GOSPEL OF RAMAKRISHNA
Never mind; we, too, are of the same mind with you and feel for you. Bhagavan continued: So long as one reasons and argues about God, one has not realized Him. Disputations prevent reali-zation of God. You both were engaged in discussion. I did not like it. How long does the noise continue at a feast to which many are bidden? So long as the guests have not begun to eat. As soon as the viands are served and they begin to partake of them, three-fourths of the noise is gone. Then the more the sweetmeats are passed around, the more the noise subsides. The nearer you come to God, the less you are disposed to argue. When you come up to Him, when you behold Him as the Reality, then all noise, all disputa- tions are at an end. Then is the time for the enjoyment which comes in Samddhi. Saying this, the Bhagavan gently moved His hand over Narendra's sweet face and caressed him, repeating, "Hari Om, Hari Om, Hari Om." Then what a miracle passed before the eyes of the disciples! Looking at the Bhagavan, they saw His sense-consciousness beginning to leave Him. Looking again, they saw that it had left Him altogether. In this half-conscious state the hand of the Incarnation of Divine
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