The Doctrine of Sri Ramakrishna

The Doctrine of Sri Ramakrishna
Sri Ramakrishna, who was born at Kamarpukur (Hooghly district, West Bengal) and lived during 1836-1886, realised all the major religions and had vision of Ma Kali, Sri Rama, Sri Krishna, Sri Hanuman, Sri Mohammad and Sri Christ. He didn’t study various scriptures. But he had deep knowledge of all the scriptures and clear understanding of spiritual concepts. He always stressed on attaining knowledge directly by experiencing and realizing instead of bookish information. His conceptual knowledge & history was penned by his great disciple Sh. Mahendranath Gupta in Bengali language as Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita and translated in English by Swami Nikhilananda. His various concepts are briefed hereunder:
 
Concept of God and Unity of Religions & sects:

1. God exists in all beings, even in the ant as the All-pervasive Power; but the manifestations of His power are different in different beings.
2. After realization of all paths, he concluded that all the religions are true and represent different paths to God which lead to the same goal.
3. The three great Hindu systems – Dualism, Qualified Non-Dualism and Absolute Non-Dualism-Dvaita, Vasishtadvaita and Advaita- he perceived to represent three stages in the man’s progress towards the ultimate Reality. They are not contradictory but complimentary and suited to different temperaments. The mind can comprehend and describe the range of thought and experience up to the Vasishtadvaita, and no further. The Advaitais something to be felt in Samadhi, for it transcends mind and speech.

 
Bondage, Ignorance & Ego:

1. Bondage is of the mind, and freedom is also of the mind. Minds are always preoccupied with lower things: house, buildings, money, name, and sense pleasures. Wealth, honour, social position or like. But these are all transitory. The mind is like a needle covered with mud, and God is a magnet. Lust, anger, greed, hatred and other evil tendencies are the mud. The needle cannot be united with the magnet unless it is free from mud. Tears wash away the mud.
2. Lust is like the root of the tree (evil tendencies), and desires are branches and twigs. There are eight kinds of lust. To listen to a woman and enjoy her conversation; to speak about a woman is another kind; to whisper to her privately is a third kind; to keep something belonging to a woman and enjoy it is fourth kind; to touch her is a fifth. Maya is nothing but ‘women and gold’.
3. “I” and “mine”-these constitute ignorance. My learning, my possessions-the attitude that prompts one to say such things comes of ignorance. For example - ‘I am a scholar’, I am a jnani’, I am wealthy’, I am honourable’; I am the master, father, and teacher’. 
4. I am the machine and you are the operator’-that is knowledge. There are two signs of knowledge: first, absence of pride, and second, a peaceful nature.
5. The ego cannot be got rid of; so let it is remained as the servant of God, the devotee of God. As long as the ego remains, ‘you’ and ‘I’ remain, and there also remains the feeling. Pride cannot exist in presence of humility.

 
Pre-requisites for God-Realisation:

1. Those people, who have a perverse mind, who are not guileless, who are very fastidious about outer purity and who are doubting persons; don’t attain divine knowledge.
2. Truthfulness, austerity, determination of strong renunciation, passionate yearning for God and practise of discrimination is necessary.  Nothing is possible by mere lecture or reading books. One should go into solitude and call on God with a yearning heart.
3. Visit to the places of pilgrimage, is also good for inspiration.
4. One should constantly remember death. Nothing will survive death.
5. Performances of one’s duties, striving to be unattached and to surrender the results to God are the prime requisites.
6. One should always keep one’s mind fixed on God. In the beginning one must struggle a little; later on he will enjoy your passion.
7. Sri Ramakrishna asked to repeat God’s name and sing His glories, keep holy company; and visit God’s devotees and holy men. The grace of God is required. Mere personal effort is futile.

 
Paths of God-Realisations:
People worship God according to their tastes and temperaments. One must have stern determination; then alone is spiritual practice possible. One must make a firm resolve.
Kriya Yoga –

