The Plaster of Thought-Walls: 137

Thought: Nine Hundred and Fifty-Three

………………………………………………………
1. What had to happen has happened,

what must happen will happen.
To torment oneself brooding over such things and waste life's beautiful moments is foolishness.
2. Learn to work not just with your heart, but with your mind as well.
Sometimes your heart is just a piece of shit.
3. Why does a girl with plain looks, no family wealth, poor academics, who barely scraped through her honors and master's degrees, expect to marry a high-caliber, intelligent, accomplished, refined, cultured, educated boy from a good family?
What makes girls so utterly foolish? The reason is that as children, their parents didn't feed them ghee and rice, which stunted their intelligence—they understand less.
If you want to marry an educated, intelligent, accomplished boy from a refined, cultured, educated family, you must maintain that same level in your own family. You must practice courtesy and manners from childhood, cultivate yourself and your family members to be educated, refined, and cultured, transform your home environment, and establish a reputation as respectable people in your community. Only then can you harbor such hopes.
When you yourself are uneducated, and other family members share the same condition, such expectations are nothing but pipe dreams. Yes, reality speaks thus.
4. In trying to maintain good relations with everyone, one eventually ruins the relationship with oneself.
Does this make any sense?
5. Some people's nature is ruined by not getting what they need,

others' nature is ruined by getting too much.
Nature is corrupted in both ways:

by the lack of essential things,

by the influence of excess.
Deprivation corrupts nature,

abundance corrupts it more.
6. When someone continuously misunderstands, it becomes deeply exhausting. The urge arises to simply break off the relationship rather than repeatedly explain one's position. Let them think whatever they want about me—it makes no difference to me. They're right, I'm wrong. How much can one explain oneself anyway? You can still explain to strangers, but there's no explaining to those who know you.
7. Perhaps you won't reach where you're trying to go; but from places where you shouldn't have ended up yet somehow did, you can at least move away, can't you? If you can, then you're not entirely a failure, your time hasn't been wasted, nor is your journey something unseemly.
Being able to cast away what needn't be kept takes you a good distance along the path. Begin the work of throwing things away before you're completely finished. Today or tomorrow, whatever must be discarded will have to be discarded, and there's only one way to discard it: throwing it away without thinking.
8. If you are always busy with what others should have become, you can never become what you should become.
9. You will suffer, you must endure suffering...this is natural.
10. True work is that which weaves no new bonds of attachment,

true knowledge is that which shows the path of light to liberation;

and what passes for work—mere momentary luxury of effort,

and what passes for knowledge—mere mastery of technique, alas!
11. When cleaning hands with handwash, washing both hands together makes the task easier and cleans both hands better. Cleaning just one hand doesn't work as well. When both hands clean themselves and each other simultaneously, the task becomes both comfortable and joyful.
In exactly the same way, when purifying one's own conscience, if you can simultaneously purify the conscience of those nearby (when opportunity allows), the purification of your own conscience becomes relatively easier and more effective. Light increases when shared.
However, in undertaking this work, one must keep very consciously in mind that each person's conscience—their consciousness, their soul—awakens along different paths. Connected to this are a person's beliefs or disbeliefs, habits or unfamiliarities, experiences or inexperience, opportunities or lack thereof, willingness or reluctance. Different paths, different perspectives, different beauties.
When cleaning both hands together, if dirt gets stuck under the nail of the left index finger, then that nail must be cleaned; but there's no need to clean the right index finger's nail in the same way. The purpose: to clean both hands together as easily and perfectly as possible; cleaning them in exactly the same manner is not essential here.
Let the destination be one, even if the paths of journey differ! One of the most beautiful sayings in this world is "As many opinions, so many paths." The person who said this was Sri Ramakrishna, whose greatest disciple Swami Vivekananda became a great soul by walking a path (nirvikalpa samadhi) that was not identical to the path followed by Ramakrishna himself (savikalpa samadhi). Vivekananda's consciousness awakened through contact with his guru Ramakrishna, and it was through this awakening that he became a great soul—yet Ramakrishna never forced his disciple to walk exactly in his own footsteps. This is where religion becomes beautiful.
12. The girl dreamed that her boyfriend was kissing another girl from their class.
She woke up immediately and remembered she hadn't brushed her teeth before bed.
Brush regularly, because your bad breath might even make your beloved person faint!
Brush your teeth, save a life.
13. Tell me, even after I die, will moonlight continue to drip and fall?

Will Venus sit alone beside the moon and burn, just as it always has?

In friends' gatherings, or at celebrations with loved ones, will my name suddenly come up? Or will I be forgotten entirely?
That deeply beloved secret person I've never told anyone about—will they weep uncontrollably in the middle of the night, thinking of me?
Will flowers bloom on the jasmine vine? Will new guests arrive at the nest built by the sparrow couple by the window?
Even without me, the sun will rise each day, night will fall, melodies of separation will play.

Whether I exist or not, sorrows will remain precious.
14. Love or marriage cannot be a license for giving pain. Where there is peace, there is love, even if there is no love.
Do not make a cage for your partner. If you make, they will just pretend to love you. It's not love, it's just fear.
Peace is love, love is peace. Period.
15. Some people simply cannot be brought back, no matter how hard you try.
Let them be, in their own way.
Don't overthink the sentence above if you don't want to increase your pain. Overthinking kills.
16. Between logic and humanity, I always choose humanity.
17. I once thought people became old after turning sixty. Now I myself am past sixty. Even at this age I consider myself young, because I can still work from 8 AM to 10 PM. Now I think I was wrong before.
(Hearing this, my sinful mind immediately thought: ...but can you work after 10 PM or not—that's the real parameter of youth!
I want to become a better person.)
18. Oh my, oh my! Today's weather is absolutely perfect weather... I mean, perfect for official training; and that's exactly what I'm doing!
19. Those who suffer most at the start,

Win most in the end.
20. Staying with yourself is much better than staying with an irresponsible person.
21. Government officials and mothers of marriageable daughters — both must be as cunning as foxes and as strategic as chimpanzees.
Thoughts: Nine Hundred Fifty-Four

………………………………………………………
1. Plants reproduce through flowers, don't they? Which means flowers are the reproductive organs of plants! No wait, I mean — I was just thinking — how strange that humans offer these plant reproductive organs to express love to one another!
Isn't that odd?
Thank goodness plants can't speak! Otherwise what would they say: "Hey! Give me back my reproductive organs!"
Imagine what a disgusting situation that would be!
P.S. Give me one beautiful reproductive organ, and I'll gift you a heartful of love.
2. A small piece of advice: Never share your spiritual journey on Facebook. It'll increase your mental power. Let us always remember Lalon's words: "Your inner devotional matters, speak them not here and there."
3. Life

gives on one hand,

takes away with the other.
4. What joy did you find in destroying me?

I was already destroyed!
5. Some live in dreams,

others in memories.
6. Why did you want to stay like that?

Would I have let you go if you hadn't wanted to stay?
7. Knowing I couldn't have you, I still wished to,

Having you, I let you go.
8. The one you return today with such cruel neglect,

One day you'll beg to return to them in your darkest hour.
9. A mistake made once,

pains suffered forever.
10. Siddhartha: Dipa, why do you want the sky so much?

Dipa: What do you mean?

Siddhartha: Sometimes I wonder, why does anyone want anyone? Why do you want him?

Dipa: I don't know... I just want him.

Siddhartha: Even knowing that the sky...

Dipa: Doesn't want me?... Yes, still...
Now tell me, which movie's dialogue is this?
11. Don't call her stupid; maybe this is the reason she is still with you.
12. I feel like asking after you.
13. Respect is the most important sign of love. If someone doesn't respect you, never believe that they love you. Respect is love, love is respect.
14. There's still time — become wicked.
15. Men have this common problem: they won't listen when family members ask them to do something or forbid them from doing something; but the same words from an outsider, they'll certainly heed.
16. In countries like Italy, Spain, and France, there was once a practice of imprisoning criminals on ships, chaining them in rows to the oars of small warships called 'galleys.'
One day, the viceroy of Naples was traveling on one such galley. Out of curiosity, he asked the prisoners what crimes had brought them there.
Everyone proclaimed their innocence. Some said enemies had imprisoned them through false testimony; others claimed judges had taken bribes to convict them. All were desperately trying to show their innocence to win the viceroy's favor.
Only one said he had stolen because he couldn't bear the pangs of hunger.
The viceroy struck that prisoner's shoulder with his walking stick and said angrily, "What are you doing here among all these gentlemen, you thief? Get out of here immediately!"
The thief gained freedom for telling the truth.
17. In Bihar lies the tomb of Makhdum Shah. He used to meditate in a cave on a hill in Rajgir.
On the way back to Bihar, one day he stepped aside from the path to relieve himself. There was a watermelon field right ahead. The farmer thought some traveler was stealing watermelons. So without saying a word, he struck the fakir on the head with a stick.
The fakir said nothing to his attacker, but rather spoke to himself: "Kahe Sharfa (his nickname was Sharfuddin) chale ho ku rah, ki lathi khaya." Meaning: Why did Sharfa go down the wrong path and get beaten with a stick!
... He spoke as if the fault was entirely his own! If he had sat by some fallow land or near some bushes, then the farmer wouldn't have made this mistake.
This is life's greatest teaching—to blame oneself rather than others. Through practicing this habit, conscience gradually becomes purified. The path of self-inquiry is the path of worship.
18. When Sikandar Shah was celebrating after conquering Punjab, hearing everyone praise a Hindu ascetic, he expressed his desire to meet him. Sikandar Shah's officer went to the sage and, mentioning his master's conquests, said, "Come see this victorious man."
The sage replied, "Go ask your master whether he has conquered himself; if he has, then I shall certainly come to see him." Amazed by the sage's response, Sikandar Shah went to the sage himself and declared that he would fulfill any request the sage might make. When people visit sages, they all want to hear something good, seeking provisions for their own lives.
The sage answered: Do not take what you cannot give.
The world-conquering Sikandar Shah couldn't understand what there could be that he couldn't give but had taken!
Then the sage said: You cannot give anyone life, so do not take people's lives. You cannot give me sunlight, so do not stand casting shadow and steal the sunlight from me. Let me put it simply: There is no heroism in killing people—stop doing that. I'll give you another piece of advice. When you hear the most necessary words for you anywhere, leave that place immediately. If you wait hoping to hear more, you might hear something that could be harmful to you.
19. One who has surrendered everything to God finds nothing impossible. Not only his own, but he can even change others' destinies.
20. The tree does not withdraw its shade even from the one who has come to cut it down.
In our eyes, this is the tree's magnanimity.

In true judgment, this is the tree's helplessness.
When we forcibly dress up the tree's helplessness in the garb of greatness, it becomes easier to cut down trees.
21. When man can no longer bear even slight suffering, that's precisely when he gets married.
22. Bengalis simultaneously do the work of police and judge—they do it whether there's work or not. Bengalis are the only ones who cannot properly do their own work, but can do everything else.
23. If the person you love decides to leave you for the one wrong thing you've done to them ignoring the hundred right things you've done for them, let them leave. Don't keep such an asshole in your life if you are not an asshole as well. Leave and move on. Leave to live.
**Thought: Nine hundred fifty-nine

………………………………………………………**
1. It is said that once upon a time, a golden plate fell from heaven into a temple in Kashi. Written on that plate were the words: For the one whose love is greatest, a heavenly reward.
The pandits of Kashi beat their drums and proclaimed to all quarters: "Tomorrow at noon, those seeking recognition shall come to the temple and demonstrate their respective virtues."
The next day, people of every class arrived and began proclaiming their own good deeds.
A wealthy man who had given away his vast fortune for the welfare of the poor and come to Kashi was presented with the golden plate by the pandits. But the plate immediately turned to lead. The embarrassed recipient set it down; the plate became gold again.
The aspirants began freely distributing money among the poor gathered near the temple. But scattering coins is not the mark of true compassion.
Not far from the temple lay an old, sick man. No one was paying him any attention. A farmer, coming to offer prayers at the temple, noticed this man. His heart filled with pity at the sight. He gave the old man water and fanned him, bought some milk and fed it to him, offering words of comfort and through his care restored him to some measure of health. Then, having helped the frail old man to a room in the pilgrim's lodge, he went to the temple to worship.
The head pandit had been watching the entire scene from a distance; suddenly moved by some impulse, he placed the plate in the farmer's hands. Everyone saw the plate become twice as brilliant!
I should mention that the Ramakrishna Seva Ashram in Kashi was established to serve all people regardless of religion, caste, or creed. Whenever they learn of any homeless pilgrim, distressed person, sick patient, or holy man lying somewhere in need, they seek them out and provide sincere care and service.
Across the world, Ramakrishna Seva Ashrams continue such humanitarian work. If one's heart moves one to help, it is good to contribute clothes, blankets, food, or various other forms of aid through them. Donated money to the ashram is never misused. There are other such institutions that work tirelessly for humanity. By humanity I mean people of all faiths, paths, and beliefs.
Being able to give and actually giving are not the same thing. Even having the means, not everyone can give. Donation requires not abundance of wealth, but generosity of heart. Many accumulate money into mountains yet give nothing to anyone; when they do give, considering their capacity, what they offer might as well be nothing. Then again, I have seen many who give nothing where their charity would bring them no publicity. I have seen countless people who refuse to help those of other faiths. Many do serve others, but how many know how to serve in a way that would earn them the 'golden plate' of the story above?
2. Now, let us learn about an impoverished Brahmin scholar possessed of infinite self-respect.
In ancient India, the supreme ruler of the Maratha empire was called the Peshwa. Their influence and authority were once legendary. During the Peshwas' ascendancy, every year in the month of Shravan, a great assembly of Brahmins was held in Pune. Distinguished scholar-pandits would come, invited to judge who among the assembled Brahmins was the most learned. The Brahmin most knowledgeable in various scriptures would be declared victor, and the Peshwa of the realm would present him with one hundred thousand coins as reward. Not only that, the Peshwa would personally shoulder the victorious scholar's palanquin and walk three steps, thus honoring both himself and the scholar.
Peshwa Raghunath Rao was also maintaining this established custom, but unlike his predecessors, his heart did not hold the same devotion and reverence for Brahmin scholars. During his reign, a Maithili pandit's supremacy was acknowledged at such an assembly. But Peshwa Raghunath Rao, somewhat displeased with this brilliant scholar's manner and bearing, declared: "This pandit shows little humility, so he shall receive one rupee less."
The scholar said, "If I receive one lakh coins, I am prepared to distribute every single one here for the welfare of humanity. But if you find fault with me and wish to give even one rupee less than the stipulated amount, I will not accept such a humiliating reward. I came this far for honor alone. I will not tolerate even the slightest compromise to that honor."
The Peshwa replied, "Panditji! Having spoken the words, I will not change my decree under any circumstances. You must accept one rupee less. Where else will you find someone willing to give so much money?"
The scholar answered, "Maharaj! There would be no fault in your revoking any unjust decree concerning a Brahmin's livelihood. I say further, Maharaj! While there may be few wealthy men in India now capable of giving one lakh minus one coin, are there not even fewer poor souls who would refuse to accept such a sum?"
The Peshwa did not alter his decree. The Brahmin accepted nothing from him.
Postscript. After teaching for three and a half months in my first tutoring job, when they made false and insulting comments and asked me to accept less money, I left that household without taking a single rupee. The student was a candidate for an engineering admission test. Though I did not receive the reward for my intense labor and sincerity that day, I received far more in later times. Setting aside love and establishment, as far as I know, no one else at CUET could earn more money from tutoring students than I did at that time.
Those interested may read my piece "The Story of My First Tutoring Job."
3. Going to buy milk, he peeks into the liquor store instead,

