longing

🌓 Sri Ramakrishna (to the devotees): “God’s will is both in worldliness and freedom. It is He, who has kept you unconscious in worldly life. And again, at His will, when He calls you, you will be liberated.

The child has gone out to play – its mother will call at meal-time.

He will give you the company of sadhus, when he wants to grant you Liberation. And He will also give you the yearning to attain Him”.

A neighbour: “Sir, what kind of yearning?”

Sri Ramakrishna: “The yearning that you feel, when you lose a job – the way you go from office to office every day to enquire: “Sir, is there a vacancy?”

Yearning brings restlessness: how can I attain God?

When a dandy twirls his mustache up on the sides, sits cross-legged, and chews betel-leaf nonchalantly, he can’t attain God”.

Neighbour: “Can you develop such longing by keeping the company of holy people?”

Sri Ramakrishna: “Yes, you can. But a hypocrite can’t attain such yearning. A kamandalu (a sannyasin’s water pot made of bitter gourd) is with the sadhu all the time that he is visiting the four centres of pilgrimage, but it remains as bitter as it was before”.

Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna

("Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita" word to word translation by Sri Dharm Pal Gupta, V5, Section VI, Ch. I, “Sri Ramakrishna at Balaram’s and Adhar’s houses in Calcutta”, 2 June, 1883)

bliss

 We have not got to attain bliss. We are bliss. Bliss is another name for us. It is our nature. All that we have to do is to turn the mind, draw it from the sense objects every time it goes towards them, and fix it in the Self .

Sri Ramana Maharshi

self

Visitor: 

“When a man Realises The Self, 

... What will he see?” 

Bhagavan:

“There is no seeing. 

... 'Seeing', is only 'Being'. 

'The State Of Self-Realization' - as we call IT, is not attaining something new, or reaching some goal, which is far away, but simply Being that which 'You' always ARE, and which 'You' always have been. 

All that is needed is that you give up your realization of 'the not-true' - as True. 

All of us are realizing, i.e.; regarding 'as Real' - that which is 'Not Real'. 

We have only to give up this practice, on our part. Then we shall Realize The Self, as The Self - or in other words, ‘BE' The Self.

At one stage, one would laugh at oneself; that one tried to discover The Self, which is so Self-Evident.

So, what can we say to this question?

That stage, Transcends 'the seer and the seen'. 

... There is 'no seer' there, 'to see' anything;

'The seer' - who is 'seeing' all this, now ceases to exist, and The Self Alone remains.”

🕉 Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi

Man of knowledge

When a man attains the Knowledge of Brahman he shows certain characteristics. The Bhagavata describes four of them: the state of a child, of an inert thing, of a madman, and of a ghoul. Sometimes the knower of Brahman acts like a five-year-old child. Sometimes he acts like a madman. Sometimes he remains like an inert thing. In this state he cannot work; he renounces all action. You may say that jnanis like Janaka were active. The truth is that people in olden times gave responsibility to their subordinate officers and thus freed themselves from worry. Further, at that time men possessed intense faith.

work

There is no harm in doing work after the attainment of bhakti. But it is very hard. One needs intense tapasya.

It is God who does everything. We are His instruments. Some Sikhs said to me in front of the Kali temple, 'God is compassionate.' I said, 'To whom is He compassionate?' 'Why, revered sir, to all of us', said the Sikhs. I said: 'We are His children. Does compassion to one's own children mean much? A father must look after his children; or do you expect the people of the neighbourhood to bring them up?' Well, won't those who say that God is compassionate ever understand that we are God's children and not someone else's?

Narendra

Sri Ramakrishna Dev's Humor 😀 

Sri Ramakrishna to Narendra (Later Swami Vivekananda) : Sing a little.

Narendra : I must go home, I have many things to do.

Sri Ramakrishna : Yes, yes, My child, Why should you listen to us ?

The words of those who have gold on their body are valuable, no one listens to him who has not even a rag around the waist ( All laugh).

You frequent the garden house of Guhas, I always hear about it. Whenever I ask, 'Where is Narendra today ?' I am told, 'Oh, he has gone to the Guhas'

I should not have said all these things, but you have wrung them out of me.

self

Questioner: Why is the world so wrapped up in ignorance?

🌺 Ramana Maharshi 🌺

Take care of yourself. 

Let the world take care of itself. 

See your Self. 

If you are the body 

there is the gross world also. 

If you are spirit all is spirit alone.

🕉