Extracts from the book “The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna”
by ‘M’ahendranath Gupta (conversations between Sri Ramakrishna, the Master, and
his disciples / devotees)
How
to receive God's grace
JAYGOPAL: "How
does one receive the grace of God?"
MASTER:
"Constantly you have to chant the name and glories of God and give up
worldly thoughts as much as you can. With the greatest effort you may try
to bring water into your field for your crops, but it may all leak out through
holes in the ridges. Then all your efforts to bring the water by digging
a canal will be futile.”
"You
will feel restless for God when your heart becomes pure and your mind free from
attachment to the things of the world. Then alone will your prayer reach
God. A telegraph wire cannot carry messages if it has a break or some
other defect.”
"I
used to cry for God all alone, with a longing heart. I used to weep, 'O
God, where art Thou?' Weeping thus, I would lose all consciousness of the
world. My mind would merge in the Mahāvāyu.”
Renunciation
of worldly attachment
"How can one
attain yoga? By completely renouncing attachment to worldly things. The
mind must be pure and without blemish, like the telegraph wire that has no
defect.”
Unselfish
love of God
"One must not
cherish any desire whatever. The devotion of a man who has any desire is
selfish. But desireless devotion is love for its own sake. You may
love me or not, but I love you: this is love for its own sake.”
"The
thing is that one must love God. Through intense love one attains the
vision of Him. The attraction of the husband for the chaste wife, the
attraction of the child for its mother, the attraction of worldly possessions
for the worldly man-when a man can blend these three into one, and direct it
all to God, then he gets the vision of God."
Purity
of heart
VIJAY: "How can
one see God?"
MASTER: "One
cannot see God without purity of heart. Through attachment to 'woman and
gold' the mind has become stained-covered with dirt, as it were. A magnet
cannot attract a needle if the needle is covered with mud. Wash away the
mud and the magnet will draw it. Likewise, the dirt of the mind can be
washed away with the tears of our eyes. This stain is removed if one
sheds tears of repentance and says, 'O God, I shall never again do such a
thing.' Thereupon God, who is like the magnet, draws to Himself the mind, which
is like the needle. Then the devotee goes into samādhi and obtains the
vision of God.”
God's
grace is the ultimate help
"You may try
thousands of times, but nothing can be achieved without God's grace. One
cannot see God without His grace. Is it an easy thing to receive the
grace of God? One must altogether renounce egotism; one cannot see God as long
as one feels, 'I am the doer.' Suppose, in a family, a man has taken charge of
the store-room; then if someone asks the master, 'Sir, will you yourself kindly
give me something from the store-room?', the master says to him: 'There is
already someone in the store-room. What can I do there?'
"God
doesn't easily appear in the heart of a man who feels himself to be his own
master. But God can be seen the moment His grace descends. He is
the Sun of Knowledge. One single ray of His has illumined the world with
the light of knowledge. That is how we are able to see one another and
acquire varied knowledge. One can see God only if He turns His light
toward His own face.”
"The
police sergeant goes his rounds in the dark of night with a lantern in his
hand. No one sees his face; but with the help of that light the sergeant
sees everybody's face, and others, too, can see one another. If you want
to see the sergeant, however, you must pray to him: 'Sir, please turn the light
on your own face. Let me see you.' In the same way one must pray to God:
'O Lord, be gracious and turn the light of knowledge on Thyself, that I may see
Thy face.'
