A MAGICIAN was showing his tricks before a
king. Now and then he exclaimed: "Come
confusion! Come delusion! O King, give me
money! Give me clothes!" Suddenly his tongue
turned upward and clove to the roof of his mouth.
He experienced kumbhaka. He could utter neither
word nor sound, and became motionless. People
thought he was dead. They built a vault of bricks
and buried him there in that posture. After a
thousand years someone dug into the vault. Inside
it people found a man seated in samadhi. They
took him for a holy man and worshipped him.
When they shook him his tongue was loosened and
regained its normal position. The magician became
conscious of the outer world and cried, as he had a
thousand years before: "Come confusion! Come
delusion! O King, give me money! Give me
clothes!"
God is the Kalpataru, the wish-fulfilling tree. You
will certainly gel whatever you ask of him. But you
must pray standing near the Kalpataru. Only then
will your prayer be fulfilled. But you must
remember another thing. God knows our inner
feeling. A man gets the fulfilment of the desire he
cherishes while practising sadhana. As one thinks,
so one receives.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
FOR MAN PROPOSES AND GOD DISPOSES
THE Master (to Pratab Chandra Mazumdar14):
"You are an educated and intelligent man, and
you are a deep thinker too. Keshab and yourself
were like the two brothers, Gour and Nitai. You
have had enough of this world—enough of
lectures, controversies, schisms, and the rest. Do
you still care for them? Now it is high time for you
to collect your scattered mind and turn it towards
God. Plunge into the ocean of Divinity."
Mazumdar: "Yes, revered sir, that 1 ought to do;
there is no doubt about it. But all this I do simply
to preserve Keshab's name and reputation."
Sri Ramakrishna (smiling): "Let me tell you a story.
A man built a house on a hill. It was only a mud
hut, but he had built it with great labour. A few
days after, there came a violent storm and the hut
began to rock. The man became very anxious to
save it and prayed to the god of winds
"You are an educated and intelligent man, and
you are a deep thinker too. Keshab and yourself
were like the two brothers, Gour and Nitai. You
have had enough of this world—enough of
lectures, controversies, schisms, and the rest. Do
you still care for them? Now it is high time for you
to collect your scattered mind and turn it towards
God. Plunge into the ocean of Divinity."
Mazumdar: "Yes, revered sir, that 1 ought to do;
there is no doubt about it. But all this I do simply
to preserve Keshab's name and reputation."
Sri Ramakrishna (smiling): "Let me tell you a story.
A man built a house on a hill. It was only a mud
hut, but he had built it with great labour. A few
days after, there came a violent storm and the hut
began to rock. The man became very anxious to
save it and prayed to the god of winds
:'O god of the winds, please don't wreck the house!
But the god of the winds paid no heed to his
prayers. The house was about to crash. Then he
thought of a trick. He remembered that Hanuman
was the son of the god of the winds. At once he
cried out with great earnestness: 'O revered sir,
please don't pull down the house. It belongs to
Hamiman. I beseech you to protect it.' But still the
house continued to shake violently. Nobody
seemed to listen to his prayer. He repeated many
times,
But the god of the winds paid no heed to his
prayers. The house was about to crash. Then he
thought of a trick. He remembered that Hanuman
was the son of the god of the winds. At once he
cried out with great earnestness: 'O revered sir,
please don't pull down the house. It belongs to
Hamiman. I beseech you to protect it.' But still the
house continued to shake violently. Nobody
seemed to listen to his prayer. He repeated many
times,
'Oh, this house belongs to Hanuman!' But
the fury of the winds did not abate. Then he
remembered that Harm man was the devoted
servant of Rama, whose younger brother was
Lakshmana. Desperately the man cried, saying
aloud, 'Oh, this house belongs to Lakshmana!' But
that also failed to help matters. So the man cried
out as a last resort: 'This is Rama's house. Don't
break it down, O god of winds!
