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Once I had the desire to put on a gold-embroidered robe, wear a ring on my finger, and smoke a hubble-bubble with a long pipe. Mathur Babu procured all these things for me.

I wore the gold-embroidered robe and said to myself after a while, 'Mind! This is what is called a gold-embroidered robe.' Then I took it off and threw it away. I couldn't stand the robe any more.

Again I said to myself, 'Mind! This is called a shawl, and this a ring, and this, smoking a hubble-bubble with a long pipe.' I threw those things away once for all, and the desire to enjoy them never arose in my mind again."

liberation

Message from Sri RamaKrishna

One day as I was passing the Panchavati on my way to the pine-grove, I heard a bullfrog croaking. I thought it must have been seized by a snake. After some time, as I was coming back, I could still hear its terrified croaking. I looked to see what was the matter, and found that a water snake had seized it. The snake could neither swallow it nor give it up. So there was no end to the frog's suffering. I thought that had it been seized by a cobra it would have been silenced after three croaks at most. As it was only a water snake, both of them had to go through this agony. A man's ego is destroyed after three croaks, as it were, if he gets into the clutches of a real teacher. But if the teacher in an unripe one, then both the teacher and the disciple undergo endless suffering. The disciple cannot get rid either of his ego or of the shackles of the world. If a disciple falls into the clutches of an incompetent teacher, he doesn't attain liberation.

Jnana Yoga

Devotee: What is Jnana Yoga?

Sri Ramakrishna: Jnana Yoga is communion with God by means of knowledge. Knowledge (Jnana) varies in degree and kind from person to person. There is first the Jnana or insight of men of the world – ordinary mortals. This knowledge is not sufficiently powerful. It may be compared to the flame of a lamp, which illumines only the interior of a room. The Jnana of a Bhakta (devotee) is a stronger light. It may be compared to the light of the moon which reveals things both inside and outside a room. But the Jnana of the Avatara is still more powerful, and may be likened to the sun. He is the sun of Divine knowledge whose light dispels the accumulated ignorance of ages.

selfless work

Sri RamaKrishna said

"Through selfless work, love of God grows in the heart.
Then, through His grace, one realizes Him in course of time.
God can be seen. One can talk to Him as I am talking to you. "

To be a bee

Sri RamaKrishna said
"Ordinary people practice spiritual discipline and cultivate devotion to God;but they also become attached to 'woman and gold'. They are like flies, which sit on a flower or a sweetmeat and light on filth as well.
But the ever-perfect are like bees, which only light on flowers and sip the honey.The ever perfect drink only the Nectar of Divine Bliss. They are never inclined
to worldly pleasures."

"In the world take always the position of the giver. Give everything and look for no return. Give love, give help, give service, and give any little thing you can, but keep out barter. Make no conditions, and none will be imposed. Let us give out of our own bounty, just as God gives to us." Unfortunately in our short sightedness, we forget this. 'Unselfishness is more paying, only people have not the patience to practise it,' says Swami Vivekananda.

Dakshineswar Kali Temple is situated alongside the Vivekananda Bridge north of Calcutta, about 20 km. from BBD Bagh. It is famous for its association - with Ramkrishna who achieved spiritual vision here. This temple was built by Rani Rashmoni in 1847. The 12- spired temple with its enormous courtyard is surrounded by 12 other temples dedicated to Lord Shiva.

It is a world famous place of pilgrimage and it was here that the Sri Rama Krishna Paramahamsa achieved his spiritual vision and preached the unity of all religions.Guru maharaji (Sri Ramakrishna) served as temple's head priest. From the first days of his service in the shrine of the goddess Kali, he was filled with love for the Goddess known in Hinduism as maha-bhava. Worshiping in front of the statue of Kali, Sri Ramakrishna would be overcome with such ecstatic love for the deity that he would fall to the ground and immersed in spiritual trance, lose all consciousness of the external world.Sri Ramakrishna fully realized the infinite and all-inclusive nature of the divine.