Video 2

Friday Night Gospel of Ramakrishna Class

good evening everyone welcome to our second gospel class at least second on the internet in the basement with no program that we have now I said last time many of you I saw actually tuned in and in what I was a little surprised I was I was thinking that we would continue where we were in our class and I even mentioned that we were up to the chapter festival that funny hut but I see that many people were watching who don't attend the class so I thought it would make more sense that we started the very beginning I gave last time those of you who didn't attend I gave last time just an introduction to the gospel so we'll begin at the beginning I also spoke a little bit about the introductory verse that we chant which I will do now dublicate on rhythm dr. jay burnham kavadi Dunkleman sovereign among sorry madam this is verse from the go fajita from the heart with piranhas that am shows especially because we'll see is constantly making this connection between Rama Krishna and Shri Krishna and Chaitanya Devon and the hog the Piranha and this is his way of showing the sacredness of the words of Ramakrishna this is double date arboretum your words are like nectar top the G venom they bring life to all of us who are scorched by the misery and problems in the world of the VAD time they are praised by poets color will sharpen just listening to them can remove all of our sins saravana Mangalam or speeches just to hear the words she could even out the tongue glorious and exalted boubakr aunty a body raja not had those who will sing the glories recite these words will give these teachings in this case of sri ramakrishna or the most helpful people in the world who Dida there the one of the most generous people in the world so this is the verse that M himself chose at the very beginning of the Cataumet of the gospel is ramakrishna I will begin now with the reading from the English version of course that this is a translation that was done by Swami Nikhil Ananda this was done and 19 leave 30-something 19:42 and it's a beautiful translation the somehow we get a knack of being able to capture the feeling in this spirit and everything is not this the same is breathing in the original but they did a very beautiful job the first chapters called master and disciple and the date given is February 1882 this and the second visit are the only two that don't have definite dates because at this time first of all the M state of mind was not very good this time I mentioned that he just left is his father's house house along with his wife and children and I didn't know what was going to do he was going to do where he would stay or anything and also he didn't know how valuable the words as Ramakrishna would be to him when he went that first day and didn't have any thought of really coming out with a book or anything in the future so all we have is February 1882 it was a Sunday in spring a few days after she Ramakrishna to birthday that M met him for the first time notice ahem always speaks of himself in the third person this was his way of hiding himself sure Amma Krishna lived at the collie party the temple garden of mother Kali on the bank of the Ganges at Dakshin eshwara M being at leisure on Sundays had gone with his friend Sid who to visit several gardens at Veronica now M is an extremely honest person when it comes to himself but it's very interesting to notice whenever anybody else is involved and he has any feeling that maybe they don't want things to be told about them he is very careful either he doesn't use his own or he he'll just not be very forthcoming with certain events so here not that he was simply at leisure on a Sunday he had left home and ended up at his wife's in-laws house this friend said to was actually his nephew and we don't notice it whoever went again to see him or if he wanted his name mentioned or anything like that so he simply says his friend and they didn't simply go to visit some garden houses gardens in burana gore but his nephew took him there because the EM was feeling very depressed and he wanted to cheer him up so this is a very interesting way of putting it and being at leisure on Sundays I had gone with his friend to visit several gardens at Veronica if we don't know anything about it we'll think that it's just a simple outing but it was much more than that of course as they were walking in Paris under Banerjee's garden she too said there's a charming place on the bank of the Ganges where a paramahamsa lives the holy man should you like to go there M ascended and they started immediately for the dungeon is for temple garden they arrived at the main gate at dusk and went straight to ceramic krishna's room and there they found him seated on a wooden couch facing the east so that means that as they entered his room they must have gone inside the compound first it would have been facing them most of the time when I am records Ramakrishna speaking will find that he'll be seated facing north and most of the devotees will be there for some reason he was facing ease as if waiting for an M so when then walked him he was facing him with the smile on his face he was talking of God that the room was full of people all seated on the floor drinking in his or indeed silence am stood there speechless and looked on this of course was the great turning point in my and somehow intuitively he felt something special was happening It was as if he were standing where all the holy places met and as if sukadeva himself were speaking the words of God sukadeva again is a Bhagavata Purana reference sugar there was the one who recited all of the incidents we have in the part of the Parana to Kingford Ichi as he was lying on his deathbed outside of course so again this association came into his mind with this bog with the piranhas and Shri Krishna or as if Sri Chaitanya were singing the name and glories of the Lord and booty with ramananda swallow and the other devotees second great Leela which which took place and within the same tradition