One day the Madman was talking to himself: ‘Rama, Rama’ ‘The You Cannon’, ‘The You Cannon.’

Ramadas appeared and said, ‘O mad father, what is this ‘You Cannon’?

Madman : When everything around me is blasted away by the fire of the ‘You Cannon’, I become You. Joy! What joy there is when all merges into one! Rama, Rama, Sitaram.

Rama : What does ‘You Cannon’ mean?

Madman : Jai Sitaram. Hit the sky with the ‘You Cannon’ and at once the sky is blown away and there remains only You. Fire at the river Ganga with the ‘You Cannon’, the river disappears, leaving only You. Fire at the ocean with the ‘You Cannon’, and instantly the ocean ceases to exist and only You remain. Fire at those trees and at once they are gone; there remains only You. Fire at the cow with the ‘You Cannon’ and the cow is gone, leaving only You. Hit a man, and only You remain. Fire at the mother and she disappears, leaving only You. You! You! You! Everything is You.

Rama: The purpose is not bad. What is to be done after firing the ‘You Cannon’?

Madman: Rama, Rama. Bow your head. Jai Sitaram.
With the ‘You Cannon’, blow away all that you see, hear and consume. Everything will lose its separate existence but will become ‘You’. Joy, happiness, fearlessness and nectar, everything is ‘You’. Having become one with joy, fearlessness and nectar, you start to dance like this. (The madman begins to dance.)

Rama: Stop, stop, mad father. I may blow away every external thing by the ‘You Cannon’. But what is to be done about the internal distractions and the hue and cry? I start thinking of buying shoes when I sit down to worship and of getting groceries while meditating on Rama! What is the solution for this?

Madman: Sitaram. All those things too are to be blown away by the ‘You Cannon’. While you are meditating, you remember that the farm worker will come today and you have to get up soon. Fire the ‘You Cannon’. The peasant disappears and becomes ‘You’. Carry on meditating. You now get reminded that Harekrishna had abused you. Fire the ‘You Cannon’ at Harekrishna and think that ‘You have washed away my sins as Harekrishna.’ Go on with the meditation. The mind tells you that your son is disobedient. Fire the ‘You Cannon’ at the boy. The son and his disobedience are blown away! The daughter-in-law loves to gossip. Blow away the daughter-in-law with the ‘You Cannon’. What will be left is ‘You’. Dogs, cats, jackals; good and bad; lust and anger; hypocrisy or deception, whatever comes and stands in your way, Sitaram, blow it away with the ‘You Cannon’. Being in the middle of the limitless kingdom of ‘You’ and seeing ‘You’ all around; in disease and grief, in want and praise, you will also become immersed in ‘You’.Rama, Rama, Sitaram.

Rama: Provided I am able to remember this!

Madman: Say ‘Rama Rama’; only ‘Rama Rama’ and you will remember everything. Ordinary gun-fire has limitations. The ‘You Cannon’ is limitless, infinite and inexhaustible. So long as the world exists, this ‘You Cannon’ will not be exhausted, and no one can snatch it away. Blast away whatever is visible with the ‘You Cannon’, and enter into that great empire of fearlessness, joy and immortality.

The madman began to dance, saying, ‘Rama, Rama, Sitaram’ .