"And he had come with the specific purpose of showing Ramakrishna that his religiousness is worthless.

"He said with great pride and ego in his heart, 'What are you doing sitting under a tree? Let us go for a walk on the Ganges, on the waters.'

"Ramakrishna said, 'You have come a long way. Just rest a little and then we can go for a walk on the Ganges.'

"The man sat down and Ramakrishna said, 'Can I ask one thing: how long it took you to learn the art of walking on water?'

"The man said, 'Almost thirty-six years.'

"Ramakrishna laughed and he said, 'When I want to go to the other shore – just two paise, and that too, the boat-man never takes from me, seeing that I am a poor man. Thirty-six years you have wasted on an art which is only worth two paise. You must be an idiot.'

"Even if you can walk on water, it does not make you spiritual, it does not give you a glimpse of the divine. On the contrary it takes you further away from God. You become more egoistic, because you can do something which others cannot do.

"Jesus brings Lazarus back to life. Naturally it appears to be a great miracle – but it is not, because Lazarus is not transformed, and living a few years more, repeating the old routine again, he has to die. His being brought back to life has not given him anything of the eternal. The same story is repeated in Gautam Buddha's life, and there you can see the difference between a real miracle and a pseudo miracle.

"A young son died, and that son was the only hope for his mother. The father had died, his other brothers and sisters had died and the mother was living only for this boy. And this boy too, died. The mother went almost mad. She was crying and weeping and asking everybody, 'Tell me the address or the name of a physician who can heal my boy back, because I cannot live, I have no reason to live anymore. I have been carrying so many wounds: my other children died, my husband died."