How can one see God ? - Sri Ramkrishna Paramhansa

THE MASTER AND VIJAY GOSWAMI

Vijay: " How can one see God ?"

Master : " One cannot see God without purity of heart. Through attachment to ' woman and gold '( lust and greed) the mind has become stained --- covered with dirt, as it were. A magnet cannot attract a needle if the needle is covered with mud. Wash away the mud and the magnet will draw it. Likewise, the dirt of the mind can be washed away with the tears of our eyes. This stain is removed if one sheds tears of repentance and says, ' O God, I shall never do such a thing.' Thereupon God, who is like the magnet, draws to Himself the mind, which is like the needle. Then the devotee goes into samadhi and obtains the vision of God.

" You may try thousands of times, but nothing can be achieved without God's grace. One cannot see God without His grace. Is it an easy thing to receive the grace of God ? One must altogether renounce egotism; one cannot see God as long as one feels, ' I am the doer.' Suppose, in a family, a man has taken charge of the store-room; then if someone asks the master, 'Sir, will you yourself kindly give me something from the store-room ?' , the master says to him: ' There is already someone in the store-room. What can I do there ?'

" God doesn't easily appear in the heart of a man who feels himself to be his own master. But God can be seen the moment His grace descends. He is the Sun of Knowledge. One single ray of His has illumined the world with the light of knowledge. One can see God only if He turns His Light toward His own face.

FROM : THE GOSPEL OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA, PAGE 174