Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna - Bhagavad Gita

Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna

l CONTENTS Introduction . ... 1

BOOK I MAN AND THE WORLD

I. Man 23

II. Maya 33 III. Maya as 'Woman and Gold' 37 I IV. Maya as Ahamkara or Egotism 45 V. Bondage of Book-learning 54 I VI. Religious Teachers-False and True 61 VB. The Worldly-minded and Their Ways 67

BOOK II THE ASCENT OF MAN VIII. Varieties of Aspirants and Their Ideals 79 IX. Some Aids to Spiritual Life 97 X. Ways of Spiritual Life . . 109 XI. Spiritual Aspirants and Religious Differences ..... 130 XII. Essentials of Spiritual Life 137 XIII. Yearning for God . . . . . . . . . . .. 165

BOOK III MAN AND THE DIVINE XIV. The Lord and His Devotees 172 XV. Helpers in the Spiritual Path 184 XVI. Jnana, Bhakti and Karma 196, II XVII. The Divine ..... 230 XVIII. Realisation of the Divine 244 XIX. The Man of Divine Realization 256 XX. Glimpses of the Master's Experiences in His Own Words . . . . . . . 266

BOOK IV MAXIMS AND PARABLES XXI. Some Maxims . . . . . . . " 287

XXII. Parables 291

Index . 340

CHAPTER I MAN The destiny of man 0001-0015 Real nature of man 0016-0027 Man in bondage 0028Death and reincarnation 0043-0047 CHAPTER IIl MAYA AS 'WOMAN AND GOLD'1 The bondage of sex66-74 Sex and spiritual progress75-82 How to conquer sex? 83-89 Riches and the spiritual aspirant 90-98 CHAPTER V BONDAGE OF BOOK LEARNING Barrenness if mere book learning 137-150 Vanity if disputation 151-158 The true end if learning 159-167 CHAPTER VII THE WORLDLY-MINDED AND THEIR WAYS Characteristics of the worldly-minded188-209 Fickle devotion of the worldly-minded 210-215 The worldly-minded and spiritual practices 216-226

BOOK II Ascent of Man CHAPTER VIII VARIETIES OF ASPIRANTS AND THEIR IDEALS Some types of aspirants227-239 Characteristics of true aspirants240-253 Kinship of the spiritually-inclined254-257 Ideals of the aspirant entangled in the world258-293 Ideals of the Sannyasin 294-307

CHAPTER X WAYS OF SPIRITUAL LIFE Some obstacles to spiritual life361-367 Influence of past impressions368-371 Pitfalls of occult powers372-385 Dress and food 386-394 Attitude towards the body395-397 Attitude towards sufferings398-403 Forbearance404-405 Reticence 406-407 Humility and self-respect408-418 Simplicity 419-421 Conquest of desires422-434 Attitude towards women435-441 Devotee and his family 442-445 Prayer and devotion 446-456

CHAPTER XII ESSENTIAL OF SPIRITUAL LIFE

CHAPTER II MAYA Maya as the Cosmic Power of the Lord 48-53 Maya as the deluding power (Avidya)54-61 Maya as the liberating power (Vidya)62-65

CHAPTER IV Evils of egotism 99-109 The difficulty of conquering egotism110-114 Ripe' ego and 'unripe' ego115-118 How to conquer the ego119-128 Ego in the man of realization 129-136 CHAPTER VI RELIGIOUS TEACHERS FALSE AND TRUE Pitfalls of teachership 168-175 Who is a True teacher 176-187

CHAPTER IX SOME AIDS TO SPIRITUAL LIFE Caste and external observances308-321 Worship of images322-332 Value of pilgrimages 333-337 Benefits of Pious company338-348 Repetition of Divine names 349-360

CHAPTER XI

SPIRITUAL ASPIRANTS AND RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES

God of all religions the same457-461 Different religions as paths to God462-469 Cause of fanaticism and its cure470-474 Right attitude to religious differences475-487 Attitude to secret cults ?

CHAPTER XIII YEARNING FOR GOD

Some conditions of spiritual enlightenment488-494 Faith495-514 Resignation to God515-524

Be mad for God615-618 Nature of true yearning 619-626 Sole condition of God-realisation 627-638

Necessity of Ishta or Chosen Deity--525-534 Truth Brahmacharya or continence 535-540 Viveka or discrimination 541-545 Vairagya or aversion to worldly objects546-567 Perseverance568-579 Spiritual practice580-592 Concentration and meditation 593-614

Book III

CHAPTER XIV THE LORD AND HIS DEVOTEES Why the Lord is not seen639-642 The Lord and His devotees643-662 Worldly position of devotees663-666 How the Divine reveals Himself667-668 The Lord cares not for wealth669-671 Divine grace and self-effort 672-686

CHAPTER XVI JNANA, BHAKTI AND KARMA1.

1.Path of Knowledge: What is Jnana Yoga732-735 Method of Jnana Yoga736-742 Difficulties of Jnana743-746 Yoga- II.