as Ramakrishna said when hearing the name of a hoodie or Rama once you shed tears and your hair stands on end then you may know for certain that you do not have to perform such devotions as the Sun here anymore then only will you have a right to renounce rituals where rather rituals will drop away of themselves then it will be enough if you repeat only the name of Rama or honey or even simply ohm continuing he said the Sunda emerges in the Gayatri and the Gayatri merges in the home this was one of the great teachings of not only Shri Krishna but all of the really great saints and prophets of all the religions this this reliance on ritual is something which is important somehow in the beginning but not so much at the end we see in the life of Christ and of course Easter Sunday is coming up very soon and the life of Christ how he wasn't very good whether his disciples even hazard observe the Sabbath or not that those who have this ecstatic love for God they don't have to bother with these rituals very much so the Sandia is something that every Orthodox environment is supposed to perform some of them there were three times a day some even will enter into water up to their chest and face the Sun repeat the dietary mantra do the sunday of under I know all of that Shri Krishna of course was well beyond all of these things so I not only wasn't it necessary for him but it was impossible for him to do these number one and number two he actually taken these vows of sannyasa and this is ritual that belongs to the Vedic period so there's also forbidden by for the sannyasin but he just in general I he didn't want his his disciples and devotees to be too overly concerned with with ritual and lose the spirit behind it so he said if it's enough if we repeat only the name of Rama or honey or even ohm and the son he emerges and the Gayatri that means that I if we reach that level and this is something which automatically happens then no need to do all the the puja rituals associated with it just repeat the Gayatri and if we reach a point where we go even beyond that then enough to simply say home and looked around him with Wonder and said to himself what a beautiful place what a charming man how beautiful his words are I have no wish to move from this spot after few minutes he thought let me see the place first then I'll come back here and sit down this of course is a very traditional idea if we go to a holy place we should at least go to the temple and bow down now perhaps and wasn't thinking like that because he was a member of semaj and they really weren't supposed to go and participate at all in any type of image worship which they considered idol worship and certainly not to bow down before the the image this also may have been part of the reason but at least he wanted to see where he had come as he left the room with Sidhu he heard the sweet music of the evening service arising at the temple from gong bell drum and cymbal he could hear music from the Naga - at the south end of the garden they were tuned the hobbits of course the one north of his room is the one where his mother lived first and there were holy mother this is the one that we know about and has also become the sacred places of pilgrimage the sounds travelled over the Ganges floating away and losing themselves in the distance a soft spring wind was blowing laden with the fragrance flowers fragrant flowers the moon had just appeared it was as if nature and man together were preparing for the evening worship em and she too visited the twelve shiva temples the rod account at temple and the temple of authority this is the Kali temple now one thing we'll notice this goes throughout the gospel there the M gives beautiful descriptions of the fragrance of the air the wind blowing the flowing of the Ganges and gives a lot of detail this is because reading the gospel we can feel that we're there all of these descriptions are extremely important when we read the gospel I mentioned last time it should be a type of meditation for us we should really feel that we're there with him we should feel that we ourselves are listening to his words we should feel that we also know that time is the day and who else is in the room and what festivals are coming and everything so this this is not just filler for M these were very important all these these little details [Music] so this is the the temple garden there are twelve Shiva temples these are all different Shiva lingams they are just south of Sri Ramakrishna true then the erotic anta would rather go VIN the temple the image of Krishna neurotic together this is what M as Ramakrishna always past when he went from his room to the Kali temple and would always bow down there first and then go to the probably temple above literally the savior of the world it's a very beautiful rather benign image of mother Kali on the way back - Ramakrishna's room the two friends talked she too told them that the temple garden had been founded by Rani - money of course most people know this was a very big thing and Calcutta this this temple it was the most recent one and very large and combine all different types of worship so how many saw to stay there makers will see all of this he said that God was worship their daily as colleague Krishna and Shiva and that within the gates many Santas and beggars were fed so this became very well known that any pilgrims who were travelling especially on the way to the booty and other places any Sato's any beggars they all know that they were extremely welcome here that there was a place for the sadhus to stay could be outside but they could always take their food there those who were very strict and Orthodox and vegetarian could take food from the kitchen connected with the the Krishna temple and others could take food connected with the college when they read ceramic crisps in the door again they found it shut so probably all the others had left and trauma Kristin was there by himself and Bryn day the maid standing outside em who had been trained in English manners