1.

M. — I felt a great joy yesterday on entering Thakur’s shrine. They had decorated it so well. Oh, how rare were the roses used there! The shrine was fragrant with their sweet smell. Is any festivity possible without all this? Add to it, the presence of so many sadhus from the Math - Sarat Maharaj, Khoka Maharaj and others. (Smiling) Jnana Maharaj, it appears, was the main source of inspiration. He is endowed with a lot of originality. He inspires young men in so many ways. Such ideas do not perhaps rise in the mind of others. But he keeps on generating new plans.

"The house was transformed into a place of pilgrimage, isn’t it? It would have been right if they had sent some prasad to Advaita Ashrama. Keep a record of the expenses of the celebrations item wise. It will be helpful in making an estimate next year. The song -The bee of my mind drinks deep. . . had occupied the whole of my mind. It was perhaps sung by Amulya Babu?"

Antevasi — The celebration made everybody happy except the Doctor’s wife. She is sad because she could not participate. The celebration took place in her house, yet she was not present.

M. — Yes, that’s true. But as you say had she been there, the bhaktas would not have celebrated there.

M. (to the bhaktas) — Thakur said: ‘One should engage oneself in meditation in the evening giving up all work.’ One should practice dhyana-chintan (meditation and reflection) daily regularly. Once it becomes a habit one can not do without it - one would feel bad without doing it. Why to sit for meditation in the morning and evening? To bind the mind. You see, the mind looks outwards day and night, it’s restless like a monkey for the worldly matters. One should make an attempt to pull back this restless mind and bind it internally to the lotus feet of the Lord. Daily practice makes it easy. Initially it will seem a bit bad - it is like waging a war with the mind. Later it is controlled by practice and by His grace. The boy roams about outside all the time - bring him back and make him sit at home - just this, what else?

"It becomes very convenient when the avatara comes down. There is flood of dhyana-chintana raging all around. As if a festival is being celebrated; like the excitement in a kingdom when the king arrives. How many good sadhus one sees now after the advent of Thakur? Where were such sadhus, ashramas, maths in Bengal before? The whole country was full of nera-neries (a community of Vaishnavas believing in the practice of sadhna with women as partners). How many ashramas one sees these days!

"I used to read about ashramas in classics like Shakuntla etc. and used to imagine them. Now I don’t have to imagine them - they are before my very eyes, the ashramas, the sadhus, all these. Such good sadhus these are! How much learned, how many qualities they have - leaving all these behind they long for God. It is by these sadhus that the country will rise and religion will be re-established. This is the reason why they have come.

"They also belong to this country - only they were sleeping all these days. With the rise of the sun of Ramakrishna, the lotuses have opened out. The sleeping lord within the lotus of the heart has woken up. That is why all these honey bees have come flying to the lotus feet of Sri Ramakrishna to find honey. How well-educated all these sadhus are? There are B.A., M.A. B.L., doctors among them. Leaving all, these people are yearning for God - like the gopis came running leaving everything behind on hearing the music of the flute.

"Why this yearning? Why were these sadhus created? Thakur says, ‘In Kaliyuga the only way to gain dharma is to keep the company of sadhus.’ He did not content himself just by saying so. He created sadhus. Creation of these sadhus makes the men of the world find an easy path to peace.

"Why did He make the gopis come, filling their minds with yearning and make them give up everything else on hearing the music of the flute? Because otherwise Rasalila (the divine play of Krishna) would not have been possible - the men of the world would not also have had a glorious, bright and sweet example of Prema-bhakti (pure love of the divine) before them. In the same way, He has drawn these sadhus to himself making them give up all - for their good, for the good of India and also for the good of the world. Salvation of these sadhus is in their own hands. They will bring back the lost glory of India - having realised the Self they will enlighten the Indians. India will then rise and His glory will then spread in the world - the glory of the knowledge of the Self, the glory of the knowledge of Brahman. The world will then attain peace and the Satyayuga will return.

"Who can understand His plan? People think that everything is done by the politicians. It’s not so. There is a well-made plan of God behind it. A big master plan there is behind this fall of India and the rise of the West. Since eternity He is doing it - creation, preservation and dissolution; and He brings Satya, Treta, Dwapar and Kaliyuga. India is in the period of Kaliyuga these days. Thakur came to tell the advent of Satyayuga. Swamiji saw that the Yuga of the Shudra was coming. That is why Thakur sowed the seed of Satyayuga or Brahman-yuga, early in the day. These sadhus are the harbingers of Satyayuga, Brahman-yuga. On the one hand we have that animal indulgence and on the other, this great renunciation. Breaking and making - this is what He does. He himself is the one assuming the human form and he himself is the embodiment of all blessed qualities transcending them all."

The Elder Jiten — The robber Ratnakar became Maharshi Balmiki by keeping the company of the sadhus.

