Devotees would unburden their hearts to Sri Ramakrishna stating how deeply attached they were to relationships in the mundane world. Sri Ramakrishna would explain the nature of such relationships using a beautiful story. There was a man who had a noble and evolved spiritual teacher. The man often used to tell his Guru that his wife loved him very dearly. However much the Guru tried to impress upon him the transient nature of such relationships, the man would not listen. Finally, the Guru taught the man a Hata Yoga technique by which he could remain unconscious, but would be able to watch everything happening around him. For all outward appearances he would look like a dead man. The next day the person used the Hata Yoga technique to remain unconscious. Very soon the wife started wailing in a very loud voice saying that she has lost everything. The man appeared completely dead and after some time the assembled people wanted to remove the dead body to the cremation ground.
But, the man was very tall and well-built and the door frame was small and hence the people found it difficult to take out the body.
The only way they could do so was by chopping off the door frame. When they were about to do so, the wife came running and in a weeping voice told them not to destroy the door frame since she was very poor and a widow and cannot afford to have a new frame. She said that rather it is better to chop off the hands and feet of the dead person since after all it was a dead body.
Then and there the man got up and left the home saying that he had enough of the world. Thus, Sri Ramakrishna would explain that all the exhibition of love and affection that is seen in the world is self-centred and transient. The only way for redemption is to develop love for God.