 |
| Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Idol at Belur Math, Kolkata |
It is silly to raise such questions as, ‘Where is God? How will He help?’ By raising such questions only our faith is weakened. That is the reason why
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said, “If you want to pray to God, be like an innocent child”.
- “The Crowning Virtue”, Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 21, January 7, 1988, Prasanthi Nilayam
Your pet dog will wander in the bazaar for scrapings from dustbins, if you do not feed it full at home. Give the dog a nice full meal; it will lie under the porch and guard your house! The mind too can be weaned away from vicious desires if you feed it on good thoughts, good resolutions, tenderness and love. Then only will it serve your best interests.
Ramakrishna Paramahamasa told an addict that he must not consume more than a given quantity of opium; he gave him a piece of chalk, to weigh every day the quantity of opium he can eat, no more, no less! But, he imposed a condition, whose usefulness in helping him to conquer the bad habit the addict did not realise then. It was that every time he used the weight he had to write on a slate, the Pranava (Om), before putting it on the scale of the balance. The fellow obeyed, the chalk was reduced in weight with every Om, until it was eliminated in full; the opium habit too was reduced out of existence! The Om also helped to transfer his attachment from the opium-induced tranquillity to the everlasting Bliss of God-intoxication.
- “Pilgrims! Do Not Tarry!”, Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 6, November 24, 1967, Prasanthi Nilayam
Some people remark that, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said that Siddhis are obstructions in the path of the Sadhaka (spiritual aspirant). Of course they are; he may be led astray by Siddhis; he has to keep straight on without being involved in them. His ego will increase if he yields to the temptation of demonstrating his Siddhis. This is the correct advice, which every Sadhaka should heed.
- “Ishwara Grants Aishwaryam”, Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 04,
August 12, 1963, Venkatgiri
You can remain in the family but do not have the family in you. Describing this aspect, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said, “You may put a boat in the water, but you should not put water in your boat.” You should live in the world but do not accumulate things for the future and get yourself worried. True Vairagya refers to doing your duty at a particular time and to think of what is relevant at that time.
- “Love Lives by Giving and Forgiving”, Summer Showers in Brindavan 1978, Brindavan
What is good of burdening yourself with desire when you do not have the qualification to fulfil it? Mathuranath once asked Ramakrishna Paramahamsa for a chance to enjoy what was known as Nirvikalpa Samadhi (super-conscious state of Bliss), about which he had heard.
 |
| Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa in Samadhi |
Though Ramakrishna demurred because he had no qualification and preparatory training for it, he insisted; so when at last, the Master acceded, and made him lose consciousness for three days, the poor man protested and appealed for an end to that experience. It was a burden too heavy for his weak shoulders.
- “The Sandalwood Tree”, Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 4, August 15, 1964, Chennai
...If inside our heart and outside our body, we create an environment which is good in ideas and good in actions, the strength and faith in our heart will never diminish, waver or change in any manner. For illustrating this, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa gave a striking example.
An incense stick, when lighted has fire in it. If someone lights a cigarette, there is fire in it. If a forest is burning, there is fire in it. If a cooking stove is working, there is fire in it. These are all fires of different strengths. If you take a bundle of dry sticks and put it near the incense stick or the cigarette, the dry sticks may not catch fire. Not only will they not catch fire, they will even put out the fire in the incense stick or the cigarette. On the other hand, even if you take a bundle of raw and green plantain trees to the forest fire, they will not succeed in putting out the forest fire but will themselves become part of the fire.
The reason for this is that the forest fire is rich in quality and in quantity. It is therefore able to burn everything that comes into contact with it. The fire on the incense stick and on the cigarette has neither the quality nor the quantity and therefore it itself is extinguished. If the good qualities in you are feeble, they will be extinguished under the pressure of bad company. If they are strong, they will extinguish everything bad that comes into contact with them.
- “Seek the Company of Good People”, Summer Showers in Brindavan 1973, Brindavan
In order to escape being tossed about on the waves of joy and grief, one should cultivate unconcern (Upeksha), an attitude of welcoming either, as a sign of Grace. Sri Ramakrishna said that if you must avoid the sticky fluid in the jack fruit from contacting your fingers when you peel it, you have to apply a few drops of oil on them. So too, said he, “If you do not want the world and its reactions to stick to you, have a few drops of ‘unconcern’ applied on your mind.” This unconcern leads to the deepest yearning for God.
- “The Windows of the Mind”, Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 7, October 9, 1967, Prasanthi Nilayam
On one occasion, someone came to Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and wailed, “My mind is troubling and torturing me”. Ramakrishna gave a very witty reply, “Oh is your mind giving you so much trouble? Catch hold of it and bring it to me. I will punish it”. Ramakrishna wanted to stress only that the mind is but his imagination. It is our desires alone that create the phantom of the mind. If desires are subdued, the mind vanishes.
- “Eternal Harmony”, Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 15, 1981, Dharmakshetra
Source: Sai Vani: Avatar on Mahapurushas
No comments:
Post a Comment