Sitting down to study, he gets entangled in Facebook threads.
4. Long ago, an American youth who had crossed the bounds of university found himself in severe financial straits and went to seek work from the owner of a construction firm.
Learning of the youth's education, the owner said, "No suitable position is vacant." Hearing this, the youth replied, "Give me any work. I'm in great distress—I can't even afford to buy food due to lack of money." Then the firm owner said, "Everyone says such things initially; later, when given work, it doesn't suit them, and they leave."
The youth answered, "I no longer have that ego. What good is my university certificate if I cannot even manage a meal? Please give me any job. Whatever work you assign me, I will accept it as what God has ordained for my fate."
The owner thought this was merely talk. The poor fellow was speaking emotionally due to hunger and poverty. University graduates don't want to do just any work. Still, to test the boy's resolve, he said, "Notice that laborers are digging to repair the road leading to the office. Could you work alongside them, digging roads?"
To his amazement, the youth said, "Yes sir, that's what I'll do." The owner instructed the gatekeeper to give the boy hammer, spade, and pickaxe and explain the work to him.
That youth marked out a section of road and began digging. When finished, he neatly arranged the stone chips to one side and used spade and hands to clear away the gravel, leaving the excavated area clean as well.
Where the other laborers had dug, the scattered gravel made the owner feel the usual jolts in his car that afternoon as he drove home from the office. But when his car passed over the section where the young man had worked, there were no jolts at all.
It was precisely this distinctive work that delighted the owner. From the young man he received something he had not expected, something the youth need not have done, something he would still have received his wages for not doing—yet by doing it, the young man managed to create a place of sympathy for himself in the owner's heart.
The owner was so impressed by this extra effort that the very next day he appointed the youth as foreman of the laborers as a reward for his sincerity and refined approach to work. Consequently, the young man's daily wages increased as well.
It turned out that this road was prepared with such perfection that other roads paled in comparison. The newly appointed foreman had personally smoothed out all the rises, dips, and slopes everywhere. Not a single flaw marred the care and effort invested.
Gradually, the owner entrusted the young man with supervising other projects. All work began to achieve perfection. Through his reliability and skill, the youth eventually became the owner's business partner and chief executive officer!
Everyone works, but only those whose work contains something distinctively noteworthy receive rewards.
Reflection: Nine Hundred Fifty-Six

………………………………………………………
1. An employer once asked his craftsman: "How do you spend your money?" The craftsman's reply was: "I spend half, lend a quarter, and pay off debt with the remaining quarter." Meaning: half goes to food and clothing; a quarter covers the children's education, and the remaining quarter goes to my parents.
Let me add: in this age, it's better not to hope when children will repay that 'debt'! However, taking full responsibility for parents' care remains an inescapable duty for every human being.
2. In our lives, some people are like fuchka. No matter what else we eat, we find ourselves craving that fuchka in the end. Our lives too have one fuchka-person. Despite mixing with thousands of people, at day's end, seeking peace, we must return to that one person. People to love are easily found, but people who bring peace are hard to find—because while many know how to love, few know how to cherish well.
3. In the Battle of Königgrätz, the Prussians shattered Austria's military might. On that day of battle, the exhausted Prussian Minister Prince Bismarck, after constant rushing about, had saved one cigar in his pocket, thinking that after the war he would lie somewhere with arms and legs spread, smoking the cigar to relieve his fatigue.
On the battlefield, a German soldier lay gravely wounded with broken arms and legs. Seeing the soldier's thirsting gaze, Bismarck dismounted from his horse, but could not decide what to give this dying soldier. He had coins in his pocket, but what use would money be to someone facing imminent death?
He remembered the cigar. Lighting it, Bismarck placed it in the soldier's mouth. As soon as the soldier began to draw on the cigar, the joy that appeared on his pain-wracked face and the sudden welling of grateful tears in his eyes was such that Prince Bismarck, the architect of all modern Germany's progress, would say: "The cigar whose smoke I did not inhale gave me such joy that day that no cigar since has been able to match it."
4. A school in Chennai. In almost every exam, one friend comes first while another friend comes second. This pattern continued.
Just before the Class Nine annual examinations, one of their mothers fell gravely ill. Caring for his ailing mother, the boy's studies came to a complete halt for nearly two months. Yet in the end, his mother could not be saved.
The examinations began immediately after his mother's death. Everyone assumed he would not be able to come first this time; the other boy would surely take first place.
The examination results were announced. It turned out that the motherless boy had indeed come first; his friend had placed second.
Their class teacher became deeply curious about this. He began to wonder: what could this mean? Taking the trouble to compare both answer sheets carefully, he was astonished. He saw that the boy who had come second had not answered most questions particularly well. He had left out a few very simple questions. Though he had answered all the difficult questions, perhaps he had deliberately avoided those easy ones.
When the teacher called him aside privately and asked about this, the boy said, "He's a much better student than I am. It's only because of his mother's illness and death that I might have come first this time. But would that be right? More importantly, he needed this result at such a time. I felt that if he came first this time, it would bring him some comfort, however small. I have my mother. He no longer has his. But sir, please don't tell this to anyone. Why did you investigate so thoroughly? What has happened is right."
The teacher said, "In the greatest examination of all—the test of nobility—you have come first and will remain first for life. School examinations are utterly insignificant beside that."
**5.** This incident took place in Germany. During wartime, a general set out with several cavalry soldiers to gather grass, fodder, and grain for the horses. There was no food anywhere; barren fields stretched in all directions.
Having no choice, the general seized a farmer and said, "Show me where there are crops." The farmer, left with no alternative, showed them the way.
There were crops in low-lying land beside a forest. The general wanted to harvest those. The farmer said, "Let's go a little further." After walking a considerable distance, the farmer pointed out a field. The soldiers uprooted all the chickpea plants, tied them in bundles, loaded them onto the horses, and headed toward camp.
Annoyed at the unnecessary walking, the general said angrily, "The crops in the first field were good too. Why did you make us walk so far for nothing?" The farmer replied, "Sir! This field is mine; the earlier one belonged to someone else. When no payment will be given for the grain, how could I show you another's field?"
**6.** What lies within easy reach brings people little joy. That which is even somewhat rare—whether or not it has the power to give joy—is what people seek their happiness from. There would be joy in the accessible.
**7.** Open the doors of the heart, and does chastity remain?

