After many unsuccessful attempts over the last 7-8
years I finally finished reading the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna a few
months back. I found the book to be a treasure-trove of pure bhakti, love
for god and for true knowledge, and of vivēka and vairāgya. These
are some of my favourite quotes from the book which I hope will thaw my
stone-like heart at least a little bit, each time I dwell on them:
Give God the power of attorney
Give God the power of attorney. Let Him do whatever He wants. Be like a kitten and cry to Him with a fervent heart. The mother cat puts the kitten wherever she wants to. The kitten doesn't know anything. It is left sometimes on the bed and sometimes near the hearth.
God alone is real
God alone is real, and all else illusory. The garden and its owner. God and His splendour. But people look at the garden only. How few seek out the owner!
A devotee: Sir, what is the way?
Master: Discrimination between the Real and the unreal. One should always discriminate to the effect that God alone is real and the world unreal. And one should pray with sincere longing.
Level the mound of 'I' to the ground
A man cannot realise God unless he gets rid of all such egotistic ideas as 'I am such an important man' or 'I am so and so'. Level the mound of 'I' to the ground by dissolving it with tears of devotion.
God can be attained by an intensely yearning heart
MASTER: "Cry to the Lord with an intensely yearning heart and you will certainly see Him. People shed a whole jug of tears for wife and children. They swim in tears for money. But who weeps for God? Cry to Him with a real cry."
The Master sang: Cry to your Mother Syama , with a real cry, O mind! And how can She hold Herself from you? How can Syama stay away? How can your Mother Kali hold Herself away? O mind, if you are in earnest, bring Her an offering Of bel-leaves and hibiscus flowers; Lay at Her feet your offering And with it mingle the fragrant sandal-paste of Love.
Continuing, he said: "Longing is like the rosy dawn. After the dawn out comes the sun. Longing is followed by the vision of God. "God reveals Himself to a devotee who feels drawn to Him by the combined force of these three attractions: the attraction of worldly possessions for the worldly man, the child's attraction for its mother, and the husband's attraction for the chaste wife. If one feels drawn to Him by the combined force of these three attractions, then through it one can attain Him. "The point is, to love God even as the mother loves her child, the chaste wife her husband, and the worldly man his wealth. Add together these three forces of love, these three powers of attraction, and give it all to God. Then you will certainly see Him.
"It is necessary to pray to Him with a longing heart. The kitten knows only how to call its mother, crying, 'Mew, mew!' It remains satisfied wherever its mother puts it. And the mother cat puts the kitten sometimes in the kitchen, sometimes on the floor, and sometimes on the bed. When it suffers it cries only, 'Mew, mew!' That's all it knows. But as soon as the mother hears this cry, wherever she may be; she comes to the kitten."
Smear yourself with the turmeric of discrimination
Within those ocean depths, as well,
Six alligators, lurk - lust, anger, and the rest
Swimming about in search of prey.
Smear yourself with the turmeric of discrimination;
The very smell of it will shield you from their jaws. Upon the ocean bed lie strewn
Unnumbered pearls and precious gems;
Plunge in, says Ramprasad, and gather up handfuls there!
Illusoriness of "I"
If one analyses oneself, one doesn't find any such thing as 'I'. Take an onion, for instance. First of all you peel off the red outer skin; then you find thick white skins. Peel these off one after the other, and you won't find anything inside.
In that state a man no longer finds the existence of his ego. And who is there left to seek it? Who can describe how he feels in that state - in his own Pure Consciousness - about the real nature of Brahman? Once a salt doll went to measure the depth of the ocean. No sooner was it in the water than it melted. Now who was to tell the depth?
This echoes Bhagavan's teachings about the illusoriness of the false "I", the ego, so it is useful to consider them here.
In paragraph 4 of Nan Yar, Bhagavan says, "When one looks, excluding [removing or putting aside] all thoughts, solitarily there is not any such thing as mind"
[TODO add other paragraphs of Nan Yar and UN]
In verse 17 of Upadēśa Undiyār, Bhagavan says, "maṉatti ṉuruvai maṟavā dusāva maṉameṉa voṉḏṟilai yundīpaṟa mārgganē rārkkumi dundīpaṟa", which means, "When one investigates [examines or scrutinises] the form of the mind without forgetting [neglecting, abandoning, giving up or ceasing], [it will be clear that] there is not anything called ‘mind’. This is the direct [straight or appropriate] path for everyone whomsoever."
In verse 19 of Upadēśa Undiyār he says, "nāṉeṉ ḏṟeṙumiḍa mēdeṉa nāḍavuṇ ṇāṉḏṟalai sāyndiḍu mundīpaṟa ñāṉa vicārami dundīpaṟa", which means "When one investigates within [or inwardly investigates] what the place is from which one [or it] rises as ‘I’ [ego or mind], ‘I’ will die. This is jñāna-vicāra [investigation of awareness]."