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Goal of human life is to love God
Goal of human life is to love God
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
1882: M.'s visit to the Master at Dakshineshwar
The goal of human life is to love God; Bhakti is the one essential thing:
Another day the Master was seated on the small couch in his room, with his usual beaming countenance. M. arrived with Kalikrishna, who did not know where his friend M. was taking him. He had only been told: If you want to see a grog-shop, then come with me. You will see a huge jar of wine there. M. related this to Sri Ramakrishna, who laughed about it.
The Master said: The bliss of worship and communion with God is the true wine, the wine of ecstatic love. The goal of human life is to love God, Bhakti is the one essential thing. To know God through jnana and reasoning is extremely difficult.
Then the Master sang: Who is there that can understand what Mother Kali is?
Even the six darsanas are powerless to reveal Her....
The Master said, again: The one goal of life is to cultivate love for God, the love that the milkmaids, the milkmen, and the cowherd boys of Vrindavan felt for Krishna. When Krishna went away to Mathura, the cowherds roamed about weeping bitterly because of their separation from Him.
Saying this the Master sang, with his eyes turned upward:
Just now I saw a youthful cowherd
With a young calf in his arms;
There he stood, by one hand holding
The branch of a young tree.
"Where are You, Brother Kanai?" he cried;
But "Kanai" scarcely could he utter;
"Ka" was as much as he could say.
He cried, "Where are You, Brother?"
And his eyes were filled with tears.
When M. heard this song of the Master's, laden with love, his eyes were moist with tears.
Why God?
- Getting overwhelmed with the sorrows of the world
- Goal of human life is to love God
- God alone is real, all else is illusory
Nature of God:
- God is with and without form
- God is our inner guide
- Communion with God is full of bliss
- God is our very own
- God creates both good and bad
- God gives the results of our actions
- God is like a magnet which attracts a pure mind
- In every age God incarnates Himself to teach humanity
Nature of Guru:
- Satchidananda alone is the guru
Nature of Man:
- Four classes of men
- Nature of the ever-free
Path to God:
- Repeating God's name and singing His glories
- Keeping holy company
- Going into solitude and meditating on God
- Discriminating between the Real and the unreal
- Remembering God while performing worldly duties
- Crying to God with an intensely yearning heart
- Keeping away from the evil-minded
- Having tremendous faith in God
- Cultivating inner strength
- Earnestly praying to God
- Purifying the mind of impurities
- Following the instructions of the Guru
Things to avoid:
- Sin begets its own result
- One should avoid anger
Signs of Spiritual Progress:
- Hearing the name of God you shed tears
- Feeling that God alone is the doer and I am a mere instrument
Religion:
- With deep yearning God may be realised by any path