Summing Up

This will give you some idea as to the procedure of discrimination and meditation, of withdrawing the mind from the grosser to the finer modifications of consciousness. There are two directions the mind may take: effectward ( outward) or sourceward(inward). By following the practices of yoga we go sourceward. Sri Ramakrishna once remarked: “We have to follow the same way out as we came in .” This is very significant. However, although yoga attempts to control and efface the individualized ego, this ego is very, very difficult to get rid of. It comes back, even after realization. So long as we are in a body we will have an ego-consciousness. Sri Ramakrishna often told his disciples: “Let the ‘rascal’ ego remain, but as the servant, the devotee of God.”

We must cultivate the ego of devotion, the witness ego or the ego of knowledge. Establish a definite relationship of your “I-am” consciousness with your Ideal. If you are a monist, you must strive to know that your “I” is not what it appears to be. It is Brahman, the Whole, and you must try to maintain this identity. If you are a dualist, establish a particular relationship with God, your highest ideal of perfection. After the words, “I am, “utter a phrase that will connect you with that Ideal. Say, “ I am the child, the servant , the friend, the lover of my God.” Establish a relationship and keep it foremost in your thoughts. If you try to stand alone in your “I am” consciousness you are in constant danger. If everything in this world fails you ( and sooner or later it will) this one relationship with your God will never let you down. Depend on God. Then your life will be freed from attachment, freed from fear and from all the other things that make you feel small, miserable and insecure.

I might say that very few people can do without a personal conception of their Ideal. There was once a highly metaphysical sect in Japan. There were no ceremonies or temples. They believed that their egos were like mirrors and that all they had to do was to keep the mirrors of their minds clean in order to reflect God. But, eventually, temples arose with large mirrors installed in them. brushes were kept beside the mirrors, to symbolize the cleansing of their egoes! It seems that people cannot go on for long without ceremonies of some kind. However, it is wise to allow ceremonies to grow – with a little rationalization. This once was at least, artistic! Do not form a pet theory that divinity may be manifest in one way only. Light may be diffused in various ways. And do not slacken the search for truth. See the soul of goodness even in the vicious. Say to yourself, “I shall make no compromise of the truth, no matter in what form God appears.” God sometimes wears a thick mask, but don’t let that fool you. Keep a constant current of understanding flowing within you. Fall in love with God, but not with the masks He is wearing! Find God behind all the masks and be concerned with Him alone. Find freedom.

God may be conceived of in many ways. He may be personal or impersonal. Practice using the word, “relative,” in ordinary conversation and you will find a broadmindedness unfolding within you. Do not think that the Absolute Principles is the only conception of God. Recognize the Personal Divinity as well as the Impersonal. In the life of Sri Ramakrishna we find synthesis of all aspects of the Godhead, of all religious outlooks. He taught that different religions, different approaches to the Reality, are all relative. They are just different readings of the one Truth. None can be called better or poorer readings, but just different readings. The final Truth cannot be known or discussed. It can only be experienced. It remains absolute. Ramakrishna once gave this illustration: “God is at the centre of a circle and we are all  standing at different points on its circumference, looking at Him through hollow tubes. Each thinks that He, at the centre, is this goal. The Christian, Hindu, Mohammedan, and so on; the dualist, the qualified nondualist, and the monist – they all think that He, the ultimate Reality, is at the centre. But they are viewing Him from their respective positions on the circumference and they are seeing Him through their own individual tubes. Now, if they all proceed by looking at their God in their own way, they are bound to meet at the same place – the centre of the circle. So, it is said : “The Goal is one; the paths many.” Read Previous  Read Next