Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

[Guest guest]

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MASTER (to Vijay, smiling): " I understand that they have been finding

fault with you for mixing with those who believe in God with form. Is

that true? He who is a devotee of God must have an understanding that

cannot be shaken under any conditions. He must be like the anvil in a

blacksmith's shop. It is constantly being struck by the hammer; still

it is unshaken. Bad people may abuse you very much and speak ill of

you; but you must bear with them all if you sincerely seek God. Isn't

it possible to think of God in the midst of the wicked? Just think of

the rishis of ancient times. They used to meditate on God in the

forest, surrounded on all sides by tigers, bears, and other ferocious

beasts. Wicked men have the nature of tigers and bears. They will

pursue you to do you an injury

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MASTER: " You talk glibly about prema. But is it such a commonplace

thing? There are two characteristics of prema. First, it makes one

forget the world. So intense is one's love of God that one becomes

unconscious of outer things. Chaitanya had this ecstatic love; he

'took a wood for the sacred grove of Vrindavan and the ocean for the

dark waters of the Jamuna'. Second, one has no feeling of 'my-ness'

toward the body, which is so dear to man. One wholly gets rid of the

feeling that the body is the soul.

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M: " Sir, I like to think of God as formless. "

 

MASTER: " Very good. It is enough to have faith in either aspect. You

believe in God without form; that is quite all right. But never for a

moment think that this alone is true and all else false. Remember

that God with form is just as true as God without form. But hold

fast to your own conviction. "

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