and would not enter a room without permission asked her is the holy man in but in they replied yes he's in the room and how long has he lived here Bryn day oh he has been here a long time and does he read many books and eBooks oh dear no they are all on his tongue now Sri Ramakrishna we sometimes say that he was not exactly a literate unlettered this means that in his childhood he did learn to read and write in fact a beautiful handwriting and remembered enough so the very end of his life he could scribble a little bit he wrote a little note for Swamiji at the end of his life that's the that end will teach others by lost all interest and hence a few books in his room that we know we had their stomach or some Vita and some others that he asked Swamiji to read out to him there's one book full of Sanskrit verses I forget what it's called now something go towards Shauna he had them so what there were a few books in him but he didn't read books and it was not necessary room of course M well it was very brilliant and that studied extensively and knew all about Eastern philosophy Western philosophy literature and everything so this was of course we'll find very surprising to Emma just finished his studies in college it amazed him to hear this forever Krishna read no books and perhaps it is time for his evening worship so again thinking this Cynthia maybe go into the room will you tell him we are anxious to go in he wanted someone to go in and kind of introduce them when they go right in children go in and sit down entering the room they found Sri Ramakrishna alone seated on the wooden couch incense had just been burned and all the doors were shot as he entered and with folded hands saluted the master and now the we see that in the future and will not salute him with folded hands it Wow down before him the thought you said to the four heads tilted apart his forehead to the ground he'll take the dust of his feet but he was new to all of this and we'll see how as a member of the Brahmo Samaj he didn't follow all of the customs and many of the others in that period in Calcutta didn't follow follow all the Orthodox Hindu customs but for him this was a sign of respect as he entered me and with folded hands saluted the master then at the Masters bidding he and said to sad on the floor ceramic Krishna asked him where do you live what is your occupation why if you come to Veronica now this is also interesting because later we'll find that's Ramakrishna he himself would say very are very rarely do I ask anybody where do you come from who is your family what is your father doing any of that I'm happy to see them this is enough with em and in certain other cases when he has some feeling that there's some connection we'll ask these questions he asked I believe it was a tonic what was the name of your father now why did he ask him that he didn't ask that of any others it turned out that his father was a great fantatic saw Dada and who would mention Krishna earlier and actually prescribed something for him and handle it and everything so the doc would know these things we don't understand why and how but it was curious to find out a little bit about em where in the case of others just to see them and to be able to know that they had some special divine potential was enough for him and answered the questions but he noticed that now and then the master seemed to become absent-minded later he learnt this is that this mood is called bhava ecstasy it is like the state of the angler who has been sitting with his rod the fish comes and swallows the bait and the float begins to tremble the angler is on the alert he grips the rod and watches the float steadily and eagerly he will not speak to anyone such was the state of drama Krishna's mind Ramakrishna himself would give this this illustration many times later M heard and himself noticed that Ramakrishna would often go into this mood after dusk sometimes becoming totally unconscious of the outer world this was very very common with Ramakrishna his mind could be triggered by things this is called deep honor he mentions this also many many times he had that type of mind that was very susceptible to environmental changes to something that he saw or heard he used to give different examples if you went to the zoo and saw the lion immediately he would think about the Tortuga and it would when to the ecstasy so and this is something that he also spoke about in terms of Radha and Krishna and chaitanya devil also that seeing the black dark cloud rata would go into ecstasy thinking of the complexion of shri krishna or seeing what do they call the peacock seeing the peacock that she would think of the peacock on shri krishna's far and they wouldn't go into ecstasy so this was part of that whenever just just the Sun would go down it would start to get dark that automatically drama Christian vine would go into the spiritual mood M perhaps you want to perform your evening worship in that case may we take our leave mr. Ramakrishna still and ecstasy no evening worship no it is not exactly like that after a little conversation M saluted the master and took his leave come again Ramakrishna say now I mentioned last time this is a very standard way of saying goodbye to somebody a polite way if you don't say come again it may mean that you're not really happy that they came from the first place so nothing very special but to M this was a very great thing that he said yes he asked me to come again I'll have to come again he took this is one of these a dish one of the the commands of Sri Krishna on his way home and began to wonder who is the serene looking man who was drawing me back to him is it possible for a man to be great without being a scholar how wonderful it is I should like to see him again he himself said come again I shall go tomorrow or the day after now we don't know when he went am simply says am ii visit this rubber Krishna took place on the southeast verandah at 8 o'clock in the morning maybe it was the next day maybe it was it was after that maybe the