'BRAHMAN', 'GOD', 'GURU', and 'SELF' are nothing but 'TRUTH'- 'BEING'- 'EXISTENCE'- 'CONSCIOUSNESS' and 'BLISS'; the omnipresent, omnipotent and eternal reality, beyond 'space', 'time' and 'causation', without 'CASTE', 'CREED', 'RELIGION', 'GENDER' and 'NATIONALITY'.

'BRAHMAN', 'GOD', 'GURU', and 'SELF' are nothing but 'TRUTH'- 'BEING'- 'EXISTENCE'- 'CONSCIOUSNESS' and 'BLISS'; the omnipresent, omnipotent and eternal reality, beyond 'space', 'time' and 'causation', without 'CASTE', 'CREED', 'RELIGION', 'GENDER' and 'NATIONALITY'.~-SWAATHMAARAAMAN



"The Brahmins insist that God is formless. Suppose they do. It is enough to call on Him with sincerity of heart. If the devotee is sincere, then God, who is the Inner Guide of all, will certainly reveal to the devotee His true nature.

"But it is not good to say that what we ourselves think of God is the only truth and what others think is false, that because we think of God as formless, therefore He is formless and cannot have any form; that because we think of God as having form, therefore He has form and cannot be formless. Can a man really fathom God's nature?

"This kind of friction exists between the Vaishnavas and the Saktas; The Vaishnava says, 'My Kesava is the only Saviour', whereas the Sakta insists, 'My Bhagavati is the only Saviour.'

"Once I took Vaishnavcharan to Mathur Babu. Now, Vaishnavcharan was a very learned Vaishnava and an orthodox devotee of his sect. Mathur, on the other hand, was a devotee of the Divine Mother. They were engaged in a friendly discussion when suddenly Vaishnavcharan said, 'Kesava is the only Savior.' No sooner did Mathur hear this than his ,face became red with anger and he blurted out, 'You rascal!' (All laugh.) He was a Sakta. Wasn't it natural for him to say that? I gave Vaishnavcharan a nudge.

"I see people who talk about religion constantly quarreling with one another. Hindus, Mussalmans, Brahmins, Saktas, Vaishnavas, Saivas, all quarrel with one another. They haven't the intelligence to understand that He who is called Krishna is also Siva and the Primal Sakti, and that it is He, again, who is called Jesus and Allah. There is only one Rama and He has a thousand names.'

"Truth is one; only It is called by different names. All people are seeking the same Truth; the variance is due to climate, temperament, and name. A lake has many ghats. From one ghat the Hindus take water in jars and call it 'jal'. From another ghat the Mussalmans take water in leather bags and call it 'pani'. From a third the Christians take the same thing and call it 'water'. (All laugh.) Suppose someone says that the thing is not 'jal' but 'pani', or that it is not 'pani' but 'water', or that it is not 'water' but 'jal', It would indeed be ridiculous. But this very thing is at the root of the friction among sects, their misunderstandings and quarrels. This is why people injure and kill one another, and shed blood, in the name of religion. But this is not good. Everyone is going toward God. They will all realize Him if they have sincerity and longing of heart.

All scriptures - the Vedas, the Puranas, the Tantras - seek Him alone and no one else, only that one 'Sat-chid-ananda'. That which is called 'Satchidananda Brahman' in the Vedas is called Satchidananda Siva in the Tantra. Again it is He alone who is called Satchidananda Krishna in the Puranas."

-SREE RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHAMSA.