradhana. So that's why Sri Ramakrishna says, both ways it works. If we deliberately, with awareness, with lot of willpower, effort, cultivate holy company, good company, devotee's company, scriptural company, then we slowly change our nature. Because every habit becomes a habit only with great repetition. And repetition, especially in good things, requires tremendous amount of willpower. So what is the first benefit? We become holy. What is the second benefit? We develop tremendous amount of discrimination. We develop dispassion. We develop control over our body and mind. Finally, it begets longing for God. Holy company begets longing for spiritual life. Devotion will come to God. Sharanagati will come to God. So these are some of the benefits. Now naturally, if we do not cultivate holy company, then what happens? And what do we see in this world? We see a lot of suffering, a lot of what we call evil. Evil means suffering. Suppose evil is happiness, and evil can be happiness, that we, normal people, with very ordinary power of thinking, never suspect that we are all mostly evil people according to Hinduism or Vedanta. Vedanta is a correct word for Hinduism actually. The word Hindu is a misnomer actually. We should be called Vedantins, Vedantikas, followers of Vedanta. What is Vedanta? Teachings of Vedas, that is called Vedanta. Whether it be Dvaita Vedanta of Madhvacharya, Visishta Advaita Vedanta of Ramanujacharya, or even Advaita of Shankaracharya, any school of philosophy, combined, goes by the common name Vedanta. Vedanta means the teachings of the Vedas. And Vedas need not be only Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharvana Veda. Every science, teachings can be a Veda. What is a Veda? That which gives us knowledge about Atheendriya Gnanam, that is that which is beyond the sense organs, that is called Veda. Normal science gives us better knowledge, better explanation about this world which we are experiencing all the time. For that we don't need Vedas. But we need to know the nature of the world. That we do not actually understand. So Vedas give us two types of knowledge. That which is obtained through the sense organs, but the nature of this world. Similarly, whether there is life after death, Paraloka, other world, and Bhagavan, Ishwara. Because no amount of logic can prove to us there is a God, there is a life, and there are other worlds which can never be experienced through our sense organs. That knowledge we should come. But we also have to be very clear. We are in the world, we are experiencing the world from birth to death. Then why should the scripture tell us? Because even while experiencing, we do not understand the nature of the world, that it is changeful, death can come at any time. Everybody is going to go through what is called dualities. Nobody will experience unmitigated one-sided happiness or wealth, etc. Life goes on changing. Life will not stop at a moment. Like a river, it goes on moving. That is why it is called Samsara. Always it is moving, changes, and it is dependent. It is dependent upon what? Our consciousness. If I am unconscious, I don't know about the world, much less I know about myself. I have to be awake, but I am not taking into consideration everything is changing. I become old, I don't want to accept, I try to cover myself with so many things, etc. So the nature of the world and the nature of God, both knowledge we have to get only from the scripture. And every saint who realizes God or who has advanced in spiritual life also teaches exactly the same truth. And that's why this holy company is very, very necessary. Now here comes a tremendous fact. So what is the fact? So here comes a neighbor on this April 9, 1882. It was a Sunday. It was 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Sri Ramakrishna was sitting in the drying room of Pranakrishna Mukherjee's house in Calcutta and some people were invited and some people came themselves knowing that a great Paramahamsa was coming and as we discussed earlier, Yashachandra Sen was the main instrument through which people in Calcutta and outside Calcutta came to know about this great soul called Sri Ramakrishna. And in the gospel of Sri Ramakrishna and also in the life of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna Leela Prasanga which we are discussing in Kannada language we have come to elaborate discussion about Yashachandra Sen who was also inspired by the Divine Mother and endowed with some powers by the Divine Mother to assist in the Dharma Sthaapana of Sri Ramakrishna. So here is a neighbor is asking, why has God created wicked people? Earlier to that we have seen why does a man have sinful tendencies? And very interesting, if we really study it with the light of Swami Vivekananda's teaching, at one point he says, it is a standing liability to call man a born sinner. Man is a sinner, accepted. Man is not a born sinner, completely unacceptable. Why? Because by birth each soul is potentially Divine. But by our actions we deviate, we forget and because of the, whatever we call, Maya, Avidya, Agnana, etc. We