following Sunday even who knows the master was about to be shaved now Sri Ramakrishna we know from his picture he kept his short beard and he kept his hair short the tradition among hasatu's is either they don't shave or cut their hair at all so we many thought those have long beard and long hair everything of course as part of a hamsa they had no rules to follow but the other tradition is that many Orthodox are those once a month the new moon day or full moon day I don't remember it once a month they'll shave and cut their hair and then it'll grow back and then they'll shave their head and shave their beard again the same thing like that saramma krishna was very very sensitive his skin was very sensitive so growing too long wouldn't have been comfortable and shaving too much wouldn't been possible so he kept the short beard and he kept his hair short he was so calm alonga really used as expression he was so tender that he said sometimes he could even cut his finger on on the edge of a lucci this arm like pootie so the master was about to be shaved the Barbara having just arrived as the cold season still lingered he had put on a moleskin shawl boarded with red seeing em the master said so you have come that's good sit down here he was smiling he stammered a little when he spoke as Ramakrishna to him where'd you live so again we'll have some questions em in Calcutta sir mr. Ramakrishna where are you staying here because dungeness were that nearby for us it's just outside of Calcutta but with just the worst carriage and everything it was a little bit of a distant place em I am at piranha Gor and my older sisters each and cavy Rajas house his older sister his older sister his mother's family I know it so his wife's family and you know he may again be trying to fight a little bit on things it's your honor Krishna Oh Annie Sean's well how was ketchup now Keysha was was related to the family it must be it is my son I never noticed that before I guess this is case of Chengdu descent he was the head of the Brahmo Samaj and we'll see the very close and loving relationship between gates events Ramakrishna he was a little bit older than shramana at that point in failing health and awkward loved him dearly in catch of a tremendous respect for him and also loved him and Keysha was responsible for sending so many people to see him and Rhoda had him to Britain up either himself or had other promise write about him and their monthly or bi-weekly magazine in the newspaper and everything this sort of a sriracha so taco was very very concerned about him well I was ketchup now he was very ill and indeed I ever heard so too but I believe he is well now it's Ramakrishna I made a vow to worship the mother with green coconut and sugar on K shows recovery now this he did several different times once if I remember correctly he even asked him because to make the same type of offering because they're the synthetically Kali temple ingest with a block or two of Em's house and Strelka she also went there different types very very high I won't say beautiful temple it's just right on the street almost but tremendous atmosphere there it's it's still there very old place you can go visit so I made a valve to worship the mother with the green coconut and sugar when qdubs recovery this is a very interesting type of value don't give anything in advance unless you do it mother you won't get it so you promise if everything goes right then mother will get to coconut and sugar sometimes in the early hours of the morning I would wake up and cry before her mother please make a ship well again if cassia doesn't live with whom shall I talk when I go to Calcutta and so it was that I resolved to offer her the green coconut and sugar now we should remember that Ramakrishna's monastic disciples didn't start coming till just before this in 1881 Rocco letters for me brahmananda he came shortly after that and that in there swami vivekananda came and many came even after this so at that time as Ramakrishna that many of the people who came to him were through the brahma so much case of the and others and topper knew that these were the ones he was waiting for he loves them he was happy to talk to them but even at that time he kept saying oh when will those comes of those young unspoiled men come to whom I can really unburden my heart and who will follow my teachings fully that men those who would renounce everything for God realization yes Robert Krishna's still speaking tell me do you know of a certain mr. cook who has come to Calcutta is it true that he is giving lectures once again job took me on a steamer and this mr. cook too was in the party he could have been the first Westerner to seize Ramakrishna we don't know exactly of course em yes sir I've heard something like that but I've never been to his lectures I don't know much about him it's Ramakrishna but the top said brother came here this must be for the top Majumdar he was kind of his right-hand man the rhombus watch he stayed a few days he had nothing to do and said he wanted to live here I came to know that he had left his wife and children with his father-in-law now forever Krishna saying Pratap that means he knows that M dotes all of these people and probably he's guessing that M is a member of the Brahmo Samaj he has an estimate exactly he has a whole brood of them so I took him to task just fancy he is the father of so many children well people from the neighborhood feed them and bring them up he isn't even ashamed that someone else is feeding his wife and children and that they have been left at his father-in-law's house I scolded him very hard and asked him to look for a job then he was willing to leave here now look at the games that talk with his play why does he bring all of this son in the future we'll find out of course we know that M doesn't want to live in his father's house anymore when he first leaves is he willing to leave his wife there and M will have this life long desire to renounce the world and to become a sannyasi like the others so