M. (to Antevasi) — So much work has accumulated. You have to attend to it all today. First of all, you have to go to the Basumati office and deliver this article (on Sw. Vivekananda). And you have to bring the file copy of the previous articles if printed. I have to read them out to the bhaktas. Two, I hear that they are making vests of khaddar which are on sale. Please go and see if you like them. Three, there is a lot of empty space below the partition in my room. You have to plug it.

M. (to the bhaktas) — How amazing! A pigeon has been killed. Perhaps it is the cat which has killed it. Which other animal could have come here?

A particular Bhakta — It appears that it was seized at night when the pigeons are asleep.

M. — I was dumb-founded when I saw the feathers this morning.

M. (gravely to the bhaktas) — Just note how uncertain the life is! It (the pigeon) was sleeping in the remote cornice of the roof. The cat went even there and killed it. It is the same with the life of all other beings. Death is bound to come, but when it will one does not know. The whole thing ends in a moment.

"Yes, everybody has to depart after a hundred years. This is certain. But we forget that we have to depart. This too is His doing. If everybody remembers death His play in the world will come to a standstill. Who will then attend to all these things? Such is His plan! Almost everybody has forgetten. Maybe some three or four persons have not. They keep themselves always ready to depart. That is why they do not attend much to worldly duties.

"But they whom He engages in work after imparting this knowledge are truly the saviours of the society, for example, Vyasa, Vashishtha and others. They not only proclaim but also act on the conviction that God is, and that we are all the children of God, a portion of His, and act in the world knowing this.

"Those who listen this are bhaktas. They can keep both sides - God and the world.

"To begin with, hear the Shastra from the mouth of the guru, and know through your intellect that God is. Later on, by carrying out sadhana, one experiences within oneself that He is. Next, by His grace, one sees His presence, sees Him and gains a firm conviction that He is. It was with this conviction that rishis set to work. The work of Swami Vivekananda and the work of Thakur’s close disciples belong to the same category.

"And there is another class. They go the other way, in the opposite direction, towards ignorance - that too by His will. They don’t know Him and they don’t accept Him. He Himself has injected them with this illusory arrogance. This very conceit governs their life. Most people belong to this category. Had they not been there, the world wouldn’t have gone on. That’s why these people go the other way, that too at His dispensation.

"They undergo troubles and tribulations life after life - indulging in the pleasure and pain of the senses. They become restless and impatient. Then they look for Him. Even then they do not want Him directly; they only want peace and pleasure. Perceiving that all worldly things are enveloped by pain, they don’t want them. They only ask for peace, peace and perfect peace.

"God then listens to their prayers and appears before them in the form of the guru. Then they listen to the guru. They begin to have faith in the Shastras and trust in God."

M. (to everybody present) — And there is a state inbetween the two. In it also the man calls on God. He is convinced that God is the lord of the world. But, instead of asking for unmixed peace, undiluted joy, they ask for mixed peace viz. the perishable worldly fame, wife and children - ‘woman and gold’, that is to say. And, He grants them these too. Such persons are known as sakaam bhaktas, devotees with worldly desires. But when this does not lead them to peace, they look for the everlasting peace, everlasting joy. There are three states: the pashu bhogi (man with animal like cravings), sakaam bhogi (man who worships God for worldly desires only) and bhogi-yogi (man who wants both the worldly things as well as God).

"The yogis are also of two classes: the yogi-bhogis and pure yogis. They have understood that God comes first and the world afterwards. That’s why they are yogis. But some of their desires for sensory enjoyment have remained unfulfilled. They fulfil this desire and take refuge in the Lord, for example, the Pandavas. The Pandavas enjoyed ruling a kingdom under Sri Krishna’s guidance but didn’t get entangled in it. It was like a mother feeding the child with sweets with her own hands. As soon as she feels that taking more of it will bring indigestion she stops feeding. She only gives to the child as much as would satisfy his desire and keep him healthy. That is why they are called yogi-bhogis. They also gradually becomes yogis. The Pandavas who were yogi-bhogis became complete yogis afterwards. This is the way of gradual attainment. Then one will be a complete sannyasa inside even while living in the household. The Pandavas even while living in the household, became the complete yogis at last with the grace of Lord Krishna. They left for the last journey after hearing the death of Sri Krishna.

"The pure yogis are like Narada, Shukadeva. These are unmarried sannayasis. They are like honey-bees , would like nothing else but honey of the flowers. Like the chataka bird, who would not even touch the water except that of swati nakshatra - wants pure water. They are pure blooded.

"There are these four classes of men. Men who enjoy like animals (pashu bhogi), men who worship lord for worldly things (sakaam bhakta yogi), men who want both God and the world (yogi-bhogi) and pure yogis. Every being is to become a yogi at the end and attain freedom from this world."

M. (to the Younger Jiten) — This bird has forgone this one birth. After lakhs of births does one attain a human birth. Then man has to go through the three stages. Only afterwards he attains moksha. Even a man can fall again. Thinking of a deer he became a deer - the king became a deer - Jada Bharat (the king Bharat became stone like).