M. (aside) — Most people only give lectures but never keep the company of sadhus. One must go for the company of sadhus from time to time. What use is just talking? Nobody wants to budge a jot. Thakur would some time say, ‘These rascals, they don’t take a plunge.’ (Laughter) They just talk. You see, so many persons used to preach in those days. They only used to lecture. Without taking a plunge what can one understand?

2. 

M. (to the Elder Jiten) — Just look at the sky. See what is happening there! The Eternity is working in its eternal ways.

"Just think of the eternal Satchidananda as an infinite sea. There is water all around. In that sea, I, the jiva, am swimming blissfully like a fish.

"Thakur talked of this kind of dhyana. One should practice dhyana in this way. When His grace dawns, this salt-doll of an insignificant jiva going to the sea to fathom it, becomes the sea itself - the jivatman (soul) gets dissolved into Paramatman (the supreme Soul). Then it is all quiet. Nothing remains - no world, no wife, son or daughter, no non-cooperation or politics - nothing. Then all becomes one - that which is the summum bonum of life. To attain this daily practice is necessary."

The Elder Jiten — Then in that state does any distinction survive that between the teacher and the taught, the small and the big?

M. — ‘It is a very difficult state to reach, when one sees no difference between the guru and the disciple,’ so said Thakur. All feelings of duality vanish. The external world exists, but the yogis do no take any notice of it : For them, all is Satchidananda. There is no duality there. The Vedas call Him the One without a second. That is why madgatena antaratmna - his inner self is merged in Me.

"All these states have been seen in Thakur’s life. His body would become stiff like wood and the mind, where would it get merged? He would become conscious of the name and form only when he descended for below to the brink of the world. Even then Satchidananda would keep his mind pulled to the extent that he would see Satchidananda manifesting itself in all names and forms. What a divine play of Satchidananda! All men, birds and beasts, trees and creepers, homes and houses, all these permeated with Satchidananda - Satchidananda all. It was in such a state of mind that he gave the puri (fried loaf) of prasad to the cat to eat."

The Elder Jiten — Does one not see any divine forms in that state?

M. (sarcastically) — Oh, it will not do to remain so far away. You must enter the shop. Then alone you will be able to see what is there inside - where are potatoes and where are patals (a tasty vegetable). One can’t do seated in an arm chair. It is only by going that you can know where Shyampukur is and where the Fort Maidan.

"Just by repeating ‘hemp-hemp’ you can’t get inebriated. You have to crush and eat it before it can come about. Can you enjoy music just by repeating its notation by mouth, whether it be the singer or the listener? You have to play it if both of you wish to enjoy it."

The Elder Jiten — No Sir, the state of dhyana eludes one. It is only in deep meditation that one attains God, when one is fully merged in it.

"A High Court advocate said today: ‘Take to meditation. What use is it reading so much?’ It touched the mind like a divine word. And here too I am hearing the same."

The Elder Jiten — Is it because of the good deeds of our past life that we are sitting here?

M. (to all) — Aha, such a longing for the highest ideal! It is a sight for gods to see.

"Even gods do not have such a yearning. Why? Because they live with sensory pleasures. If there is fifty percent of sensory enjoyment, the yearning also dwindles to fifty percent.

"Why does man have such a yearing for God? Because he sees death always gaping at him. He reflects that this body is to be taken away by death. Therefore what use is it to indulge in transitory sensory enjoyment with this perishable body? As soon as this feeling comes, the mind begins to rebel. It begins to long for the bliss of Brahman. This is called yearning.

"Does it mean nothing just because we are sitting on this rickety bench? That’s not so. What a great ideal we are reflecting upon! Isn’t Thakur our ideal? Thakur means one who remains merged in Para-Brahman night and day round the clock. His dhoti would slip down his waist. Similarly the world would slip from his mind like the fall of a ripe mango. He had only Ma, Ma on his lips always ."

M. (to a particular bhakta) — Real yearning means struggle for the highest ideal, yearning for the goal.

"Those who like to hear Thakur’s words, know it that, they struggle for the realization of the highest goal.

"It is very nice, very inspiring to see someone struggling for God. It is a sight for the gods to see.

"One can see this yearning all the time in this country. Where can one find such yearning in the West? Christ came so it was visible then. When it is not so one is always engaged in materialism - worry for the sensory enjoyments.

"(In a sing-song manner) ‘Soot (yarn) is not sold in this shop, here only the soot (son) of Nandarani (i.e. Krishna) is sold.’ Soot (yarn) is the symbol for sensory enjoyment, whereas the soot (son) of Nandarani signifies the highest ideal."

The Elder Jiten — Not so easy, Sir. . . (that yearning)?

M. (scolds before the Elder Jiten has finished speaking) — How do you say ‘no’? Isn’t it because you can’t catch ‘is’? Do you know all? How far can your eyes see? What is the value of your ego? Do you even know how you were born as a boy from your mother’s womb?

"That is why Thakur said that while a man sleeps, he is not aware even if somebody urinates in his mouth. He just turns pale. And for such a man to have pride! Just see, what a helpless state a man is in."