he's raising this other than issue of somebody how can they even think like that they have a wife and children very interesting before he asked even we'll see before he s empathise even married somehow we knew these things so then we get the big question are you married M yes sir now M thinks a very simple question most of the people will be married well why should he hesitate but we see the reactions ramakrishna with shutter or Amla Rama was a nephew of Ramakrishna they were practically the same age but this the relation was as in fu and he was also a priest that day at this time at the Kali temple they kept switching around there's all relatives and friends acquaintances from that comarca query as she heard nearby the villages they all knew each other they were all members of different garment families there were relatives and they all ended up this Kali temple taking different positions as priests or they're helpless there so he says o Ramla at last he is married now that we'll find that leader of wise from history accidentally like one guilty of a terrible offense M sat motionless his eyes fixed on the ground he thought is it such a wicked thing to get married the master continued have you any children now M this time could hear the beating of his own heart he whispered in a trembling voice yes sir I have children very sad least Ramakrishna said o me he even has children thus reviewed M sat speechless his pride had received a blow after a few minutes Ramakrishna looked at him kindly and said affectionately now we'll get the reason you see you have certain good signs I know them by looking at a person's forehead his eyes and so on so there are two things with Ramakrishna one he had this this ability to kind of what would they call his physiognomies of something by looking at the face and the hands the way one walked he would feel the weight of the arm all of these ways of judging spirituality and the second was he recognized people those who had a future role to play somehow he recognized them many instances are there where he had some vision before they came where some dream they were about to come something like that so in in Emma's case it was more recognizing him at first recognizing that it was a deeply spiritual person I think most people just seeing someone like that recognise that very serious sincere and deeply spiritual type of person so Sri Ramakrishna's was thinking well maybe he'll be one of those who can renounce everything but finds out he's married then children of court nothing wrong with children children are wonderful I wouldn't be here I'm also a child we all are who we and we need good householders and everything by another type of bondage for someone who wants to devote himself full-time or herself full-time to spiritual life so this is the reason he says you see you have certain good signs I know them by looking at a person's far in his eyes and so on tell me now what kind of person is your wife has she spiritual attributes or is she under the power of of India India it means it ignorance as Ramakrishna I had this concept that there are two different types of Maya then there were different types of powers also is a video Maya and video Maya to the vintage destructive power one will be leading to an helpful for spiritual life to the other detrimental so if this is the type of question he's asking not so much is this year very learned in the wise person M she is all right but I'm afraid she is ignorant okay so you don't get another scolding master with evident displeasure ah and you were a man of knowledge M had yet to learn the distinction between knowledge and ignorance had been real knowledge and ignorance up to this time his conception had been that one got knowledge from books and schools later on he gave up this false conception he was taught that to know God is knowledge and not to know him ignorance when's ramakrishna explained and you were made of knowledge méxico was again badly shocked master well do you believe in God with form or without form now this is a very interesting type of question and the reason why it comes up so much in the Indigo and the gospel of ramakrishna has a little bit to do with the the Brahmo Samaj and Western infield influence and in Christian and judeo-christian Islamic conception of God has not having form now this is a question of the sakaar this sakaar having formed it's very often not clear what is meant and it may mean one thing to one person and the different thing to another person in the case of M we'll see that he's thinking in terms of the Brahmo Samaj conception their idea was that when we say worshipping God with form we're thinking of image worship and for them it was the type of idolatry so this is the first thing that comes into his mind worshiping God with form means that we bow down at the temple at that via a clay a major Estonian rage or something like that and this this is somehow a type of blasphemy and we know of course in many religions idolatry is a blasphemy so this is in the back of em's mind a little bit this idea of worshiping God with form now therefore a more sophisticated conception of course we know that worshiping God with form can also be that God can reveal himself in many different forms these platonic forms or anything like that and then really a much higher and a much more beautiful conception that this whole universe is the form of God wherever we whatever we see this is a form of God the Son and the motor the eyes this idea of pollution this is a divine person that the whole universe is the body of God so this will also be God with form but for em in the beginning he's a little bit stuck in the right of the thinking of the Brahmo Samaj so he doesn't want to say anything too much at this point so he simply says sir I like to think about his formulas master very good now we noticed two things with sri ramakrishna one it's that and he himself said this that it's not good to do anything harmful to the spiritual mood and attitude of a person second thing is that whenever he