Sri Ramakrishna on Need of a Guru
A Devotee : Sir, is it necessary to have a guru?"
Sri Ramakrishna : "Yes, many need a guru. But a man must have faith in the guru's words. He succeeds in spiritual life by looking on his guru as God Himself. Therefore the Vaishnavas speak of Guru, Krishna, and Vaishnava.
One should constantly repeat the name of God. The name of God is highly effective in the Kaliyuga. The practice of yoga is not possible in this age, for the life of a man depends on food. Clap your hands while repeating God's name, and the birds of your sin will fly away.
One should always seek the company of holy men. The nearer you approach the Ganges, the cooler the breeze will feel. Again, the nearer you go to a fire, the hotter the air will feel.
But one cannot achieve anything through laziness and procrastination. People who desire worldly enjoyment say about spiritual progress: 'Well, it will all happen in time. We shall realize God some time or other.'
I said to Keshab Sen: 'When a father sees that his son has become restless for his inheritance, he gives him his share of the property even three years before the legal time. A mother keeps on cooking while the baby is in bed sucking its toy. But when it throws the toy away and cries for her, she puts down the rice-pot and takes the baby in her arms and nurses it.' I said all this to Keshab.
"It is said that, in the Kaliyuga, if a man can weep for God one day and one night, he sees Him.
Sri Ramakrishna : "Yes, many need a guru. But a man must have faith in the guru's words. He succeeds in spiritual life by looking on his guru as God Himself. Therefore the Vaishnavas speak of Guru, Krishna, and Vaishnava.
One should constantly repeat the name of God. The name of God is highly effective in the Kaliyuga. The practice of yoga is not possible in this age, for the life of a man depends on food. Clap your hands while repeating God's name, and the birds of your sin will fly away.
One should always seek the company of holy men. The nearer you approach the Ganges, the cooler the breeze will feel. Again, the nearer you go to a fire, the hotter the air will feel.
But one cannot achieve anything through laziness and procrastination. People who desire worldly enjoyment say about spiritual progress: 'Well, it will all happen in time. We shall realize God some time or other.'
I said to Keshab Sen: 'When a father sees that his son has become restless for his inheritance, he gives him his share of the property even three years before the legal time. A mother keeps on cooking while the baby is in bed sucking its toy. But when it throws the toy away and cries for her, she puts down the rice-pot and takes the baby in her arms and nurses it.' I said all this to Keshab.
"It is said that, in the Kaliyuga, if a man can weep for God one day and one night, he sees Him.
Sri Ramakrishna on classes of Devotees
Sri Ramakrishna : "There are two classes of devotees. One class has the nature of the kitten. The kitten depends completely on its mother. It accepts whatever its mother does for it. The kitten only cries, 'Mew, mew!' It doesn't know what to do or where to go. Sometimes the mother puts the kitten near the hearth, sometimes on the bed.
Devotees of this class give God the power of attorney and thus become free of all worry. The Sikhs said to me that God was kind. I said to them: 'How is that? He is our Father and our Mother. Shouldn't parents bring up their children after begetting them? Do you mean to say that the neighbours will look after them?' Devotees of this class have an unwavering conviction that God is our Mother and our Father.
"There is another class of devotees. They have the nature of the young monkey. The young monkey clings to its mother with might and main. The devotees who behave like the young monkey have a slight idea of being the doer. They feel: 'We must go to the sacred places; we must practise japa and austerity; we must perform worship with sixteen articles as prescribed by the sastras. Only then shall we be able to realize God.' Such is their attitude.
"The aspirants of both classes are devotees of God. The farther you advance, the more you will realize that God alone has become everything. He alone does everything. He alone is the Guru and He alone is the Ishta. He alone gives us knowledge and devotion.
"The farther you advance, the more you will see that there are other things even beyond the sandal-wood forest — mines of silver and gold and precious gems. Therefore go forward.
"But how can I ask people to go forward? If worldly people go too far, then the bottom will drop out of their world. One day Keshab was conducting a religious service. He said, 'O God, may we all sink and disappear in the river of bhakti!' When the worship was over I said to him: 'Look here. How can you disappear altogether in the river of bhakti? If you do, what will' happen to those seated behind the screen? (The Master referred to the ladies.) But do one thing: sink now and then, and come back again to dry land.'"
Devotees of this class give God the power of attorney and thus become free of all worry. The Sikhs said to me that God was kind. I said to them: 'How is that? He is our Father and our Mother. Shouldn't parents bring up their children after begetting them? Do you mean to say that the neighbours will look after them?' Devotees of this class have an unwavering conviction that God is our Mother and our Father.
"There is another class of devotees. They have the nature of the young monkey. The young monkey clings to its mother with might and main. The devotees who behave like the young monkey have a slight idea of being the doer. They feel: 'We must go to the sacred places; we must practise japa and austerity; we must perform worship with sixteen articles as prescribed by the sastras. Only then shall we be able to realize God.' Such is their attitude.
"The aspirants of both classes are devotees of God. The farther you advance, the more you will realize that God alone has become everything. He alone does everything. He alone is the Guru and He alone is the Ishta. He alone gives us knowledge and devotion.
"The farther you advance, the more you will see that there are other things even beyond the sandal-wood forest — mines of silver and gold and precious gems. Therefore go forward.
"But how can I ask people to go forward? If worldly people go too far, then the bottom will drop out of their world. One day Keshab was conducting a religious service. He said, 'O God, may we all sink and disappear in the river of bhakti!' When the worship was over I said to him: 'Look here. How can you disappear altogether in the river of bhakti? If you do, what will' happen to those seated behind the screen? (The Master referred to the ladies.) But do one thing: sink now and then, and come back again to dry land.'"
Sri Ramakrishna Teachings for Householders
A Devotee : "I find it is extremely difficult for a householder to realize God. How few people can lead the life you prescribe for them! I haven't found any."
Sri Ramakrishna : "Why should that be so? I have heard of a deputy magistrate named Pratap Singh. He is a great man. He has many virtues: compassion and devotion to God. He meditates on God. Once he sent for me. Certainly there are people like him.
"The practice of discipline is absolutely necessary. Why shouldn't a man succeed if he practises sadhana? But he doesn't have to work hard if he has real faith — faith in his guru's words. Once Vyasa was about to cross the Jamuna, when the gopis also arrived there, wishing to go to the other side. But no ferry-boat was in sight. They said to Vyasa, 'Revered sir, what shall we do now?' 'Don't worry', said Vyasa. 'I will take you across. But I am very hungry. Have you anything for me to eat?' The gopis had plenty of milk, cream, and butter with them. Vyasa ate it all.
Then the gopis asked, 'Well, sir, what about crossing the river?' Vyasa stood on the bank of the Jamuna and said, 'O Jamuna, if I have not eaten anything today, then may your waters part so that we may all walk to the other side.' No sooner did the sage utter these words than the waters of the Jamuna parted. The gopis were speechless with wonder. 'He ate so much just now,' they said to themselves, 'and he says, "If I have not eaten anything . . ." ! ' Vyasa had the firm conviction that it was not himself, but the Narayana who dwelt in his heart, that had partaken of the food.
"Sankaracharya was a Brahmajnani, to be sure. But at the beginning he too had the feeling of differentiation. He didn't have absolute faith that everything in the world is Brahman. One day as he was coming out of the Ganges after his bath, he saw an untouchable, a butcher, carrying a load of meat. Inadvertently the butcher touched his body. Sankara shouted angrily, 'Hey there! How dare you touch me?' 'Revered sir,' said the butcher, 'I have not touched you, nor have you touched me. The Pure Self cannot be the body nor the five elements nor the twenty-four cosmic principles.' Then Sankara came to his senses. Once Jadabharata was carrying King Rahugana's palanquin and at the same time giving a discourse on Self-Knowledge. The king got down from the palanquin and said to Jadabharata, 'Who are you, pray?' The latter answered, 'I am Not this, not this — I am the Pure Self.' He had perfect faith that he was the Pure Self.
"'I am He', 'I am the Pure Self' — that is the conclusion of the jnanis. But the bhaktas say, 'The whole universe is the glory of God.' Who would recognize a wealthy man without his power and riches? But it is quite different when God Himself, gratified by the aspirant's devotion, says to him, 'You are the same as Myself.' Suppose a king is seated in his court, and his cook enters the hall, sits on the throne, and says, 'O King, you and I are the same!' People will certainly call him a madman. But suppose one day the king, pleased with the cook's service, says to him: 'Come, sit beside me. There is nothing wrong in that. There is no difference between you and me.' Then, if the cook sits on the throne with the king, there is no harm in it. It is not good for ordinary people to say, 'I am He'. The waves belong to the water. Does the water belong to the waves?
"The upshot of the whole thing is that, no matter what path you follow, yoga is impossible unless the mind becomes quiet. The mind of a yogi is under his control; he is not under the control of his mind. When the mind is quiet the prana stops functioning. Then one gets kumbhaka. One may have the same kumbhaka through bhaktiyoga as well: the prana stops functioning through love of God too. In the kirtan the musician sings, 'Nitai amar mata hati!' ("My Nitai dances like a mad elephant!") Repeating this, he goes into a spiritual mood and cannot sing the whole sentence. He simply sings, 'Hati! Hati!' When the mood deepens he sings only, 'Ha! Ha!' Thus his prana stops through ecstasy, and kumbhaka follows.
"Suppose a man is sweeping a courtyard with his broom, and another man comes and says to him: 'Hello! So-and-so is no more. He is dead.' Now, if the dead person was not related to the sweeper, the latter goes on with his work, remarking casually: 'Ah! That's too bad. He is dead. He was a good fellow.' The sweeping goes on all the same. But if the dead man was his relative, then the broom drops from his hand. 'Ah!' he exclaims, and he too drops to the ground. His prana has stopped functioning. He can neither work nor think. Haven't you noticed, among women, that if one of them looks at something or listens to something in speechless amazement, the other women say to her, 'What? Are you in ecstasy?' In this instance, too, the prana has stopped functioning, and so she remains speechless, with mouth agape.
"It will not do merely to repeat, 'I am He, I am He.' There are certain signs of a jnani. Narendra has big protruding eyes. (Pointing to a devotee) He also has good eyes and forehead.
"All men are by no means on the same level. It is said that there are four classes of men: the bound, the struggling, the liberated, and the ever-free. It is also not a fact that all men have to practise spiritual discipline. There are the ever-free and those who achieve perfection through spiritual discipline. Some realize God after much spiritual austerity, and some are perfect from their very birth. Prahlada is an example of the ever-free.
"Eternally perfect sages like Prahlada also practise meditation and prayer. But they have realized the fruit, God-vision, even before their spiritual practice. They are like gourds and pumpkins, which grow fruit first and then flowers.
Sri Ramakrishna : "Why should that be so? I have heard of a deputy magistrate named Pratap Singh. He is a great man. He has many virtues: compassion and devotion to God. He meditates on God. Once he sent for me. Certainly there are people like him.
"The practice of discipline is absolutely necessary. Why shouldn't a man succeed if he practises sadhana? But he doesn't have to work hard if he has real faith — faith in his guru's words. Once Vyasa was about to cross the Jamuna, when the gopis also arrived there, wishing to go to the other side. But no ferry-boat was in sight. They said to Vyasa, 'Revered sir, what shall we do now?' 'Don't worry', said Vyasa. 'I will take you across. But I am very hungry. Have you anything for me to eat?' The gopis had plenty of milk, cream, and butter with them. Vyasa ate it all.
Then the gopis asked, 'Well, sir, what about crossing the river?' Vyasa stood on the bank of the Jamuna and said, 'O Jamuna, if I have not eaten anything today, then may your waters part so that we may all walk to the other side.' No sooner did the sage utter these words than the waters of the Jamuna parted. The gopis were speechless with wonder. 'He ate so much just now,' they said to themselves, 'and he says, "If I have not eaten anything . . ." ! ' Vyasa had the firm conviction that it was not himself, but the Narayana who dwelt in his heart, that had partaken of the food.
"Sankaracharya was a Brahmajnani, to be sure. But at the beginning he too had the feeling of differentiation. He didn't have absolute faith that everything in the world is Brahman. One day as he was coming out of the Ganges after his bath, he saw an untouchable, a butcher, carrying a load of meat. Inadvertently the butcher touched his body. Sankara shouted angrily, 'Hey there! How dare you touch me?' 'Revered sir,' said the butcher, 'I have not touched you, nor have you touched me. The Pure Self cannot be the body nor the five elements nor the twenty-four cosmic principles.' Then Sankara came to his senses. Once Jadabharata was carrying King Rahugana's palanquin and at the same time giving a discourse on Self-Knowledge. The king got down from the palanquin and said to Jadabharata, 'Who are you, pray?' The latter answered, 'I am Not this, not this — I am the Pure Self.' He had perfect faith that he was the Pure Self.
"'I am He', 'I am the Pure Self' — that is the conclusion of the jnanis. But the bhaktas say, 'The whole universe is the glory of God.' Who would recognize a wealthy man without his power and riches? But it is quite different when God Himself, gratified by the aspirant's devotion, says to him, 'You are the same as Myself.' Suppose a king is seated in his court, and his cook enters the hall, sits on the throne, and says, 'O King, you and I are the same!' People will certainly call him a madman. But suppose one day the king, pleased with the cook's service, says to him: 'Come, sit beside me. There is nothing wrong in that. There is no difference between you and me.' Then, if the cook sits on the throne with the king, there is no harm in it. It is not good for ordinary people to say, 'I am He'. The waves belong to the water. Does the water belong to the waves?
"The upshot of the whole thing is that, no matter what path you follow, yoga is impossible unless the mind becomes quiet. The mind of a yogi is under his control; he is not under the control of his mind. When the mind is quiet the prana stops functioning. Then one gets kumbhaka. One may have the same kumbhaka through bhaktiyoga as well: the prana stops functioning through love of God too. In the kirtan the musician sings, 'Nitai amar mata hati!' ("My Nitai dances like a mad elephant!") Repeating this, he goes into a spiritual mood and cannot sing the whole sentence. He simply sings, 'Hati! Hati!' When the mood deepens he sings only, 'Ha! Ha!' Thus his prana stops through ecstasy, and kumbhaka follows.
"Suppose a man is sweeping a courtyard with his broom, and another man comes and says to him: 'Hello! So-and-so is no more. He is dead.' Now, if the dead person was not related to the sweeper, the latter goes on with his work, remarking casually: 'Ah! That's too bad. He is dead. He was a good fellow.' The sweeping goes on all the same. But if the dead man was his relative, then the broom drops from his hand. 'Ah!' he exclaims, and he too drops to the ground. His prana has stopped functioning. He can neither work nor think. Haven't you noticed, among women, that if one of them looks at something or listens to something in speechless amazement, the other women say to her, 'What? Are you in ecstasy?' In this instance, too, the prana has stopped functioning, and so she remains speechless, with mouth agape.
"It will not do merely to repeat, 'I am He, I am He.' There are certain signs of a jnani. Narendra has big protruding eyes. (Pointing to a devotee) He also has good eyes and forehead.
"All men are by no means on the same level. It is said that there are four classes of men: the bound, the struggling, the liberated, and the ever-free. It is also not a fact that all men have to practise spiritual discipline. There are the ever-free and those who achieve perfection through spiritual discipline. Some realize God after much spiritual austerity, and some are perfect from their very birth. Prahlada is an example of the ever-free.
"Eternally perfect sages like Prahlada also practise meditation and prayer. But they have realized the fruit, God-vision, even before their spiritual practice. They are like gourds and pumpkins, which grow fruit first and then flowers.
Sri Ramakrishna on craving for Worldly Pleasure
Trailokya : "What is the way to dry up the craving for worldly pleasure?"
