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did he know then that the people who guided him, the Maya that he wished to overcome, and even his

Divine Mother, were all the sugar Brahman (God). `I love to eat sugar, I do not want to become sugar.'

Once he realized what sugar truly is, then he could love this deified universe. In order to love sugar, he

had to know what sugar is; if he became sugar, he would lose that. For Sri Ramakrishna, the highest love

and devotion to Brahman was never losing sight of what sugar is.21

1 Bancroft, Anne, Religions of the East (St. Martin's Press, New York, 1974) p.39.

2 For further explanation of Hindu terms, go to http://www.britannica.com/, Article 108344. Encyclopedia Britannica is copy 

righted 1994 2000 by Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.

3  `Ramprasad's (1718 1778) poetry expresses a passionate mysticism filled with intense longing and struggle. He addresses the

Mother Goddess in all of Her seemingly contradictory aspects as loving mother and "the Dark One", as the Transcendental

Reality and a disreputable trickster embodying the forces of "maya" or illusion.' http://www.dabase.net/rampras.htm.

4 Zimmer, Heinrich, Philosophies of India (Princeton University Press, New York, 1951) 561, quoting The Gospel of Sri

Ramakrishna, translated with an introduction by Swami Nikhilananda (New York, 1942)  858.

5 M., The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, trans. Swami Nikhilananda, (Ramakishna Vivekananda Center, New York, 1958) 19 20.

6 Swami Nirvedananda, Sri Ramakrishna and Spiritual Renaissance (Calcutta: The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture,

1940)  50 51; hereafter: Renaissance.

7  Tantra is a system of esoteric practices used for both the attainment of spiritual experiences and the fulfillment of worldly

desires. 

8 Vaishnava is the religious tradition that worships the god Vishnu and his incarnations, primarily as Rama and as Krishna. 

9 Renaissance, 66.

10 Renaissance, 66 67.

11  Lemaitre, Solange, Sri Ramakrishna and The Vitality of Hinduism, (Funk & Wagnalls, New York, 1969) 89.

12 Lemaitre, 98 99.

13  Lemaitre,  100.

14  Narayanananda, Swami, The Secrets of Mind Control (Denmark: N.U. Yoga Trust&Ashrama, 1979) .190.

15 Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna (Sri Ramakrishna Math, Madras, India, 1971)  9, hereafter: The Sayings.

16 The Sayings, 290, Section 928.

17  Renaissance, 105.

18 Lemaitre,  101.

19  Renaissance, Op.cit.,  107.

20  The Sayings, 266, Section 856, and 272, Section 877.

21  I would like to thank Dr. Edward Beach for encouraging and assisting me with this paper. I would also like to thank Dr. James

Brummer, Dr. Diane Moira Duncan and Dr. Richard Behling for their proofreading and editing.

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"I Love to Eat Sugar, I Do Not Want to Become Sugar"      Scott Douglas Niedfeldt