In Bengal, there is a particular group of people who believe that Krishna is the only man and those who follow him are all women no matter what gender they physically are. They look to Krishna as their beloved. They feel so intensely about this relation that even the men dress like women. The enlightened mystic from Bengal, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, followed this path also for six months. The hallmark of this great master, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, was that whatever he did, it was with totality and intensity. He used the same clothes as women not only at night, but also during the day because he felt he could not be one person during the day and another during the night. You may be shocked to hear this but he actually started becoming a woman. It was not being like a woman, it was being a woman. His voice changed, his gait and manner of walking changed. The intensity was such his breasts started growing. He even started having monthly periods! During the six months he was doing this practice, he just became a woman. It took almost six months after he stopped for the change to reverse and for him to become a man again.

So understand, the power of your intensity is such it can change your very body, your very DNA! Look at the biography of enlightened master and founder of Buddhism, Gautam Buddha. He searched for six long years. He tried various paths but the beauty is that in every attempt he put in his whole being. Whatever he decided to follow, he did with complete, unwavering intensity. He tried various techniques such as fasting, continuous penance, chanting and many such methods. He tried all possible techniques but nothing worked. During his seeking, a teacher told him to eat only one grain of rice per day for three months. Buddha sincerely followed his instructions. He was reduced to skin and bones and became extremely weak. One day, he stepped into the river to bathe. He had become so weak that he couldn’t even move his legs and was being swept away by the current. He caught hold of a tree branch and while hanging onto it he suddenly realized the fruitlessness of all his efforts. He had been mortifying the body but in the process he had only lost his bodily strength. He felt a deep depression that he could not achieve anything in the inner world and he had nothing meaningful in the outer world. He came out of the river and sat under the tree. He was frustrated but the difference between ordinary frustration and Buddha’s frustration was he was complete and intense in his frustration as well. There was not even a grain of hope he had. He completely gave up. There was nothing to achieve, nothing to look forward to. It is said that on that night as he looked at the sky ready to sleep, he attained nirvana.

The one factor that resulted in Buddha achieving It is intensity. So many of us claim we are doing everything but nothing is happening. Look little deeper and see how integrated you are in your thirst and seeking. Whatever you may seek, integrate your energies completely and go for it. You will then see the Universe open up to you completely.

source: Living Enlightenment