identify with the body-mind and we go on doing mostly evil. Unselfish people are very rare. Only spiritual people are unselfish people. By the way, we have to understand a simple fact that an unselfish person cannot be a worldly person and a worldly person cannot be an unselfish person. What is the conclusion? Parishashika Nyaya. So only a spiritual person can become an unselfish person and only an unselfish person can become a spiritual person. Selfishness and worldliness, unselfishness and spirituality must be clubbed together. So, why does a man have sinful tendencies? Is it from the very beginning? The short answer is no. A baby, for example, is a good example. It doesn't have sinful tendencies. But as the baby grows up he sees all around and if everybody is unselfish, baby also will never become selfish. The only way a baby can achieve some self-interest against these ever-worrying countries, nations, or it is in societies, individuals, is by becoming selfish. Even protecting oneself against evil people in a way that is also selfish. And we have to become selfish. There is no way we can escape from being selfish. But there is a limit. If selfishness is limited only to a peaceful living, it is absolutely acceptable and one must be selfish in that sense. Taittiriya Upanishad many times I have brought up this, broached this subject, that even in Taittiriya Upanishad, the very first chapter, in the 11th Anuvaka, a blueprint for life is given. Several commandments. Satyam. First, what is it? Satyam Bruhiyat. Only truthfulness has to be upheld. Satyam Vada Dharmamchara and practice righteousness. Swadhyayan Maa Pramadaha. If everybody is unselfish, if everybody doesn't have sinful tendencies, where is the need for this commandment that you have to speak truth, you have to practice. Dharma means actually unselfishness. What is unselfishness? That there are no other people. Everything is me. Putting oneself in the other person's shoes is called morality and that is the root of unselfishness. But thinking, I am separate from everybody and I want to look for my own interest, that is called immorality actually. So, do we have sinful tendencies? No. Only we don't know when it started. Janma Janmantara. Because there is no answer when was the first birth given and how did God create everybody with different tendencies. Ultimately, the responsibility can be attributed only to God. That is a very important point because devotees of God, they want to defend their God that God can only create good tendencies. He cannot create evil tendencies. This is not correct reasoning because when the whole world is created and we see evil people, good people and neutral people, we have to accept that somebody has created them like that. So, Hinduism doesn't shrink, doesn't hesitate to tell unlike some other religions who posit two Gods. One is the creator of evil and one God who creates only good things. But that war between two Gods will never come to an end. So, Hinduism frankly says it is God only who created. So, if a person with evil tendencies goes on repeating his evil tendencies, first of all, he will go on growing stronger stronger and still stronger. If a person has good tendencies, he will also grow. He becomes a better man, becomes a best man, good, good or goodest man. Then, how does God create? So, the categorical answer is that God is not creating for somebody else. He is only playing a solitaire game against himself. That is called Leela. If we do not accept this grandest idea that everything is Maya. What is Maya? Appears to be real, not at all real. Another word, very commonly used word is called Mithya. So, just like our dreams, we only create while experiencing a dream. Everything looks very, very real. But truly speaking, when we wake up, we understand it is all nothing but ideal dreaming. Neither good effects nor evil effects. There is no killer. There is no killed. Unable to understand this analogy, many people criticize Hinduism as a dreamy philosophy, unrealistic philosophy, impractical philosophy. But they don't understand, they don't study Hinduism. Hinduism has to be studied, not independently. You take up some books and then read the books. One is not going to understand. One has to go to a saint and then understand. Why he is there? So, Ram Krishna was such an incarnation of God. And even if people don't accept that he is an incarnation, that certainly, he was a realized soul. That one has to accept. Only from that standpoint, he knows the truth. Who is a God realized soul? He knows the truth. And so, every single teaching that came from Ram Krishna's mouth is a scripture for us. What you call Veda is nothing but the discoveries, the uncoverings of the Rishis only. Nothing else. It is not what we call human creation. It is not paurushaya. It is apaurushaya. In this background, why does a man have sinful intentions? First of all, Ram Krishna had answered that it is because he created. But originally, who created this tendency? It is only God created. And why does he create man with these evil tendencies? If