Page:The Gospel of Râmakrishna.djvu/152

 in His semiconscious state He uttered these words:

Bhakti, or devotion, means whole-hearted love for the Lord. The Absolute Brahman is called "Divine Mother" by the Psalmist. Prasâd asks his mind to understand it by hints; He who is described in the Vedas as the Absolute Brahman is my Divine Mother; I am praying to Her. That which is the Absolute (Nirguna), impersonal beyond all attributes, is also the same as Personal God who is with all attributes and blessed qualities. The Absolute Brahman again is inseparable from the Divine energy (Sakti). The term "Brahman" refers to that aspect of Divinity which is impersonal and which is beyond all activity. But when we think of Him as creating, preserving and destroying all phenomena, then we call Him the Personal God, Divine Mother or Kali. In reality there is no distinction between "Brahman," or the Impersonal Absolute, and "Sakti," the Divine Mother. The Brahman and the Sakti are one just as fire and its burning power are one. As by the word fire we understand its power of burn-