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Sayings of Totapuri – the Guru of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

Brahman is the only Reality, ever-pure, ever-illumined, ever-free, beyond the limits of time, space, and causation. Though apparently divided by names and forms through the inscrutable agency of Maya (illusion), that enchantress which makes the impossible possible, Brahman is really one and undivided. When a seeker is merged in the state of supreme happiness of Samadhi, he does not perceive time and space or name and form - the production of Maya. Whatever is within the domain of Maya is unreal; give it up. Dive deep in the search for Self and be firmly established in It through Samadhi. You will then find the world of name and form vanishing into nothing, and this puny ego merging into cosmic consciousness.

Totapuri

It is said that Totapuri, unable to bear the pain of severe dysentery, decided to end his life in the Ganga River. But no matter how far he went into the river, the water level did not rise above his knees. Eventually, he reached the other side and turned to see Goddess Kali temple gleaming in the moonlight and experienced a sudden deep awakening. He recognized sheer divine light in all things and became aware of a higher consciousness controlling events. Thus, the demarcation between the form and the formless universe no longer existed for him, and he was absolutely free from attachment to the sense objects of the relative principle.