it is real, it is unfair. If it is only a drama, will you ever go and question whether it is a drama or a cinema, that you fellow, why did you create the villain, the evil-minded people, the gangster's movie, etc., Godfather's movie, etc.? Because we thoroughly enjoy. Supposing it is a film. A man loves a woman and a woman also loves a man. And they dance a little bit in the garden and then they get married. And Shubham, do you think you are going to watch this kind of films? There must be what is called contrast. That is called dramatic element. There would be villain. There would be evil. There would be some fighting. Dancing, okay. But fighting is more important because that suits our pleasure much more than dancing. So, if it is only Maya, appearance, seeming, then it is absolutely acceptable. That is the first answer. Second answer is even more profound. That we are all, because of Maya thinking, we are separate from God. But what does Vedanta tell? It says, you don't exist. I don't exist. Everything God has become, manifested, created Himself as Pancha Bhutas. The whole universe is nothing but manifestation of the Pancha Bhutas. So, living or non-living, everything has come only from the Pancha Bhutas. And therefore, the whole thing is nothing but God only. God is playing with God. A solitaire game. And He sits on both sides of the chess board. He is the players. He is also the admirers. He is also the fans. He is also the betting people. He is also the quarrelling persons, murderer. Everything is nothing but God. But we should not take it right now. Only when we advance in spiritual life, when it becomes our real experience, only then can we understand, yes, that is the truth. But until this time, evil tendency, sinful tendency is real. Wicked people are real. Just look at what is happening in this world today. Whether it is in India, in America, or in China, or in Israel, what is happening? Very little. Is good happening? This is a very interesting thing. So we have a tendency to ignore. Only evil is happening. Is not great, good, equal. Good is not happening. That we tend to ignore. Because sensational news only attracts us. And what is sensational news? That is why there is a beautiful saying, good news is no news. Only evil news. So for some time, our time is well occupied by seeing who is killing who. Really we don't feel actually. We are hypocrites. How many people died? How many people are suffering right now? Being tortured, or whatever it is, that we never feel. But we want to appear as though we are feeling. Such hypocrisy is going on all the time. Of course, this is also part of the Maya only. There is no doubt about it. And it is only God who thinks that I don't want to feel. I want to express my sympathy like that. But I don't want to do anything about it. That is also part of the Maya only. So we have dealt with this. Why sinful tendencies? Because of selfishness. But we don't need to have sinful tendencies. How can we avoid? Because what is sinful tendency? Trying to obtain something by hook or crook, by deceitful means, by hurting, harming other people. That is how we develop sinful tendencies. But Vedanta, or scriptures, Vedas, Upanishads, Gita, or Gospel tell us something different story. You have desires? Yes. You have infinite desires? Yes. There is a way not to fulfill one desire, but every single desire. How? You go to God and every single desire, because God is infinite, infinite desires can be fulfilled by realizing what? That I am that infinite. I don't need to go anywhere. I am happiness. But that comes only at the end. So this play cannot go on without these sinful tendencies. But there are also people equally, maybe even more, with good tendencies, virtuous tendencies, that we forget. But another factor also, what we call a sinful person. Today, after some time, he alone becomes a saint. And what we now call a saint had a past in which he did lot of sinful things. If God comes and tells a saint, look into your back, you have so many past lives, and say whether you were born as completely a devoted person from the very beginning, an innocent baby, or you did a lot of evil things, and a saint will be the first person to admit, I have done even more than anybody had done, things which I should never have done. But every sinful person is going to become a saint. That's what Swami Vivekananda says. Each soul is potentially divine. That means what? To become divine is unstoppable. Now the second question is, why has God created wicked people? And who are wicked people? That is where we have to connect with the earlier sentence. A person who is having evil thoughts, and those evil thoughts is called sinful tendencies, evil tendencies, and the person who says, I have these thoughts, I own this mind, with these kind of thoughts, he becomes the wicked person. Actually there is something very interesting also. So most of us are very wicked people. We have got so many wicked thoughts running right in our mind. Only because of our cowardice, our fear of policemen, suppose there are no police, and