GOSPEL OF RAMAKRISHNA
He consumed them all. The Gopis then asked: "What about crossing the river?" Vyasa stood near the edge of the water and prayed: "0 Jamuna! as I have not eaten anything to-day, by that virtue I ask Thee to divide the waters, so that we can walk across Thy bed and reach the other side." No sooner did he utter these words than the waters parted and the dry bed was laid bare. The Gopis were amazed. They thought: "How could he say, 'as I have not eatenanything to-day,' when just now he has eaten so much?" They did not see that this was a proof of firm faith; that Vyasa had the faith that he did not eat anything, but that the Lord who dwelt within him was the real Eater. The first stage of spiritual practice is associa- tion with spiritual people, the company of holy Stages of spir-tual practice. men. The second stage is faith in (
things relating to the Spirit. The third stage is single-minded devotion to one's Ideal. The Ideal may be one's Guru, the spiritual teacher, the Impersonal Brahman, the Personal God or any of His manifestations. The fourth stage is the state of being struck speech- less at the thought of God. The fifth stage, when the feeling of devotion to God reaches the
307
