GOSPEL OF RAMAKRISHNA
Wherever there is masculine form, it is Thy manifestation; and wherever there is feminine form, it is the manifestation of Sita, the Divine Mother."
So long as there is attachment to worldliness, and thirst for objects of lust, so long there is Attachment to the body. attachment to the body. As at- tachment to the world grows less, the mind goes towards the Atman or the true Selt and the attachment to the physical body becomes less. When the attachment to the world has entirely vanished, Self-knowledge comes and the Atman is separated from the physical body. When an ordinary cocoanut is cut into halves, it is very difficult to separate the kernel from the shell; but when it is dried, the kernel becomes separate from the shell by itself. You can feel it by shaking it. A man who has realized God becomes like the dry cocoanut; his soul becomes separate from his body and all attachment to the body leaves him. He is not affected by the pleasure and pain of the body; he does not seek the comforts of the body; he moves from place to place like an emancipated soul. "A true devotee of my Divine Mother attains absolute freedom in this life and is eternally blissful." When you notice that
336