Sri Ramakrishna : "Pray to the Divine Mother with a longing heart. Her vision dries up all craving for the world and completely destroys all attachment to 'woman and gold'. It happens instantly if you think of Her as your own mother. She is by no means a godmother. She is your own mother. With a yearning heart persist in your demands on Her. The child holds to the skirt of its mother and begs a penny of her to buy a kite.
Perhaps the mother is gossiping with her friends. At first she refuses to give the penny and says to the child: 'No, you can't have it. Your daddy has asked me not to give you money. When he comes home I'll ask him about it. You will get into trouble it you play with a kite now.' The child begins to cry and will not give up his demand. Then the mother says to her friends: 'Excuse me a moment. Let me pacify this child.' Immediately she unlocks the cash-box with a click and throws the child a penny.
"You too must force your demand on the Divine Mother. She will come to you without fail. I once said the same thing to some Sikhs when they visited the temple at Dakshineswar. We were conversing in front of the Kali temple. They said, 'God is compassionate.' 'Why compassionate?' I asked. They said, 'Why, revered sir, He constantly looks after us, gives us righteousness and wealth, and provides us with our food.' 'Suppose', I said, 'a man has children. Who will look after them and provide them with food — their own father, or a man from another village?'"
Sri Ramakrishna : "Pray to the Divine Mother with a longing heart. Her vision dries up all craving for the world and completely destroys all attachment to 'woman and gold'. It happens instantly if you think of Her as your own mother. She is by no means a godmother. She is your own mother. With a yearning heart persist in your demands on Her. The child holds to the skirt of its mother and begs a penny of her to buy a kite.
Perhaps the mother is gossiping with her friends. At first she refuses to give the penny and says to the child: 'No, you can't have it. Your daddy has asked me not to give you money. When he comes home I'll ask him about it. You will get into trouble it you play with a kite now.' The child begins to cry and will not give up his demand. Then the mother says to her friends: 'Excuse me a moment. Let me pacify this child.' Immediately she unlocks the cash-box with a click and throws the child a penny.
"You too must force your demand on the Divine Mother. She will come to you without fail. I once said the same thing to some Sikhs when they visited the temple at Dakshineswar. We were conversing in front of the Kali temple. They said, 'God is compassionate.' 'Why compassionate?' I asked. They said, 'Why, revered sir, He constantly looks after us, gives us righteousness and wealth, and provides us with our food.' 'Suppose', I said, 'a man has children. Who will look after them and provide them with food — their own father, or a man from another village?'"
Sri Ramakrishna on Importance of Sadhana
Devotee : "Now the question is how to become acquainted with the master." (Laughter.)
Sri Ramakrishna : "That is why I say that work is necessary. It will not do to say that God exists and then idle away your time. You must reach God somehow or other. Call on Him in solitude and pray to Him, 'O Lord! reveal Thyself to me.' Weep for Him with a longing heart. You roam about in search of 'woman and gold' like a madman; now be a little mad for God. Let people say, 'This man has lost his head for God.' Why not renounce everything for a few days and call on God in solitude?
"What will you achieve by simply saying that God exists and doing nothing about it? There are big fish in the Haldarpukur; but can you catch them by merely sitting idly on the bank? Prepare some spiced bait and throw it into the lake. Then the fish will come from the deep water and you will see ripples. That will make you happy. Perhaps a fish will jump with a splash and you will get a glimpse of it. Then you will be so glad!
"Milk must be turned to curd and the curd must be churned. Only then will you get butter. (To Mahima) What a nuisance! Someone must show God to a man, while he himself sits idly by all the while! Someone must extract the butter and hold it in front of his mouth! (All laugh.) What a bother! Someone else must catch the fish and give it to him!
"A man wanted to see the king. The king lived in the inner court of the palace, beyond seven gates. No sooner did the man pass the first gate than he exclaimed, 'Oh, where is the king?' But there were seven gates, and he must pass them one after another before he could see the king."
Sri Ramakrishna : "That is why I say that work is necessary. It will not do to say that God exists and then idle away your time. You must reach God somehow or other. Call on Him in solitude and pray to Him, 'O Lord! reveal Thyself to me.' Weep for Him with a longing heart. You roam about in search of 'woman and gold' like a madman; now be a little mad for God. Let people say, 'This man has lost his head for God.' Why not renounce everything for a few days and call on God in solitude?
"What will you achieve by simply saying that God exists and doing nothing about it? There are big fish in the Haldarpukur; but can you catch them by merely sitting idly on the bank? Prepare some spiced bait and throw it into the lake. Then the fish will come from the deep water and you will see ripples. That will make you happy. Perhaps a fish will jump with a splash and you will get a glimpse of it. Then you will be so glad!
"Milk must be turned to curd and the curd must be churned. Only then will you get butter. (To Mahima) What a nuisance! Someone must show God to a man, while he himself sits idly by all the while! Someone must extract the butter and hold it in front of his mouth! (All laugh.) What a bother! Someone else must catch the fish and give it to him!
"A man wanted to see the king. The king lived in the inner court of the palace, beyond seven gates. No sooner did the man pass the first gate than he exclaimed, 'Oh, where is the king?' But there were seven gates, and he must pass them one after another before he could see the king."
Sri Ramakrishna on Sincere Devotee
Sri Ramakrishna - "When the devotee develops raga-bhakti, passionate love of God, he realizes Him. But one loses vaidhi-bhakti, formal devotion, as easily as one gains it. This is formal devotion: so much japa, so much meditation, so much sacrifice and homa, so many articles of worship, and the recitation of so many mantras before the Deity. Such devotion comes in a moment and goes in a moment.
Many people say: 'Well, friend, we have lived on havishya for so many days! How many times we have worshipped the Deity at our home! And what have we achieved?' But there is no falling away from raga-bhakti. And who gets this passionate love for God? Those who have performed many meritorious deeds in their past births, or those who are eternally perfect. Think of a dilapidated house, for instance: while clearing away the undergrowth and rubbish one suddenly discovers a fountain fitted with a pipe. It has been covered with earth and bricks, but as soon as they are removed the water shoots up.
"Those who have passionate love for God do not say any such thing as: 'O brother, how strict I have been about food! But what have I achieved?' New farmers give up cultivating if their fields do not yield any crops. But hereditary farmers will continue to cultivate their fields whether they get a crop or not. Their fathers and grandfathers were farmers; they know that they too must accept farming as their means of livelihood.
"Only those who have developed raga-bhakti for God may be called His sincere devotees. God becomes responsible for them. If you enter your name in a hospital register, the doctor will not discharge you until you are cured. Those who are held by God have nothing to fear. The son who holds to his father, while walking along the narrow ridge of a paddy-field, may slip if he absent-mindedly lets go his father's hand; but if the father holds the son by the hand, there is no such danger.
"Is there anything that is impossible for faith? And a true devotee has faith in everything: the formless Reality, God with form, Rama, Krishna, and the Divine Mother.
Many people say: 'Well, friend, we have lived on havishya for so many days! How many times we have worshipped the Deity at our home! And what have we achieved?' But there is no falling away from raga-bhakti. And who gets this passionate love for God? Those who have performed many meritorious deeds in their past births, or those who are eternally perfect. Think of a dilapidated house, for instance: while clearing away the undergrowth and rubbish one suddenly discovers a fountain fitted with a pipe. It has been covered with earth and bricks, but as soon as they are removed the water shoots up.
"Those who have passionate love for God do not say any such thing as: 'O brother, how strict I have been about food! But what have I achieved?' New farmers give up cultivating if their fields do not yield any crops. But hereditary farmers will continue to cultivate their fields whether they get a crop or not. Their fathers and grandfathers were farmers; they know that they too must accept farming as their means of livelihood.
"Only those who have developed raga-bhakti for God may be called His sincere devotees. God becomes responsible for them. If you enter your name in a hospital register, the doctor will not discharge you until you are cured. Those who are held by God have nothing to fear. The son who holds to his father, while walking along the narrow ridge of a paddy-field, may slip if he absent-mindedly lets go his father's hand; but if the father holds the son by the hand, there is no such danger.
"Is there anything that is impossible for faith? And a true devotee has faith in everything: the formless Reality, God with form, Rama, Krishna, and the Divine Mother.
Sri Ramakrishna on Jivanmukta
Sri Ramakrishna : "Have faith. Depend on God. Then you will not have to do anything yourself. Mother Kali will do everything for you.
"Jnana goes as far as the outer court, but bhakti can enter the inner court. The Pure Self is unattached. Both vidya and avidya are in It, but It is unattached. Sometimes there is a good and sometimes a bad smell in the air, but the air itself is unaffected.
"Once Vyasadeva was about to cross the Jamuna. The gopis also were there. They wanted to go to the other side of the river to sell curd, milk, and cream. But there was no ferry at that time. They were all worried about how to cross the river, when Vyasa said to them, 'I am very hungry.' The milkmaids fed him with milk and cream. He finished almost all their food.
Then Vyasa said to the river, 'O Jamuna, if I have not eaten anything, then your waters will part and we shall walk through.' It so happened. The river parted and a pathway was formed between the waters. Following that path, the gopis and Vyasa crossed the river. Vyasa had said, 'If I have not eaten anything'. That means, the real man is Pure Atman. Atman is unattached and beyond Prakriti. It has neither hunger nor thirst; It knows neither birth nor death; It does not age, nor does It die. It is immutable as Mount Sumeru.
"He who has attained this Knowledge of Brahman is a jivanmukta, liberated while living in the body. He rightly understands that the Atman and the body are two separate things. After realizing God one does not identify the Atman with the body. These two are separate, like the kernel and the shell of the coconut when its milk dries up.
The Atman moves, as it were, within the body. When the 'milk' of worldly-mindedness has dried up, one gets Self-Knowledge. Then one feels that Atman and body are two separate things. The kernel of a green almond or betel-nut cannot be separated from the shell; but when they are ripe the juice dries up and the kernel separates from the shell. After the attainment of the Knowledge of Brahman, the 'milk' of worldly-mindedness dries up.
"But it is extremely difficult to attain the Knowledge of Brahman. One doesn't get it by merely talking about it. Some people feign it. (Smiling) There was a man who was a great liar; but, on the other hand, he used to say he had the Knowledge of Brahman. When someone took him to task for telling lies, he said: 'Why, this world is truly like a dream. If everything is unreal, then can truth itself be rea1? Truth is as unreal as falsehood.'" (All laugh.)
Sri Ramakrishna sat with the devotees on the mat on the floor. He was smiling. He said to the devotees, "Please stroke my feet gently." They carried out his request. He said to M:, "There is great significance in this." (The stroking of his feet) Placing his hand on his heart, the Master said, "If there is anything here, then through this service the ignorance and illusion of the devotees will be completely destroyed."
"Jnana goes as far as the outer court, but bhakti can enter the inner court. The Pure Self is unattached. Both vidya and avidya are in It, but It is unattached. Sometimes there is a good and sometimes a bad smell in the air, but the air itself is unaffected.
"Once Vyasadeva was about to cross the Jamuna. The gopis also were there. They wanted to go to the other side of the river to sell curd, milk, and cream. But there was no ferry at that time. They were all worried about how to cross the river, when Vyasa said to them, 'I am very hungry.' The milkmaids fed him with milk and cream. He finished almost all their food.
Then Vyasa said to the river, 'O Jamuna, if I have not eaten anything, then your waters will part and we shall walk through.' It so happened. The river parted and a pathway was formed between the waters. Following that path, the gopis and Vyasa crossed the river. Vyasa had said, 'If I have not eaten anything'. That means, the real man is Pure Atman. Atman is unattached and beyond Prakriti. It has neither hunger nor thirst; It knows neither birth nor death; It does not age, nor does It die. It is immutable as Mount Sumeru.
"He who has attained this Knowledge of Brahman is a jivanmukta, liberated while living in the body. He rightly understands that the Atman and the body are two separate things. After realizing God one does not identify the Atman with the body. These two are separate, like the kernel and the shell of the coconut when its milk dries up.
The Atman moves, as it were, within the body. When the 'milk' of worldly-mindedness has dried up, one gets Self-Knowledge. Then one feels that Atman and body are two separate things. The kernel of a green almond or betel-nut cannot be separated from the shell; but when they are ripe the juice dries up and the kernel separates from the shell. After the attainment of the Knowledge of Brahman, the 'milk' of worldly-mindedness dries up.
"But it is extremely difficult to attain the Knowledge of Brahman. One doesn't get it by merely talking about it. Some people feign it. (Smiling) There was a man who was a great liar; but, on the other hand, he used to say he had the Knowledge of Brahman. When someone took him to task for telling lies, he said: 'Why, this world is truly like a dream. If everything is unreal, then can truth itself be rea1? Truth is as unreal as falsehood.'" (All laugh.)
Sri Ramakrishna sat with the devotees on the mat on the floor. He was smiling. He said to the devotees, "Please stroke my feet gently." They carried out his request. He said to M:, "There is great significance in this." (The stroking of his feet) Placing his hand on his heart, the Master said, "If there is anything here, then through this service the ignorance and illusion of the devotees will be completely destroyed."
Sri Ramakrishna on path of Devotion
Pundit : "Sir, I try to explain the teachings of the Hindu scriptures."
Sri Ramakrishna : "For the Kaliyuga the path of devotion described by Narada is best. Where can people find time now to perform their duties according to the scriptural injunctions? Nowadays the decoctions of roots and herbs of the orthodox Hindu physicians cannot be given to a fever patient. By the time that kind of medicine begins its slow process of curing, the patient is done for. Therefore only a drastic medicine like the allopathic 'fever mixture' is effective now.
You may ask people to practise scriptural rites and rituals; but, when prescribing the rituals, remove the 'head and tail'.* I tell people not to bother about the elaborate rituals of the sandhya as enjoined in the scriptures. I say that it will be enough for them to repeat the Gayatri alone. If you must give instruction about scriptural ceremonies, do so only to a very few, like Ishan.
"You may deliver thousands of lectures, but they won't make the slightest impression on worldly people. Can one drive a nail into a stone wall? The point of the nail will sooner break than make a dent in the stone. What will you gain by striking the tough skin of the crocodile with a sword? The sadhu's water-bowl, made from the shell of a bitter gourd, may visit the four principal holy places of India with its owner, but it will still remain as bitter as ever. Your lectures are not helping worldly people very much; and you will realize this by and by. The calf cannot stand on its legs all at once. Now it drops to the ground and now it stands up. So it learns to stand firmly on its legs and walk.
"You cannot distinguish a lover of God from a worldly person. It isn't your fault, of course. When the first onrush of the gale shakes the trees, it is impossible to distinguish one tree from another — the mango from the tamarind, for instance.
"Without having realized God one cannot give up rituals altogether. How long should one practise the sandhya and other forms of ritualistic worship? As long as one does not shed tears of joy at the name of God and feel a thrill in one's body. You will know that your ritualistic worship has come to an end when your eyes become filled with tears as you repeat 'Om Rama'. Then you do not have to continue your sandhya or other rituals.
"When the fruit appears the blossom drops off. Love of God is the fruit, and rituals are the blossom. When the daughter-in-law of the house becomes pregnant, she cannot do much work. Her mother-in-law gradually lessens her duties in the house. When her time arrives she does practically nothing. And after the child is born her only work is to play with it.
She doesn't do any household duties at all. The sandhya merges in the Gayatri, the Gayatri in Om, and Om in samadhi. It is like the sound of a bell: t — a — m. The yogi, by following in the trail of the sound Om, gradually merges himself in the Supreme Brahman. His sandhya and other ritualistic duties disappear in samadhi. Thus the duties of the jnani come to an end."
