Sayings of Ramakrishna

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

58. Do you know intense how our love of God should be? The love that a devoted wife possesses for her beloved husband, the attachment that a miser feels for his hoarded wealth, and the clinging desire hat the worldly-minded people foster for the things of the world-when the intensity of your heart’s longing for the Lord is equal to the sum of these three, then you will attain Him.

59. Bhagavan (the Lord), Bhagavata (His word or scripture) and Bhakta (devotee) are all one and the same.

60. The breeze of His grace is blowing day and night over your head. Unfurl the sails of your boat (mind), if you want to make rapid progress through the ocean of life.

61. The Avatara is always one and the same. Having plunged into the ocean of life, the one God rises up at one point and is known as Krishna, and when after another plunge, He rises up at another point, He is known as Christ.

62. A Divine Incarnation is hard to comprehend. It is the play of the Infinite on the finite.

63. When a mighty log of wood floats down a stream, it carries on it hundreds of birds and does not sink. A reed floating down may sink with the weight of even a single crow. So when a Saviour appears, innumerable men find salvation by taking refuge in Him. The Siddha can only save himself with much toil and trouble.

64. Knowledge leads to unity; ignorance to diversity.

65. Pure Knowledge and pure Love are both one and the same.

66. Whatever you offer God will return to you a thousandfold.

67. “Pity to creatures! Pity to creatures! Sirrah! You who are lower than even a worm, how dare you speak of showing pity to creatures! Who are you to show pity to them? No, no, it is not pity to creatures, but service to them in the consciousness that they are verily God Himself.”

68. After a well is dug, some throw away all the spades and baskets, but others preserve them with the idea that they may be of some use to any of their neighbours. Such great souls are moved with pity at the sight of the sufferings of the world. They are not so selfish, as to care only for the attainment of Jnana for themselves.  

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa 

49. He alone enters the Kingdom of Heaven who is not a thief of his own thought. In other words, guilelessness and simple faith are the roads to that Kingdom.

50. He who has faith has all, and he who lacks it lacks all.

51. As one thinks, so does one become.

52. Truthfulness is the Tapasya (austerity) of this age of Kali.

53. Dive deep into the ocean of the Absolute Existence-Knowledge-Bliss. Fear not those deep sea monsters-avarice and anger. Paint yourself thickly with turmeric of Viveka and Vairagya and these alligators will not approach you, for the scent of this turmeric is too much for them.

54. The fire made by burning bamboo is soon extinguished unless kept alive by constant blowing. Uninterrupted devotion is necessary to keep alive the fire of spirituality.

55. Meditate on God either in an obscure corner, or in the solitude of forests, or within the silent sanctuary of your own heart.

56. The secret is that the union with God (Yoga) can never happen unless the mind is rendered absolutely calm, whatever be the path you follow for God- realization. The mind is always under the control of the Yogi, and not the Yogi under the control of his mind.

57. If you must be mad, be it not for the things of the world. Be mad with the love of God.

Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa 

41. All women are parts of the Divine Mother, and therefore they should be looked upon as mothers by all.

42. Be not a traitor to your thoughts. Be sincere; act according to your thoughts; and you shall surely succeed. Pray with a sincere and simple heart, and your prayers will be heard.

43. As one and the same water is called by different names by different people, some calling it ‘water’, some ‘Vari’, some ‘Aqua’ and some ‘Pani’, so the one Sachchidananda, Existence-Intelligence-Bliss Absolute,-is invoked by some as God, by some as Allah, by some as Hari and by others as Brahman.

44. In a potter’s shop there are vessels of different shapes and forms- pots,jars,dishes,plates,etc., but all are made of the same clay. So God is one, but He is worshipped in different ages and climes under different names and aspects.

45. Many are the names of God and infinite are the forms through which He may be approached. In whatever form you worship Him, through that you will realize Him.

46. One can ascend to the top of a house by means of a ladder or a bamboo or a staircase or a rope; so too, diverse are the ways of approaching God and each religion in the world shows one of the ways.

47. God is one, but His aspects are many. As the master of a house is father to one, brother to another and husband to a third, and is called by different names by different persons, so the one God is described in various ways according to the particular aspect in which He appears to particular worshippers.

48. As a mother,in nursing her sick children, gives rice and curry to one, sago and arrowroot to another, and bread and butter to a third, so the Lord has laid out for different men different paths suitable to their natures.

Sayings of Ramakrishna

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa 

33. Be not like the frog in the well. The frog in the well knows nothing bigger and grander than its well. So are all bigots. They do not see anything better than their own creed.

34. Siddhis or psychic powers must be avoided like filth. These come to us of themselves through Sadhanas or religious practices, and Samyama or control of the senses. But he who sets his mind on Siddhis remains stuck therein, and cannot rise higher.

35. Eat to your satisfaction in the day, but let your meal at night be light and small in quantity.

36. That food alone should be taken by the devotee which does not heat the system or unsettle the mind.

37. Disease is the tax which the soul pays for the use of the body, as the tenant pays house-rent for the use of the house.

