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NOTES: CHAPTER TEN 526 鈥�
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Mother. "O Mother, " Ramakrishna sang, "Thou art verily
Brahman and Thou art verily Sakti.
Thou art the
Absolute and Thou dost manifest Thyself as the Relative"
(ibid., p. 178). The j帽膩nin lost in the unity of the
nirguna Brahman is, in Ramakrishna's teaching, compared to a
person who has climbed up to the roof of a house and
forgotten the steps altogether. This, however, is not the
most complete realization:
"The vijn膩ni, who is more intimately acquainted with
Brahman, realizes something more. He realizes that the
steps are made of the same materials as the roof:
bricks, lime, and brick-dust. That which is realized
intuitively as Brahman .
is then found to have
become the universe and all its living beings" (ibid.,
p. 155).
Ramakrishna explained that it is this realization that makes
bhakti possible even after enlightenment:
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"The Mother has kept me in the state of a bhakta, a
vijn膩ni. That is why I joke with Rakhal and others.
Had I been in the condition of a jn膩ni I couldn't do
that.
"In this state I realize that it is the Mother alone
who has become everything. I see Her everywhere. In
the K膩li temple I found that the Mother Herself had
become everything--even the wicked" (ibid., 290鈥�291).
Again: "The most advanced devotees say that He Himself has
become all this--the twenty-four cosmic principles, the
universe, and all living beings. The devotee of God wants
to eat sugar, and not to become sugar" (ibid., p. 192).
In all this, we see an interesting blend of Advaita,
tantrism, and even (in the sugar metaphor) Vai峁ａ箛ava
devotionalism. While Ramakrishna did not see himself as a
spokesman for the Sankara tradition per se, his vision,
especially as transmitted by the more intellectual
Vivekananda, has been extremely influential in modern
Advaitic circles.
15 Swami Vivekananda remarks:
"Sri Ramakrishna used to say that there is another stage
of Bhakti which is called the Supreme Devotion (Par膩
bhakti) i.e. to love Him after becoming established in
the consciousness of Advaita and after having attained
Mukti. It may seem paradoxical, and the question may be
raised here why such a one who has already attained
Mukti whould be desirous of retaining the spirit of
Bhakti? The answer is: The Mukta or the Free is beyond
all law; no law applies in his case, and hence no
question can be asked regarding him. Even becoming
Mukta, some, out of their own free will, retain Bhakti
to taste of its sweetness" (Complete Works, V, 336-337).
See Vivekananda's essay "Para-Bhakti or Supreme Devotion"
(Complete Works, III, 70-100).