The death of virtue happens unnoticed by all!
**8.** That day in Barisal, rickshaw fares suddenly dropped.

Why?

Because the city was empty; everyone had gone to Cox's Bazar to watch the cyclone.
**9.** Who are the Bengalis?

Those who

take Napa when the body feels unwell,

arrange marriages when the heart feels unwell.
**10.** Instead of thinking about what would be good for me, what would be bad for me, think about what would allow us to stay together. I don't want to be well; I only want to be with you. If I can't have you, what would I do with being well?
**11.** Successful people learn from the people they admire.

Unsuccessful people try to teach the people they don't admire.

This is what time means to these two groups.
12. It's better to break up while love is still shallow. Shallow love heals with the breakup, but deep love doesn't heal even with death.
13. When a son climbs onto his father's shoulders and says, "Look, Dad, I'm taller than you!" — in his intellectual immaturity, the boy fails to understand that while perching on his father's shoulders has lifted his head higher than his father's, he is actually smaller than his father.
Once he gets a taste of this pleasure, he keeps climbing onto his father's shoulders by force if necessary, again and again, thinking himself bigger than his father. The father too, yielding to time's demands, accepts his son's insistence. This makes the boy happy. The father's silent consent is what time asks of him here.
When the son one day truly surpasses his father in intellect, talent, wisdom, and socio-economic standing, he no longer thinks of himself as bigger than his father — not even by mistake — nor does he say so. Because by then he has matured mentally. True greatness reveals itself naturally; only the small demand recognition of their greatness by force.
Reflections: Nine Hundred Fifty-Seven

………………………………………………………
1. When I speak of love to people, they think it's about my life.

When I speak of love to my beloved, she thinks it's something I've made up.
Everyone knows how to love, but only a few know how to express love. The ability to express love is exceedingly rare. Neither people nor the beloved understand this simple truth.
2. When the mosquito comes to drink blood and starts its song,

who can bear its sweet music?
3. Nothing is more painful than being forced to live life with your own money but on others' terms.
4. Can blazing fire really be hidden when covered?

Can murder truly be suppressed by covering the mouth?

What reveals itself naturally

is futile to conceal...

Truth's banner flutters in the wind,

whatever anyone may say!
However much you strut about

puffing your chest before people,

in just two days you'll find

lime in the leech's mouth!
5. Let's look at an advertisement published in newspapers exactly 50 years ago. Indian Railways' Eastern Railway region had circulated this advertisement:
"Do you know?
Traveling in a seat not reserved in your name is an offense.
You may have gotten away with traveling in seats reserved for others from time to time. But surely you don't want to remember this anonymous journey, thorny with anxiety and worry. You could have been caught at any moment! The trouble would have been endless!
Paying fare and fine or being forced to get off midway; or a fine of up to 250 rupees or up to three months in jail — if luck runs bad, perhaps both together!
Why jump into water for nothing? There's also the question of honor and dignity!
In 1973, countless people were caught traveling in others' reserved seats on Eastern Railway.
Don't buy trouble with money. Buy your tickets only from authorized agencies.
Help us serve you better."
Let's circulate this advertisement in a slightly different manner:
"Do you know?
Trying to claim a religion that the Creator hasn't reserved in anyone's name is an offense.
You may have gotten away from time to time by dragging others into the religion reserved in your name. But surely you don't want to remember this unwanted exercise of unauthorized authority, thorny with anxiety and worry. You could have been caught at any moment while trying to harass! The trouble would have been endless!
Being thrashed and humiliated or fleeing in disgrace; or imprisonment on charges of interfering with the Creator's will (playing God over God) or harassing others — and if luck runs really bad, perhaps both at once!
So why would you jump into troubled waters for no good reason? There's also the question of honor and dignity!

