Swami Tyagisananda
Ramakrishna Math
Mylapore, Chennai, INDIA
Kindle Edition, 2022
Without His grace Release is not possible.
It is attained by him alone whom God chooses.
For who can refuse to be absorbed
in that ocean of Divine bliss
and infinite auspicious
Divine attributes and qualities,
if he has but the opportunity
of knowing them?
As absence of desire, the absence of grief in a perfect man does not signify that he is devoid of sympathy for the miseries of others. To one who feels his neighbour as oneself, it is impossible not to sympathize with him in his miseries. To be a Bhakta is not to develop a stony heart and be careless about the woes of mankind. Sympathy is divine, and if God himself is moved to be born for the relief of such misery, there is nothing to prevent a perfect man, who has become divine, from feeling sorrow for the sufferings of his oppressed neighbour.
With my mind deeply immersed in the rare ambrosia of singing Thy glories, I do not care for the Vaitarani (the river of Hell) so difficult to cross. But I sympathize with those who, immersed in deep ignorance, bear this burden of Samsara for the sake of sense pleasures, and consequently have no inclination to seek after that ambrosia. Most sages intent upon their own release contemplate Thee in perfect silence, but they do not think of the welfare of others. I do not seek such release for myself, leaving these helpless creatures to themselves. I do not find any other than Thyself to be able to protect those who are going astray."
"It is obstructed desire that reappears
in the guise of hatred and anger."
Sri Shankara
"What wise man would discard that enjoyment of Supreme Bliss and revel in things unsubstantial? When the exceedingly charming moon is shining, who would wish to look at a painted moon?"
"They are no more two, but one; the soul is no more conscious of the body or mind, but knows that she has what she desired, and that she is where no deception can come, and she would not exchange that bliss for all the heaven of heavens."
Plotinus
He has no desire, except the desire to love the Lord and serve the world as His manifestation; he has no hatred except indignation against evil and unrighteousness. His happiness consists not in the relative joys of the world, which are always concomitants of pain, but in the bliss of the Divine. And he does not exert to promote his own self-interest, but works for the good of all, without any sense of ego or of any feeling of external compulsion, in a spirit of service to God.
"...ministering to the world without, in love and mercy,
whilst inwardly abiding in stillness and utter peace."
John van Ruysbroeck
A consistent attempt is made in modern times to find a sexual origin for the so-called higher experiences of saints and mystics. According to modern psychology, an expression of desire need not always imply the flow of the mind towards an external object, When a person fails to obtain satisfaction for his instinctive cravings in the real world outside, owing to social taboos, keenness of competition, and the rest, his desires take a subterranean course. Unknown to the person, they remain submerged in the unconscious levels of the mind, and with added force derived from their suppression by mental censorship, they seek satisfaction in the world of phantasy, accompanied by various abnormal and unhealthy mental symptoms.
The renunciation of worldly activities and scriptural duties does not here mean the forsaking of such activities themselves, but the effacement of the ego and its associates such as craving, selfishness, and attachment, resulting from the activities. The activities cannot be stopped; they can only be dedicated for the purpose of God-realization and divine service by an entire surrender of the individual soul to the Divine.
What is renounced by the Bhakta is not externa! activities but the ego.
The nature of realization is, as we have seen, indescribable. Still some sort of description cannot be avoided at least for the benefit of the future generations. All such descriptions must inevitably fall short of the actual truth; they can at best be only approximations to the reality. What can actually be observed and described are only the external marks which constitute the expression of the subjective experience.
"O glorious, all-pervading Lord,
we worship thee by mere repetition of thy name."
Rig Veda
"So long as there is selfishness in the heart, so long is love of God impossible. Aye, forget first the love for gold, and name and fame, and for this little trumpery world of ours."
Vivekananda
Thy regard for thy friend ought to be grounded in Me; and for My sake is he to be beloved, whosoever he be...
mysteruim tremendum et fascinans
Rudolf Otto
The grace of God is always there, only the ego prevents man from taking advantage of it. If man utilizes his ego in such a way as to annihilate the ego itself he is able to benefit by it. It is not the fault of the fire if it warms a man who approaches it, but not one who is away from it.
