GOSPEL OF RAMAKRISHNA
stance, used to come here. He was very humble. He lived on the other side of the Ganges. One day as I was landing from a boat, I saw him sitting at the riverside. Seeing me, he shouted in a disrespectful tone, "Hello! is it you, my good fellow?" Immediately I understood by his manner that he had got hold of some money, otherwise he would not dare to address me thus. A toad had a Rupee in its hole. An elephant was coming that way and passed over the hole. The toad was very angry; it came out and was about to kick the elephant, saying: "How darest thou pass over me ?" Such is the power of wealth! It makes one so egotistic. This sense of "I," however, vanishes at the approach of Divine wisdom, which leads to superconsciousness (Samadhi) and eventually to God-consciousness. But it is very difficult Seven stages of spiritual evolution. to acquire this Divine wisdom. It is said in the Vedas that when the mind reaches the seventh stage of spiritual evolution, the soul enters into Samadhi and instantly its sense of "I" disappears. The mind naturally dwells in the first three stages, the realm of worldly tendencies and animal propensities, and becomes attached to lust and
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