Sri Ramakrishna washed his face. A smoke was prepared for him.
He said to M.: “Is it dusk now? If it is, I won’t smoke. During the twilight hour of the dusk you should give up all other activities and remember God.”Saying this he looked at the hairs on his arm. He wanted to see whether he could count them. If he could not, it would be dusk.............
***
“The shadows of evening fall thick
and deep, and the darkness of love
envelopes the body and mind.
Open the window to the west, and be
lost in the sky of love;
Drink the sweet honey that steeps the
petals of the lotus of the heart.
Receive the waves in your body:
what splendor is in the region of the sea!
Hark! The sounds of conches and bells are rising.
Kabir says: “O brother, behold! The
Lord is in this vessel of my body.”
Shadows fall at dusk
Soaking the body and mind
Unlock the Western window
And be immersed in the Sky of Love
Oh! Drink the ambrosia from the Lotus of the Heart
Let it flood the body
Conch and bells resound together
Ringing from the Temple within
Says Kabir,
"O brother saint the Immortal Beloved is within"
The Ocean has caught fire, yet no one sees the smoke
The one who knows is the one who burns, and the One who lit the fire
***
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna translated by Swami Nikhilananda:
“Go right in, children. Go in and sit down.” Entering the room, they found Sri Ramakrishna alone, seated on the wooden couch. Incense had just been burnt and all the doors were shut. As he entered, M. with folded hands saluted the Master. Then, at the Master’s bidding, he and Sidhu sat on the floor. Sri Ramakrishna asked them: “Where do you live? What is your occupation? Why have you come to Barānagore?” M. answered the questions, but he noticed that now and then the Master seemed to become absent-minded. Later he learnt that this mood is called bhāva, ecstasy. It is like the state of the angler who has been sitting with his rod: the fish comes and swallows the bait, and the float begins to tremble; the angler is on the alert; he grips the rod and watches the float steadily and eagerly; he will not speak to anyone. Such was the state of Sri Ramakrishna’s mind. Later M. heard, and himself noticed that Sri Ramakrishna would often go into this mood after dusk, sometimes becoming totally unconscious of the outer world.
M: “Perhaps you want to perform your evening worship. In that case may we take our leave?”
SRI RAMAKRISHNA (still in ecstasy): “No—evening worship? No, it is not exactly that.”
After a little conversation M. saluted the Master and took his leave. “Come again”, Sri Ramakrishna said. On his way home M. began to wonder: “Who is this serene-looking man who is drawing me back to him? Is it possible for a man to be great without being a scholar? How wonderful it is! I should like to see him again. He himself said, ‘Come again.’ I shall go tomorrow or the day after.”