"(To the youngman) The foundation of Indian culture is like a four-storeyed house. Its foundation is the knowledge of the Brahman - complete selfless jnana. On it are the four storeys - yogi, yogi-bhogi, sakaam bhakta bhogi and pashu bhogi. That’s why it has sustained through time and will remain so. So they call it sanatan dharma - the eternal religion.

"Brahman is eternal. Out of It has come out the four classes of men. The time has four divisions - Satya, Treta, Dwapar and Kali yugas. In these four yugas four castes have their respective reign - brahmins (spiritual-intellectuals), kshatriyas (warriors), vaishyas (business men) and shudras (servants to the three higher castes). This distinction among the castes is based on one’s qualities and actions. This is a social arrangement. It was generated for better integration. When the society is well-integrated, attainment of Brahman-jnana becomes easy."

M. (to all present) — If everybody becomes a jnani how will His world go on? That is why He has created this ignorance.

"The rishis say that generation, preservation and dissolution are the three acts of His sport. He Himself has become the world and the jiva. Besides He Himself is jnana and ajnana, bondage and liberation, all these. Tat srishtva tat eva anupravashit. He has expanded Himself in the form of the world. He Himself has assumed the form of a living being. And then He Himself is sitting within the living being as the controller. It’s a one-man-show."

M. (to Jagabandhu) — He has brought us consciousness through the death of this bird. He Himself went to sleep as a bird and then He Himself became the cat to kill and devour it. Those who have merged their ego completely in the Lord can only realize this truth.

"Grandfather Bhishma was aware of it. He knew that God Himself had taken the form of Sri Krishna to establish dharma. He knew also that He was both, the Kauravas and the Pandavas. It was the time for everybody to depart. It was perhaps because of this that he was on the side of the Kauravas. There can be other reasons too.

"Sri Krishna said something too: ‘I have come as Death to destroy all. I am Arjuna, I am all of these.’ And he named any number of big personalities. The fact is that all is He."

The Elder Jiten — You have not been keeping well for quite sometime. Which food will suit you?

M. (to the bhaktas) — God has again incarnated Himself for the good of humanity. Thakur himself said: ‘Satchidananda has come in this body as a human-being.’ Why did he take up the body of a man? He says, ‘It is only in a human body that prema, bhakti, jnana and love-lorn dancing, all this divine play is possible.’ Man cannot catch the abstract, he is afraid of it. So, He comes in a concrete form. He says Satchidananda plays Ishwar-lila, jagat-lila, deva-lila and manav-lila (the sport of God in the world, the sport of a divine being and that of a man).

"All higher impulses that the man has have to be turned toward God. It is for teaching this that He takes up a human body. This is not possible unless He plays the part of a human being. So, He comes down as avatara. Thakur was mad repeating, Ma, Ma; merged night and day in Her; She who was his mind and soul. He had no consciousness of the body or of the outer world - his mind was submerged in the soul within. When he became conscious of the world he saw that the Mother had Herself become the world and all living-beings therein. That is why he was always repeating Ma, Ma, like a frightened child. How can the baby live without his mother? Seeing the terrible form of Sri Krishna, Arjuna was struck with awe. The rishis were also full of fright. So they prayed - rudra yatte dakshinam mukham tena mam pahi nityam -O Shankar, please save us always with your benevolent aspect. Trembling Arjun prayed, ‘Please assume again Your gentle form.’ (Gita 11: 46-50).

"Seeing the amazing worldly play of Ma, Thakur was struck by awe. So he always wished to see Her benevolent loving form. He saw that Ma makes one forget all and casts a spell. So he prayed: ‘Ma, if you must keep me here please don’t cast your net of world-bewitching maya over me.’

"Whenever he saw Her form within himself he would go into samadhi, as though a fish was swimming in the sea of joy; and when he saw Her outer form he would weep and call out, ‘Ma, Ma.’ He would pray and sing hymns in Her praise.

"For the sake of His lila, the Lord assumes both the aspects: He becomes a bhakta and then the lord. Mostly He acts in the spirit of a bhakta, but sometimes he speaks as God and says, ‘Hold Me, meditate on Me. Verily, verily I say that he who meditates on Me will inherit my wealth, like a son inheriting his father’s wealth. My wealth consists of jnana, bhakti, discrimination and dispassion, peace and joy, prema and samadhi. All these constitute My wealth.’

M. (to Antevasi) — Some devotees explain this phenomenon of God appearing in a human form in this way. We have bodies made up of blood and flesh. We cannot therefore know Satchidananda. So He comes taking up the body of blood and flesh, and He conducts Himself like a human-being in every action. He also has sorrow and pain, pleasure and joy, just like humans.

