Neighbour: “Then householders, too, will have the vision of God, won’t they?”
Sri Ramakrishna: “Everybody will surely be liberated. But one should follow the instructions of the guru; if one follows a devious path, one will suffer in trying to retrace one’s steps. It takes a long time to achieve liberation. A man may fail to obtain it in this life. Perhaps he will realize God only after many births. Sages like Janaka performed worldly duties. They performed them, bearing God in their minds, as a dancing-girl dances, keeping jars or trays on her head. Haven’t you seen how the women in northwest India walk, talking and laughing while carrying waterpitchers on their beads?”
Neighbour: “You just referred to the instructions of the guru. How shall we find him?”
Sri Ramakrishna: “Anyone and everyone cannot be a guru. A huge timber floats on the water and can carry animals as well. But a piece of worthless wood sinks, if a man sits on it, and drowns him. Therefore in every age God incarnates Himself as the guru, to teach humanity. Satchidananda alone is the guru.
“What is knowledge? And what is the nature of this 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.’ ” From Prankrishna’s house the Master went to Colonel Viswanath’s and from there to the Lily Cottage