Thakur & Upanishads-4

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Sri Ramakrishna, to be sure, recommended the Path of Devotion to one and

all. For rare and highly evolved souls, like Swami Vivekananda and a handful of

others, he recommended the Path of Knowledge, as being appropriate.

 

According to Thakur, singing the glories of God, chanting the Names of God,

accompanied by complete renunciation of the enjoyment/company of sense-objects

and the constant discrimination that God alone is Real and all else is unreal,

constitutes, in short, the Path of Devotion to God.

 

Thus, we can see, that 'Discrimination', which is essentially an element of

the Path of Knowledge, has been prescribed as an inevitable accompaniment of the

Path of Devotion by Thakur.

 

This discrimination has to be practised until the realisation of God. No

stopping it till then!

 

According to Vedanta also, because we see a world (in front of and apart

from us), it is agreed to accept an origin (for the same), with a multi-various

energy.

 

We can see a world only after assuming body-consciousness. The moment we

take on body-consciouness, as by rising from deep sleep into the waking state,

we have accepted God.

 

Therefore, Devotion to God is inevitable, even according to the Path of

Knowledge.

 

Thus, in conclusion, it emerges that anyone who has body-consciousness has,

by virtue of that limited body-consciousness alone, accepted God. It does not

matter whether that person accepts and/or follows the Path of Devotion or not.

This is because, everyone of us, helplessly gets tossed between the three states

of waking, dream and deep sleep, forced by a Power greater than us, which is

God.

 

To investigate into this Power, by whatever method, is called Devotion to

God.

 

Again, by virtue of body-consciousness, we become persons. Therefore, as

long as we are persons, endowed with name and form, we have no choice but to

perceive God as a Person.

Therefore, the adoration of or Devotion to the Personal God is perfectly in

order.