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Thread: The Gospel Of Ramakrishna

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    The Gospel Of Ramakrishna

    Hey guys,

    I stumbled across the book, "The Gospel of Ramakrishna" last year in a library near my house. This book has changed my life. Ramakrishna Paramhansa was a modern saint and mystic who personally reached the peaks of Conciousness that most of our religious leaders only preach about.

    I was wondering if anyone else had read the book, and was willing to share their first impressions, and their thoughts on Hinduism.

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    I have a very positive view of Hinduism, but I don't know much about it. I haven't read anything by Ramakrishna.

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    Registered User NikolaiI's Avatar
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    I'm so happy to see your post. I hope we can get a discussion of Sri Ramakrishna paramahansa going. I've read the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, at least most of it. I definitely agree that it is a life-changing work. Before I had read his master's, I had read much of Swami Vivekananda's work. Along with Vivekananda, I read the work of Sri Aurobindo, whose lifetime over-lapped the other, but who came later. Sri Aurobindo's work The Life Divine is along the same length and depth as the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.

    I would early on make the point however that the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna was not written by the master, rather it was written by one of his disciples, who is referred to within the text as M.

    I love the book very much and I do hope to buy it for myself, to own it again, hopefully before too much time has passed. It will be wonderful to read through its pages again, which are poetry and brilliant music of the soul and of God. Simply enough cannot be said for its breadth and beauty and power.
    Last edited by NikolaiI; 03-02-2011 at 12:04 AM.

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    I think the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna is available online: http://www.messagefrommasters.com/Eb...amakrishna.pdf

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    Registered User NikolaiI's Avatar
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    I'm sure it is. I would honestly advise anyone who's very interested at all to actually buy the book. It's worth getting and seeing in book form, and if you don't like it you can always pass it on to someone who does. :-)

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    I started reading the Gospel of Ramakrishna and wonder if anyone knows what "sandhya" means. From what I could find it appears to be related to evening devotions, but I don't know what they are. It is also used as a person's given name.

    The context is the first couple of pages where it appears that Ramakrishna is saying that one can skip rituals if one can say the name of Rama and get an appropriate experience. Most people don't, I assume, and so they need to continue with the rituals.

    Here is the quote that puzzles me:

    "The sandhya merges in the Gayatri, and the Gayatri merges in Om."

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    The rituals, even japa, repeating the name of God, "falls off" a person as he delves into a deeper relationship with God. Ramakrishna teaches us that as we come into a closer relationship with God, our external symbols of faith (sect marks, rituals etc) are no longer needed. Those are like float tubes that children use to help them float, until they learn to swim themselves.

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    Quote Originally Posted by roshanmandal View Post
    The rituals, even japa, repeating the name of God, "falls off" a person as he delves into a deeper relationship with God. Ramakrishna teaches us that as we come into a closer relationship with God, our external symbols of faith (sect marks, rituals etc) are no longer needed. Those are like float tubes that children use to help them float, until they learn to swim themselves.
    Thanks, roshanmandal, for referencing "japa", which I had not heard of before. It got me looking further.

    The wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japa) then led to "ajapajapam" as explained by http://www.swamij.com/mantra-japa-ajapa.htm which I think is a similar end result that you described.

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    I found the following quote from Ramakrishna interesting. It was in the second chapter with a date of March 11, 1882:

    Sri Ramakrishna was talking to Kāli, the Divine Mother of the Universe. He said: "Mother, everyone says, 'My watch alone is right.' The Christians, the Brahmos, the Hindus, the Mussalmans, all say, 'My religion alone is true.' But, Mother, the fact is that nobody's watch is right. Who can truly understand Thee? But if a man prays to Thee with a yearning heart, he can reach Thee, through Thy grace, by any path."
    I like how he said that "nobody's watch is right".

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    Ramakrishna teaches us that as we come into a closer relationship with God, our external symbols of faith (sect marks, rituals etc) are no longer needed.
    I am not devoted to any single religion or philosophy, but Hinduism and Buddhism certainly are two sources from which I draw heavily. Your description is quite interesting as I understand a similar idea that emerges from Hinduism: the more internal knowledge one gains toward achieving moksha the less one will find the need for the ideas of a personified God and the rituals that go along with them. It seems to me that the closer one gets to realizing moksha the less one needs to worship Brahma because it becomes obvious they are Brahma.

