[Parable of the four travelers.] was inside. So one of them climbed to the top of the wall and as he looked in, he shouted with amazement and joy, "Ha! ha! ha!" and without giving any information to his fellow-travellers, he jumped inside. The others did likewise. Whoever climbs to the top of the wall jumps inside with extreme joy and never comes back to give the news of what he has found. Such is the realm of the Absolute. The great souls who have realized the Absolute have not come back, because after attaining the highest knowledge of Brahman, one absolutely loses the sense of "I." The mind ceases to be active, and all sense-consciousness vanishes. This state is called Brahma-Jnana or Divine wisdom.

A devotee: Revered Sir, did not the perfected soul Sukadeva attain to Brahma-Jnana, the Knowledge of the Absolute?

Ramakrishna: Some say that Sukadeva saw the ocean of the Absolute Brahman and touched its waters, but he did not go into the water; therefore he was able to come back and teach mankind. Others believe that he attained to the Absolute Brahman and then returned to help humanity.

Devotee: Does sectarianism exist after the

knowledge of the Absolute (Brahma-Jnana) has been attained?

[Sectarianism and Brahma-Jnana.] Ramakrishna: I was talking with Keshab Sen of this Brahma-Jnana. Keshab asked me to say more about the Absolute. I replied: "If I say more, your sect and creed will vanish." Keshab answered: "Revered Sir, then I do not wish to hear more." Still, I said to Keshab: "'I, me, mine,' this is ignorance; 'I am the doer,' 'I am the actor,' 'This is my wife, these are my children, my property, wealth, fame,' all these arise from ignorance." Keshab replied: "Revered Sir, nothing will be left, if the sense of 'I' be abandoned." [The unripe and ripe "I."] I answered: "Keshab, I do not ask you to abandon the whole of the sense of 'I'; but leave out the unripe 'I'--'I am the doer,' 'my wife, my children, I am the teacher,' abandoning this sense of 'I,' retain the ripe 'I'--'I am His servant, I am His devotee,' 'I am not the doer, but He is the Actor.'"

Devotee: Can the ripe "I" make a sect?

Ramakrishna: I said to Keshab: "I am the leader of a sect, I have founded a sect, I am teaching others, all these proceed from the sense of the unripe 'I.'" Therefore I asked