sanjaya/Friends,
There is a wonderful series of conversations of 'M' available in about 16 volumes or so called M,The Apostle and evangelist-This is a diary maintained by Jagabandhu who later became swami Nityatmananda;jagabandhu was trained by 'M' to maintain a diary and groomed by him.Accordingly,J maintained the diary of conversations with M exactly like how M maintained and then wrote the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.I warmly recommend this wonderful series of conversations with M,where M provides the commentary on many of Sri Ramakrishna's sayings in The Gospel.Here is an excerpt that gives a flavour of what one may find in M,The Apostle and Evangelist:
"Thakur used to pray, ‘Ma, make me like Sita.’ Rama asked Hanuman how did he find Sita in Lanka. Hanuman replied, ‘I saw only her body lying there and Yama, the God of death paying visits but returning without her.’ You see, her mind and soul were tied to Ram, in a constant remembrance of him.
"Yama’s coming but returning without her means that he doesn’t take away the gross body - he only carries away the subtle body. The mind, intellect, chitta (consciousness) and ego are portions of the subtle body. All these had been tied to Ram. What could Yama carry away then? So he came again and again, hoping to find her sometimes without the thought of Ram. Aha! what a state she was in! It is only in such a state that one can overcome desire.
"But Mahamaya doesn’t let you recognize an avatara. Only twelve rishis, Bharadwaj and others were able to recognize Ram as an avatara. The others couldn’t. How could they do so unless He let them? How amazing! They were all rishis who had attained the Essence, even they couldn’t. They said, ‘Ram is such a man of knowledge (Jnana)! Such a great man of propriety he is! How devoted he is to his father and mother!’ But the rishis, though already liberated in life, could not recognize the avatara. What a riddle!"
M. (to the devotees) — Thakur became one with anybody he met. Once he went to Kamarpukur. All the women of the locality came and surrounded him as usual. Thakur said, ‘It was as if I was ‘diluted’ into them.’ Isn’t that so? (Everybody laughs).
"During his last illness he said: ‘The Mother will no longer let me live. I have the nature of a child. I blurt out everything. That is why Mother will not let me live.’
"If everybody were to get awakened how would this world of bondage - household go on? So he said: ‘Mother is taking me away.’ And he added: ‘If I were to live a little longer, the consciousness of many others would get awakened’."
A particular Bhakta — He was himself the power of Brahman and the child of the Mother, the devotee Sri Ramakrishna of the Mother. Both of these together. I do not understand how it is possible.
M. — The same power of Brahman has taken the form of the jiva (living being) and the world. Besides He inheres all and controls from within. Bahu syam prajayey -I will become many, this too the Veda contains. Besides the Veda also says: ‘Having created the living beings and the universe, I inhere them all’ - tat srishtva tat eva anu pravishat. If that is possible why do you think it is not possible that both the bhakta and the avatara live in the same body?
"There is something else also in the Veda - dwa suparna - the fable of two birds. Two birds have perched themselves on the same one tree (body). One of the two eats both the sour and the sweet fruit, in other words, indulges in both pleasure and pain. The other bird just keeps looking on, but does not eat any fruit. It remains indifferent.
"Anything is possible by his maya-shakti.
"The bhava of being a bhakta in an avatara though looks like a jiva’s but is not really a jiva’s. Reason, a jiva is under the jurisdiction of the fruit of his actions, whereas the avatara isn’t. He is not born as a result of his actions of the past. He assumes the form of a human-being because of the desperate prayers of the devotees. He remains in the human body as long as the momentum of the force of their prayers lasts. Soon after it he dissolves himself in his Self. Before passing away Thakur said: ‘I no longer see two - I see less than that. I see Mother in all - Mother or God - Brahman Shakti.’
"He shows as though he is a jiva, but in fact the avatara doesn’t have jiva’s nature in him. The avatara is always aware of that he is God in the garb of a human being? The ordinary jiva doesn’t know that he is God. The avatara, i.e. God, acts as a human-being of his own will. Otherwise the play doesn’t get enacted, you see.
"Christ also played the part of the father and son and sometimes he talked of unity when he said, ‘I and my Father are one.’
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