Kathamrita Volume II - Swami Vivekananda

the words of the guru. There is no need toconsider the guru’s character. A saying goes,‘Though my guru visits a tavern, he is yet myever blissful guru.’“A person was reading the Chandi Bhagavata.He read, ‘The broom is no doubt dirty, yet itcleans.’ ”Mahimacharan often discusses the Vedanta.His goal is to attain the knowledge ofBrahman. He follows the path of jnana, so hediscriminates continuously.Sri Ramakrishna (to Mahima) — The goal ofthe jnani is to know the nature of his own realSelf. This is jnana. And it is this that is alsocalled liberation. One’s own real Self isParabrahman [12] . Parabrahman and ‘I’ are one.But one does not know this because of the veilof maya.“I said to Harish, ‘One does not have to domore than this: some basketfuls of earth arelying over gold; all you have to do is removethe earth. That is all.’“Devotees retain their I-consciousness, but notjnanis. The Naked One (Totapuri) used to teachhow to live in one’s own real Self: merge themind in the intellect and the intellect in theAtman. Then you will be established in the realnature of the Atman.“But one’s ‘I’ continues to persist, it does not