ONCE I said to Narendra1, “Look here, my boy. God is the ocean of Bliss. Don’t you want to plunge into this ocean? Suppose there is a cup of syrup and you are a fly. Where will you sit to sip the syrup?” Narendra said, “I will sit on the edge of the cup and stick my head out to drink it.” “Why,” said I, “why should you sit on the edge” He replied, “If I go far into the syrup, I shall be drowned and lose my life.” Then I said to him: “But my child, there is no such fear in the Ocean of Satchidananda. It is the Ocean of Immortality.
By plunging into It a man does not die; he’ becomes immortal. Man does not lose his consciousness by being mad about God.” (173)
MASTER: “If the moth discovers light, can it remain in darkness any longer?”
DOCTOR (with a smile): “Of course it cannot. It would rather fly into the flame and perish.”
MASTER: “Oh no, that’s not so. A lover of God does not burn himself to death, like a moth. The light to which he rushes is like the light of a gem. That light is brilliant, no doubt, but it is also cooling and soothing. That light does not scorch his body; it gives him joy and peace. (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
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NILKANTHA: “What shall I say, sir? Please be gracious to us.”
MASTER (smiling): “You are ferrying many people across the ocean of the world. How many hearts are illumined by hearing your music!”
NILKANTHA: “You talk of ferrying. But bless me that I may not be drowned in the ocean myself.”
MASTER (smiling): “If you get drowned, it will be in the Sea of Immortality.” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
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