CHAPTER XV HELPERS IN THE SPIRITUAL PATH

1.Guru: Conception of the Guru687-692 Necessity of having a Guru693-696 Relation between Guru and disciple697-702 II. Divine Incarnation: What is a Divine Incarnation ?703-708 Difficulty of recognising Divine 709-714 Incarnation as revelations of God 715-731 Difference between Incarnations and ordinary perfect men ?

II.Path of Love: Bhakti and the conditions of its growth747754 Bhakti and Worldly love755-756 Effects of Bhakti757-766 Stages and aspects of Bhakti767-773 Prema or Parabhakti (ecstatic Love )774784 Love of the Gopis785-788 Viraha and Mahabhava789-790

Ill. Bhakti and Jnana: Bhakti and Jnana the same in the end791796 How Bhakti leads to Jnana797-803 Difference in the temperaments of the Jnani and the Bhakta804-813

IV. Path of Work: What is Karma Yoga?814-817 Devotion as a safeguard in Karma Yoga818-823 Work as service equal to worship824 Work, a means and not an end825-828 Work and worklessness 829-834

CHAPTER XVII THE DIVINE

CHAPTER XVIII REALISATION OF THE DIVINE

Brahman (The Impersonal or Supra-personal Absolute)835-842 Brahman and the reality of relative experience843-852 Personal Deity, known also as Isvara, Maya and Sakti853-861 God in everything 862-869 The Divine both with and without form870-882 Some Divine forms883-888 Divine immanence 889-894 The Divine and man's moral responsibility895898

CHAPTER XIX THE MAN OF DIVINE REALISATION

Varieties of perfect men931-934 At the advent of the Divine in the heart935-

Psychology of man with reference to God899901 Kundalini and spiritual awakening902-906 Spurious ecstasy907 Perception of Divine forms and sounds908-912 Samadhi and Brahma-jnana913-919 The Psychology of Samadhi920-925 Vijnana which comes after Samadhi 926-930

CHAPTER XX GLIMPSES OF THE MASTER'S EXPERIENCE IN IHS

OWN WORDS

Experiences in early days 972-978

941 Some characteristics of spiritual perfection942-951 Non-attachment of the perfect man952-959 Perfect man transcends good and evil960-967 Perfect man and work 968-970

Book IV Maxims and Parables CHAPTER XXI SOME MAXIMS

Maxims of ethical significance1020-1041 Maxims of spiritual significance1042-1058

Tantric and other Sadhanas 979-983 Experience if the Nirvikalpa state 984-988 The Master's perpetual God-consciousness989991 How the Master prayed 992-995 The Divine in good and evil alike 996-1005 The Master on his illness 1006-1010 The Master, a combination if humanity and Divinity1011-1019

CHAPTER XXII PARABLES

The bane of worldliness1059-1065 Sex and its bondage1066-1070 Spiritual progress depends on mind1071-1072 Dangers of misunderstood philosophy 10731076 The foolishness of fanaticism1077-1079 Faith, devotion and resignation1080-1096 Tyagaga and Vairagya1097-1107 Nature of Maya1108-1112 Realisation of the Divine 1113-1120.

Prepared by Veeraswamy Krishnaraj Diagrams by Krishnaraj

INTRODUCTION

The sayings and parables of Sri Ramakrishna included in this volume speak for themselves as far as their spiritual value and philosophic depth are concerned. The stamp of genius they bear cannot escape the notice of even a casual reader. But wise maxims and admirable reflections on life have been given also by great intellectuals and first-rate literary men. The sayings embodied in this volume should, however, be distinguished from the productions of such men. For, with all their artistic beauty, and sublimity of thought, the writings of one who is merely an academic philosopher or a man of letters, lack authority in matters relating to God and spiritual life, since their author is only groping in the dark, just like any ordinary man, as far as these subjects of transcendental significance are concerned. The sayings of Sri Ramakrishna stand on quite a different footing in this respect, because Sri Ramakrishna possessed not only a great intellect and an artistic mind, but had the additional qualification that he had 'seen God face to face', 'talked with Him' and shared the Divine life. Hence his words on these transcendental themes come with a weight of authority derived from the Supreme Being Himself. Our excuse for writing the following brief life-sketch of his as an Introduction to this edition of his sayings is, that there may be among its readers persons who have had no occasion to study any detailed biography of his and to be acquainted with this unique aspect of his life and teachings.

2 Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna

II

Sri Ramakrishna was born in a poor Brahmana family of the village, called Kamarpukur in Bengal, on the 18th February, 1836. His father Khudiram Chatterjee was a man of great piety and uprightness of character. His adherence to truth was so great that he would not break this cherished principle of his life even when he found that its observance meant utter ruin to himself and his family. Once when bidden by the landlord of the village to bear false witness in his favour, Khudiram refused to do so, and in his wrath at the defiance of this virtuous Brahmana, the big man of the village despoiled him of all his earthly possessions. His mother Chandramani Devi too was a paragon of womanly virtues. And tradition

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