Sri Ramakrishna
By Wes Annac, Culture of Awareness
In my opinion, the vast majority of problems people face on a daily basis stem from the fact that they aren’t connected with their creator.
Some of you free thinkers out there might not want to hear about God or why connecting with Him/Her is important, but a lot of things about life that once brought us down could get easier if we could maintain this connection daily.
Why, you ask? Because we’ll have finally and permanently forged a connection that expands our outlook on life and reminds us that we have an infinite universe within, which we can turn to in our times of difficulty or suffering.
Here, I’d like to examine some material from Sri Ramakrishna about God.
I think the topic at hand is relevant to our spiritual evolution and the vibrant states of consciousness we can now access, and in order to understand these higher realms, we might want to understand the creator entity that’s responsible for their (and our) existence.
First, Sri Ramakrishna tells us that God is responsible for the understanding that we have to deal with the consequences of our actions.
“It is God alone who has planted in man’s mind what the ‘Englishman’ calls free will. People who have not realized God would become engaged in more and more sinful actions if God had not planted in them the notion of free will. Sin would have increased if God had not made the sinner feel that he alone was responsible for his sin.
“Those who have realized God are aware that free will is a mere appearance. In reality man is the machine and God its Operator, man is the carriage and God its Driver.” (1)
While we tend to think we’re separate from our creator and we’re solely responsible for the things we do, Ramakrishna reminds us that we’re actually instruments for God to express Himself.
“God alone is the Doer. I say: ‘O Lord, I do as Thou doest through me. I speak as Thou speakest through me. I am the machine and Thou art the Operator. I am the house and Though art the Indweller. I am the engine and Thou art the Engineer.’” (2)
True wisdom is knowing that we’ve never been separate from our creator. I know it’s easy to assume we aren’t connected with God at all, but we are and all we need to do is open up and realize this.
We just don’t know how strong this connection already is, and if we did, we’d probably pursue it with a lot more faith. With everything we do that’s intended to help others or advance our collective evolution, our creator is working through us.
I’d imagine there’s an ego-driven force working through us when we do things that aren’t in our or the world’s best interest, and perhaps our negative or self-serving actions result the fact that we think we’re separate from God. Allow me to explain.
Maybe, the belief that either God doesn’t exist or, if he does exist, we’re separate from him and we couldn’t possibly know Him, causes us to engage in actions that might be called selfish or ‘sinful’.
I don’t prefer the term ‘sinful’ or anything else that has to do with religion, which is why it’s sometimes hard for me to write these reports. However, I recognize that even with these old fashioned labels thrown around, the spiritual teachers who use them are coming from a genuine place.
Once we understand this, hearing from the Masters becomes a process of picking and choosing which expressions and philosophies work for us. I do think that religious terms like ‘God’ and ‘sin’ are useful – we just have to be careful with them. But I digress.
Maybe the idea that we’re separate from God causes people to embrace wickedness, and without a solid, genuine spiritual figure to remind them who they really are, it can be easy for a lot of people to fall onto a path of hatred, selfishness and general ‘sin’.
Understanding that we’re instruments for God to express Himself can keep us off of paths that hurt our spiritual growth, as Ramakrishna tells us.
“If a man has the firm conviction that God alone is the Doer and he is His instrument, then he cannot do anything sinful. He who has learnt to dance correctly never makes a false step. One cannot even believe in the existence of God until one’s heart becomes pure.” (3)
True knowledge, Ramakrishna tells us, comes from understanding that God is the ‘doer’ and we are His ‘instruments’.
“What is knowledge? And what is the nature of the ego? ‘God alone is the Doer, and none else’ – that is knowledge. I am not the doer; I am a mere instrument in His hand.
“Therefore I say: ‘O Mother, Thou art the Operator and I am the machine. Thou art the Indweller and I am the house. Thou art the Driver and I am the carriage. I move as Thou movest me. I do as Thou makest me do. I speak as Thou makest me speak. Not I, not I, but Thou, but Thou.’” (4)
I’d say we can become a conduit for our creator, but in reality, we already are. Whether we realize it or not, everything we’re doing to push this collective evolution along is being done by our creator.
Some people are into channeling their higher self or some other higher being, but true knowledge helps us understand that we’re already channeling God with everything we do. God speaks through the spiritual writers who are dedicated to raising awareness and uplifting people with the power of words.
He gives people the inspiration to do good in the world, which is why you sometimes hear the expression, “doing God’s work”.
I know this can be hard to consider for the spiritual seekers out there who are as anti-religious as me, and it’s taken me a while to get to a point where I can be comfortable with these somewhat religious ideas.
I’m still not totally there, and I feel a degree of discomfort even as I write this. It’s all a part of the process of surrendering to our higher consciousness, and while conforming to a spiritual teacher’s outlook on God doesn’t have to be a part of it, a lot of teachers do have helpful things to say if we can get past the religious talk.
People are right to be disenchanted with religion, but we don’t want to miss all the truths that are right in front of our faces because we’re uncomfortable with the word ‘God’, the word ‘sin’ or the idea that God works through us when we do something positive or wholesome.
We’ll eventually realize that the only time God isn’t working through us is when, again, we feel so separate that we start doing hurtful or destructive things. If we could realize we’re constantly connected with a creator that does in fact exist, we could start to do His will instead of our own seemingly separate will.
I’m sure it’ll become easier for the conscious community to open up to the idea of God – the real God, not the fake one religion would have us worship – as we continue to dismantle religion and we invite each other to form our own understanding of our creator.
Nothing I’ve shared here has to fit in with your understanding of God, and if anything is said here or anywhere else that doesn’t resonate with you, feel free to leave it behind.
Our unique individual perspectives of God and spirituality are the most important, but if we can be open to Ramakrishna’s insights and those of various other spiritual teachers, we could learn a thing or two that we might be glad we learned.
It all comes down to how we want to experience life and our spiritual evolution, and I’m happy to be somewhat open (yet still discerning) about spiritual material that discusses God, sin and other concepts most people associate with religion.
These things can help us expand our understanding and eventually evolve, but we have to be open to them before we can untwist their true meaning and see them in their true light, instead of the false light that’s portrayed by religion.
I hope this piece will help you enhance your connection with God, who’s always working through us. At the very least, I hope it helps you in your quest to open up to your higher consciousness, however you define it, and let your love and creativity flow. In my eyes, this is what our creator wants for us.
Footnotes:
- Swami Nikhilananda, trans., The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. New York: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1978; c1942, 379-80.
- Ibid., 209.
- Ibid., 220.
- Ibid., 98.
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I’m a twenty-one year old spiritual writer, blogger and channel for the creative expression of the inner universe, and I created The Culture of Awareness daily news site.
The Culture of Awareness features daily spiritual and alternative news, articles I’ve written, and more. Its purpose is to awaken and uplift by providing material about the fall of the planetary elite and a new paradigm of unity and spirituality.