Realising GOD through different spiritual moods- Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa !

Spiritual aspirants can realize God through different Spiritual moods. For example -Mira Bai, Hanuman ji, Valmiki, Sudama are all examples of spiritual aspirants who achieved oneness with God using different spiritual states  or (Bhaav).
These states can be  that of - Devotion towards God ,as a Companion of God, as a Rishi/ or Sant ,as that of  Vatsalya towards God  or that of  Madhurya Bhaav.

Swami Ramakrishna Paramhansa describes these states in the Gospel of Ramakrishna. Enclosed below is the relevant excerpt from the Gospel of Ramakrishna.

Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa

Different moods of Spiritual aspirants - A Quote from The Gospel of Ramakrishna (Chapter 4):

"In order to realize God, one must assume one of these attitudes: Śānta, Dāsya, Sakhya, Vātsalya, or Madhur. 

"Śānta, the serene attitude. The rishis of olden times had this attitude toward God. They did not desire any worldly enjoyment. It is like the single-minded devotion of a wife to her husband. She knows that her husband is the embodiment of beauty and love, a veritable Madan. 

"Dāsya, the attitude of a servant toward his master. Hanuman had this attitude toward Rama. He felt the strength of a lion when he worked for Rama. A wife feels this mood also. She serves her husband with all her heart and soul. A mother also has a little of this attitude, as Yaśoda had toward Krishna. 

"Sakhya, the attitude of friendship. Friends say to one another, 'Come here and sit near me.' Sridāmā and other friends sometimes fed Krishna with fruit, part of which they had already eaten, and sometimes climbed on His shoulders. 

"Vātsalya, the attitude of a mother toward her child. This was Yaśoda's attitude toward Krishna. The wife, too, has a little of this. She feeds her husband with her very life-blood, as it were. The mother feels happy only when the child has eaten to his heart's content. Yaśoda would roam about with butter in her hand, in order to feed Krishna. 

"Madhur, the attitude of a woman toward her paramour. Radha had this attitude toward Krishna. The wife also feels it for her husband. This attitude includes all the other four."                                     

                                         
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Source and credits:
An excerpt from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishnahttp://www.belurmath.org/gospel/chapter04.htm
 To read the gospel visit our Life Transforming Books section or click on the link here 

Quotes by Swami Vivekananda and Ramkrishna Paramhansa on: Education, God, How To Reform People?, Krishna and The Bhagvad Gita !

The following are exceptional lines/ quotes  from the lectures and writings of Swami Vivekananda. The quotes are on a range of subjects, covering  - The greatness of The Bhagvad Gita, Lord Buddha, The purpose of Education, Jesus and Krishna, Good and Evil. 

SWAMI  VIVEKANANDA ON EDUCATION:

"The less you read, the better. Read the Gita and other good works on Vedanta. That is all you need. The present system of education is all wrong. The mind is crammed with facts before it knows how to think. Control of the mind should be taught first. If I had my education to get over again and had any voice in the matter, I would learn to master my mind first, and then gather facts if I wanted them. It takes people a long time to learn things because they can't concentrate their minds at will."

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA ON THE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION:

"We want that education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded, and by which one can stand on one's own feet."

RAMKRISHNA PARAMHANSA ON MEN & GOD:

My Master used to say, "This world is a huge lunatic asylum where all men are mad, some after money, some after women, some after name or fame, and a few after God. I prefer to be mad after God. God is the philosophers' stone that turns us to gold in an instant; the form remains, but the nature is changed — the human form remains, but no more can we hurt or sin."

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA ON PROPHETS ACCROSS THE AGES:

Prophets preach, but the Incarnations like Jesus, Buddha, Ramakrishna, can give religion; one glance, one touch is enough. That is the power of the Holy Ghost, the "laying on of hands"; the power was actually transmitted to the disciples by the Master — the "chain of Guru-power". That, the real baptism, has been handed down for untold ages.

TAMAS, RAJAS and SATTVIKA:

The world is our fish basket, we must not depend upon it for enjoyment. Those who do are the Tâmasas or the bound. Then there are the Râjasas or the egotistical, who talk always about "I", "I". They do good work sometimes and may become spiritual. But the highest are the Sâttvikas, the introspective, those who live only in the Self. These three qualities, Tamas, Rajas, and Sattva (idleness, activity, and illumination), are in everyone, and different ones predominate at different times.

IS GOD A MERE MUNICIPAL AUTHORITY:

Today God is being abandoned by the world because He does not seem to be doing enough for the world. So they say, "Of what good is He?" Shall we look upon God as a mere municipal authority?

HOW TO REFORM:

Violent attempts at reform always end by retarding reform. Do not say, "You are bad"; say only, "You are good, but be better."

IS THERE ANYTHING CALLED 'RIGHTEOUS ANGER or JUSTIFIABLE KILLING?''

Priests are an evil in every country, because they denounce and criticise, pulling at one string to mend it until two or three others are out of place. Love never denounces, only ambition does that. There is no such thing as "righteous" anger or justifiable killing.

WOMEN- THE LION OR THE FOX?

If you do not allow one to become a lion, he will become a fox. Women are a power, only now it is more for evil because man oppresses woman; she is the fox, but when she is not longer oppressed, she will become the lion.

