Sri Ramakrishna on Brahman

• What Brahman is cannot be expressed in words, nor can He be said to be a person.
• He who is Brahman is Himself the Atman and also God. He is the Brahman of the Brahmajnani, the Paramatman of the yogi, and the Lord of the devotee.
• Brahman and Shakti are inseparable. Belief in one implies belief in the other – like fire and its burning power.
• What Brahman is cannot be expressed in words. He who attains Brahman cannot give information about Him. There is a saying, ‘A ship never returns once it reaches the black waters.’
• If you once taste the bliss of Brahman, your mind will not run after sense pleasures, wealth, and honour. If a moth sees light once, it doesn’t go into darkness again.
• The eternal, ever-pure Consciousness – the Essence. How can I make it clear to you? If somebody asks you how ghee tastes, how can you explain it? At the most you can say, ‘What is ghee like? It’s just like ghee.’
• When Giriraj (the Lord of the mountains, Himalaya) had seen Bhagavati in many forms, He said to Her, ‘Mother, may I now have the vision of Brahman mentioned in the Vedas?’ Bhagavati replied, ‘Father, if you want to see Brahman, you must have the company of holy people.’
• What Brahman is cannot be explained in words. Someone said, ‘Everything has been made impure by the tongue, but Brahman has never been defiled.’
• The Vedas, the Puranas, the Tantras, and other scriptures may be said to have been defiled because they are recited by the tongues of men. But what Brahman is, nobody has yet been able to express in speech. So Brahman has not yet been defiled. One cannot describe in words the play and communion with Sat-chit-ananda. Only he knows who has experienced it.
• The Anahata Shabda goes on continuously by itself – it is the sound of Om. It originates in the Supreme Brahman. Only yogis can hear it, not those who are attached to the sense world. Yogis know that this sound rises from the navel and that it also originates in the Supreme Brahman, resting on the Ocean of Milk.
• Brahman and Shakti are not separate from each other. They are like water and its wetness, or fire and its power to burn. God is present in the form of Vibhu, though there is greater manifestation of His Shakti in some, less in others.
• Ordinary beings lead lives of worldly pleasure. But unless one is completely rid of the attachment to the senses, one cannot attain the bliss of Brahman. On the one hand, you have the joy of money, the joy of the senses, and on the other, there is the bliss of God-realization. Can these two ever be the same? The rishis enjoyed the bliss of Brahman.
• Brahman is beyond vidya and avidya. He transcends maya.
• There are both vidya maya and avidya maya in the world. There are jnana and bhakti – as well as ‘lust and greed’. There is righteousness, and there is unrighteousness; there is good as well as evil. But Brahman is not concerned with all these. Good and bad belong to embodied beings, as does righteousness and unrighteousness. God is not affected by them.
• What Brahman is cannot be described. Everything – the Vedas, the Puranas, the Tantras and the six systems of philosophy – has been defiled, like the leavings of food. For when one reads the scriptures, one must use the vocal organs and this causes them to be in touch with the mouth, so to speak. Thus they have all been defiled, like the leavings of food.
• Man thinks that he has known God. An ant came to a mountain of sugar. It ate one particle of sugar and was filled. It took another particle and, as it went its way, it thought that the next time it would take the whole mountain home. Such, alas, is the condition of insignificant man. Men don’t know that Brahman is beyond mind and speech.
• Brahman and His Power are inseparable. Example, fire and its burning power. Mention fire, and its power to burn comes to mind. Mention the power to burn, and fire comes to mind. When you accept one, you have accepted the other as well.
• Brahman is like akasa, without any modification. It is like fire, which has no colour. Only by His Power has He taken up various forms. Sattva, rajas and tamas are the three qualities of God’s Power. If you put something white in fire, it appears white; if you put something red, it appears red; if black, the fire appears black.
• Brahman is beyond the three qualities of sattva, rajas and tamas. What He is cannot be expressed in words – He is beyond speech. What remains when you continue the practice of saying, ‘Not this, not this’ is the essence of Bliss, is Brahman.
• There is no end to God – no limit. Everything is possible for God. However high kites and vultures fly, they cannot touch the top of the sky. If you ask what Brahman is like, well, it is not possible to describe in words. Even if one has realized Brahman, one cannot explain. If someone were to ask what clarified butter is like, the only answer to is, ‘Clarified butter is like clarified butter.’ The only analogy of Brahman is Brahman; nothing else.
• Do you know what Brahman is like? He is like the air. There are smells, both good and bad, in the air. The air, however, is not affected by them.
• As long as one feels that Brahman exists, then living beings, the world, and the twenty-four cosmic principles also exist.
• In the very beginning when a person discriminates ‘Not this, not this,’ it is perceived that Brahman is not living beings, or the world, or the twenty-four cosmic principles – that all these are like a dream. Then comes reversal. That is, one has gone up to the Absolute and now comes down to the phenomenal universe. Then the perception is that God Himself has become the universe and all living beings.
• He (Totapuri) would say that Brahman is where all reasoning ends. It is like camphor, which leaves no residue after it is burnt. Brahman is beyond speech and mind. A salt doll went to fathom the ocean. It never returned to tell its depth. It dissolved into the ocean itself.
• A sai calls the Ultimate Reality ‘Alekh.’ In the Vedas it is called Brahman; the sais call Him Alekh, the incomprehensible. They say of the individual soul that Alekh comes and Alekh departs. That is to say, the individual soul comes from the unmanifest and then merges back into it.
• ‘The essence of the Vedanta is that Brahman alone is real, that the world is illusory. He who is mentioned as Sat-chit-ananda Brahman in the Vedas is called Sat-chit-ananda Shiva in the Tantra. It is He who is known as Sat-chit-ananda Krishna in the Puranas.’
• The essence of Vedanta is that Brahman is real and the world an illusion. I am not separate from anything, I am that same Brahman.
• The bricks, lime, and brick-dust with which the roof is made also make the stairs. It is only because of the reality of what is known as Brahman that this universe and its creatures have come into existence.
• Brahman is unattached. The three gunas are in Him, but He is not attached to them. It is like a breeze carrying the fragrance of both good and bad smells. The air remains unaffected. Shankaracharya was walking along a road in Kashi. An outcaste carrying a load of meat was coming his way and suddenly touched him. Shankara exclaimed, ‘You’ve touched me!’ The outcaste said, ‘Master, you have not touched me, nor have I touched you. The Atman is not attached. You are that pure Atman.’
• That which is Brahman is also Power, which I call Mother. When It is inactive I call It Brahman and when It creates, preserves and dissolves, I call It Power. It’s like still water and water with ripples in it.
• That is why Sri Ramakrishna says, “It is not possible to live by the Vedic tenets in the Kaliyuga.” That which is Brahman is also Shakti, the power. When worshipping power, one is worshipping Brahman. When there is creation, preservation and destruction, it is called Shakti – they are not different, they are the same.
• It’s nice to have the attitude ‘I am Shiva.’ But then, it’s also true – creation, preservation and dissolution go on day and night by His power. The Primal Power and the Absolute are inseparable. Without Brahman there is no Power, as there cannot be a wave without water, or music without an instrument.
• As long as He keeps us in the phenomenal world, we have a feeling of duality. But when you speak of power, you speak of Brahman – like being aware of day when you are aware of night.
• He who is Purusha is also Prakriti; He who is the Absolute is also the Primal Power. When He is not active, when He is not creating, preserving or dissolving, I call Him Brahman or Purusha. And when He is active doing all these things, I call Him Shakti, Prakriti.
• He who is Brahman is also the Primal Power. He who is Purusha has become Prakriti. Water is water whether it is still or moving. A snake remains a snake whether it moves in its zigzag way or lies coiled up quietly.
• What Brahman is cannot be expressed in words. Speech stops. At the end of the song, ‘Nitai is my mad elephant!’ nothing remains to be said. First the singer repeats, ‘Elephant, elephant.’ Then, after saying ‘Elephant,’ he now can only say, ‘Ele.’ In the end, he can’t even utter this. He loses all outer consciousness.

