Jivatma, which is the chip of the block Brahman, exhibits the same qualities and the properties. In other words it is Satchidana swarupa—eternal Existence Knowledge Bliss! But, embedded in the body, it is subjected to various influences and upadhis. It is like a lion in the company of lambs that has totally forgotten its real or original nature! Egotism and other limiting upadhis change its nature even as it behaves differently according to the demanding effect of these upadhis. The Jiva identifies itself with various aspects of life like dress, shoes, and acts according to the situation oblivious of its true nature! This attitude is mainly because of the wrong identification of body with the Spirit! or Self. It is something like mistaking the slough for the snake. Slough is different from the snake and even so is body from the Self or Spirit! The self is not attached to anything. The Upanishads describe it as totally unattached “ asabdamas sparsa marupa mavyayam”—that which has no sound, or sense of touch or form and that is eternal.
Pleasure, pain, sin and righteousness and various other things of life affect the body alone, not the Soul or Self. The secret of man's suffering is that he identifies himself with the body but not the Soul or Self! Dark smoke affects the wall near it but not the space enclosed within it! Without realizing that he is the eternal, indestructible Atma or Self, man is under the illusion that he is the body alone. Thus he inflicts upon himself all pains, sorrows, sufferings and pleasures. Nature of men differs according to the dominance of the three gunas or qualities viz Satwa, Rajas and Thamas. Essentially all Souls are of the same nature but they differ according to their respective conditions. Souls can be classified into four divisions viz Baddha or bound, Mumukshu or struggling for liberation, Mukta or emancipated and Nitya Mukta or ever free.
Sri Ramakrishna gives a fine example to illustrate this point. A fisherman casts his net and a lot of fish were caught in the net. Some fish were calm and motionless and did not exert themselves to escape. Others jumped and tried to wriggle out but failed. Only a few succeeded in getting out of the net! Thus there are men bound and never strive to be free. Others, though bound, struggle for freedom and the last are those that have attained freedom already! Sri Ramakrishna elaborates the qualities of the liberated man, the bhaktha and the worldly wise. Three dolls one of salt, the other of cloth and the third of stone are immersed in water. We can see the effect of immersing in water. The doll of salt dissolves in water, loses its form and merges into water. The second, of cloth, absorbs water, bulges but does not lose its form. The third, of stone, is impervious to water and remains the same. The first is the liberated man who has merged his self in the universal Self! The second is the Bhaktha, true lover God full of aDivine bliss and knowledge! The third stands for the worldly wise man who is impervious to true knowledge!
“ Suvarna mekam bahu bhushanani—gold is the same but ornaments are many; “ Mruthpinda eko bahu bhanda rupa”—clay is the same but pots are of different sizes and shapes; “ Go kshira mekam bahu dhenu jata”—all milk is white but from different cows! “Ekah paratma bahu deha varthi”—it is the same God that resides in many bodies! God is the indweller of all creatures. We should not face the tiger thinking that the same God is in the animal. That would be dangerous. God is present in the most wicked people but we should never associate ourselves with such people! Though Lord Narayana is believed to lie on the waters, all water is not fit for drinking. In the same way, though God is in every place, every place is not fit for visiting. We have to discriminate between the places, animals, and other things that we want associate with.
Sri Ramakrishna warns us against the following: “ the grand man; the garrulous man; the man who is not open hearted; the man who makes a parade of his devotion by sticking sacred Tulsi leaves on his ears; the woman who wears a long veil; and the cold water of the stagnant pool overgrown with rank vegetation, which is very injurious to health.” What a wonderful creation with multitudes of different people, animals, plants, insects, trees and other organisms that human mind can never think of! It is extremely difficult for man to think of the embedded Atma or Self in the body as he is terribly attached to his family and property! His desires, fulfilled or unfulfilled, drag him down! It is only a person here and there who can raise himself against all the limitations and enjoy the bliss of God!
Pleasure, pain, sin and righteousness and various other things of life affect the body alone, not the Soul or Self. The secret of man's suffering is that he identifies himself with the body but not the Soul or Self! Dark smoke affects the wall near it but not the space enclosed within it! Without realizing that he is the eternal, indestructible Atma or Self, man is under the illusion that he is the body alone. Thus he inflicts upon himself all pains, sorrows, sufferings and pleasures. Nature of men differs according to the dominance of the three gunas or qualities viz Satwa, Rajas and Thamas. Essentially all Souls are of the same nature but they differ according to their respective conditions. Souls can be classified into four divisions viz Baddha or bound, Mumukshu or struggling for liberation, Mukta or emancipated and Nitya Mukta or ever free.
Sri Ramakrishna gives a fine example to illustrate this point. A fisherman casts his net and a lot of fish were caught in the net. Some fish were calm and motionless and did not exert themselves to escape. Others jumped and tried to wriggle out but failed. Only a few succeeded in getting out of the net! Thus there are men bound and never strive to be free. Others, though bound, struggle for freedom and the last are those that have attained freedom already! Sri Ramakrishna elaborates the qualities of the liberated man, the bhaktha and the worldly wise. Three dolls one of salt, the other of cloth and the third of stone are immersed in water. We can see the effect of immersing in water. The doll of salt dissolves in water, loses its form and merges into water. The second, of cloth, absorbs water, bulges but does not lose its form. The third, of stone, is impervious to water and remains the same. The first is the liberated man who has merged his self in the universal Self! The second is the Bhaktha, true lover God full of aDivine bliss and knowledge! The third stands for the worldly wise man who is impervious to true knowledge!
“ Suvarna mekam bahu bhushanani—gold is the same but ornaments are many; “ Mruthpinda eko bahu bhanda rupa”—clay is the same but pots are of different sizes and shapes; “ Go kshira mekam bahu dhenu jata”—all milk is white but from different cows! “Ekah paratma bahu deha varthi”—it is the same God that resides in many bodies! God is the indweller of all creatures. We should not face the tiger thinking that the same God is in the animal. That would be dangerous. God is present in the most wicked people but we should never associate ourselves with such people! Though Lord Narayana is believed to lie on the waters, all water is not fit for drinking. In the same way, though God is in every place, every place is not fit for visiting. We have to discriminate between the places, animals, and other things that we want associate with.
Sri Ramakrishna warns us against the following: “ the grand man; the garrulous man; the man who is not open hearted; the man who makes a parade of his devotion by sticking sacred Tulsi leaves on his ears; the woman who wears a long veil; and the cold water of the stagnant pool overgrown with rank vegetation, which is very injurious to health.” What a wonderful creation with multitudes of different people, animals, plants, insects, trees and other organisms that human mind can never think of! It is extremely difficult for man to think of the embedded Atma or Self in the body as he is terribly attached to his family and property! His desires, fulfilled or unfulfilled, drag him down! It is only a person here and there who can raise himself against all the limitations and enjoy the bliss of God!