    But Hinduism understand most people are not at a level to accept this radical idea, and still require the personified Gods and rituals, or floats as you so astutely referred to them. Buddhism makes no such allowances for this step-by-step path toward enlightenment. In Buddhism, there is only the individual and his mindful intentions, and perhaps a teacher, to guide them in their freedom from suffering; nothing to cling to along the way such as Gods and rituals, although you wouldn't know it by looking at the sad state that has befallen much of Buddhism today.

    I also take a great deal of satisfaction challenging myself regularly with Yoga.

    Unfortunately my schedule is too busy to take on any new reading but the Ramakrishna sounds interesting enough. What kinds of changes has it encouraged in your life over the past year if you do not mind my asking?
    The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, "You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done".
    ---
    The late great George Carlin.

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    Quote Originally Posted by naphelge View Post
    In Buddhism, there is only the individual and his mindful intentions, and perhaps a teacher, to guide them in their freedom from suffering; nothing to cling to along the way such as Gods and rituals, although you wouldn't know it by looking at the sad state that has befallen much of Buddhism today.
    I don't know much about Buddhism. What "sad state" are you referring to?


    Here is another quote from the Gospel of Ramakrishna. He keeps bringing this up.

    "Maya is nothing but 'woman and gold'."
    I suppose if he were female he would say: "Maya is nothing but 'man and gold'."
    Last edited by YesNo; 03-08-2011 at 01:14 PM. Reason: typo

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    @naphelge: One of the parables that Shri Ramakrishna tells us is of a man who recieves a letter from his relatives (who live in a village) asking him to buy sweets and clothes for them. As soon as the man receives the letter, he reads it, leaves the letter aside, and goes to buy the sweets and clothes. The point of the parable is show that mere book-reading and scholarship is not enough. One has to assimilate the knowledge of God into one's life. Only then it is of any value. Simply reading and being aware of information does not do anything.
    This is the main way in which Ramkrishna's message has affected my life. I have gone from reading many religious books to just sticking with one, and now I try my best to follow ALL the precepts written (or spoken of). I would suggest the same for you. Pick a religous text (Bhagavad Gita, Bible, Quran, Upanishad etc) and actually follow ALL the precepts taught. (I apologize if I sound too presumptious).

    @YesandNo: Gospel of Ramakrishna was originally written in the Bengali language. The phrase "woman and gold" is a Bengali idiom ("kaminikanchan") which means "lust and greed"(but the literal definition is "woman and gold"). This point has been made clear in the introduction of the english version of the book.
    Shri Ramakrishan was not a sexist. He was very modern in this regard, for his time period. He regarded all women (included prositutes and such) as divine manifestations of Ma Kali (God), and hence, thought of them as his own Mother.

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    Quote Originally Posted by roshanmandal View Post
    The point of the parable is show that mere book-reading and scholarship is not enough. One has to assimilate the knowledge of God into one's life. Only then it is of any value. Simply reading and being aware of information does not do anything.
    I agree that one must assimilate whatever knowledge one gets from reading into one's own life. It is of no value just to know it.

    Here is something I found interesting about why people don't reach liberation. It is on page 150-1.

    The Master said: "The Divine Mother is always playful and sportive. This universe is Her play. She is self-willed and must always have Her own way. She is full of bliss. She gives freedom to one out of a hundred thousand."

    A BRAHMO DEVOTEE: "But, sir, if She likes, She can give freedom to all. Why, then, has She kept us bound to the world?"

    MASTER: "That is Her will. She wants to continue playing with Her created beings. In a game of hide-and-seek the running about soon stops if in the beginning all the players touch the 'granny'. If all touch her, then how can the game go on? That displeases her. Her pleasure is in continuing the game."

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    @YesNo: We must keep in mind that Ramakrishan teaches according to the spiritual level of the devotee (as did all the rishis of Vedic times), that is, he gives you the answer that you will be able to understand at you present spiritual level. The devotee who asks the question (posed in previous post) was probably a bhakta, he believed in the Personal form of God. Hence, Ramakrishna told him that God decides who is liberated and who is not.

    However, ultimately, God is nirguna, that is, impersonal. We do not achieve moksha because we cannot kill our ego (ahamkara). The moment we kill our ego, we will reach moksha.