1. There are seven planes where mind dwells. When the mind is immersed in worldliness it dwells in the three lower planes-at naval, the organ of generation, and the organ evacuation. In that state the mind loses all its higher visions-it broods only on ‘women and gold’. The fourth plane of the mind is at heart. When the mind dwells there, one has the first glimpse of spiritual consciousness. One sees light all around. Such a man, perceiving the divine light, becomes speechless with wonder and says: ’Ah! What is this? His mind does not go downward to the objects of the world. The fifth plane of the mind is at throat. When the mind reaches this, the aspirant becomes free from all ignorance and illusion. He does not enjoy talking or hearing about anything but God. If people talk about worldly things, he leaves the place at once. The sixth plane is at the forehead. When the mind reaches it, the aspirant sees the form of God day and night. But even then a little trace of ego remains. At the sight of that incomparable beauty of God’s form, one becomes intoxicated and rushes forth to touch and embrace it. But one doesn’t succeed. It is like the light inside a lantern. One feels as if one could touch the light, but one cannot on account of the pane of glass. In top of the head is the seventh plane. When the mind rises there, one goes into Samadhi. Then Brahmajnani directly perceives Brahman. One can get rid of of the ‘I’ through Samadhi; but still the ‘I’ comes back. Some retains the ‘servant ego’ or the ‘devotee ego’.
2. Meditating on the flame of light signifies: red part as gross, the white part inside the red as subtle, and the stick like black part, the innermost of all, as the causal.
3. Kundalini dwells in the Muladhara, at the bottom. When it is aroused, it passes along the Sushumna nerve, goes through the centres of Svadhisthana, Manipura, and so on, and at last reaches to the Sahasrara, in top of the head. The different lotuses of the centres are four-petalled, six-petalled, ten-petalled (naval), twelve petalled (heart) sixteen-petalled (throat), two petalled (forehead) and thousand petalled (head).
4. Anahata is the sound of the Pranava, Om. A yogi alone knows that this sound originates both from his naval and from the supreme Brahman resting on the “Ocean of Milk”.
5. There are two kinds of Samadhi. First, the sthita Samadhi, when the aspirant totally loses outer consciousness; he remains in that state a long time, it may be for days. Second, the unmana Samadhi: it is to withdraw the mind suddenly from all sense-objects and unite it with God.
6. There are certain signs of God-vision. When a man sees God he goes into Samadhi. There are five kinds of Samadhi. First, aspirant feels great nerve current rising in the spinal column like an ant crawling up. Second, aspirant feels like a fish swimming in the water. Third, aspirant feels, It rise like a snake wriggling along. Fifth, aspirant feels, It rise like a bird flying-flying from one branch to another. Fifth, aspirant feels, It rise like a monkey making a big jump. The “Mahavayu” reaches the head and Samadhi follows.

Bhakti Yoga –

1. In Kalyuga, devotion is easy path. Pre-requisite of bhakti, the love for God is faith. Hanuman ji trusting in Rama’s name cleared the sea in one jump and reached the other side. Hanuman ji didn’t care for money, honour, creature, comforts, or anything else; but only longed for God.
2. Chanting names & glories of God with longing heart leads to the path of devotion. The devotee has the feeling of ‘the servant I’ i.e. ‘I am the servant of God’. The love of God or Bhakti enables one to realize God. Some acquire raga-bhakti directly. It is innate in them. Even at an early age they weep for God e.g. Prahlada. Japa, austerity and fasting, acquire love for God. But japa and austerity drops away when one spontaneously feels love and attachment for God. When one has love for God, he doesn’t feel the attraction of maya.
3. Tears shed for God wash away the sins of former births. Intense yearning for God is followed by the vision of God.

Karma Yoga -

1. Sri Ramakrishna firmly believed: “God alone is the doer, and we are all His instruments.” It is He alone who has become the universe, living beings, and the twenty four cosmic principles. He said: “When He is action-less, I call Him Brahman; when He creates, preserves, and destroys, I call Him Sakti. Brahman and Sakti are not different from each other.” Bahman is static power and Sakti is kinetic power.
2. Performances of one’s duties, striving to be unattached and to surrender the results to God are the prime requisites.

Jnana Yoga -

1. As long as a man has not realized God, he retains the sense of differentiation and the knowledge of good and bad.
2. After jnana comes vijnana. He who is aware of knowledge is also aware of ignorance. To know by one’s inner experience that God exists is jnana. But to talk to God, to enjoy Him as Child, as Friend, as Master, as beloved, is vijnana. The realization that God alone has become the universe and all living beings is vijnana.
3. When a man attains the knowledge of Brahman he shows certain characteristics. The Bhagavata describes four of them: the state of a child, of an inert thing, of a madman, and of ghoul. Sometimes the knower of Brahman acts like a five-year-old child. Sometimes he acts like a madman. Sometimes he remains like an inert thing.

Progress on God-Realisation -

1. There are three states: conscious, semi-conscious and inmost. In conscious state, mind dwells on the gross and the subtle. In semi-conscious state, mind enters the causal body and in the inmost state, mind merges in the Great Cause.
2. As one becomes less and less attached to worldly things, he approaches nearer and nearer to the knowledge of self. He also becomes less and less conscious of his body.
3. There are three kinds of Ananda, joy: the joy of worldly enjoyment is the joy of ‘women and gold’, which people always enjoy. The joy of worship one enjoys while chanting the name and glories of God. And the joy of Brahman is the joy of God vision.
4. After realizing God a man becomes like a child. One acquires the nature of the object one meditates upon.
5. Reference: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna – by Swami Nikhilananda