MASTER:
"It is not good to feel that one's own religion alone is true and all others are false. God is one only, and not two.
Different people call on Him by different names:
some as Allah, some as God, and others as Krishna, Siva, and Brahman.
It is like the water in a lake. Some drink it at one place and call it
'jal', others at another place and call it 'pani', and still others at a third place and call it 'water'.
The Hindus call it 'jal', the Christians 'water', and the Mussalmans 'pani'.
But it is one and the same thing.
Opinions are but paths.
Each religion is only a path leading to God, as rivers come from
different directions and ultimately become one in the one ocean.
Oneness of God "The Truth established in the Vedas, the Puranas, and the Tantras is but one Sat-chid-ananda.
In the Vedas It is called Brahman, in the Puranas It is called Krishna, Rama, and so on, and in the Tantras It is called Siva.
The one Satchidananda is called Brahman, Krishna, and Siva."
The devotees were silent.
A VAISHNAVA DEVOTEE:
"Sir, why should one think of God at all"?
MASTER:
"If a man really has that knowledge, then he is indeed liberated
though living in a body.
Shallow faith of the worldly-minded "Not all, by any means, believe in God.
They simply talk.
The worldly-minded have heard from someone that God exists and that everything happens by His will;
but it is not their inner belief.
"Do you know what a worldly man's idea of God is like?
It is like the children's swearing by God when they quarrel.
They have heard the word while listening to their elderly aunts quarreling.
"Is it possible for all to comprehend God?
God has created the good and the bad, the devoted and the impious, the faithful and the sceptical.
The wonders that we see all exist in His creation.
In one place there is more manifestation of His Power, in another less.
The sun's light is better reflected by water than by earth, and still better by a mirror.
Again, there are different levels among the devotees of God: superior, mediocre, and inferior.
All this has been described in the Gita."
VAISHNAVA:
"True, sir.
Sri Ramakrishna
The gospel of Shri Ramakrishna
Chapter: -
THE FESTIVAL AT PANIHATI
Sri Sri Ramakrishna KathamritaMonday, June 25, 1883