    Bhakti (devotion), raja ("mind-control"), jyana ("knowledge") are different paths in which one can rise to the spiritual level in which one will identify himself with God and kill his ego.

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    I liked this point made by YesNo just few posts back:
    -----------------------------------------------------

    Here is something I found interesting about why people don't reach liberation. It is on page 150-1.


    The Master said: "The Divine Mother is always playful and sportive. This universe is Her play. She is self-willed and must always have Her own way. She is full of bliss. She gives freedom to one out of a hundred thousand."

    A BRAHMO DEVOTEE:
    "But, sir, if She likes, She can give freedom to all. Why, then, has She kept us bound to the world?"

    MASTER:
    "That is Her will. She wants to continue playing with Her created beings. In a game of hide-and-seek the running about soon stops if in the beginning all the players touch the 'granny'. If all touch her, then how can the game go on? That displeases her. Her pleasure is in continuing the game."

    ------------------------------------------------------------

    Swami Vivekanand, the famous disciple of Master said something like this:
    We (human beings) are like small children playing in a sea-shore. We are lost in our play with water, sand, pebbles, sand castles and other such things. But the moment we had our fill, the time we feel our play is over, we we will loose interest in everything and will go rushing towards the waiting arms of Mother ( God).

    Based on these and other readings, I put following in one of the religious threads:

    Is it not possible that God is actually the director of the continuous drama that is being played in world day and night, week after week, year after year? He operates silently from backstage but it is He who calls all the shot, pulls all the strings. And does so, so quietly, and so furtively that we fail to feel His presence and start believing that this whole drama runs on its own without any one directing it.

    One day 9/11 happened. Misguided persons, pent up emotions take the control and succeed in their mission of terror. The whole world watches the TV replays again and again. Unbelievable. What is the world coming to? What the heck the God can be doing? How come He let such a thing happen? Or is it God’s doing? He must have been aware of all this and still He let this happen?
    Is it actually His way of asking us, Can you still believe on me after this. Can you still hold on to your faiths.? Or is God trying to send a message to humanity: Life is too short, too uncertain, don’t take yourself as invincible.

    A Sunday afternoon. Sunny day. The city center is buzzing with activity. People are purchasing, tourists are sight-seeing, there is a zing in the air, lovers are gazing deeply into each-other’s eyes, oblivious of the world. Everything is looking fine with the world. A car comes at a breakneck speed and crushes a little kid who just moments ago was chuckling with glee. The kid’s young mother is inconsolable. Everyone who sees the sight is shocked, heartbroken. Why an innocent kid has to die this way?

    Simple… A fast car, out of control. Probably the driver was drunk or casual or lost somewhere in thought or some other thing. But such things happen in the world. It can happen to anybody. There is no God. World runs on its own by its own rules.
    Or again is God playing trick on us. Is He luring us into believeing that the whole drama runs on it own. Probably challenging us can we still believe in Him after this.

    If we look around, watch TV or read newspapers, we will find plenty of bad and sad things happening: Rapes, unsolved grim murders, fit persons becoming severely handicapped for life, Mentally sick people, people dying of hunger or committing suicide out of loneliness, a rabbit found underground dead with with a dead baby rabbit stuck in the birth canal etc. We will find the world rampant with bad things.
    Can it be God playing trick on us. Playing His drama so effectively that we begin to suspect His presence. Is He challenging us- Can you still believe in me? Can you still cling to your faith if your world going topsy-turvy?

    Coming back, why that kid had to die. We can see it only as the death of a seven year old- a bubbly life coming to an abrupt end in an unnatural way. But may be there is a reincarnation thing after all. For God the kid is not seven year old but a soul taking birth again and again in various human forms in earth. May be even earlier than Buddha, Muhammed, Christ, Krishna and others. In His eternal play, may be in a karma theory we don’t know much about, the soul was to stay only for seven year as that kid. God sees the kid as an eternal entity ever existing and He is working towards the entity’s final union with Him. With our limited knowledge about an event, what for us is mindless, unforgivable and too callous, for benevolent God who sees everything in full light it may only be a passing show in an eternal play.
    Yes, there are no proofs for these things. It seems that God sees to it that there are no proofs of the type atheists seek. And believers just have to march forward on a faith that may get tested time and again.

    Bit off topic....
    But I felt tempted to put it here.

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