Page:The Gospel of Râmakrishna.djvu/170

 thousands of times, you cannot transcend the realm of Divine Energy (Sakti) unless you have reached the highest state of Samadhi, super- consciousness. The very thoughts like: "I am meditating," "I am thinking on the Absolute," are within the realm of Sakti. They are the manifested powers of that Eternal Energy. Therefore the Absolute Brahman and the Eternal Energy are inseparable and one. The existence of one implies that of the other, as fire and its burning power. If you admit the existence of fire, how can you deny its burning power? No one can think of fire without thinking of its

burning power. Again, the power of burning cannot be conceived as separate from fire. In the same manner, we cannot think of the rays of the sun, without thinking of the sun himself. Again, we cannot think of the sun without thinking of his rays. Therefore, no one can think of Brahman as apart from Sakti, or Sakti as separate from Brahman. Likewise, no one can conceive of the phenomenal as independent of the Absolute, or of the Absolute as apart from the phenomenal. The same Eternal Energy, the Mother of all phenomena, is creating, preserving, and