Solitude and Holy Company

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
(18 Feb 1836 - 16 Aug 1886)
Ramakrishna Aratrikam - Khandana Bhava Bandhana
Ramakrishna Sahasranama Stotram

Go to solitude away from worldliness and think of God

The mind cannot dwell on God if it is immersed day and night in worldliness, in worldly duties and responsibilities; it is most necessary to go into solitude now and then and think of God.

Go to solitude and churn the curd of divine love

One must go into solitude to attain this divine love. To get butter from milk you must let it set into curd in a secluded spot; if it is too much disturbed, milk won't turn into curd. You must put aside all other duties, sit in a quiet spot, and churn the curd. Only then do you get butter.

Holy company begets yearning and love for God

Devotee: What is the good of holy company?
Master: It begets yearning for God. It begets love of God. Nothing whatsoever is achieved in spiritual life without yearning. By constant living in the company of holy men, the soul becomes restless for God.

This yearning is like the state of mind of a man who has someone ill in the family. His mind is in a state of perpetual restlessness, thinking how the sick person may be cured.

Or again, one should feel a yearning for God like the yearning of a man who has lost his job and is wandering from one office to another in search of work. If he is rejected at a certain place which has no vacancy, he goes there again the next day and inquires, 'Is there an vacancy today?'

Holy company helps one discriminate between the Real and the unreal

There is another benefit from holy company. It helps one cultivate discrimination between the Real and the unreal.

God alone is the Real, that is to say, the Eternal Substance, and the world is unreal, that is to say, transitory. As soon as a man finds his mind wandering away to the unreal, he should apply discrimination.

The moment an elephant stretches out its trunk to eat a plantain-tree in a neighbour's garden, it gets a blow from the iron goad of the driver."

Remove the typhoid patient from the pickles of the world

The disease of worldliness is like typhoid. And there are a huge jug of water and a jar of savoury pickles in the typhoid patient's room. If you want to cure him of his illness, you must remove him from that room.

The worldly man is like the typhoid patient. The various objects of enjoyment are the huge jug of water, and the craving for their enjoyment is his thirst. The very thought of pickles makes the mouth water; you don't have to bring them near. And he is surrounded with them.

The companionship of woman is the pickles. Hence treatment in solitude is necessary.

Bharatavarsha - The Land of Gods and Sages:

• Stotras

• Scriptures

• Pilgrimages

• Festivals

• Sages

• Saints - Ramakrishna - Vivekananda - Ramana

• Sadhana

• Sanskrit

• Nature

• Arts and Sciences

• Bharatavarsha