I beseech you most humbly.' But this proved futile,
and the house began to crash down. Whereupon
the man who had to save his own life, rushed out
of it with a curse: 'Let it go! This is devil's own
house!'"You may now be anxious to preserve Keshab's
name: but console yourself with the thought, it was
after all owing to God's Will that the religious
movement connected with his name was set on
foot, and that if the movement has had its day, it is
also due to that same Divine Will. Therefore dive
deep into the sea of Immortality."
the fury of the winds did not abate. Then he
remembered that Harm man was the devoted
servant of Rama, whose younger brother was
Lakshmana. Desperately the man cried, saying
aloud, 'Oh, this house belongs to Lakshmana!' But
that also failed to help matters. So the man cried
out as a last resort: 'This is Rama's house. Don't
break it down, O god of winds!
I beseech you most humbly.' But this proved futile,
and the house began to crash down. Whereupon
the man who had to save his own life, rushed out
of it with a curse: 'Let it go! This is devil's own
house!'"You may now be anxious to preserve Keshab's
name: but console yourself with the thought, it was
after all owing to God's Will that the religious
movement connected with his name was set on
foot, and that if the movement has had its day, it is
also due to that same Divine Will. Therefore dive
deep into the sea of Immortality."
THE PANDIT WHO COULD NOT SWIM
Once, several men were crossing the Ganges in a
boat. One of them, a pandit, was making a great
display of his erudition, saying that he had studied
various books—the Vedas, the Vedanta, and the
six systems of philosophy. He asked a fellow
passenger, "Do you know the Vedanta?" "No,
revered sir." "The Samkhya and the Patanjala?"
"No, revered sir." "Have you read no philosophy
whatsoever?" "No, revered sir." The pandit was
talking in this vain way and the passenger sitting in
silence when a great storm arose and the boat was
about to sink. The passenger said to the pandit,
"Sir, can you swim?" "No", replied the pandit. The
passenger said, "1 don't know Samkhya or the
Patanjala, but I can swim."
What will a man gain by knowing many scriptures?
The one thing needful is to know how to cross the
river of the world. God alone is real, and all else is
illusory.
boat. One of them, a pandit, was making a great
display of his erudition, saying that he had studied
various books—the Vedas, the Vedanta, and the
six systems of philosophy. He asked a fellow
passenger, "Do you know the Vedanta?" "No,
revered sir." "The Samkhya and the Patanjala?"
"No, revered sir." "Have you read no philosophy
whatsoever?" "No, revered sir." The pandit was
talking in this vain way and the passenger sitting in
silence when a great storm arose and the boat was
about to sink. The passenger said to the pandit,
"Sir, can you swim?" "No", replied the pandit. The
passenger said, "1 don't know Samkhya or the
Patanjala, but I can swim."
What will a man gain by knowing many scriptures?
The one thing needful is to know how to cross the
river of the world. God alone is real, and all else is
illusory.
OCCULT POWERS ARE MORE A HINDRANCE THAN A HELP TO GOD-VISION
ONCE upon a time a sadhu acquired great occult
powers. He was vain about them. But he was a
good man and had some austerities to his credit.
One day the Lord, disguised as a holy man, came
to him and said, "Revered sir, I have heard that you
have great occult powers." The sadhu received the
Lord cordially and offered him a seat. Just then an
elephant passed by. The Lord, in the disguise of
the holy man, said to the sadhu, "Revered sir, can
you kill this elephant if you like?" The sadhu said,
"Yes, it is possible." So saying he took a pinch of
dust, muttered some mantras over it, and threw it
at the elephant. The beast struggled a while in pain
and then dropped dead. The Lord said: "What
power you have! You have killed the elephant!"
The sadhu laughed. Again the Lord spoke: "Now,
can you revive the elephant?" "That too is
possible," replied the sadhu. He threw another
pinch of charmed dust at the beast. The elephant
writhed about a little and came back to life. Then
the Lord said: "Wonderful is your power. But may
I ask you one thing? You have killed the elephantpowers. He was vain about them. But he was a
good man and had some austerities to his credit.