Knower of Brahman

• The rishis attained Brahmajnana. But if you have the slightest desire for worldly things, you cannot attain the knowledge of Brahman. What an effort the rishis made! They would leave their ashram in the morning to meditate and contemplate on God alone throughout the day.
• After one attains knowledge of the Absolute, God permits a little ego to remain. This ego is the ‘I of the devotee,’ or the ‘I of knowledge’. It is with this ‘I’ that one enjoys His infinite play. That is why the vijnani keeps the ‘I of devotion’ or the ‘I of knowledge’, to enjoy the Bliss of God and to teach mankind.
• God retains the ‘I of knowledge,’ or the ‘I of a devotee’ in many people, even after they attain the knowledge of the Absolute. Hanuman had the attitude of a servant of God, of a devotee, after having the direct vision of both aspects of God, Personal and Impersonal. He said to Ramachandra, ‘Rama, at times I think of You as the whole and myself as a part of You. Sometimes I say to myself that I am Your servant and You the Master. And then, Rama, when I attain the Highest Knowledge, I see that You indeed are I and I am You.’
• An unripe betel nut and an unripe almond cannot be separated from their shells. But when they are mature, the betel nut and the almond are separate from their shells. When ripe, the juice is dried up. Similarly, on realizing Brahman, the water of worldliness dries up.
• In God there is both knowledge and ignorance. Vidya maya takes one toward the Lord, avidya maya takes one away from Him. Spiritual knowledge, love and devotion for God, compassion and dispassion belong to the realm of vidya. By resorting to them, one draws near to God. And if one takes a step up, one reaches Him – attains the knowledge of Brahman.
• Is it easy to attain the knowledge of Brahman? It is not possible until the mind is completely annihilated. A guru said to his disciple, ‘Give me your mind and I will give you divine knowledge.’ The Naked One (Totapuri) used to say, ‘Don’t let your mind scatter.’
• You know that medicine works only when it mixes with the blood. Similarly, in the state of the knowledge of Brahman, one sees God both within and without. One sees that He has become the body, the mind, the vital breath and the soul.
• One attains the state of Brahmajnana when the mind is annihilated. When the mind vanishes, one’s ego is wiped out – that which goes on repeating ‘I,’ ‘I’. One reaches this state through the path of love and devotion for God as well as through the path of divine knowledge, that is to say the path of discrimination.
• There are some signs by which one recognizes a person who has attained the knowledge of Brahman. The Srimad Bhagavata talks of four states of a man of spiritual knowledge: He appears like (1) a child, (2) an inert object, (3) a crazy man, and (4) a ghoul. Sometimes he acts like a five-year-old child. And sometimes he acts like a mad man. At times he lives like an inert object. In this state he cannot attend to work – all work drops off.