In the past, countless people have been caught red-handed for their religious extremism at various times.
If you have any sense in your head, you won't invite trouble. Let everyone practice their own faith while you practice yours.
Illuminate yourself to better satisfy the Creator."
6. The devout — practice their own faith with care,

The fanatic — harbor hatred for others' prayers.
7. Time. This time has no allegiances. There is no deed that doesn't unfold in time's revolution. This very time has once placed countless people in countless situations, and this same time, when the moment arrives, has lifted them out again. Wealth, honor, position, prestige, kingdoms, prosperity, property, calamity — all are subject to time. The origin, growth, and decay of human conditions and positions — everything happens in time. Time itself is the manifest God.
Time makes us laugh once, then cry once; then laugh again, then cry again. No one can laugh forever, nor cry forever. This supreme truth has no end, no rest. We live our respective lives by embracing time as religion. Those unaware of this temporal majesty are fools; those who refuse to know are listless. When time itself becomes religion, there remains neither sorrow nor joy, only manifestation in truth.
Human conditions change with time. Therefore, being intoxicated by wealth or tormented in spirit is nothing but futility. I came alone, and alone I shall return — so why this constant effort to cling? If everything must be accounted for before death, then why accumulate so many questions whose answers will leave us sweating to repay? Time does time's work, and does it only when time arrives — neither before nor after.
Birth, growth, death —

Time's three forms.
8. Who is God?
Whom the mind cannot know,

yet by whose existence alone

the mind can know everything —

He is God.
9. The crown you could wear makes you an enemy of the people who couldn't.
10. Most boys are actually teachers in the school of lust, though they give lessons in love.

Most girls are actually students in the school of love, though they receive lessons in lust.
That's not the point. The point is, what would happen if the roles were reversed? What is now the rose of romance would then become the thorn of deception. Happiness too would no longer be so universally disguised.
Courtship, romance, love — all these are merely words, often conditional words. What doesn't happen in a healthy mind, isn't that a disorder? Where there is self-gratification, self-interest, is that a relationship of love or a transaction of deception?
11. Hope, bound with despair,

consolation, bound with grief

in the same thread of fate —

then why in my case

is bread bound with pebbles?
12. Beware of the person who, without drinking, tries to win over everyone around them!
13. Body with body, mind with mind... union happens quite easily,

But the union of soul with soul... remains distant, that's no simple thing!
The person of flesh works in flesh,

the person of mind adorns the mind,

the person of soul resonates in soul.
14. Please don't take responsibility for taking me to your heaven. I'm quite content being alive.
Reflection: Nine Hundred Fifty-Eight

………………………………………………………
1. When you love someone, you even love their dog.

And when you don't love someone, you don't even love the deity in their home.
2. A friend of mine jokes that he drinks only two days a week: when it rains, and when it doesn't rain.
In the same spirit, I say: never take praise seriously from two kinds of people—those who are your junior colleagues, and those who are not your junior colleagues.
A good wisdom for staying well: remain indifferent to both praise and blame. People's emotions about others change in no time. So observe others' emotions not with emotion, but with conscience.
3. Some foreheads bear the lines of age,

Others bear the lines of poverty.
4. Some love, some endure being loved. The rest watch movies without tickets.
5. Maintaining a relationship with an ordinary person is much easier than with a creative person. Every creative person is an unhappy person, and this absence of happiness is contagious.
If you want to stay involved with a creative person, you must embed this understanding in yourself for life: I am going to continue a relationship with a child, and the effort here will always have to come from me alone. The relationship will last as long as I can keep giving one-sided effort; otherwise, it won't. But if you can delete everything else from your mind and set just this expectation, you can find peace even in one-sided love.
And if you can't do this, there's no point getting involved with a creative person. If you do, you'll suffer. Creativity is not a normal trait, so the characteristics of creative people don't match those of ordinary folks either.
6. For Bengalis to be happy, it's not enough for them to be happy themselves—they also need to destroy others' happiness. Bengalis cannot tolerate happiness; neither their own nor others'.
7. Speak little,

Get cheated little.
8. Happy Fool's Day
(Sorry for the late wishes, don't mind it.)
9. What is poison is also nectar,

Depending on the eater's hunger.
10. Some keep dogs,

Dogs keep some.
11. When you single-mindedly shoulder the burden of practice,

The fruit of hope surely ripens on the branch of labor.
12. Never become small in the eyes of someone who sees you as great. Even if it means temporary loss to yourself, remain great in their eyes. If you let someone who bows their head while talking to you raise their head and speak, you'll become mentally endangered in your own estimation.
13. Weak people feel jealous,

Strong people feel inspired.
Period.
14. Wine unites,

Water divides.
15. Though you removed my desires for pleasure,

You didn't teach the glory of renunciation;

Though you crushed the pride of knowledge,

You still didn't let me drink devotion's nectar.
Though you erased all that was false,

You revealed nothing of truth;

