GOSPEL OF RAMAKRISHNA
when travelling on a pilgrimage in the Deccan (Southern India), saw in one place a man reading aloud the texts of the Gitâ. At a little distance another man, with unrestrainable tears running down his cheeks, was listening. Chaitanya Deva asked him whether he understood the meaning of the texts. The poor man replied: "My Lord, I do not understand one word of what the Pandit is reading." Chaitanya Deva questioned him: "Why are you weeping, then?" The devotee answered: "I see the chariot of Arjuna, and the Blessed Lord Krishna is speaking before him. This Divine vision brings tears of love to my eyes."
Srî Râmakrishna continued: You may ask why does a Vijnâni prefer to have Bhakti (love and devotion)? The answer is—Because it is difficult for one to be free from the sense of "I." In the state of Nirvikalpa Samâdhi[1] it may vanish for the time being, but it comes back again; while for ordinary individuals it is almost impossible to eliminate this sense of "I, me and mine." However many times you may cut
- ↑ Nirvikalpa Samâdhi is described in the Râja Yoga as the highest state of Samâdhi in which the soul rises above the sense of "I" and the plane of all thoughts, ideas and emotions, and reaches the realm of the Absolute.
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