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The quotes of Ramakrishna

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K nowingly or unknowingly, consciously or unconsciously, in whatever state we utter His name, we acquire the merit of such utterance. A man who voluntarily goes into a river and bathes therein gets the benefit of the bath; so does likewise he who has been pushed into the river by another, or who while sleeping soundly has water thrown upon him by another.

quote 5654 | Ramakrishna

G od is formless, and is with form too, and He is that which transcends both form and formlessness. He alone can say what else He is.

quote 5628 | Ramakrishna

A s a boy begins to learn writing by drawing big scrawls, before he can master the small-hand, so we must learn concentration of the mind by fixing it first on forms; and when we have attained success therein, we can easily fix it upon the formless.

quote 5610 | Ramakrishna

G od is the Absolute and Eternal Brahman, as well as the Father of the Universe. The indivisible Brahman is like a vast shoreless ocean, without bounds and limits, in which I can only struggle and sink. But when I approach the always sportive personal Deity (Hari), I get peace, like the sinking man who nears the shore.

quote 5591 | Ramakrishna

A man sitting under the shade of the Kalpa-vriksha (wishing-tree) wished to be a king, and in an instant he was a king. The next moment he wished to have a charming damsel, and the damsel was instantly by his side. The man then thought within himself, if a tiger came and devoured him, and alas; in an instant he was in the jaws of a tiger! God is like that wishing-tree: whosoever in His presence thinks that he is destitute and poor, remains as such, but he who thinks and believes that the Lord fulfils all his wants, receives everything from Him.

quote 5573 | Ramakrishna

A s fishes playing in a pond covered over with reeds and scum cannot be seen from outside, so God plays in the heart of a man invisibly, being screened by Maya from human view.

quote 5537 | Ramakrishna

A s the lamp does not burn without oil, so man cannot live without God.

quote 5524 | Ramakrishna

E very being is Narayana. Man or animal, sage or knave, nay, the whole universe, is Narayana, the Supreme Spirit.

quote 5513 | Ramakrishna

G od, His scripture, and His devotee are all to be regarded as one, i.e. in one and the same light.

quote 5496 | Ramakrishna

T he manifestation of the Divinity must be understood to be in greater degree in those who are honoured, respected, and obeyed by a large following, than in those who have gained no such influence.

quote 5483 | Ramakrishna

I t is true that God is even in the tiger, but we must not go and face the animal. So it is true that God dwells even in the most wicked, but it is not meet that we should associate with the wicked.

quote 5472 | Ramakrishna

O h Mother, I don’t want name and fame; I don’t want the eight occult powers; Oh Mother, I have no desire for creature comforts; Please, Mother, Grant me the boon that I may have pure love For Thy lotus feet.

quote 5450 | Ramakrishna

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

quote 5430 | Ramakrishna

A s with one gold various ornaments are made, having different forms and names, so one God is worshipped in different countries and ages, and has different forms and names. Though He may be worshipped variously, some loving to call him Father, others Mother, etc, yet it is one God that is being worshipped in all these various relations and modes.

quote 5421 | Ramakrishna

G od has revealed to me that only the Paramatman, whom the Vedas describe as the Pure Soul, is as immutable as Mount Sumeru, unattached, and beyond pain and pleasure. There is much confusion in this world of His Maya. One can by no means say that ‘this’ will come after ‘that’ or ‘this’ will produce ‘that’.

quote 5400 | Ramakrishna

W hat Brahman is cannot be described. All things in the world — the Vedas, the Puranas, the Tantras, the six systems of philosophy — have been defiled, like food that has been touched by the tongue, for they have been read or uttered by the tongue. Only one thing has not been defiled in this way, and that is Brahman. No one has ever been able to say what Brahman is.

quote 5384 | Ramakrishna

A s the same sugar is made into various figures of birds and beasts, so one sweet Mother Divine is worshipped in various climes and ages under various names and forms. Different creeds are but different paths to reach the Almighty.

quote 5380 | Ramakrishna

Y ou speak of doing good to the world. Is the world such a small thing? And who are you, pray, to do good to the world? First realise God, see Him by means of spiritual discipline. If He imparts power you can do good to others; otherwise not.

quote 5372 | Ramakrishna

A s one and the same material, viz. water, is called by different names by different people--one calling it ‘water,’ another ‘vari,’ a third ‘aqua,’ and another ‘pani’--so the one Sat-chit-ananda, the Everlasting-Intelligent- Bliss, is invoked by some as God, by some as Allah, by some as Hari, and by others as Brahman and hundreds of other names.

quote 5356 | Ramakrishna

O nly two kinds of people can attain self-knowledge: those who are not encumbered at all with learning; that is to say, whose minds are not over-crowded with thoughts borrowed from others; and those who, after studying all the scriptures and sciences, have come to realise that they know nothing.

quote 5342 | Ramakrishna

Y ou see many stars at night in the sky, but find them not when the sun rises. Can you say that there are no stars, then, in the heaven of day? So, O man, because you behold not the Almighty in the days of your ignorance, say not that there is no God.

quote 5335 | Ramakrishna

I n the kingdom of God, reason, intellect and learning are of no avail. There the dumb speaks, the blind sees, and the deaf hears.

quote 5318 | Ramakrishna

S o long as God seems to be outside and far away, so long there is ignorance. But where God is realized within, that is true knowledge.

quote 5306 | Ramakrishna

T he sum and substance of the whole matter is that a man must love God, must be restless for Him. It doesn't matter whether you believe in God with form or God without form. You may or may not believe that God incarnates Himself as man. But you will realize Him if you have that yearning. Then He himself will let you know what He is like. If you must be mad, why should you be mad for the things of the world? If you must be mad, be mad for God alone.

quote 3902 | Ramakrishna
Nikhilananda, 1942; p. 449

H ow can one attain yoga? By completely renouncing attachment to worldly things. The mind must be pure and without blemish, like the telegraph wire that has no defect.

quote 3901 | Ramakrishna
Nikhilananda, 1942; p. 375

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