The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian.  But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth.  If the Parliament of Religions has shown anything to the world, it is this:  It has proved to the world that holiness, purity, and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character.

Be drunk, O mind, be drunk with the Wine of Heavenly Bliss!

"Roll on the ground and weep, chanting Hari’s sweet name!

Fill the arching heavens with your deep lion roar, Singing Hari’s sweet name!  With both your arms upraised, dance in the name of Hari and give His name to all, Swim by day and by night in the bliss of Hari’s love; Slay desire with his name and blessed be your life!”    

“God sports in this world.  He is under the control of His devotee.  Syama, the Divine Mother is Herself tied by the cord of the love of her Devotee.

“Sometimes God becomes the magnet and the devotee the needle, and sometimes the devotee becomes the magnet and God the needle.  The devotee attracts God to him.  God is the Beloved of his devotee and is under his control.”

“Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord if thou hadst been there,  my brother would not have died.  But I know, that even now, ‘whatever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it to thee.”

Jesus said unto her, ‘Thy brother shall rise again.’ 

Martha saith unto him, ‘I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’

Jesus said unto her,’I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.  Believest thou this?’

She saith unto him, ‘Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God which should come into the world.’                                                                      

I cannot understand how religious people can remain content without the practice of the presence of God. As for me, I keep myself recollected in him in the depth and center of my soul as much as possible, and when I am thus with him I fear nothing, though the least deviation is hell for me.  ... I do not say we must put ourselves to a great deal of trouble to do this; no, we must serve God in holy freedom. We must work faithfully, without turmoil or anxiety, gently and peacefully bringing our minds back to God as often as we find ourselves distracted.
…

We can continue our loving exchange with him, remaining in his holy presence sometimes by an act of adoration, praise, or desire, other times by acts of oblation, thanksgiving, or anything else that our minds can devise.
 

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Let nothing disturb thee

Let nothing dismay thee

All things pass;

God never changes.

Patience attains

All that it strives for.

He who has God

Finds he lacks nothing:

God alone suffices.

The worship of God as Divine Mother

It was the third day of Durga Puja.  The Master had been awake in his room at Dakshineshwar since early morning.  The morning worship at the Kali temple was over and the orchestra had played the morning melodies at the nahabat.  Brahmins and gardeners, basket in hand, were plicking flowers for the worship of Divine Mother.  Bhavanath, Baburam, Niranjan, and M. had spent the night at Dakshineshwar, sleeping on the porch of the Master’s room.  As soon as the awoke, they saw Sri Ramakrishna dancing in an ecstatic mood.  He was chanting: “Victory to Mother Durga! Hallowed be the name of Durga!”  He looked like a child as he chanted the name of the blissful mother.  After a few moments he said: “Oh, the bliss of divine ecstasy! Oh, the bliss of divine drunkenness!”

The Game Goes On

There are two teams in this world. One is sentient, and the other insentient.  Both of them are playing football.  When the insentient team wins, then injustice, evil, and the like are seen in this world.  When the sentient team wins, then good and noble ideas become manifest.  The sole purpose of religious practice, the practice of ethics, rules of government, etc., is to control the insentient and make the sentient independent and free.  There are some people who actually perform evil actions in order to acquire merit.  Here we find the sentient being defeated at the hands of the insentient!  Their animal nature has dominated their godly nature.  It is just like a game.  Just as these things become manifest in the life of an individual, so also do they reveal themselves in the life of a nation.  The insentient rules in the West in the form of Rajas (ambition).  In India, the insentient is master of the nation in the form of Tamas (inertia).  The insentient has three aspects – Sattva (calmness), Rajas, and Tamas.  If the insentient must win, then let it be the Sattva aspect that wins.  This is what we are striving for, and this is what goes by the name of the Ramakrishna Mission.

The awakening of a soul to its bondage and its effort to stand up and assert itself – this is called life.  Success in this struggle is called evolution.  The eventual triumph, when all the slavery is blown away, is called salvation, Nirvana, freedom.   Everything in the universe is struggling for liberty.  When I am bound by nature, by name and form, by name and causality, I do not know what I truly am.  But even in this bondage my real self is not completely lost.  I strain against the bonds; one by one they break, and I become conscious of my inner grandeur.  Then comes complete liberation.  I attain to the clearest and fullest consciousness of myself – I know that I am the infinite spirit, the master of nature, not its slave.  Beyond all differentiation and combination, beyond space, time and causation, I am that, I am