Kathamrita Volume II - Swami Vivekananda

Is Sri Ramakrishna describing his own state?He adds, “The Vedas talk of Sat-chit-anandaBrahman. That Brahman is neither one nortwo. It is between one and two. One canneither say, ‘It exists’ nor ‘It does not exist’. Itis between ‘existence’ and ‘non-existence’.”Sri Ramakrishna and union with God by the path oflove and devotion [13] – loving devotion brings GodrealizationSri Ramakrishna — One attains God bydeveloping an intense attachment [14] , or bycultivating love for Him. Devotion acquiredthrough ritualistic worship [15] goes as easily asit comes. What is ritualistic worship? It consistsof repeating the Name so many times a day,meditating for a certain period of time,performing so many sacrifices [16] and homafor a certain duration, worshipping with somany articles, and repeating a certain mantraduring puja – it is as easy to lose as to get. Somany people say, ‘Oh brother, I have eatennothing but havishya [17] for so long; I haveworshipped the Deity so many times at myhome – but to what avail?’“But intense devotion [18] is never lost. Whogains such passionate devotion? He who hasperformed many austerities in an earlier life, or