(To Shivanath and the other Brahmo devotees) "Can you tell me why you dwell so much on the powers and glories of God? I asked the same thing to Keshab Sen. One day Keshab with his Brahma Samaj devotees came to the temple garden at Dakshineswar. I told them I wanted to hear how they lectured. A meeting was arranged in the paved courtyard above the bathing-ghat on the Ganges, where Keshab gave a talk. He spoke very well. I went into a trance. After the lecture I said to Keshab, 'Why do you so often say such things as:
"O God, what beautiful flowers Thou hast made! O God, Thou hast created the heavens, the stars, and the ocean!" and so on?' Those who love splendour themselves are fond of dwelling on God's splendour.
"Once a thief stole the jewels from the images in the temple of Radhakanta. Mathur Babu entered the temple and said to the Deity: 'What a shame, O God! You couldn't save Your own ornaments.' 'The idea!' I said to Mathur. 'Does He who has Lakshmi for His handmaid and attendant ever lack any splendour? Those jewels may be precious to you, but to God they are no better than lumps of clay. Shame on you! You shouldn't have spoken so meanly. What riches can you give to God to magnify His glory?'
"Therefore I say, a man seeks the person in whom he finds joy. What need has he to ask where that person lives, the number of his houses, gardens, relatives, and servants, or the amount of his wealth? I forget everything when I see Narendra. Never, even unwittingly, have I asked him where he lived, what his father's profession was, or the number of his brothers.
"Dive deep in the sweetness of God's Bliss. What need have we of His infinite creation and unlimited glory?"
[1]Similarly during his first meeting with Keshab Sri Ramakrishna said to him and his devotees:
Why do you people give much importance to the glories and powers of God? Does a son car about the wealth and property of his father. All he wants from his father is his love. He knows that to take care of his child and to think about his future is a duty of father. We are all children of God, so as a father if God takes care of us, what is there to get surprised? A True devotee cannot have this kind of thoughts. He his think of God as to one who is the most beloved. Means he sees him as the most near and dear one to him; and fearlessly says: "you will have to fulfill my wish, you will have to give me your divine vision (Darshan[2]). See, if you will give so much importance to the powers and glories of God, then you cannot think of him and the one who is most beloved, and you will also not feel that you have a very close relation with God (i.e. you will feel that there is some distance between you and God). Gods glories an powers have blinded you; you are not experiencing a close relationship with him. So you will you will have to think about him as the most beloved, then you will be able to know God.
Source:
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna,
[1] Sri Ramakrishnadev Jivan Charitra in Gujarati
[2] Darhan according to Shastras does not mean 'To see'. It means 'To Know'
Hence, the statement 'give me your divine vision' means 'let me know your true nature'
*explanation of meaning of 'darshan' extracted from a discourse of Swami Tadrupanand.
2 comments:
i once had very interesting conversation with the Gurudware Bhaiji
After sewa i & he bit tired so we sit near the door. He said Virgi (brother) always stay in touch with God. He has everything wealth, health, good wife, job etc. So why you demanding all these one by one. Demand all at once i.e. the God itself.
But still i demand good results for me which are to come next month. What a shame?
Namaste,
Thank you for sharing with us.
No need to humiliate yourself. It is always better to ask and surrender your emotions / wishes then to keep them suppressed.
Ours is a demanding mind. We all have some personal demands to be fulfilled. If we think that we cannot pray to God to fulfill personal demands, then it will be suppressed in our mind and later on it may make you impatient. Still if it is not fulfilled, then after years of storage, this will give rise to the diseases of emotional origin like diabites, arthritis, parkinson, etc. It is like a spring, the more you suppress, the more it will bounce back.
From both, spiritual and practical standpoint it is always better to pray to God to fulfill our demands. It calms down the mind and induces faith in God.
If you wish to live a spiritual life, then you can also pray to reduce the attachment of worldly objects.
After all, God is our father, if we cannot ask to to our father to fulfill our demands, then to whom we will ask?
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