Page:The Gospel of Râmakrishna.djvu/276

 knowledge of the Absolute (Brahma-Jnana) has been attained? Ramakrishna: I was talking with Keshab Sen of this Brahma-Jnana. Keshab asked me to say more about the Absolute. I replied: "If I say more, your sect and creed will vanish." Keshab an- swered: "Revered Sir, then I do not wish to hear more." Still, I said to Keshab: " 'I, me, mine,' this is ignorance; 'I am the doer,' 'I am the actor,' 'This is my wife, these are my chil- dren, my property, wealth, fame,' all these arise from ignorance." Keshab replied: "Revered Sir, nothing will be left, if the sense of 'I' be abandoned." I answered: "Keshab, I do not ask you to abandon the whole of the sense of

'I'; but leave out the unripe 'I' — 'I am t he doer,' 'my wife, my chil- dren, I am the teacher,' abandoning this sense of 'I,' retain the ripe 'I' — 'I am His servant, I am His devotee,' 'I am not the doer, but He is the Actor.' " Devotee: Can the ripe "I" make a sect? Ramakrishna: I said to Keshab: "I am the leader of a sect, I have founded a sect, I am teaching others, all these proceed from the sense of the unripe 'I.' " Therefore I asked