Sri Ramakrishna : "For the Kaliyuga the path of devotion described by Narada is best. Where can people find time now to perform their duties according to the scriptural injunctions? Nowadays the decoctions of roots and herbs of the orthodox Hindu physicians cannot be given to a fever patient. By the time that kind of medicine begins its slow process of curing, the patient is done for. Therefore only a drastic medicine like the allopathic 'fever mixture' is effective now.
You may ask people to practise scriptural rites and rituals; but, when prescribing the rituals, remove the 'head and tail'.* I tell people not to bother about the elaborate rituals of the sandhya as enjoined in the scriptures. I say that it will be enough for them to repeat the Gayatri alone. If you must give instruction about scriptural ceremonies, do so only to a very few, like Ishan.
"You may deliver thousands of lectures, but they won't make the slightest impression on worldly people. Can one drive a nail into a stone wall? The point of the nail will sooner break than make a dent in the stone. What will you gain by striking the tough skin of the crocodile with a sword? The sadhu's water-bowl, made from the shell of a bitter gourd, may visit the four principal holy places of India with its owner, but it will still remain as bitter as ever. Your lectures are not helping worldly people very much; and you will realize this by and by. The calf cannot stand on its legs all at once. Now it drops to the ground and now it stands up. So it learns to stand firmly on its legs and walk.
"You cannot distinguish a lover of God from a worldly person. It isn't your fault, of course. When the first onrush of the gale shakes the trees, it is impossible to distinguish one tree from another — the mango from the tamarind, for instance.
"Without having realized God one cannot give up rituals altogether. How long should one practise the sandhya and other forms of ritualistic worship? As long as one does not shed tears of joy at the name of God and feel a thrill in one's body. You will know that your ritualistic worship has come to an end when your eyes become filled with tears as you repeat 'Om Rama'. Then you do not have to continue your sandhya or other rituals.
"When the fruit appears the blossom drops off. Love of God is the fruit, and rituals are the blossom. When the daughter-in-law of the house becomes pregnant, she cannot do much work. Her mother-in-law gradually lessens her duties in the house. When her time arrives she does practically nothing. And after the child is born her only work is to play with it.
She doesn't do any household duties at all. The sandhya merges in the Gayatri, the Gayatri in Om, and Om in samadhi. It is like the sound of a bell: t — a — m. The yogi, by following in the trail of the sound Om, gradually merges himself in the Supreme Brahman. His sandhya and other ritualistic duties disappear in samadhi. Thus the duties of the jnani come to an end."
Sri Ramakrishna on Doing Worldly Duties
M. (humbly): "How ought we to live in the world?"
Sri Ramakrishna : "Do all your duties, but keep your mind on God. Live with all — with wife and children, father and mother — and serve them. Treat them as if they were very dear to you, but know in your heart of hearts that they do not belong to you.
A maidservant in the house of a rich man performs all the household duties, but her thoughts are fixed on her own home in her native village. She brings up her master's children as if they were her own. She even speaks of them as 'my Rama' or 'my Hari'. But in her own mind she knows very well that they do not belong to her at all.
The tortoise moves about in the water. But can you guess where her thoughts are? There on the bank, where her eggs are lying. Do all your duties in the world, but keep your mind on God.
If you enter the world without first cultivating love for God, you will be entangled more and more. You will be overwhelmed with its danger, its grief its sorrows. And the more you think of worldly things, the more you will be attached to them.
"First rub your hands with oil and then break open the jack-fruit; otherwise they will be smeared with its sticky milk. First secure the oil of divine love, and then set your hands to the duties of the world.
"But one must go into solitude to attain this divine love. To get butter from milk you must let it set into curd in a secluded spot: if it is too much disturbed, milk won't turn into curd. Next, you must put aside all other duties, sit in a quiet spot, and churn the curd. Only then do you get butter.
"Further, by meditating on God in solitude the mind acquires knowledge, dispassion, and devotion. But the very same mind goes downward if it dwells in the world. In the world there is only one thought: 'woman and gold'.*
"The world is water and the mind milk. If you pour milk into water they become one; you cannot find the pure milk any more. But turn the milk into curd and churn it into butter. Then, when that butter is placed in water, it will float. So, practise spiritual discipline in solitude and obtain the butter of knowledge and love. Even if you keep that butter in the water of the world the two will not mix. The butter will float.
"Together with this, you must practise discrimination. 'Woman and gold' is impermanent. God is the only Eternal Substance. What does a man get with money? Food, clothes, and a dwelling-place — nothing more. You cannot realize God with its help. Therefore money can never be the goal of life. That is the process of discrimination. Do you understand?"
Sri Ramakrishna : "Do all your duties, but keep your mind on God. Live with all — with wife and children, father and mother — and serve them. Treat them as if they were very dear to you, but know in your heart of hearts that they do not belong to you.
A maidservant in the house of a rich man performs all the household duties, but her thoughts are fixed on her own home in her native village. She brings up her master's children as if they were her own. She even speaks of them as 'my Rama' or 'my Hari'. But in her own mind she knows very well that they do not belong to her at all.
The tortoise moves about in the water. But can you guess where her thoughts are? There on the bank, where her eggs are lying. Do all your duties in the world, but keep your mind on God.
If you enter the world without first cultivating love for God, you will be entangled more and more. You will be overwhelmed with its danger, its grief its sorrows. And the more you think of worldly things, the more you will be attached to them.
"First rub your hands with oil and then break open the jack-fruit; otherwise they will be smeared with its sticky milk. First secure the oil of divine love, and then set your hands to the duties of the world.
"But one must go into solitude to attain this divine love. To get butter from milk you must let it set into curd in a secluded spot: if it is too much disturbed, milk won't turn into curd. Next, you must put aside all other duties, sit in a quiet spot, and churn the curd. Only then do you get butter.
"Further, by meditating on God in solitude the mind acquires knowledge, dispassion, and devotion. But the very same mind goes downward if it dwells in the world. In the world there is only one thought: 'woman and gold'.*
"The world is water and the mind milk. If you pour milk into water they become one; you cannot find the pure milk any more. But turn the milk into curd and churn it into butter. Then, when that butter is placed in water, it will float. So, practise spiritual discipline in solitude and obtain the butter of knowledge and love. Even if you keep that butter in the water of the world the two will not mix. The butter will float.
"Together with this, you must practise discrimination. 'Woman and gold' is impermanent. God is the only Eternal Substance. What does a man get with money? Food, clothes, and a dwelling-place — nothing more. You cannot realize God with its help. Therefore money can never be the goal of life. That is the process of discrimination. Do you understand?"
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Ramakrishna Paramhansa Parables
Osho - One man reached Ramakrishna. He was going to Varanasi to take a holy dip -- but he was interested in Ramakrishna, so before going, he went to touch his feet. And Ramakrishna said, "But what is the need to go to Varanasi, because the Ganges is coming here" -- just behind his temple where they were sitting, the Ganges was flowing. "The Ganges is coming to Calcutta itself. Where are you going?" But the man said, "In the scriptures the Ganges in Varanasi has a specialty. It is the same Ganges, but in Varanasi if you take a bath then all your sins are washed away."
Ramakrishna was a very simple man. He said, "With my blessings you can go, but remember one thing. Have you seen? On the bank of the Ganges there are big trees." The man said, "Yes. I have been there once when I was very young with my father. But why are you mentioning those trees?" He said, "I am mentioning those trees because people don't know their purpose. The Ganges is great -- you take a dip and all your sins leave you immediately. But they sit on the trees and they wait for you! They say, `Son, sometime you will come back on the same road. Where you are going to go?
How long can you remain in the Ganges? You can manage as long as you want -- one hour, two hours, one day, two days -- but finally you will have to come out.'" That man said, "Not even two days; I will just take the bath and come out. It will take five minutes at the most, in such cold weather.... But this is strange. Nobody told me that all those sins are sitting on the trees." Ramakrishna said, "And the moment you put on your clothes... you are putting on clothes and the sins are coming back down on you, settling. And sometimes it happens that somebody else's sins -- if they like you...
This man looks beautiful. That man is already dead, finished; this man is good, young, has some possibilities of committing more sins' -- they may drop on you; that is the greatest difficulty. Yours will certainly come back upon you, and others'.... All those trees are full of sins, so try to save yourself somehow." He said, "How can I save myself? You can't see sins. Neither do I see them when I take the bath nor will I be able to see them when they descend upon me again!"
Ramakrishna said, "That is up to you. That is why I don't go there, because it is absolutely useless. Those trees are not just uselessly standing there, for centuries they have been doing their job." The man said, "You have created such a doubt in me... I will go home and think again, whether to go or not. It is an unnecessary wastage if this is going to happen. And you have made me afraid also -- others' sins, which I have not committed at all!" The priests are giving you shortcuts because you are lazy. You really don't want to do anything for your inner search. The heaven is not somewhere far above in the clouds. It is within you, and for that you don't need to go to the Ganges or to go to Kaaba. You need to go to yourself.
Ramakrishna was a very simple man. He said, "With my blessings you can go, but remember one thing. Have you seen? On the bank of the Ganges there are big trees." The man said, "Yes. I have been there once when I was very young with my father. But why are you mentioning those trees?" He said, "I am mentioning those trees because people don't know their purpose. The Ganges is great -- you take a dip and all your sins leave you immediately. But they sit on the trees and they wait for you! They say, `Son, sometime you will come back on the same road. Where you are going to go?
How long can you remain in the Ganges? You can manage as long as you want -- one hour, two hours, one day, two days -- but finally you will have to come out.'" That man said, "Not even two days; I will just take the bath and come out. It will take five minutes at the most, in such cold weather.... But this is strange. Nobody told me that all those sins are sitting on the trees." Ramakrishna said, "And the moment you put on your clothes... you are putting on clothes and the sins are coming back down on you, settling. And sometimes it happens that somebody else's sins -- if they like you...
This man looks beautiful. That man is already dead, finished; this man is good, young, has some possibilities of committing more sins' -- they may drop on you; that is the greatest difficulty. Yours will certainly come back upon you, and others'.... All those trees are full of sins, so try to save yourself somehow." He said, "How can I save myself? You can't see sins. Neither do I see them when I take the bath nor will I be able to see them when they descend upon me again!"
Ramakrishna said, "That is up to you. That is why I don't go there, because it is absolutely useless. Those trees are not just uselessly standing there, for centuries they have been doing their job." The man said, "You have created such a doubt in me... I will go home and think again, whether to go or not. It is an unnecessary wastage if this is going to happen. And you have made me afraid also -- others' sins, which I have not committed at all!" The priests are giving you shortcuts because you are lazy. You really don't want to do anything for your inner search. The heaven is not somewhere far above in the clouds. It is within you, and for that you don't need to go to the Ganges or to go to Kaaba. You need to go to yourself.
Osho on Ramakrishna Enlightenment
Osho -There is an episode in Ramakrishna’s life.... For his whole life he had been worshipping Mother Kali, But at the very end he began to feel,” It is duality; the experience of oneness has still not happened. It is lovely, delightful, but two still remains two.” Someone loves a woman, someone loves money, someone politics; he loved Ma Kali – but love still was divided in two. Still the ultimate nonduality hadn’t happened and he was in anguish. He began looking out for a nondualist, a Vedantist – for Some person to come who could show him the path.
A Paramahansa named Totapuri was passing. Ramakrishna invited him to stop with him and asked, ”Help me to have darshan of the one.”
Totapuri said, ”What’s difficult in that? You believe there are two, so there are two. Drop the belief!” Ramakrishna replied, ”But dropping this belief is very difficult – I have lived with it my whole life. When I close my eyes the image of Kali is standing there. I drown in that nectar. I forget that I am to become one; as soon as I close my eyes there are two. When I try to meditate, it becomes dual. Help me out of this!”
So Totapuri said, ”Try this: when the image of Kali is before you, pick up a sword and cut her in two.” Ramakrishna said, ”Where will I find a sword?”
What Totapuri said is the same as what is said in Ashtavakra’s sutra*. Totapuri said, ”From where did you bring this Kali image? – bring a sword from the same place. She too is imaginary. She too is an embellishment of your imagination. Through nurturing it for your whole life, through continuously projecting it for your whole life, it has become crystalized. It is just imagination. Not everyone sees Kali when they close their eyes.”
After years of effort a Christian closes his eyes, and Christ comes to him. A devotee of Krishna closes his eyes and Krishna comes to him. A lover of Buddha closes his eyes and Buddha comes to him. A lover of Mahavira closes his eyes and Mahavira comes to him. Christ doesn’t come to a Jaina, Mahavira doesn’t come to a Christian: only the image you project will come. Ramakrishna’s effort was with Kali, and the image became almost solid. It became so real from constant repetition, from continuous remembering, that it seemed Kali was standing in from of him. No one was standing there.
Consciousness is alone. There is no second here, no other.
”Just close your eyes,” Totapuri said, ”raise the sword and strike.”
Ramakrishna closed his eyes, but as soon as he closed them his courage vanished. Raising his sword to strike Kali! – the devotee has to raise his sword and strike God – it was too hard. To renounce the world is very easy. What is worth holding onto in the world? But when you have established an image deep in the mind, when you have created poetry in the mind, when the mind’s dream has become manifest, then it is very difficult to renounce it. The world is like a nightmare. A dream of devotion, a dream of feeling is not a nightmare, it is a very sweet dream. How to drop it? how to break it?
Tears would start flowing from his eyes and he became ecstatic... his body would begin shaking. But he didn’t raise his sword – he would completely forget about it. Finally Totapuri said, ”I’ve wasted many days here. It’s no good. Either you do it or I’m going to leave. Don’t waste my time. Enough of this nonsense now!” That day Totapuri brought a piece of glass with him, and he said, ”When you begin to be absorbed in delight, I will cut your forehead with this piece of glass. When I cut your forehead, inside gather courage, raise your sword and cut Kali in two. This is the last chance – I am not staying any longer.”
Totapuri’s threat of leaving... and it is difficult to find such a master. Totapuri must have been a man like Ashtavakra. Ramakrishna closed his eyes and Kali’s image appeared to him. He was about to bliss out – tears were ready to flow from his eyes, overwhelmed, joy was coming – he was about to become ecstatic when Totapuri held his forehead and, where the third eye chakra is, made a cut from top to bottom with the piece of glass. Blood began to stream from the cut, and this time
Ramakrishna found courage. He raised the sword and cut Kali in two pieces. When Kali fell apart he became nondual: the wave dissolved in the ocean, the river fell into the ocean. It is said that he stayed immersed for six days in this ultimate silence. He was neither hungry nor thirsty – there was no consciousness of the outside, no awareness. All was forgotten. And when he opened his eyes six days later, the first thing he said was, ”The last barrier has fallen!”
Source: “The Mahageeta Vol 1” By Osho
A Paramahansa named Totapuri was passing. Ramakrishna invited him to stop with him and asked, ”Help me to have darshan of the one.”
Totapuri said, ”What’s difficult in that? You believe there are two, so there are two. Drop the belief!” Ramakrishna replied, ”But dropping this belief is very difficult – I have lived with it my whole life. When I close my eyes the image of Kali is standing there. I drown in that nectar. I forget that I am to become one; as soon as I close my eyes there are two. When I try to meditate, it becomes dual. Help me out of this!”
So Totapuri said, ”Try this: when the image of Kali is before you, pick up a sword and cut her in two.” Ramakrishna said, ”Where will I find a sword?”
What Totapuri said is the same as what is said in Ashtavakra’s sutra*. Totapuri said, ”From where did you bring this Kali image? – bring a sword from the same place. She too is imaginary. She too is an embellishment of your imagination. Through nurturing it for your whole life, through continuously projecting it for your whole life, it has become crystalized. It is just imagination. Not everyone sees Kali when they close their eyes.”
