On 24 May 1884 Harinath again visited Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar. He said to the Master, “Well, why does it take many people such a long time to realize God?”
Master: “The truth is that a man doesn’t feel restless for God unless he is finished with his enjoyments and duties.”
Harinath: “Why is there so much suffering in the world?”
Master: “This world is the lila [divine play] of God. It is like a game. In this game there are joy and sorrow, virtue and vice, knowledge and ignorance, good and evil. The game cannot continue if sin and suffering are altogether eliminated from creation. In the game of hide-and-seek one must touch the ‘granny’ in order to be free. But the ‘granny’ is never pleased if she is touched at the very outset. It is God’s wish that the play should continue for some time.”
Harinath: “But this play of God is our death.”
Master (smiling): “Please tell me who you are. God alone has become all this — maya, the universe, living beings, and the twenty-four cosmic principles. ‘As the snake I bite, and as the charmer I cure.’ It is God Himself who has become both vidya and avidya. He remains deluded by the maya of avidya, ignorance. Again, with the help of the guru, He is cured by the maya of vidya, Knowledge.” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
Nanda remained silent a few minutes. Then he said: “Oh, yes. People no doubt talk that way. But is God partial? If things happen through God’s grace, then I must say God is partial.”
MASTER: “But God Himself has become everything — the universe and its living beings. You will realise it when you have Perfect Knowledge. God Himself has become the twenty-four cosmic principles: the mind, intellect” body, and so forth. Is there anyone but Himself to whom He can show partiality?”
NANDA: “Why has He assumed all these different forms? Why are some wise and some ignorant?”
MASTER: “It is His sweet will.” …..
“The Divine Mother is full of bliss. Creation, preservation, and destruction are the waves of Her sportive pleasure. Innumerable are the living beings. Only one or two among them obtain liberation. And that makes Her happy.
Out of a hundred thousand kites, at best but one or two break free;
And Thou dost laugh and clap Thy hands, O Mother, watching them!
Some are being entangled in the world and some are being liberated from it.
How many are the boats, O mind,
That float on the ocean of this world!
How many are those that sink!”
NANDA: “It may be Her sweet will; but it is death to us.”
MASTER: “But who are you? It is the Divine Mother who has become all this. It is only as long as you do not know Her that you say, ‘I’, ‘I’.
“All will surely realise God. All will be liberated. It may be that some get their meal in the morning, some at noon, and some in the evening; but none will go without food. All, without any exception, will certainly know their real Self.”
PASUPATI: “True, sir. It seems that it is God alone who has become everything.”
MASTER: “Try to find out what this ‘I’ is. Is this ‘I’ the bones or flesh or blood or intestines? Seeking the ‘I’, you discover ‘Thou’. In other words, nothing exists inside you but the power of God. There is no ‘I’, but only ‘He’. (To Pasupati) You have so much wealth, but you have no egotism. It is not possible to rid oneself altogether of the ego; so, as long as it is there, let the rascal remain as the servant of God. (All laugh.) The ego that makes a man feel he is a devotee of God or a son of God or a servant of God is good. But the ego that makes a man attached to ‘woman and gold’ is the ‘unripe ego’. That ego is to be renounced.” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)