3.

 "Aha, glance within yourself for once. What is happening inside this body? It is made of the element of earth. Where did it get its vital breath from? And how? And then what about the mind and the intellect? It is with this mind and intellect made of earth that one attains the highest ideal, God. What a wonderful machine He has made!

"How can then one say that one is the doer? Such a helpless state the man is in!

"That is why Thakur taught us how to pray to the Mother - Ma, Pray don’t delude me by thy world-bewitching maya.This maya is present all around, this divine maya, so difficult to overcome. One should pray daily."

A Bhakta (in wonder to himself) — This play of M. with the bhakta is no less wonderful, I see that. The Elder Jiten is fond of talking. Him he scolds to silence. Being reproached his mind plunges into despair. So M. raises it. Says he: Because you are sitting on a rickety bench, does it mean that you are nobody. That’s not true. You are a man of quality. Why? Because you meditate on Sri Ramakrishna. Satchidananda has taken the form of Sri Ramakrishna. You are yearning for him. Otherwise why do you come here daily, to listen to his word. The Elder Jiten puts in his objection: ‘But where is the yearning?’ So he is whipped again. Says M., ‘Have you already known yourself? How can you say that you have no yearning? Listen and follow those who know themselves. Knowing oneself means knowing God.’

"It is like the cat playing with a mouse, as it plays with mouse (man) for a while to begin with. Later having crushed his ego, it is united with the supreme ego of God. Then this helpless fellow becomes mighty having been united to God - the dead comes to life."

M. (to a particular young man) — The yogi is one who like a bird keeps his mind flying above this sense wo0rld. Sitting on the eggs - the mind of the bird is fully concentrated on its eggs. Similarly the yogi’s mind is centred in God. He sees everything but his eyes are half-closed with the sight concentrated within on the Self.

"There are devotees who only want Him - the soot (son) of Nandarani. They always keep the highest ideal before their eyes."

The Young Man — The company of others of different type brings down the mind.

M. — Can it be otherwise? Vivekananda did not visit theatres. Why? Because it very much brings the mind down. Name and form have great influence. Suppose you see a form. If it is good the mind will go towards God. If it is not so it will go towards sensory enjoyment. And as soon as it goes down this way it is caught up. How much effort is then needed to lift it again! That’s why when one is in the stage of a sadhaka one must discriminate between what one should do and what not.

"Even so one can go places in the company of the guardian tutor - the way we went with Thakur to witness Chaitanya Lila! If that is not possible one shouldn’t visit. Otherwise it brings the mind down c-o-n-s-i-d-e-r-a-b-l-y.

"Is word so insignificant? No, it has a great influence. He (God) Himself is the proof of the word. The Chandi says, ‘O Mother, the manifestation of fifty words!’ Just see what a great influence one single word has. (To the Younger Ramesh) Just pronounce the word sannyasi. You will see what a change it brings to your mind.

"When one has attained God-realization, one does not utter many words - one is silenced. Thakur said, ‘There is no sound when the jar is full to the brim; when the bee is seated on the flower it does not hum’."

M. (to the bhaktas) — Gurudatt beej laye, that is, the sacred name that the guru has initiated you with. It is by practicing it that you attain the highest ideal. Then it is all quiet. On the face of it or on hearing it, it may appear to be a small matter, but an infinite power resides within it. Just see, the seed of the Ashwattha tree. How small it looks, the naked eye can’t even see it. But what a huge Ashwattha tree it hides within itself. It is same with the Name (the divine name). The nam (Name) contains the nami (the person named) that is God.

"How great is the potentiality of the Name? Besides it is highly explosive. Bursting from within it crushes all desires for sensory enjoyment - everything is reduced to ashes. However, no fire is generated in this burning. It only generates peace, supreme peace. The noise no longer exists. Only a sweet tranquility remains.

"What happens in the macrocosm also happens in the microcosm."

The Elder Jiten (thoroughly overcome) — It doesn’t happen unless one is mad.

M. — There are two kinds of madness. First, the madness for God which is very good, and second, the madness for material objects. Everybody is crazy for material objects. How many are mad for God?

The Elder Amulya — And mad for all the twenty-four hours. (M. laughs).

M. (with a suppressed smile) — How long did you say?

The Elder Amulya — Twenty-four hours, throughout.

M. — Yes, always, Just see, this is what they live with.

"Members of a mutual admiration society, they come to believe that they have already achieved all. They don’t realize that they themselves are mad.

"We are all mad with desire, anger and greed. The monkey dances when it is in heat. The man is also in the same state. And on the top of it to be proud!

"I take refuge in Thee, O Lord, I take refuge in Thee’ - this is the only way to save oneself. There is no other way. All great men have shown this way - whether rishis or avataras or godmen. And it is proper if we follow these highest men."

Calcutta

Tuesday, 22nd July 1924,

The sixth of Shravana, 1331 B.Y.,

The 6th day of the dark fortnight, 15 Dandas/49 palas.