beyond virtue and vice...

MASTER: "Did you have any conversation with Bhaskarananda?"

MANILAL: "Yes, sir. We had a long talk. Among other things we discussed the
problem of good and evil. He said to me: 'Don't follow the path of evil. Give up
sinful thoughts. That is how God wants us to act. Perform only those duties that
are virtuous.'"

MASTER: "Yes, that is also a path, meant for worldly-minded people. But those
whose spiritual consciousness has been awakened, who have realized that God
alone is real and all else illusory, cherish a different ideal. They are aware
that God alone is the Doer and others are His instruments.

"Those whose spiritual consciousness has been awakened never make a false step.
They do not have to reason in order to shun evil. They are so full of love of
God that whatever action they undertake is a good action. They are fully
conscious that they are not the doers of their actions, but mere servants of
God. They always feel: 'I am the machine and He is the Operator. I do as He does
through me. I speak as He speaks through me. I move as He moves me.'

"Fully awakened souls are beyond virtue and vice. They realize that it is God
who does everything."

Sri Ramakrishna
The Gospel of Ramakrishna
"Advice To The Brahmos"
Saturday, April 7, 1883