Four kinds of people – Ramakrishna

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa spoke:

Men may be divided into four classes: those bound by the fetters of the world, the seekers after liberation, the liberated, and the ever-free.

Among the ever-free we may count sages like Narada. They live in the world for the good of others, to teach men spiritual truth.

Those in bondage are sunk in worldliness and forgetful of God. Not even by mistake do they think of God.

The seekers after liberation want to free themselves from attachment to the world. Some of them succeed and others do not.

The liberated souls, such as the sadhus and mahatmas, are not entangled in the world, in ‘woman and gold (kamini-kanchana)’. Their minds are free from worldliness. Besides, they always meditate on the Lotus Feet of God.

Suppose a net has been cast into a lake to catch fish. Some fish are so clever that they are never caught in the net. They are like the ever-free. But most of the fish are entangled in the net. Some of them try to free themselves from it, and they are like those who seek liberation. But not all the fish that struggle succeed. A very few do jump out of the net, making a big splash in the water. Then the fishermen shout, ‘Look! There goes a big one!’ But most of the fish caught in the net cannot escape, nor do they make any effort to get out. On the contrary, they burrow into the mud with the net in their mouths and lie there quietly, thinking, ‘We need not fear any more; we are quite safe here.’ But the poor things do not know that the fishermen will drag them out with the net. These are like the men bound to the world.

The bound souls are tied to the world by the fetters of ‘woman and gold’ (physical pleasures and money). They are bound hand and foot by these two. Thinking that ‘woman and gold’ (physical pleasures and money) will make them happy and give them security, they do not realize that it will lead them to annihilation. When a person thus bound to the world is about to die, the spouse asks, ‘You are about to go; but what have you done for me?’ Again, such is the attachment to the things of the world that, when a person is on the death-bed, and sees a lamp burning brightly, the person says: ‘Dim the light. Too much oil is being used.’ 

The bound souls never think of God. If they get any leisure they indulge in idle gossip and foolish talk, or they engage in fruitless work. If you ask one of them the reason, he answers, ‘Oh, I cannot keep still; so I am making a hedge.’ When time hangs heavy on their hands they perhaps start playing cards instead of thinking of God.”

There was deep silence in the room.

Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
By Mahendranath Gupta (“M”), His Disciple
Translated from the Bengali by Swami Nikhilananda

Note: Re ‘woman and gold’
When speaking to women, Sri Ramakrishna warned them against purusha-kanchana, or “man and gold.”
Gauri Ma, one of Ramakrishna’s prominent women disciples, said:
“[Ramakrishna] has uttered this note of warning, against gold and sensuality, against a life of enjoyment, but surely not against women. Just as he advised the ascetic-minded men to guard themselves against women’s charms, so also did he caution pious women against men’s company. The Master’s whole life abounds with proofs to show that he had not the slightest contempt or aversion for women; rather he had intense sympathy and profound regard for them.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teachings_of_Ramakrishna