Though all life's desires were fulfilled,

The soul's thirst remained unquenched.
16. For simple solutions to many of life's problems, I have to return again and again to the book 'Kathamrita.' Deep philosophy appears on every page of this book, presented in very simple language. Among the most accessible philosophical texts I've read, 'Kathamrita' is one of the finest. If you wish, alongside Kathamrita, you might browse through the 16-volume diary-text 'Shrimad-darshan.'
Every reader knows that there are repetitions in Kathamrita—Sri Ramakrishna said the same thing to five people in five places. We see that what he told Narendra, he also told others.
"Uncle, you should select and keep a few choice sayings; if you tell everything, and keep repeating the same things, not many people will come."
Hriday Mukhopadhyay, Ramakrishna's nephew, had warned his uncle several times with these very words.
One day, Ramakrishna responded to his nephew's warning with a touch of irritation in his voice: "Listen here, you rascal, I'll say what I have to say fifty times if I want to! What's it to you?"
The remarkable popularity of the *Kathamrita* proves that people will accept good words even when repeated fifty times, but won't accept bad words even once.
Many people ask me: "Why do you keep saying the same thing over and over? In all your career talks, you keep circling back to the same points. What's the need?"
I've lived only one life, so my experiences and events are of one kind — then why shouldn't my words be of one kind too?
But yes, you do have a choice in this matter. No one is forcing you to look at me, listen to me, or read my writing. (If your mind compels you, that's a different matter — no one has control over the mind.) If you don't like it, avoid it. Turn your gaze elsewhere — there's so much scattered around you worth looking at. Search, make it a habit to seek.
*One who doesn't know how to seek,*

*Is himself lost.*
Like Guru Ramakrishna, I say: I'll speak my words as many times as I please. What's it to anyone? If you feel like listening, listen; if not, go your own way.
17. This evening I met someone I respect and admire greatly, at Batigar in Chittagong. He's a poet and translator with an impressive educational background. I've bought his books, given them to others, and recommended them. He doesn't know any of this. There's nothing to announce about such things.
I was immersed in some books, my face turned downward. That's how I am. When I go to bookstores, I never want strangers to notice me, or if they do notice, to come and strike up conversation. It wastes time unnecessarily. Personally, I'm someone who avoids people. I find more joy in being with myself.
He approached with a smile and spoke to me. Right after asking how I was doing, he inquired about my current posting, and amusingly, he immediately answered his own question: "You're still in Bandarban, aren't you?" I smiled and said, "I was in Bandarban long ago; how long will the government keep me there? Am I supposed to retire from there? We have transferable jobs. Ha ha ha..."
I was indeed posted to Bandarban once, through work. That was quite some time ago. Of course, the lowly crowd still takes pleasure in making up various distasteful stories and fabrications about this. Apparently, having an itch about Sushanta Pal is an easy ticket to heaven! Hard to understand what gives some people joy! Some people have endless idle time on their hands.
After I told him where I'm currently posted, he became busy with a sincere desire to help and said, "You know the Vice-Principal of Gurudayal College, don't you?" When I said I didn't, he was surprised and informed me that he has a good relationship with the gentleman. He would introduce me to him as well. He added, "Since you do career talks and such, having that connection would be very beneficial for you."
I have no natural fondness for pushy people. On top of that, his words made it seem as though I had somehow committed myself to barging into people's lives and offering career counseling! I turn away countless people—not for lack of time, but simply because I dislike their approach. When I don't charge for the work I do, why should there be any pressure? Wherever my heart pulls back even slightly, I never move forward unless absolutely compelled by necessity. Peace of mind comes first.
That "tempting offer" to introduce me to someone—from his tone and manner of speaking, it didn't seem to me that he had extended it with much respect. After meeting someone after so many years, when the very opening of pleasantries begins with such needling, crooked questions, one can hardly expect that person to know how to show respect to others.
Let me mention that I never meet or speak with him; I admire his qualities only from a distance. This means we are strangers to each other.
I said politely, "Brother, I'm a reclusive person. I don't maintain much contact with anyone. And unless absolutely necessary, I don't want to either."
With something like a tone of protest, an expression of disbelief flickering across his face as though he couldn't trust his own ears, he voiced sharp objection: "No, no, you are certainly not reclusive. Whatever else you might be, you cannot be called reclusive. You're always out there mingling with people!"
I lost my taste for the conversation. With a dismissive laugh, I replied, "Brother, we haven't really met or talked much; we've only exchanged messages on Facebook occasionally. Is that enough to pass judgment on me? We are strangers to each other; you don't know me, and I don't know you. We've never felt the need or desire to know each other. How then are you judging me? Just from watching from afar? When we spend our entire lives unable to truly know even the person next to us, how can we know someone from a distance? We can't even properly know our own wives, husbands, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters—isn't that true? How can you be so confident about someone as unknown to you as I am?"
"All right, brother, take care."
Without saying another word, he quickly walked away from me.
"You take very good care too, brother." I managed to get these words to reach his ears with a smile.
I will continue to respect him as before, but even if he happens upon me again, I won't want him to spend time trying to strike up a conversation, not even by mistake. I consciously avoid two types of people: the judgmental and the conservative. Those who have no objection to mingling with them can do so; I beg to be excused here.
It pains me to spoil relationships. Better, then, to maintain no contact at all.
Reflection: Nine Hundred Fifty-Nine

………………………………………………………
1. Why do you think so much, friend? Don't waste yourself in such thoughts.

What fruit comes from thinking—tell me—when she thinks not of you at all?

The one you think of so deeply

thinks only of another, clearly—

then what use is thinking? It only breeds more anguish.