After years of effort a Christian closes his eyes, and Christ comes to him. A devotee of Krishna closes his eyes and Krishna comes to him. A lover of Buddha closes his eyes and Buddha comes to him. A lover of Mahavira closes his eyes and Mahavira comes to him. Christ doesn’t come to a Jaina, Mahavira doesn’t come to a Christian: only the image you project will come. Ramakrishna’s effort was with Kali, and the image became almost solid. It became so real from constant repetition, from continuous remembering, that it seemed Kali was standing in from of him. No one was standing there.
Consciousness is alone. There is no second here, no other.
”Just close your eyes,” Totapuri said, ”raise the sword and strike.”
Ramakrishna closed his eyes, but as soon as he closed them his courage vanished. Raising his sword to strike Kali! – the devotee has to raise his sword and strike God – it was too hard. To renounce the world is very easy. What is worth holding onto in the world? But when you have established an image deep in the mind, when you have created poetry in the mind, when the mind’s dream has become manifest, then it is very difficult to renounce it. The world is like a nightmare. A dream of devotion, a dream of feeling is not a nightmare, it is a very sweet dream. How to drop it? how to break it?
Tears would start flowing from his eyes and he became ecstatic... his body would begin shaking. But he didn’t raise his sword – he would completely forget about it. Finally Totapuri said, ”I’ve wasted many days here. It’s no good. Either you do it or I’m going to leave. Don’t waste my time. Enough of this nonsense now!” That day Totapuri brought a piece of glass with him, and he said, ”When you begin to be absorbed in delight, I will cut your forehead with this piece of glass. When I cut your forehead, inside gather courage, raise your sword and cut Kali in two. This is the last chance – I am not staying any longer.”
Totapuri’s threat of leaving... and it is difficult to find such a master. Totapuri must have been a man like Ashtavakra. Ramakrishna closed his eyes and Kali’s image appeared to him. He was about to bliss out – tears were ready to flow from his eyes, overwhelmed, joy was coming – he was about to become ecstatic when Totapuri held his forehead and, where the third eye chakra is, made a cut from top to bottom with the piece of glass. Blood began to stream from the cut, and this time
Ramakrishna found courage. He raised the sword and cut Kali in two pieces. When Kali fell apart he became nondual: the wave dissolved in the ocean, the river fell into the ocean. It is said that he stayed immersed for six days in this ultimate silence. He was neither hungry nor thirsty – there was no consciousness of the outside, no awareness. All was forgotten. And when he opened his eyes six days later, the first thing he said was, ”The last barrier has fallen!”
Source: “The Mahageeta Vol 1” By Osho
Ramakrishna Paramhansa Interest in food
Osho - It is said about Ramkrishna that he was much too interested in food; in fact obsessed. That is very unlikely. Even his wife, Sharada, used to feel very embarrassed; because he was such a great saint, only with one flaw – and the flaw was that he was much too interested in food. He was interested so much that while he was giving satsang to his disciples, just in the middle he will say, ”Wait, I am coming,” and he will go to look into the kitchen, what is being cooked. He will just go there and ask, ”What is being prepared today?” and then will come back and start his satsang again.
His closest disciples became worried. They said, ”This doesn’t look good, Paramhansa. And everything is so perfectly beautiful – never has there walked such a beautiful and perfect man – but this small thing, why can’t you drop it?” He will laugh and will not say anything.
One day his wife Sharada insisted too much. He said, ”Okay, if you insist, I will tell. My prarabdha is finished; and I am just clinging with this food. If I drop that I am gone.” The wife could not believe this. It is very difficult for wives to believe in their own husbands – even if the husband is a Paramhansa it makes no difference. The wife must have thought that he is befooling, or he is trying to rationalize. Seeing that, Ramkrishna said, ”Look, I can see that you are not trusting me, but you will know. The day I am going to die, just three days before that day, three days before my death, I will not look at the food. You will bring my thali in, and I will start looking in another direction; then you can know that only three days more am I to be here.”
That too was not believed; they forgot about it. Then, just three days before Ramkrishna died, he was resting, Sharada brought his thali, his food: he turned over, started looking at the other side. Suddenly the wife realized, remembered. The thali fell from her hands, she started crying.
Ramkrishna said, ”Don’t cry now. Now my work is finished; I need not cling.” And exactly after three days he died.
He was clinging in compassion, just trying to create a bondage with one chain. The imprisonment is gone; the prison has disappeared. Out of compassion he was trying to cling, to linger a little longer on this shore, to help those who had gathered around him. But it is difficult to understand a Paramhansa. It is difficult to understand a man who has become a siddha, a Buddha, one who has emptied all his sanchita, all accumulated karmas. It is very difficult. He has no gravitation, so Ramkrishna was clinging to a rock.
The rock has gravitation. He was clinging to a rock so that he could linger on this earth a little longer. When you have samyama, a consciousness fully alert, you can see how much karma is left. It is exactly like when a physician comes and he sees and touches the pulse of a dying man, and he says, ”Not more than two, three hours.” What is he saying? By long experience he has come to know how the pulse beats when a person is going to die. Exactly that way, a man who is alert knows how much prarabdha is left – how much pulse – and he knows when he has to go.
Source: from book "Yoga: The Alpha and the Omega, Vol 8" by Osho
Osho - It is said about Ramkrishna that he was much too interested in food; in fact obsessed. That is very unlikely. Even his wife, Sharada, used to feel very embarrassed; because he was such a great saint, only with one flaw – and the flaw was that he was much too interested in food. He was interested so much that while he was giving satsang to his disciples, just in the middle he will say, ”Wait, I am coming,” and he will go to look into the kitchen, what is being cooked. He will just go there and ask, ”What is being prepared today?” and then will come back and start his satsang again.
His closest disciples became worried. They said, ”This doesn’t look good, Paramhansa. And everything is so perfectly beautiful – never has there walked such a beautiful and perfect man – but this small thing, why can’t you drop it?” He will laugh and will not say anything.
One day his wife Sharada insisted too much. He said, ”Okay, if you insist, I will tell. My prarabdha is finished; and I am just clinging with this food. If I drop that I am gone.” The wife could not believe this. It is very difficult for wives to believe in their own husbands – even if the husband is a Paramhansa it makes no difference. The wife must have thought that he is befooling, or he is trying to rationalize. Seeing that, Ramkrishna said, ”Look, I can see that you are not trusting me, but you will know. The day I am going to die, just three days before that day, three days before my death, I will not look at the food. You will bring my thali in, and I will start looking in another direction; then you can know that only three days more am I to be here.”
That too was not believed; they forgot about it. Then, just three days before Ramkrishna died, he was resting, Sharada brought his thali, his food: he turned over, started looking at the other side. Suddenly the wife realized, remembered. The thali fell from her hands, she started crying.
Ramkrishna said, ”Don’t cry now. Now my work is finished; I need not cling.” And exactly after three days he died.
He was clinging in compassion, just trying to create a bondage with one chain. The imprisonment is gone; the prison has disappeared. Out of compassion he was trying to cling, to linger a little longer on this shore, to help those who had gathered around him. But it is difficult to understand a Paramhansa. It is difficult to understand a man who has become a siddha, a Buddha, one who has emptied all his sanchita, all accumulated karmas. It is very difficult. He has no gravitation, so Ramkrishna was clinging to a rock.
The rock has gravitation. He was clinging to a rock so that he could linger on this earth a little longer. When you have samyama, a consciousness fully alert, you can see how much karma is left. It is exactly like when a physician comes and he sees and touches the pulse of a dying man, and he says, ”Not more than two, three hours.” What is he saying? By long experience he has come to know how the pulse beats when a person is going to die. Exactly that way, a man who is alert knows how much prarabdha is left – how much pulse – and he knows when he has to go.
Source: from book "Yoga: The Alpha and the Omega, Vol 8" by Osho
1: Ramakrishna Paramhansa Dying (leaving body) from Cancer
Ramakrishna was dying. He had cancer of the throat, and in his last days it became impossible for him even to drink water.
Vivekananda said to him, ”Bhagwan, can’t you ask God to do you just a little favor? If you simply ask God that at least you should be allowed to eat and drink it is bound to happen. It is becoming too great a suffering for your body – and not only for your body but for us all. We cannot eat because we know you cannot eat. It has become impossible for us to drink because we know you cannot drink. How can we drink? So if you don’t care about yourself, okay, but think of us – we are also suffering. Just for our sake close your eyes and say to God, ’Do me just a small favor.’”
Ramakrishna closed his eyes, opened them and started laughing. He said, ”You fool! If I listen to your advice God will laugh at me. I asked him....”
That was his way. He had not asked – there is nobody to ask – that was his way. He would not hurt Vivekananda. He closed his eyes, he may have even moved his lips to show Vivekananda that he was praying to God. And then he opened his eyes and he said, ”God laughed at me and he said, ’Ramakrishna, you are listening to these fools? You follow their advice? Are they your disciples or are you their disciple? Who is who? You have eaten with this throat for so many years – can’t you now eat and drink with the throats of your disciples?’
” And Ramakrishna said, ”Vivekananda, his argument appeals to me. So stop torturing yourself, suffering, because now that I have lost my throat, I have to depend on your throats. Eat as much as you can – a little more than usual, because a part of it has to go to me. Drink a little more than usual because there will be my share, too. So eat, drink and rejoice, because God has said, ’Ramakrishna, you can eat through your disciples’ bodies. Why depend on this body? And this body is gone and rotten!’ ” There is a certain invisible unity, an organic unity, between the Master and the disciple.
Ramakrishna was dying. He had cancer of the throat, and in his last days it became impossible for him even to drink water.
Vivekananda said to him, ”Bhagwan, can’t you ask God to do you just a little favor? If you simply ask God that at least you should be allowed to eat and drink it is bound to happen. It is becoming too great a suffering for your body – and not only for your body but for us all. We cannot eat because we know you cannot eat. It has become impossible for us to drink because we know you cannot drink. How can we drink? So if you don’t care about yourself, okay, but think of us – we are also suffering. Just for our sake close your eyes and say to God, ’Do me just a small favor.’”
Ramakrishna closed his eyes, opened them and started laughing. He said, ”You fool! If I listen to your advice God will laugh at me. I asked him....”
That was his way. He had not asked – there is nobody to ask – that was his way. He would not hurt Vivekananda. He closed his eyes, he may have even moved his lips to show Vivekananda that he was praying to God. And then he opened his eyes and he said, ”God laughed at me and he said, ’Ramakrishna, you are listening to these fools? You follow their advice? Are they your disciples or are you their disciple? Who is who? You have eaten with this throat for so many years – can’t you now eat and drink with the throats of your disciples?’
” And Ramakrishna said, ”Vivekananda, his argument appeals to me. So stop torturing yourself, suffering, because now that I have lost my throat, I have to depend on your throats. Eat as much as you can – a little more than usual, because a part of it has to go to me. Drink a little more than usual because there will be my share, too. So eat, drink and rejoice, because God has said, ’Ramakrishna, you can eat through your disciples’ bodies. Why depend on this body? And this body is gone and rotten!’ ” There is a certain invisible unity, an organic unity, between the Master and the disciple.
2: Ramakrishna’s Paramhansa Leaving the Body and Sharda Ma
At the time of Ramakrishna’s death, it had become clear three days before that Ramakrishna is taking leave now. So his wife Sharda became very worried and upset. Ramakrishna asked her, ”Why do you cry? Because the one who is, is not going to die. And did you love this body known as me or did you love the one who is?” Sharda said, ”I loved the one who is.” Ramakrishna said, ”Then drop the worry. Then, when he who is not dies, do not break your bangles.” There was only one widow in India who did not break her bangles after her husband’s death Then Ramakrishna died.
Everybody else cried and wept but Sharda did not agree to break her bangles. She remained the same as she always was. Everybody said, ”What are you doing? Ramakrishna is dead.” She said, ”One who has died was not there in the first place, and the one who was there, still is. These bangles are in this memory. Sharda remained a bride even after Ramakrishna’s death. She never said that Ramakrishna is dead and whenever somebody asked she would say, ”That body had become worn and torn, he has only changed clothes.” In reality, only clothes are changed, only garbs are changed.
At the time of Ramakrishna’s death, it had become clear three days before that Ramakrishna is taking leave now. So his wife Sharda became very worried and upset. Ramakrishna asked her, ”Why do you cry? Because the one who is, is not going to die. And did you love this body known as me or did you love the one who is?” Sharda said, ”I loved the one who is.” Ramakrishna said, ”Then drop the worry. Then, when he who is not dies, do not break your bangles.” There was only one widow in India who did not break her bangles after her husband’s death Then Ramakrishna died.
Everybody else cried and wept but Sharda did not agree to break her bangles. She remained the same as she always was. Everybody said, ”What are you doing? Ramakrishna is dead.” She said, ”One who has died was not there in the first place, and the one who was there, still is. These bangles are in this memory. Sharda remained a bride even after Ramakrishna’s death. She never said that Ramakrishna is dead and whenever somebody asked she would say, ”That body had become worn and torn, he has only changed clothes.” In reality, only clothes are changed, only garbs are changed.
Source:
Sri Ramakrishna Dying from Cancer from "Walking in Zen, Sitting in Zen” - Osho
Ramakrishna’s Paramhansa death and Sharda Ma from "Sun of Consciousness " by Osho
Sri Ramakrishna Dying from Cancer from "Walking in Zen, Sitting in Zen” - Osho
Ramakrishna’s Paramhansa death and Sharda Ma from "Sun of Consciousness " by Osho
Osho on Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Keshav Chandra Sen
Osho - I have told you the story of Ramakrishna and Keshav Chandra Sen. Keshav Chandra was one of the most intelligent people of his time. He founded a religion just on his intellectual philosophy, brahmasamaj, the society for God. And he had hundreds and thousands of intelligent people, a very intelligent group, as his followers. And he was puzzled that this uneducated Ramakrishna, who had not even completed the primary school – in India the primary school, the lowest school, takes four years; he had done only half.... Why were thousands of people going to this idiot?
That was in Keshav Chandra Sen’s mind. Finally he decided he had to go and defeat this man, because he could not think that the man could not be defeated by argument. That was impossible for him to imagine. This idiot from a small village is collecting thousands of people every day! From far and wide people are coming to see him, and to touch his feet!
Keshav Chandra with his followers informed Ramakrishna: ”I am coming on such and such a day to challenge you on every point in which you believe. Be ready!” Ramakrishna’s followers were very much afraid.
They knew Keshav Chandra was a great logician; poor Ramakrishna would not be able to answer anything. But Ramakrishna was very joyful, he danced. He said, ”I have been waiting all this time. When Keshav Chandra comes that will be a great day of joy!”
His disciples said, ”What are you saying? That will be a day of great sadness, because you cannot argue with him.”
Ramakrishna said, ”Wait. Who is going to argue with him? I don’t need to argue. Let him come.” But his disciples were shaky, very shaky, very much afraid that their master was going to be defeated, completely crushed. They knew Keshav Chandra. In that century there was no parallel to Keshav Chandra’s intelligence in this country.
And Keshav Chandra came with one hundred of his topmost disciples to see the argument, the debate, the challenge. Ramakrishna was standing on the road to receive him, far away from the temple where he used to live. And he hugged Keshav Chandra. And Keshav Chandra felt a little embarrassed, and that embarrassment went on growing.
Ramakrishna took his hand in his hand and took him inside. He said, ”I have been waiting and waiting for years. Why did you not come before?”
Keshav Chandra said, ”He seems to be a strange man, seems not to be afraid at all. Do you understand? I have come here for a discussion!”
