Let’s Weep Jugs of Tears! – Br. Shankara

Sunday, September 13, 2015

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This month we focus on Bhakti Yoga, the path of devotion. Through prayer, ritual, worship, and self-surrender, you can develop a relationship with God that is the central focus of your life. Your spiritual practice may result in an intense mutual attraction and devotion that becomes a conscious union with the Divine. Great spiritual teachers who taught the bhakti path include Sri Krishna, the sages Narada and Patanjali, Sri Chaitanya, and Sri Ramakrishna.

Mahendranath Gupta
M. (Mahendranath Gupta)

ABOUT THE PHRASE “JUGS OF TEARS:” Mahendranath Gupta (known as M.) was the recorder and writer of the “Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.” He visited the Master frequently from March of 1882 until Sri Ramakrishna’s death on August 15, 1886, keeping a meticulous record of what he heard and saw.

Very early in his relationship with M., Sri Ramakrishna said to him:

“Cry to the Lord with an intensely yearning heart and you will certainly see Him. People shed a whole jug of tears for wife and children. They swim in tears for money. But who weeps for God?”

M., who had just begun his discipleship with the Master, quickly learned Sri Ramakrishna’s three most fundamental lessons:

  • God alone is Real, and the purpose of human life is to find that Reality — to “realize” God.
  • You can see and talk with God, if that is your sincere and persistent desire.
  • All other aspects and concerns of life must become secondary, if life’s purpose is to be fulfilled.

In this talk, Br. Shankara discusses these lessons, and how to make them a part of your life — in Sri Ramakrishna’s words, “assimilate them.”