SPIRITUAL ASPIRATIONS BALANCED THROUGH INTELLECT:

Ordinarily speaking, spiritual aspiration ought to be balanced through the intellect; otherwise it may degenerate into mere sentimentality. . . .

KRISHNA AND THE GREATNESS OF THE BHAGVAD GITA:

All theists agree that behind the changeable there is an Unchangeable, though they vary in their conception of the Ultimate. Buddha denied this in toto. "There is no Brahman, no Atman, no soul," he said. As a character Buddha was the greatest the world has ever seen; next to him Christ. But the teachings of Krishna as taught by the Gita are the grandest the world has ever known. He who wrote that wonderful poem was one of those rare souls whose lives sent a wave of regeneration through the world. The human race will never again see such a brain as his who wrote the Gita.

GOOD and EVIL:

There is only one Power, whether manifesting as evil or good. God and the devil are the same river with the water flowing in opposite directions.

CREDITS and REFRENCES:

The above quotes are from the complete works of Swami Vivekananda: http://cwsv.belurmath.org/volume_7/vol_7_frame.htm

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Ramakrishna Paramhansa, The Great Incarnation - a brief story of his Life !

The below mentioned excerpt details in brief the story of an orthodox Brahmin son called Shri Ramakrishna and how he became Ramakrishna Paramhansa:

MONDAY, July 1, 1895. (Shri Ramakrishna Deva)

Shri Ramakrishna was the son of a very orthodox Brahmin, who would refuse even a gift from any but a special caste of Brahmins; neither might he work, nor even be a priest in a temple, nor sell books, nor serve anyone. He could only have "what fell from the skies" (alms), and even then it must not come through a "fallen" Brahmin. Temples have no hold on the Hindu religion; if they were all destroyed, religion would not be affected a grain. A man must only build a house for "God and guests", to build for himself would be selfish; therefore he erects temples as dwelling places for God.

Owing to the extreme poverty of his family, Shri Ramakrishna was obliged to become in his boyhood a priest in a temple dedicated to the Divine Mother, also called Prakriti, or Kâli, represented by a female figure standing with feet on a male figure, indicating that until Maya lifts, we can know nothing. Brahman is neuter, unknown and unknowable, but to be objectified He covers Himself with a veil of Maya, becomes the Mother of the Universe, and so brings forth the creation. The prostrate figure (Shiva or God) has become Shava (dead or lifeless) by being covered by Maya. The Jnâni says, "I will uncover God by force" (Advaitism); but the dualist says, "I will uncover God by praying to Mother, begging Her to open the door to which She alone has the key."

Why evil exists - Ramakrishna Paramhansa in conversation with his disciple.

Enclosed here is an explanation of Evil & why evil  exists. The short article also explains the consequences of committing sinful actions and deeds.The text is a self explanatory conversation between Ramakrishna Paramhansa and his disciple. Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa is referred to as MASTER in this conversation:

Quoted Text:

"A NEIGHBOUR: "Why does a man have sinful tendencies?"

MASTER: "In God's creation there are all sorts of things. He has created bad men as well as good men. It is He who gives us good tendencies, and it is He again who gives us evil tendencies."

NEIGHBOUR: "In that case we aren't responsible for our sinful actions, are we?"

MASTER: "Sin begets its own result. This is God's law. Won't you burn our tongue if you chew a chilli? In his youth Madhur led a rather fast life; so he suffered from various diseases before his death.

"One may not realize this in youth. I have looked into the hearth in the kitchen of the Kāli temple when logs are being burnt. At first the wet wood burns rather well. It doesn't seem then that it contains much moisture. But when the wood is sufficiently burnt, all the moisture runs back to one end. At last water squirts from the fuel and puts out the fire.

"So one should be careful about anger, passion, and greed. Take, for instance, the case of Hanuman. In a fit of anger he burnt Ceylon. At last he remembered that Sita was living in the Aśoka grove. Then he began to tremble lest the fire should injure her."

NEIGHBOUR: "Why has God created wicked people?"

MASTER: "That is His will, His play. In His maya there exists avidyā as well as vidyā. Darkness is needed too. It reveals all the more the glory of light. There is no doubt that anger, lust, and greed are evils. Why, then, has God created them? In order to create saints. A man becomes a saint by conquering the senses. Is there anything impossible for a man who has subdued his passions? He can even realize God, through His grace. Again, see how His whole play of creation is perpetuated through lust.

"Wicked people are needed too. At one time the tenants of an estate became unruly. The landlord had to send Golak Choudhury, who was a ruffian. He was such a harsh administrator that the tenants trembled at the very mention of his name.

"There is need of everything. Once Sita said to her Husband: 'Rama, it would be grand if every house in Ayhodhya were a mansion! I find many houses old and dilapidated.' 'But, my dear,' said Rama, 'if all the houses were beautiful ones, what would the masons do?' (Laughter.) God has created all kinds of things. He has created good trees, and poisonous plants and weeds as well. Among the animals there are good, bad, and all kinds of creatures - tigers, lions, snakes, and so on."

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Source and Credits : 

Visit our "Life Transforming Books " section to read the Gospel of Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa, as well as other great Books from The Enlightened Spiritual Masters.

This article is an excerpt from http://www.belurmath.org/gospel/chapter02.htm