Sri Ramakrishna’s two laws of motion are significant in spiritual life: (1) The more you move towards the east, the farther you are from the west. In other words, the closer you move towards God, the farther you recede from desires. (2) If you move one step towards God, God moves ten steps towards you. Those who sincerely struggle with their mind can vouch for the truth of these laws.
There was a hatha yogi in Dakshineswar displaying cleansing techniques of yoga. Sri Ramakrishna’s disciple Yogin (later Swami Yogananda) felt that he could not conquer lust or realize God if he did not practise those techniques. One day Yogin asked Sri Ramakrishna how to be free from lust. Sri Ramakrishna asked him to repeat the divine name, but Yogin was not satisfied. He thought Sri Ramakrishna had prescribed something useless since probably he was not aware of any practical technique. He also thought, so many people repeat the name of God without any reduction of lust in them. The next day Yogin went to the hatha yogi and while he sat listening to him, Sri Ramakrishna came there and asked him to follow him back to his room. On the way, the Master remarked, ‘Why did you go there? Don’t do that. Your mind will stick to the body if you learn those techniques. It will not thirst after God.’ Yogin again doubted the Master and thought he was probably jealous of the hatha yogi. He thought again, why not follow the Master’s prescription, and started doing japa with some concentration. Soon he began to experience tangible results.