At the Master's request the musician sang a few songs, one of which described the awakening of the Kundalini and the six centres:

Awake, Mother! Awake! How long Thou hast been asleep In the lotus of the Muladhara!Fulfil Thy secret function, Mother:

Rise to the thousand-petalled lotus within the head,

Where mighty Siva has His dwelling;

Swiftly pierce the six lotuses

And take away my grief, O Essence of Consciousness!

MASTER:

"The song speaks of the Kundalini's passing through the six centres. God is both within and without. From within He creates the various states of mind. After passing through the six centres, the jiva goes beyond the realm of maya and becomes united with the Supreme Soul. This is the vision of God.

"One cannot see God unless maya steps aside from the door. Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita were walking together. Rama was in front, Sita walked in the middle, and Lakshmana followed them.

But Lakshmana could not see Rama because Sita was between them. In like manner, man cannot see God because maya is between them. (To Mani Mallick) But maya steps aside from the door when God shows His grace to the devotee.

When the visitor stands before the door, the door-keeper says to the master, 'Sir, command us, and we shall let him pass.'

"There are two schools of thought: the Vedanta and the Purana. According to the Vedanta this world is a 'framework of illusion', that is to say, it is all illusory, like a dream.

But according to the Purana, the books of devotion, God Himself has become the twenty-four cosmic principles. Worship God both within and without.

"As long as God keeps the awareness of 'I' in us, so long do sense-objects exist; and we cannot very well speak of the world as a dream. There is fire in the hearth; therefore the rice and pulse and potatoes and the other vegetables jump about in the pot. They jump about as if to say: 'We are here! We are jumping!'

This body is the pot. The mind and intelligence are the water. The objects of the senses are the rice, potatoes, and other vegetables. The 'I-consciousness' identified with the senses says, 'I am jumping about.' And Satchidananda is the fire.

"Hence the Bhakti scriptures describe this very world as a 'mansion of mirth'. Ramprasad sang in one of his songs,

'This world is a framework of illusion.'

Another devotee gave the reply,

'This very world is a mansion of mirth.' As the saying goes,

'The devotee of Kali, free while living, is full of Eternal Bliss.'

The bhakta sees that He who is God has also become maya. Again, He Himself has become the universe and all its living beings.

The bhakta sees God, maya, the universe, and the living beings as one. Some devotees see everything as Rama: it is Rama alone who has become everything.

Some see everything as Radha and Krishna. To them it is Krishna alone who has become the twenty-four cosmic principles.

It is like seeing everything green through green glasses.

Sri Ramakrishna

the gospel of Ramakrishna

chapter 11: - WITH THE DEVOTEES AT DAKSHINESWAR (I)

Sunday, June 10, 1883

Temple Ramakrishna Calcutta India