any government says, you can be as wicked as possible, and we will reward you according to the greatness of your wickedness, then we will get, each one of us will be competing who will get the first prize. But we are frightened, police will catch us, put us in jail, and we have got police fear, we have got jail fear, we have got also neighbour's fear, social fear. Oh, people will be looking down. But social fear means what? I look down upon you, and you look down upon me. Why are you wearing this dress? Because that is fashion. Why do you say so? My neighbour says so. You ask that fellow, do you say this is fashion? Yes. Why do you say so? Because my neighbour, he is wearing dress. Nobody knows who has set that trend. So we are all like that. But you know what? It is very rare for a sinful person, a person with sinful tendencies to become a sinful person, that means actually doing a lot of evil actions. So translating those tendencies into actual deeds, it requires a tremendous amount of courage, self-faith, dare-devil-ness, which actually we don't have. That's why I have a sneaking suspicion that all of us have a sneaking suspicion that we admire the villains more than the heroes. And search your heart and you give answer to yourself. Yes. Okay. Now what are we talking about? Why are there wicked people? This is a question which troubles everybody. And this is a question which very few people have come to answer. Now I will give you the present conflict that is going on between Israel and Palestine, Hamas or Hezbollah or whatever it is. Now here is the way to analyze it. Ask Hezbollah or Hamas people who are the evil people. And they will tell every single Israeli he is an evil person. You ask an Israel person. Every Hamas person or Palestinian, he is encouraging. Not only that, he will also name other countries, etc. And I am afraid there are so many co-religionists who also support that event. Now how do we know who is evil? One may be more evil or both are equally evil. Whatever it is, it is a fact that is taking place. Now what is my point? My point is we don't know who is really evil. Because we are so much swayed, brainwashed by reading the news and what is the medium of this news. If we read a Congress newspaper, we have one view. And if we have BJP newspaper, we have another view. What is my view? My view is what newspaper I read, that is my view. So much of slavishness is going on. But every religion, especially religion, because religion only talks about God, has to deal with this problem. Why is there evil? Why is there suffering? Because Srishti means suffering. So I have squeezed or summarized into five points how Indian philosophy, that is our Upanishads and our saints give us the answer. They also thought about it and we have to accept those things. There are five answers coming. What is it? First of all, who created? Is it man's creation or God's creation? Ultimate answer is God only created both good and evil. The moment God created, as we read, study, listen to talks, in every Upanishad practically, God became the Brahma or Ishwara, Saguna Brahma, Hiranyagarbha, etc. or Divine Mother. Ultimate responsibility or authorship, creatorship goes only to God. Because if there were to be no world, there would be no. But world itself means, creation itself means multiplicity. Multiplicity means duality. Duality means good and evil, happiness and unhappiness, black and white, birth and death is inevitable. So good and evil, it is only God who created, but only remember, He Himself has become. Then second, how do we justify them? Can God be good or evil? Because only a good person can create good. He cannot create evil. I will be good, but I will create evil. Such a thing is irrational, illogical, and unacceptable. So a wicked person can create goodness. That is also impossible. So God only created both good and evil. But there is a deeper truth. What is it? Good becomes evil, evil becomes good. There are no two absolutes. Good is separate, forever it is good. Evil is separate, forever it is evil. Such a thing doesn't exist. They are continuously changing, good into evil, evil into good. Good food, just now cooked, is good food. After some days, it becomes poisonous, evil food. Evil also becomes good. Poison, for example. Is poison only evil? No. Poison is the remedy for most of the virulent diseases. Poison is the greatest remedy. So good and evil are not absolutes. One thing is changing intermittently, all the time. So if it is too cold, it is evil. If it is too hot, that is also evil. So that is how they are one and the same, changing their forms according to our karma phala. And second, what is the Hinduism's answer, Vedantic answer? Life is a Leela. Leela means that which is appearing as though real, but really real. Ramakrishna mentions this so many times. From Nithya to Leela, Leela to Nithya. Before realization, this world of good and evil is very real. But even from a commonsensical point of view, they are completely changing, all the time changing. So, life is a Leela, creation is a Leela. That is what