saw that someone's spiritual mood or spiritual attitude needed a little corrective he did something to tweak it a little bit to straighten it out get rid of some misconceptions he would always do that so we see especially many the version of a devotees would come he would give them tremendous encouragement along their spiritual path he will talk about the glories of repeating the name of God and at the same time he would warn them against being too one-sided or or bigoted or anything like that so we see both of these things here so initially is Rama Krishna doesn't want to discourage him so he says very good it is enough to have faith in either aspect and at this point M is probably not quite clear what he means you believe in God without form that is quite all right but never for a moment think that this alone is true and all else false remember that God with form is just as true as God without form but hold fast to your own conviction now that means a very logical person he is going to be very confused I've been wanting the one at the same time the opposite we'll see you have this these questions the assertion that both are equally true amazed them he had never learned it from his books thus his ego received a third blow but since it was not yet completely crushed he came forward to argue with the master a little more mm suppose sir suppose one believes in God with form certainly he is not the clay image so now we see that this idea of a God with form always triggers in their mind this our idea of image worship the problem so much master interrupting but white clay it is an image of spirit so not what in my cheatingboys your Abba Krishna had a nice way of rhyming words and using puns and things like that but chin why not ring Lloyd the Chinmoy now we have to remember that Sri Ramakrishna had the experience of worshipping mother Kali in the temple and because of the ability of his mind to go higher and higher and higher he could enter into a different type of realm where he would actually see that the image is an image of spirit not just the image of the whole temple and everything and wood everywhere he looked he could see everything as pure spirit so for him this was not just a nice phrase that he picked up that rainbow in Chinmoy this is really his own direct experience and when he would look at the image of mother Kali he would never see his own image somebody asked him once I hear that it's made of this bus all the type of black stone so Strummer Krishna as if he couldn't quite grasp that thinking that someone would even even think of the material that it's made out to me it's a fewer spirit your consciousness so and could not quite understand the significance of this image of spirit but sir he said to the master what should explain to those who worship the clay image now this is a very hard concept nobody worships a clay image their worship will be with the help of a clay image there's not if it's worshipping the image then we think that that clay itself has some magical power but anyhow this was the type of thinking that many people had one should explain to those who worship the clay image that it is not God and then while worshiping it they should have God in view and not the clay image one should not worship clay okay reasonable but Ramakrishna is not going to like it Master sharply that's the one hobby if you Calcutta people Ramakrishna said that he'd like to make fun of Calcutta people well and in good fun he liked to tease them there's the the Babu's who came and with their Western thinking and and their inability to undergo any type of austerities or anything that's the one hobby of you Calcutta people giving lectures and bringing others to the light nobody ever stops to consider how to get the light himself who are you to teach others now this will be another great theme in the gospel as Ramakrishna who is actually qualified to teach others of course teaching others in terms of school book learning and everything we get our academic credentials and that's enough in terms of God realization of only those who have had it and even those who have had it some special command from God this audition this certain command from God Ramakrishna said this chakra this badge it's a badge of authority so he was very clear that it's not easy even even someone like Keysha who we had tremendous respect for he wondered out loud many times how much good is being done by given occasions lectures and he did tremendous good Hebrew so many people to the spiritual life and everything but without that direct realization the words don't carry the same weight so he said yes people will listen in a few days they'll forget so who are you to teach others he was the Lord of the universe will teach everyone he alone teaches us who has created this universe who has made the Sun and Moon men and beasts and all other beings who has provided means for their sustenance who is giving children parents and endow them with love to bring them up the Lord has done so many things will he not show people the way to worship Him if they need teaching then he will be the teacher he is our inner guard so strummers had these two ideas one that God will manifest through a certain person God realized soul or God will direct us from within this idea of the unter Yaman but does anther Yaman there's a very advanced state state and spiritual life through our Krishna used to say the beginning this is human guru is necessary when the mind becomes pure the mind itself becomes the Guru so then we'll find light from with it we can get it of course even at earlier stages but we don't know how much the mind is tricking us and playing on us this is why we need the help of qualified spiritual teacher suppose there is an error in worshiping the clay image doesn't God know that through what he alone is being invoked he will be pleased with that very worship why should you get a headache over it you would better try for knowledge and devotion yourself this time and felt that his ego was completely crushed he now said