Extracts from the book “The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna”
by ‘M’ahendranath Gupta (conversations between Sri Ramakrishna, the Master, and
his disciples / devotees)
Meaning
of free will
"It
is God alone who has planted in man's mind what the 'Englishman' calls free
will. People who have not realized God would become engaged in more and
more sinful actions if God had not planted in them the notion of free
will. Sin would have increased if God had not made the sinner feel that
he alone was responsible for his sin.
"Those
who have realized God are aware that free will is a mere appearance. In
reality man is the machine and God its Operator, man is the carriage and God
its Driver."
Free
will and God's will
VAIDYANATH:
"Sir, I have a doubt. People speak of free will. They say that
a man can do either good or evil according to his will. Is it true? Are
we really free to do whatever we like?"
MASTER:
"Everything depends on the will of God. The world is His play.
He has created all these different things-great and small, strong and weak,
good and bad, virtuous and vicious. This is all His maya, His
sport. You must have observed that all the trees in a garden are not of
the same kind.”
"As
long as a man has not realized God, he thinks he is free. It is God
Himself who keeps this error in man. Otherwise sin would have
multiplied. Man would not have been afraid of sin, and there would have
been no punishment for it.”
"But
do you know the attitude of one who has realized God? He feels: 'I am the
machine, and Thou, O Lord, art the Operator. I am the house and Thou art
the Indweller. I am the chariot and Thou art the Driver. I move as
Thou movest me; I speak as Thou makest me speak.'
(To Vaidyanath):
"It is not good to argue. Isn't that so?"
VAIDYANATH:
"Yes, sir. The desire to argue disappears when a man attains
wisdom."
The
Master, out of his stock of a dozen English words, said, "Thank you!"
in the most charming way, and all laughed.
MASTER
(to Vaidyanath): "You will make spiritual progress. People don't
trust a man when he speaks about God. Even if a great soul affirms that
he has seen God, still the average person will not accept his words. He
says to himself, 'If this man has really seen God, then let him show Him to
me.' But can a man learn to feel a person's pulse in one day? He must go about
with a physician for many days; only then can he distinguish the different
pulses. He must be in the company of those with whom the examination of
the pulse has become a regular profession.”
"Can
anyone and everyone pick out a yarn of a particular count? If you are in that
trade, you can distinguish in a moment a forty-count thread from a
forty-one."
Self-surrender
to God
(To
Shrish): "Surrender everything at the feet of God. What else can you
do? Give Him the power of attorney. Let Him do whatever He thinks
best. If you rely on a great man, he will never injure you.
Story
of "the will of Rāma"
A
DEVOTEE: "What is that story about 'the will of Rāma'?"
MASTER:
"In a certain village there lived a weaver. He was a very
pious,soul. Everyone trusted him and loved him. He used to sell his goods
in the market-place. When a customer asked him the price of a piece of cloth,
the weaver would say: 'By the will of Rāma the price of the yarn is one rupee
and the labour four ānnās ; by the will of Rāma
the profit is two ānnās . The price of the
cloth, by the will of Rāma, is one rupee and six ānnās .' Such was the people's faith in the
weaver that the customer would at once pay the price and take the cloth. The
weaver was a real devotee of God. After finishing his supper in the evening, he
would spend long hours' in the worship hall meditating on God and chanting His
name and glories. Now, late one night the weaver couldn't get to sleep. He was
sitting in the worship hall, smoking now and then, when a band of robbers
happened to pass that way. They wanted a man to carry their goods and said to
the weaver, 'Come with us.' So saying, they led him off by the hand.
After committing a robbery in a house, they put a load of things on the
weaver's head, commanding him to carry them. Suddenly the police arrived and
the robbers ran away. But the weaver, with his load, was arrested. He was kept
in the lock-up for the night. Next day he was brought before the magistrate for
trial. The villagers learnt what had happened and came to court. They said to
the magistrate, 'Your Honour, this man could never commit a robbery.' Thereupon
the magistrate asked the weaver to make his statement.
'The
weaver said: 'Your Honour, by the will of Rāma I finished my meal at night.
Then by the will of Rāma I was sitting in the worship hall. It was quite late
at night by the will of Rāma. By the will of Rāma I had been thinking of God
and chanting His name and glories, when by the will of Rāma a band of robbers
passed that way. By the will of Rāma they dragged me with them; by the will of
Rāma they committed a robbery in a house; and by the will of Rāma they put a
load on my head. Just then, by the will of Rāma the police arrived, and by the
will of Rāma I was arrested. Then by the will of Rāma the police kept me in the
lock-up for the night, and this morning by the will of Rāma I have been brought
before Your Honour.' The magistrate realized that the weaver was a pious man
and ordered his release. On his way home the weaver said to his friends, 'By
the will of Rāma I have been released.'
"Whether
a man should be a householder or a monk depends on the will of Rāma. Surrender
everything to God and do your duties in the world. What else can you do? A
clerk was once sent to prison. After the prison term was over he was released.
Now, what do you think he did? Cut capers or do his old clerical work?
"If
the householder becomes a jivanmukta, then he can easily live in the world if
he likes. A man who has attained Knowledge does not differentiate between 'this
place' and 'that place'. All places are the same to him. He who thinks of 'that
place' also thinks of 'this place'.