Shankaracharya, he doesn't use the word Leela, but he uses a very meaningful Sanskrit word Iva. Iva means as if. That means it is not real, but it appears to be real, like a cinema, like a drama, like a dream, etc. That is the second answer. Third, we are not that advanced to understand. So, we have to understand what is this Leela? It is an English word which is not really applicable here. So, there is a popular phrase, cat and mouse play. But if we analyze deeply, who is the cat? God is the cat. Who is the mouse? We are all the mice. Not mouse, ear is also psychology. When I am suffering, I never think other people are suffering. I only think that I am the only person in the whole world who is going through this horrible suffering. Everybody is in a much better position. There is something to be explored. I am just giving you the hints. So, what is the third answer? Here, that is what comes. The concept of Dharma and Adharma. Whatever we have done in the past life, Punya and Papa, and that comes to us in this life as Prarabdha Karma. So, Prarabdha Karma means some people enjoy more and suffer less. Some people suffer more and enjoy less. And here also, something very interesting. When we are eating Rasagulla and thoroughly enjoying them, we never complain. Oh, why God has created this Karmaphala? Why did He make me so happy? We never question. We only question on one side. When we are suffering, we question. No, if we accept Karmaphala, we accept both. And not only that, there is something very deep. That is the fourth answer by Hinduism. By nature, one can never know what is happiness without the knowledge of the opposite. Several times we discussed this one. If we don't know what is white, we will not know what is black, or we will not know what is black if we don't know what is white. So we must have knowledge of both good and evil, happiness and unhappiness, birth and death, friend and enemy, loss and gain, victory and defeat. These are called dualities. That is, at the same time, we know both. Only in the background of this completion, that is knowing the opposite. Can we really distinguish and say, this is not that and that is not this. Happiness is not unhappiness. Unhappiness is not happiness. And if we don't know that, we will not be able to distinguish it. And in deep sleep, that is what happens. We never have this dualistic experience. And therefore, what is the fourth one? By nature, if we always prefer or choose happiness, then we will never know what is happiness. It is like going to the sun and asking, what do you do at night? Do you sleep? So the sun will not be able to answer you. Why? Because he doesn't know what is called night. But at least you can go and ask him, what a beautiful life, light you are giving us. Light? What do you mean by light? Because if he doesn't know what is darkness, he cannot even know what is light. So you should never ask the sun, good morning, if you say, he will never be able to answer because from the viewpoint of the sun, there is no morning, afternoon, night, no darkness, no light, nothing is there. So this is the fourth answer. If we want to be saints, we must know what is sin. If we want to be happy, we must have experience, not only in knowing by reading books, but by going through and actually happiness is coming out of unhappiness is happiness and coming out of happiness is called unhappiness. This is the fourth answer. And then the last one, which I have, it is not only suffering of karma phala, existence itself evil. Who says? Bhagavan Buddha. And what does he say? Life is full of suffering. Is life full of suffering? Did he suffer all the time? What was he talking about? He is not talking about the dualities called happiness and unhappiness. Good and evil says he is talking about existence itself. The manifestation of existence to be more precise. That is if there is birth, what we call in Vedanta, Shadurmi. That is Asthi Jayate Vardhate Viparinamate Apakshiyate Vinasyate Six fold change. That is there is birth, there is growth, there is old age, there is disease, there is suffering and there is death. It is inevitable. And this is what Buddha calls. You may wish to be reborn again even if you are the luckiest person. That means suffering is minimized. It is impossible. In fact, without suffering, you can never enjoy. Several examples, several times I have given. The hungrier you are, the more you enjoy food. The thirstier you are, the more you enjoy, especially cool drinks. And the more tired you are, the more you enjoy rest. So, it is absolutely necessary for us to experience life in a positive light to come out of the negative light. But negative light also is indispensable and therefore Buddha is telling don't wish for a happy life however good it is. Don't wish for birth. Get out of birth. Get out of Shadurmi and that is what he called Nirvana. So, one of our presidents, Swami Bhuteshanandji in one of his talks, beautiful talk. I was a Brahmachari at that time and he started the Gospel of Sri Ram Krishna and this is what he told. While thinking about evil, we