to himself yes he has spoken the truth what need is there for me to teach others have I known God do I really love him and then M quotes an expression of the day's Ramakrishna will also quoted leader I haven't room enough for myself and my bed and I am inviting my friend to share it with me I know nothing about God yet I am trying to teach others what a shame how foolish I am this is not mathematics or history or literature that one can teach it to others no this is the deep mystery of God what he says appeals to me now look at the m's deep humility there were other cases we see where this Ramakrishna will will criticize people those who are very the worldly those who look down upon spiritual life in everything and within a few minutes they'll say that we take my leave sir that because it's at the temples and then they won't be seen again vile and was a very sincere person sits here and serious and talking directly to heart understood immediately he didn't react with his ego he could have fell do is this person to talk to me that way he or he knows me and and he's talking to me like I'm a little child but am was not like that and by now probably he's starting to feel that this is this is the man for me this is one hermanos we had I like that expressiveness is from great power as composure that the man of my heart he is the one for me the one who will be my guide because look at their conversation as if they'd known each other for four years the way they're speaking to each other this this already this innovative relationship this with Em's first argument with the master and happily his last M you were talking of worshiping the clay image even if the image is made of clay there's no there is need for that sort of worship God himself has provided different forms of worship this will be another theme that we get that so many different paths that so many of us need these different aids and spiritual life we may even take crutch vieni and spiritualize these things have a tremendous role to play somebody a Swami Vivekananda once about image worship and he said how can I say that it's not possible to realize God through image worship when the man that I laid my life down for Ramakrishna realized God today so we'll see how liberal and broad-minded and and this was from a Christmas vision of spiritual life he was the Lord of the universe has arranged all these forms to suit different people in different stages of knowledge now we'll get one of the images that's repeated again and again the mother cooks different dishes to soothe the stomach's of her different children suppose he has five children if there is a fish to cook she prepares prepares various dishes from it allow pickled fish fried fish and so on to suit their different tastes and powers of digestion now taste and power digestion these were the the two key things for Ramakrishna that we we have to have a spiritual fast that appeals to us that's consistent with our spiritual mood and attitude and personality and nature are we more devotional nature are we more intellectual academic cognitive so it should be a path that doesn't clash with us so it has to be something that appeals to us that we have a taste for it so Strummer Chris uses it to achieve Veda that we all this distinction and taste but the second thing it can be digested we may like a certain spiritual path but it are we qualified for it this is a toccata or Hodge I'm shocked if you say this power of digestion and we find very often in spiritual life and I think it happens most often with the pet of knowledge and especially this is Dwight the Vedanta and this idea of this world being unreal and everything that it appeals to many people especially Westerners we see it appeals to many of them but Ramakrishna says that this a dakara question comes are we qualified to follow it because the qualification means intense the tense feeling pronunciation and dispassion and without these we find that it may appeal there wasn't an intellectual level but it not we're not really suited for it so you always talk about these two things different tastes and different powers of digestion do you understand me now M is going to start with the series of questions these are the most important questions I mentioned last week that the questions that MLS and the answers that are given will form the basis for the entire body of teachings of sri ramakrishna we can almost say the rest of the of the gospel is just commentary and an expansion of the answers that are given here so I want to stop here and next time we'll start the first question is a man to be humbly yes sir how sir may we fix our minds on God so now they finished all the preliminary stuff and M understands that he is now in the presence of someone who can answer these questions in a way that nobody else can answer so this will be where we will start if you're following or you want to start following in the the text itself this is page 81 the master and disciple I will close with the traditional verse that's recited and those of you who are sitting alone I know that most people are self quarantined in everything now it's very nice after reading from the gospel to what is often referred to as it chewing the cud that the cow will take the food and it will go on to the little side and can he can bring it back up again chew on it later so it's very nice to let the mind dwell to picture the scene to to picture them this conversation that takes place and to think about these the beautiful teachings that we had so nice to sit quietly for a while when we have our class at the center we usually have just a few minutes of meditation is it a nice practice to do well I will close now with the chair Romney run gentleman onto the phone lock down over to really crummy Rishabha tarnation we bow our heads before Rama Krishna who is stainless of infinite nature whose heart melts and sympathy for his devotees who is an embodiment of the divine and the Supreme Lord and ever worthy of our worship Oh Shanti Shanti Shanti peace peace peace piant