However much you think of her,

if she thought even a little in return,

would you need to think so much? This torment of thinking would be gone!
2. Once, having a mother allowed the boy to dream of going much farther in life, and he did go far.
Today, having a wife means the boy can no longer dream of going much farther in life, and he doesn't dream of it either.
Humans live in dreams and die in marriage. Marriage brings about the premature death of all possibilities. Domesticity is the root of all happiness only if it is not undertaken. Bonds invariably mean weeping.
"Marriage will set everything right"—if you inquire into the lives of those who say this, you'll discover that their lives went wrong precisely because they got married.
Marriage is a social contract where both the man and woman sign an invisible agreement that reads: Come, let us together destroy each other's lives.
(In the background, everyone dances in circles, applauding, having succeeded in forcing these two into matrimony.)
3. When days of sorrow settle upon a person's fate, the days of joy can barely escape if they manage to flee. And when the sorrowful days depart, only memories remain... old happiness never returns.
4. I have come, friend, to take nothing at all,

To give courage to you who tremble in fear.

Do you know what is the greatest of all gifts?

To grant fearlessness to hearts paralyzed by doubt.
5. Vaishnava literature says: Krishna within, Gauranga without.

Hindus say: God within, deities without.
And those who, without entering into such analysis, simply immerse themselves in prayer, spiritual practice, and religious observance—that is, surrender themselves at God's feet—they too find peace. The Gita says: As one worships me, so do I worship them. From this perspective, we can say that a scientist holds God in his heart differently than a farmer does. Though the fundamental note may be the same, its expression varies; thus while the pathos of their divine vision may be identical, its manifestation is not. The external nature of the contained changes according to the container's capacity to hold it.
In the middle section of the tenth chapter of the Chaitanya Charitamrita, we find:
"The Lord says: God is supremely independent.

God's grace is not dependent upon the Vedas."
Ah, these two lines offer such simple solutions to many difficult questions! Even uneducated, ignorant people lacking scriptural knowledge can receive God's grace if they can awaken their inner selves through continuous spiritual practice. By God's grace I mean the awakening of the soul, of consciousness.
Throughout the ages, Lalon, Kabir, Tulsidas, Dadu, Ramdas, Chandidas—staying far from the light of conventional education—have illuminated themselves and the entire world with the light within. At the feet of their various truth-bound utterances, all the world's scholarly pride and intellectual grandeur comes to sit in quiet submission. It is precisely this great truth that Vaishnava literature has proclaimed through countless verses. The path that awakens can never be wrong.
Mahatma Ramakrishna's immortal words... "As many opinions, so many paths"... will remain equally relevant as long as humans live on earth. The death of tolerance toward the diversity of opinions and paths means the death of civilization. The belief that "I am right, you are wrong" defeats humans as human beings.
A person who reads all the world's books yet fails to find their soul, fails to awaken consciousness, has in truth never come close to God. Those who keep their inner "I" at a distance while searching for all the world's "I"s are therefore irreligious. If the structure itself is not right, what need is there for clothing?
(I'm keeping alive the desire to write about this in detail when time permits. Ah, life! Ah, livelihood!)
6. Boys prevent breakups,

Girls sustain relationships.
Unless boys use wisdom to prevent breakups and girls use emotion to sustain relationships, no relationship finds a beautiful conclusion.
7. Peace doesn't come simply when the struggle ends. Without the soul's strength, peace never arrives—whether struggle remains or not; one whose soul is not weak, whose consciousness stays awake, can live in peace even while in the midst of struggle.
There are many people who never have to struggle to survive, whose lives overflow with happiness, yet they find no peace simply for lack of spiritual strength. The very name of spiritual strength is peace.
8. Someone said, how wondrous his form—I have seen it.

Someone said, how wondrous his words—I have heard them.

Someone said, how he speaks stories in silence—I have felt it.

Yet none could say, I have known him.
9. Work is only that which binds us not in ever-new chains,

Knowledge is only that which shows liberation, teaches endurance;

All else called work is mere waste and indulgence,

All else called knowledge is but the false propaganda of books.
10. I am the kind of man you wouldn't want to introduce to your girlfriend.
11. One who does not love has no hesitation on their tongue.
12. Deep river of separation,

Two banks gazing at each other;

Night's darkness overwhelming,

Yet they remain companions.
13. There's no rule that says if you sin you must do good.

There's no rule that says if you do good you cannot sin.

Though good may not quite erase sin, sin is erased by good.

Just as the sin-obsessed seek liberation in virtue, so the virtue-weary seek peace in sin.
14. From the day a person no longer feels drawn to worldly life, their spiritual death occurs. Gradually, all their strength becomes exhausted.
15. "I'll take a coin from each friend to ferry them across,

But from you, dear friend, I'll take the gold from your ears."
Khan Ataur Rahman wrote this wildly popular song from the film 'Sujan Sakhi' taking his concept from a song in the boat-episode of Vaishnava literature.
"Ferry us across, O boatman, looking toward the shore.

The curds and milk have spoiled, floating away unsold.
(Krishna) To ferry all the friends across I'll take a coin each.

To ferry Shri Radha across I'll take her golden earrings."
A vast portion of Bengali language and literature stands supported by Vaishnava literature.
16. You were distant, you remain distant,

Then why do you come near?
If life could be lived

By measuring it out,

How could I have kept you

So close to this heart?
Does anyone perhaps

Make secret profit from loving?

I took such a beating,

Losing all my capital!
Days drag on and end

But life refuses to end...
17. Fate grants everything,

Only happiness it does not grant.