wonder why the Divine Mother has created evil in the world. She could have as well avoided creating bondage. In reply to that, a master, meaning Sri Ram Krishna said in that case, the granny's game of hide and seek would not continue. If her play is to continue, then there has to be both good and evil. If all touch her, then how can the game go on? Of course, if someone becomes tired while playing, she extends her hand to him, deliberately she makes him touch and takes him out of the game because she loves every grandchild. Now the point is Swami Bhuteshanandji continuing, she may play but it costs our lives like cat and mouse play as we said. It is like Aesop's fable in which the frogs say to the boys it is play to you but death to us. A master explained this on a number of occasions in the Gospel. So those among us, you who say that it is death to us, these are the words of Sri Ram Krishna. Tell me Sir, who are you? Are you other than her? If she plays sometimes with her eyes covered or sometimes with her eyes open, does it amount to torturing anybody? The master on many occasions said Allah's Rama, you cause your own suffering. He alone suffers when he puts himself in bondage. In the book Sri Ram Krishna, the Great Master, Swami Shardaanandji gives a beautiful example. After continually dwelling for six months in Nirvikalpa Samadhi, Sri Ram Krishna got a commandment from the Divine Mother, now you live in Bhavamukha. It is a marvelous state all Jivanmukhtas live where it is a borderland between Nithya and Leela. So that they can experience Nithya, they can also experience Leela and it is like a person, Sri Ram Krishna himself compares, sitting on the doorstep of a house, of a room. He can see both inside, he can also see outside. So like that, a person who is a Bhavamukhi, Sri Ram Krishna was commanded, remain in this world, in fact that is what happens to every realized soul if he happens to be living, otherwise called Jivanmukhta. Now, one day Sri Ram Krishna went towards the Panchavati and he saw a grasshopper. In Telugu we call it Tuniga and in its anus there is a small stick. Some small boys, most boys play in villages like that, had caught hold of this, both wings and he put that stick and it went. And Sri Ram Krishna was narrating his reaction. At first, I was very much pained. Alas, how much this creature must be suffering. Then he said that, then I started laughing, O Rama, you became the grasshopper, you became the urchin, you also became the small stick. You only gave the idea to the small boy to take that small stick and insert it into the back side of the rear of the grasshopper. So you yourself have brought on this suffering and with that thought, I went into deep Samadhi and it lasted for quite a long time. Every experience of Sri Ram Krishna, every teaching of Sri Ram Krishna has profound meaning and this particular one, that is what he is telling, Alas, Rama, you cause your own suffering. So, who caused the suffering? A wicked person. Who is that wicked person? Rama. Who caused the, who was suffering? A good person, so called weak person. I would not say innocent, I would say weak person because according to Karmapala, he must have done some evil and it is a profound philosophy, this Karma Siddhanta and at the same time, it is also a very disturbing philosophy. If you go on telling to people in Ukraine or in Gaza or in Israel that you only caused your own suffering, they are likely to shoot you. Mahatma Gandhi once told Israelis, Jewish people because Jewish people seem to be suffering a lot and then, actually it is also much more disturbing. Deliberately, these western powers at the end of the Second World War created this unsafe place and dreary place, willy nilly to the Jewish people. So, the blame should come to these western countries today, how selfish they are. There were places, even today there are places, even if Americans had decided to give one state to the Jewish people, they would have happily dwelt there without much problem. But deliberately with evil intentions, they planned it and then they put it there. What a world we are living. But I would say that is also the will of the Divine Mother only. I am not going too deep into it. But this Karma Siddhanta must be acceptable or Leela Siddhanta must be acceptable to every devotee of God because there is no real solution. There is no real answer. The only answer is God is the Creator but in that answer lies the other un-understandable statement, who gives the trouble? God only. And who suffers the trouble? God only. There is no other way. That's what Sri Ramakrishna is meaning. Allah's Rama you cause your own suffering. But how do we apply to this? So this is the discussion about why there are evil tendencies, why God has, who created that, what is Indian philosophy's take up on this subject. I have discussed it so far. Now we will revert back to the actual Gospel. So when I was asked that is who created these evil tendencies? Master. That is His will, His play, in His Maya there exists avidya as well as vidya. Darkness is needed too. It