Spiritual Teachings of the Masters from the East and West: Describing One who has Seen God

Spiritual Teachings of the Masters from the East and West

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Describing One who has Seen God

From the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

At the Star Theatre (II)

Sunday, December 14, 1884

    Master: There are signs by which you can know whether a man has truly seen God. One of these is joy; there is no hesitancy in him. He is like the ocean; the waves and the sounds are on the surface; below are profound depths. The man who has seen God behaves sometimes like a madman; sometimes like a ghoul, without any feeling of purity or impurity; sometimes like an inert thing, remaining speechless because he sees God within and without; sometimes like a child, without any attachment, wandering about unconcernedly, with his cloth under his arm. Again in the mood of the child, he acts in different ways: sometimes like a boy, indulging in frivolity; sometimes like a young man, working and teaching with the strength of a lion.

    "Man cannot see God on account of his ego. You cannot see the sun when a cloud rises in the sky. But that doesn't mean there is no sun; the sun is there just the same.

"But there is no harm in the 'ego of a child'. On the contrary, this ego is helpful...
He who has seen God finds that God alone has become the world and all its living beings; it is He who has become all. Such a person is called a superior devotee."

    Girish: "Sir, I know that it is God who does everything."

    Master: "I say, 'O Mother, I am the machine and You are the Operator; I am inert and You make me conscious; I do as You make me do; I speak as You make me speak.' But the ignorant say, 'I am partly responsible, and God is partly responsible.'"

    Girish: " Sir, I am not really doing anything, Why should I bother about work at all?"

    Master: "No, work is good. When the ground is well cultivated and cleared of stones and pebbles, what ever you plant will grow. But one should work without any personal motive."

    Girish: "Please bless me, Sir."

    Master: "Have faith in the Divine Mother and you will attain everything."