Ramakrishna said, ”Of course.”
So they sat near the temple by the side of the Ganges, a beautiful place, under a tree.
And Ramakrishna said, ”Start.”
So Keshav Chandra asked him, ”What do you say about God?”
Ramakrishna said, ”Have I to say anything about God? Can’t you see God in my eyes?”
Keshav Chandra looked a little puzzled – ”What kind of argument is this?”
And Ramakrishna said, ”Can’t you feel God in my hand? Come closer, boy.”
And Keshav Chandra said, ”What kind of argument...?” He had been in many debates, he had defeated many great scholars, and this villager... In Hindi the word for idiot is gamar, but it actually means the villager. gaon means village, and gamar means from the village. But gamar is used as stupid, retarded, idiot.
Ramakrishna said, ”If you can understand the language of my eyes, if you can understand the energy of my hand, you are proof enough that existence is intelligent. Where have you got your intelligence from?”
This was a grand argument. He was saying, ”If you have got this great intelligence – and I know you are a highly intelligent person; I have always loved you – tell me from where it comes? If existence is without intelligence you cannot get it. From where? You are the proof that existence is intelligent, and that is what I mean by God. To me God is not somebody sitting on a cloud. To me God simply means existence is not unintelligent. It is an intelligent universe; we belong and we are needed. It rejoices in our rejoicings, it celebrates in our celebrations, it dances with our dance. Have you seen my dance?” – and he started dancing.
Keshav Chandra said, ”What to do!” But he danced so beautifully. He was a good dancer, because he used to dance in the temple sometimes from morning till evening – no coffee break! He would dance and dance till he would fall on the ground.
So he started dancing with such joy and such grace that suddenly there was a transformation in Keshav Chandra. He forgot all his logic, he saw the beauty of this man, he saw the splendor of this man, he saw a joy which he had never felt.
All that intellect, all those arguments were just superficial, inside there was utter emptiness. This man was so overflowing.
He touched the feet of Ramakrishna and said, ”Forgive me. I was absolutely wrong about you. I know nothing, and I have been just philosophizing. You know everything, and you are not saying a single word.”
That was in Keshav Chandra Sen’s mind. Finally he decided he had to go and defeat this man, because he could not think that the man could not be defeated by argument. That was impossible for him to imagine. This idiot from a small village is collecting thousands of people every day! From far and wide people are coming to see him, and to touch his feet!
Keshav Chandra with his followers informed Ramakrishna: ”I am coming on such and such a day to challenge you on every point in which you believe. Be ready!” Ramakrishna’s followers were very much afraid.
They knew Keshav Chandra was a great logician; poor Ramakrishna would not be able to answer anything. But Ramakrishna was very joyful, he danced. He said, ”I have been waiting all this time. When Keshav Chandra comes that will be a great day of joy!”
His disciples said, ”What are you saying? That will be a day of great sadness, because you cannot argue with him.”
Ramakrishna said, ”Wait. Who is going to argue with him? I don’t need to argue. Let him come.” But his disciples were shaky, very shaky, very much afraid that their master was going to be defeated, completely crushed. They knew Keshav Chandra. In that century there was no parallel to Keshav Chandra’s intelligence in this country.
And Keshav Chandra came with one hundred of his topmost disciples to see the argument, the debate, the challenge. Ramakrishna was standing on the road to receive him, far away from the temple where he used to live. And he hugged Keshav Chandra. And Keshav Chandra felt a little embarrassed, and that embarrassment went on growing.
Ramakrishna took his hand in his hand and took him inside. He said, ”I have been waiting and waiting for years. Why did you not come before?”
Keshav Chandra said, ”He seems to be a strange man, seems not to be afraid at all. Do you understand? I have come here for a discussion!”
Ramakrishna said, ”Of course.”
So they sat near the temple by the side of the Ganges, a beautiful place, under a tree.
And Ramakrishna said, ”Start.”
So Keshav Chandra asked him, ”What do you say about God?”
Ramakrishna said, ”Have I to say anything about God? Can’t you see God in my eyes?”
Keshav Chandra looked a little puzzled – ”What kind of argument is this?”
And Ramakrishna said, ”Can’t you feel God in my hand? Come closer, boy.”
And Keshav Chandra said, ”What kind of argument...?” He had been in many debates, he had defeated many great scholars, and this villager... In Hindi the word for idiot is gamar, but it actually means the villager. gaon means village, and gamar means from the village. But gamar is used as stupid, retarded, idiot.
Ramakrishna said, ”If you can understand the language of my eyes, if you can understand the energy of my hand, you are proof enough that existence is intelligent. Where have you got your intelligence from?”
This was a grand argument. He was saying, ”If you have got this great intelligence – and I know you are a highly intelligent person; I have always loved you – tell me from where it comes? If existence is without intelligence you cannot get it. From where? You are the proof that existence is intelligent, and that is what I mean by God. To me God is not somebody sitting on a cloud. To me God simply means existence is not unintelligent. It is an intelligent universe; we belong and we are needed. It rejoices in our rejoicings, it celebrates in our celebrations, it dances with our dance. Have you seen my dance?” – and he started dancing.
Keshav Chandra said, ”What to do!” But he danced so beautifully. He was a good dancer, because he used to dance in the temple sometimes from morning till evening – no coffee break! He would dance and dance till he would fall on the ground.
So he started dancing with such joy and such grace that suddenly there was a transformation in Keshav Chandra. He forgot all his logic, he saw the beauty of this man, he saw the splendor of this man, he saw a joy which he had never felt.
All that intellect, all those arguments were just superficial, inside there was utter emptiness. This man was so overflowing.
He touched the feet of Ramakrishna and said, ”Forgive me. I was absolutely wrong about you. I know nothing, and I have been just philosophizing. You know everything, and you are not saying a single word.”
Osho on Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Keshav Chandra Sen
Osho - I have told you the story of Ramakrishna and Keshav Chandra Sen. Keshav Chandra was one of the most intelligent people of his time. He founded a religion just on his intellectual philosophy, brahmasamaj, the society for God. And he had hundreds and thousands of intelligent people, a very intelligent group, as his followers. And he was puzzled that this uneducated Ramakrishna, who had not even completed the primary school – in India the primary school, the lowest school, takes four years; he had done only half.... Why were thousands of people going to this idiot?
That was in Keshav Chandra Sen’s mind. Finally he decided he had to go and defeat this man, because he could not think that the man could not be defeated by argument. That was impossible for him to imagine. This idiot from a small village is collecting thousands of people every day! From far and wide people are coming to see him, and to touch his feet!
Keshav Chandra with his followers informed Ramakrishna: ”I am coming on such and such a day to challenge you on every point in which you believe. Be ready!” Ramakrishna’s followers were very much afraid.
They knew Keshav Chandra was a great logician; poor Ramakrishna would not be able to answer anything. But Ramakrishna was very joyful, he danced. He said, ”I have been waiting all this time. When Keshav Chandra comes that will be a great day of joy!”
His disciples said, ”What are you saying? That will be a day of great sadness, because you cannot argue with him.”
Ramakrishna said, ”Wait. Who is going to argue with him? I don’t need to argue. Let him come.” But his disciples were shaky, very shaky, very much afraid that their master was going to be defeated, completely crushed. They knew Keshav Chandra. In that century there was no parallel to Keshav Chandra’s intelligence in this country.
And Keshav Chandra came with one hundred of his topmost disciples to see the argument, the debate, the challenge. Ramakrishna was standing on the road to receive him, far away from the temple where he used to live. And he hugged Keshav Chandra. And Keshav Chandra felt a little embarrassed, and that embarrassment went on growing.
Ramakrishna took his hand in his hand and took him inside. He said, ”I have been waiting and waiting for years. Why did you not come before?”
Keshav Chandra said, ”He seems to be a strange man, seems not to be afraid at all. Do you understand? I have come here for a discussion!”
Ramakrishna said, ”Of course.”
So they sat near the temple by the side of the Ganges, a beautiful place, under a tree.
And Ramakrishna said, ”Start.”
So Keshav Chandra asked him, ”What do you say about God?”
Ramakrishna said, ”Have I to say anything about God? Can’t you see God in my eyes?”
Keshav Chandra looked a little puzzled – ”What kind of argument is this?”
And Ramakrishna said, ”Can’t you feel God in my hand? Come closer, boy.”
And Keshav Chandra said, ”What kind of argument...?” He had been in many debates, he had defeated many great scholars, and this villager... In Hindi the word for idiot is gamar, but it actually means the villager. gaon means village, and gamar means from the village. But gamar is used as stupid, retarded, idiot.
Ramakrishna said, ”If you can understand the language of my eyes, if you can understand the energy of my hand, you are proof enough that existence is intelligent. Where have you got your intelligence from?”
This was a grand argument. He was saying, ”If you have got this great intelligence – and I know you are a highly intelligent person; I have always loved you – tell me from where it comes? If existence is without intelligence you cannot get it. From where? You are the proof that existence is intelligent, and that is what I mean by God. To me God is not somebody sitting on a cloud. To me God simply means existence is not unintelligent. It is an intelligent universe; we belong and we are needed. It rejoices in our rejoicings, it celebrates in our celebrations, it dances with our dance. Have you seen my dance?” – and he started dancing.
Keshav Chandra said, ”What to do!” But he danced so beautifully. He was a good dancer, because he used to dance in the temple sometimes from morning till evening – no coffee break! He would dance and dance till he would fall on the ground.
So he started dancing with such joy and such grace that suddenly there was a transformation in Keshav Chandra. He forgot all his logic, he saw the beauty of this man, he saw the splendor of this man, he saw a joy which he had never felt.
All that intellect, all those arguments were just superficial, inside there was utter emptiness. This man was so overflowing.
He touched the feet of Ramakrishna and said, ”Forgive me. I was absolutely wrong about you. I know nothing, and I have been just philosophizing. You know everything, and you are not saying a single word.”
That was in Keshav Chandra Sen’s mind. Finally he decided he had to go and defeat this man, because he could not think that the man could not be defeated by argument. That was impossible for him to imagine. This idiot from a small village is collecting thousands of people every day! From far and wide people are coming to see him, and to touch his feet!
Keshav Chandra with his followers informed Ramakrishna: ”I am coming on such and such a day to challenge you on every point in which you believe. Be ready!” Ramakrishna’s followers were very much afraid.
They knew Keshav Chandra was a great logician; poor Ramakrishna would not be able to answer anything. But Ramakrishna was very joyful, he danced. He said, ”I have been waiting all this time. When Keshav Chandra comes that will be a great day of joy!”
His disciples said, ”What are you saying? That will be a day of great sadness, because you cannot argue with him.”
Ramakrishna said, ”Wait. Who is going to argue with him? I don’t need to argue. Let him come.” But his disciples were shaky, very shaky, very much afraid that their master was going to be defeated, completely crushed. They knew Keshav Chandra. In that century there was no parallel to Keshav Chandra’s intelligence in this country.
And Keshav Chandra came with one hundred of his topmost disciples to see the argument, the debate, the challenge. Ramakrishna was standing on the road to receive him, far away from the temple where he used to live. And he hugged Keshav Chandra. And Keshav Chandra felt a little embarrassed, and that embarrassment went on growing.
Ramakrishna took his hand in his hand and took him inside. He said, ”I have been waiting and waiting for years. Why did you not come before?”
Keshav Chandra said, ”He seems to be a strange man, seems not to be afraid at all. Do you understand? I have come here for a discussion!”
Ramakrishna said, ”Of course.”
So they sat near the temple by the side of the Ganges, a beautiful place, under a tree.
And Ramakrishna said, ”Start.”
So Keshav Chandra asked him, ”What do you say about God?”
Ramakrishna said, ”Have I to say anything about God? Can’t you see God in my eyes?”
Keshav Chandra looked a little puzzled – ”What kind of argument is this?”
And Ramakrishna said, ”Can’t you feel God in my hand? Come closer, boy.”
And Keshav Chandra said, ”What kind of argument...?” He had been in many debates, he had defeated many great scholars, and this villager... In Hindi the word for idiot is gamar, but it actually means the villager. gaon means village, and gamar means from the village. But gamar is used as stupid, retarded, idiot.
Ramakrishna said, ”If you can understand the language of my eyes, if you can understand the energy of my hand, you are proof enough that existence is intelligent. Where have you got your intelligence from?”
This was a grand argument. He was saying, ”If you have got this great intelligence – and I know you are a highly intelligent person; I have always loved you – tell me from where it comes? If existence is without intelligence you cannot get it. From where? You are the proof that existence is intelligent, and that is what I mean by God. To me God is not somebody sitting on a cloud. To me God simply means existence is not unintelligent. It is an intelligent universe; we belong and we are needed. It rejoices in our rejoicings, it celebrates in our celebrations, it dances with our dance. Have you seen my dance?” – and he started dancing.
Keshav Chandra said, ”What to do!” But he danced so beautifully. He was a good dancer, because he used to dance in the temple sometimes from morning till evening – no coffee break! He would dance and dance till he would fall on the ground.
So he started dancing with such joy and such grace that suddenly there was a transformation in Keshav Chandra. He forgot all his logic, he saw the beauty of this man, he saw the splendor of this man, he saw a joy which he had never felt.
All that intellect, all those arguments were just superficial, inside there was utter emptiness. This man was so overflowing.
He touched the feet of Ramakrishna and said, ”Forgive me. I was absolutely wrong about you. I know nothing, and I have been just philosophizing. You know everything, and you are not saying a single word.”
Ramakrishna said, ”I will forgive you only on one condition.”
Keshav Chandra said, ”Any condition from your side. I am ready.”
Ramakrishna said, ”The condition is that once in a while you have to come to discuss with me, to debate with me, to challenge me.”
This is the way of a mystic; and Keshav Chandra was completely finished. He became a totally different man; he started to come every day. Soon his disciples deserted him: ”He has gone mad. That madman infected him so much. There was only one madman, now there are two. He is even dancing with him.”
But Keshav Chandra, who had been a sad man, grudging, complaining about everything, because he was living in a negative space, suddenly blossomed, flowers came to his being, a new fragrance. He forgot all logic. This man helped him have a taste of something that is beyond mind. Zen is the method to go beyond mind. So we will be discussing God and Zen together. God has to be negated, and Zen has to be planted deep in your being. The lie has to be destroyed and the truth has to be revealed. That’s why I have chosen God and Zen together. God is a lie, Zen is a truth.
Source: "God is Dead, Now Zen is the Only Living Truth" by Osho
Osho on Sri Ramakrishna Bhakti yoga and Path of Devotion
Osho - Ramakrishna said that bhakti yoga was the most suitable approach because it was the most suitable for him. That is the basic window through which he came under the sky. It is not a question of an approach being suitable or unsuitable for a particular age. We cannot think in terms of ages. Centuries live contemporaneously. We seem to be contemporaries; we may not be. I may be living twenty centuries back. Nothing is absolutely past. For someone it is present. Nothing is absolutely future. For someone it is present. And nothing is absolutely present either.
For someone it is past and for someone else it is yet to come. So no categorical statement can be made for the age as such. Ramakrishna was a devotee. He came to God through prayer and love, through emotion. He realized in this way, so for him it seemed that this would be helpful to everybody. He could not understand how his way might be difficult to others. However sympathetic we may be, we always see others in the light of our own experiences. So for Ramakrishna, the way seemed to be bhakti yoga: the way of devotion.
If we want to think in terms of ages, we can say that this age is the most intellectual, the most scientific, the most technological,. the least devotional, the least emotional. What Ramakrishna was saying was right for him might have been right for the people who were with him, but Ramakrishna never affected the larger world. He belongs basically to the village, to the nontechnological, nonscientific mind. He was a villager -- uneducated, unacquainted with the greater world -- so what he said should be understood according to his village language.