reveals all the more the glory of light. There is no doubt that anger, lust and greed are evils. Why then has God created them? Sri Ramakrishna's beautiful answer. In order to create saints. Who is a saint? A saint is one who never knew about anger, lust, greed, etc. Such a saint doesn't exist in the three worlds. Who is a saint? He was a sinner. He was subject to intense anger, intense lust, intense greed, intensely evil actions, but at some point of time uttishtata, jagrata, prapyavarannibodhata. By the way, prapyavarannibodhata can be translated as cultivate holy company. So in order to create saints, a man becomes a saint by conquering senses. What do you mean by senses? Kama, krodha, lobha, moha, madha, matsarya. What do the senses do? Here is a sense organ. For example, the eye is a very very beautiful mango tree. It is a grown up mango tree and it produces beautiful alphonsa mangoes and this is the season where hundreds of almost ready to pluck and eat mangoes are hanging and that creates what? Anger. And when you approach near an illiterate gatekeeper comes with a big stick. Don't even look at it. Pay and you can take and you don't want to pay if possible. So it is only a man who overcomes all these and how many? Six. How many? Not six. Only one. What is it? Kama, desire. Kama becomes anger, krodha. Krodha becomes lobha. Lobha becomes moha. Moha becomes madha. Madha becomes matsarya. Matsarya again becomes kama. At any stage it can come back. This climbing the false maya ladder it goes up and down. So there are not six enemies but like Mahishasura in the Chandi. We see Mahishasuras. What do we see? That one Mahishasura, mother cut off Mahishasura's head, buffalo's head. He became a lion and cut off lion's head and he became an elephant and cut off elephant's head. He became a man and mother cut off man's head and again he became a buffalo. So that is like that. Kama becomes krodha, krodha becomes lobha etc. It is only all come under the one name ahamkara, egotism. So a person becomes a saint by conquering egotism. So what goes away by conquering egotism? Only ism goes away. But the aham means that is the ayam brahman. That can never be removed. Sri Ramakrishna continues again see so is there anything impossible for a man who has subdued his passions? He can even realize God through his grace. Again as I said every word of Sri Ramakrishna is very precious. He says even man can realize God but he puts a caveat a condition. What is it? Only through his grace. Now man can overcome maya accepting by the grace of God. Again see how his whole play of creation is initiated through lust. Kama has a positive role. Krodha has a positive role. Everything has a positive role. And I will give you just one example. Swami Vivekananda wrote to one of his disciples who was suffering from depression. He said that lift up your head. Don't you know who you are? You are the disciple of me, one of the greatest saints. Be proud that you are a disciple. He did not say directly that my guru is Swami Vivekananda. How less I am? That is what he said. So again see how his whole play of creation is perpetuated through lust. If people do not get angry, who is going to get angry and punish the evil people? If they don't get angry how are they going greedy for good things also? I want to read more books. I want to do more japa. I want to think of God more. All these are also called greediness. Be proud I am a devotee of God and feel intense jealousy. That fellow, what right has he got to progress in spiritual life? I will not allow him to progress better than me. I will do more fasting, more conquering of the senses and more spiritual sadhana. I will not allow. So everything has got a positive aspect, negative aspect also. Love also has a negative aspect. What is that? I love only my family, my children. It is not love. It is called lust. Ram Krishna continues. Wicked people are needed too. At one time the tenants of an estate became unruly. A landlord had to send Golak Choudhury who was a ruffian. He was such a harsh administrator that the tenants trembled at the very mention of his name. Ruffians are needed. Gondas are needed. Wicked people are needed. I will just give you one of my experiences. When I was in Bangalore there was a very good family and they purchased a house because it was going very cheap, very beautiful convenient house and well settled. And then a gonda came to know about it and then he came and then he occupied this place threatening them if you don't leave this house I will give you your money but you sell it to me. Because good people means cowards weak fellow so he immediately moved out. After a few days a bigger gonda came and then he came and said within 24 hours I want to vacate this house and that fellow had no option grumbling, forgetting what he did to the other fellow he moved on. So gondas are also needed and Sri Ram Krishna is going to give some beautiful examples I will also give some examples in our future classes. May Ram Krishna Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with bhakti Jai Ram Krishna