Crying to God with an intensely yearning heart

February 1882: M.'s second visit to the Master

1. Cry to the Lord with an intensely yearning heart:
M: Under what conditions does one see God?
MASTER: Cry to the Lord with an intensely yearning heart and you will certainly see Him. People shed a whole jug of tears for wife and children. They swim in tears for money. But who weeps for God? Cry to Him with a real cry.

The Master sang:
Cry to your Mother Syama, with a real cry, O mind!
And how can She hold Herself from you?
How can Syama stay away?
How can your Mother Kali hold Herself away?
O mind, if you are in earnest, bring Her an offering
Of bel-leaves and hibiscus flowers;
Lay at Her feet your offering
And with it mingle the fragrant sandal-paste of Love.

Continuing, he said: Longing is like the rosy dawn. After the dawn out comes the sun. Longing is followed by the vision of God.

2. Feeling drawn to God by the combined attractions of worldly possessions, children and wife:
God reveals Himself to a devotee who feels drawn to Him by the combined force of these three attractions: the attraction of worldly possessions for the worldly man, the child's attraction for its mother, and the husband's attraction for the chaste wife. If one feels drawn to Him by the combined force of these three attractions, then through it one can attain Him. The point is, to love God even as the mother loves her child, the chaste wife her husband, and the worldly man his wealth. Add together these three forces of love, these three powers of attraction, and give it all to God. Then you will certainly see Him.

3. Kitten knows only how to call its mother:
It is necessary to pray to Him with a longing heart. The kitten knows only how to call its mother, crying, 'Mew, mew!' It remains satisfied wherever its mother puts it. And the mother cat puts the kitten sometimes in the kitchen, sometimes on the floor, and sometimes on the bed. When it suffers it cries only, 'Mew, mew!' That's all it knows. But as soon as the mother hears this cry, wherever she may be; she comes to the kitten.

1882: M.'s fourth visit to the Master

Hanuman longed only for Rama:
The conversation drifted to Hanuman, whose picture hung on the wall in the Master's room. Sri Ramakrishna said: Just imagine Hanuman's state of mind. He didn't care for money, honour, creature comforts, or anything else. He longed only for God. When he was running away with the heavenly weapon that had been secreted in the crystal pillar, Mandodari began to tempt him with various fruits so that he might come down and drop the weapon. But he couldn't be tricked so easily. In reply to her persuasions he sang this song:

Am I in need of fruit?
I have the Fruit that makes this life Fruitful indeed.
Within my heart The Tree of Rama grows,
Bearing salvation for its fruit.
Under the Wish-fulfilling Tree
Of Rama do I sit at ease,
Plucking whatever fruit I will.
But if you speak of fruit – No beggar, I, for common fruit.
Behold, I go, Leaving a bitter fruit for you.

As Sri Ramakrishna was singing the song he went into samadhi. Again the half-closed eyes and motionless body that one sees in his photograph.

Sunday, April 9, 1882: Master's visit to Prankrishna Mukherji's house

1. Yearning is like the state when somebody is ill in the family:
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.

2. Yearning is like the state when a man has lost his job and wandering from one office to another:
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?'