One day the Lord, disguised as a holy man, came
to him and said, "Revered sir, I have heard that you
have great occult powers." The sadhu received the
Lord cordially and offered him a seat. Just then an
elephant passed by. The Lord, in the disguise of
the holy man, said to the sadhu, "Revered sir, can
you kill this elephant if you like?" The sadhu said,
"Yes, it is possible." So saying he took a pinch of
dust, muttered some mantras over it, and threw it
at the elephant. The beast struggled a while in pain
and then dropped dead. The Lord said: "What
power you have! You have killed the elephant!"
The sadhu laughed. Again the Lord spoke: "Now,
can you revive the elephant?" "That too is
possible," replied the sadhu. He threw another
pinch of charmed dust at the beast. The elephant
writhed about a little and came back to life. Then
the Lord said: "Wonderful is your power. But may
and you have revived it. But what has that done for
you? Do you feel uplifted by it? Has it enabled you
to realize God?" Saying this, the Lord vanished.
Subtle are the ways of Dharma. One cannot realize
God. if one has even the least trace of desire. A
thread cannot pass through the eye of a needle if it
has the smallest fibre sticking out.
A SIDDHA STOPS THE STORM
Once, a great Siddha was sitting on the sea-shore
when there came a great storm. The Siddha, being
greatly distressed by it, exclaimed, "Let the storm
cease!" and his words were fulfilled. Just then a
ship was going at a distance with all sails set, and as
the wind suddenly died away, it capsized, drowning
all who were on board the ship.
Now the sin of causing the death of so many
persons accrued to the Siddha, and for this reason
he lost all his occult powers and had to suffer in
purgatory.
when there came a great storm. The Siddha, being
greatly distressed by it, exclaimed, "Let the storm
cease!" and his words were fulfilled. Just then a
ship was going at a distance with all sails set, and as
the wind suddenly died away, it capsized, drowning
all who were on board the ship.
Now the sin of causing the death of so many
persons accrued to the Siddha, and for this reason
he lost all his occult powers and had to suffer in
purgatory.
IF ALL IS REALLY UNREAL!
RAMA and Lakshmana wanted to go to Ceylon.
But the ocean was before them. Lakshmana was
angry. Taking his bow and arrow, he said: "I shall
kill Varuna. This ocean prevents our going to
Ceylon." Rama explained the matter to him, saying:
"Lakshmana, all that you are seeing is unreal, like a
dream. The ocean is unreal. Your anger is also
unreal. It is equally unreal to think of destroying
one unreal thing by means of another."
But the ocean was before them. Lakshmana was
angry. Taking his bow and arrow, he said: "I shall
kill Varuna. This ocean prevents our going to
Ceylon." Rama explained the matter to him, saying:
"Lakshmana, all that you are seeing is unreal, like a
dream. The ocean is unreal. Your anger is also
unreal. It is equally unreal to think of destroying
one unreal thing by means of another."
"IT'S NOTHING, IT'S NOTHING!"
IT is not easy to get rid of illusion. It lingers even
after the attainment of knowledge. A man dreamt
of a tiger. Then he woke up and his dream
vanished. But his heart continued to palpitate.
Some thieves came to a field. A straw figure
resembling a man had been put there to frighten
intruders. The thieves were scared by the figure
and could not persuade themselves to enter the
field. One of them, however, approached and
found that it was only a figure made of straw. He
came back to his companions and said, "There is
nothing to be afraid of." But still they refused to
go. They said that their hearts were beating fast.
Then the daring thief laid the figure on the ground
and said, "It is nothing, it is nothing." This is the
process of 'Neti, neti.'
after the attainment of knowledge. A man dreamt
of a tiger. Then he woke up and his dream
vanished. But his heart continued to palpitate.
Some thieves came to a field. A straw figure
resembling a man had been put there to frighten
intruders. The thieves were scared by the figure
and could not persuade themselves to enter the
field. One of them, however, approached and
found that it was only a figure made of straw. He
came back to his companions and said, "There is
nothing to be afraid of." But still they refused to
go. They said that their hearts were beating fast.
Then the daring thief laid the figure on the ground
and said, "It is nothing, it is nothing." This is the
process of 'Neti, neti.'
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