It was almost dusk. The Master and M stood talking alone near the door on the southeast verandah. The master spoke to M.
MASTER: “Perform your duties in an unselfish spirit....Always try to perform your duties without desiring any result.” M: “Yes, sir. But may I know if one can realize God while performing one’s duties?”
MASTER: “All, without exception, perform work. Even to chant God’s name and glories is work, as is the meditation of the Nondualist on ‘I am He.’ Breathing is also an activity. There is no way of renouncing work altogether. So do your work but surrender the result to God.”
M: “Sir, may I make an effort to earn more money?”
MASTER: “It is permissible to do so to support a religious family. You may try to increase your income, but in an honest way. The goal of life is not the earning of money, but the service of God. Money is not harmful if it is devoted to the service of God.”
M: “How long should a man feel obliged to do his duty toward his wife and children?”
MASTER: “As long as they feel pinched for food and clothing. But one need not take the responsibility of a son when he is able to support himself. When the young fledgling learns to pick its own food, its mother pecks it if it comes to her for food.”
M: “How long must one do one’s duty?”
MASTER: “The blossom drops off when the fruit appears. One doesn’t have to do one’s duties after attaining God, nor does one feel like doing them then. “If a drunkard takes too much liquor he cannot retain consciousness. If he takes only two or three glasses, he can go on with his work. As you advance nearer and nearer to God, He will reduce your activities little by little. Have no fear. “Finish the few duties you have in hand, and then you will have peace. When the mistress of the house goes to bathe after finishing her cooking and other household duties, she won’t come back, however you may shout after her.”
- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Chapter V
