If you are not attaining it, know this: it is because you do not truly desire it.
When Swami Vivekananda first met Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, his very first question was, “Have you seen God?” Such was the intensity of his longing. There was a burning urgency within him. He wanted the truth now, not someday in the future.
Vivekananda asked Ramakrishna, “Have you seen God?” Ramakrishna replied with complete simplicity, “Yes, I have seen Him,” as naturally as one might say they had seen a tree or a cat. Vivekananda then asked, “Can you show Him to me?”
Perhaps Vivekananda expected Ramakrishna to evade the question or offer some philosophical explanation. Instead, Ramakrishna said, “Yes, right now.”
At that moment, Vivekananda was taken aback. He had met many teachers and scholars, but none who would say, “Take it now.”
Why could Ramakrishna say that?
Because when a seeker says, “I want it now,” the master responds, “Then take it now.” But when a seeker says, “Please explain the method. Give me a long process. First remove my fifty doubts,” then the master spends time answering doubts and explaining techniques.
You receive what you truly want. That is a fundamental law of existence.
Vivekananda wanted the Truth immediately, so Ramakrishna said, “Take it now.” According to the traditional account, Ramakrishna placed his foot on Vivekananda’s chest. Others say he merely touched his forehead. But all versions agree on one thing: in that very moment, Vivekananda lost all sense of individuality. Time stopped. The mind became still. The world disappeared. A profound spiritual realization dawned upon him.
Remember, this happened because Vivekananda wanted it completely and immediately.
Whoever wants it now, receives it now.
The Divine is not withholding itself from you. You do not receive because you do not truly ask. And you do not truly ask because you do not genuinely want it.
You speak much about freedom, but your deeper tendency is to remain attached. You talk about liberation while clinging to your chains. Stand before Ramakrishna with the same honesty and intensity as Vivekananda and say, “I want it now.” You too will receive it.
But what is it that you actually want?
At present, there are a hundred other things that seem more important: a luxurious coat, a business-class ticket, success, fame, a growing business, a comfortable home. Where, among all these desires, is the longing for the Divine?
Most people spend their entire lives arranging the circumstances of life, yet never truly live. They are occupied with building and decorating the house but never experience what it means to dwell within it.
Until you truly live, how can the longing for the essence of life arise?
The moment you genuinely desire that which is the very essence of existence, it will be yours. In truth, to desire it completely is already to be moving toward its attainment.
Whoever truly desired it, attained it. If you are not attaining it, know this: it is because you do not yet truly desire it.
~~OM~~