"The truth is that He is Indivisible Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. He is beyond speech and mind. But for the welfare of man He appears as man. Men see Him just as a man. But is He a man in reality? No, He is Indivisible Existence-Knowledge-Bliss. He behaves like a man, he dances; (think of) our Thakur.

"It is like a picture on the screen. One feels as if one is seeing a real man. But the truth is otherwise. When we see the picture of Christ, we get the impression as if he is really there - so vividly we see him there. But the truth is otherwise. It is just the same with the avatara, with Thakur. The devotees, therefore, say: Vedanta-sidhhanta nrityati. The principle of the Vedanta is Para-Brahman, the Indivisible Existence-Knowledge-Bliss. He dances in His rasa-lila with gopis in the form of Krishna, as a man."

M. (to the devotees) — What power a man has! You see, by weeping secretly in a solitary corner, he develops another eye. It is known as the spiritual eye. He can see God with it. This eye remains in the karana sharira, what Thakur called as Bhagavati tanu - the spiritual body. When he sees Him the man is fulfilled. The highest duty, the highest ideal of human life is just this.

"Or, take for illustration, a crystal. One can see through it what is lying behind it. Or, say, glass. One can see everything through it. It is such a mystery!

"He has become the world and the jiva with the help of His maya. And He inheres all as the witness.

"All the confusion we have is the result of the ego in the jiva. I am happy, I am sad, I have a son born to me, my son is dead,’ - this ‘I’ is the cause of all confusion. This is something amazing.

"He Himself came as a man; He took upon Himself all the duties of man; He subjected Himself to pain and affection, and then he freed Himself from all these. He said to the bhaktas: ‘If you want peace, if you want happiness, you have to hold me and follow my path. Build a relationship with God like me - any one you like - that of a father, or mother, or brother, or a friend.’ He himself chose to be a child of the Mother. He said to one of the bhaktas: ‘Live in the world like a maid servant of a rich family.’ In short, he showed the way to free oneself from bondage."

M. (to the bhaktas) — Of all the living-beings, only man can penetrate this mystery. It is his monopoly. The jiva is he who has an individuality. The fact of his being a jiva can be overcome by developing the spiritual eye. This is the same as purifying the chitta. The yogis gain this very spiritual eye. They tear the veil of the infinite with it. Developing the spiritual eye, or purifying the chitta, or gaining jnana, or destroying the ego, or breaking the cycle of life and death and attaining liberation - all these come about simultaneously. In fact they are all one.

The Elder Jiten (fighting it out) — That (spiritual) eye is far away. How far can one go with this eye!

M. — Why, even this eye can do it. Thakur has shown the way: It is faith in the words of the guru. Full faith in the words of the guru also yields amazing results. There was a devotee. He was old and helpless. He asked Thakur what was the way. Immediately came the reply: ‘Trust in the words of the guru.’ What to do when one has no spiritual eye? This, this is the alternative.

"How? Suppose I am blind, I cannot see with my eyes, and yet it is absolutely necessary for me to meet Rama Babu. What to do? I seek the help of another man. He holds me and leads me to him. Handing me over to him he says to me, ‘This is Rama Babu, the person you want.’

"Even when one does not see him with these eyes, it is also seeing him if one touches him by holding his hand. Besides, hearing his words can even be taken as seeing him. One can also see with the other four senses. One must put one’s trust in the words of good people.

"Just as by believing the words of a person, a blind man can meet another person similarly it is with the words of the guru. By believing the words of the guru or the avatara anything can be achieved. One must have a childlike faith - a 125% faith. The mother says, ‘There is a hobgoblin in the house in that room.’ The child believes it one hundred percent - he has no doubt that there is a hobgoblin in that room. But what is a hobgoblin, even this he does not perhaps know, he has never seen one!

"So Bhagavan says in the Gita - shrutva anyebhyah upasate - what, Doctor Babu?"

The Doctor — Anye tu evam ajanantah shrutva anyebhyah upaste, te api cha atitaranti eva mrityum shrutipraynah.

[Others, not knowing thus, worship as they have heard from others; they too go beyond death by their devotion to what they have heard; Gita 13:25]

M. — This indeed is the yoga of faith in the guru.

M. (to the Younger Amulya) — When are you going to your desh (village)?

The Younger Amulya — No date has been fixed so far. Even so I shall have to go early.

The Elder Jiten (to the Younger Amulya) — Will this ‘stove’ have to go for repairs?

M. (encouragingly) — Why? What is wrong with it? These are the days of the advent of the avatara. When He comes, liberation lies under one’s feet. What is then to fear now?

"Thakur did not spare even the rishis from his criticism. He used to say that the rishis were big cowards! Why worry? Thakur is with you.

"He is always walking behind the devotees to protect them, and He takes up the responsibility of those bhaktas who take refuge in Him. He grants the intellect which saves and arranges every matter in a way beneficial to them."

Morton School, Calcutta.

Monday, 28th July 1924

12th of Shravana 1331 (B.Y.)

The 13th day of the dark fortnight, 27 dandas/55 palas.