He could not conceive of the days that have now come. He was basically part of the peasant's world where intellect was nothing and emotion was everything. He was not a man of this age. What he was saying was all right for the world in which he moved, but not for the world that exists now. These three types have always existed: the intellectual, the active, the emotional. There will always be a balance among them, just as there is always a balance between males and females. The balance cannot be lost for long. If it is lost, it will soon be regained.
In the West you have lost the balance. Intellect has become the predominant factor. It may appeal to you that Ramakrishna says, "Devotion is the path for this age," because you have lost the balance. But Vivekananda says the opposite. Because the East has also lost the balance, he is predominantly intellectual. This is just to balance the existing extreme. It is complementary in a sense. Ramakrishna was the emotional type and his chief disciple was the intellectual type. He was bound to be. That is the coupling: the male and the female. Ramakrishna is absolutely female: nonaggressive, receptive. Sex not only exists in biology; it exists everywhere.
In every field, whenever there is polarity there is sex and the opposite becomes attracted. Vivekananda could never be attracted to any intellectual. He could not be; he was not the polar opposite. There were intellectual giants in Bengal. He would go to visit them and would come away empty-handed. He would not be attracted. Ramakrishna was the least intellectual person possible. He was everything that Vivekananda was not, everything that he was seeking.Vivekananda was the opposite of Ramakrishna, so what he taught in Ramakrishna's name was not in the same spirit as Ramakrishna's teaching itself.
So whoever comes to Ramakrishna through Vivekananda can never come to Ramakrishna at all. Whoever understands Vivekananda's interpretation of Ramakrishna can never understand Ramakrishna himself. The interpretation comes from the polar opposite. When people say, "Without Vivekananda we would never have known about Ramakrishna," it is right in a sense. The world at large would never have heard about Ramakrishna without Vivekananda. But with Vivekananda, whatever is known about Ramakrishna is basically false. It is a misinterpretation. This is because his type is quite contrary to Ramakrishna's type.
Ramakrishna never argued; Vivekananda was argumentative. Ramakrishna was ignorant; Vivekananda was a man of knowledge. What Vivekananda said about Ramakrishna was said through the mirror of Vivekananda. It was never authentic. It couldn't be. This has always been happening. It will go on happening. Buddha attracts persons who are the polar opposite to him. Mahavira and Jesus attract persons who are spiritually the other sex. These opposites then create the organization, the order. They will interpret. The very disciples will be the falsifiers. But this is what is so. It cannot be helped.
Source : from book "the psychology of the esoteric" by Osho
For someone it is past and for someone else it is yet to come. So no categorical statement can be made for the age as such. Ramakrishna was a devotee. He came to God through prayer and love, through emotion. He realized in this way, so for him it seemed that this would be helpful to everybody. He could not understand how his way might be difficult to others. However sympathetic we may be, we always see others in the light of our own experiences. So for Ramakrishna, the way seemed to be bhakti yoga: the way of devotion.
If we want to think in terms of ages, we can say that this age is the most intellectual, the most scientific, the most technological,. the least devotional, the least emotional. What Ramakrishna was saying was right for him might have been right for the people who were with him, but Ramakrishna never affected the larger world. He belongs basically to the village, to the nontechnological, nonscientific mind. He was a villager -- uneducated, unacquainted with the greater world -- so what he said should be understood according to his village language.
He could not conceive of the days that have now come. He was basically part of the peasant's world where intellect was nothing and emotion was everything. He was not a man of this age. What he was saying was all right for the world in which he moved, but not for the world that exists now. These three types have always existed: the intellectual, the active, the emotional. There will always be a balance among them, just as there is always a balance between males and females. The balance cannot be lost for long. If it is lost, it will soon be regained.
In the West you have lost the balance. Intellect has become the predominant factor. It may appeal to you that Ramakrishna says, "Devotion is the path for this age," because you have lost the balance. But Vivekananda says the opposite. Because the East has also lost the balance, he is predominantly intellectual. This is just to balance the existing extreme. It is complementary in a sense. Ramakrishna was the emotional type and his chief disciple was the intellectual type. He was bound to be. That is the coupling: the male and the female. Ramakrishna is absolutely female: nonaggressive, receptive. Sex not only exists in biology; it exists everywhere.
In every field, whenever there is polarity there is sex and the opposite becomes attracted. Vivekananda could never be attracted to any intellectual. He could not be; he was not the polar opposite. There were intellectual giants in Bengal. He would go to visit them and would come away empty-handed. He would not be attracted. Ramakrishna was the least intellectual person possible. He was everything that Vivekananda was not, everything that he was seeking.Vivekananda was the opposite of Ramakrishna, so what he taught in Ramakrishna's name was not in the same spirit as Ramakrishna's teaching itself.
So whoever comes to Ramakrishna through Vivekananda can never come to Ramakrishna at all. Whoever understands Vivekananda's interpretation of Ramakrishna can never understand Ramakrishna himself. The interpretation comes from the polar opposite. When people say, "Without Vivekananda we would never have known about Ramakrishna," it is right in a sense. The world at large would never have heard about Ramakrishna without Vivekananda. But with Vivekananda, whatever is known about Ramakrishna is basically false. It is a misinterpretation. This is because his type is quite contrary to Ramakrishna's type.
Ramakrishna never argued; Vivekananda was argumentative. Ramakrishna was ignorant; Vivekananda was a man of knowledge. What Vivekananda said about Ramakrishna was said through the mirror of Vivekananda. It was never authentic. It couldn't be. This has always been happening. It will go on happening. Buddha attracts persons who are the polar opposite to him. Mahavira and Jesus attract persons who are spiritually the other sex. These opposites then create the organization, the order. They will interpret. The very disciples will be the falsifiers. But this is what is so. It cannot be helped.
Source : from book "the psychology of the esoteric" by Osho
Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Swami Vivekananda First Meeting
When Vivekananda came to Ramakrishna his name was still Narendranath -- later on Ramakrishna named him Vivekananda. When he came to Ramakrishna he was extremely argumentative, an atheist, a rationalist. He wanted proof for everything. There are some things that have no proof -- it cannot be helped. There is no proof for godliness: it is, and yet there is no proof. There is no proof for love. It is, and yet there is no proof. There is no proof for beauty. It is, and yet there is no proof.
If I say, "Look how beautiful these ironwood trees are," and you say, "I don't see any beauty -- Trees are just trees. Prove it!," it will be difficult. How can one prove they are beautiful? To be beautiful you need a sense of beauty -- there is no other way. You need eyes -- there is no other way. It is reported that Majnu said, "To know Laila you will need the eyes of Majnu." It is true; to see Laila there is no other way. The king of his area called Majnu and said. "You are mad! I know your Laila -- an ordinary girl, jet black -- nothing special.
I feel sorry for you, so here are twelve girls from my palace -- they are the most beautiful women of the country. You can chose any one you like. Seeing you cry, my heart also cries. " Majnu looked at them and said, "There is no Laila among them. They cannot even be compared to Laila, they are not even worth the dust of her feet." The king said, "Majnu, you are mad...!" Majnu said, "That may be so, but I must tell you one thing: to see Laila you will need the eyes of Majnu." Majnu is right. To see the beauty of trees you need an eye for art -- there is no other proof.
If one wants to know love, one will need the heart of a lover -- there is no other proof. And godliness is the collective name of all the beauty, all the love and all the truth of this universe. For it an unwavering consciousness is needed, a witnessing is needed... where no word remains, no thought remains, no wave arises... where no mental dust remains and the mirror of consciousness is perfectly pure. What proof? Vivekananda told Ramakrishna, "I want proof. If God exists then prove it!"
Ramakrishna looked at Vivekananda. This youth had great promise, great potential; much was ready to happen within him. There was a great treasure with which Vivekananda was unacquainted. Ramakrishna looked into, peered into, the past lives of this youth. Vivekananda had come carrying a great treasure, a great treasure of integrity, but it was suppressed under his logic. Seeing this, a cry of anguish and compassion must have risen from Ramakrishna's heart. He said, "Forget all this. We'll talk about proof and such things later on. I have become a little old, I have difficulty reading; you are young, you eyes are still strong -- read from the book lying there."
It was the Ashtavakra Gita. "Read a little out loud to me." It is said that Vivekananda saw nothing wrong in this, this fellow was not requesting anything special. He read three or four sutras and every cell began trembling. He started to panic and he said, "I cannot read on." Ramakrishna insisted, " Go ahead and read. What harm can there be in it? How can this book hurt you? You are young, your eyes are still fresh, and I am old, it is hard for me to read. I must hear this book -- read it out to me."
It is said that Vivekananda kept on reading aloud from the book -- and disappeared in meditation. Ramakrishna had seen great potential in this youth, a very promising potential, like that of a bodhisattva who one day or other is destined to become a buddha. Sooner or later, no matter how much he wanders, he is approaching buddhahood. When Vivekananda came to Ramakrishna his name was still Narendranath -- later on Ramakrishna named him Vivekananda. When he came to Ramakrishna he was extremely argumentative, an atheist, a rationalist.
He wanted proof for everything. There are some things that have no proof -- it cannot be helped. There is no proof for godliness: it is, and yet there is no proof. There is no proof for love. It is, and yet there is no proof. There is no proof for beauty. It is, and yet there is no proof. If I say, "Look how beautiful these ironwood trees are," and you say, "I don't see any beauty -- Trees are just trees. Prove it!," it will be difficult. How can one prove they are beautiful? To be beautiful you need a sense of beauty -- there is no other way. You need eyes -- there is no other way.
It is reported that Majnu said, "To know Laila you will need the eyes of Majnu." It is true; to see Laila there is no other way. The king of his area called Majnu and said. "You are mad! I know your Laila -- an ordinary girl, jet black -- nothing special. I feel sorry for you, so here are twelve girls from my palace -- they are the most beautiful women of the country. You can chose any one you like. Seeing you cry, my heart also cries. " Majnu looked at them and said, "There is no Laila among them. They cannot even be compared to Laila, they are not even worth the dust of her feet."
The king said, "Majnu, you are mad...!" Majnu said, "That may be so, but I must tell you one thing: to see Laila you will need the eyes of Majnu." Majnu is right. To see the beauty of trees you need an eye for art -- there is no other proof. If one wants to know love, one will need the heart of a lover -- there is no other proof. And godliness is the collective name of all the beauty, all the love and all the truth of this universe. For it an unwavering consciousness is needed, a witnessing is needed... where no word remains, no thought remains, no wave arises... where no mental dust remains and the mirror of consciousness is perfectly pure. What proof?
Vivekananda told Ramakrishna, "I want proof. If God exists then prove it!" Ramakrishna looked at Vivekananda. This youth had great promise, great potential; much was ready to happen within him. There was a great treasure with which Vivekananda was unacquainted. Ramakrishna looked into, peered into, the past lives of this youth. Vivekananda had come carrying a great treasure, a great treasure of integrity, but it was suppressed under his logic. Seeing this, a cry of anguish and compassion must have risen from Ramakrishna's heart.
He said, "Forget all this. We'll talk about proof and such things later on. I have become a little old, I have difficulty reading; you are young, you eyes are still strong -- read from the book lying there." It was the Ashtavakra Gita. "Read a little out loud to me." It is said that Vivekananda saw nothing wrong in this, this fellow was not requesting anything special. He read three or four sutras and every cell began trembling. He started to panic and he said, "I cannot read on." Ramakrishna insisted, " Go ahead and read.
What harm can there be in it? How can this book hurt you? You are young, your eyes are still fresh, and I am old, it is hard for me to read. I must hear this book -- read it out to me." It is said that Vivekananda kept on reading aloud from the book -- and disappeared in meditation. Ramakrishna had seen great potential in this youth, a very promising potential, like that of a bodhisattva who one day or other is destined to become a buddha. Sooner or later, no matter how much he wanders, he is approaching buddhahood.
Swami Vivekananda Searching Job
There is a small memoir in the life of Vivekananda. When Vivekananda’s father died, there was so much poverty in his home that often there was not enough food for both mother and son. So, Vivekananda would tell his mother, ”Today I am invited to a friend’s house, I will go there.” In fact there was no invitation, no nothing, he would just roam around on the roads and later return home. Otherwise the food was so little that his mother would feed him and would remain hungry herself.
So, he would return home with an empty stomach but happy and laughing saying loudly, ”It was a wonderful meal! Such delicious food dishes were cooked!” He would enter the house talking of those food stuffs that were nowhere cooked for him, that he had not eaten anywhere.
When Ramakrishna came to know of this, he said, ”How mad you are! Why don’t you ask God and all will be taken care of.” Vivekananda said that it will be too ordinary a thing to talk about eating and drinking with God. Still Ramakrishna asked him to ask at least once and see. He sent Vivekananda inside the temple. One hour passed, one and a half hours passed, Vivekananda came out from the temple and was very blissful and estatic. He came out dancing. Ramakrishna asked, ”Did you get it? Did you ask for it?” Vivekananda said, ”Get what?” Ramakrishna said, ”I had told you to put forward your demand. What makes you return so blissful?”
Vivekananda said, ”I forgot that completely ” This happened several times. Ramakrishna would send him in and when Vivekananda came out of the temple, he would inquire about it. Then Vivekananda would remember what he had been sent in for. Ramakrishna said, ”Are you mad or something? Because while going inside, you promised me that you will ask.” Vivekananda would say, ”When I go in, there remains not even a faint memory that I have to ask God for something. On the contrary, a feeling of giving arises in me, that I should give myself to Him. And when I give myself, there is such bliss, so much of it that there is neither hunger, nor thirst, nor the need to ask”
Vivekananda could not ask. It was not possible for him. Until now no truly religious person has asked for anything from God. And those who have asked, it ought to be understood well that they have nothing to do with religion. The religious man has only given.
Source: "Ramakrishna Paramhansa & Swami Vivekananda First Meeting" from book "the mahageeta vol1" By Osho
When Vivekananda came to Ramakrishna his name was still Narendranath -- later on Ramakrishna named him Vivekananda. When he came to Ramakrishna he was extremely argumentative, an atheist, a rationalist. He wanted proof for everything. There are some things that have no proof -- it cannot be helped. There is no proof for godliness: it is, and yet there is no proof. There is no proof for love. It is, and yet there is no proof. There is no proof for beauty. It is, and yet there is no proof.
If I say, "Look how beautiful these ironwood trees are," and you say, "I don't see any beauty -- Trees are just trees. Prove it!," it will be difficult. How can one prove they are beautiful? To be beautiful you need a sense of beauty -- there is no other way. You need eyes -- there is no other way. It is reported that Majnu said, "To know Laila you will need the eyes of Majnu." It is true; to see Laila there is no other way. The king of his area called Majnu and said. "You are mad! I know your Laila -- an ordinary girl, jet black -- nothing special.
I feel sorry for you, so here are twelve girls from my palace -- they are the most beautiful women of the country. You can chose any one you like. Seeing you cry, my heart also cries. " Majnu looked at them and said, "There is no Laila among them. They cannot even be compared to Laila, they are not even worth the dust of her feet." The king said, "Majnu, you are mad...!" Majnu said, "That may be so, but I must tell you one thing: to see Laila you will need the eyes of Majnu." Majnu is right. To see the beauty of trees you need an eye for art -- there is no other proof.
If one wants to know love, one will need the heart of a lover -- there is no other proof. And godliness is the collective name of all the beauty, all the love and all the truth of this universe. For it an unwavering consciousness is needed, a witnessing is needed... where no word remains, no thought remains, no wave arises... where no mental dust remains and the mirror of consciousness is perfectly pure. What proof? Vivekananda told Ramakrishna, "I want proof. If God exists then prove it!"
