Page:The Gospel of Râmakrishna.djvu/71

 and eat," she said, and at once he dropped his spade and replied: "My dear, when you ask me to go, I must go." So his field remained dry. As a farmer cannot irrigate his field, so a devotee cannot attain to God without firm determination. When God is attained through such strong dispassion, all worldly attachment fades away. A householder may then live with his family, but he becomes unattached and there is no more danger for him. If there be two magnets, one very large and the other very small, which do you suppose will attract a piece of iron? The larger one of course. God is the greatest magnet. Compared to Him the attraction of the world is small and powerless. A devotee: Bhagavan, why are we so bound to the world that we cannot see God? Ramakrishna: The sense of "I" in us is the greatest obstacle in the path of God-vision. It covers the Truth. When "I " is dead, all troubles cease. If by the mercy of the Lord one realizes "I am a non-doer, " instantly that man becomes emancipated in this life. This sense of "I " is like a thick cloud. As a small cloud can hide the glorious sun, so this cloud of "I " hides the glory of the Eternal