God lived with them

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Swami Abhedananda

Sri Ramakrishna taught us to practise japam and meditation every morning and evening. About meditation, he sometimes referred to his guru Tota Puri's illustration, telling us," Tota used to say that if a brass pot is not cleansed every day, stains accumulate on it, likewise, if the mind is not cleansed by meditation every day, impurities accumulate in it."

Sometimes while teaching us, the Master would tell us about his own sadhana. He said:" When I meditated I became like a motionless stone image. Sometimes birds sat on my head, but I could not feel them." In fact, during deep meditation, when the mind becomes still and motionless, one does not notice if flies or mosquitoes sit on the body. The Master used to say that this is a sign of a concentrated mind.

Whenever Sri Ramakrishna visited the devotees' homes in Calcutta, Kali would go there and listen to the Master's wonderful conversations. On 3rd July 1884 he went to Balaram's house in Baghbazar, where the Master had gone to attend the Chariot Festival of Jagannath (Krishna). Kali recorded the event:

Many devotees were present and Vaishnav Charan sang kirtan:

O tongue, always repeat the name of Mother Durga!

Who but your Mother Durga will save you in distress?

Sri Ramakrishna was very fond of ice cream. One hot summer day in April, a Calcutta devotee brought some ice cream for him, which he relished like  a young boy. Coincidentally, from then on he had a sore throat. At first he ignored it.

On 11 December 1885 the Master was taken to Cossipore. After a few days in Cossipore the Master felt a little relief. The large room on the upper floor of the house was used as the Master's bedroom; to the south of that was an open terrace over the portico. The Master used to stand on the open terrace and gaze at the trees and creepers in the garden. The fresh air proved to be beneficial for his health, and this raised the devotees' hopes that he might completely recover.