Book Title: Philosophies of India
Author(s): Heinrich Zimmer, Joseph Campbell
Publisher: Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 590
________________ WHO SEEKS NIRVANA? ŚRi RĀMAKRISHNA: “That is Her will. She wants to continue playing with Her created beings. In a game of hide-and-seek the running about soon stops if in the beginning all the players touch the 'granny.' If all touch her, then how can the game go on? That displeases her. Her pleasure is in continuing the game. "It is as if the Divine Mother said to the human mind in confidence, with a sign from Her eye, 'Go and enjoy the world.' How can one blame the mind? The mind can disentangle itself from worldliness if, through her grace, She makes it turn toward Herself.” Singing again the songs of Rāmprasād, Śrī Rāmakrishna interrupted his discourse, but then continued. "Bondage is of the mind, and frcedom is also of the mind. A man is free if he constantly thinks: 'I am a free soul. How can I be bound, whether I live in the world or in the forest? I am a child of God, the King of Kings. Who can bind me?' If bitten by a snake, a man may get rid of its venom hy saying emphatically, “There is no poison in me.' In the same way, by repeating with grit and determination, 'I am not bound, I am free,' one really becomes so-one really becomes free. "Once someone gave me a book of the Christians. I asked him to read it to me. It talked about nothing but sin. (To Keshab Chandra Sen:) Sin is the only thing one hears of at your Brāhmo Samāi. too. The wretch who constantly says, 'I am bound, I am bound,' only succeeds in being bound. He who says day and night, 'I am a sinner, I am a sinner,' really becomes a sinner. "One should have such burning faith in God that one can say: 'What? I have repeated the name of God, and can sin still cling to me? How can I be a sinner any more? How can I be in bondage any more?" "If a man repeats the name of God, his body, mind, and everything become pure. Why should one talk about sin and hell, and such things? Say but once, 'O Lord, I have undoubt 567

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709