Ramakrishna looked at Vivekananda. This youth had great promise, great potential; much was ready to happen within him. There was a great treasure with which Vivekananda was unacquainted. Ramakrishna looked into, peered into, the past lives of this youth. Vivekananda had come carrying a great treasure, a great treasure of integrity, but it was suppressed under his logic. Seeing this, a cry of anguish and compassion must have risen from Ramakrishna's heart. He said, "Forget all this. We'll talk about proof and such things later on. I have become a little old, I have difficulty reading; you are young, you eyes are still strong -- read from the book lying there."
It was the Ashtavakra Gita. "Read a little out loud to me." It is said that Vivekananda saw nothing wrong in this, this fellow was not requesting anything special. He read three or four sutras and every cell began trembling. He started to panic and he said, "I cannot read on." Ramakrishna insisted, " Go ahead and read. What harm can there be in it? How can this book hurt you? You are young, your eyes are still fresh, and I am old, it is hard for me to read. I must hear this book -- read it out to me."
It is said that Vivekananda kept on reading aloud from the book -- and disappeared in meditation. Ramakrishna had seen great potential in this youth, a very promising potential, like that of a bodhisattva who one day or other is destined to become a buddha. Sooner or later, no matter how much he wanders, he is approaching buddhahood. When Vivekananda came to Ramakrishna his name was still Narendranath -- later on Ramakrishna named him Vivekananda. When he came to Ramakrishna he was extremely argumentative, an atheist, a rationalist.
He wanted proof for everything. There are some things that have no proof -- it cannot be helped. There is no proof for godliness: it is, and yet there is no proof. There is no proof for love. It is, and yet there is no proof. There is no proof for beauty. It is, and yet there is no proof. If I say, "Look how beautiful these ironwood trees are," and you say, "I don't see any beauty -- Trees are just trees. Prove it!," it will be difficult. How can one prove they are beautiful? To be beautiful you need a sense of beauty -- there is no other way. You need eyes -- there is no other way.
It is reported that Majnu said, "To know Laila you will need the eyes of Majnu." It is true; to see Laila there is no other way. The king of his area called Majnu and said. "You are mad! I know your Laila -- an ordinary girl, jet black -- nothing special. I feel sorry for you, so here are twelve girls from my palace -- they are the most beautiful women of the country. You can chose any one you like. Seeing you cry, my heart also cries. " Majnu looked at them and said, "There is no Laila among them. They cannot even be compared to Laila, they are not even worth the dust of her feet."
The king said, "Majnu, you are mad...!" Majnu said, "That may be so, but I must tell you one thing: to see Laila you will need the eyes of Majnu." Majnu is right. To see the beauty of trees you need an eye for art -- there is no other proof. If one wants to know love, one will need the heart of a lover -- there is no other proof. And godliness is the collective name of all the beauty, all the love and all the truth of this universe. For it an unwavering consciousness is needed, a witnessing is needed... where no word remains, no thought remains, no wave arises... where no mental dust remains and the mirror of consciousness is perfectly pure. What proof?
Vivekananda told Ramakrishna, "I want proof. If God exists then prove it!" Ramakrishna looked at Vivekananda. This youth had great promise, great potential; much was ready to happen within him. There was a great treasure with which Vivekananda was unacquainted. Ramakrishna looked into, peered into, the past lives of this youth. Vivekananda had come carrying a great treasure, a great treasure of integrity, but it was suppressed under his logic. Seeing this, a cry of anguish and compassion must have risen from Ramakrishna's heart.
He said, "Forget all this. We'll talk about proof and such things later on. I have become a little old, I have difficulty reading; you are young, you eyes are still strong -- read from the book lying there." It was the Ashtavakra Gita. "Read a little out loud to me." It is said that Vivekananda saw nothing wrong in this, this fellow was not requesting anything special. He read three or four sutras and every cell began trembling. He started to panic and he said, "I cannot read on." Ramakrishna insisted, " Go ahead and read.
What harm can there be in it? How can this book hurt you? You are young, your eyes are still fresh, and I am old, it is hard for me to read. I must hear this book -- read it out to me." It is said that Vivekananda kept on reading aloud from the book -- and disappeared in meditation. Ramakrishna had seen great potential in this youth, a very promising potential, like that of a bodhisattva who one day or other is destined to become a buddha. Sooner or later, no matter how much he wanders, he is approaching buddhahood.
Swami Vivekananda Searching Job
There is a small memoir in the life of Vivekananda. When Vivekananda’s father died, there was so much poverty in his home that often there was not enough food for both mother and son. So, Vivekananda would tell his mother, ”Today I am invited to a friend’s house, I will go there.” In fact there was no invitation, no nothing, he would just roam around on the roads and later return home. Otherwise the food was so little that his mother would feed him and would remain hungry herself.
So, he would return home with an empty stomach but happy and laughing saying loudly, ”It was a wonderful meal! Such delicious food dishes were cooked!” He would enter the house talking of those food stuffs that were nowhere cooked for him, that he had not eaten anywhere.
When Ramakrishna came to know of this, he said, ”How mad you are! Why don’t you ask God and all will be taken care of.” Vivekananda said that it will be too ordinary a thing to talk about eating and drinking with God. Still Ramakrishna asked him to ask at least once and see. He sent Vivekananda inside the temple. One hour passed, one and a half hours passed, Vivekananda came out from the temple and was very blissful and estatic. He came out dancing. Ramakrishna asked, ”Did you get it? Did you ask for it?” Vivekananda said, ”Get what?” Ramakrishna said, ”I had told you to put forward your demand. What makes you return so blissful?”
Vivekananda said, ”I forgot that completely ” This happened several times. Ramakrishna would send him in and when Vivekananda came out of the temple, he would inquire about it. Then Vivekananda would remember what he had been sent in for. Ramakrishna said, ”Are you mad or something? Because while going inside, you promised me that you will ask.” Vivekananda would say, ”When I go in, there remains not even a faint memory that I have to ask God for something. On the contrary, a feeling of giving arises in me, that I should give myself to Him. And when I give myself, there is such bliss, so much of it that there is neither hunger, nor thirst, nor the need to ask”
Vivekananda could not ask. It was not possible for him. Until now no truly religious person has asked for anything from God. And those who have asked, it ought to be understood well that they have nothing to do with religion. The religious man has only given.
Source: "Ramakrishna Paramhansa & Swami Vivekananda First Meeting" from book "the mahageeta vol1" By Osho
Osho on Ramakrishna Paramhansa Sadhanas
Osho - There is another episode in Ramakrishna's life.... He did the sadhanas, the spiritual practices, of all religions. He is the only person in the history of mankind who tried to attain the truth through paths of all religions.
Ordinarily a person reaches by one path. When you have reached the summit of the mountain, who bothers about other paths? Do you walk the other trails up it then? Who cares? -- you have reached. The trail you came on, you came on; what's the use of walking all the others? But Ramakrishna reached to the summit of the mountain again and again, then descended.
He climbed by a second path, then by a third path. He is the first person who practiced the sadhanas of all religions and attained to the same peak through all religions. Many have talked about synthesis -- Ramakrishna is the first to create a science of synthesis. Many people have said that all religions are true, but it has just been talk. Ramakrishna made it a reality. He gave it the strength of experience, he proved it with his life. When he was doing Islamic sadhana he became a real Muslim fakir. He forgot Ramakrishna and began chanting, "Allahoo... Allahoo."
He began listening to the verses of the Koran and lived right on the steps of the mosque. If he came near a temple he didn't even lift his eyes, let alone bow in greeting. He had forgotten about Kali. In Bengal there is a sect, the sakhis.
He climbed by a second path, then by a third path. He is the first person who practiced the sadhanas of all religions and attained to the same peak through all religions. Many have talked about synthesis -- Ramakrishna is the first to create a science of synthesis. Many people have said that all religions are true, but it has just been talk. Ramakrishna made it a reality. He gave it the strength of experience, he proved it with his life. When he was doing Islamic sadhana he became a real Muslim fakir. He forgot Ramakrishna and began chanting, "Allahoo... Allahoo."
He began listening to the verses of the Koran and lived right on the steps of the mosque. If he came near a temple he didn't even lift his eyes, let alone bow in greeting. He had forgotten about Kali. In Bengal there is a sect, the sakhis.
When Ramakrishna practiced the sadhana of the Sakhi sect.... The Sakhis believe that God alone is male, everyone else is female -- Krishna is God, everyone one else is his sakhi, his girlfriend -- so in the Sakhi tradition men also consider themselves women. But what happened in Ramakrishna's life had never happened in the life of any follower of the Sakhi tradition. A man can believe on the surface he is a woman, but he remains a man inside, he knows that he is a man.
Members of the Sakhi sect take an idol of Krishna to bed with them -- this is their husband. But what difference does it make? But when Ramakrishna did this sadhana something unprecedented happened -- scientists too will be surprised that such a thing happened.... He did the sadhana of the Sakhis for six months and after three months his breasts started to swell, his voice changed, he began walking like a woman, and his voice became sweet like a woman's. His breasts were growing, becoming the breasts of a woman's; the male structure of his body began to change.
Source: from book "the mahageeta volume1" by Osho
Members of the Sakhi sect take an idol of Krishna to bed with them -- this is their husband. But what difference does it make? But when Ramakrishna did this sadhana something unprecedented happened -- scientists too will be surprised that such a thing happened.... He did the sadhana of the Sakhis for six months and after three months his breasts started to swell, his voice changed, he began walking like a woman, and his voice became sweet like a woman's. His breasts were growing, becoming the breasts of a woman's; the male structure of his body began to change.
Source: from book "the mahageeta volume1" by Osho
Osho on Ramakrishna Paramhansa Marriage and worship of Ma
Osho - I am reminded of Ramakrishna. He was uneducated, and you will not find another misfit like him. Yet this country has accepted him as one of the incarnations of God. When he was nine years old he had an experience of deep meditation. He was not looking for it. He was just a boy coming back from the field to his home, and just on the way there was a lake, a beautiful lake. It was sunset time and there were black clouds in the sky. The rains were just to come. And as he came by the side of the lake, a line of white cranes, who must have been sitting on the bank of the lake, were disturbed by his coming. They flew across the black clouds.
The white crane is snow white, and twelve or fifteen cranes in a line, moving across the black clouds... and the sunset on the lake, spreading gold all over. The beauty of the moment was such that Ramakrishna could not contain it; he fell into unconsciousness. It was too much for his conscious mind, just to say that "It is beautiful" and go home. When he was not home, people went in search. His father said, "He left the field before me." They looked around the lake and they found him unconscious -- but with such a joy on his face. When he came back to consciousness, the first words he said were, "I have known life for the first time. Up to now I have been unconscious; these few hours I was CONSCIOUS."
The parents became afraid -- any parents would have become afraid -- that this boy was showing symptoms which could lead him to becoming a sannyasin, a seeker. And for centuries parents have thought, and thought rightly, that it would be good to arrange a marriage. The woman will put him right. They were afraid: perhaps he will say no. But when his father asked, "Would you like to be married?" he said, "Great! I have seen many marriages in town; it is such a joy, riding on the horse like a king." The father thought, "He does not understand what marriage is, he has simply seen the marriage processions. But it is good he is ready."
So they found a beautiful girl in a nearby place, and when he was going there -- it was summertime -- to see the girl, his mother put three rupees in his pocket, she told him, "If you need, you use them, but there is no need to waste them. We are poor people." And this is the way in India, which still persists over almost ninety percent of India: you can see the girl only as a glimpse. She will come and serve tea -- and that is the moment when you see her for few seconds -- and she is gone. Sharda, who was going to become his wife, came to put some sweets in his plate when they were taking their breakfast. He said to his father, "My god, the girl is so beautiful!"
He took out the three rupees and put them at her feet, and touched her feet and said, "Mother, you are one in millions. I am going to marry you." The father said, "Idiot! First you call her `mother,' touch her feet... and you have put your offering also, three rupees. And you are going to marry her?" Even the girl's parents became a little afraid, because this boy seems to be a little crazy. But Ramakrishna said, "I don't see any problem in it. She is so beautiful, that's why I touched her feet. Beauty should be respected. And she is so motherly; you can see it even from her face. That's why I called her `mother'. Every girl is going to be a mother, so why you are freaking out?
And I have decided that if I am going to marry anyone, this girl is the one; otherwise I will remain unmarried." Both the families managed, convinced each other that he is not mad or anything, just a little off, land a little eccentric, but he is not harmful. He does things which should not be done, but he never harms anybody. They were married and the first night Ramakrishna said to Sharda, "It is private, don't say it to anybody; I have accepted you as my mother. Let the whole world think you are my wife. I know you are my mother, you know I am your son. And this is going to be our relationship." And this remained their relationship their whole life.
But rather than being criticized he is being respected for this strange relationship. His wife is his mother, and there was never any husband and wife relationship between them. There are so many stories of unfitness.... One sudra queen -- she was a queen, but by the Hindu caste system she was the lowest untouchable -- made a very beautiful temple on the banks of Ganges near Calcutta, in Dakshineshwar. No brahmin was ready to be a priest in her temple. The temple made by a sudra, by an untouchable, had also become untouchable; and the god inside had also become untouchable.
In the whole of Bengal, only Ramakrishna, when he heard it, said, "This is a perfectly good chance." He went to the queen and said, "I am ready to be the priest" -- and he was a high caste brahmin. She said, "Have you thought about it? Your society may discard you, expel you." He said, "I don't have any society. And what does it matter if they expel me, if they make me an outcaste? I am not dependent on anyone. I am going to be the priest in this temple." And he was expelled, condemned.
People tried to persuade him, "If you leave this job we can give you a better job in a high-caste Hindu temple. You will get more money." But he said, "It is not a question of money. I love the temple, I love the place, I love the silence surrounding it, the trees... and I love the goddess inside the temple." He was expelled, but he never cared about it. Even his family stopped visiting him -- because they would be expelled -- and they told him that he could not come back home. He said, "It is perfectly okay." And his worshiping was so strange: sometimes he would worship from morning till evening, dancing and singing madly.
People would come and go, and sometimes he would lock the temple and would not open it for a few days. It was reported to Rashmani, the queen: "What kind of priest have you found? Every priest worships for half an hour at the most. This man seems to be mad: when he worships, then time stops; then he goes on dancing and singing from morning till evening. And sometimes, which is absolutely sacrilegious, he locks the temple. Neither does he worship, nor does he allow anybody else to enter!"
The queen called him and said, "Ramakrishna, what kind of worship is this?" He said, "Who says it is worship? It is a love affair. And in a love affair it is natural: sometimes I get angry, sometimes she gets angry." He is talking about the goddess of the temple. "And when I get angry I lock the door and I say, `Now live for three days, four days, without food, without worship, and you will come to your senses.'" Rashmani said, "But we have never heard of this kind of worship!" Ramakrishna said, "There has never been a priest like Ramakrishna." In the temples, when priests worship, the food is presented to the god or the goddess and then it is distributed. And Ramakrishna would spoil it completely.
First he would taste everything inside the temple. Before offering it to the goddess, he would taste everything, and then he will offer it. Again he was called: "You are doing something very wrong. It has never been done." He said, "I am not concerned whether it has been done or not. I know only one thing: my mother used to taste everything, and then she would give it to me. If it was really delicious, she would give; if it was not she would prepare it again.
And if my mother can do that for me... I cannot give anything to the goddess without knowing whether it is worth eating or not." Rashmani must have been a very intelligent woman to tolerate this misfit man. Instead of condemning him, people started coming to pay respect to him. His love for the goddess was so genuine, although it was not ritualistic. And anything genuine cannot be a ritual.