Knowledge of Brahman

• On attaining the knowledge of Brahman, attachment to the world and enthusiasm for ‘lust and greed’ vanishes. You attain perfect peace. A piece of burning wood produces a crackling sound and gives out heat. When it is consumed and has turned to ash, all sound ceases.
• Butter comes out of the same substance that makes buttermilk. It belongs to the substance to which buttermilk belongs, as buttermilk belongs to the substance to which butter belongs. When you have churned buttermilk assiduously to take out the butter (that is, attained Brahmajnana), you see that both butter and buttermilk exist together – where there is butter, there is also buttermilk.
• The knowledge of Brahman cannot be attained when there is the least trace of worldliness. It is only possible when the mind is completely rid of ‘lust and greed.’ Parvati said to Giriraj, ‘Father, if you want the knowledge of Brahman, seek the company of holy men.’
• Everything can be attained by love for God alone. Those who want the knowledge of Brahman will have it if they continue on the path of love. Can there be any dearth of spiritual knowledge if God grants His mercy? In Kamarpukur they weigh paddy by pushing forward more paddy as soon as the first heap is done. The Divine Mother pushes forward heaps of spiritual knowledge.
• Worldly people are engrossed in the joy of the senses, the joy of ‘lust and greed.’ Through worship, His grace descends. One attains God’s vision and then enjoys the bliss of Brahman.
• The gopis attained the knowledge of Brahman, but they didn’t want the knowledge. They preferred to enjoy themselves with God – as mother and child, as His beloved, or as a handmaid of God.
• Perfect jnana and perfect bhakti are one and the same. By discriminating ‘not this, not this,’ all reasoning ends, leading to the knowledge of Brahman. Then one accepts again what one has renounced. You have to be careful climbing to the roof. But when you get there, you see that the roof is made of the same materials – brick, lime, and brick dust – of which the steps are made.
• God can be realized by different paths and by different religions. A person can live in the world after practicing spiritual disciplines in solitude and developing love for God. Janaka and others lived a worldly life after attaining the knowledge of Brahman. You must call on Him with a heart full of yearning, only then will He grant His vision.
• Attaining the knowledge of Brahman, you will have the correct understanding that God is real and all else is transitory. Brahman is real, the world unreal.
• A brahmachari said to me, ‘If you go beyond Kedar, your body will not survive.’ Similarly, the body doesn’t survive after attaining the knowledge of Brahman. The body dies in twenty-one days.
• There is a boundless plain on the other side of the wall. Four friends tried to see what was on the other side. Each one of them climbed the wall and, after seeing the field, fell into it laughing, exclaiming, ‘Ah! Aha!’ The first three didn’t come back to give a report. Only one of them did. His body survived even after attaining the knowledge of Brahman – in order to teach people. For example, Divine Incarnations.
• Brahman is immovable, changeless, inactive and the nature of knowledge. When the intellect merges into the awareness of knowledge, a person attains Brahmajnana – then he becomes buddha, enlightened. The Naked One used to say, ‘The mind merges into the intellect and the intellect into the nature of knowledge.’
• As long as I-ness persists, a person doesn’t attain the knowledge of Brahman. Only after gaining the knowledge of Brahman and having the vision of God can you get I-ness under control. Otherwise, you can’t control it. It’s difficult to catch your shadow, but when the sun is overhead, your shadow is no farther away than half a cubit.
• Bhavate bhrala tanu haral ge jnana. [Feelings of ecstasy fill my body and steal my consciousness.] That jnana means consciousness of the outside world. You need consciousness of Truth, consciousness of Brahman. The body becomes filled with divine ecstasy and you lose all body consciousness.
• The knowers of Brahman say also that you see duality because of body-consciousness – you feel that even the reflection is real. When this identification is gone, you experience So ‘ham – I am That Brahman.