38. The tree laden with fruits always bends low. If you wish to be great, be lowly and meek.

39. Our duty is to fall down and adore where others only bow.

40. Be as devoid as vanity as the cast-away leaf carried by the high wind.

41. Till one becomes simple like a child, one cannot get divine illumination.  

Sayings of Ramakrishna

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa 

25. Honour both spirit and form the sentiment within as well as the symbol without.
26. People of this age care for the essence of everything. They will accept the essentials of religion and not its non-essentials (that is the rituals, ceremonials, dogmas, and creeds).
27. As a toy fruit or a toy elephant reminds one of the real fruit and living animal, so do the images that are worshipped re-mind one of Him who is foremless and eternal.
28. When one sees God, one realises that everything, images and all, is a manifestation of the spirit. To him the image is not made of clay but of Spirit.
29. The companionship of the holy and the wise is one of the main elements of spiritual progress.
30. Even moist wood placed upon a fire soon becomes dry and finally begins to burn. Similarly, the society of the pious drives away the moisture of greed and lust from the hearts of worldly persons, and then the fire if Viveka (discrimination) burns steadily in them.
31. Knowingly or unknowingly, consciously or unconsciously, in whatever state of mind a man utters God’s ‘name’ he acquires the merit of such utterance. A man who voluntarily goes to a river to bathe therein gets the benefit of the bath; so does he also who has been pushed into the water by another, or who, when sleeping soundly, has water thrown upon him.
32. Sing with Bhakti the hallowed ‘name’ of the Lord, and the mountain of your sins will vanish, just as a mountain of cotton will burn to ashes and disappear if but a spark of fire falls on it.

Sayings of Ramakrishna

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa 

17. Utter the word Gita, in quick succesion, a number of times- Gi-ta-gi-ta-gi-tagi. It is then virtually pronounced as ‘Tagi’, ‘Tagi’, which means one who has renounced the world for the sake of God. Thus, in one word, Gita teaches, “Renounce, ye world-bound men! Renounce everything, and fix the mind on the Lord.”

18. To him who is free, hundreds of people come from all sides anxious to be taught. When a rose blossoms, bees come from all sides uninvited.

19. The holy teachings that come from the mouths of godly men seem to be uttered by those men themselves, while in reality they proceed from God.

20. The soul that has tasted the sweetness of Divine bliss finds no happiness in the vulgar pleasures of the world.

21. The spiritually-minded belong to a caste of their own, beyond all social conventions.

22. A boat may stay in water, but water should not stay in the boat. An aspirant may live in the world, but the world should not live within him.

23. The magnetic needle always points to the North, and hence it is that the sailing vessel does not lose her direction. So long as the heart of man is directed towards God, he cannot be lost in the ocean of worldliness.

24. Forgiveness is the true nature of the ascetic.

Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

9. On two occasions the Lord smiles. First when the doctor comes to the bed-side of a patient who is seriously taken ill and is about to die, and says to his mother, “Why madam, there is no cause for anxiety at all. I take upon myself the responsibility of saving your son’s life.” Next He smiles when two brothers, who are busy partitioning their land, take a measuring tape, put it across the land and say, “This side is mine, and that side is yours.”

10. The ‘I’ which makes a man worldly and attached to lust and wealth is mischievous. The individual soul and the Universal Being are separated because this ‘I’ comes in between them. If a stick is placed on the surface of water, the water will appear to be divided into two sections. The stick is the Aham – the ‘I’. Take that away, and the water becomes again undivided. 

11. If you feel proud, let it be in the thought that you are the servant of God, the son of God.

12. As a piece of rope, when burnt, retains its form, but cannot serve to bind, so is the ego which is burnt by the fire of supreme Knowledge.

13. That knowledge which purifies the mind and heart alone is true Knowledge.

14. To explain God after merely reading the scriptures is like explaining to a person the city of Banares after seeing it only in a map.

15.The nearer you come to God, the less you are disposed to questioning and reasoning.

16. The sacred books tell us only the way to God, i.e. of the means for the realisation of God. That way being known, the next step is to work one’s way to the goal. Realisation is the goal.

Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

1. He is born in vain, who having attained the human birth, so difficult to get, does not attempt to realize God in this very life.
2. First gain God, and then gain wealth; but do not try to do the contrary if, after acquiring spirituality, you lead a worldly life you will never lose your peace of mind.
3. The digit one may be raised to a figure of any value by adding zeros after it; but if that one is omitted, zeros by themselves have no value. Similarly so long as Jiva (individual soul) does not cling to God, who is the One, he has no value, for all the things here get their value from their connection with God.
4. As a lamp does not burn without oil, so a man cannot live without God.
5. The relation of Brahman to Sakti is that of fire to its burning property.
6. The snake itself is not affected by the poison in its fangs; but when it bites,the poison kills the creature bitten. Likewise Maya is in the Lord but does not affect Him, while the same Maya deludes the whole world.
7. It is Maya which reveals Brahman. Without Maya, who could have known Brahman? Without knowing Sakti, the manifested power of God, there is no means of knowing Him.
8. When attachment for wealth and sex is wiped out from the mind, what else is left in the soul? Only the bliss of Brahman.