The white crane is snow white, and twelve or fifteen cranes in a line, moving across the black clouds... and the sunset on the lake, spreading gold all over. The beauty of the moment was such that Ramakrishna could not contain it; he fell into unconsciousness. It was too much for his conscious mind, just to say that "It is beautiful" and go home. When he was not home, people went in search. His father said, "He left the field before me." They looked around the lake and they found him unconscious -- but with such a joy on his face. When he came back to consciousness, the first words he said were, "I have known life for the first time. Up to now I have been unconscious; these few hours I was CONSCIOUS."
The parents became afraid -- any parents would have become afraid -- that this boy was showing symptoms which could lead him to becoming a sannyasin, a seeker. And for centuries parents have thought, and thought rightly, that it would be good to arrange a marriage. The woman will put him right. They were afraid: perhaps he will say no. But when his father asked, "Would you like to be married?" he said, "Great! I have seen many marriages in town; it is such a joy, riding on the horse like a king." The father thought, "He does not understand what marriage is, he has simply seen the marriage processions. But it is good he is ready."
So they found a beautiful girl in a nearby place, and when he was going there -- it was summertime -- to see the girl, his mother put three rupees in his pocket, she told him, "If you need, you use them, but there is no need to waste them. We are poor people." And this is the way in India, which still persists over almost ninety percent of India: you can see the girl only as a glimpse. She will come and serve tea -- and that is the moment when you see her for few seconds -- and she is gone. Sharda, who was going to become his wife, came to put some sweets in his plate when they were taking their breakfast. He said to his father, "My god, the girl is so beautiful!"
He took out the three rupees and put them at her feet, and touched her feet and said, "Mother, you are one in millions. I am going to marry you." The father said, "Idiot! First you call her `mother,' touch her feet... and you have put your offering also, three rupees. And you are going to marry her?" Even the girl's parents became a little afraid, because this boy seems to be a little crazy. But Ramakrishna said, "I don't see any problem in it. She is so beautiful, that's why I touched her feet. Beauty should be respected. And she is so motherly; you can see it even from her face. That's why I called her `mother'. Every girl is going to be a mother, so why you are freaking out?
And I have decided that if I am going to marry anyone, this girl is the one; otherwise I will remain unmarried." Both the families managed, convinced each other that he is not mad or anything, just a little off, land a little eccentric, but he is not harmful. He does things which should not be done, but he never harms anybody. They were married and the first night Ramakrishna said to Sharda, "It is private, don't say it to anybody; I have accepted you as my mother. Let the whole world think you are my wife. I know you are my mother, you know I am your son. And this is going to be our relationship." And this remained their relationship their whole life.
But rather than being criticized he is being respected for this strange relationship. His wife is his mother, and there was never any husband and wife relationship between them. There are so many stories of unfitness.... One sudra queen -- she was a queen, but by the Hindu caste system she was the lowest untouchable -- made a very beautiful temple on the banks of Ganges near Calcutta, in Dakshineshwar. No brahmin was ready to be a priest in her temple. The temple made by a sudra, by an untouchable, had also become untouchable; and the god inside had also become untouchable.
In the whole of Bengal, only Ramakrishna, when he heard it, said, "This is a perfectly good chance." He went to the queen and said, "I am ready to be the priest" -- and he was a high caste brahmin. She said, "Have you thought about it? Your society may discard you, expel you." He said, "I don't have any society. And what does it matter if they expel me, if they make me an outcaste? I am not dependent on anyone. I am going to be the priest in this temple." And he was expelled, condemned.
People tried to persuade him, "If you leave this job we can give you a better job in a high-caste Hindu temple. You will get more money." But he said, "It is not a question of money. I love the temple, I love the place, I love the silence surrounding it, the trees... and I love the goddess inside the temple." He was expelled, but he never cared about it. Even his family stopped visiting him -- because they would be expelled -- and they told him that he could not come back home. He said, "It is perfectly okay." And his worshiping was so strange: sometimes he would worship from morning till evening, dancing and singing madly.
People would come and go, and sometimes he would lock the temple and would not open it for a few days. It was reported to Rashmani, the queen: "What kind of priest have you found? Every priest worships for half an hour at the most. This man seems to be mad: when he worships, then time stops; then he goes on dancing and singing from morning till evening. And sometimes, which is absolutely sacrilegious, he locks the temple. Neither does he worship, nor does he allow anybody else to enter!"
The queen called him and said, "Ramakrishna, what kind of worship is this?" He said, "Who says it is worship? It is a love affair. And in a love affair it is natural: sometimes I get angry, sometimes she gets angry." He is talking about the goddess of the temple. "And when I get angry I lock the door and I say, `Now live for three days, four days, without food, without worship, and you will come to your senses.'" Rashmani said, "But we have never heard of this kind of worship!" Ramakrishna said, "There has never been a priest like Ramakrishna." In the temples, when priests worship, the food is presented to the god or the goddess and then it is distributed. And Ramakrishna would spoil it completely.
First he would taste everything inside the temple. Before offering it to the goddess, he would taste everything, and then he will offer it. Again he was called: "You are doing something very wrong. It has never been done." He said, "I am not concerned whether it has been done or not. I know only one thing: my mother used to taste everything, and then she would give it to me. If it was really delicious, she would give; if it was not she would prepare it again.
And if my mother can do that for me... I cannot give anything to the goddess without knowing whether it is worth eating or not." Rashmani must have been a very intelligent woman to tolerate this misfit man. Instead of condemning him, people started coming to pay respect to him. His love for the goddess was so genuine, although it was not ritualistic. And anything genuine cannot be a ritual.
Source: from book "the mahageeta volume1" by Osho
Sri Ramakrishna on Occult Powers - Siddhis
Occult powers (Sunday, September 21, 1884)
Sri Ramakrishna : "Radha had attained mahabhava. There was no desire behind the ecstatic love of the gopis. A true lover does not seek anything from God. He prays only for pure love. He doesn't want any powers or miracles.
"It is very troublesome to possess occult powers. Nangta taught me this by a story. A man who had acquired occult powers was sitting on the seashore when a storm arose. It caused him great discomfort; so he said, 'Let the storm stop.' His words could not remain unfulfilled. At that moment a ship was going full sail before the wind. When the storm ceased abruptly the ship capsized and sank. The passengers perished and the sin of causing their death fell to the man. And because of that sin he lost his occult powers and went to hell.
"Once upon a time a sadhu acquired great occult powers. He was vain about them. But he was a good man and had some austerities to his credit. One day the Lord, disguised as a holy man, came to him and said, 'Revered sir, I have heard that you have great occult powers.' The sadhu received the Lord cordially and offered him a seat. Just then an elephant passed by. The Lord, in the disguise of the holy man, said to the sadhu, 'Revered sir, can you kill this elephant if you like?'
The sadhu said, 'Yes, it is possible.' So saying, he took a pinch of dust, muttered some mantras over it, and threw it at the elephant. The beast struggled awhile in pain and then dropped dead. The Lord said: 'What power you have! You have killed the elephant!' The sadhu laughed. Again the Lord spoke: 'Now can you revive the elephant?' 'That
too is possible', replied the sadhu. He threw another pinch of charmed dust at the beast. The elephant writhed about a litle and came back to life.
Then the Lord said: 'Wonderful is your power. But may I ask you one thing? You have killed the elephant and you have revived it. But what has that done for you? Do you feel uplifted by it? Has it enabled you to realize God?' Saying this the Lord vanished. "Subtle are the ways of dharma. One cannot realize God if one has even the least
trace of desire. A thread cannot pass through the eye of a needle if it has the smallest fibre sticking out.
"Krishna said to Arjuna, 'Friend, if you want to realize Me, you will not succeed if you have even one of the eight occult powers.' This is the truth. Occult power is sure to beget pride, and pride makes one forget God. "Once a cross-eyed rich man came here. He said to me: 'You are a paramahamsa. That is good. You must perform a swastyayana ceremony for me.' What a small-minded person he was! He called me a paramahamsa and yet wanted me to perform that ceremony. To secure welfare by means of the swastyayana is to exercise occult power.
"Art egotistic person cannot realize God. Do you know what egotism is like? It is like a high mound, where rain-water cannot collect: the water runs off. Water collects in low land. There seeds sprout and grow into trees. Then the trees bear fruit. "Therefore I say to Hazra, 'Never think that you alone have true understanding and that others are fools.' One must love all. No one is a stranger. It is Hari alone who dwells in all beings. Nothing exists without Him.
"The Lord said to Prahlada, 'Ask a boon of Me.' 'I have seen You', repliedPrahlada. 'That is enough. I don't need anything else.' But the Lord insisted. Thereupon Prahlada said, 'If You must give me a boon, let it be that those who have tortured me may not have to suffer punishment.' The meaning of those words is that it was God who tortured Prahlada in the form of his persecutors, and, if they suffered punishment, it would really be God who suffered.
Occult powers (April 12, 1885)
Sri Ramakrishna (to Girish and the other devotees) : "People of small intellect seek occult powers—powers to cure disease, win a lawsuit, walk on water, and such things. But the genuine devotees of God don't want anything except His Lotus Feet. One day Hriday said to me, 'Uncle, please ask the Mother for some powers, some occult powers.' I have the nature of a child. While I was practising japa in the Kali temple, I said to Kali, 'Mother, Hriday asked me to pray to You for some occult powers.'
The Divine Mother at once showed me a vision. A middle-aged prostitute, about forty years old, appeared and sat with her back to me. She had large hips and wore a black-bordered sari. Soon she was covered with filth. The Mother showed me that occult powers are as abominable as the filth of that prostitute. Thereupon I went to Hriday and scolded him, saying: 'why did you teach me such a prayer? It is because of you that I had such an experience.'
A false teacher "People with a little occult power gain such things as name and fame. Many of them want to follow the profession of guru, gain people's recognition, and make disciples and devotees. Men say of such a guru: 'Ah! He is having a wonderful time. How many people visit him! He has many disciples and followers. His house is overflowing with furniture and other things. People give him presents. He has such power that he can feed many people if he so desires.'
"The profession of a teacher is like that of a prostitute. It is the selling of oneself for the trifle of money, honour, and creature comforts. For such insignificant things it is not good to prostitute the body, mind, and soul, the means
by which one can attain God. A man once said about a certain woman: 'Ah! She is having a grand time now. She is so well off! She has rented a room and furnished it with a couch, a mat, pillows, and many other things. And how many people she controls! They are always visiting her.'
In other words, the woman has now become a prostitute. Therefore her happiness is unbounded. Formerly she was a maidservant in a gentleman's house; now she is a prostitute. She has ruined herself for a mere trifle.
Sri Ramakrishna : "Radha had attained mahabhava. There was no desire behind the ecstatic love of the gopis. A true lover does not seek anything from God. He prays only for pure love. He doesn't want any powers or miracles.
"It is very troublesome to possess occult powers. Nangta taught me this by a story. A man who had acquired occult powers was sitting on the seashore when a storm arose. It caused him great discomfort; so he said, 'Let the storm stop.' His words could not remain unfulfilled. At that moment a ship was going full sail before the wind. When the storm ceased abruptly the ship capsized and sank. The passengers perished and the sin of causing their death fell to the man. And because of that sin he lost his occult powers and went to hell.
"Once upon a time a sadhu acquired great occult powers. He was vain about them. But he was a good man and had some austerities to his credit. One day the Lord, disguised as a holy man, came to him and said, 'Revered sir, I have heard that you have great occult powers.' The sadhu received the Lord cordially and offered him a seat. Just then an elephant passed by. The Lord, in the disguise of the holy man, said to the sadhu, 'Revered sir, can you kill this elephant if you like?'
The sadhu said, 'Yes, it is possible.' So saying, he took a pinch of dust, muttered some mantras over it, and threw it at the elephant. The beast struggled awhile in pain and then dropped dead. The Lord said: 'What power you have! You have killed the elephant!' The sadhu laughed. Again the Lord spoke: 'Now can you revive the elephant?' 'That
too is possible', replied the sadhu. He threw another pinch of charmed dust at the beast. The elephant writhed about a litle and came back to life.
Then the Lord said: 'Wonderful is your power. But may I ask you one thing? You have killed the elephant and you have revived it. But what has that done for you? Do you feel uplifted by it? Has it enabled you to realize God?' Saying this the Lord vanished. "Subtle are the ways of dharma. One cannot realize God if one has even the least
trace of desire. A thread cannot pass through the eye of a needle if it has the smallest fibre sticking out.
"Krishna said to Arjuna, 'Friend, if you want to realize Me, you will not succeed if you have even one of the eight occult powers.' This is the truth. Occult power is sure to beget pride, and pride makes one forget God. "Once a cross-eyed rich man came here. He said to me: 'You are a paramahamsa. That is good. You must perform a swastyayana ceremony for me.' What a small-minded person he was! He called me a paramahamsa and yet wanted me to perform that ceremony. To secure welfare by means of the swastyayana is to exercise occult power.
"Art egotistic person cannot realize God. Do you know what egotism is like? It is like a high mound, where rain-water cannot collect: the water runs off. Water collects in low land. There seeds sprout and grow into trees. Then the trees bear fruit. "Therefore I say to Hazra, 'Never think that you alone have true understanding and that others are fools.' One must love all. No one is a stranger. It is Hari alone who dwells in all beings. Nothing exists without Him.
"The Lord said to Prahlada, 'Ask a boon of Me.' 'I have seen You', repliedPrahlada. 'That is enough. I don't need anything else.' But the Lord insisted. Thereupon Prahlada said, 'If You must give me a boon, let it be that those who have tortured me may not have to suffer punishment.' The meaning of those words is that it was God who tortured Prahlada in the form of his persecutors, and, if they suffered punishment, it would really be God who suffered.
Occult powers (April 12, 1885)
Sri Ramakrishna (to Girish and the other devotees) : "People of small intellect seek occult powers—powers to cure disease, win a lawsuit, walk on water, and such things. But the genuine devotees of God don't want anything except His Lotus Feet. One day Hriday said to me, 'Uncle, please ask the Mother for some powers, some occult powers.' I have the nature of a child. While I was practising japa in the Kali temple, I said to Kali, 'Mother, Hriday asked me to pray to You for some occult powers.'
The Divine Mother at once showed me a vision. A middle-aged prostitute, about forty years old, appeared and sat with her back to me. She had large hips and wore a black-bordered sari. Soon she was covered with filth. The Mother showed me that occult powers are as abominable as the filth of that prostitute. Thereupon I went to Hriday and scolded him, saying: 'why did you teach me such a prayer? It is because of you that I had such an experience.'
A false teacher "People with a little occult power gain such things as name and fame. Many of them want to follow the profession of guru, gain people's recognition, and make disciples and devotees. Men say of such a guru: 'Ah! He is having a wonderful time. How many people visit him! He has many disciples and followers. His house is overflowing with furniture and other things. People give him presents. He has such power that he can feed many people if he so desires.'
"The profession of a teacher is like that of a prostitute. It is the selling of oneself for the trifle of money, honour, and creature comforts. For such insignificant things it is not good to prostitute the body, mind, and soul, the means
by which one can attain God. A man once said about a certain woman: 'Ah! She is having a grand time now. She is so well off! She has rented a room and furnished it with a couch, a mat, pillows, and many other things. And how many people she controls! They are always visiting her.'
In other words, the woman has now become a prostitute. Therefore her happiness is unbounded. Formerly she was a maidservant in a gentleman's house; now she is a prostitute. She has ruined herself for a mere trifle.
(My humble salutations to the lotus feet of Sree Rama Krishna Paramahamsa and gratitude to the great philosophers and followers of Paramahamsa for the collection)
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